TheSweetScience Boxing Quiz #1

Grab a #2 pencil! It’s back to school!

Stop dwelling on your dismal high school grades! Redeem yourself! Take this simple quiz!

Hey, be quiet, sit down, and stop talking!

If you’ve been reading TheSweetScience, and taking notes, you’ll do fine. If not, well…

I am the teacher. I will administer and grade this quiz. I will be firm, but fair. And fair is what I say is fair.

So, take the gum out of your mouth and get ready…No talking! You have five minutes. Go!

Multiple choice. Circle the correct answer. (10 points)

Which New York City heavyweight, single-handedly, stopped a mini-riot in Madison Square Garden in 1977?
Chuck Wepner
Randy Neuman
Mitch “Blood” Green
Mike Tyson

Which hard-punching light heavyweight knocked down Jose Torres and Floyd Patterson, both champions, but finally was knocked out himself, by both?
Jimmy Slade
Charley “Devil” Green
Jimmy Ellis
Joey Maxim

Which highly-touted fighter boxed in green, custom-made, high-top Converse sneakers?
Gypsy Joe Harris
Love Allotey
Sammy Goss
Emile Griffith

Jack Dempsey, Willy Pep, Alex Miteff, Steve Belloise, Rory Calhoun, Cassius Clay all appeared in what Hollywood film?
Raging Bull
Requiem for a Heavyweight
The Harder They Fall
The Champ

Which tough former champion allowed his wife to appoint their master bathroom totally pink – pink towels, pink soap, pink toilet paper…?
Vito Antuofermo
Joey Giardello
Carlos Ortiz
Sugar Ray Leonard

In Claude Brown’s bestseller, “Manchild in the Promised Land,” the pugnacious character named Turk is really who?
Dick Tiger
Bob Satterfield
Henry Hank
Doug Jones

The use of headgear in the amateurs has:
Been politically correct
Not protected boxers
Killed the sport
All of the abov.

According to Vito Antuofermo, the hardest puncher is:
Eugene “Cyclone” Hart.
“Bad” Bennie Briscoe
Eckhart Dagge
Marvelous Marvin Hagler

Which former champion has not sold his artwork?
Ruben Olivares
Mickey Walker
Muhammad Ali
Willy Pastrano

Who is the best pound-for-pound New York City amateur of all time?
Alex Ramos
Mark Breland
Howard Davis
Vince Shomo

Answers:

a
b
c
b
a
d
d
c
d
c

Answers Explained:

In 1977, in the Madison Square Garden ticket lobby before a main-event, Chuck Wepner walked into a brawling mob of drunken boxing fans. Wepner, 6’7”, grabbed two men by their lapels and lifted them. That stopped the brawl. Uniformed guards stood idly by, watching.

Green, a last-minute replacement for no-show Jimmy Ralston, dropped Torres with a thunderous right in Madison Square Garden. Green was then got knocked out in the next round. In his fight with Patterson, Green fouled Patterson for 9 rounds straight before Patterson caught him and knocked him cold in the 10th.

Gross’s sneakers reached up to his knees. Goss, from Trenton, New Jersey, was a talented super featherweight with a 43-15-3 record. He decisioned Edwin Viruet, Jose Fernandez and knocked out Lloyd Marshall.

Other cameo appearances include: Barney Ross, Gus Lesnevich, Abe Simon and Paolo Rossi

…Pink wallpaper. Pink rug. Pink Kleenex. Pink toilet seat. (circa 1990)

Although fiction, “Manchild” is more “faction” than fiction. In 1963, Doug Jones lost a highly contested bout with Cassius Clay in Madison Square Garden.

Headgear disinfects boxing – but some germs are good germs. Headgear dilutes boxing –an R-rated sport is now PG.

Dagge’s record is 26-5-1 with 15 KOs. (A knockout percentage of 470.)

Olivares currently sells his art. Walker enjoyed success as a primitive oil painter and Ali’s etchings have been displayed in NYC art galleries.

Davis, an Olympic Champ, was lightening in a bottle. He was a two-fisted warrior like Ramos, a tall and rangy savant like Breland, and a whirlwind wizard like Shomo.

Your Ranking

0-1 wrong—You’re a champion!

2-3 wrong—You’re a top contender!

4-6 wrong—You’re an up-and-coming challenger!

7-8 wrong—You’re a trial horse!

9-10 wrong—You’re a simon pure!

**One last Chance! **

Bonus question! (2 points)

All answers to this quiz are correct and not debatable because I:
Have wasted 40 years of my life hanging around New York City gyms
Am a former boxer.
Made this test.
All of the above.

Answer: d

Thank you, boxing fans, for your cooperation. You’re dismissed.