Articles of 2002
THE PROMOTER WHO RUNS THE NABF –
If you think the situation we described in the last chapter is anything new in terms of NABF shenanigans, I'd like to take the liberty of relating a first-hand story to you.
Okay – so I'm sitting in a hotel room at the Two Trees Inn at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. The date is March 7, 1994, and I had come with my partner to bring Garing Lane into town for a USA Network main event against former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. The hotel room belonged to Arthur Pelullo, whose company, Banner Promotions, was promoting the fight.
There are a bunch of us in the room, and we're sitting around, watching television. At some point, Pelullo got up to take a phone call. On the other end of the line was Sam Macias, the chairman of the championship committee for the North American Boxing Federation (NABF).
Arthur talks loud enough that he can be heard, over the television, so I really didn't need to eavesdrop on the conversation. And it didn't take long to ascertain that the subject matter of this discussion was how they could manipulate the ratings so that one of Pelullo's fighters – Mississippi welterweight Donald Stokes – could fight for the vacant NABF 147-pound championship – and do so somewhere on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
At that time, Buddy McGirt, who was listed at #1, was not particularly interested in the NABF title, having been pointed to a WBC welterweight title rematch with Pernell Whitaker, a fight which eventually took place in October of that year.
David Gonzalez, a body-puncher from Texas who was rated #2, was just coming off a loss to former Olympic bronze medalist Kenny Gould on November 16, 1993, so obviously he was set to drop in the ranks.
What neither Pelullo nor Macias were aware of as they were talking was that a couple of months before, I had made a deal with Battle Promotions of Michigan, for a “promotional assignment” on Gould, which essentially meant little more than that I had the right to promote shows with the fighter. But inasmuch as I was pursuing promotional opportunities with a casino in Mississippi, I planned to be putting Gould into action on a regular basis.
Well, Gould was positioned, from what I recall, at #7 in the ratings. He had already beaten the #2 guy, and should, by all rights, have moved up. The #1 contender, McGirt, was not going to be available, so simple arithmetic tells me that Gould has to be right in the mix if a potential vacant title is going to be contested for. And that may have, from my perspective, enabled me to promote such a fight at any casino I had a relationship with.
So naturally, as Pelullo and Macias are talking about putting Stokes – who was rated below Gould – in against certain prospective opponents, ALL of whom were unrated, in the process completely leapfrogging Gould, who should probably be in the top three, my blood's starting to boil.
And as this conversation continued, things became more and more surreal. Pelullo was saying things like, “Well, why don't we move this guy down a couple of spots, and this guy down a couple of spots, and then we can stick Donald in at #5. And we can move so-and-so out and put so-and-so into the ratings so he can be Donald's opponent”.
As they continued to talk about arbitrarily moving Stokes into the top five, in order to necessitate putting him in the title fight, despite not having fought in almost eight months, it got to the point where I just had to speak up.
So I did – loudly enough that I knew Macias had no choice but to hear me on the other end of the phone line. And that the Pequot Indians could hear me on the other end of the reservation.
I howled – how the hell can you possibly bypass Gould so casually? Don't you have to go by some sort of rules? Why hasn't Gould moved up after beating the #2 contender, who would actually be #1 since McGirt won't fight for the title?
Well, I knew Stokes didn't want to fight Kenny Gould. Stokes wouldn't have beaten Kenny Gould. And the NABF title fight wasn't going to do Pelullo any good unless he could promote it, and have control of the champion in the end. He wouldn't have gotten either of those things with me involved (Note: as it turned out, Stokes, after fighting a dull “tuneup” against opponent David Taylor, went on the shelf for two years and never did fight that NABF title bout that was ready to be handed to him – and in the end, I didn't do very much with Gould either).
But my question for Macias – asked through Pelullo – was, is Kenny Gould, who is rated above Stokes, and ready, willing, and able to fight, going to be included in a contest for the vacant title? And if not, why?
Macias' response, as Pelullo relayed it, was that I should have made the NABF aware of the Gould-Gonzalez fight result. And I should have sent the ring record of Gould into their office, as if the results didn't exist UNLESS I sent them in.
To understand the phony, ridiculous nature of that answer, consider that Gould's win was the main event on the November 16, 1993 edition of USA Network's “Tuesday Night Fights”, which just happened to be the not only most popular regularly-scheduled boxing show on television, but one of cable TV's highest-rated sports programs. The NABF presumably worked closely with Fight Fax, and in fact its owner, Ralph Citro, sat on the NABF board. And apparently Gould's record was good enough to get him rated by the NABF at the time. Quite obviously, there was no excuse in the world that they wouldn't have had his record in their hands, or have very easy access to it.
But you see – Macias figured he could say anything he wanted to, since no one was looking over his shoulder.
That is, until now.
As we showed you in Chapter 22, the NABF is still, in substance, getting away with the same kind of nonsense now that they were then – much of it in conjunction with Pelullo.
And I would dearly love for the Association of Boxing Commissions, which, according to the Ali Act, “shall develop and shall approve by a vote of no less than a majority of its member State boxing commissioners, guidelines for objective and consistent written criteria for the ratings of professional boxers”, something that is now long overdue, to demonstrate that they're in business for something other than to provide gainful employment for Jack “Death Wish” Kerns.
In fact, I challenge Tim Lueckenhoff, president of the ABC, who aspires for his organization to take a lead when it comes to uniform standards and regulations, to step forward and prove that to me – and anyone who might be reading this – by holding an official inquiry as to how the NABF could possibly manipulate the ratings, with no rhyme or reason, circumventing their own rules, in a way which curiously and consistently appears to benefit the same promoter, over and over and over again – at which time both promoter and sanctioning body would be required to make themselves accountable.
I would suggest the ABC shouldn't be taken even semi-seriously until they're ready to do just that.
fightpage@totalaction.com
Copyright 2002 Total Action Inc.
Articles of 2002
$*%@#!
Walk the dog, stroll through the park, have a picnic at the lake.
There are safer things for IBF cruiserweight champ Vassily Jirov to do this month than defend his title against James “Lights Out” Toney.
Barbecue, play softball, fish, visit the zoo. Thank his lucky stars.
Jirov, who lives in California, won’t be fighting Toney on HBO on Jan. 25.
Something to do with his insides.
Ask Toney why Jirov pulled out of their fight and he’ll tell you it was Jirov’s heart that let him down, his backbone that went soft, not his banged-up ribs. Ask Toney and he’ll tell you about heartbreak and lies and revenge and fighting anybody in the universe if it means another title. Jirov claims he suffered the damage while sparring. Maybe. But it’s the fourth time Jirov has found a reason not to fight Toney. How many times you got to be told to go home before you realize the guy doesn’t want to come outside and play? How many times you got to be bit by the same dog before you realize it wants to be left alone? Jirov has more excuses than a politician caught with a hooker on his lap.
In his own eloquent way, Toney recently described how disappointed he was in the cancellation of their title fight on the undercard of the Vernon Forrest – Ricardo Mayorga welterweight title fight.
“The @#%$%*&#@,’’ Toney said after learning of the postponement on Christmas Eve. “Jirov can @&%$#% and then he can @%$#@#$. He’s nothing but a #$%#@#.’’ That said, it doesn’t brighten up the New Year in the Toney household.
“I’m done with it,’’ said Toney, sounding like a guy who finally gets tried of being stood up by the same girl.
As of Dec. 30, there was still no word of an opponent for Toney, though he’s still making regular trips to the gym.
Merry Christmas, James. Have a Happy New Year.
“Bah, humbug,’’ said Toney’s promoter Dan Goossen. “We didn’t have much of a Christmas. I got the news on Christmas Eve. But you just have to bounce back.’’ Funny thing about fighters. Some make excuses, some fight through them. You get the feeling Toney could have cracked five ribs and his right tibia and still climbed into the ring against Jirov.
It raises a lot of questions. What’s Jirov got against fighting? After a busy 2001, he hasn’t fought since last February. How do you hold a title after you’ve gone into retirement? Just who is this guy and why does he like to hide? Is there really a Vassily Jirov out there, or is he a creation of the IBF, a shadowy figure who won the title and decided it was too big a risk to keep defending it? The bottom line is, Toney may be left with a lot of unexpected free time on his hands if they don’t find him another fight, though he knew better than to mark the date on his calendar in ink. There are no promises in boxing. When dealing with a guy like Jirov, all bets are off. But Toney can still hope. The name O’Neil Bell – the WBC’s No. 1 challenger – has been knocked around, and Toney said he doesn’t care what contender or champion he knocks out on Jan. 25. “#@#$%$#,’’ Toney said.
You can say that again.
Articles of 2002
New Year's Resolutions
A new year is upon us, which means it's time for new years resolutions. Yeah, never mind that most resolutions are broken, oh, around the third week of January; everybody still makes them.
Here are my resolutions that I'd make for some of the luminaries in the sport of boxing.
* Floyd Mayweather: No more excuses. Anyone else sick of listening to 'the Pretty Boy' whine about what ailments he came into the fight with? Whether it's his fragile hands, a bum shoulder or his squabbles with his promoter Bob Arum, he always has an alibi. Hey Floyd, nobody cares, you get paid plenty to perform and those that buy tickets don't care that you might have a hangnail; they want nothing but the best effort out of you.
Mayweather reminds me of former Los Angeles Dodger slugger Mike Marshall, who's second home seemed to be the disabled list. The bottom line is this guy is lucky to be a boxer where he only has to perform once every 6 months- he simply couldn't handle the rigors of an NBA, NFL or baseball season. Ask any athlete if they are ever 100-percent healthy after the first day of training camp or spring training and they'll laugh at you.
Injuries and ailments are a part of the job, overcoming them is what makes a true professional. Mayweather still hasn't grasped that concept.
* Jim Gray: Respect. I guess this little weasel is whom Aretha Franklin was talking about in her song. Think about it, have you ever seen a guy be so disrespectful to fighters in post-fight interviews like this guy. Don't even mention HBO's Larry Merchant- he isn't afraid to ask the tough questions like a true journalist and he's consistent. Gray looks at boxing as a secondary gig and looks down on boxers in general.
Don't believe me? Just compare and contrast his softball interviews that he does for NBC and the hatchet jobs he does on Showtime.
* Max Kellerman: No more over-hyping New York boxers. Look, I get along and respect Max, but when you look up the term 'East Coast Bias' in Webster's, his picture may be used as the definition of it. From Zab Judah to James Butler and to Tokumbo Olajide, he'll have you enshrined in Canastota if you come out of the Big Apple.
What's worse are the excuses he'll come up with for his New Yorkers when they fall on their faces. Max is great for boxing but he's gotta realize New York hasn't been a player on the boxing scene for at least 20 years.
* Crocodile: A new catchphrase. You know Crocodile, right? He was Mike Tyson's hype-man for all these years…the guy with the menacing shades and the army fatigues who used to scream, “GUERILLA WARFARE” at the top of his lungs over and over again.
I've heard that enough and it's about as played out as 'Whoop, there it is' and it's time he came up with a new one. All the great ones can add to their repertoire.
* HBO: Admit they acknowledge the titles. Stop being the Hypocritical Boxing Organization and just stop saying that you don't recognize these organizations. The latest example of their double-talk? Well, for years they dogged John Ruiz and his WBA title, suddenly Roy Jones challenges Ruiz and HBO is hyping this up as some sort of historic challenge of a light heavyweight trying to capture a heavyweight title.
Yeah, the same title they had basically trashed for years.
* Joe Cortez: No more over-officiating. His line is that,' He's firm but he's fair'. I'd argue about that the last couple of years but my biggest gripe with him is that he seems to make himself waaaaay too visible during fights and gets too involved. Nobody is there to watch him and he should just let the fighters fight.
Too often I see these fights with Cortez lose their flow as Cortez continually interrupts the action with his admonishments and warnings. Joe, take a step back and let us watch what we came to see.
* Don Turner: Stop living off of Holyfield-Tyson I- If you ever talk to this guy, he'll talk as though he invented boxing. And his big coup was co-training Evander Holyfield against Mike Tyson. 'The Real Deal' upset Tyson and suddenly Turner was being hailed as the new Chappie Blackburn and he became a media darling.
My question is this, did he suddenly teach Holyfield how to fight 35 fights into his career? Also, I contend that my mother and I could work Holyfield's corner and he would whip Tyson everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. And ask yourself this, when was the last time he was in the winning corner for a big fight?
* Newspaper writers: Start crediting the Internet. Ok, this is a sore subject with me, but too many times I've seen stories from the major newspaper scribes who amazingly have stories that are eerily similar to stories that I've read on the internet (or that I've written myself) and use quotes that I got in one-on-one interviews and they don't attribute their sources- the internet.
When I take quotes or info from a story I make a point to give credit where it's due. Now, I just wish these guys would do the same.
* Roy Jones: no more hip-hop entrances. Roy, you're a magnificently gifted prizefighter, you can also play just a bit of hoops, but your rhyming skills are that of Shaquille O'Neal. In other words, you're doing street nursery rhymes not Nas.
Please, oh please, stop embarrassing yourself and the sport with your cheesy as nacho's attempt to become a hip-hop performer. His last entrance/performance reminded me of one of those really bad Sir-Mix-Alot videos of the early 90's.
* Panama Lewis: an exit out of the game. You remember Lewis right, the guy who gave Aaron Pryor the mysterious white bottle before the 14th round of his bout against Alexis Arguello, which seemed to give 'the Hawk' a sudden burst of energy that enabled Pryor to brutally KO Arguello. Afterwards, Pryor would skip out on his post-fight drug test.
Then there was the fight with Luis Resto, where he would tamper with his gloves between rounds, and bearing the brunt of this tomfoolery was Billy Collins who's faced was turned into a bloody mess. Collins, in the aftermath of this brutality committed suicide. For this, Lewis was banned permanently from working a corner. But that doesn't mean that he can't go into the gym and train fighters and even attend fights.
The bottom line is simple, this man has no place in the game of boxing and boxing shouldn't tolerate him in any way.
* Cedric Kushner: no more gimmicks. This guy has tried everything from the disastrous 'ThunderBox' to one-day $100,000 heavyweight tournaments- and all have failed miserably.
He can put on a boxing version of 'Survivor' or 'Real World' if he wants but the reality is, boxing fans want good fights and interesting fighters, nothing more, nothing less.
Stop with the shenanigans and stop with the junk.
Articles of 2002
Dream Fights of 2003
Hey, we can all dream, right? Isn't it our God-given right as boxing fans to think about fights that should happen – but often times don't?
And not just fights that have the highest profile or the biggest names – because sometimes those fights, like Lewis vs. Tyson – are nothing more than high-profile mismatches. I'm talking about fights that are evenly matched between the game's best and are the most intriguing inside the ring.
Here are some fights I'd pay to see in the upcoming year; full well knowing that most of these fights are pipe dreams as the business end of the sport would bog these fights down quickly. But hey, we can dream right?
* Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Erik Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera: Name me another fighter that has never won a world title belt that is better than Marquez? You can't and this guys been ducked and dodged long enough. On February 1st he takes on Manuel Medina for the vacant IBF featherweight title and it says here that he should face one of the game's best known 126-pounders, either Morales or Barrera. Marquez is a master boxer with great counter-punching skills and his hand-speed would give either one of his Mexican compatriots fits. There are some in the industry who have been saying for a while that Marquez is already the game's premiere featherweight; I'm not inclined to disagree that strongly.
CHANCES OF HAPPENING?: With Barrera, not good, as Ricardo Maldonado sees no real upside in this match-up and would most likely take an easier fight on HBO for about the same amount of money he could make facing Marquez.
With Morales, the logistics are much less complicated. Both of them are promoted by Bob Arum and there is some talk that they could face each other in May if a Morales-Barrera III isn't made.
* Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones: Not only because it's a match-up of two of the very premiere fighters in the world, but Hopkins needs to resume his career with some meaningful fights and Jones should be fighting guys like 'the Executioner' instead of participating in novelty acts like his proposed bout with John Ruiz.
And don't think for one minute that this would be a blowout. Jones couldn't blowout a green Hopkins in 1993 and won't be able to do it now. Hopkins, unlike most of Jones' opponents, isn't in total awe of Pensacola's finest.
CHANCES OF HAPPENING?: Not good, Sharon and Arafat will find a common ground regarding the Middle East before these two proud and stubborn men find one in contract negotiations.
* Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vernon Forrest: For fans of pure boxing and strategy this is a fight that can't be missed. Both men have strong jabs and match-up well physically. 'The Golden Boy' has the better left hook and 'The Viper' has a more effective right hand. Between these two well-schooled boxers you can expect a tense and tight boxing match with subtle momentum swings round by round.
CHANCES OF HAPPENING?: For 2003, not very good because it looks like Oscar will be fighting once in the upcoming year – a September rematch against Shane Mosley – and Bob Arum has stated that Forrest simply brings nothing to the table promotionally. This can be interpreted as another way of saying that he's not Latin, too dangerous or just another black fighter who can't sell a ticket. The bottom line seems to be that unless Forrest raises his profile in the upcoming years, De La Hoya will be facing guys that make economic sense.
* Floyd Mayweather vs. Kostya Tszyu: This would be a face off of the sport's premier lightweight against the game's best jr. welterweight. 'The Pretty Boy' would bring speed, quickness and boxing ability to the dance. While Tszyu would bring a decided edge in strength, size and punching power. They say styles make fights and you have two contrasting ones here.
CHANCES OF HAPPENING?: Not likely. This is for a couple of reasons. First, Vlad Wharton who promotes Tszyu, is seemingly deathly afraid to take any risks with Tszyu, who's basically his cash cow. Secondly, Mayweather got a reality check from his two bouts with Jose Luis Castillo, who at 135 pounds was able to muscle him throughout their 24 rounds they fought in 2002. And Tszyu is faster, sharper and just as strong as Castillo. I'm not sure Mayweather is in any rush to make the move up to 140-pounds.
* Lennox Lewis vs. Wladimir Klitschko: The industry is always better off when there is action in the heavyweight division. So why even mess around by having Lewis take on 'the other' Klitschko or knock out Tyson again; getting right in there with the man most pundits are claiming is the heir to his throne in Wlad Klitschko?
The time is now, Lewis is getting up there in age and really doesn't have that much left in his gas tank anyway and it would be prudent for him to face Klitschko now before he gets any better. Remember, that's the tact they took in facing Michael Grant when they did – but it has to be noted that Klitschko is much better than Grant.
Lewis would have the advantages in experience and savvy, but for one of the few times in his career he would be facing a disadvantage in size and perhaps power. The two best big men on the planet squaring off, what else could you ask for?
CHANCES OF HAPPENING: Actually pretty good, since Lewis himself has stated his plans to take on both Klitschkos in between his rematch with Tyson. But with Don King now making a full court press to garner the services of Lewis, who knows what direction he goes to now.
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