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My 86-Year-Old Mother Meets…
A tradition continues.
In the 1980s and 1990s, my mother met Muhammad Ali several times. In 2007, I brought her to a press conference to meet Don King. Now, once a year, Anthony Catanzaro hosts a pizza party at Portobello’s (83 Murray Street in Manhattan) in her honor.
Anthony is a popular figure in the Hauser family. My great-nephew (who turns four in October) thinks that Anthony is Thomas the Tank Engine in disguise. That’s because, when we visited Portobello’s late last year, Anthony sang, “He's a really useful engine, you know” a half dozen times.
This year, again, Anthony was a gracious host at the annual “My Mother Meets” pizza party. The idea behind these gatherings is to introduce her to an interesting mix of boxing people.
“Sitting between Seth Abraham and Lou DiBella is an interesting experience,” my mother acknowledged after last year’s lunch.
And I have to think that eating pizza with Paulie Malignaggi and Vinny Maddalone on either side (2010) is a life-affirming experience.
This year’s gathering was on September 24th. Teddy Atlas couldn’t make it because of a previous commitment to speak at a local high school. But he sent chocolate and flowers.
Tom Gerbasi was also waylaid by a school commitment. He had to meet with his daughter’s college-application counselor. But Tom telephoned to share a recollection about his mother.
“She got pissed off at me when I dedicated my first book to my father,” Tom recalled. “She asked, ‘Where’s my dedication.’ I told her, ‘Hey; when you die, I’ll dedicate a book to you too.’”
The official guest list (in addition to my mother, Anthony, and yours truly) was:
Brian Kenny – The former studio host for ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, Brian is currently a studio host for the Major League Baseball Network. He also does play-by-play for MLB Network and was recently hired as the desk host for Showtime Championship Boxing.
David Diamante – The ring announcer with the stentorian voice and dredlocks. David’s career has blossomed in recent years. In addition to ring announcing, he’s now the in-arena voice of the NBA Brooklyn Nets and narrator of the new NBC Sports offering, The Lights.
Harold Lederman – HBO’s “unofficial ringside judge,” boxing’s greatest fan, and possibly the nicest man in boxing.
That’s heavy on people who make their living behind a microphone. So we added Michael Woods, esteemed editor of The Sweet Science (who’s also a contributing writer for ESPN: The Magazine and crafts a boxing blog for the ESPN NY website).
Michael (inquisitive reporter that he is) began the conversation by asking my mother, “Can you tell us some embarrassing stories about Tom?”
I shut down that line of inquiry in a hurry and countered with, “Do you have a story you can tell us about your mother?”
“That would be a therapy session,” Michael responded.
Brian asked my mother the same question she’s always asked at these gatherings: “Have you ever been to a fight?”
“No; and I don’t want to go. I don’t want to be there when people are hitting each other.”
“I can understand,” Brian told her. “My wife watches fights on TV all the time. But the first time I took her to a fight, she was aghast. It’s different when it’s happening right in front of you.”
For a while, we talked about the craft of television commentating.
“I was impressed with Paulie Malignaggi last week on Showtime,” Brian noted. “Before the fight, I told him, ‘‘You don’t have to talk all the time. If you say one insightful thing each round, you’re doing your job.’ And he did.”
Then the conversation segued to Don King.
“I enjoyed meeting him,” my mother said.
“Don will make you feel like a million dollars,” Brian explained. “But you’re not getting a million dollars.”
We ate pizza for two hours. In between bites, David Diamante talked about finding it hard to believe that he’s where he is professionally. “I love my life,” he told us. “I went through some dark times when I was younger. And to be where I am today; I wouldn’t say I’m lucky, but I’m fortunate.”
Harold and my mother referenced their various aches and pains.
“At a certain age, if you’re not feeling bad, that’s good,” Harold said philosophically.
Eventually, the conversation turned to baseball.
“Yankee Stadium was hallowed ground,” David proclaimed. “Once they tore down the old Yankee Stadium, nothing was sacred anymore.”
“The best ballpark right now is AT&T Park in San Francisco,” Brian posited. “It’s intimate. They pack the place for every game. I love being at the ballpark; there’s a feel to being there that’s special to me. But my heart races a little more when I’m at ringside. I remember being in Memphis when Mike Tyson fought Lennox Lewis. Tyson was coming down the aisle. I turned to Al Bernstein and said, “Let’s remember what we’re feeling now. After the fight, we’ll sit around and say, ‘Oh, we knew all along what would happen’. But right now, it’s ‘Here comes Mike.’”
Then I learned something about my mother that I hadn’t known before. Brian asked if she’d ever been to a baseball game.
“I went to a few games at Shea Stadium in the early 1990s.”
I’d known that.
“And when I was seventeen, I went to a World Series game at Yankee Stadium. My boyfriend and I got up at four-thirty in the morning and stood on line for hours to sit in the bleachers.”
That I hadn’t known.
“I don’t remember much about the game,” my mother continued. “I went because my boyfriend – his name was Buddy – wanted to go. But it was exciting to be there. You knew the names of the players back then because they didn’t change teams every year.”
For the record; the Yankees played the Cardinals in the 1942 World Series. Stan Musial had just finished his first full season in leftfield for St. Louis. Joe DiMaggio patrolled centerfield for New York. The Cardinals won all three games at Yankee Stadium and emerged triumphant in the series four games to one.
As a remembrance of this year’s “My Mother Meets” luncheon, Brian gave her a gift bag with a “Gertrude Stein” notepad and several other goodies. Harold drove her home afterward.
As for next year —
“Bring your mother to my restaurant in Easton,” Larry Holmes told me recently. “I’ll give her a champburger.”
Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book (And the New: An Inside Look at Another Year in Boxing) was published by the University of Arkansas Press.
Years from now, it’s hard to say how Turki Alalshikh will be remembered.
Alalshikh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some see him as a poacher, a man who snatched away big fights that would have otherwise landed in places like Las Vegas, New York, and London, and planted them in a place with no prizefighting tradition whatsoever merely for the purpose of “sportswashing.” If that be the case, Alalshikh’s superiors, the royal family, will turn off the spigot once it is determined that this public relations campaign is no longer needed, at which time the sport will presumably recede into the doldrums from whence it came.
Be that as it may, there is no doubt that boxing is in much better shape today than it was just a few years ago and that Alalshikh, operating under the rubric of Riyadh Season, is the reason why.
One of the most persistent cavils lobbied against professional boxing is that the best match-ups never get made or else languish on the backburner beyond their “sell-by” date, cheating the fans who don’t get to see the match when both competitors are at their peak. This is a consequence of the balkanization of the sport with each promoter running his fiefdom in his own self-interest without regard to the long-term health of the sport.
With his hefty budget, Alalshikh had the carrot to compel rival promoters to put down their swords and put their most valuable properties in risky fights and he seized the opportunity. All of the sport’s top promoters – Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn (pictured below), Bob Arum, Oscar De La Hoya, Tom Brown, Ben Shalom, and others – have done business with His Excellency.
The two most significant fights of 2024 were the first and second meetings between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. The first encounter was historic, begetting the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. Both fights were staged in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season, the months-long sports and entertainment festival instrumental in westernizing the region.
The Oct. 12 fight in Riyadh between undefeated light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol produced another unified champion. This wasn’t a great fight, but a fight good enough to command a sequel. (Beterviev, going the distance for the first time in his pro career, won a majority decision.) The do-over, buttressed by an outstanding undercard, will come to fruition on Feb. 22 in Riyadh.
Turki Alalshikh didn’t do away with pay-per-view fights, but he made them more affordable. The price tag for Usyk-Fury II in the U.S. market was $39.99. By contrast, the last PBC promotion, the Canelo vs. Berlanga fight on Amazon Prime Video, carried a tag of $89.95 for non-Prime subscribers.
Almost half the U.S. population resides in the Eastern Time Zone. For them, the main event of a Riyadh show goes in the mid- to late-afternoon. This is a great blessing to fight fans disrespected by promoters whose cards don’t end until after midnight, and that goes double for fight fans in the U.K. who can now watch more fights at a more reasonable hour instead of being forced to rouse themselves before dawn to catch an alluring match anchored in the United States.
In November, it was announced that Alalshikh had purchased The Ring magazine. The self-styled “Bible of Boxing” was previously owned by a company controlled by Oscar De La Hoya who acquired the venerable magazine in 2007.
With the news came Alalshikh’s assertion that the print edition of the magazine would be restored and that the publication “would be fully independent.”
That remains to be seen. One is reminded that Alalshikh revoked the press credential of Oliver Brown for the Joshua-Dubois fight on Sept. 21 at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium because of comments Brown made in the Daily Telegraph that cast a harsh light on the Saudi regime.
There were two national anthems that night, “God Save the King” sharing the bill, as it were, with the Saudi national anthem. Considering the venue and the all-British pairing, that rubbed many Brits the wrong way.
The Ring magazine will always be identified with Nat Fleischer who ran the magazine from its inception in 1922 until his death in 1972 at age 84. It was written of Fleischer that he was the closest thing to a czar that the sport of boxing ever had. Turki Alalshikh now inherits that mantle.
It’s never a good thing when one man wields too much power. We don’t know how history will judge Turki Alalshikh, but naming him the TSS Promoter of the Year was a no-brainer.
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The Aug. 10 match in Las Vegas between Knockout artists Vergil Ortiz Jr and Serhii Bohachuk seemingly had scant chance of lasting the 12-round distance. Ortiz, the pride of Grand Prairie, Texas, was undefeated in 21 fights with 20 KOs. Bohachuk, the LA-based Ukrainian, brought a 24-1 record with 23 knockouts.
In a surprise, the fight went the full 12. And it was a doozy.
The first round, conventionally a feeling-out round, was anything but. “From the opening bell, [they] clobbered each other like those circus piledriver hammer displays,” wrote TSS ringside reporter David A. Avila.
In this opening frame, Bohachuk, the underdog in the betting, put Ortiz on the canvas with a counter left hook. Of the nature of a flash knockdown, it was initially ruled a slip by referee Harvey Dock. With the benefit of instant replay, the Nevada State Athletic Commission overruled Dock and after four rounds had elapsed, the round was retroactively scored 10-8.
Bohachuk had Ortiz on the canvas again in round eight, put there by another left hook. Ortiz was up in a jiff, but there was no arguing it was a legitimate knockdown and it was plain that Ortiz now trailed on the scorecards.
Aware of the situation, the Texan, a protégé of the noted trainer Robert Garcia, dug deep to sweep the last four rounds. But these rounds were fused with drama. “Every time it seemed the Ukrainian was about to fall,” wrote Avila, “Bohachuk would connect with one of those long right crosses.”
In the end, Ortiz eked out a majority decision. The scores were 114-112 x2 and 113-113.
Citing the constant adjustments and incredible recuperative powers of both contestants, CBS sports combat journalist Brian Campbell called the fight an instant classic. He might have also mentioned the unflagging vigor exhibited by both. According to CompuBox, Ortiz and Bohachuk threw 1579 punches combined, landing 490, numbers that were significantly higher than the early favorite for Fight of the Year, the March 2 rip-snorter at Verona, New York between featherweights Raymond Ford and Otabek Kholmatov (a win for Ford who pulled the fight out of the fire in the final minute).
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Women’s Prizefighting Year End Review: The Best of the Best in 2024
It’s the end of the year.
Here are our awards for the best in women’s boxing. But first, a rundown on the state of the sport.
Maybe its my imagination but it seems that fewer female fights of magnitude took place in 2024 than in previous years.
A few promoters like 360 Promotions increased their involvement in women’s boxing while others such as Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions seem stagnant. They are still staging female bouts but are not signing new additions.
American-based promotion company Top Rank, actually lost 50 percent of their female fighter roster when Seniesa Estrada, the undisputed minimumweight champion, retired recently. They still have Mikaela Mayer.
A promotion company making headlines and creating sparks in the boxing world is Most Valuable Promotions led by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. They signed Amanda Serrano and have invested in staging other female fights
This year, the top streaming company Netflix gambled on sponsoring Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, along with Amanda Serrano versus Katie Taylor and hit a monster home run. According to Netflix metrics an estimated 74 million viewers watched the event that took place on Nov. 16 at Arlington, Texas.
“Breaking records like this is exactly what MVP was built to do – bring the biggest, most electrifying events to fans worldwide,” said Nakisa Bidarian co-founder of MVP.
History was made in viewership and at the gate where more than 70,000 fans packed AT&T Stadium for a record-setting $17.8 million in ticket sales outside of Las Vegas. It was the grand finale moment of the year.
Here are the major contributors to women’s boxing in 2024.
Fighter of the Year: Amanda Serrano
Other candidates: Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields, Franchon Crews, Dina Thorslund, and Yesica Nery Plata.
Amanda Serrano was chosen for not only taking part in the most viewed female title fight in history, but also for willingly sacrificing the health of her eye after suffering a massive cut during her brutal war with Taylor. She could have quit, walked away with tons of money and be given the technical decision after four rounds. She was ahead on the scorecards at that moment.
Instead, Serrano took more punches, more head butts and slugged her way through 10 magnificent and brilliant rounds against the great Taylor. Fans worldwide were captivated by their performance. Many women who had never watched a female fight were mesmerized and inspired.
Serrano once again proved that she would die in the ring rather than quit. Women and men were awed by her performance and grit. It was a moment blazed in the memories of millions.
Amanda Serrano is the Fighter of the Year.
Best Fight of the Year – Amanda Serrano versus Katie Taylor 2
Their first fight that took place two years ago in Madison Square Garden was the greatest female fight I had ever witnessed. The second fight surpassed it.
When you have two of the best warriors in the world willing to showcase their talent for entertainment regardless of the outcome, it’s like rubbing two sticks of dynamite together.
Serrano jumped on Taylor immediately and for about 20 seconds it looked like the Irish fighter would not make the end of the first round. Not quite. Taylor rallied behind her stubborn determination and pulled out every tool in her possession: elbows, head butts, low blows, whatever was needed to survive, Taylor used.
It reminded me of an old world title fight in 2005 between Jose Luis Castillo a master of fighting dirty and Julio Diaz. I asked about the dirty tactics by Castillo and Diaz simply said, “It’s a fight. It’s not chess. You do what you have to do.”
Taylor did what she had to do to win and the world saw a magnificent fight.
Other candidates: Seniesa Estrada versus Yokasta Valle, Mikaela Mayer versus Sandy Ryan, and Ginny Fuchs vs Adelaida Ruiz.
KO of the Year – Lauren Price KO3 Bexcy Mateus.
Dec. 14, in Liverpool, England.
The IBO welterweight titlist lowered the boom on Bexcy Mateus sending her to the floor thrice. She ended the fight with a one-two combination that left Mateus frozen while standing along the ropes. Another left cross rocket blasted her to the ground. Devastating.
Other candidates: Claressa Shields KO of Vanessa LePage-Joanisse, Gabriela Fundora KO of Gabriela Alaniz, Dina Thorslund vs Mary Romero, Amanda Serrano KO of Stevie Morgan.
Pro’s Pro Award – Jessica Camara
Jessica Camara defeated Hyun Mi Choi in South Korea to win the WBA gold title on April 27, 2024. The match took place in Suwon where Canada’s Camara defeated Choi by split decision after 10 rounds.
Camara, who is managed by Brian Cohen, has fought numerous champions including Kali Reis, Heather Hardy and Melissa St. Vil. She has become a pro fighter that you know will be involved in a good and entertaining fight and is always in search of elite competition. She eagerly accepted the fight in South Korea against Choi. Few fighters are willing to do that.
Next up for Camara is WBC titlist Caroline Dubois set for Jan. 11, in Sheffield, England.
Electric Fighters Club
These are women who never fail to provide excitement and drama when they step in the prize ring. When you only have two-minute rounds there’s no time to run around the boxing ring.
Here are some of the fighters that take advantage of every second and they do it with skill:
Gabriela Fundora, Mizuki Hiruta, Ellie Scotney, Lauren Price, Clara Lescurat, Adelaida Ruiz, Ginny Fuchs, Mikaela Mayer, Yokasta Valle, Sandy Ryan, Chantelle Cameron, Ebanie Bridges, Tsunami Tenkai, Dina Thorslund, Evelin Bermudez, Gabriela Alaniz, Caroline Dubois, Beatriz Ferreira, and LeAnna Cruz.
Claressa Shields Movie and More
A motion picture based on Claressa Shields titled “The Fire Inside” debuts on Wednesday, Dec. 25, nationwide. Most boxing fans know that Shields has world titles in various weight divisions. But they don’t know about her childhood and how she rose to fame.
Also, Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) will be fighting Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs) for the undisputed heavyweight world championship on Sunday Feb. 2, at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. DAZN will stream the Salita Promotions fight card.
“Claressa Shields is shining a spotlight on Flint – first on the big screen and then in the ring on Sunday, February 2,” said event promoter Dmitriy Salita, president of Salita Promotions. “Claressa leads by example. She is a trailblazer and has been an advocate for equality since she was a young lady. This event promises to be one of the most significant sporting and cultural events of the year. You don’t want to miss it, either live, in person or live on DAZN.”
Shields is only 29 years old and turns 30 next March. What more can she accomplish?
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R.I.P Israel Vazquez who has Passed Away at age 46
A Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!
Fighting on His Home Turf, Galal Yafai Pulverizes Sunny Edwards
The Ortiz-Bohachuk Thriller has been named the TSS 2024 Fight of The Year
The Noted Trainer Kevin Henry, Lucky to Be Alive, Reflects on Devin Haney and More
Introducing Jaylan Phillips, Boxing’s Palindrome Man
Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Cardoso, Nunez, and Akitsugi Bring Home the Bacon in Plant City
Results from the Chumash Casino where Akhmedov Gave a GGG-like Performance
L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year
Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza Shine in Phoenix
Avila Perspective, Chap. 307: Destination Puerto Rico, Israel Vazquez and More
Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year
Steven Navarro is the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year
Avila Perspective, Chap. 308: SoCal Rivals Rocha and Curiel Rumble and More
The IBHOF Unveils its Newest Inductees: Manny Pacquiao is the Icing on the Cake
Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins Wins IBF 140-Pound Title in Puerto Rico
The Challenge of Playing Muhammad Ali
Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price Win in Liverpool; Cutler Upsets McKenna
A No-Brainer: Turki Alalshikh is the TSS 2024 Promoter of the Year
The Ortiz-Bohachuk Thriller has been named the TSS 2024 Fight of The Year
Women’s Prizefighting Year End Review: The Best of the Best in 2024
Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Steven Navarro is the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year
The Challenge of Playing Muhammad Ali
L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year
A Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!
Ringside in Ontario where Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel Battled to a Spirited Draw
Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price Win in Liverpool; Cutler Upsets McKenna
Results from the Chumash Casino where Akhmedov Gave a GGG-like Performance
Avila Perspective, Chap. 308: SoCal Rivals Rocha and Curiel Rumble and More
Cardoso, Nunez, and Akitsugi Bring Home the Bacon in Plant City
Introducing Jaylan Phillips, Boxing’s Palindrome Man
Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza Shine in Phoenix
Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins Wins IBF 140-Pound Title in Puerto Rico
A Six-Pack of Undercard Action from the Top Rank Card in Phoenix
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Featured Articles3 weeks agoR.I.P Israel Vazquez who has Passed Away at age 46
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Featured Articles2 weeks agoA Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!
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Featured Articles4 weeks agoFighting on His Home Turf, Galal Yafai Pulverizes Sunny Edwards
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Featured Articles2 days agoThe Ortiz-Bohachuk Thriller has been named the TSS 2024 Fight of The Year
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Featured Articles4 weeks agoThe Noted Trainer Kevin Henry, Lucky to Be Alive, Reflects on Devin Haney and More
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Featured Articles3 weeks agoIntroducing Jaylan Phillips, Boxing’s Palindrome Man
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Featured Articles4 weeks agoAvila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
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Featured Articles6 days agoUsyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh