Articles

FOLSTAD Gives Two Thumbs Up To New Book By Steve Canton

Published

10 years ago

May 15, 2014

The sad legend of Clyde Mudgett is a gruesome tale about foolish stunts, bad ideas, poor planning and an ex-fighter who was down on his luck and decided the best way to help him out of his poverty was to rob the Anderson Meat Company of its prime beef during closing hours.

A fair pro fighter with a record of 21-15 with 14 KOs, Mudgett was pretty well done with his career when he came up with the idea to steal meat from a butcher shop in Minneapolis by sliding down the shop’s chimney at night during closing hours. Apparently, the cost of beef was a little steep.

So Mudgett came up with a plan to tie himself to a rope and slide down 50 feet of a chimney late at night hoping to gather a few steaks and tender chops and get away with enough meat to carry him through the tough times.

It seemed like a feasible crime to Mudgett, who wasn’t really much of a thief, but just a guy looking for an easy way to help feed himself.

Things probably seemed to be going pretty smoothly at first. But then Mudgett squeezed into a tight spot and was suddenly stuck inside the chimney, unable to move up or down.

That would have been OK except that it was in April of 1983 and the meat company’s heater kicked in when the temperature dropped. After all, it was Minneapolis.

“Clyde had displayed incredible short-sightedness by grossly underestimating the amount of rope he needed to descend the chimney by almost twenty feet,” Steve Canton writes in his new book, “Steve Canton’s Tributes, Memories and Observations of the Sweet Science.”

Canton writes, “The investigation (later) concluded that while coming to the end of his rope, (both literally and figuratively), Clyde must have gotten wedged against the narrow walls of the chimney and was unable to go farther down and was powerless to climb back up.”

When recovered later, the body was said to be completely mummified. On top of that, the plant owners said that on that particular night, there was nothing in the plant worth stealing.

But that’s not the end of the story. The meat processing plant was later turned into Glancey’s Boxing Gym by owner and boxing trainer Jim Glancey.

Hoping to keep gym costs down, Glancey moved into the apartment above the gym and it wasn’t long before he began to hear noises coming from downstairs late at night. It sounded like someone banging on the heavy bag or hitting the speed bag. Glancey checked it out, but didn’t find anything.

But then, even during gym hours, some of Glancey’s fighters claimed they felt someone touch them on the shoulder when there was no one near them.

Most believe it was the ghost of Clyde Mudgett.

Mudgett is just one of the characters in Canton’s book. As the title says, it’s all about fighters and their quirks and their personalities and how they dealt with both winning and losing.

What sets this book apart from most other boxing books is that Canton actually knows or knew most of the fighters he writes about. And he has photos of just about all of them. The book includes more than 550 photographs, most from Canton’s private collection, acquired after spending more than 50 years in the fight game, most of that time spent as a trainer.

Canton was close friends to many of the fighters and trainers he writes about, including late legends like Angelo Dundee, Emanuel Steward, Carmen Basilio, Hector Camacho, Ken Norton, Bert Sugar, Johnny Bos, Ezra Sellers, Don Fullmer, Joe Souza, Joe Frazier and others. Many others.

Al Bernstein did the book’s forward, writing, “Despite its diverse nature, this book does have one connecting message – that boxing is a unique and special sport that is populated by some amazing and fascinating people. I’m here to tell you that message is accurate and well delivered in this fine book.”

“Fascinating stories of fascinating people whose deeds and accomplishments have vividly come back to life,” wrote former world champion Roy Jones, Jr.

“One of the best boxing books I have ever read,” said Harold Lederman of HBO Sports. “Fabulous boxing stories about so many of my heroes, both in the ring and out of it. This book brought me back to guys like Billy Bello, Ezra Sellers, Emanuel Steward, Billy Joiner and so many others. A fabulous work, with incredible photos. You won’t be able to put it down once you open the front cover.”

Canton knows what he’s talking about. He’s been involved in boxing since he was 11, and has traveled the world, thanks to the sweet science.

“Steve Canton’s excellent boxing essays cover a wide variety of fistic topics ranging from boxing’s early days to the present,” says Dan Cuoco , director, International Boxing Research Organization. “Canton, who has spent a lifetime in boxing as a boxer, trainer, cutman, promoter, commentator, writer and historian, draws on that experience with stories of great depth, detail and passion. A must read.”

Some of the book’s chapters are “Formus White: the Greatest Amateur I Ever Saw; Davey Moore: 50 Years Later and Still Champ; Freeman Barr: The Natural; Tommy Tucker: Forgotten Prize Fighter; Esteban De Jesus: Triumph and Tragedy; Emanuel Steward: Everybody’s Best Friend; and Why There are So Few Great Fighters Today.

Canton doesn’t duck any of the tough issues that haunt boxing today. One of the chapters in his book is entitled “My Pet Peeves in Boxing,” and the list includes 16 things Canton believes need to be changed or at least addressed in boxing.

The list of pet peeves starts with fighters wearing their cups too high; announcers and commentators calling a TKO a knockout; 12-round world title fights instead of 15 rounds; slippery logos on the ring canvas; having a referee continuously slap down a fighter’s arms, push them, and constantly break them up for no reason; and day before weigh-ins instead of same-day weigh-ins, which is my biggest pet peeve.

Is Canton old school? You bet he is. And so is his book.

It’s just what the fight game needs.

To purchase the book go to www.sjcboxing.com or click on the link: http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/sjcboxing/book.html

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Rick Folstad

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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