There Are Decent People in Boxing, Doing Decent Things

Published

5 years ago

October 3, 2014

I know this story won’t draw a huge number of hits.

Tough tamales, I say.

Stories like this one, which spotlight people who are doing good things, aren’t written enough, not by me, and sure as hell not by a media obsessed with feeding the darker sides of all our human nature.

Melvina Lathan was named chair of the New York State Athletic Commission in 2008. It was a heady time. Optimism was in the air, amongst many of us, anyway, if not for the people for whom color blindness infects their reasoning, however much of it they may possess. A black man was elected to oversee the most powerful nation in the world, and that felt like a massive reparation, and a concession to progress, a reminder, of which there hasn’t been enough of in the last 30 or so years, that America can do great things, beyond thinking up ways to package sugar and fat into delectable fast food items, and engineer diabolically lucrative methods to exploit loopholes and make Wall Street richer than the sum total of some small nations’ GDP.

A woman being named to head up an athletic commission…good stuff.

Her tenure, as all of them are, was a mix of positive and negative. I’d argue that the positive far, far outweighed the negative, especially if you talk to some of those young fighters who she touched, with one of those hugs, or a heart to heart talk, or a string of encouraging words which lifted them up after back to back losses, or they admitted to a homelife featuring a paucity of love and attention.

We the media aren’t, of course, so prone to pick up on those stories. They don’t do as well in the hit department and also some feel funny about writing “positive” stories. It’s like we’re fated to skew negative, we fightwriters, because we often subscribe to the conventional wisdom theory, that our red light district of sports is a human cesspool where flesh merchants slither alongside wannabes and dreamers and square peggers who have been drawn to the only pro sport which would allow entry to the likes of them.

Further, sometimes people tell me to get over myself, stop being so self righteous, stop that earnest schtick, stop preaching. Eff them, eff that I say.

If we the media don’t get a bit better at accentuating positives then why don’t we just pull up stakes, call it a day, and concede to the darkside?

Hey, I wonder if maybe Lathan sometimes feels like conceding…throwing in the towel…hanging up the gloves, stepping down. You guys know what happened last November, how a boxer, a brave warrior fought his heart out, and almost gave his life for what he was born to do. You know that in such situations, we play the blame game. We ask, we want answers: who screwed up? We need a head to roll…That’s the way the game is played when fate takes a turn into a deep ditch. Should it be? No.

I was at MSG that night, I saw the warrior who is today back at home, getting better, to the utter joy of his wife and kids, throwing hard punches to the final bell. And after that fight, could things have gone more smoothly, and could maybe Mago have been better served? Sure. By any number of people. They know who they are. No one person deserves an excess of scorn or judgement in such a system, not when we are all operating within the imperfect system that is boxing, and life.

I don’t find it fair when one act defines a person.

Now, maybe she doesn’t really want me to write this, but I think it is important to get this out there. Lathan has been married for 44 years. She experienced the ups and downs that we all do, doing that marriage thing, doing the life thing, but if you know her, you hear her talk about her four kids, her 13 grand-children, and you know that this is a person who seems to understand priorities, what the big picture should be.

She’s been tested; her younger brother had a stroke, which left her asking why, if indeed everything happens for a reason. Two years later, her husband, a physician, also suffered a stroke. This is the kind of stuff that can and will happen to you if you are graced with enough decades on earth. But we’re not inclined to advertise our woes, are we, we’re encouraged to soldier on. So, while those issues linger in our mind while we get through that work day, because that mortgage still got to be paid, most folks we deal with don’t know when our souls are being particularly challenged. And most folks don’t know when a good person is doing things that aren’t earning themselves a boatload of money or acclaim. When a Lathan is helping put together a fund-raising golf outing for the American Association for the Improvement of Boxing, which unfolds Oct. 13 at the Galloway National Golf Club, in Galloway, New Jersey, you’re not as likely to hear about it as when the blame game is being indulged in….

Let’s put aside the blame game, and note that four kids were given scholarship dough last year out of funds raised at the AAIB outing and gala dinner. And while we’re shifting out of the gears of the familiar, the sensational, the blameworthy, the superficial, let’s consider a fuller picture on Lathan, who two weeks ago was visiting about 30 kids at the Willis Ave. Gym in the South Bronx, giving out goodie bags, with fresh fruit and water and the like, from out of her own pocket. She talked to the kids about healthy nutrition, about staying in school, about being decent souls, about stuff that so many of us take for granted, and can’t conceive of anyone needing pointers on, because we come from a place of plenty. And did you hear about her presence at the WBC’s first Women’s Convention in Mexico last week, and how she was rallying people together, trying to help advance the cause and presence of women in the sport, encouraging the voiceless to use those lungs, announce their worth in the world? You didn’t hear about that stuff? Shame on me, for not shouting it louder….

Yeah, decent people in boxing. Doing good things. Spreading positive messages. it happens. A lot.

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Michael Woods

Today’s Deep Boxing Menu Kicks Off with a Heavyweight Super-Fight

Published

2 hours ago

December 7, 2019

Arne K. Lang

Today's-Deep_Boxing-Menu-Kicks-Off-with--Heavyweight-Super-Fight

Three world champions are in action today and also a former world champion and we’re not even talking about Saudi Arabia. Welcome to the new world order of boxing where two or more significant shows overlap seemingly every weekend and a man needs more than two eyes to keep track of all of them in real time.

December is historically a slow month for boxing but history doesn’t stand still. The big heavyweight shebang in Diriyah will cast a long shadow, burying the opposition in a tsunami of words, but that is of no consequence to some boxing promoters who are contractually obligated to their live-streaming partners to provide a steady stream of fresh content no matter the competition.

Two of the title-holders – WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (pictured) – are in action on the same card in Puebla, Mexico. Their bouts will air on ESPN+.

Navarette (29-1, 25 KOs) has won 24 straight and is defending his title for the fourth time in the last seven months. He is the ironman of active title holders and on the short list of fighters in the running for Fighter of the Year. His opponent, fellow Mexican Francisco Horta, is unbeaten in his last 13 starts, elevating his record to 20-3-1 (10), but he’s fought only one fight scheduled for more than eight rounds and that was back in May of 2015.

On paper this is a shameless mismatch.

Anjacas (31-1-2, 21 KOs) will be making the eighth defense of the title he won from McJoe Arroyo. The talented Filipino opposes Miguel Gonzalez (31-2, 8 KOs), a mystery fighter who, except for one fight, has fought exclusively in his native Chile.

Brooklyn

In the main go of the SHOWTIME card at Barclays Center, Jermall Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) risks his undefeated record and his WBC world middleweight title against Dennis Hogan (28-2-1, 7 KOs). It’s the third defense for Charlo who previously held a world title at 154 pounds and has fought three of his last four fights in this building.

Jarmall Charlo, like his twin brother Jermell, packs a big punch but in his last two fights he was extended the distance by Matt Korobov and Brandon Adams and consequently his aura lost some of its sheen.

The opposite applies to Hogan. An Australian by way of Kilcullen, Ireland, Hogan saw his stock shoot up a hundredfold while losing to 12-round majority decision to Mexico’s undefeated knockout artist Jaime Munguia this past May in Monterrey, Mexico. The crowd booed the decision and several pundits called for an investigation of female judge Woleska Roldan who awarded Munguia eight rounds and had previously come under fire for scoring the Horn-Pacquiao fight 117-111 for Horn.

Topping the undercard is a 12-round middleweight match between Chris Eubank Jr and the aforementioned Korobov with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger for the Charlo-Hogan winner.

Montreal

David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) returns to the ring after a 15-month absence to fight Max Bursak (35-5-2,16 KOs). It’s Lemieux’s maiden voyage as a super middleweight.

Lemieux’s co-promoter Camille Estephan says this fight is a litmus test for the former IBF middleweight champion to see if he can carry his power to the next level. Bursak, a 35-year-old Ukrainian, has never been stopped.

Lemieux’s hiatus was elongated by a hand-injury so it won’t be surprising if this fight goes the full 10. Bursak previously challenged WBO 168-pound title-holder Gilberto Ramirez and lost every round.

The chief undercard fight has even less intrigue. It pits the giant Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (6’5 ½”, 261 pounds) against former WBC heavyweight title holder Samuel Peter.

There was a time when Peter, the erstwhile Nigerian Nightmare, was considered the hardest punching heavyweight since a prime Mike Tyson, but that was long ago. He’s now 39 years old and playing out the string. The guess is that he hangs on for a few rounds before bowing out with an alleged injury, whereupon Makhmudov will improve his pro ledger to 10-0 (10 KOs).

—–

Here at The Sweet Science, our first priority will be to keep you informed of the goings-on in Saudi Arabia. We’ll get the result up fast and then, somewhat later in the day, publish a more in-depth story about the event by Hall of Fame boxing writer Thomas Hauser.

Stay in touch.

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Remembering Leotis Martin who KOed Sonny Liston 50 Years Ago Today

Published

18 hours ago

December 6, 2019

Arne K. Lang

Remembering-Leotis-Martin-who-KOed-Sonny-Liston-50-Years-Ago-Today

On Dec. 6, 1969, 50 years ago today, former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston fought former sparring partner Leotis Martin on the stage of the showroom of the newly built International Hotel in Las Vegas, a property that subsequently took the name Las Vegas Hilton and is called the Westgate today. The Sunday afternoon fight was televised by ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” with Howard Cosell behind the mic. The match was slated for 12 rounds. The victor would be recognized as the heavyweight champion of the newly formed North American Boxing Federation.

Leotis Martin, who resided in Philadelphia, was a former national Golden Gloves and national AAU middleweight champion. As a pro, he was 30-5 with 18 knockouts. But he was given scant chance of defeating Sonny Liston (49-3, 38 KOs) who had won 14 in a row, 13 inside the distance, since his second defeat to Muhammad Ali. Although Liston had defeated no one of note during this run, he had yet re-established himself in the public mind as one of the hardest hitting punchers ever.

Martin had several other things working against him. He was a small heavyweight. Liston, who came in at 220, would out-weigh him by 21 pounds. And he wasn’t a full-time boxer. In Philadelphia, he was a machinist for the Budd Company, one of America’s leading manufacturers of metal components for automobiles and railroad cars.

Martin had helped Liston train for his matches with Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali. When a big name fighter is matched against a former sparring partner, there is always the suspicion that a gentleman’s agreement is in effect.

Liston vs Martin played out somewhat like the recent fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz although it lasted two rounds longer.

After eight frames, Liston was ahead by two points on one of the scorecards and by three points on the others on Nevada’s “five-point-must” system. A flash knockdown of Martin in round four contributed to the imbalance.

Martin could sense that Liston was tiring, but it wasn’t apparent to those in the audience – reportedly 1,800 paid – and that made the drama that was about to unfold all the more dramatic.

In round nine, Leotis landed three unanswered combinations, one right after the other. The third was the classic one-two: left to the body, right to the jaw. Sonny Liston pitched forward, landing face first to the canvas, dead to the world. The ref counted “10” over his prone body. “He could have counted to 300,” said Review-Journal ringside reporter Jimmy Cox.

Nevada’s ringside physician, Dr. Donald Romeo, came equipped with capsules of ammonia. The first one that he broke and waved under Sonny’s nose had no effect. The second capsule brought Liston out of his slumber.

Sonny Liston was reportedly 39 years old, but was widely considered to be somewhat older than his listed age. The brutal manner in which he succumbed to Leotis Martin seemingly indicated that he had reached the end of the line, but he wasn’t done quite yet. Six months later, at the Armory in Jersey City, he butchered Chuck Wepner, the “Bayonne Bleeder,” in a fight stopped by the ring doctor after nine rounds.

That would prove to be his final fight. On Jan. 5, 1971, Sonny’s wife Geraldine returned to their home in Las Vegas from a 12-day holiday trip to St. Louis, her hometown, and found her husband dead in their bedroom. Rigor mortis had already set in. The coroner’s report said Liston died from congestive heart failure, but that didn’t explain what brought on the coronary and there’s strong circumstantial evidence that he was a victim of foul play.

Leotis Martin’s triumph elevated him to #1 in the heavyweight rankings of the WBA, the sport’s paramount sanctioning body. A fight with fellow Philadelphian Smokin’ Joe Frazier was his likely reward. But it wasn’t to be.

Martin emerged from his fight with Liston with a detached retina. Back in those days, retinal detachment surgery was a hit-and-miss proposition. The most famous boxer to have his retina repaired mid-career was Sugar Ray Leonard, but that didn’t happen until 1982 and it was a far more complicated procedure than what it is nowadays. Three ophthalmic surgeons attended Sugar Ray during his two-hour operation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Leotis Martin basically had no choice but to retire. His signature win would be the final fight of his career.

Martin returned to Philadelphia and to his job in the foundry and lived out his days quietly in the city’s racially diverse Mount Airy neighborhood. In November of 1995 he passed away after suffering a stroke brought on by diabetes and hypertension. He was 56 years old.

By the way, Tim Dahlberg was one of the ringside reporters. This was his first prizefight. In time he would travel the globe as the National Sports Columnist for the Associated Press and he’s still going strong today.

Reminiscing about his first prizefight with Las Vegas sports columnist Ron Kantowski, Dahlberg recalled that there was a young heavyweight on the Liston-Martin undercard that looked pretty good.

The kid’s name was George Foreman.

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Downtown LA Fight Results From the Exchange

Published

23 hours ago

December 6, 2019

David A. Avila

Downtown LA Fight Results From the Exchange

LOS ANGELES-Built in 1931 the Exchange was the former home of the stock market exchange for the West Coast. On Thursday night it was the home for professional boxing.

Jessy Martinez led a slew of prospects ready to showcase their fighting skills among the many business types at the Exchange located on the 600 block of Spring Street. He didn’t need more than one round to reveal his talent at the Bash Boxing show.

Martinez (14-0, 9 KOs) used the first minute or so to determine the incoming fire from Mexico’s Carlos Huerta (6-5-2), a fighter of similar height and speed. Once he learned the magnitude and strength of the punches coming his way, Martinez (pictured on the left) unfurled his own combination and saw his right cross visibly do damage.

A slow developing 12-punch combination by Martinez rocked Huerta who tried to evade the blows to no avail. Finally an overhand right dumped a bleeding Huerta into the ropes as referee Wayne Hedgpeth immediately waved the fight over at 2:26 of the first round.

It was a short but destructive win for Martinez who fights out of toney Woodland Hills, California.

“Hard work pays off,” said Martinez.

Another featured fight saw Compton featherweight Adan Ochoa (11-1, 4 KOs) slug it out with Chile’s Juan “La Maquina” Jimenez (8-9) for five destructive rounds. Though Ochoa had the height, speed and skill advantage, the Chilean fighter walked through every exchange and was cut in the first round because of his reckless charges.

But he fought hard.

Ochoa seemed to have Jimenez in trouble early with single power shots, but was unable to put the final touch. In the fifth round a clash of heads resulted in a gash above Jimenez’s forehead and blood came streaming down. The fight was stopped and due to the cut caused by an accidental clash of heads, the fight was stopped and Ochoa was deemed the winner by technical decision 50-45 twice and 49-46.

“He’s an Hispanic fighter and all Hispanic fighters are tough,” said Ochoa.

A welterweight fight saw Vlad Panin (7-0) use his physical superiority to defeat Mexico’s Daniel Perales (11-19-2) in a four round contest. Panin is a fighter of Belarus lineage and had solid support from his fans who saw him handily defeat Perales by unanimous decision.

Other Bouts

Five of the bouts featured four-round fights and the best of them all saw Orange County-based Victor Rodriguez make his pro debut. He looked very sharp for someone getting his baptism under fire.

Rodriguez (1-0) trains at Grampa’s Gym in Westminster and showed off a very sharp left jab that kept Osman Rivera (2-12-1) from penetrating into the fire zone. Both boxers had large followings and the crowds exchanged competitive cheers for their fighters throughout the four round match. Rodriguez was just a little too sharp for Rivera who was slightly frustrated. All three judges scored the fight 40-36 for Rodriguez.

Other results: Keehwan Kim (4-1) defeat Percy Peterson (3-16-3) by majority decision in a super featherweight contest that opened the show.

Isaac Lucero (1-0) won his debut by knockout in the first round over Anthony Zender (1-6) in a welterweight clash. Lucero floored Zender twice before the fight was stopped at 1:29 of the first round.

Austin Gudino (5-0) remained undefeated by decision after four rounds versus Nobelin Hernandez (0-4) in a super lightweight fight.

Moises Fuentes (4-1) slugged out a win over Sacramento’s tough Moris Rodriguez (8-16-1) after six rounds in a welterweight clash. Each round was hotly contested. The scores were 60-54 twice and 58-56.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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