Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Report: “This Is Beautiful”

Published

13 years ago

June 11, 2012

LN8I9289 At the June 10 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Thomas Hearns shows us those hands, which Ray Leonard said were the hardest he ever had to contend with. (photo by Teddy Blackburn)

CANASTOTA, N.Y. — Philadelphia-based promoter J Russell Peltz, a 2007 inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, once described the IBHOF, as well as its placement in this pastoral village, as “boxing heaven.”

References to the celestial afterlife were plentiful throughout the four-day annual celebration of fights and fighters. The 23^rd annual Induction Weekend ceremonies – a bit of misnomer when you consider the festivities always begin on a Thursday – were, as usual, a festive time for honorees and fans alike, with devotees of the pugilistic arts traveling from as far away as Australia to soak in the upstate New York hospitality and the chance to mingle with ring greats. The primary draw in the 13-member Class of 2012, including six living inductees, was the legendary Thomas “The Hit Man” Hearns, whose big day drew two of his most celebrated opponents and fellow Hall of Famers, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. The five-division former world champion from Detroit was joined on the dais here Sunday afternoon by former flyweight and super flyweight champion Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, trainer Freddie Roach, broadcaster Al Bernstein, ring announcer Michael Buffer and journalist Michael Katz.

“This is beautiful,” a beaming Hearns said as he surveyed the throng that had come to pay him tribute.

But the good times that are always had by all seemed just a bit muted by the absence of six Hall of Famers who have died since the 2011 enshrinement activities, which drew a record crowd thanks to the superstar presences of Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez and actor Sylvester Stallone, the movies’ Rocky Balboa.

Among those who were given the ceremonial 10-count were trainer Angelo Dundee (Class of 1992) and author/editor/raconteur Bert Randolph Sugar (Class of 2005), who returned to Canastota on almost an annual basis to greet fans, perch on the back seats of convertibles for the feel-good parade down Canastota’s short, picturesque main drag, and to oblige virtually everyone seeking an autograph or a photo op. As the beloved Dundee always said, it doesn’t cost anything more to be nice. Angelo and Sugar leave behind thousands of close friends, many of whom they might have only met for a minute or two.

“My father and Bert had a gift for making everyone they met feel special,” said Jim Dundee, Angelo’s son, who as best he could filled in for his dad, who not only was the chief second in the corners of Muhammad Ali and Leonard, but was maybe the friendliest, most accommodating individual ever to walk the earth.

As much as every inductee into the IBHOF, or any Hall of Fame (the baseball one is in Cooperstown, N.Y., a little more than an hour away by car), would like to believe that their selection ensures a degree of immortality, even the best of the best must accept the inevitability of death and taxes. Hall of Famers die off as fast, or faster, as new ones are minted, an annual revision of the roster of the living and the dearly departed is as expected as the changing of the seasons. When another visitor whose appearances here have come with clockwork regularity, 85-year-old Carmen Basilio, arrived late in the program, there were murmurs in the crowd that the health concerns of the one Hall of Famer with the deepest ties to Canastota – the “Onion Farmer” was born and raised here – somehow might have worsened.

Of course, boxing being what it is, there is a third inevitability—the dubious decision — that was revisited on Saturday night, and one that cast a pall over Sunday’s sun-splashed glory just off Exit 34 of the New York Thruway. The split verdict that went against Manny Pacquiao and in favor of Timothy Bradley Jr., who took possession of Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight championship in faraway Las Vegas, was widely assailed as another stain on a frequently soiled sport, and a reminder that even the best of the best fighters, including future Hall of Famers, are occasionally subject to malfeasance by pencil. If nothing else, Pacquiao’s upset defeat probably fired a couple of torpedoes into the already listing vessel holding hopes of someday pairing the Filipino icon with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“It’ll probably happen again and again and again,” the always acerbic Katz, noting that the vast majority of media and fans attending the Pacquiao-Bradley scrap had “Pac Man” winning easily, said of the high incidence of odious scoring during his acceptance remarks. Katz described the points nod for Bradley as the “worst decision since Dred Scott.”

As if to balance the scales for Roach’s hello/goodbye comments, which seemingly were compressed within the same breath, Buffer – the “Let’s get ready to rumble” man – waxed lyrical for 29 minutes, which easily surpassed what many considered to be the longest acceptance speech in IBHOF history. WBC president-for-life Jose Sulaiman officially droned on for 20 minutes in 2007, but it seemed like forever. To his credit, Buffer’s stories were much more interesting, and his voice decidedly more melodious.

“In the sport of boxing, I’m the only person in history to have ever been in the ring with Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas `The Hit Man’ Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson – and none of them were ever able to land a hand on me,” said Buffer, who also noted that he tried out such catchphrases as “Man your battle stations,” “Fasten your seat belts” and “Gentlemen, start your engines” before deciding that none worked as well as that rumbling tag.

Bernstein, a straightforward type whose delivery contains no catchphrases, said his approach to his craft is rooted in the simple belief that “being fair is more important than being clever.” He also stated, correctly, that the Hall of Fame was founded primarily to honor top-tier fighters.

“This is their house,” said Bernstein, who four days earlier accepted the BWAA’s Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award in New York City. “However, they are very generous in sharing this stage with others in a different category.”

Johnson, one of the youngest inductees ever into the IBHOF at 40, choked up a bit toward the end of his remarks, closing with, “This is truly, truly, truly a dream come true for me,” before lifting his eyes skyward and raising his arms above his head.

But the person most of those assembled came to hear on this day was Hearns, whose entertainment quotient was always high, be it in victory or defeat. With Hearns, fans knew they were in for something special, and he rarely disappointed.

“I prayed that I’d be able to go out and give you guys what you paid to see, each and every time I’d fight,” said Hearns, resplendent in a tan suit, light blue dress shirt and blue-and-gold tie.

Turning toward Leonard, who was seating just behind him, Hearns said, “Ray, together we made a lot of folks happy. And we made a lot of people sad, too.” That was clearly a reference to their 1981 superfight, in which Hearns was leading on points on all three judges’ scorecards through 13 rounds until a furious 14^th-round assault by Leonard catapulted him to a win by stoppage, thus disappointing Hearns loyalists.

During a Saturday ringside lecture, Leonard had praised Hearns as the hardest puncher he ever faced, by far. That statement was relayed to Hearns, who clearly appreciated the compliment.

“It was something I didn’t enjoy,” Leonard said of being on the receiving end of Hearns’ harder shots.

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Bernard Fernandez

Avila Perspective, Chap. 320: Women’s Hall of Fame, Heavyweights and More

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-320-Women's-Hall-of-Fame-Heavyweights-and-More

Many of the best female fighters of all time including Christy Martin, Laila Ali and others are gathering in the glitzy lights of Las Vegas this week.

Several hundred fans including current and former world champions are attending the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 4 and 5^th at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas.

It’s one of my favorite events.

Where else can you talk to the female pioneers and stars of the 1980s and 1990s?

The last time I attended two years ago, Germany’s super star Regina Halmich spoke to the packed house about her career in boxing. She and Daisy Lang were two female world champions who sold out arenas wherever they fought. The pair of blonde fighters proved that female prizefighting could succeed.

Many times, I debated with promoters who believed women’s boxing could not succeed in the USA. Though it was popular in Germany and Mexico, various organizers felt female boxing was not appealing to the American masses.

Now promoters and media networks know women’s boxing and women’s sports have crowd appeal.

Expected to attend the IWBHOF event at Orleans will be Mexico’s Jessica Chavez and Jackie Nava who will be inducted into the women’s hall of fame along with Vaia Zaganas of Canada among many others.

It’s also a gathering place for many of the top proponents of women’s boxing including the organizers of this event such as Sue Fox whose idea spawned the IWBHOF.

Each event is unique and special.

Many of my favorite people in boxing attend this celebration of women’s boxing. Stop by the Orleans Casino on the second floor. You won’t be disappointed.

Heavyweight prospects

Heavyweights take the forefront this weekend in two pivotal battles in different continents.

In England, a pair of contenders looking to maintain their footing in the heavyweight mountain will clash as Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) meets Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. DAZN will stream the event.

Both lost their last match and need a win to remain relevant. Joyce has lost his three of his last four, most recently coming up short in a riveting slugfest with Derek Chisora.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Nevada, two young heavyweights looking to crack contender status clash as undefeated Richard Torrez (12-0,11 KOs) fights Italy’s Guido Vianello (13-2-1,11 KOs) at the Palms Casino.

Both are Olympians who can crack and each can take a blow.

The winner moves up into contention and the other will need to scrape and claw back into relevance.

Coming up

April 12 in Atlantic City: Jarron Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) vs Eimantis Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) IBF welterweight title.

April 12 Albuquerque: Fernando Vargas Jr. (16-0) vs Gonzalo Gaston (23-7); Shane Mosley Jr. (22-4) vs DeAundre Pettus (12-4).

April 19 Oceanside, Calif: Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs). Also, Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs Jorge Garcia (32-4, 26 KOs).

April 26 Tottenham Stadium, London, England; Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) vs Liam Smith (33-4, 20 Kos).

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Joe Joyce (16-3) vs Filip Hrgovic (17-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 2:30 p.m. Richard Torrez (12-0) vs Guido Vianello (13-2-1).

Sat. AMAZON PRIME VIDEO 8:00 8 p.m. Tim Tszyu (24-2) vs. Joey Spencer (19-1)

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

Published

2 days 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

6 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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