On Kovalev-Hopkins, And The Continuation of The Cold War Thaw

Published

11 years ago

July 28, 2014

I heard on the grapevine that talks are underway for a Sergey Kovalev-Bernard Hopkins fight, so I checked in with Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s promoter, and the boss at Main Events.

So, are there talks underway which would pit the Russian hammerfisted terminator type against the aged but still world class master craftsman who has forgotten more than all the rest of the active pros know?

“We’ve had a talk about having a talk,” said Duva, chuckling. “But we have not a had a talk. And “we” is Eric Gomez (at Golden Boy Promotions), a talk about having a talk.” Duva said Gomez, who is now charged with more duties at the reformulated Golden Boy, after Oscar and ex pal, banker buddy Richard Schaefer parted ways in most acrimonious fashion, told her he’d be in touch about this matter by a certain date, and that date came and went.

But, when I put forth that maybe that talk of that fight might be spinning of wheels, Duva said no, as she told Gomez, Kovalev has eyes trained on his Aug. 2 AC date with Blake Caparello. And Main Events is busy banging the drums for that one, in circumstances that got a bit muddier when it was announced about two weeks ago that the Revel casino, host of the card, will be shuttered soon. AFTER the boxing event, Duva made sure to hammer home to me…

So, she said, let’s get through this promotion, and then there will be ample time to hammer out whatever is next for Kovalev. Also, it should go without saying, but it won’t, because we all need periodic reminders, nothing is set in stone till the stone is set. Caparello might just—one does never know until one KNOWS—mess up even tentative plans for Kovalev’s continued ascent. “Once this fight is over, we are going to make a decision very quickly about what Sergey does next,” she said. “So you guys (Golden Boy) better make your decisions very clear about what you want to do.”

Some of you might be thinking, hey, wait a minute…isn’t there a rule being adhered to, one put in place by HBO last year, that they don’t want to be doing business with Golden Boy. Ah, yes and no.

This is the new, re-formulated Golden Boy. The Richard Schaefer-less Golden Boy.

Many of you do know that there was the suggestion of a mini-thawing, I guess you could call it, in this Cold War, the one that has entities taking sides, with HBO buying most of its product from Bob Arum of Top Rank, and Showtime buying just about all its fare from Golden Boy, and most of that involving fighters repped by Al Haymon. HBO, you recall, got sick of dealing with seeing fighters they believed they built up running across the street, to Showtime, with, in their minds, Haymon being the broker-bad-guy, pitting two sides against each other, to drive up purses for fighters he reps. So, last year, HBO said no mas. They weren’t going to be putting near and long-ish range plans into activation, and seeing them go off the rails, because people they were working on building-up took their toolbox over to the competition.

I asked someone in the know at HBO a couple days ago who didn’t want to speak on the record about the concept of a greater thaw, and that person indicated to me, in so many words, that the game has changed. Not wholly, not fully, not with any grand pronouncement. But, this person said, we put it out there publicly not long ago that our doors are open to dealing with all parties for fights and deals that make sense. Which leads us to a Kovalev-Hopkins fight. That’s a heckuva deal, a fight which would be much anticipated by all fight fans.

Now, I wouln’t go outside, with your megaphone, and announce to the world that all are playing nice, that this Lomachenko-Gary Russell June 21 scrap was the hors d’ouevres and this Kovalev-Hopkins tiff will be served up as the main course right quick. But I’m feeling like the thawing is continuing, that more varied deals will be made in this second half of the year in boxing, with HBO being amenable to working with this Oscar De La Hoya-led Golden Boy. Kovalev is tied in to fighting on HBO, by the way, and to my knowledge, Hopkins is NOT tied into having his bouts run on Showtime, so that could help pave the way to make this thaw-out special reach the serving stage.

Duva told me that yes, she gets the feeling that the thawing is in effect. The proof? Because this Kovalev-Hopkins bout is even being talked about…that’s proof in itself. “Exponentially,” she told me, when I asked about there being light at the end of the accursed tunnel of division.

“I want to hear (that HBO will work with Golden Boy, and all entities will be open to doing deals even with people they don’t call friends) that, as a promoter, because then more opportunities can be created, to work together. If everybody is just making matches in house, then what you get is a very stagnant, boring sport. I come from a time when we absolutely despised each other, but we’d come together to make a deal. Bernard Hopkins, I’ll say this if this is proof of HBO being willing to back up what they’re insinuating, Bernard Hopkins was a pre-approved opponent in that (multifight deal made for Kovalev’s next few fights earlier in 2014). It was always envisioned that perhaps times would change.”

Now, I do confess I have not figured what other shoe has dropped, and who was wearing it…or even if the damned thing has dropped at all. I did do a double take when I heard and saw Hopkins, basically besties with Richard Schaefer the last few five or so years, changing his tune, and saying he’d be open to fighting for Oscar’s Golden Boy. I sort of assumed that there would be a full split, with “Richard’s guys” going with him, and maybe fighting on Mayweather cards, and Oscar’s guys sticking behind with him, and fighting under the GBP umbrella still. I wondered aloud, does Hopkins’ change of tune maybe indicate that Schaefer has indicated to B-Hop that he will be out of commission for a spell, not being active in the sport, for whatever reasons, be they litigational or contractual…and that’s why Hopkins is singing a new tune?

No, Duva said, that’s not her perception. Her perception, she said, is that she thinks that Showtime isn’t interested in right now putting together a Hopkins vs. Adonis Stevenson fight. Why would that be, you might ask. That fight was on the back and then front burner for awhile. Maybe one reason, and I am purely theorizing here, is that it would seem more prudent not to mix up those ingredients in that fashion because of the ongoing suit lodged by Duva against Showtime, and Haymon and Stevenson, and Golden Boy and others. That suit is stemming from the busted deal from the spring which Duva maintains she had cemented, but which splintered when Stevenson latched on with Haymon. I think theorizing is all we’re going to get here, because you could also speculate that maybe some people think Stevenson is too obviously ripe to be picked off by Hopkins, and it might be “wiser” to have him fight lower-caliber opposition, to make it more likely that he retains a belt-holder at 175 pounds.

Anyway, the reasons why Hopkins might now be free to tangle with Kovalev are probably immaterial, if indeed this storyline continues to play out as it’s looking like it will.

“I’m totally open to it, I’d love to have the talks for Kovalev-Hopkins…but we haven’t had it,” Duva said, in closing.

Summation: Here’s hoping that indeed we do continue to move more so towards a new period of if not wondrous co-existence, then at least a peaceable-enough atmosphere which sees the power brokers getting along well enough to sit int he same room enough long anough to make deals which us fans want to see. Hell, they can hose their nose the whole time, whisper expletives under their breath the whole time if they want to, as long as this ice age ends. Because the best need to be fighting the best, as often as possible…because if not, then our sport stagnates, and the fans get screwed, as do the athletes, because they aren’t given a full slate of options to plot their course.

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History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

Published

20 hours ago

April 2, 2025

Arne K. Lang

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

This reporter was rummaging around the internet last week when he stumbled on a story in the May 1950 issue of Ebony under the byline of Mike Jacobs. Boxing was then in the doldrums (isn’t it always?) and Jacobs, the most powerful promoter in boxing during the era of Joe Louis, was lassoed by the editors of the magazine to address the question of whether the over-representation of black boxers was killing the sport at the box office.

This hoary premise had been kicking around even before the heyday of Jack Johnson, bubbling forth whenever an important black-on-black fight played to a sea of empty seats as had happened the previous year when Chicago’s Comiskey Park hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Jacobs ridiculed the hypothesis – as one could have expected considering the publication in which the story ran – and singled out three “colored” boxers as the best of the current crop of active pugilists: Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, and Freddie Dawson.

Sugar Ray Robinson? A no-brainer. Skill-wise the greatest of the great. Even those that didn’t follow boxing, would have recognized his name. Ike Williams? Nowhere near as well-known as Robinson, but he was then the reigning lightweight champion, a man destined to go into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990.

And Freddie Dawson? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, dear reader, you are not alone. I confess that I too drew a blank. And that triggered a search to learn more about him.

Freddie Dawson had four fights with Ike Williams. All four were staged on Ike’s turf in Philadelphia. Were this not the case, the history books would likely show the series knotted 2-2. Late in his career, Dawson became greatly admired in Australia. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Dawson was born in 1924 in Thomasville, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in the Arkansas Delta. Likely a descendent of slaves who worked in the cotton plantations, he grew up in the so-called Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.

The first mention of him in the newspapers came in 1941 when he won Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) featherweight title. In those days, amateur boxing was big in the Windy City, the birthplace of the Golden Gloves. The Catholic Archdiocese, which ran gyms in every parish, and the Chicago Parks Department, were the major incubators.

In his amateur days, he was known as simply Fred Dawson. As a pro, his name often appeared as Freddy Dawson, although Freddie gradually became the more common spelling.

Dawson, who stood five-foot-six and was often described as stocky, made his pro debut on Feb. 1, 1943, at Marigold Gardens. Before the year was out, he had 16 fights under his belt, all in Chicago and all but two at Marigold. (Currently the site of an interdenominational Christian church, Marigold Gardens, on the city’s north side, was Chicago’s most active boxing and wrestling arena from the mid-1930s through the early-1950s. Joe Louis had three of his early fights there and Tony Zale was a fixture there as he climbed the ladder to the world middleweight title.)

The last of these 16 fights was fatal for Dawson’s opponent who collapsed heading back to his corner after the fight was stopped in the 10^th round and died that night at a local hospital from the effects of a brain injury.

Dawson left town after this incident and spent most of the next year in New Orleans where energetic promoter Louis Messina ran twice-weekly shows (Mondays for whites and Fridays for blacks) at the Coliseum, a major stop on boxing’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit.

That same year, on Sept. 19, 1944, Dawson had his first encounter with Ike Williams. He was winning the fight when Ike knocked him out with a body punch in the fourth round.

The first and last meetings between Dawson and Ike Williams were spaced five years apart. In the interim, Freddie scored his two best wins, stopping Vic Patrick in the twelfth round at Sydney, NSW, and Bernard Docusen in the sixth round in Chicago.

The long-reigning lightweight champion of Australia, Patrick (49-3, 43 KOs) gave the crowd a thrill when he knocked Dawson down for a count of “six” in the penultimate 11^th round, but Dawson returned the favor twice in the final stanza, ending the contest with a punch so harsh that the poor Aussie needed five minutes before he was fit to leave the ring and would spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

Dawson fought Bernard Docusen before 10,000-plus at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 4, 1949. An 8/5 favorite, Docusen lacked a hard punch, but the New Orleans cutie had suffered only three losses in 66 fights, had never been stopped, and had extended Sugar Ray Robinson the 15-round distance the previous year.

Dawson dismantled him. Docusen managed to get back on his feet after Dawson knocked him down in the sixth, but he was in no condition to continue and the referee waived the fight off. Dawson was then vacillating between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and reporters wondered whether it would be Robinson or Ike Williams when Dawson finally got his well-earned title shot.

Sugar Ray wasn’t in his future. Here are the results of his other matches with Ike Williams:

Dawson-Williams II (Jan. 28, 1946) – The consensus on press row was 7-2-1 or 7-3 for Dawson, but the match was ruled a draw. “[The judges and referee] evidently saw [Williams] land punches that nobody else did,” said the ringside reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dawson-Williams III (Jan. 26, 1948) – Dawson lost a majority decision. The scores were 6-4, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. The decision was booed. Ike Williams then held the lightweight title, but this was a non-title fight. (It was tough for an outsider to get a fair shake in Philadelphia, home to Ike Williams’ co-manager Frank “Blinky” Palermo who would go to prison for his duplicitous dealings as a fight facilitator.)

Dawson-Williams IV (Dec. 5, 1949) – This would be Freddie Dawson’s only crack at a world title and he came up short. Ike Williams retained the belt, winning a unanimous decision. The fight was close – 8-7, 8-7, 9-6 – but there was no controversy.

Dawson made three more trips to Australia before his career was finished. On the first of these trips, he knocked out Jack Hassen, successor to Vic Patrick as the lightweight champion of Australia. A 1953 article in the Sydney Sunday Herald bore witness to the esteem in which Dawson was held by boxing fans in Australia: “None of our boxers could withstand his devastating attacks which not only knocked them out but also knocked years off their careers,” said the author. “It is doubtful whether any Australian boxer in any division could have beaten Dawson.”

Dawson had his final fights in the Land Down Under, finishing his career with a record of 103-14-4 while answering the bell for 962 rounds. Following what became his final fight, he had an eye operation in Sydney that was reportedly so intricate that it required a two-week hospital stay. He injured the eye again in Manila while sparring in preparation for a match with the welterweight champion of the Philippines, a match that had to be aborted because of the injury. Dawson then disappeared, by which we mean that he disappeared from the pages of the newspaper archives that allow us to construct these kinds of stories.

What about Freddie Dawson the man? A 1944 story about him said he was an outstanding all-around athlete, “a champion in all athletic undertakings – basketball, baseball, track and even jitterbugging.” A story in a Sydney paper as he was preparing to meet Vic Patrick informs us that he had two young children, ages 2 and 1, owned his own home in Chicago, and drove a two-year-old Cadillac. But beyond these flimsy snippets, Dawson the man remains elusive.

What we learned, however, is that he was one of the most underrated boxers to come down the pike in any era, a borderline Hall of Famer who ought not have fallen through the cracks. Inside the ring, this guy was one tough hombre.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

5 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

5 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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