Virgil Hunter, Trainer of the Year, Reveals Best Fighter in Ward Family

Published

13 years ago

February 8, 2012

WardAbrahamPrePC Hogan100 His Lordships Restaurant in Berkeley, Ca was the place we met with 2011 Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter to discuss his life’s work. The retired probation officer and trainer of the 2011 Fighter of the Year Andre Ward, was having lunch facing a backdrop overlooking the San Francisco Bay Bridge with over thirty retired colleagues that also worked in programs to help the troubled youth. Every month, Hunter meets with these old friends to relive old memories and talk shop.

During our visit, Hunter talked of being the generally recognized trainer of the year. In a reflective interview that speaks more of his commitment than accolades do, Hunter shows us where he paid his dues, tells how he broke ground in the fight game, explains the story of the best boxer in the Ward family.

RM: Virgil, congrats on being named the 2011 BWAA Trainer of the Year. What did you think when you heard the news?

VH: I am very thankful. But first, I want to make sure the coaching fraternity that I came up with from 1996 to 2004, guys like Barry Hunter, Leon Lawson, Tony Morrison, Kevin Cunningham, Nazeem Richardson, Joe Sanders, and Don Livingston, get recognition. We grew in a fraternity together. This award is as much for them as it is for me. We had all these world-class amateurs and people would always say when they turn pro somebody else would train them and take them to the next level. But we knew that wasn’t true. So, it’s not just for me, it is for all of them.

RM: How did you start training fighters and why?

VH: I started training fighters when I was working with the probation department. I always knew I could build a fighter. I was always involved in boxing all of my life you know. I never fought professionally but I fought a bit. And I took an apprenticeship course for three or four years, learning different methods from different trainers in the Oakland gyms.

RM: So what did you have to do during your time as an apprentice, carry a bucket?

VH: You carry a bucket. You help with the fighters. You deal with the fighters’ first-hand, help with fight plans. You wrap their hands for them, things of that nature. Basically you see the way these trainers deal with fighters. Each of them had their own way of doing it. As an apprentice, I had a chance to look at the fighters that they had and decide what was successful.

RM: Oakland boxing gyms?

VH: Yeah. I worked at the gyms in Oakland.

RM: Who were some of the trainers you learned from in Oakland?

VH: Guys like Bobby Warren, Jimmie Simmons, Charlie Smith, and Tiger Floyd. These trainers are legends in the Oakland area. They have been doing it for 40 or 50 years.

RM: Did you hit any bumps in the road when you got started on your own?

VH: So when I started, I had a few kids that were undefeated and had good records but I was getting them out of juvenile hall. I would get a few kids to 14-0 or 15-0 and something would always happen. You know, they already had bad habits. They already had outside influences that would conflict with our training. They had a lot of negatives. So it was mentally draining. One time I had a kid really going but then he went to jail for having an affair with his own mother. When that happened I said one promise. If I ever did it again it would be a young kid. I had little patience for older fighters. It had to be a young kid, around nine or ten years old. The goals were to have him successful early so when the temptations came along, he had the conscience to balance it. He had the conscience to stay on the right and know that if he went too far to the left then he would blow all that he built on the right. And it turned out that way when I met Andre.

RM: How old were these older fighters that you speak of?

VH: They were about 17 or 18 years old.

RM: So what does it take to grow from an apprentice to a trainer?

VH: You have to cut your teeth man. You have to take somebody that doesn’t know a left hook from a fish-hook and develop him from scratch. You can’t call the person that paints a house the house builder unless he paved the concrete, raised the foundation, and did the framework.

RM: Are you saying there is a misconception about trainers?

VH: The coaching fraternity is the coaching fraternity. I don’t want to divide it because someone didn’t start the way I started. I am not going to put any coach in a category because people start their apprenticeship in different ways. I’m just saying that I was able to develop a fighter from scratch. I know in my heart that I was always able to do that. And that’s the question you have to ask. ‘Could I develop a kid from scratch?’ It goes deeper than just the physical part of training. There are a lot of things that you have to cope with that goes on outside of boxing.

RM: Like what?

VH: It is about communication. When you are developing a young fighter you deal with a lot of emotions. There is no money on the line, only pride. When there is no money on the line and you see a kid give everything he has to win a trophy you learn different things. It gives you the advantage to look at where you started and learn from your mistakes.

RM: Right. So you started working with Andre Ward when he was nine years old. When did you start feeling like you saw something special?

VH: I knew after six months that if he stayed with it he would be great. I had a great feeling that when we came together it wasn’t for nothing. So I rode with it.

RM: Did you become Andre’s godfather when his father passed away?

VH: No, I was his godfather before his father passed away. There never was a ceremony or anything like that. We just spent a lot of time together. I became a second father to him you know. Godson has more than just a ceremony attached to it. I feel like he is my godson because God sent me another son. And God sent him another father. So it is more of a spiritual connection. We didn’t need a ceremony to confirm that title.

RM: OK. Did you have any doubts with Andre as a fighter? I mean, you spent a lot of time with the kid growing up. Did you ever feel like ‘man, what if this kid doesn’t pan out?’

VH: I had other fighters. I had Andre’s brother Jonathan. He was an amateur national champion with a record of 56-4. Jonathan is well-known in that fraternity. Actually, to be real about it, he had more talent than Andre.

RM: Yeah?

VH: Yeah. But he didn’t like to train. He won tournaments until he was 16. Then he wanted to do other things. But when he stopped he was 56-4. I had Karim Mayfield and Antawn Hicks as amateurs as well.

RM: Well, how did you know you were on the right path with Andre? We have talked in the past about some trainers getting a lack of respect. How did you know you were doing the right thing with Andre?

VH: Because I loved what I was doing and he made boxing fun. He had the same commitment as I did. So I was all the way in.

RM: Now, after all you have been through, you are the 2011 BWAA Trainer of the Year. Does it get any better than this?

VH: Well, it is a tremendous honor. And I’ll just say the goal is to shoot for the moon because if I miss I am still among the stars.

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WBA Feather Champ Nick Ball Chops Down Rugged Ronny Rios in Liverpool

Published

14 hours ago

October 5, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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In his first fight in his native Liverpool since February of 2020, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA title with a 10^th-round stoppage of SoCal veteran Ronny Rios. The five-foot-two “Wrecking Ball” was making the first defense of a world featherweight strap he won in his second stab at it, taking the belt from Raymond Ford on a split decision after previously fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a match that many thought Ball had won.

This fight looked like it was going to be over early. Ball strafed Rios with an assortment of punches in the first two rounds, and likely came within a punch or two of ending the match in the third when he put Rios on the canvas with a short left hook and then tore after him relentlessly. But Rios, a glutton for punishment, weathered the storm and actually had some good moments in round four and five.

The brother of welterweight contender Alexis Rocha and a two-time world title challenger at 122 pounds, Rios returned to the ring in April on a ProBox card in Florida and this was his second start after being out of the ring for 28 months. He would be on the canvas twice more before the bout was halted. The punch that knocked him off his pins in round seven wasn’t a clean shot, but he would be in dire straits three rounds later when he was hammered onto the ring apron with a barrage of punches. He managed to maneuver his way back into the ring, but his corner sensibly threw in the towel when it seemed as if referee Bob Williams would let the match continue.

The official time was 2:06 of round ten. Ball improved to 21-0-1 (12 KOs). Rios, 34, declined to 34-5.

Semi-wind-up

A bout contested for a multiplicity of regional 140-pound titles produced a mild upset when Jack Rafferty wore down and eventually stopped Henry Turner whose corner pulled him out after the ninth frame.

Both fighters were undefeated coming in. Turner, now 13-1, was the better boxer and had the best of the early rounds. However, he used up a lot of energy moving side-to-side as he fought off his back foot, and Rafferty, who improved to 24-0 (15 KOs), never wavered as he continued to press forward.

The tide turned dramatically in round eight. One could see Turner’s legs getting loggy and the confidence draining from his face. The ninth round was all Rafferty. Turner was a cooked goose when Rafferty collapsed him with four unanswered body punches, but he made it to the final bell before his corner wisely pulled him out. Through the completed rounds, two of the judges had it even and the third had the vanquished Turner up by 4 points.

Other Bouts of Note

In a lightweight affair, Jadier Herrera, a highly-touted 22-year-old Cuban who had been campaigning in Dubai, advanced to 16-0 (14 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Oliver Flores (31-6-2) a Nicaraguan southpaw making his UK debut. After two even rounds, Herrera put Flores on the deck with a left to the solar plexus. Flores spit out his mouthpiece as he lay there in obvious distress and referee Steve Gray waived the fight off as he was attempting to rise. The end came 30 seconds into round three.

In a bantamweight contest slated for 10, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain (13-1, 12 KOs) dismissed Colombia’s Lazaro Casseres at the 1:48 mark of the second round.

A stablemate and sparring partner of Nick Ball, Cain knocked Casseres to the canvas in the second round with a short uppercut and forced the stoppage later in the round when he knocked the Colombian into the ropes with a double left hook. Casseres. 27, brought an 11-1 record but had defeated only two opponents with winning records.

In a contest between super welterweights, Walter Fury pitched a 4-round shutout over Dale Arrowsmith. This was the second pro fight for the 27-year-old Fury who had his famous cousin Tyson Fury rooting him on from ringside. Stylistically, Walter resembles Tyson, but his defense is hardly as tight; he was clipped a few times.

Arrowsmith is a weekend warrior and a professional loser, a species indigenous to the British Isles. This was his twenty-fourth fight this year and his 186^th pro fight overall! His record is “illuminated” by nine wins and 10 draws.

A Queensberry Promotion, the Ball vs Rios card aired in the UK on TNT Sports and in the US on ESPN+.

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Alimkhanuly TKOs Mikhailovich and Motu TKOs O’Connell in Sydney

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Alimkhanuly-TKOs-Mikhailovich-and-Motu-TKOs-O'Connell-in-Sydney

IBF/WBO world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, generally regarded as the best of the current crop of middleweights, retained his IBF title today in Sydney, Australia, with a ninth-round stoppage of game but overmatched Andrei Mikhailovich. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round nine.

Favored in the 8/1 range although he was in a hostile environment, Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Mikhailovich to a pulp in the second round and knocked him down with one second remaining in the frame, but Mikhailovich survived the onslaught and had several good moments in the ensuing rounds as he pressed the action. However, Alimkhanuly’s punches were cleaner and one could sense that it was only a matter of time before the referee would rescue Mikhailovich from further punishment. When a short left deposited Mikhailovich on the seat of his pants on the lower strand of rope, the ref had seen enough.

Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, was making his first start since October of last year. He and Mikhailovich were slated to fight in Las Vegas in July, but the bout fell apart after the weigh-in when the Kazakh fainted from dehydration.

Owing to a technicality, Alimkhanuly’s WBO belt wasn’t at stake today. Although he has expressed an interest in unifying the title –Eislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC) are the other middleweight belt-holders — Alimkhanuly is big for the weight class and it’s a fair assumption that this was his final fight at 160.

The brave Mikhailovich, who was born in Russia but grew up in New Zealand after he and his twin brother were adopted, suffered his first pro loss, declining to 21-1.

Semi-wind-up

Topping the flimsy undercard was a scheduled 8-rounder between Mikhailovich’s stablemate Mea Motu, a 34-year-old Maori, and veteran Australian campaigner Shannon O’Connell, 41. The ladies share eight children between them (Motu, trained by her mother in her amateur days, has five).

A clash of heads in the opening round left O’Connell with a bad gash on her forehead. She had a big lump developing over her right eye when her corner threw in the towel at the 1:06 mark of round four.

Motu (20-0, 8 KOs) was set to challenge IBF/WBO world featherweight champion Ellie Scotney later this month in Manchester, England, underneath Catterall-Prograis, but that match was postponed when Scotney suffered an injury in training. Motu took this fight, which was contested at the catchweight of 125 pounds, to stay busy. O’Connell, 29-8-1, previously had a cup of coffee as a WBA world champion (haven’t we all).

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

Published

3 days ago

October 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

A small brigade of Mexican and Latino-American fighters gathered at the beautiful Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Their mission: to export Mexican style fighting to the Saudi Arabia desert.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defends the WBA cruiserweight title against WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith and they will be joined by several other top Golden Boy Promotion fighters on Nov. 16 at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy and BOXXER promotions card called “The Venue Riyadh Season.”

Mexican fighters are known worldwide for their ferocity and durability. Ramirez, a former super middleweight champion, surprised many with his convincing win over former champion Arsen Goulamirian last March.

Now Ramirez seeks to unify the cruiserweight titles against United Kingdom’s Smith who has never fought outside of his native country.

“I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16,” said Ramirez.

Smith has a similar goal.

“This opportunity for me is huge,” said Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before.”

The cruiserweights will be joined by two top super lightweight warriors who’ve been itching to face each other like a pair of fighting roosters.

Arnold Barboza, an undefeated super lightweight contender from Los Angeles, has been chasing top contenders and world champions for the past six years. Former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez simply wants action and a return to elite status.

“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened,” said Barboza. “I want to give credit and thanks to Oscar, he’s a man of his word. When I signed to Golden Boy, he said he was going to give me this fight.”

“It’s honorable Barboza saying he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on,” said Ramirez.

Others on the Riyadh fight card include Puerto Rico’s WBO minimumweight world titlist Oscar Collazo defending against Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, along with Oscar Duarte and lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.

One fighter missing from the card is Charles Conwell, the super welterweight contender they recently signed earlier in the year. He last performed on the Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk clash in Las Vegas.

Conwell has similar talent to those two.

And what about the women fighters”

Yokasta Valle recently re-signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What is her next scheduled fight? She was spotted facing up against Australia’s Lulu “Bang, Bang” Hawton at a fight card. Is that on the horizon?

West Coast venues

Speaking of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, its just a few buildings north of the Belasco Theater where Golden Boy was staging its club shows for several years.

A majority of the boxing media favored that location for its cozy atmosphere and proximity to LA Live. A number of prospects that developed into contenders and world champions fought there including Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ryan Garcia, Joshua Franco, and Oscar Duarte.

On any given fight night celebrities like Mario Lopez, George Lopez and others would show up in the small venue that held several hundred fans in its ornate theater setting.

The Mayan Theater and Belasco Theater are still open for business. According to one source, LA Laker owner Jeannie Buss stages a pro wrestling show at one of those theaters.

World title fight

England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 5, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Starting time for the Queensberry and Top Rank promotion card is 11 a.m. PT.

Ball was last seen nearly toppling WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas but lost last March. He then defeated Ray Ford for the WBA title

Fights to Watch

Fri. ESPN+ 2 a.m. PT Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) vs Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0)

Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. PT Nick Ball (20-0-1) vs Ronny Rios (34-4)

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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