Matthew Saad Muhammad: An Appreciation

Published

11 years ago

May 27, 2014

Imagine if there was a boxer around today who could box if he chose to, could take his opponents’ consciousness away with either hand, possessed the most remarkable recuperative powers you ever saw, owned a cast-iron chin and fought every top contender in the division one after another when it was stacked with hall of fame fighters – how huge of a star would that fighter be today in 2014?

Well boxing fans, I present Matthew Saad Muhammad aka Matt Franklin.

For the last five or six years fans, have flocked to see Floyd Mayweather’s publicized sparring sessions that would be better suited airing on TMZ against opponents chosen for business reasons above all else. After Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao is the next biggest draw in boxing. Other than his 12th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto five years ago, the most exciting fight he’s been a participant of ended with him being counted out face first on the canvas versus his career rival.

When it comes to giving fans action-packed fights with sustained action, there hasn’t been a more fan-friendly fighter in the ring than Matthew Saad Muhammad in over half a century.

And if you took Saad circa 1976-1981 and dropped him into the light heavyweight division of today, it’s very plausible that he would be the biggest and brightest star in boxing. His back story of abandonment to world boxing champion would repeated on HBO and Showtime every time he fought. On top of that there isn’t one light heavyweight in the world today who would’ve gone the distance with him, let alone beat him. Yes, that includes Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalov and Adonis Stevenson. Saad was a real Adonis physically and he was Evander Holyfield before Evander was even thinking about becoming a world champion while he was winning swimming meets in Atlanta. I mean no disrespect to Evander, but the comeback he made during the 10th round of his first fight with Riddick Bowe was routine for Saad two or three weekends a year during his title tenure 1979 through 1981.

Saad passed away this week at age 59 from Lou Gehring’s disease. If you were around and following boxing during the middle 1970’s through the early 1980’s you are very saddened by the news. The words “champion” and “warrior” are thrown around and passed on to fighters and athletes too often today. However, in the case of Matthew Saad Muhammad the words are fitting and probably under-used.

Saad participated in five of the most exciting fights anyone has ever seen, against Marvin Johnson (twice), Richie Kates and Yaqui Lopez (twice). He went 5-0 in those bouts and won them by stoppage.

Everyone talks about his title winning effort against Marvin Johnson in their second bout and what a great fight it was, but their first fight for the NABF title at the Spectrum in South Philly was even better and I was lucky to have attended it.

I remember as an amateur training at Joe Frazier’s gym in North Philly watching Marvin Johnson, who was undefeated at the time, train for his upcoming fight with Saad, who was Matt Franklin then, a week prior to the bout. Johnson looked really sharp and aggressive during his rounds of sparring, almost too aggressive for hall of fame trainer George Benton, who was observing Marvin while he sparred. On his last day of training Benton cornered Johnson as he came out of the ring and said in almost these exact words — “Johnson, don’t trade with this MF’er, he’s too F’n strong. He’s a sitting duck for your southpaw uppercut, just don’t try and knock him out or wake him up if you get him in trouble because that’s when he’s so dangerous. Box him and you’ll be okay, go to war with him and you’re asking for trouble.”

Johnson respectfully took in what Georgie said, but he was a fighter who only knew how to attack and as fate would have it, everything Benton spoke of played out three days later when they fought. Johnson repeatedly nailed Saad with uppercuts that should’ve sent his head up into the rafters of the Spectrum. He dazed Saad and hurt him but stood right there in front of him and was hurt in return with Saad’s counters. Saad also owned a terrific uppercut and left hook that was followed by a big right hand as a finishing shot. And Johnson was slowly worn down by those bombs as the bout progressed. Johnson’s heart and determination kept him pressing the fight but in the end it was Saad’s abundance of toughness and strength that were too much for Johnson. After 11 rounds the bout was up for grabs. Saad came out in the 12th round and unloaded on Johnson, hurting him beyond the point of return. Marvin tried to hold on to survive the round but he was too weak and tired to hold the charging Saad off. Finally, he collapsed against the ropes and was flat on his back and the fight was stopped with a little more than a minute remaining in the last round.

When Saad fought Richie Kates seven months later, Richie was a year and a half removed from losing two close controversial title fights versus a beast of a champion named Victor Galindez. I was also lucky to be at the Spectrum that night. With seconds left in the fourth round, Kates hit Saad with a right hand that dropped him and he went down face first. Saad looked so out of it and gone that Kates and his cornermen started celebrating thinking that the fight was over. Somehow Saad beat the count but was on the shakiest legs you ever saw and barely made it back to his corner. Had there been thirty seconds left in the round and Kates could hit him once more clean, the fight would’ve been over.

Kates came out in the fifth round and took it to an exhausted Saad to the head and body. Towards the end of the round Saad began to shrug his shoulders and waved Kates to come and get him. With 10 seconds left in the round Saad dropped Kates face first with a beautiful right hand, and like Saad in the round before, Richie was saved by the bell.

In the sixth round Saad came out and unloaded on Kates with right hands and left hooks and the bout was stopped with Kates out on his feet.

After beating Kates, Saad defended his NABF title against perennial contender Yaqui Lopez, who lost three previous title shots to John Conteh and Victor Galindez twice, all three by decision.

Saad and Lopez put on a spectacular fight at the Spectrum and in the early going Lopez had the slightly better of it. And like Secretariat at the 1973 Kentucky Derby, Saad stormed back and stopped Lopez with one second remaining in the 11th round.

As fate would have it, Marvin Johnson got a title shot before Saad and won it when he stopped WBC light heavyweight champ Mate Parlov in the 10th round. To show you the kind of a man and fighter that Marvin Johnson was, instead of making a few easy defenses of the title, he defended it against Saad in his first defense four months later. Saad and Johnson staged another instant classic in Johnson’s hometown of Indianapolis and Saad emerged with the title after a great give and take war that ended in the eighth round.

Saad made eight successful defenses of the title. winning all but one by knockout. During his tenure as champ he turned back the challenges of John Conteh, twice, Yaqui Lopez, Vonzell Johnson, Murray Sutherland and Jerry “The Bull” Martin. By the time he defended the title against another future hall of famer and monster Dwight Muhammad Qawi (aka Dwight Braxton) the tough fights and wars had taken their toll on Saad physically. Even before he won the title Saad fought tough guys and future champs like Billy “Dynamite” Douglas, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Mate Parlov and Marvin Camel (2xs).

I also trained with Dwight, who is a hall of famer, but in fairness, by the time he fought Saad, MSM’s better days were behind him and he was on the decline. Dwight stopped him in 10 rounds to win the title and then beat him again in six rounds when they met in a rematch eight months later.

After that it was pretty much over for Saad. Like many other past greats he hung on too long as the money evaporated and the loses to fighters he would’ve destroyed in his prime mounted. He finally retired with a career record of 49-16-3 (35).

However, if you want a true indication of who Matthew Saad Muhammad was as a fighter, just look at his first 38 fights.

Look at the names of the guys who he fought during that time who went on to become champs and enter the hall of fame. Saad was light heavyweight champ when the likes of Michael Spinks, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Marvin Johnson, Victor Galindez, Yaqui Lopez, Mike Rossman, John Conteh, Richie Kates, James Scott and Jerry “The Bull” Martin were out there.

Matthew Saad Muhammad was a true warrior in the ring. When he wanted to use it, he had a great jab and was an underrated boxer. However, after losing a disputed decision to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad early in his career, a fight in which he had Eddie down and everyone who was there and saw it thought he won, he decided to become more of a slugger and fighter. He had the two handed power to thrive in that style and the concrete chin and immense physical strength to be successful. With media access via cable TV, the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, Saad would be a huge star today because he never disappointed and always delivered against the best of the best the light heavyweight division had to offer.

In closing here’s two quick Saad stories:

It was July of 1978 at the Passyunk gym in South Philly. I was there training as an amateur and both Saad and Mike Rossman were also there training. Rossman, who was stopped by Yaqui Lopez in his last fight was starting to get ready for his upcoming title shot against WBA champ Victor Galindez, a fight Mike would go onto win. Saad was preparing to defend his NABF title against Lopez and hoping to meet the Galindez-Rossman winner. I’ll never forget after sparring two rounds with Saad, he pointed to Rossman shadow boxing on the floor and said to me, “He just got knocked out by Lopez who I’m going to knock out – and he’s getting a title shot before me…” then he shook his head and got ready to spar the next guy up. Years later, I ran into him in Atlantic City during a cable TV sports show that I was a guest on. He just found out that he was going to be inducted into the IBHOF and was saying how he hadn’t seen any of his fights in years. Being a fight collector I offered to make him a VHS tape of his bouts vs. Kates, Johnson and Lopez. A week later we met and I gave him the tape. He was happy to get it and when I ran into him after that he continued to thank me for the tape.You couldn’t meet a nicer or tougher man than Matthew Saad Muhammad. Everyone who came in contact with him liked him and his demeanor never changed. I’m glad I got to know Saad and train with him a little bit when he was the main man in the light heavyweight division. It’s a shame that because of all the great boxers around at that time like Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez and others, Saad got a little lost in the crowd. But that doesn’t diminish what a thrilling and great fighter he was.

And to those of us who were around for his prime, we’ll never forget the great fights and memories that he gave us and we all respect him for the way he handled himself outside of the ring as well.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GloevedFist@Gmail.com

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Frank Lotierzo

The Challenge of Playing Muhammad Ali

Published

7 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.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

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

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

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

Published

4 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

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!