The Ring Proved a Refuge For Devon Alexander

Published

12 years ago

May 15, 2013

For most people, the boxing ring might seem a dangerous place. The guy in the other corner is trying to hit you and, if he does it often enough and hard enough, he just might knock you out.

Every fighter knows what it’s like to walk on the wild side, and every fighter accepts pain as the price he must pay for doing what he does, whether he does it well or not. But there are areas far more foreboding than a roped-off swatch of canvas, and greater risks to take than swapping punches with a gloved opponent with a flashy record and putaway power. There are, after all, rules to be observed in boxing and a referee to enforce them.

For a lot of highly accomplished fighters, the streets where they grew up were tougher to survive than anything their blood sport could throw at them. In the harsher precincts of certain cities, kids must cope with the everyday reality of gangs, drugs, guns, poverty and despair. Some are fortunate enough to rise above their circumstances; many do not. Those who give up fall victim to an early death, or addiction, or long periods of incarceration. When that happens, they surrender the opportunity to achieve something better and become, well, statistics.

For IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs), who puts his title on the line against England’s Lee Purdy (20-3-1, 13 KOs) Saturday night in the Showtime-televised co-feature in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, the ring was a safe haven and the man who introduced him to boxing, former St. Louis cop Kevin Cunningham (seen on right, with Alexander, left, in above Hogan photo), a lifeline. Those few hours the 7-year-old Alexander spent in the gym every day with Cunningham, who remains his trainer, opened his eyes to the possibility that some dreams actually can come true for those with a strong enough will to succeed, and a strong enough vision to see beyond today.

“The bond I have with Kevin is unbreakable,” says Alexander, now 26, who admits that he is fighting for far more these days than purses and a bejeweled belt. “As I got older, I realized Kevin wasn’t just any boxing coach. He was a blessing to me, and my family.

“Before he started the gym (in the crime-infested Hyde Park section of St. Louis), I wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t going anywhere. I had no sense of direction, no real purpose. I didn’t know what the future might hold; I wasn’t even thinking about the future then. Why would I? I was just a little kid. But kids not much older than me in my neighborhood were already living a rough lifestyle, a wrong lifestyle. Then again, when you’re that young, you really don’t have a sense of what’s right and wrong anyway. You grow up only knowing what you’re exposed to.

“Me being around Kevin made me realize my situation – my potential situation – wasn’t good at all. He taught me there was so much more out there than just St. Louis, or my particular part of St. Louis. He expanded my horizons. I came to understand just how special a person and how much of a friend Kevin was to me and kids like me. Who knows where I’d be now if it weren’t for Kevin? Would I be boxing? I really don’t know. I just know I’m thankful he came into my life.”

Lest anyone think that Cunningham routinely works such miracles, he is quick to point out that not everyone is as open to instruction or as fiercely determined to make good as Alexander. But when Alexander broke through to the top, he became a shining example to others of what could be, not necessarily of the vicious cycle that so many believe they are incapable of breaking.

“It’s huge,” Cunningham said of his prize pupil’s avoidance of the familiar traps into which so many Hyde Park kids fall into. “Any time you have a young man who comes from a disadvantaged background and can provide him with a positive outlet, that’s a good thing. It’s the kind of success story you always like to hear about. Me starting the boxing program, my goal was to help create more of those kind of success stories. It doesn’t always work out as well for everyone as it has for Devon, but I know that it can send a hopeful message.

“I’m glad I was able to help him, and he’s helped me as well. He’s a special person.”

More than a few big-time fighters have been where Alexander and Cunningham have been, and many of them speak of the benefits they have derived in winning their battles, large and small, in the ongoing war against the drudgery of a life on the street. But while words can be useful, actions that generate hope are even more so. Alexander and Cunningham put their time and money where their mouths are, and more importantly, where their hearts are. Maybe that’s because they know that, no matter how hard they try, they can’t save every at-risk child in Hyde Park, or places like Hyde Park.

Of the 30 original members of Cunningham’s boxing club, nine are now dead, and several others are behind bars. Nor has Alexander’s immediate family been spared the heartache of poor choices made. Devon, one of 13 children, first went to Cunningham’s gym as a tag-along with an older brother, Vaughn, who was 5-0, with four knockouts, as a promising junior middleweight. But Vaughn’s professional career came to an abrupt halt when he took part in an armed robbery, for which he was arrested and convicted. He is now serving an 18-year prison sentence, the fact of which is a constant reminder to Devon that more can and must be done. Oh, sure, he is a world champion again, but he wants to use that highly visible platform to become the sort of inspiring figure that Cunningham was to him.

“It’s my No. 1 priority,” Alexander said of the mantle of role-model he has so vigorously assumed. “I was in that environment. I lived and breathed it every day. It was all around me. I’m a witness to the drugs, the gangs, the violence, the killing … all of it. I’m a victim of that, or rather, I could have been a victim of that. Kids need to know there’s a different way, a better way. Kevin gave me a chance to see other possibilities.

“If you allow yourself to do it, you can become almost immune to what’s going on around you. It becomes so familiar you fall into, you know, a rut. I go into my old neighborhood now and see kids doing the same bad things the kids before them were doing. It’s sad. It’s hard to mentor kids, to get them to change those habits, but it can be done. Kevin showed me that, and I want to show kids who are where I was when he showed me. You have to get to kids early, and that’s what I want to do. That’s my mission. That’s my passion.”

It is Devon’s mission and passion outside the ropes that makes Cunningham realize that great things can be accomplished if the right seed is planted in the right mind. If you toss a pebble into a brook, do not the ripples expand? And so this team of chance, the now-grown-up kid and his longtime mentor, continue to spread the message that education and a healthy lifestyle, of both body and mind, represent the path to ultimate fulfillment.

“For Devon to rise up to what he has is a total blessing,” Cunningham said. “To go from where he was, a kid just starting out in the boxing program so he would have something positive to do after school and to stay off the street, and for that kid to advance to national tournaments and three world titles … it’s everything I ever could have hoped for. It’s even more than that. It’s like a little miracle.

“I’m so proud that Devon is a positive presence in the community. He speaks regularly at high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools in St. Louis, telling those kids they don’t have to fall into the traps of gangs and drugs and crime. He takes pride in being the right kind of role model for young people who come from the same places he came from. His message is that you don’t have to be a boxer or a football player or a basketball player to make it. Just stay focused, put the time in on your studies and you can be successful at whatever it is you choose to be.”

But for Alexander to maintain the platform from which he spreads those encouraging words, he realizes he must continue to win in the ring. And Purdy, a fill-in for another Englishman, the injured Kell Brook, isn’t disposed to make it easy for the man known as “Alexander the Great.”

“I’m a big puncher and if I catch him, it will be `game over,’” Purdy said.

There has been talk – quite a bit of talk, actually – that Alexander, provided he wins this fight, will be next in line for a megabucks unification showdown with WBC welterweight king Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is widely acknowledged as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. But looking past your immediate opponent represents the same sort of pitfall that awaits the kids in Hyde Park every day. To make a poor choice is one thing; to make two is a pattern, and destructive patterns can be difficult to change.

Alexander insists he was “not mentally into” his only defeat as a pro, a points loss to Timothy Bradley in a 140-pound unification matchup on Jan. 29, 2011, and he said he will not make the same mistake again. “Money” Mayweather is not the guy he’s facing Saturday; Lee Purdy is. And that makes Lee Purdy the most important fight of Alexander’s career.

“When I was an amateur, I fought this guy who supposedly had no chance against me,” recalled Alexander, who posted a reported 300-10 record in the medals and trophies phase of his boxing development. “Everybody thought I’d get him out of there in the first round. In the first minute of the first round, probably. But he was a lot better than I expected. He gave me a hard fight. I was, like, `Man, I got told wrong about this dude.’

“That fight convinced me you can’t take anybody lightly. That man across the ring from you is there for a reason. He’s coming to win, and if you’re not as prepared as you need to be, he will win.”

As for a much-discussed shot at Mayweather, well, that is another topic for another day.

“I lot of people ask me about that,” Alexander said. “I just don’t like to talk about it. Everybody knows what could be. But you have to get past all the obstacles before you can even allow yourself to think about it. Yeah, it’s kind of hard not to think about it, but I use it for motivation. To get there, I have to do what I have to do against Lee Purdy. He’s a hungry fighter. He wants what I have. He wants my belt. I have to fight him as if I were fighting Floyd at that moment. I have to fight him as if I were fighting for my life. That’s the only way you can look at it.”

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Bernard Fernandez

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

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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