Trying To Make Sense of Manny-Khan Meeting, and Floyd’s Next Move

Published

10 years ago

January 23, 2015

UPDATE 2: It is Wednesday, and are we closer to seeing Money-Manny, or are we destined to see the wheels spin like a vehicle caught in a snowdrift, while we got no shovel or salt? Maybe; we saw on Tuesday night the principals get together, in a coincidental way, at a basketball game. Depending on who you ask, their meeting, which included a brief chat, during halftime of the Heat-Bucks game, went amiably, or included Mayweather telling off Pacman and his advisor Michael Koncz for “lying.” Expectations rose when we saw them chatting, and heard that cell phone numbers were exchanged. Then hope dipped when the he said/he said something else account of the meetup leaked out. I was told that the meeting was indeed coincidental, that Pacman was due to fly home, but his flight was grounded because of weather, so he hit a game. Floyd is a Heat fan, so he was there as well…People caught video of the chat, but no audio, sadly.

There you have it, what passes for news in this day and age…

Also, Pacman promoter Bob Arum popped up on Wednesday, before that hoop-de-do, and spoke to Wallace Matthews and Teddy Atlas on their SiriusXM show, “Going the Distance.” No, we didn’t hear that The Fight was made. But Arum said he was “hopeful” it would be made, for May 2nd, and repeated a couple times that his level of optimism stems largely from the involvement of CBS boss Les Moonves. You all know I have pointed to that person’s presence in this fifth round of talks between the two parties as being potentially a game-changer, as I believe that a Les Moonves would be at the level of importance that even a Floyd Mayweather could be pursuaded to be swayed to his logic.

Arum also said Pac doesn’t have money woes, that his purses are usually larger or as large as Floyd’s because Uncle Sam doesn’t take a taste; Arum said he dropped the ball promoting Floyd because he was out of touch with the urban market, and didn’t understand young black persons of today; he said him and Floyd get along well enough; he said that Showtime loses $10-12 mill on each Floyd fight, and that a Mayweather-Cotto rematch wouldn’t happen, likely, because Cotto would want $13 or so million, and Floyd would want an extra $10 million or so on top of his guarantee, and that fight would do maybe 1.1 million PPV buys, and thus, Showtime/CBS could/would lose about $20 million on it.

I messaged Showtime to ask if they wanted to weigh in, or refute, and will add that info if they choose to do so. WEDNESDAY 9 PM UDATE: “There is no truth to Bob’s assertion that Showtime is losing money on Mayweather PPV events,” Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio, VP of sports communications, told me. “Beyond that, we don’t have any comment on Mayweather’s next fight.

In fact, Arum labeled Mayweather-Cotto 2 talk as “absolute nonsense.”

Also, Arum said the public might lose interest in seeing Money-Money, especially if one or both look so-so in their next outing. Now is the time, he iterated. The promoter ended the segment by taking a shot at Al Haymon, for blurring the line between promoter and manager, and then on a high note, basically wishing him well on bringing back boxing to primetime, network television.

Get on my Twitter timeline for more on the Arum hit on SiriusXM. https://twitter.com/Woodsy1069

UPDATE: It is Sunday, a day of prayer and rest and reflection for some. I’m thinking those folks, the ones that follow boxing, might want to add an extra request to the Almighty, if such a deity indeed could or would be influenced to help a prize-fight get made, to help the Manny-“Money” fight get off the tarmac, and reach flight stage.

Or, maybe, we would be better served to simply move forward with what many folks are now assuming to be the case, Plan B being activated for The Congressman and the “Money” man….

HBO’s Jim Lampley told Elie Seckback last night that he’s thinking we see a Mayweather-Cotto rematch on May 2, so are we at a point to acknowledge that continuing discussion of contracts, and terms, and agreements and status of negotiations is nothing more than wasting of time and energy? Pacman promoter Bob Arum spoke to Fight Hub a couple says ago and said, “We’re all done. We’ve signed everything, agreed on all the terms. As far as we know, we’ve been told by the highest authority that Mayweather’s people have agreed, that the networks have agreed. But like they say, you can’t do a play about Hamlet without Hamlet, and Hamlet — meaning Mayweather — has not signed on.”

Team Floyd folk take issue with terminology used by Arum and Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza has stated that no true-blue contracts or contract has been crafted…so he takes issue with Arum presenting anything being “done.”

We are all spinning wheels on this element of the endless flirtation and breakup cycle, because we don’t know who was repping Team Floyd for the terms that are referenced by Arum, though we guess that Arum’s “highest authority” is Al Haymon; we don’t know if the terms are indeed then and now agreeable to Mayweather; we don’t know if they WERE that the goal-post doesn’t get moved, as people who argue that Floyd doesn’t really want this fight, for whatever reason(s), would be prone to do; we don’t know the format of the document, if it’s a list of terms, or actually a contract that can be signed and cited as proof of intent in a court of law.

The behavior of Pacman, in meeting with Amir Khan in England, in acknowledging that a May 30 scrap with Khan is current Plan B if The Fight falls through for the umpteenth time, is akin to that of a fella maintaining an active Tinder account while simultaneously attending marriage counseling sessions with his wife…It’s not indicative of a level of optimism that bodes well for the union…or for the prospect of an early summer Manny-Money clash. For the record, I do think we see The Fight, but it feels like Floyd would maybe rather string the process along, maybe build his leverage even higher, maybe wait for a Superbidding War to break out when his Showtime deal is done, after two more bouts. Of course, like so much of this tangled web, this is speculation.

But the speculation is bolstered by the talk from those who have a better instinct than us on where chips are going to fall. Oscar De La Hoya has said he doesn’t think Manny-Money is a go for May 2, and he’s been operating, with his top draw Canelo Alvarez, with that certainty guiding him for weeks now. Now you have Lampley saying it…and I had one of the smartest men in boxing tell me a good five weeks ago he thinks we see Mayweather-Cotto 2 and Pacquiao-Khan instead of The Fight.

My bottom line: can we just declare the prospects for this union, for Manny-Money in May, dead for now, if prospects are being uselessly and artificially held aloft, and move on to concrete reality? This spinning of wheels is I suppose interesting to some and keeps us intrigued to a point…but boxing isn’t building new fans this way. Maybe Manny and Money hook up in the fall, or even more likely, early in 2016…but if they aren’t going to walk down the aisle for May 2, let’s finish the speculation-a-thon, and return ourselves to actual, not speculative reality.

So Manny Pacquiao is meeting with Brit royalty, and now fight-game UK royalty, in Amir Khan.

What to make of it?

Purely a negotiating shove in the direction of the “Money” man, Floyd Mayweather–who takes his sweet time deliberating…or, heck, not deliberating, I do not pretend to know what he does with his 24-7—-to help propel his thumb up or down on whether to accept or refute the offer on the table to meet Manny Pacquiao in the what would be the sport’s most anticipated super fight since Lennox Lewis tangled with a faded Mike Tyson, in 2002?

Or a meaningful meet up, a possibly accelerant to a place where I dare say we all want to be…a place of clarity.

The negotiation period for this latest round—what is it, the tenth, the twelfth, the twelve thousandth?–of Manny/Money “talks” has dragged on to a level beyond absurd.

As it stands now, as far as we know, Pacman has agreed to “terms” which his crew maintains were acceptable to a person or persons who can speak for Floyd Mayweather, and now The Congressman and his crew awaits Floyd’s acceptance of said terms. Now, would Floyd’s acceptance result in popping of corks, exultation that this no brainer match is finally a go.

Er, no..

It’s been been pulling teeth, sans novocaine or laughing gas, to this point…so why should we not expect more shedding of blood, more muddying of the mix from the Arizas and the proxy reps for Floyd and his crew, who maintain that Pacquiao’s stated belief that he’s accepted all terms not he table for a fight are farcical, being that no official contract has been drafted.

Indeed, no less a player than Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza has been vocal on the Twitter that talk of terms being accepted are moot, because if said “terms” are not part of a real-deal contract, then said terms are as real as watches they sell on Canal Street.

“Signing what? No contract has been drafted yet,” Espinoza Tweeted on Jan. 21.

The focus is off that he said/the other he said back and forth, and not on the tell-all book from a former Floyd Mayweather alleged confidante, which spills alleged specifics on how the hitter was bilked by a con man out of an obscene amount of money, and various other transgressions and missteps.

In England, Pacman and Khan, who ex Khan trainer Freddie Roach said was in the mix as a Plan B if a Manny-Money waltz falls through yet again, met and…who knows what?

Did a photo op meant to shove Mayweather in the direction of a decision? Or talked turkey, and firmed up the basics for a square-off, which could perhaps take place in Dubai, where the Muslim Khan has a considerable fan base of rooters, and where money flows like crude oil…

All of us wait with that proverbial bated breath, and all of us includes high-level players, as well.

I was told by Miguel Cotto advisor Gaby Penagaricano that he had nothing to report, as of Thursday late afternoon, so the Cotto teams, and the Canelo crew, which includes promoter Oscar De la Hoya, are, seemingly, waiting to see if Floyd will drop the other shoe. Mayweather holds the bulk of the cards, he’s the game’s A side decider, so when he makes a move, other puzzle pieces will slide into place.

Or…has Pacquiao, who put out a “request” for Floyd to make up his mind one way or another by the end of January, reached a patience limit?

Khan’s deadline for Floyd to make up his mind has come and gone already…

Has The Congressman gotten a message that Floyd is willing to joust some about terms and contracts and such, but not looking to go the extra yard, and actually activate a true fight, in the ring? That’s mystifying to most of us, who are conditioned to see things in term of what makes most money is what occurs…but I have thought for awhile that Mayweathers’ dismay with the way he and ex promoter Bob Arum parted ways could be keeping him from agreeing to do any bit of business with the Bobfather…and yes, this would be a perfect example, some would say, of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, to the tune of maybe leaving $50 million on the table, because of a personality conflict. And Floyd folk will tell you that Arum is the gum stopping up the works, which I have always found hard to swallow, to be honest, as his cut from The Fight would be immense.

Mayweather, word is, will be doing a promo tour of Australia starting on Jan. 27, if a visit visa is granted to him, possibly no given because of his considerable rap sheet legacy, as well as the multitude of allegations which could well spur public sentiment there to prod deciders to bar the hitter at the gate of entry.

Off the top of my head, visiting Melbourne and the like doesn’t have the same zest as Pacman’s meeting with Khan; would Floyd meeting Anthony Mundine catalyze any other potential foes to reduce their ask, or change their behavior? I think fan reaction to a Mayweather-Mundine bout nullifies any leverage that could be considered….but anyway.

Also, with Al Haymon, consummate man of mystery, advising Floyd, and being so active with mega-moves lately, could we see some rabbit out of the hat, maybe some Super Bowl special announcement, wow us with a development we didn’t see coming? Stranger things have happened, even in our delightful red light district of sporting chicanery.

I reached out to Oscar De La Hoya, to see if he wanted to shed any light, see if his antennae are picking up intel on what Floyd will do next, and I will insert his info should he respond. I will also add comments from Bob Arum if and when I hear from him, as I requested. As always, I’d love to hear from the Floyd side, but they are of a narrow scope on the media they deal with so you are better off clicking on FightHype.com to snag news and opinion from that side of the fence.

Recent news that Team Canelo and De La Hoya are holding firm to that vaunted May 2 date indicates to me, maybe, that they are thinking Floyd-Manny on that date is a no go. I mean, we wouldn’t see Canelo being in a cannibalization situation from the HBO perspective, fighting May 2, the same night HBO was putting in resources and personnel to help produce Manny-Money. Oscar might be sitting with Canelo as we speak, in San Diego, and talking options for the red-head, which might include a tangle with James Kirkland. Several phone calls to Kirkland rep Mike Miller were not immediately returned.

So we wait…we all wait…same as before…we wait for “Money” to end the speculation, to clarify the murky picture. Sadly, I say, stay tuned…and hurry up, and wait for the picture to clear up.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke

Published

15 hours ago

May 9, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke

Years ago, I worked at a newsstand in the Beverly Hills area. It was a 24-hour a day version and the people that dropped by were very colorful and unique.

One elderly woman Eva, who bordered on homeless but pridefully wore lipstick, would stop by the newsstand weekly to purchase a pack of menthol cigarettes. On one occasion, she asked if I had ever been to San Diego?

I answered “yes, many times.”

She countered “you need to watch out for San Diego Smoke.”

This Saturday, Top Rank brings its brand of prizefighting to San Diego or what could be called San Diego Smoke. Leading the fight card is Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) defending the WBO super feather title against undefeated Filipino Charly Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) at Pechanga Arena. ESPN will televise.

This is Navarrete’s fourth defense of the super feather title.

The last time Navarrete stepped in the boxing ring he needed six rounds to dismantle the very capable Oscar Valdez in their rematch. One thing about Mexico City’s Navarrete is he always brings “the smoke.”

Also, on the same card is Fontana, California’s Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) vying for the interim IBF lightweight title against Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) on the co-main event.

Abdullaev has only fought once before in the USA and was handily defeated by Devin Haney back in 2019. But that was six years ago and since then he has knocked off various contenders.

Muratalla is a slick fighting lightweight who trains at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy now in Moreno Valley, Calif. It’s a virtual boot camp with many of the top fighters on the West Coast available to spar on a daily basis. If you need someone bigger or smaller, stronger or faster someone can match those needs.

When you have that kind of preparation available, it’s tough to beat. Still, you have to fight the fight. You never know what can happen inside the prize ring.

Another fighter to watch is Perla Bazaldua, 19, a young and very talented female fighter out of the Los Angeles area. She is trained by Manny Robles who is building a small army of top female fighters.

Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO) meets Mona Ward (0-1) in a super flyweight match on the preliminary portion of the Top Rank card. Top Rank does not sign many female fighters so you know that they believe in her talent.

Others on the Top Rank card in San Diego include Giovani Santillan, Andres Cortes, Albert Gonzalez, Sebastian Gonzalez and others.

They all will bring a lot of smoke to San Diego.

Probox TV

A strong card led by Erickson “The Hammer” Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) facing Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0, 6 KOs) in a super welterweight clash between southpaws takes place on Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. PROBOX TV will stream the fight card.

Ardreal has rocketed up the standings and now faces veteran Lubin whose only losses came against world titlists Sebastian Fundora and Jermell Charlo. It’s a great match to decide who deserves a world title fight next.

Another juicy match pits Argentina’s Nazarena Romero (14-0-2) against Mexico’s Mayelli Flores (12-1-1) in a female super bantamweight contest.

Nottingham, England

Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defends the IBO super featherweight title against Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs) in Wood’s hometown on Saturday at Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. DAZN will stream the Queensberry Promotions card.

Ireland’s Cacace seems to have the odds against him. But he is no stranger to dancing in the enemy’s lair or on foreign territory. He formerly defeated Josh Warrington in London and Joe Cordina in Riyadh in IBO title defenses.

Lampley at Wild Card

Boxing telecaster Jim Lampley will be signing his new book It Happened! at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood, Calif. on Saturday, May 10, beginning at 2 p.m. Lampley has been a large part of many of the greatest boxing events in the past 40 years. He and Freddie Roach will be at the signing.

Fights to Watch (All times Pacific Time)

Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Anthony Cacace (23-1) vs Leigh Wood (28-3).

Sat. PROBOX.tv 3 p.m. Erickson Lubin (26-2) vs Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1) vs Charly Suarez (18-0); Raymond Muratalla (22-0) vs Zaur Abdullaev (20-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Stephen-Breadman-Edwards-An-Unlikely-Boxing-Coach-with-a-Panoramic-View-of-the-Sport

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.

It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.

In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.

Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.

It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.

“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.

Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.

Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.

Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.

We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.

Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”

But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.

“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”

Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.

Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”

If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38^th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.

Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”

Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.

Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.

On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.

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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Published

3 days ago

May 6, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Arne's-Almanac-The-Good-the-Bad-and-the-(mostly)-Ugly-A-Weeend-Boxing-Recap-and-More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.

In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.

Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.

CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.

****

Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.

Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”

And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.

Joey Archer

Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer

Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.

Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)

Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.

Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.

In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.

When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.

Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.

May he rest in peace.

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