MEMORIES OF ALI-FRAZIER IV

Published

11 years ago

May 16, 2014

“OK, class, the subject of today’s pop quiz is women’s boxing. Stay seated and raise your hand if you think you have the correct answer, or whatever your perception of the correct answer might be. First question: Who is the best female fighter in the world today?

“What, no responses? Not even a guess? You in the back with the perplexed look on your face, go ahead and pipe up. Start the discussion even if you’re not really certain about whom to back. You say it might be Cecilia Braekhus, the undefeated welterweight (23-0, 7 KOs) from Norway? Is that because you’ve actually seen any of her bouts on tape or YouTube? Or is it because her name is at the top of Thomas Gerbasi’s top 10 pound-for-pound list in the latest issue of The Ring?

“Let’s move on. How about identifying the person you believe to be the best female fighter of all time. That’s better. I’m seeing a few more hands go up. A couple of you are shouting out support for Lucia Rijker. She’s certainly a safe choice. Ah, I knew there’d be someone going with Christy Martin, the only woman boxer to appear on the cover of SI. Somebody else thinks it could be big-punching Ann Wolfe. That’s some scary lady. What about you with the gray hair, seated off to the side? You say you’re going very retro with the late JackieTonawanda, who was known as `Lady Ali’ during her career as one of the real pioneers? Definitely an interesting selection.

“Final question: What was the most-hyped women’s boxing match ever? Whoa! That’s a lot of raised hands. Here’s a vote for Laila Ali vs. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. And another. Still another. One more … wait, all of you think that? Any dissenting opinions? None? Are you telling me there’s something all of you can agree upon?”

Women’s boxing has always had an image of man-bites-dog, of a fish out of water. It’s still something of an oddity, the sporting world’s ultimate example of gender role reversal. Perhaps that’s because it’s very difficult for the average guy to accept the notion of a woman, any woman, who might be able to beat him up in the ring. Even if the woman in question has regal bloodlines and a determination to uphold and the legacy of her world-renowned male forebear.

On Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, history of sorts again will be made when the Honorable Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, 52, who sits on the Municipal Court bench in her hometown, is officially inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame. Already part of the first father-daughter combination to win professional boxing championships, Frazier-Lyde is the first woman to be so honored by the PBHOF, joining her late father, former heavyweight champ “Smokin’” Joe Frazier, and her brother, onetime heavyweight contender Marvis Frazier. Ten days earlier, “Sister Smoke” was recognized during a similar ceremony in Philly’s City Hall.

“I always expect the impossible (to happen),” the perpetually effervescent Frazier-Lyde said of the improbable fistic adventure she never expected to undertake until fate and family pride stepped in. “I’m a total optimist. To walk the path of life that I’ve been on, I’m just a very blessed person. I try to share that with everyone, everywhere.”

Frazier-Lyde retired from boxing in the fall of 2004, with a 13-1 record that included nine victories inside the distance. Along the way she captured titles from one sanctioning organization or another as a super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. But she always will be known more for the one bout she lost than for all those she won, because of who she and her younger antagonist are. Their surnames were their express tickets to fame and fortune.

It almost had to be that way, didn’t it, when one fighter’s father is Muhammad Ali and the other’s is Joe Frazier? On the date Laila and Jacqui finally squared off, June 8, 2001, at the Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona, N.Y. – the first female bout to headline a pay-per-view card – a curious crowd of 6,500 showed up for what was billed as “Ali-Frazier IV,” the distaff extension of the epic trilogy involving their celebrated dads. Also in the house was a media throng of 300-plus from around the world.

What everyone saw is still a matter of some debate. Laila Ali, at 23, was cover-girl pretty, relatively fluid of movement and disposed to make the fight at a distance of her choosing. Frazier-Lyde, a former star basketball player at American University, was a 37-year-old mother of three who lacked Smokin’ Joe’s pulverizing left hook but relentlessly bore in on Ali as her father had in his three wars with “The Greatest,” trying and often succeeding in her attempts to turn the fight into a brawl at close quarters.

Through all eight scheduled rounds they hurled themselves at one another, and at the final bell Ali was bleeding from the nose while Frazier-Lyde had a puffy eye. Judge Tommy Hicks saw it as a 76-76 standoff, but Ali came away with a majority decision when Hicks’ cohorts, Frankie Adams and Don Ackerman, submitted scorecards favoring the younger fighter by respective margins of 79-73 and 77-75.

Veteran boxing analyst Al Bernstein, who did the postfight interviews, said Ali vs. Frazier-Lyde had not been the sideshow many had predicted it would be.

“It was fun,” Bernstein assessed afterward. “Both women showed grit and determination. They are in the embryonic stages of their boxing careers, sure, but they gave it everything they had and you can’t ask for much more than that. Are there better women boxers? Yes. Would I just as soon see Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker fight? Yes. But this was fun, and it was hardly a travesty.

“They’re obviously their fathers’ daughters.”

Others were less complimentary of what had taken place, just as the prevailing sentiment going in was that it was much ado about nothing. Jay Larkin, Showtime’s senior vice president of sports and event programming, derided the matchup as “a spectacle that has appealed to the paparazzi mentality. Women’s boxing has a hard enough time gaining credibility. This isn’t going to help.” Added longtime HBO Sports analyst Larry Merchant: “I wouldn’t spend 15 cents to see it. (The PPV subscription fee was $24.95.). To me, it’s like a stupid pet trick.”

Fightnews.com straddled the fence, on the one hand noting that that two of Ali’s defeated opponents were a steakhouse waitress and a 48-year-old former prostitute, while the seven women Frazier-Lyde had blown through on her way to Laila had all of two wins, total. But in its report on what had taken place inside the ropes, the respected web site conceded that the action was “so wild and thrilling that even the staunchest opponent of women’s boxing couldn’t possibly deny the excitement.”

Me? Writing in the Philadelphia Daily News, I allowed that although it wasn’t a reprise of the “Thrilla in Manila,” neither had it been the “Groaner in Verona.”

All that remained was for Laila and Jacqui to do it again, and maybe even a third time as their fathers had. But, alas, their rivalry proved to be a one-and-done. Laila’s then-husband and manager, Johnny “Yah-Yah” McClain, said his wife was going to “go after fresh meat” and there was no need for Laila to mix it up with Jacqui again.

Thirteen years later, Frazier-Lyde said that explanation still doesn’t wash, at least to her way of thinking.

“I broke her left clavicle. She was out of boxing for a whole year,” Frazier-Lyde said of Ali. “I went on to win a world championship and she went to the hospital, OK? While they were trying to put her back together again, I went on to win a championship. I don’t have to try to explain anything. It speaks for itself.

“If somebody had broken my left clavicle, I don’t think I’d be trying to dance with her again. That’s why she went on `Dancing With The Stars’ instead.”

For better or worse, I feel as I have some sort of proprietary attachment to Ali-Frazier IV. I was there with 25 or so other inquiring media minds at the Turning Stone when Laila, who was only eight years old when her father and the third of his four wives, Veronica, divorced, turned pro on Oct. 8, 1989. In possibly the biggest mismatch in the checkered history of women’s boxing, Ali needed just 31 seconds to take out a nervous and clearly terrified waitress named April Fowler, who never even threw a punch. As Fowler was counted out, Ali postured over her, striking the memorable pose her father had for his controversial one-round KO of Sonny Liston in their May 25, 1965, rematch in Lewistown, Maine.

Fowler, who soon after “retired” from boxing with an 0-2 record, headed home to Michigan City, Ind., to work the dinner shift at Ye Olde Benny’s Steak House. Ali dismissed any criticism leveled at her for picking such a ridiculously soft touch for her debut by haughtily saying, “It doesn’t matter who you put in the ring. I’m knocking them out.”

Ali’s mother, Veronica Ali Anderson, was at ringside for the brief, one-sided skirmish and voiced her approval to what she had just seen, which, she claimed, she had seen before from her then-husband: “It was like history repeating itself.”

A few days later, I phoned Frazier-Lyde, a practicing attorney with a law degree from Villanova University who spoke three languages (English, Spanish and French), to ask her thoughts on a daughter of Muhammad Ali getting into same profession that had made Ali’s and Jacqui’s pops such legendary figures. I figured it’d be worth a line or two in a notes column.

“I read where (Laila) said nobody could take her power, that she’d knock everybody out,” Frazier-Lyde responded. “But I don’t know about that. I can’t imagine her knocking me out.

“I love the power aspect of boxing, of sports in general. (In addition to basketball, Jacqui had at various times also competed in lacrosse, hockey and softball.) “Maybe I got that from watching my father. You know, everyone in my family said that if I had been a boy, I would have been a champion boxer. Actually, we’re all pretty athletic. I just have the biggest mouth.”

And then Frazier-Lyde uttered the words that set everything into motion, once those words appeared in print.

“If Laila Ali wants a piece of me, I’ll kick her ass.”

That very afternoon, or maybe it was the next day, the 5’9” Frazier-Lyde, then 210 pounds, began training to take off the 45 pounds or so she had gained from having her babies and living the less physically demanding lifestyle of a courtroom litigator. Her goal: an eventual showdown with Laila, which she said would be the equivalent of the 15th round that Smokin’ Joe never got to fight in his unforgettable rubber match against Muhammad Ali in Quezon City, the Philippines, on Oct. 1, 1975.

On Feb. 6, 2000, in Scranton, Pa., the slimmed-down, toned-up Frazier-Ali turned pro against Teela Reese, who had had the temerity to say this, when asked about Jaqui’s father: “The name doesn’t mean anything to me. He’s just another guy.” Frazier-Lyde then proceeded to do unto Reese, 20, what Laila had done to Fowler, winning on a first-round knockout.

It was inevitable, of course, that Ali and Frazier-Lyde would clash at some point, and that there would be verbal fireworks in the lead-up to that battle of the celebrity daughters. The surprise, at least to those who did not know Jacqui, was that it was Smokin’ Joe’s kid who would supply the juiciest comments.

At a joint press conference in Philadelphia, the surprisingly taciturn Ali said, “Anyone who’s seen me before knows that when it’s fight time, I don’t have much to say. I’m Muhammad Ali’s daughter, but my father and I are very different in that area. I don’t necessarily try to put on a show. That’s what my father’s thing was, and he was great at it. Everything I say is because I feel it. It’s not scripted.” She also admitted that Frazier-Lyde is “the first opponent that I really could not stand.”

Frazier-Lyde, standing nearby, was quick with the sort of snappy retort that her father was less adept at delivering than his wrecking-ball left hook.

“You won’t be standing,” she said. “You’re right about that, baby. You’ll be on your butt.”

Ali and Frazier-Lyde generated enough buzz that they appeared on that week’s cover of TV Guide. Ali entered the ring with a 9-0 record and eight KOs; Frazier-Lyde at 7-0 with seven stoppages. It was reported that each woman was guaranteed a minimum of $100,000, a queen’s ransom for women’s boxing then and now, with their purses escalating to as high as $250,000 if PPV projections were met, and they very well might have been.

Women’s boxing remains an afterthought in the minds of many fight fans. A proposed matchup of Rijker and Martin – promoter Bob Arum was going to pay each $250,000, with an additional $750,000 going to the winner – was scheduled to take place three weeks after the DVD release of the Academy Award-winning Million Baby Baby. But that fight never took place because Rijker tore her Achilles’ tendon and never fought again.

Ali-Frazier IV remains the most publicized, most-talked-about, biggest-money women’s fight ever. And whether they care to admit it or not, the Cecilia Braekhuses and Anne Sophie Mathises, the best of today’s female fighters, owe them a debt of gratitude for demonstrating that, as is often the case in men’s boxing, the sizzle often is as important as the steak.

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Bernard Fernandez

For Whom the Bell Tolled: 2024 Boxing Obituaries PART TWO: (July-Dec.)

Published

17 hours ago

December 31, 2024

The Sweet Science

Here is the concluding segment of our annual, two-part, end of year necrology where we pay homage to boxing notables who left us last year.

July

July 21 – RICHIE SANDOVAL – A member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team that was marooned by the boycott, Sandoval was 29-1 as a pro. He wrested the lineal bantamweight title from Jeff Chandler in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s, rucking the Philadelphian into retirement, and then nearly lost his life in his third title defense vs. Gabby Canizales. Quick work by paramedics saved his life and he spent his post-boxing career working in various capacities for Top Rank. At age 63 of an apparent heart attack at the home of his son in Riverside County, California.

August

Aug. 1 – JOE HAND SR. — A former Philadelphia policeman, Hand was one of the original investors in the Cloverlay Corporation which sponsored Joe Frazier. He later opened a boxing gym that produced 14 national amateur champions and as a businessman was on the cutting edge of the pay-per-view industry, distributing boxing and UFC events to bars and casinos around the country. At age 87 from complications of covid-19 in Feasterville, PA.

September

Sept. 12 – FRED BERNS – During a 44-year career that began in 1968, Berns, an ex-Marine and former Chicago policeman, promoted or co-promoted more than 500 shows. He and his matchmaker Pete Susens plied the Midwest circuit but ventured as far from their Indianapolis base as Anchorage. At age 84 in Indianapolis.

Sept. 21 (approx.) – JOHNNY CARTER – Nicknamed “Dancing Machine,” Carter came to the fore in Las Vegas where he had his first 10-rounder in his fifth pro fight and compiled a 13-1 record en route to a 1992 date with his former Philadelphia high school classmate Jeff Chandler, the defending WBA world bantamweight champion. He lost that fight (TKO by 6) and finished 33-8. At age 66 of an undisclosed cause in Philadelphia.

Sept. 29 – MYLIK BIRDSONG – A welterweight with a 15-1-1 ledger, “King Mylik” was shot dead in a drive-by shooting on a Sunday afternoon while standing on the sidewalk with his girlfriend outside his South Central Los Angeles home. He was 21 years old.

October

Oct. 10 – MAX GARCIA – A former preschool teacher, Garcia was the linchpin of boxing in Salinas, California (60 miles south of San Jose) where he coached amateur and pro boxers for 27 years. His son Sam Garcia carries on his legacy at the gym co-owned by their protégé, featherweight contender Ruben Villa. At age 74 after a long illness in Salinas.

Oct. 24 – ADILSON RODRIGUES – The Brazilian answered the bell for 452 rounds in an 18-year career that began in 1983. He finished 77-7-1 with 61 KOs but was exposed by Evander Holyfield and George Foreman, both of whom stopped him in the second round. In 2013, he was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. At age 66 in Sao Paulo.

Oct. 28 – ALONZO BUTLER – His 34-3 record was forged against a motley lot of opponents, but “Big Zo” was no impostor; he would have assuredly accomplished more with a stronger team behind him. Longtime sparring partner Deontay Wilder called Butler the hardest puncher with whom he had shared a ring. In Knoxville at age 44 where the Tennessee native was reportedly exhibiting signs of early-onset dementia.

Oct. 28 – JOHNNY BOUDREAUX – The Texas journeyman scored his signature win in Don King’s scandal-scarred Heavyweight Unification Tournament, winning a hotly-debated decision over Scott LeDoux. He left the sport with a 21-5-1 record after losing a split decision to future titlist Big John Tate and entered the ministry. At age 72 of an undisclosed cause in Houston.

Oct. 31 – DOMINGO BARRERA – A 1964 Olympian for Spain who finished 40-10 as a pro, Barrera had two cracks at the 140-pound world title in 1971, losing a 15-round split decision to Argentine legend Nicolino Loche in Buenos Aires and then getting stopped in 10 frames by Bruno Arcari in Genoa in a messy fight in which Barrera allegedly suffered a knee injury from a coin tossed into the ring by a disgruntled fan. At age 81 in his native Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

December

Dec. 2 – ISRAEL VAZQUEZ – A three-time world champion at 122 pounds, “El Magnifico,” the son of a Mexico City undertaker, will be forever linked with his four-time rival Rafael Marquez. Their second and third encounters, in 2007 and 2008, were named Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. In Huntington Park, California, a cancer victim at age 46.

Dec. 11 – NEIL MALPASS – Active from 1977 to 1990, after which he became a youth boxing coach, Malpass seemed destined for big things when he upset Danny McAlinden in his 10^th pro fight, but his career sputtered and he finished 28-19-1. In 1989, as his career was winding down, he won a regional heavyweight title with a 10-round decision over Gypsy John Fury (Tyson’s dad), the bout for which he would be best remembered. In Doncaster, Yorkshire, of an apparent heart attack at age 69.

Dec. 20 – THIERRY JACOB – One of three fighting brothers, Jacob was a five-time world title challenger. The third time was a charm. He unseated WBC 122-pound belt-holder Daniel Zaragosa, but lost the title in his first defense, stopped in two rounds by Tracy Patterson. Active from 1984 to 1994, he finished 39-6. In his native Calais, France, at age 59 from lung cancer.

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For Whom the Bell Tolled: 2024 Boxing Obituaries PART ONE (Jan.-June)

Published

3 days ago

December 29, 2024

The Sweet Science

Here in our annual end-of-year report, we pay homage to the boxing notables who left us in the past year in a two-part story. May they rest in peace.

January

Jan. 22 – CAMERON DUNKIN – Named the BWAA Manager of the Year in 2007, Dunkin was involved with more than 30 world title-holders including Diego Corrales, Kelly Pavlik, and Tim Bradley. It was said of him that no one was better at spotting a diamond-in-the-rough at an amateur boxing tourney. At age 67 in Las Vegas after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jan. 31 – NORMAN “BUMPY” PARRA – Active from 1962 to 1968, Parra, a U.S. Army veteran, was 17-4-5 in documented fights and was briefly recognized as the California bantamweight champion. In retirement he trained several fighters and established several boxing clubs for disadvantaged youth in the San Diego area. At age 84 in San Diego.

February

Feb. 2 – KAZUKI ANAGUCHI – He lost consciousness in his dressing room after losing a close 10-round decision to Seiyo Tsatsumi in Tokyo on Dec, 23, 2003, and spent more than a month in a deep coma before succumbing to his head injury. The see-saw contest, the semi-final to a Naoya Inoue title fight, was named the Japan Domestic Fight of the Year. An Osaka-born bantamweight, Anaguchi was 23.

Feb. 4 – CARL WEATHERS – He appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows but would be best remembered for portraying the Muhammad Ali-inspired character Apollo Creed opposite Sylvester Stallone in the first four installments of the “Rocky” franchise. At his home in Los Angeles where he passed away in his sleep of an undisclosed illness at age 76.

Feb. 13 – IGNACIO ESPINAL – a 1968 Olympian, he never won a world title but had the misfortune of competing in the era of Miguel Canto, arguably the greatest flyweight ever. He was 0-2-1 vs Canto across 35 closely-contested rounds and finished 35-14-4. In Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, his birthplace, at age 75.

March

March 4 – JIMMY HEAIR – Raised in Mississippi and Colorado, the son of a Pentecostal minister, he came to the fore in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, the glory days of the Olympic Auditorium. Heair won his first 33 fights, rising to #3 in The Ring rankings at lightweight and finished 94-34-1 (65 KOs) during a 19-year career in which he answered the bell for 862 rounds. At age 71 at a nursing home in Okolona, Mississippi, after a long battle with pugilistic dementia.

March 22 – ALESIA GRAF – A Belarus-born German, Graf was active as recently as 2019 when she fought Dina Thorslund for the WBO world super bantamweight title. She finished 29-8 with five of her losses coming in legitimate world title fights. At age 43 in Stuttgart of undisclosed causes.

March 22 – BOB LEE SR. – A former police detective, he was the Acting Commissioner of the New Jersey Athletic Commission when he left to found the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in 1983. As president, he instituted several important safety features but his reputation was sullied when he was convicted of taking bribes for higher ratings for which he served 22 months in a federal prison. At age 90 in Edison, New Jersey.

March 26 – LAVELL FINGER – A National Golden Gloves champion at 138 pounds, Lavell and his twin brother Terrell (who passed away in 2019) turned pro on the same card in their hometown of St. Louis in 1989. Lavell was 25-1 when he retired in 2009, returning six years later for three more fights. At age 55 in Katy, Texas.

March 31 – JAN KIES – The South African southpaw answered the bell for 230 rounds during a nine-year career that began in 1969, finishing 31-11. His best win came early in his career when he knocked out former world title-holder Jean Josselin in 63 seconds, sending the Frenchman off into retirement. At age 76 in Krugersdorp, SA.

April

April 7 – RICKEY PARKEY – Active from 1981 to 1994, Parkey lost his last 12 fights to finish 22-20, but in his prime was one of the world’s top cruiserweights. He briefly held he IBF version of the world 190-pound title, a diadem he lost to Evander Holyfield who stopped him in three rounds. At age 67 at a nursing home in his hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a victim of lung cancer.

April 11 – GARY SHAW – He began his career in boxing as an inspector with the New Jersey Athletic Commission and went on to promote or co-promote some of the highest-grossing fights of the early 20^th century before crossing over to MMA. On his 79^th birthday at his home in South Florida where he had been bedridden following a January heart attack.

April 15 – WILLIE LIMOND – The Scotsman won a slew of regional titles after turning pro as a lightweight in 1999, finishing with a record of 42-6. In his most recent bout, in September of last year, he was stopped in eight rounds in a heavily-hyped domestic showdown with former three-division title-holder Ricky Burns. At age 45 at a hospital in the Glasgow suburb of Airdie nine days after suffering an apparent seizure while driving.

April 27 – ARDI NDEMBO – A Congolese heavyweight with an undefeated record (8-0, 7 KOs), Ndembo was knocked unconscious on April 5 in Miami while representing the Las Vegas team in the fledgling World Combat League. A 27-year-old father of two, he left the ring on a stretcher, was placed in a medical coma, and died 22 days later without regaining consciousness.

May

May 20 – IRISH PAT MURPHY – A welterweight from West New York, New Jersey, Murphy opened his career with 25 straight wins, earning him a date with Canadian champion Donato Paduano who saddled him with his first defeat. Their match at Madison Square Garden was the main event on a card with George Foreman and Chuck Wepner in supporting bouts. He finished 34-14-2 in a 13-year career that began in 1967. At age 74 at his home in Secaucus, NJ.

May 21 – ART JIMMERSON – A cruiserweight during most of his career, Jimmerson fought the likes of Orlin Norris, Vassiliy Jirov, and Arthur Williams. He lost his last nine fights before transitioning to MMA, finishing his boxing career with a record of 33-18. At age 60 of an apparent aneurism while driving to work at a UFC gym in Los Angeles.

June

June 15 – ENRIQUE PINDER – He became the fifth fighter from Panama to win a world title when he took the WBA/WBC bantamweight belts from Rafael Herrera in 1972, winning a 15-round unanimous decision. His title reign lasted only six months and he left the sport with a 35-7-2 record. In Panama City at age 62 where he had been dealing with heart problems.

June 26 – STEFFEN TANGSTAD – A two-time European heavyweight champion, the Norwegian retired in 1986 with a 24-2-2 record after being stopped in the fourth round by defending IBF world heavyweight champion Mihael Spinks. In retirement he remained in the public eye in Scandinavia as a TV boxing commentator. In Tonsberg, Norway at age 65 after a long battle with a neurological disorder that left him partially paralyzed.

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Oleksandr Usyk is the TSS 2024 Fighter of the Year

Published

4 days ago

December 27, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Oleksandr-Usyk-is-the-TSS-2024-Fighter-of-the-Year

Six years ago, Oleksandr Usyk was named the Sugar Ray Robinson 2018 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Usyk, who went 3-0 in 2018, boosting his record to 16-0, was accorded this honor for becoming the first fully unified cruiserweight champion in the four-belt era.

This year, Usyk, a former Olympic gold medalist, unified the heavyweight division, becoming a unified champion twice over. On the men’s side, only two other boxers, Terence Crawford (light welterweight and welterweight) and Naoya Inoue (bantamweight and super bantamweight) have accomplished this feat.

Usyk overcame the six-foot-nine goliath Tyson Fury in May to unify the title. He then repeated his triumph seven months later with three of the four alphabet straps at stake. Both matches were staged at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury was undefeated before Usyk caught up with him.

In the first meeting, Usyk was behind on the cards after seven frames. Fury won rounds 5-7 on all three scorecards. It appeared that the Gypsy King was wearing him down and that Usyk might not make it to the finish. But in round nine, the tide turned dramatically in his favor. In the waning moments of the round, Usyk battered Fury with 14 unanswered punches. Out on his feet, the Gypsy King was saved by the bell.

In the end the verdict was split, but there was a strong sentiment that the right guy won.

The same could be said of the rematch, a fight with fewer pregnant moments. All three judges had Usyk winning eight rounds. Yes, there were some who thought that Fury should have been given the nod but they were in a distinct minority.

Usyk’s record now stands at 23-0 (14). Per boxrec, the Ukrainian southpaw ended his amateur career on a 47-fight winning streak. He hasn’t lost in 15 years, not since losing a narrow decision to Russian veteran Egor Mekhontsev at an international tournament in Milan in September of 2009.

Oleksandr Usyk, notes Paulie Malignaggi, is that rare fighter who is effective moving backwards or forwards. He is, says Malignaggi, “not only the best heavyweight of the modern era, but perhaps the best of many…..At the very least, he could compete with any heavyweight in history.”

Some would disagree, but that’s a discussion for another day. In 2024, Oleksandr Usyk was the obvious pick for the Fighter of the Year.

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