Weighty Issues: Boxing's Latest Epidemic

Published

13 years ago

March 28, 2012

125481399 extra large It used to be that a pre-fight weigh-in was merely a formality. Sure, it did have official implications by ensuring that the fighters were on weight, but that was once a given. It served mainly as one last means of publicizing a fight, a chance for fans and analysts to size up the combatants at a glance, and maybe even one final round of filibustering and psychological gamesmanship between rivals. All this was a prelude to the competitive suspense that would soon take place in the ring.

However, weigh-ins have lately taken on their own brand of suspense, as was demonstrated by the weigh-in for this past weekend's matchup between Erik Morales and Danny Garcia. The question now is whether a fighter will even bother to make the contracted weight. In Morales' case, the answer was a unequivocal “no,” as Morales weighed in a full two pounds over the agreed-upon weight of 140 pounds and declined any further attempts to make the contracted limit.In regards to his failure to make weight, Morales is quoted as saying “If I tried to make the weight by taking off those two pounds it would have really affected me in the fight.”

As disappointing as it was to see a respected warrior like Morales cavalierly handle such a grievous breach of boxing ethics, it is even more disturbing to see that it is a trend which is occurring with alarming frequency. Over the past few years, some of boxing's A-list stars have demonstrated a propensity for failing to make weight prior to major fights.The list of offenders is a long, but an abbreviated list includes Jose Luis Castillo, Joan Guzman, Floyd Mayweather, Nate Campbell, Brandon Rios, and the aforementioned Erik Morales.In almost every case involving these fighters, the penalty instituted was monetary and the fights were allowed to go on after being given the OK from the opponent. In reality, surrendering a portion of one's purse is of little consequence when considering the potentially huge competitive edge of not having to sweat off the last few pounds. It seems that this trade-off is an appealing one to many fighters, which is why it seems to be happening with increasing regularity.

The fact that the stars of the sport appear to be getting away with this with relatively little punishment has sent the message to younger fighters that making weight is of little importance, as was grossly illustrated recently by former U.S. Olympian Shawn Estrada, who weighed a completely absurd 22 pounds over the contracted 174-pound weight limit for his fight against Terrance Woods.

This recent epidemic of overweight fighters should have fans and officials up in arms. In modern sports, attempts to gain unfair competitive advantages have been met with outcries for reform. The most common example is performance enhancing drugs. Any athlete in any sport who becomes linked to PEDs becomes branded with a scarlet letter. Fans recognize that there is an honesty in athletic competition which cannot be compromised. Obtaining an unfair edge over one's opponent soils the beauty of the human drama inherent in sports. The increased attention in the past decade to preserving the purity of competition via stricter testing and regulation is a testament to the importance of keeping a level playing field for competitors in all walks of athletic competition.

In boxing, fighters who do not (or, worst case scenario, refuse to) make weight can gain a similar edge over their opponent as one who takes an illegal performance enhancing substance; the offending fighter is benefited by having physical advantages that their opponent can neither anticipate nor prepare for and, worse yet, can put the opponent's health and safety in jeopardy. There are certainly assumed risks that come with combat sports such as boxing, but these risks need not be exacerbated by fighters who demonstrate recklessly negligent behavior by weighing in above an agreed-upon limit.

A modern parable which illustrates this point is the 2005 rematch between Jose Luis Castillo and the late Diego Corrales. The first Corrales-Castillo matchup was one of the great all-time wars in the history of boxing, with both fighters giving and taking punishment in equal measure. The highly-anticipated rematch promised more competitive fireworks. Then, things got interesting. Castillo failed to make weight on three separate attempts, with his lowest weight being 138 ½ pounds, well over the 135-pound lightweight limit. At that point, ball was in Corrales' court. He could fight Castillo despite the fact that Castillo didn't make weight, or he could walk away, leaving untold numbers of disappointed fans and a career-high payday in his wake. After Castillo agreed to surrender 10% of his $1.2 million purse, Corrales chose to fight on, and ended up paying for it. The same two fighters who waged a hellacious battle the first time around failed to create the same level of drama in the rematch. The bigger and stronger Castillo dominated Corrales en route to a fourth round knockout victory. The only fighter who fulfilled his professional obligations prior to the fight was Corrales, and he was rewarded with a concussive loss. Something about that seems more than a little unjust. Apparently, though, Corrales learned from the experience as he walked away from a rubber match months later when Castillo again failed to make weight. Castillo, though, seemed to learn very little from those experiences, as he came in overweight for a scheduled fight against Jose Cotto on the Morales-Garcia undercard this past weekend.

Much is made of the unprofessional aspect of a fighter's failure to make a stipulated weight, and, yes, it is poor form when a fighter throws the entire promotion in jeopardy as a result of failing to live up to contractual obligations. Greater still are the ethical implications of the offense.

A fighter who fails to make weight is giving the ultimate middle finger to his opponent, the fans, and the sport. The offending boxer is, in essence, saying to his opponent “I don't give a damn that you had to pay the price to make weight. I don't respect you enough to do the same.” It forces the opponent to make a decision that no fighter should have to face: whether they should compromise their safety or a (usually very needed) paycheck. Weeks of physical and mental preparation hinge on a catch-22 scenario. It is simply wrong to put a fighter in that situation, and mutual respect between combatants should prevent it from ever occurring. Whether a fighter stands to make a million dollars or a hundred is irrelevant. Failing to make weight is an insult to a boxer's opponent and to the long tradition of fighters who have sacrificed of themselves for the love of the sport.

Something clearly needs to be done to stop the spread of this latest epidemic in boxing. It is quite evident that the current system of fines and purse forfeiture is doing little to buck the trend of fighters coming in overweight. Higher percentages of earnings need to be forfeited and suspensions need to be levied in order to serve as a deterrent for fighters who view making weight as optional. A strong message needs to be sent that contractual weights are taken seriously and that failure to honor those obligations will be considered a severe offense. This is an issue that is relatively easy to enforce but, like so many other problems in boxing, is drawing little attention in the way of serious reform. The way things are currently run, it is only a matter of time before a ring tragedy results from this issue. Regrettably, tragic circumstances are almost a prerequisite in boxing before actions are taken to right a lingering wrong.

Boxing has never been an honest sport. As long as there have been fighters, corruption has been following them like a specter in the background. There are few things that a fighter can be assured of in this game. Betrayals, scandals, and improprieties in boxing play out more like the plotline of a telenovela than a regulated and sanctioned sport. Heck, a fighter can't even be guaranteed that the officials appointed to a bout are going to treat them fairly, so it's fairly obvious that little in the sport can be taken for granted.One of the few variables that can be regulated fairly, however, is weight. It's simple. It's standardized. It involves no subjectivity. There is no guesswork involved. On top of that, fighters used to carry themselves like fighters. A deal was a deal, and a real sportsman honored the arranged terms of competition.

Sadly, this is no longer the case. A fighter cannot trust that his opponent will adhere to the code of honor once so reverently held. The me-first selfishness that has overtaken athletics is revealing itself at the scale in the Sweet Science. The fact is that there are selfish punks parading as prizefighters who don't feel that the rules apply to them. Honor is becoming an archaic notion, and the fighter's ethos is slowly becoming obsolete. This is yet another sad reminder that the sport of boxing as we once knew it is gradually slipping away. Only this time, the blame cannot be placed on governing bodies, promotional kingpins, inept officials, or other external factors so commonly cited for their toxic impact on the fight game. This time, the wound is being inflicted from within.

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History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Arne K. Lang

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

This reporter was rummaging around the internet last week when he stumbled on a story in the May 1950 issue of Ebony under the byline of Mike Jacobs. Boxing was then in the doldrums (isn’t it always?) and Jacobs, the most powerful promoter in boxing during the era of Joe Louis, was lassoed by the editors of the magazine to address the question of whether the over-representation of black boxers was killing the sport at the box office.

This hoary premise had been kicking around even before the heyday of Jack Johnson, bubbling forth whenever an important black-on-black fight played to a sea of empty seats as had happened the previous year when Chicago’s Comiskey Park hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Jacobs ridiculed the hypothesis – as one could have expected considering the publication in which the story ran – and singled out three “colored” boxers as the best of the current crop of active pugilists: Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, and Freddie Dawson.

Sugar Ray Robinson? A no-brainer. Skill-wise the greatest of the great. Even those that didn’t follow boxing, would have recognized his name. Ike Williams? Nowhere near as well-known as Robinson, but he was then the reigning lightweight champion, a man destined to go into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990.

And Freddie Dawson? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, dear reader, you are not alone. I confess that I too drew a blank. And that triggered a search to learn more about him.

Freddie Dawson had four fights with Ike Williams. All four were staged on Ike’s turf in Philadelphia. Were this not the case, the history books would likely show the series knotted 2-2. Late in his career, Dawson became greatly admired in Australia. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Dawson was born in 1924 in Thomasville, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in the Arkansas Delta. Likely a descendent of slaves who worked in the cotton plantations, he grew up in the so-called Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.

The first mention of him in the newspapers came in 1941 when he won Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) featherweight title. In those days, amateur boxing was big in the Windy City, the birthplace of the Golden Gloves. The Catholic Archdiocese, which ran gyms in every parish, and the Chicago Parks Department, were the major incubators.

In his amateur days, he was known as simply Fred Dawson. As a pro, his name often appeared as Freddy Dawson, although Freddie gradually became the more common spelling.

Dawson, who stood five-foot-six and was often described as stocky, made his pro debut on Feb. 1, 1943, at Marigold Gardens. Before the year was out, he had 16 fights under his belt, all in Chicago and all but two at Marigold. (Currently the site of an interdenominational Christian church, Marigold Gardens, on the city’s north side, was Chicago’s most active boxing and wrestling arena from the mid-1930s through the early-1950s. Joe Louis had three of his early fights there and Tony Zale was a fixture there as he climbed the ladder to the world middleweight title.)

The last of these 16 fights was fatal for Dawson’s opponent who collapsed heading back to his corner after the fight was stopped in the 10^th round and died that night at a local hospital from the effects of a brain injury.

Dawson left town after this incident and spent most of the next year in New Orleans where energetic promoter Louis Messina ran twice-weekly shows (Mondays for whites and Fridays for blacks) at the Coliseum, a major stop on boxing’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit.

That same year, on Sept. 19, 1944, Dawson had his first encounter with Ike Williams. He was winning the fight when Ike knocked him out with a body punch in the fourth round.

The first and last meetings between Dawson and Ike Williams were spaced five years apart. In the interim, Freddie scored his two best wins, stopping Vic Patrick in the twelfth round at Sydney, NSW, and Bernard Docusen in the sixth round in Chicago.

The long-reigning lightweight champion of Australia, Patrick (49-3, 43 KOs) gave the crowd a thrill when he knocked Dawson down for a count of “six” in the penultimate 11^th round, but Dawson returned the favor twice in the final stanza, ending the contest with a punch so harsh that the poor Aussie needed five minutes before he was fit to leave the ring and would spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

Dawson fought Bernard Docusen before 10,000-plus at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 4, 1949. An 8/5 favorite, Docusen lacked a hard punch, but the New Orleans cutie had suffered only three losses in 66 fights, had never been stopped, and had extended Sugar Ray Robinson the 15-round distance the previous year.

Dawson dismantled him. Docusen managed to get back on his feet after Dawson knocked him down in the sixth, but he was in no condition to continue and the referee waived the fight off. Dawson was then vacillating between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and reporters wondered whether it would be Robinson or Ike Williams when Dawson finally got his well-earned title shot.

Sugar Ray wasn’t in his future. Here are the results of his other matches with Ike Williams:

Dawson-Williams II (Jan. 28, 1946) – The consensus on press row was 7-2-1 or 7-3 for Dawson, but the match was ruled a draw. “[The judges and referee] evidently saw [Williams] land punches that nobody else did,” said the ringside reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dawson-Williams III (Jan. 26, 1948) – Dawson lost a majority decision. The scores were 6-4, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. The decision was booed. Ike Williams then held the lightweight title, but this was a non-title fight. (It was tough for an outsider to get a fair shake in Philadelphia, home to Ike Williams’ co-manager Frank “Blinky” Palermo who would go to prison for his duplicitous dealings as a fight facilitator.)

Dawson-Williams IV (Dec. 5, 1949) – This would be Freddie Dawson’s only crack at a world title and he came up short. Ike Williams retained the belt, winning a unanimous decision. The fight was close – 8-7, 8-7, 9-6 – but there was no controversy.

Dawson made three more trips to Australia before his career was finished. On the first of these trips, he knocked out Jack Hassen, successor to Vic Patrick as the lightweight champion of Australia. A 1953 article in the Sydney Sunday Herald bore witness to the esteem in which Dawson was held by boxing fans in Australia: “None of our boxers could withstand his devastating attacks which not only knocked them out but also knocked years off their careers,” said the author. “It is doubtful whether any Australian boxer in any division could have beaten Dawson.”

Dawson had his final fights in the Land Down Under, finishing his career with a record of 103-14-4 while answering the bell for 962 rounds. Following what became his final fight, he had an eye operation in Sydney that was reportedly so intricate that it required a two-week hospital stay. He injured the eye again in Manila while sparring in preparation for a match with the welterweight champion of the Philippines, a match that had to be aborted because of the injury. Dawson then disappeared, by which we mean that he disappeared from the pages of the newspaper archives that allow us to construct these kinds of stories.

What about Freddie Dawson the man? A 1944 story about him said he was an outstanding all-around athlete, “a champion in all athletic undertakings – basketball, baseball, track and even jitterbugging.” A story in a Sydney paper as he was preparing to meet Vic Patrick informs us that he had two young children, ages 2 and 1, owned his own home in Chicago, and drove a two-year-old Cadillac. But beyond these flimsy snippets, Dawson the man remains elusive.

What we learned, however, is that he was one of the most underrated boxers to come down the pike in any era, a borderline Hall of Famer who ought not have fallen through the cracks. Inside the ring, this guy was one tough hombre.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

5 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

5 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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