In Boxing News: Liakhovich Wins, Mesi Returns, Sugar Ray Robinson Stamp

In Boxing News: White Wolf in sheep’s clothing now heavyweight champ

Boxing got a shot in the arm Saturday night with the excellent war between Lamon Brewster and Serge Liakhovich. Liakhovich boxed smart, clever, tough, while Brewster went swinging for the fences. But the skill, chin, heart of both men, their willingness to fight hard from the opening to the closing bell, made Rahman-Toney look even worse than it was.

Norm Frauenheim in The Arizona Republic writes that Neither the money nor the title amounted to much, but Sergei Liakhovich scored a victory that makes him a rare heavyweight. He is worth a second look. The new champ’s trainer Kenny Weldon said, Sergei fought a really smart fight. Frauenheim writes, At the end of the seventh, a right hand and a succession of body blows toppled Liakhovich like the Berlin Wall. But he survived the way all good fighters do: He fought thought his way through the adversity.There’s a new champ in town. Also on the heavyweight front, Ira Berkow in the New York Times reports that Two Years After Brain Injury, Mesi Earns Victory and Relief. Baby Joe Mesi returned to the ring Saturday night after a two year hiatus and decisioned Ronald Bellamy over eight rounds. In Mario Morales Coliseum about ten miles from San Juan, a lively crowd of 2,000 watched Joe Mesi in action. I had some nerves before the fight, Mesi said, given that I’ve been away for two years. It was kind of sloppy, but Bellamy was no pushover. He was tougher than I expected. I give myself a C. C is a passing grade, but it won’t get him into Canastota. Some seasoned observers are keeping an eye on Mesi and don’t like what they see. I’m scared, said Teddy Atlas, that’s all I can say. Something of his brain has been compromised. One thing that hasn’t been compromised is the relationship between Joe Mesi and his dad/manager Jack. I love my son and I wouldn’t do anything to put him in harm’s way, Jack Mesi said. And boxing is what Joe wants to do with his life.Yes, but More on heavyweights from InTheNews.co.uk. Matt Skelton bounced back from his defeat to Danny Williams last month with a fourth-round KO of Suren Kalachyan in London. The win was a welcome return for Skelton, who’s looking forward to a rematch with Williams on July 15th. I was back in the gym training a few days after the Williams fight and wanted to get back as soon as possible, Skelton said. I’m ready for the rematch and believe I can put the record straight by beating him next time. Danny Williams was sitting ringside and said he was not impressed. He didn’t show me anything I haven’t seen from him before and I’m confident I can do a better job next time, Williams said. Four rounds, that’s all I’ll need Kevin McBride scored a fourth-round TKO over Byron Polley in Cleveland on the undercard of Brewster-Liakhovich in his first fight since defeating Tyson in June. The BBC reports that McBride’s on track for a possible shot at Nikolay Valuev and his WBA heavyweight crown later this year. My timing was off a wee bit having not fought for 10 months, McBride said after Saturday’s fight, but Polley was never going to hurt me. I am just glad to be back in action. Every fight I gain more experience and I am on the right road to winning a world title. His timing had better be on a wee bit when and if he fights the big Russian Sticking to the subject of heavyweights, former champ Lennox Lewis recently spoke to Thomas Hauser in The Observer. Hauser recalls a conversation with Double-L in 2004. There was some beating around the bush before Lewis said, I’d beat Klitschko again if I fought him again. But that’s the drug of the sport. There’s always someone to fight. Instead of fighting Lennox tried fathering and now has a son, Landon Lewis, who is two years old. Landon is talking a lot now, said the former champ. He’s saying,Yo!’ all the time, and his mother doesn’t like it. She says it comes from me. I tell her it doesn’t. I don’t go around the house saying Yo! So now we’re trying to figure out where it came from. In a long interview in a long article, Lennox had these wise words to say: The era of Lewis, Tyson and Holyfield is over. We know that. But boxing is hard enough without other boxers coming down on you. It always surprises me when boxers speak ill of other boxers. We have reporters coming down on us. We have fans coming down on us. Boxers are a family. We know things about boxing that other people don’t. We understand that, even when we win, we lose a little of ourselves every time we get in the ring. We don’t need to come down on each other. We should protect each other. So I’ll just say that it takes physical gifts, hard work, commitment and luck to get to the top in boxing. Each of the top heavyweights today has been successful in his way. Anyone who gets into a boxing ring deserves credit for his courage. Before Mike Tyson ended his three-day China trip that started in Shanghai for the grand opening of a new nightclub called Snatch, the former heavyweight champ made it a point to pay a visit to Memorial Hall, the mausoleum dedicated to late Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Tyson is a long-time admirer of the late Chinese Commuinist leader. He collects book by Mao. He even has a Chairman Mao tattoo on his arm. After paying his respects, Tyson said, I felt really insignificant next to the remains of Chairman Mao. He also reportedly shouted, according to the Shanghai Daily, I love you to Chinese onlookers The South Florida Sun Sentinel brings us good news from the U.S. Postal Service. This Friday at a post office near you, the nation will pay tribute to six-time world champion Sugar Ray Robinson with a 39-cent commemorative stamp. The self-adhesive vertical stamp includes a vintage 1940-ish post-war poster with block lettering and a halftone image of Robinson when he was at the top of his game. The USPS had 100 million Robinson commemoratives printed, so you better get them while they last.