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Five Years Later – Ring Magazine All-Star Report Card Revisited (Part One)

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photoSorting through one of my old dresser drawers, I found an old Ring Magazine from 2007. Before tossing it in the trash (I try not to be a packrat), I noticed it happened to be the issue from exactly five years about this month, September 2007.

Moreover, I noticed it included the 2007 All Star Report Card, an article intended to grade the very elite of the sport and forecast where their careers might be headed. I thought it’d be interesting to have a look at who those folks were then versus whom they turned out to be. The report card for 2007 was written by Gavin Evans.

He notes the list was “compiled according to talent, achievement, marketability, support system and growth potential” of the boxers. A total of twenty fighters made the list. Notable absences are two historically excellent fighters who were ranked in the magazine’s top ten pound-for-pound list at the time, Marco Antonio Barrera and Winky Wright.

Part one of this TSS special will focus on the first ten fighters listed in piece, starting at the top with the heavyweights and moving on down. Interestingly enough, there were three heavyweights listed in the report (and only one of them was a Klitschko).

Despite being dropped a total of eleven times in his three losses, Wladimir Klitschko is noted as rating “several levels above his rival titleholders.” Evans goes on to note a likely bright future for the then 31-year-old IBF titleholder, calling him a “clean liver” who should “press hard for a unification bout” so that he can consolidate his status as the best heavyweight in the world. Of course, Klitschko did just that and still holds all major title belts in the division, save the WBC belt his elder brother, Vitali, wears around his waist. Overall, the younger Klitschko has established himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight champions of all-time. He’s won sixteen bouts in a row since his 2004 loss to Lamon Brewster, which he avenged, and he has defended some version of the heavyweight crown in his last twelve of them.

Former heavyweight titleholder Sam Peter was apparently at his peak in 2007. Not only is he actually listed in article as an elite, but he’s praised as a “fitter and faster” fighter who had become a “far more rounded boxer” in his rematch win against James Toney. Evans notes Peters brief amateur career being offset by his tremendous power, and that “there could be a good deal more to come, provided he doesn’t revert to the lackadaisical training approach of his past.” The highlight of Peter’s career came soon after the article was published when he defeated Oleg Maskaev in 2008 to win the WBC heavyweight title. Later that year, Vitali Klitschko came back from a four year hiatus to dominate Peter for the belt in just eight rounds. He was never the same fighter after, whether it was from a lackadaisical training regimen or overall talent issue.

Ruslan Chagaev made the cut as well. Evans notes Chagaev as a “hard-hitting, well-schooled box-fighter of considerable potential”. The WBA titleholder at the time, Chagaev was undefeated, his one blemish being a disputed technical draw early in his career to Rob Calloway. Chagaev was struggling to make a name for himself with U.S. fight fans in 2007 and never really seemed to do be successful with it after either. He remained an unknown quantity stateside as his career progressed, but he did secure a heavyweight title unification bout with Wladimir Klitschko in 2009 to re-establish the perhaps-then-more-important Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, which hadn’t been crowned since big brother Vitali had momentarily paused his career in 2004. The bout was streamed online via ESPN during the day and probably should have been a bigger draw than it turned out to be, but Chagaev proved no match for Klitschko anyway. He was knocked out in round number nine in a largely one-sided affair. To his credit, Chagaev is still active and successful, his only other loss coming against undefeated slugger Alexander Povetkin via decision. He is perhaps most notable for his nickname, “The White Tyson” as well as his burly chest hair, a rarity in the sport these modern days.

Light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins was an old fighter then, too. Hopkins was 42 at the time, and readers were warned to not be surprised “if he presses on.” He has, of course, done just that, likely far longer than anyone at Ring Magazine foresaw at the time. In 2007, Hopkins had just moved up to light heavyweight to defeat Antonio Tarver in what was then his most shocking victory to date. Fans were looking forward to his pending showdown with fellow pound-for-pound elite Winky Wright, who Hopkins would go on to defeat later in the year. Evans notes “The Executioner was once a rugged, dirty brawler, but gradually transformed himself into a safety-first, dirty, boxer who paces himself carefully and boxes defensively.” Hopkins used that style, along with his “phenomenal conditioning” to solidify his status as one of the best fighters of the era. He upset Kelly Pavlik, bested rival Roy Jones, Jr. in a long awaited rematch, and in 2011, at age 46, scored an impressive victory over Jean Pascal to earn the distinction of being the oldest boxer to ever win a world title. Amazingly enough, Hopkins is still active and looking for another big fight after his most recent setback, a decision loss to light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson.

People were wondering what to do with super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe in 2007. The Welshman was “unbeaten but untested at the truly elite level”. Sure, he had thrashed up-and-comer Jeff Lacy, but fight fans and boxing media wanted to see him tangle with the very best. Calzaghe would only fight three more times in his career, but they were just the fights he needed to cap his undefeated career as a true elite. Calzaghe used his cache of “blistering speed, dazzling combination punching, along with superior timing” to best fellow notables Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. Calzaghe retired in 2008 without a blemish on his pristine record and a legitimate claim to being one of the best 168lbers ever.

Fellow European Mikkel Kessler was considered by some at the time to be “the number one boxer in continental Europe” in 2007. In fact, many thought Kessler was on his way to superstardom. After all, he was “strong, hard-hitting with both hands” and possessed “an extremely solid jab.” Kessler was given credit for taking the toughest challenges he could find. He defeated Anthony Mundine, Librado Andrade and Julio Cesar Green, and he was a huge draw in both his home country of Denmark as well as Germany. Evans called for Kessler to “secure a fight with Calzaghe then win it” to unleash his full potential as a boxing mega-draw. Kessler did half that, securing the fight that very same year but losing a unanimous decision. Still, Kessler has only lost to the very best fighters he’s faced thus far (Calzaghe and Andre Ward), and he is still an active and important fighter in the sport. In his last fight, Kessler moved up to light heavyweight (where some believe his future lies) to dominate Allan Green in just four rounds.

The middleweight champion of the world at the time, Jermain Taylor, was identified as “one of those rare fighters whose reputation actually seemed to diminish after winning the world title”. He had defended the title he won by close decision over Bernard Hopkins four times up to that point, but was noted for really needing “an exciting win over Kelly Pavlik to make the leap” to superstardom. He did engage in an exciting bout with Pavlik, but lost by TKO 7 and again by decision in the rematch. Since then, he’s lost to just about every notable fighter he’s faced, including knockout losses to Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch, the exception being a decision win against Jeff Lacy, who’s never quite regained form as a legit threat since his own fall from grace at the hands of Calzaghe. Taylor has suffered severe concussions over the past couple years, but still seems intent on making a career out of it, much to the chagrin of many in the sport.

Perhaps no fighter was on the rise more at the time than middleweight Kelly Pavlik. He was “suddenly” one of the best and brightest stars in boxing. His workmanlike approach and heavy hands made him an almost overnight star in the sport, and he needed only a signature title win to solidify it. Evans notes Pavlik was “reasonably elusive when he wants and has sound boxing skills.” Fight fans were ready to see a fight against champion Jermain Taylor, and they’d get their wish soon. Pavlik won the middleweight crown against Taylor in 2007, defended it in a rematch in 2008 then took a showcase win against Gary Lockett to prepare for his superfight versus Bernard Hopkins. He was the prohibitive favorite in the catchweight bout, but he was soundly outclassed by Hopkins. He went on to defend his middleweight crown twice before falling to Sergio Martinez in 2010 by hard-fought decision. Pavlik has struggled with alcohol addiction since and ended up checking himself into the Betty Ford clinic, not once, but twice. He fired long-time trainer Jack Loew and was in and out of the news for his erratic behavior. He’s rebounded nicely since he reportedly sobered up and now campaigns at 168lbs.

Oscar De La Hoya was a fighter, not a promoter, in 2007. “The Golden Boy” had just come off a shockingly close split decision loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in what was a fabulous effort in hindsight. Even at age 35, Evans notes De La Hoya possessed “one of the best jabs and left hooks in the business” and that Oscar was a figure who “transcends boxing.” De La Hoya had a bounce back win over Steve Forbes before he was brutalized by Manny Pacquiao over eight rounds a year later in what turned out to be his final fight. He was quite the popular fighter while he was active, and he’s done a good job of parlaying his financial success into one of the top promotional units in the sport today. Unfortunately, his beef with one-time promoter Bob Arum has left fight fans yearning for fights that never seem to materialize, the chief among them being Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Still, Oscar has left an indelible mark on the sport, and he continues to do so. No impact is perhaps more interestingly applicable to this TSS special, though, than his purchase and subsequent housecleaning of the beloved Ring Magazine, an issue that divides fight fans and boxing media members to this day.

Finally, welterweight Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is listed as the “world’s number one pound-for-pound” boxer in 2007, a distinction he is still afforded by many. Evans notes Mayweather’s “multi-layered defensive skills, impeccable timing, the ability to fight as well on the inside, at middle range and long range, plus wonderfully accurate counterpunching skills.” Mayweather’s popularity skyrocketed after his 2007 defeat of De La Hoya, and he has remained undefeated ever since, over an impressive group of competitors which includes elite fighters Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto. For some, Mayweather’s legacy remains incomplete unless he faces fellow all-time great Manny Pacquiao before he retires. Both fighters seem reluctant to take the risk, though, and the cold war between Golden Boy and Top Rank isn’t doing anything to help matters. Nonetheless, Mayweather will go down in history as one of the most impressive fighters of his era. Next week, we’ll have a look at the other ten fighters who made the list, including Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manual Marquez.

You can email Kelsey McCarson at theboxingstop@yahoo.com, or follow him on twitter @TheRealKelseyMc.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

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Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.

This is huge in British boxing.

Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

This is about family pride.

The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.

Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.

Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times until suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.

Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.

Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.

Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.

This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.

Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.

“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”

Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.

“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.

Eubank smiles.

“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.

Supporting Bout

Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.

“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.

McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.

It’s youth versus experience.

“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.

Monster in L.A.

Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.

It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.

Pomona Fights

Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.

Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.

Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).

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Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

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Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

In any endeavor, the defining feature of a phenom is his youth. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper was a phenom. He was on the radar screen of baseball’s most powerful player agents when he was 14 years old.

Curmel Moton, who turns 19 in June, is a phenom. Of all the young boxing stars out there, wrote James Slater in July of last year, “Curmel Moton is the one to get most excited about.”

Moton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father Curtis Moton, a barber by trade, was a big boxing fan and specifically a big fan of Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Curmel was six, Curtis packed up his wife (Curmel’s stepmom) and his son and moved to Las Vegas. Curtis wanted his son to get involved in boxing and there was no better place to develop one’s latent talents than in Las Vegas where many of the sport’s top practitioners came to train.

Many father-son relationships have been ruined, or at least frayed, by a father’s unrealistic expectations for his son, but when it came to boxing, the boy was a natural and he felt right at home in the gym.

The gym the Motons patronized was the Mayweather Boxing Club. Curtis took his son there in hopes of catching the eye of the proprietor. “Floyd would occasionally drop by the gym and I was there so often that he came to recognize me,” says Curmel. What he fails to add is that the trainers there had Floyd’s ear. “This kid is special,” they told him.

It costs a great deal of money for a kid to travel around the country competing in a slew of amateur boxing tournaments. Only a few have the luxury of a sponsor. For the vast majority, fund raisers such as car washes keep the wheels greased.

Floyd Mayweather stepped in with the financial backing needed for the Motons to canvas the country in tournaments. As an amateur, Curmel was — take your pick — 156-7 or 144-6 or 61-3 (the latter figure from boxrec). Regardless, at virtually every tournament at which he appeared, Curmel Moton was the cock of the walk.

Before the pandemic, Floyd Mayweather Jr had a stable of boxers he promoted under the banner of “The Money Team.” In talking about his boxers, Floyd was understated with one glaring exception – Gervonta “Tank” Davis, now one of boxing’s top earners.

When Floyd took to praising Curmel Moton with the same effusive language, folks stood up and took notice.

Curmel made his pro debut on Sept. 30, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo. After stopping his opponent in the opening round, he addressed a flock of reporters in the media room with Floyd standing at his side. “I felt ready,” he said, “I knew I had Floyd behind me. He believes in me. I had the utmost confidence going into the fight. And I went in there and did what I do.”

Floyd ventured the opinion that Curmel was already a better fighter than Leigh Wood, the reigning WBA world featherweight champion who would successfully defend his belt the following week.

Moton’s boxing style has been described as a blend of Floyd Mayweather and Tank Davis. “I grew up watching Floyd, so it’s natural I have some similarities to him,” says Curmel who sparred with Tank in late November of 2021 as Davis was preparing for his match with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Curmell says he did okay. He was then 15 years old and still in school; he dropped out as soon as he reached the age of 16.

Curmel is now 7-0 with six KOs, four coming in the opening round. He pitched an 8-round shutout the only time he was taken the distance. It’s not yet official, but he returns to the ring on May 31 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo are co-featured in matches conceived as tune-ups for a fall showdown. The fight card will reportedly be free for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

Curmel’s presumptive opponent is Renny Viamonte, a 28-year-old Las Vegas-based Cuban with a 4-1-1 (2) record. It will be Curmel’s first professional fight with Kofi Jantuah the chief voice in his corner. A two-time world title challenger who began his career in his native Ghana, the 50-year-old Jantuah has worked almost exclusively with amateurs, a recent exception being Mikaela Mayer.

It would seem that the phenom needs a tougher opponent than Viamonte at this stage of his career. However, the match is intriguing in one regard. Viamonte is lanky. Listed at 5-foot-11, he will have a seven-inch height advantage.

Keeping his weight down has already been problematic for Moton. He tipped the scales at 128 ½ for his most recent fight. His May 31 bout, he says, will be contested at 135 and down the road it’s reasonable to think he will blossom into a welterweight. And with each bump up in weight, his short stature will theoretically be more of a handicap.

For fun, we asked Moton to name the top fighter on his pound-for-pound list. “[Oleksandr] Usyk is number one right now,” he said without hesitation,” great footwork, but guys like Canelo, Crawford, Inoue, and Bivol are right there.”

It’s notable that there isn’t a young gun on that list. Usyk is 38, a year older than Crawford; Inoue is the pup at age 32.

Moton anticipates that his name will appear on pound-for-pound lists within the next two or three years. True, history is replete with examples of phenoms who flamed out early, but we wouldn’t bet against it.

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Arne’s Almanac: The First Boxing Writers Assoc. of America Dinner Was Quite the Shindig

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The first annual dinner of the Boxing Writers Association of America was staged on April 25, 1926 in the grand ballroom of New York’s Hotel Astor, an edifice that rivaled the original Waldorf Astoria as the swankiest hotel in the city. Back then, the organization was known as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York.

The ballroom was configured to hold 1200 for the banquet which was reportedly oversubscribed. Among those listed as agreeing to attend were the governors of six states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maryland) and the mayors of 10 of America’s largest cities.

In 1926, radio was in its infancy and the digital age was decades away (and inconceivable). So, every journalist who regularly covered boxing was a newspaper and/or magazine writer, editor, or cartoonist. And at this juncture in American history, there were plenty of outlets for someone who wanted to pursue a career as a sportswriter and had the requisite skills to get hired.

The following papers were represented at the inaugural boxing writers’ dinner:

New York Times

New York News

New York World

New York Sun

New York Journal

New York Post

New York Mirror

New York Telegram

New York Graphic

New York Herald Tribune

Brooklyn Eagle

Brooklyn Times

Brooklyn Standard Union

Brooklyn Citizen

Bronx Home News

This isn’t a complete list because a few of these papers, notably the New York World and the New York Journal, had strong afternoon editions that functioned as independent papers. Plus, scribes from both big national wire services (Associated Press and UPI) attended the banquet and there were undoubtedly a smattering of scribes from papers in New Jersey and Connecticut.

Back then, the event’s organizer Nat Fleischer, sports editor of the New York Telegram and the driving force behind The Ring magazine, had little choice but to limit the journalistic component of the gathering to writers in the New York metropolitan area. There wasn’t a ballroom big enough to accommodate a good-sized response if he had extended the welcome to every boxing writer in North America.

The keynote speaker at the inaugural dinner was New York’s charismatic Jazz Age mayor James J. “Jimmy” Walker, architect of the transformative Walker Law of 1920 which ushered in a new era of boxing in the Empire State with a template that would guide reformers in many other jurisdictions.

Prizefighting was then associated with hooligans. In his speech, Mayor Walker promised to rid the sport of their ilk. “Boxing, as you know, is closest to my heart,” said hizzoner. “So I tell you the police force is behind you against those who would besmirch or injure boxing. Rowdyism doesn’t belong in this town or in your game.” (In 1945, Walker would be the recipient of the Edward J. Neil Memorial Award given for meritorious service to the sport. The oldest of the BWAA awards, the previous recipients were all active or former boxers. The award, no longer issued under that title, was named for an Associated Press sportswriter and war correspondent who died from shrapnel wounds covering the Spanish Civil War.)

Another speaker was well-traveled sportswriter Wilbur Wood, then affiliated with the Brooklyn Citizen. He told the assembly that the aim of the organization was two-fold: to help defend the game against its detractors and to promote harmony among the various factions.

Of course, the 1926 dinner wouldn’t have been as well-attended without the entertainment. According to press dispatches, Broadway stars and performers from some of the city’s top nightclubs would be there to regale the attendees. Among the names bandied about were vaudeville superstars Sophie Tucker and Jimmy Durante, the latter of whom would appear with his trio, Durante, (Lou) Clayton, and (Eddie) Jackson.

There was a contraction of New York newspapers during the Great Depression. Although empirical evidence is lacking, the inaugural boxing writers dinner was likely the largest of its kind. Fifteen years later, in 1941, the event drew “more than 200” according to a news report. There was no mention of entertainment.

In 1950, for the first time, the annual dinner was opened to the public. For $25, a civilian could get a meal and mingle with some of his favorite fighters. Sugar Ray Robinson was the Edward J. Neil Award winner that year, honored for his ring exploits and for donating his purse from the Charlie Fusari fight to the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund.

There was no formal announcement when the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York was re-christened the Boxing Writers Association of America, but by the late 1940s reporters were referencing the annual event as simply the boxing writers dinner. By then, it had become traditional to hold the annual affair in January, a practice discontinued after 1971.

The winnowing of New York’s newspaper herd plus competing banquets in other parts of the country forced Nat Fleischer’s baby to adapt. And more adaptations will be necessary in the immediate future as the future of the BWAA, as it currently exists, is threatened by new technologies. If the forthcoming BWAA dinner (April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in mid-Manhattan) were restricted to wordsmiths from the traditional print media, the gathering would be too small to cover the nut and the congregants would be drawn disproportionately from the geriatric class.

Some of those adaptations have already started. Last year, Las Vegas resident Sean Zittel, a recent UNLV graduate, had the distinction of becoming the first videographer welcomed into the BWAA. With more and more people getting their news from sound bites, rather than the written word, the videographer serves an important function.

The reporters who conducted interviews with pen and paper have gone the way of the dodo bird and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A taped interview for a “talkie” has more integrity than a story culled from a paper and pen interview because it is unfiltered. Many years ago, some reporters, after interviewing the great Joe Louis, put  words in his mouth that made him seem like a dullard, words consistent with the Sambo stereotype. In other instances, the language of some athletes was reconstructed to the point where the reader would think the athlete had a second job as an English professor.

The content created by videographers is free from that bias. More of them will inevitably join the BWAA and similar organizations in the future.

Photo: Nat Fleischer is flanked by Sugar Ray Robinson and Tony Zale at the 1947 boxing writers dinner.

A recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling, TSS editor-in-chief Arne K. Lang is the author of five books including “Prizefighting: An American History,” released by McFarland in 2008 and re-released in a paperback edition in 2020.
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