Mike Jones Returns in Search Of Lost Spotlight

Published

11 years ago

June 23, 2014

Out of sight, out of mind.

It is the fear of losing their celebrity, or at least at some measure of relevance, that apparently spurs the Kardashian sisters to relentlessly pursue anyone with a camera or a microphone willing to document their latest exploits. In a media-driven world, possession of an actual talent apparently is not required for shameless wannabes to become rich and kind of famous.

But the turning off or misdirection of the spotlight has an even more deleterious effect on those with a truly special skill-set. WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward is widely regarded as the finest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet not named Floyd Mayweather Jr., and there are those who would argue he’d be at the summit of the pugilistic mountain now if he were fighting more often. But injury (surgery on his right shoulder in January 2013) and a contractual dispute with his promoter, Dan Goossen, have kept Ward off to the side instead of in the ring. The likelihood of a drawn-out litigation to resolve the matter – the Oakland, Calif., native hasn’t fought since defending his title on a unanimous decision over Edwin Rodriguez on Nov. 16, 2013 – is, at 30, putting on hold too long a stretch of his prime. And time, precious time, is something no boxer, especially the special ones, can afford to waste.

Former welterweight contender Mike Jones (26-1, 19 KOs) is not Andre Ward. He is not now nor has ever been on any pound-for-pound lists. But the lean Philadelphian rose to No. 1 in the WBO rankings not so very long ago, and no lower than No. 3 in any of the other three so-called major sanctioning bodies. He was far ahead on points on all three judges’ scorecards in his bout with a faded but still-dangerous former WBO junior welterweight champion, Randall Bailey, in their matchup for the vacant IBF 147-pound title on June 9, 2012, at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, when he was knocked out by a ripping right uppercut in the 11^th round.

Had he avoided that big shot (he also went down in the 10^th round) and made it to the final bell, Jones – who was and still is co-promoted by Top Rank, in conjunction with Philly-based J Russell Peltz – might have been in line for a high-paying, high-visibility matchup with Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao, the undisputed lead attraction in Top Rank’s stable. And even if he didn’t snag that plum assignment (no one was apt to nominate Jones-Bailey for Fight of the Year), as a new champion he was assured of a nice consolation prize.

“As bad as the fight was with Bailey – as boring, as monotonous as it was – he was 3 minutes and 8 seconds from at least a half-million-dollar payday overseas with England’s Kell Brook,” Peltz said a few days after Jones’ “comeback” bout, against Jaime Herrera on Aug. 23 at Bally’s Atlantic City, was announced. “And when you see how they’re always scrambling (to come up with acceptable opponents for Pacquiao), Mike would have had to fit in there somewhere.

“But you’re only as good as your last fight. If only Mike had won, he could have capitalized on that. But when your previous few fights were tedious also, it’s harder to do that. Top Rank invested a lot of money in him. They put him on three of the biggest stages you could put a fighter on – Cowboys Stadium, Madison Square Garden and the MGM Grand. Come on, fighters dream of that. And he didn’t come through on any of those big stages.”

Jones is 31, older than Ward, and he’s been off longer. It will be 26 months before he steps inside the ropes against Herrera, not exactly an eternity but a long enough period of inactivity to expunge him from every alphabet organization’s ratings for inactivity and for him to collect at least a veneer of ring rust. Nor can Jones pin at least part of the layoff on injury; he does not have a note from his doctor to explain why he has virtually disappeared from public consciousness.

“(Top Rank officials) told me, `Russell, you get him a comeback fight,’” Peltz said. “But Mike has been stubborn. He was all ready to sign a year ago to fight in Atlantic City, but it fell out over a contract squabble with (co-managers) Doc (Nowicki) and Jimmy Williams.”

Whether Jones’ return to action is cause for the renewal of high expectations is a matter of some conjecture. He will be favored to win, and look good in doing it, against the 25-year-old Herrera (11-2, 6 KOs), but even if he does it will not make for a dramatic announcement that he is indeed back. Jones needs to make up for lost time, and in a hurry. He said a more regular slate of ring dates, against an increasingly higher level of opponent, will restore the luster to his damaged image. Destiny delayed is not necessarily destiny denied.

“I would say just being busier,” he said when asked what it would take to re-enter the ratings and to reclaim as much of his receded prestige as possible. “I just need to get some fights, to get back in the groove of things. Once that happens, I’ll be back where I’m supposed to be.”

If everything does begin to fall into place, it will be because Jones – who relocated to Henderson, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas, only weeks after his loss to Bailey – will have a new look, a new style. Which is to say it will be his old style, the one that he made the mistake of abandoning once he began to gain prominence.

The Mike Jones that grabbed fight fans’ attention was the one who mowed through a succession of designated victims at the New Alhambra in South Philadelphia, now known as the 2300 Arena. He was a compelling local story, a father of two young daughters who helped make ends meet by working part-time as a forklift operator at the Home Depot in Cherry Hill, N.J., when he wasn’t knocking guys stiff in the 1,100-seat bandbox where he made his reputation. Of his 12 bouts at the New Alhambra, Jones won 11 inside the distance, often in spectacular fashion. It was what was to be expected of someone whose first boxing mentor was the late, great former heavyweight champion, “Smokin’” Joe Frazier.

“Joe wanted all his guys to be modeled after him,” Jones said before his Dec. 3, 2011, bout with Sebastian Lujan at Madison Square Garden, a month after Frazier’s death following a prolonged bout with liver cancer. “He’d say, `You want to plant those feet and get those knockouts. Be grounded and have that foundation first. Sit in the pocket and really dig it out.’”

Even then, though, Jones was beginning to hold something back, increasingly playing it cautious instead of really digging it out and going for the knockouts so prized by Smokin’ Joe. He had risen too far, he figured, to be taking foolish chances and to expose himself to a defeat which could send him back to the New Alhambra. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was grooming him for stardom, wasn’t he? When he came in as Peltz’s promotional partner on Jones, Arum had said, “We really like Jones. We think he’s a major talent. He represents the future of the welterweight division.”

“Some guys just fight to get the victory,” Jones said in acknowledging the metamorphosis of style that would prove so detrimental. “Some guys put their heart and soul into every fight. That’s how I began in this game. I lost it little by little as I started to get more successful. I was fighting not to lose instead of letting it go and fighting to win.

“Before, I always went for the knockout. That’s just the kind of fighter I was. But you know what? I’m still that kind of fighter. I definitely want to get back to fighting that way. I know I can do it.”

Peltz, who again is charged with the task of helping Jones further his now-stalled career (Top Rank, for now, is more or less sitting things out), hopes that the words aren’t merely hollow promises. He knew what he had in rising star Jones, and he said it was something that excited him to a degree he hadn’t felt in some time.

“I thought Mike Jones singlehandedly was going to revive boxing in Philly at a major level, the way his career started out,” said Peltz, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004 and who has promoted, among others, fellow Hall of Famers Matthew Saad Muhammad and Jeff Chandler. Before the Lujan fight – a desultory, 12-round decision that was televised by HBO – Peltz had offered the opinion that Jones “has a chance to be a megastar. I’m looking for this kid to get it all.”

And now?

Arum, who is recovering from knee-replacement surgery, was unavailable for comment, but Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s vice president of boxing operations, issued something less than a full-fledged endorsement of Jones as the growth property he was once considered to be.

“It remains to be seen if he can get back to where he was,” Moretti said. “I don’t know if it was really anywhere to get back to. He fought on HBO a couple of times and didn’t exactly light it up. Depending on how he does and how active he is, that will determine how far he can go. But there’s no question it’s an uphill road.”

Added Peltz: “Mike’s been his own worst enemy for the past two years. I try not to believe what I read on the Internet, but from the few stories I’ve seen he’s not happy with anybody. There’s nothing in my contract with Mike Jones that says we have to like each other.”

The wild card in the deck is the very real possibility of lawyers getting involved. After Jones and Herrera duke it out, the next round could be fought in a court of law by attorney Eric Melzer, who represents Jones (as well as Bernard Hopkins) and Nowicki’s lawyer, Joe Grimes. If a lawsuit is filed and a settlement not reached, Jones’ return could again be put on hold.

“Almost every fighter I’ve had, when the end of their contract is coming up, thinks that somebody else is going to do better for them,” said Nowicki, who detailed all he had allegedly done for Jones above and beyond the functions a manager normally would be expected to provide. “When you get a guy to a shot for a world title, when that guy is climbing up the ladder, everybody wants to be his friend, everybody’s telling him how great he is. They think he’s making millions of dollars.

“Look, if he doesn’t want me to be his manager, I certainly don’t want to be associated with somebody that doesn’t want to be associated with me. But I’ll be damned if I have a deal with somebody and then they try to tell me there is no deal. I’ll probably have to take him to court.”

Jones, who said he has no manager now and doesn’t intend to take one on, disputes Nowicki’s claims.

“My position is that no valid contract exists because it wasn’t signed in front of a commission,” he said. (EDITOR NOTE: Who can weigh in here and offer a guesstimate on how many such deals ARE signed in front of a commission?) “If everybody’s not working in perfect harmony, you should split and go someplace where you’re more appreciated. Have a new beginning. It’s no good when everybody’s not on the same page.”

It’s a familiar tale in boxing, one side saying A-B-C, the other saying X-Y-Z. Sometimes the right and the wrong of it is starkly black or white, right or wrong. Other times, not so much. Shades of gray exist that must be interpreted and ruled upon by a judge or an arbitrator. For now, though, Jones would like to have another chance to compare notes with Ward, who, in his role as an HBO analyst, spoke to him in the ring after Jones’ rematch victory over Jesus Soto-Karass on Feb. 19, 2011.

“He just talked to me about the fight,” Jones recalled. “I think we’d have a lot more to talk about now.”

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Bernard Fernandez

Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: A Hectic Boxing Week in L.A.

Published

16 hours ago

May 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-326-A-Hectic-Boxing-Week-in-LA

The Los Angeles area is packed with boxing.

Japan’s Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta, Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk, and the indefatigable Jake Paul are all in the Los Angeles area this week.

First, Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs) defends the WBO super flyweight title against Argentina’s Carla Merino on Saturday May 17, at Commerce Casino. The 360 Boxing Promotions card will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Voted Japan’s best female fighter, Hiruta faces a stiff challenge from Merino who traveled thousands of miles from Cordoba.

360 Promotions is one of the top promotions especially when it comes to presenting female prizefighting. Two of their other female fighters, Lupe Medina and Jocelyn Camarillo, will also be fighting on Saturday.

They are not only promoting female fighters. They have several top male champions including Bohachuk and Omar “Trinidad performing this Saturday.

Don’t miss this show at Commerce Casino.

“This card is one of the deepest cards we’ve promoted in Southern California which has been proven by the rush for tickets and the wealth of media interest. Serhii, Omar and Mizuki are three of the top fighters in their respective weight classes and it’s a great opportunity for fans to see a full night of action,” said Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions.

Jake and Chavez Jr. in L.A.

Jake Paul took time off from training in Puerto Rico to visit Los Angeles to hype his upcoming fight against former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. next month.

“The fans have wanted to see this, and I want to continue to elevate and raise the level of my opponents,” said Paul, 28. “This is a former world champion, and he has an amazing resume following in his dad’s footsteps.”

Paul, who co-owns Most Valuable Promotions with Nakisa Bidarian, last staged a wildly successful boxing card that included Amanda Serrano versus Katie Taylor and of course his own fight with Mike Tyson.

It set records for viewing according to Netflix with an estimated 108 million views.

Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) is set to face Chavez (54-6-1, 34 KOs) in a cruiserweight battle at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on June 28. DAZN pay-per-view will stream the Golden Boy Promotions and MVP fight card that includes the return of Holly Holm to the boxing world after years in MMA.

No one should underestimate Paul who does have crackling power in his fists. He is for real and at 28, is in the prime of his boxing career.

Yes, he is a social influencer who got into boxing with no amateur background, but since he engaged fully into the sport, Paul has shown remarkable improvement in all areas.

Is he perfect? Of course not.

But power is the one attribute that can neutralize any faults and Paul does have real power. I witnessed it when I first saw him in the prize ring in Los Angeles many years ago.

Chavez, 39, the son of Mexico’s great Julio Cesar Chavez, is not as good as his father but was talented enough to win a world title and hold it until 2012 when he was edged by Sergio Martinez.

The son of Chavez last fought this past July when he defeated former UFC fighter Uriah Hall in a boxing match held in Florida. He has been seeking a match with Paul for years and finally he got it.

“I need to prepare 100%. This is an interesting fight. It might not be easy, but I’m going to do the best I can to be the best person I am, but I think I’m going to take him,” said Chavez.

Paul was not shy about Chavez’s talent.

“This is his toughest fight to date, and I’m going to embarrass him and make him quit like he always does,” said Paul about Chavez Jr. “I’m going to expose and embarrass him. He’s the embarrassment of Mexico. Mexico doesn’t even claim him, and he’s going to get exposed on June 28.”

Also on the same fight card is unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) who defends the WBA and WBO titles against Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs).

In a surprising addition, former boxing champion Holm returns to the boxing ring after 12 years away from the sport. Can she still fight?

Holm (33-2-3, 9 KOs) meets Mexico’s Yolanda Vega (10-0, 1 KO) in a lightweight fight scheduled for 10 rounds. Holm is 43 and Vega is 29. Many eyes will be looking to see the return of Holm who was recently voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Wild Card Honored by L.A. City

A formal presentation by the Los Angeles City Council to honor the 30^th anniversary of the Wild Card Boxing Club takes place on Sunday May 18, at 1:30 p.m. The ceremony takes place in front of the Wild Card located at 1123 Vine Street, Hollywood 90038.

Along with city councilmembers will be a number of the top first responder officials.

Championing Mental Health

A star-studded broadcast team comprised of Al Bernstein, Corey Erdman and Lupe Contreras will announce the boxing event called “Championing Mental Health” card on Thursday May 22, at the Avalon Theater. DAZN will stream the Bash Boxing card live.

Among those fighting are Vic Pasillas, Jessie Mandapat and Ricardo Ruvalcaba.

For more information including tickets go to www.555media.com/tickets.

Fights to Watch

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Mizuki Hiruta (7-0) vs Carla Merina (16-2).

Thurs. DAZN 7 p.m. Vic Pasillas (17-1) vs Carlos Jackson (20-2).

Mimi Hiruta / Tom Loeffler photo credit: Al Applerose

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Sam Goodman and Eccentric Harry Garside Score Wins on a Wednesday Card in Sydney

Published

3 days ago

May 14, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Sam-Goodman-and-Eccentric-Harry-Garside-Score-Wins-on-a-Wednesday-Card-in-Sydney

Australian junior featherweight Sam Goodman, ranked #1 by the IBF and #2 by the WBO, returned to the ring today in Sydney, NSW, and advanced his record to 20-0 (8) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Mexican import Cesar Vaca (19-2). This was Goodman’s first fight since July of last year. In the interim, he twice lost out on lucrative dates with Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue. Both fell out because of cuts that Goodman suffered in sparring.

Goodman was cut again today and in two places – below his left eye in the eighth and above his right eye in the ninth, the latter the result of an accidental head butt – but by then he had the bout firmly in control, albeit the match wasn’t quite as one-sided as the scores (100-90, 99-91, 99-92) suggested. Vaca, from Guadalajara, was making his first start outside his native country.

Goodman, whose signature win was a split decision over the previously undefeated American fighter Ra’eese Aleem, is handled by the Rose brothers — George, Trent, and Matt — who also handle the Tszyu brothers, Tim and Nikita, and two-time Olympian (and 2021 bronze medalist) Harry Garside who appeared in the semi-wind-up.

Harry Garside

A junior welterweight from a suburb of Melbourne, Garside, 27, is an interesting character. A plumber by trade who has studied ballet, he occasionally shows up at formal gatherings wearing a dress.

Garside improved to 4-0 (3 KOs) as a pro when the referee stopped his contest with countryman Charlie Bell after five frames, deciding that Bell had taken enough punishment. It was a controversial call although Garside — who fought the last four rounds with a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads in the opening frame – was comfortably ahead on the cards.

Heavyweights

In a slobberknocker being hailed as a shoo-in for the Australian domestic Fight of the Year, 34-year-old bruisers Stevan Ivic and Toese Vousiutu took turns battering each other for 10 brutal rounds. It was a miracle that both were still standing at the final bell. A Brisbane firefighter recognized as the heavyweight champion of Australia, Ivic (7-0-1, 2 KOs) prevailed on scores of 96-94 and 96-93 twice. Melbourne’s Vousiuto falls to 8-2.

Tim Tsyzu.

The oddsmakers have installed Tim Tszyu a small favorite (minus-135ish) to avenge his loss to Sebastian Fundora when they tangle on Sunday, July 20, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Their first meeting took place in this same ring on March 30 of last year. Fundora, subbing for Keith Thurman, saddled Tszyu with his first defeat, taking away the Aussie’s WBO 154-pound world title while adding the vacant WBC belt to his dossier. The verdict was split but fair. Tszyu fought the last 11 rounds with a deep cut on his hairline that bled profusely, the result of an errant elbow.

Since that encounter, Tszyu was demolished in three rounds by Bakhram Murtazaliev in Orlando and rebounded with a fourth-round stoppage of Joey Spencer in Newcastle, NSW. Fundora has been to post one time, successfully defending his belts with a dominant fourth-round stoppage of Chordale Booker.

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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Published

5 days ago

May 11, 2025

Thomas Hauser

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”

By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.

Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.

The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.

On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.

The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:

* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”

* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”

* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”

* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”

* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”

* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”

* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”

* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”

* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”

* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”

* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”

* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”

* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”

So . . . Any questions?

****

Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.

Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.

Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.

It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.

Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.

“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”

At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”

Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”

And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”

“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:

https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329

In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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