Wilder The Latest Hope To Save US Heavyweight Boxing

Published

11 years ago

October 22, 2013

Contrary to what some would have you believe, there are still American-born heavyweights actively plying their trade. But in recent years, due to the increasing domination of the division by Eastern Europeans, U.S. heavyweight contenders have become so rare as to be placed on the endangered-species list. And the mere concept of an American heavyweight champion, at least one capable of getting fight fans here and around the globe legitimately excited, has all but vanished.

It’s enough to make you think that such iconic figures as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe, who in the 1980s and into the ’90s represented this country’s last golden era of heavyweight boxing, deserve not only induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Tyson was enshrined in 2012), but their own permanent exhibits in the Smithsonian Institute. Are American big men of their caliber already extinct, or soon to be? Are Iron Mike, the Real Deal and Big Daddy destined to be regarded as the pugilistic equivalents of saber-toothed tigers, wooly mammoths and T-Rexes?

In an increasingly parched-earth landscape, Americans have been patiently awaiting the next perceived savior of U.S. heavyweight boxing, a once-fertile garden that yielded such superstars of the sport as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Larry Holmes, as well as the aforementioned Tyson and Holyfield. But the domestic talent pipeline began to be turned off nearly two decades ago, with the prevailing theory being that reasonably large, athletically gifted American kids were dreaming more of making it to the NFL and NBA than of becoming heavyweight champion of the world.

Oh, there has been no shortage of pretenders and wannabes to momentarily fire our collective imagination. Michael Grant, with one of the most magnificent heavyweight physiques since Ken Norton’s muscles were something of a national treasure, was going to be The Man, at least until Lennox Lewis’ overhand right landed flush on a jaw that was noticeably more fragile than Grant’s granite-carved abdomen. Since Grant was revealed to be just pretty good, but hardly great, segments of the U.S. public have dared to purchase lottery tickets on such quasi-contenders as Chris Arreola, Eddie Chambers and Seth Mitchell, which to date have gone uncashed so far as the really big prize is concerned.

Which brings us to Deontay Wilder, 6-foot-7 knockout artist from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who again has boxing buffs daring to believe that America can reclaim at least a share of the heavyweight kingdom that the Klitschko brothers have held for what seems like forever, with no sign that their vise-like grip will loosen any time soon. Wilder (29-0, 29 KOs) attempts to run his remarkable knockout streak to 30 here Saturday night in Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, in one of three Showtime-televised bouts of a card headlined by IBF light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins’ defense against Germany’s Karo Murat, and there is a strong likelihood that Nicolai Firtha (21-10-1, 8 KOs) won’t make it to the end of the scheduled 10-rounder.

“I know I’m blessed with God-given power,” Wilder said after his most recent ring appearance, a first-round starching of former WBO heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich on Aug. 9. “I always pray that I don’t hurt the guy I’m fighting, that if he has a family he will be OK enough afterward to continue to provide for them.

“I don’t depend on (power), but it is there. I think all my KOs are helping me get a lot of people’s attention, and I love that. I embrace it. I think more people are now starting to feel that maybe I can be the guy who brings the heavyweight title back to America. Honestly, I would love to be that guy.”

So feel free to buy a lottery ticket on Wilder, a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, if you are an optimistic sort. Twenty-nine consecutive victories inside the distance is an impressive feat, regardless of the level of competition. But upon further inspection, it is reasonable to conclude that Wilder has yet to swim with the sharks after spending virtually all of his professional boxing career splashing wading-pool-quality opponents.

Oh, sure, Liakhovich once held the WBO strap, but the native of Belarus is 37 and is now the loser of five of his last seven bouts. He’s a trial horse these days, a stepping stone, trading on what’s left of his celebrity status in exchange for paydays.

Englishman Audley Harrison, who also was taken out in one round by Wilder on April 27? He did win the super heavyweight gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but he was 40 when he squared off against Wilder and hadn’t had a victory of real consequence in years.

Other than Liakhovich and Harrison, the most notable entry on Wilder’s resume – if you don’t include Ty Cobb, who is no relation to the late, great Hall of Fame baseball player of the same name from the early part of the 20^th century – is onetime fringe contender Owen “What the Heck” Beck of Jamaica, who was taken out in three rounds on June 23, 2012. Beck has now lost nine straight fights, and 12 of 17.

Not that any of this means that Wilder can’t emerge as a truly elite heavyweight; many prospects’ early diets consist of easy-to-chew opponents as they hone their craft and gain needed confidence. But at some point the pablum must be replaced with tougher guys with some gristle to them, as capable of inflicting damage as of meekly accepting it. And when that step up in class occurs, it becomes less difficult to delineate fighters possessing the actual goods from those whose reputations are mostly fabricated.

Case in point: Philadelphia middleweight Tyrone Brunson, who begin his pro career by stringing together 19 consecutive first-round knockouts.

“Even if you fought 19 grandmothers in a row, it’s still kind of notable to get them all out of there in the first round,” Brunson’s promoter, Carlos Llinas, said in August 2008. “Look, I know Tyrone has been moved slow. But I truly believe Tyrone has got what it takes to be special. He’s got everything. He’s got the heart, he’s got the chin and, obviously, he has the power.”

Brunson, who hasn’t fought in 19 months, is 2-2-1 since Llinas made that statement, which suggests he should have kept on beating up Granny. At the very least, he was done a disservice by being paired too lightly for too long and thus was denied a chance to develop whatever potential he might have had.

Promoter Butch Lewis, who was 65 when he died on July 23, 2011, is best known for his association with two heavyweight champions, Leon and Michael Spinks (Michael also was a cruiserweight titlist), but he took a chance on a pair of less-accomplished heavies, Vaughn Bean and Faruq Saleem, with varying results. Bean twice fought for versions of a world title, losing to Michael Moorer and Holyfield. Saleem might be described as Bean Lite; he won his first 38 pro bouts, but against a procession of barely warm bodies, most of whom would have had to redeem upgrade certificates to reach C-level. Still, Lewis desperately wanted to believe that Saleem could get lucky, if given the right opportunity.

“We’re talking about the bleepin’ heavyweight division,” the entertainingly profane Lewis said in November 2008, when the then-34-year-old Saleem had pieced together that 38-0 mark, with 32 wins inside the distance. “Every bleeper-bleeper whose name anybody recognizes is older than 34, damn near. And nobody’s a killer. I mean, who’s the killer?

“I think Faruq has the potential to deal with any of these bleepin’ champions on a given night. That’s not to say how great my fighter is, but it tells you the level of what the division is. What we got to do is get the wins, then step up to where you can kick ass and look good doing it. Hit the right guy on the chin. Then you can pull down some real money.”

In his next fight after Lewis made those comments, Saleem was the one who got hit on the chin. He was stopped in the fourth round of a scheduled six against Shawn McLean, who entered the ring with a 2-4 record, and promptly retired. Another case of a rudderless ship crashing against the rocks of reality.

It’s a bit dicey at this juncture predicting on which side of the figurative fence Wilder –who wanted to play either football or basketball for his hometown Alabama Crimson Tide until circumstances steered him into boxing – falls. It’s clear he’s a better, more exciting prospect than some of those who were given a similar build-up but came up short. Like Butch Lewis said, correctly if not necessarily about Saleem, all it takes is hitting the right guy on the chin. And if you do that often enough and over a long enough period, you can even get to be a multimillionaire pay-per-view star with a spot for your plaque reserved on a wall at the IBHOF in Canastota, N.Y.

Given the indisputable fact that America very much needs a heavyweight to pick up the flickering torch laid down by Tyson, Holyfield and Bowe – I guess you could include ancient George Foreman in that number – here’s hoping that Wilder proves to be more than just another shadow of his predecessors’ greatness.

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Bernard Fernandez

The Challenge of Playing Muhammad Ali

Published

3 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Thomas Hauser

There have been countless dramatizations of Muhammad Ali’s life and more will follow in the years ahead. The most heavily marketed of these so far have been the 1977 movie titled The Greatest starring Ali himself and the 2001 biopic Ali starring Will Smith.

The Greatest was fictionalized. Its saving grace apart from Ali’s presence on screen was the song “The Greatest Love of All” which was written for the film and later popularized by Whitney Houston. Beyond that, the movie was mediocre. “Of all our sports heroes,” Frank Deford wrote, “Ali needs least to be sanitized. But The Greatest is just a big vapid valentine. It took a dive.”

The 2001 film was equally bland but without the saving grace of Ali on camera. “I hated that film,” Spike Lee said. “It wasn’t Ali.” Jerry Izenberg was in accord, complaining, “Will Smith playing Ali was an impersonation, not a performance.”

The latest entry in the Ali registry is a play running this week off-Broadway at the AMT Theater (354 West 45th Street) in Manhattan.

The One: The Life of Muhammad Ali was written by David Serero, who has produced and directed the show in addition to playing the role of Angelo Dundee in the three-man drama. Serero, age 43, was born in Paris, is of Moroccan-French-Jewish heritage, and has excelled professionally as an opera singer (baritone) and actor (stage and screen).

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The play is flawed. There are glaring factual inaccuracies in the script that add nothing to the dramatic arc and detract from its credibility.

On the plus side; Zack Bazile (pictured) is exceptionally good as Ali. And Serero (wearing his director’s hat) brings the most out of him.

Growing up, Bazile (now 28) excelled in multiple sports. In 2018, while attending Ohio State, he won the NCAA Long Jump Championship and was named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year. He also dabbled in boxing, competed in two amateur fights in 2022, and won both by knockout. He began acting three years ago.

Serero received roughly one thousand resumes when he published notices for a casting call in search of an actor to play Ali. One-hundred-twenty respondents were invited to audition.

“I had people who looked like Ali and were accomplished actors,” Serero recalls. “But when they were in the room, I didn’t feel Ali in front of me. You have to remember; we’re dealing with someone who really existed and there’s video of him, so it’s not like asking someone to play George Washington.”

And Ali was Ali. That’s a hard act to follow.

Bazile is a near-perfect fit. At 6-feet-2-inches tall, 195 pounds, he conveys Ali’s physicality. His body is sculpted in the manner of the young Ali. He moves like an athlete because he is an athlete. His face resembles Ali’s and his expressions are very much on the mark in the way he transmits emotion to the audience. He uses his voice the way Ali did. He moves his eyes the way Ali did. He has THE LOOK.

Zack was born the year that Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta, so he has no first-hand memory of the young Ali who set the world ablaze. “But as an actor,” he says, “I’m representing Ali. That’s a responsibility I take very seriously. Everyone has an essence about them. I had to find the right balance – not too over the top – and capture that.”

Sitting in the audience watching Bazile, I felt at times as though it was Ali onstage in front of me. Zack has the pre-exile Ali down perfectly. The magic dissipates a bit as the stage Ali grows older. Bazile still has to add the weight of aging to his craft. But I couldn’t help but think, “Muhammad would have loved watching Zack play him.”

****

Twenty-four hours after the premiere of The One, David Serero left the stage for a night to shine brightly in a real boxing ring., The occasion was the tenth fight card that Larry Goldberg has promoted at Sony Hall in New York, a run that began with Goldberg’s first pro show ever on October 13, 2022.

Most of the fights on the six-bout card played out as expected. But two were tougher for the favorites than anticipated. Jacob Riley Solis was held to a draw by Daniel Jefferson. And Andy Dominguez was knocked down hard by Angel Meza in round three before rallying to claim a one-point split-decision triumph.

Serero sang the national anthem between the second and third fights and stilled the crowd with a virtuoso performance. Fans at sports events are usually restless during the singing of the anthem. This time, the crowd was captivated. Serero turned a flat ritual into an inspirational moment. People were turning to each other and saying “Wow!”

****

The unexpected happened in Tijuana last Saturday night when 25-to-1 underdog Bruno Surace climbed off the canvas after a second-round knockdown to score a shocking, one-punch, sixth-round stoppage of Jaime Munguia. There has been a lot of commentary since then about what happened that night. The best explanation I’ve heard came from a fan named John who wrote, “The fight was not over in the second round although Munguia thought it was because, if he caught him once, he would naturally catch him again. Plus he looked at this little four KO guy [Surace had scored 4 knockouts in 27 fights] the way all the fans did, like he had no punch. That is what a fan can afford to do. But a fighter should know better. The ref reminds you, ‘Protect yourself at all times.’ Somebody forgot that.”

photo (c) David Serero

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – MY MOTHER and me – is a personal memoir available at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1

In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year

Published

2 days ago

December 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year

If asked to name a prominent boxing trainer who operates out of a gym in Los Angeles, the name Freddie Roach would jump immediately to mind. Best known for his work with Manny Pacquaio, Roach has been named the Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America a record seven times.

A mere seven miles from Roach’s iconic Wild Card Gym is the gym that Rudy Hernandez now calls home. Situated in the Little Tokyo neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles, the L.A. Boxing Gym – a relatively new addition to the SoCal boxing landscape — is as nondescript as its name. From the outside, one would not guess that two reigning world champions, Junto Nakatani and Anthony Olascuaga, were forged there.

As Freddie Roach will be forever linked with Manny Pacquiao, so will Rudy Hernandez be linked with Nakatani. The Japanese boxer was only 15 years old when his parents packed him off to the United States to be tutored by Hernandez. With Hernandez in his corner, the lanky southpaw won titles at 112 and 115 and currently holds the WBO bantamweight (118) belt. In his last start, he knocked out his Thai opponent, a 77-fight veteran who had never been stopped, advancing his record to 29-0 (22 KOs).

Nakatani’s name now appears on several pound-for-pound lists. A match with Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue is brewing. When that match comes to fruition, it will be the grandest domestic showdown in Japanese boxing history.

“Junto Nakatani is the greatest fighter I’ve ever trained. It’s easy to work with him because even when he came to me at age 15, his focus was only on boxing. It was to be a champion one day and nothing interfered with that dream,” Hernandez told sports journalist Manouk Akopyan writing for Boxing Scene.

Akin to Nakatani, Rudy Hernandez built Anthony Olascuaga from scratch. The LA native was rucked out of obscurity in April of 2023 when Jonathan Gonzalez contracted pneumonia and was forced to withdraw from his date in Tokyo with lineal light flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji. Olascuaga, with only five pro fights under his belt, filled the breach on 10 days’ notice and although he lost (TKO by 9), he earned kudos for his gritty performance against the man recognized as the best fighter in his weight class.

Two fights later, back in Tokyo, Olascuaga copped the WBO world flyweight title with a third-round stoppage of Riku Kano. His first defense came in October, again in Japan, and Olascuaga retained his belt with a first-round stoppage of the aforementioned Gonzalez. (This bout was originally ruled a no-contest as it ended after Gonzalez suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads. But the referee ruled that Gonzalez was fit to continue before the Puerto Rican said “no mas,” alleging his vision was impaired, and the WBO upheld a protest from the Olascuaga camp and changed the result to a TKO. Regardless, Rudy Hernandez’s fighter would have kept his title.)

Hernandez, 62, is the brother of the late Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez. A two-time world title-holder at 130 pounds who fought the likes of Azumah Nelson, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Chicanito passed away in 2011, a cancer victim at age 45.

Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez was one of the most popular fighters in the Hispanic communities of Southern California. Rudy Hernandez, a late bloomer of sorts – at least in terms of public recognition — has kept his brother’s flame alive with own achievements. He is a worthy honoree for the 2024 Trainer of the Year.

Note: This is the first in our series of annual awards. The others will arrive sporadically over the next two weeks.

Photo credit: Steve Kim

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A Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!

Published

3 days ago

December 15, 2024

Arne K. Lang

A-Shocker-in-Tijuana-Bruno-Sarace-KOs-Jaime-Munguia

It was a chilly night in Tijuana when Jaime Munguia entered the ring for his homecoming fight with Bruno Surace. The main event of a Zanfer/Top Rank co-promotion, Munguia vs. Surace was staged in the city’s 30,000-seat soccer stadium a stone’s throw from the U.S. border in the San Diego metroplex.

Surace, a Frenchman, brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but a quick glance at his record showed that he had scant chance of holding his own with the house fighter. Only four of Surace’s 25 wins had come by stoppage and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records. Munguia was making the first start in the city of his birth since February 2022. Surace had never fought outside Europe.

But hold the phone!

After losing every round heading into the sixth, Surace scored the Upset of the Year, ending the contest with a one-punch knockout.

It looked like a short and easy night for Munguia when he knocked Surace down with a left hook in the second stanza. From that point on, the Frenchman fought off his back foot, often with back to the ropes, throwing punches only in spurts. Munguia worked the body well and was seemingly on the way to wearing him down when he was struck by lightning in the form of an overhand right.

Down went Munguia, landing on his back. He struggled to get to his feet, but the referee waived it off a nano-second before reaching “10.” The official time was 2:36 of round six.

Munguia, who was 44-1 heading in with 35 KOs, was as high as a 35/1 favorite. In his only defeat, he had gone the distance with Canelo Alvarez. This was the biggest upset by a French fighter since Rene Jacquot outpointed Donald Curry in 1989 and Jacquot had the advantage of fighting in his homeland.

Co-Main

Mexico City’s Alan Picasso, ranked #1 by the WBC at 122 pounds, scored a third-round stoppage of last-minute sub Yehison Cuello in a scheduled 10-rounder contested at featherweight. Picaso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) is a solid technician. He ended the bout with a left to the rib cage, a punch that weaved around Cuello’s elbow and didn’t appear to be especially hard. The referee stopped his count at “nine” and waived the fight off.

A 29-year-old Colombian who reportedly had been training in Tijuana, the overmatched Cuello slumped to 13-3-1.

Other Bouts of Note

In a ho-hum affair, junior middleweight Jorge Garcia advanced to 32-4 (26) with a 10-round unanimous decision over Uzbekistan’s Kudratillo Abudukakhorov (20-4). The judges had it 97-92 and 99-90 twice. There were no knockdowns, but Garcia had a point deducted in round eight for low blows.

Garcia displayed none of the power that he showed in his most recent fight three months ago in Arizona and when he knocked out his German opponent in 46 seconds. Abudukakhorov, who has competed mostly as a welterweight, came in at 158 1/4 pounds and didn’t look in the best of shape. The Uzbek was purportedly 170-10 as an amateur (4-5 per boxrec).

Super bantamweight Sebastian Hernandez improved to 18-0 (17 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of Argentine import Sergio Martin (14-5). The end came at the 2:39 mark of round seven when Martin’s corner threw in the towel. Earlier in the round, Martin lost his mouthpiece and had a point deducted for holding.

Hernandez wasn’t all that impressive considering the high expectations born of his high knockout ratio, but appeared to have injured his right hand during the sixth round.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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