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Dan Goossen’s Loss A Major Blow
Dan Goossen, president of Goossen Promotions based in Sherman Oaks, passed away from complications due to liver cancer, it was announced on Monday. He was only 64.
The jovial and likeable Goossen promoted Chris Arreola, Josesito Lopez and Andre Ward. His absence from a recent event at Pechanga Resort and Casino, when Austin Trout headlined the boxing card on Aug. 22, was the first sign that something was wrong.
It was the first boxing event that I could cover after suffering my own complications from a subdural hematoma. Dan Goossen called me during my month-long stay in a hospital and wished me well. “My family is praying for you,” he said, while never disclosing his own problems. “You have always been good to us.”
I was eager to see Dan Goossen in person to give him thanks for the call and kind words. He never showed at the event and I asked everyone involved with the promotion company where he was. No one could answer.
Many noticed his absence. He was not known for skipping fight cards in Southern California.
Henry Ramirez, trainer of Goossen Promotions fighters Chris Arreola and Josesito Lopez, said he often spoke with Goossen regarding many things. But lately, he was unavailable.
“He never showed any signs of being sick. I spoke to Rodney (Hunt) and he confirmed that Dan was sick. I talked to Dan probably three weeks ago and he still never said anything. He was attempting to get things squared away out of the ring. He helped out Chris beyond the boxing ring,” said Ramirez.
“I remember going into his hotel room before the Bermane Stiverne fight in L.A., I told Dan I want to win this fight for me, but I probably want it for you even more,” said Ramirez. “He said thanks, ‘Daddy-O.’ That’s what he used to say, ‘Daddy-O.’ I’m pretty sad.”
Arreola was promoted by Goossen from early on in his career. Through the various trials and tribulations Goossen supported the Riverside heavyweight in and out of the ring.
“Not only was he a great promoter to me, but he helped when I needed help! No matter what, he wanted to see me do well,” said Arreola on Facebook. “The boxing world lost a good promoter but the world lost a great man! We still have unfinished business to take care of! Rest in peace daddy-o!”
Goossen was always in pursuit of the heavyweight championship. Numerous heavyweights passed through his offices, such as Tony Thompson, Malik Scott, Lance Whitaker, and others. But only James “Lights Out” Toney managed to grab that title and then it was suddenly taken away.
When Toney defeated the great Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield by knockout to win at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in October 2003, it was one of the greatest wins for Goossen-Tutor Promotions. And it came right after Toney knocked out Vassiliy Jirov in a ferocious fight six months earlier. He then beat Rydell Booker for the vacant IBA heavyweight title but suffered a torn muscle in his chest. He underwent surgery and was prescribed steroids to help with the healing process. But in April 2005, after defeating John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight world title, a drug sample detected traces of steroids. Toney had been given the drugs by doctors and had been told that the steroids would be out of his system, but that was a wrong assessment and the title was stripped from Toney. It was another setback for Toney and another blow to Goossen’s dreams of a heavyweight champion.
For several years Goossen tried to make a fight between Toney and either Vitali or Wladimir Klitshcko for the heavyweight titles they held. Several times it seemed close to fruition, tantalizingly close, but it never happened.
“I’m in shock right now. He’s (Goossen) a soldier we lost on the battle-field and one of the pioneers in boxing,” said John “Pops” Arthur, a trainer and advisor for Toney. “I was just reaching out to James (Toney). I’m just in total shock.”
Farzad Tabatabai, an attorney and friend who represented Goossen on numerous litigations, said the real Goossen was a reserved family man who was loyal to his friends and former fighters.
“I first met Dan in 2007 over the Antonio Margarito vs. Paul “The Punisher” Williams WBO welterweight title fight litigation,” said Tabatabai, whose office is based in Los Angeles. “We filed a suit and had the trial in Puerto Rico.”
Ultimately Williams fought and defeated Margarito to win the title and proceeded to win the junior middleweight title as well. But a mega fight between Williams and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was derailed when the tall fighter from Georgia was left paralyzed from a motorcycle accident.
Williams and many others were never forgotten by Goossen, who kept tabs and assisted as much as possible.
“He was a very principled person. Every time someone screwed him it offended him. He was really a loyal person. He really cared. He asked me to help people from a long time ago that needed help. It never was about money. It was about principle. Very reserved, he was a really good, genuine, decent man,” said Tabatabai, who worked on numerous lawsuits for Goossen and became a close friend. “He genuinely cared about the fighters he worked with and he was a real family man. Fighters in the past he helped just because he was that kind of a guy. He cared about his fighters and was a very good guy.”
Craig Goossen, his oldest son, once told me and Steve Kim that his dream was to see his father win a mega fight. It was 2008, and Dan Goossen invited a number of reporters of various media to see Andre Ward’s fight against Jerson Ravelo in the Cayman Islands. One night, the three of us floated on the waters around 1 a.m. each with a bottle of beer and Craig Goossen told us about how he quit a well-paying job and worked for almost nothing to try and make his dad’s dream come true. His devotion to his father was truly inspiring and unforgettable.
The Goossen family was airtight and really supportive of each other.
“The last time I talked to him was a week or two ago. Just a close inner circle knew. It was a very aggressive and short illness. I knew his wife and I knew his brother Joe,” said Tabatabai. “It’s a serious loss. I’m deeply saddened by his passing.”
Rodney Cruz-Hunt, marketing director for Goossen Promotions, said Dan Goossen was capable of salvaging fights in zero degree weather in far off destinations like Kazakhstan. When a bout featuring Beibut Shumenov saw his opponent suddenly disappear, Goossen didn’t panic.
“I just remember sitting there in Kazakhstan in 28 degree weather and watching Dan still pull it together. The main event fighter just left. He had to make a quick decision and he replaced (Juergen) Braehmer with William Joppy to make the show still go on. Joppy was on another fight and Dan made the switch and saved the main event.”
Hunt, a reporter for a Southern California television network, became Goossen’s go-to-guy for different aspects of fight promotions and often worked closely with the head man. He believes that Goossen would want the company to continue.
Meanwhile, dozens of calls from current and former fighters of Goossen Promotions flooded the telephone line.
“Everyone that called was proper and respectful. I can’t quote what they all said, but I can say that boxing has been hit with a major blow,” said Hunt.
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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