RASKIN’S RANTS: Stormy Weather Gives Way To Stormy Mayweathers

Published

14 years ago

August 29, 2011

Everyone on the east coast has a story about where they were and what they felt when the earthquake hit last Tuesday. Everyone on the west coast just wants them to shut the hell up. Everyone on the east coast has a story about what Hurricane Irene did or didn’t do to disrupt their lives. Everyone who lives in the southeastern corner of the U.S. just wants them to shut the hell up.

Was Irene an inconvenience? Sure. My family was in the middle of a vacation at the Jersey shore (the steroid-free, Snooki-free section, thank you very much) and we had to evacuate, and then on Saturday, due to tornado warnings, we had to carry the kids to the basement in the middle of the night. That’s about it. All these natural disasters combined weren’t even enough to make Andre Berto cancel a fight. So, to my fellow east coasters: Pick up your toppled lawn chairs and get over yourselves.

After all, there’s boxing to talk about. We start this week’s column with a one-email mailbag, and as you’ll see, the email was sent prior to last weekend’s fights, in response to my TSS piece on the pressure Teddy Atlas was facing in the Alexander Povetkin-Ruslan Chagaev fight:

Eric,

In your opinion, do you think Teddy Atlas is a Hall of Famer as a trainer? To me, I don’t think so. He’s great at self-promotion, positioning himself as the noble teacher and fountain of fistic ethics and high standards. But I see him as doing more to tear down fighters he’s trained than build them up. I see his work with Povetkin as a disaster in the making: taking a young fighter who could have been a great masterpiece (a la Freddie and Manny), and tearing him down so much that he’s lost any concept of what his ring identity is or should be, and thus Povetkin losing a career direction when that’s the very thing Teddy was supposed to be providing.

I expect Povetkin to win, but look unclear of who he is as a fighter.

—Bakari??P.S. Loved the Chekhov’s gun analogy. I say the gun backfires.

Bakari,

Your prediction wasn’t far off: Povetkin won, and finished strongly, but didn’t look like an improved fighter under Teddy’s tutelage—at least not yet. But there’s still time. This was a good learning experience, and maybe he’ll get in one or two more of them before challenging a Klitschko. Povetkin is a perfectly competent heavyweight, and in this era of incompetency, that might just make him the third best heavyweight in the world. Still, if he wants to beat a Klitschko, he ought to stall as long as possible, for two reasons: (1) Povetkin will gain experience and perhaps improve as a fighter; (2) the only way he beats a Klitschko is if they start to age and slow down.

But back to Teddy Atlas: Dare I say his unique brand of motivation (which led my four-year-old daughter, who watched the last three rounds with me, to ask, “Why is he always yelling?”) helped Povetkin in this fight? It was looking bleak for the Russian in round six, when he couldn’t get out of the way of Chagaev’s left hand, but he showed resolve and found the energy he needed to win most of the late rounds. So, good on Teddy. His methods don’t work for every fighter. But Povetkin seems to really believe in everything Atlas has to say, he seems to want to maximize his potential and learn and train hard, and this might just prove to be a productive partnership. By Povetkin winning this fight with Chagaev, he and Atlas took a huge stride toward making their decision to pass on a fight with Wlad Klitschko look prudent.

As for Atlas’ Hall of Fame potential, his career isn’t over, and if Povetkin becomes world heavyweight champion eventually, that helps his case. Still, the only major accomplishment on Teddy’s training resume is Michael Moorer’s win over Evander Holyfield. Other than Moorer, he hasn’t taken anyone to the top. So, no, I don’t think Atlas is a Hall of Fame trainer at this point.

However, I do 100 percent expect him to make the Hall of Fame because of the exposure he’s gained as a broadcaster (he’s been in our homes, on basic cable, every week for 13 years and counting) and as an ambassador for the sport. Whether you love or hate Atlas’ commentating style, it’s definitely padded his “fame” resume. The question is, under what category would he be inducted? Broadcasters are “Observers.” Trainers are “Non-Participants.” Technically, “Non-Participant” should cover both (and it used to before “Observer” was created several years back). I suppose this creates a slight complication for Atlas’ Hall of Fame case. But one way or another, he will get in—regardless of where Povetkin’s career goes from here.

And now, some more Povetkin-Chagaev thoughts and the rest of the Rants:

• Is there really a chance that Povetkin will fight Evander Holyfield next? Just when you thought the heavyweight division couldn’t sink any lower …

• This coming weekend, 47-year-old Al Cole faces Danny Williams. Just when you thought the heavyweight division couldn’t sink any lower …

• I don’t mind that Epix tape-delayed the broadcast of Saturday’s heavyweight fights by about 15 minutes (presumably because the fighters entered the ring in Erfurt, Germany ahead of schedule and Epix couldn’t start their telecast early), but I do mind the word “LIVE” on the corner of my screen when the fight isn’t, you know, live.

• Things I like about Robert Helenius: He’s an excellent finisher, he’s a fluid puncher, he has a quality nickname (“The Nordic Nightmare”), and he looks like Karl Hungus. Things I don’t like about Helenius: He’s a slow starter, and I’ve seen better physiques on bowlers. I know that boxing isn’t bodybuilding and there have been a lot of great heavyweights over the years who lacked muscle tone. But I still like my fighters to look like they’ve trained. In any case, Helenius is a heavyweight to keep an eye on, and there aren’t many of those.

• While both heavyweight fights on the Epix show were a little better than I expected them to be, the best fight of the weekend was a strawweight bout on Fox Deportes late Saturday night between Moises Fuentes and Raul Garcia. A knockdown apiece, a mild upset, gutsy efforts from both guys—what more can you ask for? (Besides to find a few men twice their size who can duplicate that drama.)

• Actually, on second thought, the best fight of the weekend was the one between Floyd “Not No Junior” Mayweather and Floyd Mayweather Sr. on HBO’s 24/7. It escalated quickly from “this feels like a performance for HBO’s cameras” to “so thaaaaat’s the way it is in their family.” When Big Floyd started dropping MF-bombs, you knew it was no act. And then came the best line, Little Floyd telling him “You couldn’t fight worth s—!” It was fascinating to watch Little Floyd’s bodyguards trying not to get too involved. You could almost see them thinking, “Normally, I’d beat this old man to a pulp and leave him on the curb, then let Floyd deal with a lawsuit later … but I’m not sure what the protocol is when it’s my boss’ dad.”

• By the way, the MF-bombs were intense but, to the viewing audience, harmless. I’m not sure the same can be said about the barely audible homophobic slur that “Money” slipped in there.

• I’ve heard some people claim that Victor Ortiz’s backstory is a complete fabrication, but even if that’s the case, it’s great for generating interest. You can’t watch Ortiz and his brother talk about their childhood and not be drawn in.

• In case you couldn’t infer it: I thought that was the most promising opening episode of a 24/7 series in a long time. Maybe even going all the way back to the original De La Hoya-Mayweather edition.

• Congratulations to Brian Kenny on his new gig with MLB Network and on 13 tremendous years driving the ESPN Friday Night Fights bus. What I’m about to write is based purely on personal conjecture, not on any inside information whatsoever, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see BK providing blow-by-blow on HBO’s new prospect-based boxing series next year. It just seems an obvious match now that he’s left ESPN.

• I’m already bored by the Bob Arum-Dana White feud. But I am curious to see how the upcoming MMA film “Warrior” does at the box office. If it’s a bigger hit than “The Fighter,” that will tell me that MMA has gained a meaningful mainstream foothold.

• Lost amid the discussion of how baseless Zab Judah’s formal complaint over the refereeing in the Amir Khan fight was: Why in the hell would Judah want a rematch with Khan? Damn, Zab. Take a hint.

• As he revealed last week in hopes of easing some of his legal difficulties, Floyd Mayweather’s partying lifestyle is only an act. In related news, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has revealed that his pursuit of a professional boxing career is only an act.

• There will be no new episode of Ring Theory (http://ringtheory.podbean.com) this week, as we take one of our occasional three-week breaks. We’ll return with a new episode either immediately after Labor Day, or the next time J-Woww’s face moves, whichever happens first.

Eric Raskin can be contacted at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRaskin and listen to new episodes of his podcast, Ring Theory, at http://ringtheory.podbean.com.

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Eric Raskin

‘Krusher’ Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’

Published

4 hours ago

April 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.

Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.

Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.

The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.

Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.

Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11^th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.

That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.

Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.

In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.

Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30^th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.

Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.

The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

24 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

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The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

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