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REST IN PEACE, SCOTT LeDOUX

Published

13 years ago

August 12, 2011

Scott-LeDoux-hi-res The ex fighter circa 2007.

He fought some of the best and brightest of heavyweights of a golden era, and if Scott LeDoux didn't win most of the big fights, his legacy will shine in another, more important area: he was a good man.

The Minnesota-born boxer, who retired in 1983 after a loss to Frank Bruno, with a 33-13-4 record, died Thursday at his home in Coon Rapids, MN. He was 62 years old, and had been battling Lou Gehrig's disease for three years.

LeDoux soldiered on in many a clubfight before he finally received the opportunity of his lifetime. On July 7, 180, LeDoux met WBC champion larry Holmes. The scrap took place on LeDoux' home turf, in Bloomington, Minnesota. The home court advantage wasn't enough to tip The Fighting Frenchman to the win; he succumbed via TKO in round seven.

The man always went down kicking, it must be said. He caused a ruckus when he thought he was jobbed by the judges in the second round of Don King's US Boxing Championship, a 1977 tournament which dissolved into allegations of fraud and grand juries. LeDoux charged at “winner” Johnny Boudreaux, who was being interviewed by Howard Cosell. ” Johnny said something about my mother so I tried to kick him in the face,” LeDoux recalled later. During the melee, Cosell's hairpiece came off its moorings, as a flying body pulled on Howard's headpiece, and the headpiece came off, taking the toupee with it.

LeDoux, though at times bitter at the wretched politics of the sport, fought on, and made his way up the ratings, the beneficiary of some soft touch wins. He hoped to pull a “Rocky” on Holmes, and that would have been a nice part of his story arc, as his wife Sandy was battling cancer and there were big medical bills to pay down. (Sandy, sadly, died in 1989. His second wife, Dolly, passed away in 1997. LeDoux leaves behind wife Carol; they married in 1996.)

There would be no Hollywood spin to the story that July night, as Holmes' jabbed LeDoux, age 31, into paralysis. The consummate fighter, he didn't whine after he took a whuppin. ''You see anybody with a gun at my back getting me into the ring?'' he said after the bout. ''Cleveland Denny had that choice. My wife can lose me and that's what we knew when we got into this business.''

Draws against Leon Spinks and Ron Lyle stood as high water marks on LeDoux' resume.

He stayed in the spotlight, to a degree, when he worked as a ref for the AWA wrestling organization in the mid 80s, and tried to spar with Mike Tyson, who paid him but didn't ask him to glove up. In 2004, the 55-year-old tried to lure George Foreman into a rematch of their 1976 bout, which Foreman won by KO3. Big George, also 55, passed.

He then made a leap into the political arena, also in 2004, winning a race for a seat on the Anoka County, Minnesota Board of County Commissioners, and did commentary for ESPN boxing. In 2006, he was appointed head of the state's boxing commission, and was lauded for doing much work for charities.

In 2008, he was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, the progressive, fatal, nemrodegenerative disease. The ex fighter was pugnacious in talking about the illness. “I'm living with ALS,” LeDoux, 60, said, “but I'm not going to die from it. This is my real heavyweight championship fight.”

In 2009, he told a writer, “I want my epitaph to say, 'Here lies Scott LeDoux, who was a good family man, a good father and a good friend.' “

Done.

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Michael Woods

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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