Featured Articles
Jermain Taylor, Unrequited Love and the Unforgiving March of Time
Jermain Taylor never graduated from high school, and he never went to college either. But he loves the University of Arkansas more than most who have degrees from there. Arkansas Razorback paraphernalia adorns his body nearly at all times. He loves the school, its sports teams and the Razorback culture.
He loves it no matter what.
Taylor, age 36, defeated Sam Soliman via 12-round decision on October 8 to become the IBF middleweight champion. It was Taylorâs first title win since defeating Cory Spinks by split decision in May 2007. Taylor twice defeated long-reigning middleweight king Bernard Hopkins two years prior to become the new face of the division albeit for a short time. He defended his titles four times in two years before losing them to Kelly Pavlik in September 2007. Before the loss, Taylor bested Hopkins in the rematch, earned a draw against Winky Wright and won decisions against Kassim Ouma and Spinks.
But most boxing fans didnât want to see the former undisputed middleweight champion fight Soliman for the title on Wednesday. In fact, most fans donât want him fighting at all. Most writers didnât want to see it either, something they opined about through stories and social media banter all month leading up to the fight.
Their reasoning was sound enough. Between 2007 and 2009, Taylor suffered four losses in five fights, including three brutal knockouts at the hands of Kelly Pavlik, Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. In the last bout of the period, Taylor was diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage following his Round 12 knockout loss to Abraham.
When Taylor came back to the ring in 2011, he underwent a battery of medical tests at the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinicâs Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. He passed them and was granted a license to fight again when the Nevada Athletic Commissionâs Medical Advisory board voted 5-0 in his favor.
âIâve seen a guy who I was with at the Olympics training camp, and he canât even talk now,â Taylor told the New York Timesâ Josh Katzowitz in 2013. âHis brain swelled up, and his speech was slurred. I donât want to be like that. But he chose his sport. I chose this sport. And I love it.â
But never mind that. Boxing doesnât love Taylor.
Not being loved back is the worst. They call the phenomenon âunrequited loveâ but I think a better term might be something like âlife-sucking death punch to the soul.â Or something like that. I donât know. But I know it sucks. Iâve been there. Itâs awful.
I remember the first time I saw her. Her name was Marcy (it wasnât, but for the purposes of this story it will be). I didnât know what to do! Literally, I was frozen in my tracks. I had no answer for Marcyâs existence. I was stunned by her. She was the most beautiful person Iâd ever seen. In boxing terms, she was Ray Robinson and I was some bum off the street with two fists and a face.
I had no hope.
I was a sophomore in high school. She was a freshman. She was in the gym that day for some kind of orientation. I donât know. I donât remember that part. But I remember seeing her across the room. I remember seeing her and feeling like my heart broke into a million little pieces right then and there.
I didnât know what to do.
I didnât say one word to Marcy that day, and I didnât say anything to her for two years after either. What was I going to say? She was from another planet. I might as well have been an ant. Besides, I knew if I walked up to her, itâd be like she was speaking Arabic and Iâd be speaking Chinese.
Even when I ended up talking to her, it was by accident. I would call her phone and hang up. I did that for two years. It wasnât that I was building up the courage to speak to her. I didnât have that in me. I just wanted to hear her voice. But one day she caught on to me. You see, there was a new service offered by the phone company that not everyone had yet back then. It was called Caller ID, and it showed the name and number for all incoming calls. When I was as senior, and she was a junior, Marcy had it.
Iâd never heard of such a device! Clearly, this contraption was the work of the devil.
Marcy figured everything out like a little detective. She called me back and detailed to me how she deduced it. Iâll never forget the conversation. My stepsister and I shared a phone line in our house. It was listed in her name. But Marcy knew it wasnât her. Marcy knew it was me.
Marcy was used to people falling head over heels for her. But it was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to me! Marcy was sweet about it though. She wasnât interested in me in that way, but she was always sweet to me. Sheâd talk to me on the phone. Sheâd entertain me if I visited her at work. Sheâd read all the little letters Iâd write to her. Marcy was always kind and warm-hearted, even if I wasnât.
But sheâd never date me, and it sucked! Oh my Lord, it was the absolute worst feeling in the world. She dated someone else. Or if she wasnât dating him, it was someone else. Or no one. Just never me. I just wasnât her type, and there was no convincing her otherwise.
I tried, of course. Sometimes I think I did the best I could. But like I said, I didnât know what to do. I was too young, selfish and stupid to know what to do. Weâve all been there, in one way or another.
Anyway, I loved Marcy as much as my little heart was capable of loving anyone back then. But I didnât know how to love. Not really. Not yet. I came from a broken home rife with all sorts of dysfunction. I didnât know what to do, so eventually I decided Iâd just pretend like I didnât love her. And when that didnât work, I decided to just make myself forget her. And when I couldnât figure out how to do that, I turned to drugs for help.
Thatâs probably the most difficult thing Iâve ever had to admit to myself. I started doing drugs, something I battled for seven long years, to forget about a girl! Itâs incredibly embarrassing and shows a great weakness in my character.
Drugs eventually worked, except that they didnât. You see, Marcy always popped into my head for some reason anyway. And I didnât remember why until almost 20 years later. I have to tell you, thereâs no greater sense of loss that Iâve experienced in my life than that remembrance. Knowing that the unforgiving march of time can go on and on and on without the acknowledgment of something so important is a devastating realization.
It all seems such a waste. Obviously, the waste isnât thinking or believing or wanting things to have worked out differently than they did between Marcy and I in the romantic realm. Marcy fell in love and got married. She has three daughters now, each as beautiful I remember her, and a husband she loves more than anything else in the world. And I fell in love, too. Rachel and I were meant to be together. When God made Rachel, he was thinking of me! I love her so much. I could not ask for a more perfect wife. Weâre two peas in a pod. Weâve been married for nine years now, going on one hundred.
But Marcy was important to me, and I ignored it. I canât get that back. I never would have known how to love Rachel if Iâd never seen Marcy across room that day. I never would have known what love is without having experienced the unrequited kind first. I never would have turned out to be me if had I not met Marcy.
I couldâve been at her wedding. I couldâve seen her grow into a mother. I couldâve been there if she needed me. I couldâve just loved her anyway.
But I didnât.
All I did was discover 20 years later that not being loved back isnât the worst thing after all. No. The worst is denying where love exists in the first place. The worst is throwing the truth away for a lie. The worst is forsaking unrequited love for the vanity of sparing your own feelings.
Hereâs what I respect about Jermain Taylor: He hasnât done that in his love for boxing. He might have taken two years off to pout about his life. He might have made poor decisions here and there. He might never be what he could have been.
But Taylor loves boxing, and he knows something about love that I didnât, too.
Taylor knows love isnât dependent on reaction, but action. Love is really straightforward if you think about it. The Beatles were right: Itâs easy! Where most people get love wrong is that they believe it necessitates being loved back in return. But thatâs all wrong. Love doesnât demand reciprocity. It demands respect. Not for you. But for it.
Love exists for its own sake.
Taylor might do lots of things wrong in life. Iâve only met him twice. I donât know. I know he doesnât throw punches in proportion to the physical tools God gave him. I know he canât always get out the way of knockout blows. I know he might very well be a criminal in regards to pending legal matters.
But Taylor I also know that he gets this one thing right in life above all else: He loves boxing, and he keeps on loving it. No matter what, he loves it. Boxing might not love him back, but Taylor loves boxing anyway.
âA champion is someone who gets up when he canât,â said Jack Dempsey. Itâs probably the most famous quote of one of boxingâs most popular heavyweight champions ever. Taylor is now the IBF middleweight champion because he does exactly that, even when he probably shouldnât.
Whatever there is to say in regards to other matters, Iâll tell you this about that particular piece of information: I respect and admire the hell out of that.
Featured Articles
Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock
Saturdayâs skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated â the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort â but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.
Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.
The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadnât previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haneyâs second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter â watching at home â as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.
In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. âAt the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,â said Garcia. âHe could have stopped that fight.â
Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the âunder,â undoubtedly felt the same way.
The internet lit up with comments assailing Dockâs competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.
Stephen A. Smith, reputedly Americaâs highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: âThis referee is absolutely terribleâŠ.Unreal! Horrible officiating,â tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.
Harvey Dock
Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jerseyâs Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.
A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.
Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dockâs 364th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they werenât even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.
On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.
Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few âpremature stoppagesâ were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.
With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dockâs Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)
Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.
The Haney-Garcia fight wasnât Harvey Dockâs best hour, Iâll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.
—
While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on âXâ that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.
Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.
FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie âBlazing Saddles,â described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricioâs late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.
Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaimanâs rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.
Haneyâs mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum, CLICK HERE
Â
Featured Articles
In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney
Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.
Ryan âKingRyâ Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.
âI just knew what I could do,â Garcia said.
Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Haneyâs WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.
After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haneyâs guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.
âHe caught me with it,â said Haney.
During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.
In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.
Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.
A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.
In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garciaâs body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.
From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.
Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garciaâs blazing combinations were too fast to defend.
In the 10th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garciaâs right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.
It didnât look good for Haney to survive.
Garcia walked into the 11th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.
Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garciaâs power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.
In the final round both were cautious with Garciaâs combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.
After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.
âYou really thought I was crazy,â Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. âYou guys hated on me.â
Other Bouts
Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdomâs Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McCombâs long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.
Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated Franceâs Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.
Costa Ricaâs David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John âScrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.
After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.
âIâm a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,â said Jimenez. âMy corner told me I had to work inside.â
Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.
Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.
To comment on this story in the Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites
Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites
One young man flew halfway around the world to take on a world champion in his own living room; not once, but twice. The other young man quit prior to one fight, and then again during another one.
The first guy mentioned is an obedient son of an ultra-streetwise father. The type of parent where, if he doesn’t know the answer (and more times than not he most likely does), he will know where to find it. The second guy doesn’t appear to have that quality guidance scenario going on for him, which is probably for the best, because he believes he has all the answers.
The first guy is on record as saying he wants to go down in boxing history as an all-time great. The other guy? He decided not to continue in a fight while he was still sporting an undefeated record. You may think to yourself if there was ever a time to soldier through, right?
Then yesterday, that same guy missed making weight by 3.2 pounds, and seemed to be more than fine with it, to the point where he actually appeared to be quite pleased with himself.
If you haven’t heard, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are going to share a boxing ring in a twelve round go for God knows what will be at stake by the time they actually punch off. The fact that no one from Garcia’s team has stepped in and rescued him from these unfolding events, his own personal well-being, and/or not to mention Devin Haney is, well, troubling in and of itself.
Back in the amateur days, the record shows they split six fights. They were boys back then, so it means zero. If anything, you’d want to be the older of the two, and Ryan had over a three-month age advantage. If you’ve only been on the planet for a total of 120 months or so, every extra month could be a big enough difference in strength and development. Now as world class professionals in their prime? That’s different. Younger is always better. Devin is that guy.
Haney and Garcia fought six times for free but will fight only once as professionals. Then one of them will continue with their march for historic greatness, while the other will head back to Kamp Krazy, where he’s the current Mayor.
Itâs never smart to lay 8-1, 9-1 in boxing. And if you see taking Garcia as a value bet with +500 to +600 and beyond, you don’t understand value and you evidently don’t like money.
There is, however, a wagering opportunity here.
Total Rounds:Â Fight doesn’t go 10.5 rounds.
Take anything over +125. It’s worth a unit on a scale of 5. Logically, there are a lot of ways to cash this ticket: legitimate victory, meltdown, catching lightning in a bottle, etc. Or simply the exiting stage left of a guy who may be already plotting his next career move.
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
R.I.P. IBF founder Bob Lee who was Banished from Boxing by the FBI
-
Featured Articles5 days ago
In a Massive Upset, Dakota Linger TKOs Kurt Scoby on a Friday Night in Atlanta
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Hitchins Controversially Upends Lemos on a Matchroom Card at the Fontainebleau
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Undercard Results from Arizona where Richard Torrez Jr Scored Another Fast KO
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Zurdo Ramirez Accomplishes Another First; Unseats Cruiser Titlist Goulamirian
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 278: Clashes of Spring in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and LA
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 280: Oscar Valdez, One of Boxingâs Good Guys, and More
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
The Hauser Report: Â Literary Notes and More