Steve Little Should Have Come Up Bigger

Published

10 years ago

February 25, 2015

There is a saying among compulsive gamblers: The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.

Perhaps the opposite is true of certain fringe boxing contenders who, for one magic moment, rise above their circumstances and become champions. For those predetermined by fate to fail even when they succeed, the next worst thing to fighting for a title and losing can be fighting for a title and winning.

The late Steve Little is in a Hall of Fame – the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame – but there never will be a time when any member of his large family receives a telephone call from Ed Brophy, the executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, relaying the good news that the Reading, Pa., native has been elected to the IBHOF. Not even Little’s most ardent admirers, and there are many in Reading and Philadelphia, have any illusions about his standing in boxing history. He is a minor footnote in the annals of the sport he loved, but didn’t always love him back. That makes him one of many dreamers and pluggers who give so much of themselves and receive so, well, little in return.

When Steve Little shocked Michael Nunn – as a 40-to-1 underdog – to capture the WBA super middleweight championship in London on Feb. 26, 1994, it should have been the proudest moment of his professional life. And, really, it was. But the giddy blush of victory was soon replaced by the sobering reality that he was an unmarketable champion with a mediocre record, no discernible punching power and a promoter who probably wanted him quickly dethroned by a more high-profile client. So what if Little was one of boxing’s good guys, a solid citizen with a wife and six kids at home? No bejeweled championship belt was ever going to elevate him above what he already was: a disposable and easily replaceable commodity.

All of which makes Little’s one-and-done reign as the WBA 168-pound champ – he dropped a unanimous decision to Frankie Liles on Aug. 12, 1994, in Argentina – unfortunate, but hardly a tragedy. The real tragedies came in February 1999 when Little was diagnosed with colon cancer, and Jan. 30, 2000, when, at 34, he succumbed to the dreaded disease.

“Steve Little was the most courageous person I’ve been around,” Rob Murray Sr., Little’s former manager, who, somewhat ironically, three months later would also succumb to cancer, said in March 2012. “He fought those last few fights (Little was 3-3-1 after upsetting Nunn) when he was terminally ill, although nobody knew it then. One day he was playing around in the gym with this guy, and he started bleeding and it wouldn’t stop. That’s when they found he had Stage 4 cancer.”

Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins, the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion whose eventual first-ballot induction into the IBHOF is guaranteed as anything ever gets, counts himself fortunate to have been Little’s friend.

“We were close, age-wise (Hopkins is 50; Little would now be 49 had he lived), and in other ways, too,” Hopkins said. “He traveled from Reading to North Philadelphia every day to Champ’s Gym when I trained there, so a lot of people thought he was from Philly. He was also a first or second cousin of Meldrick Taylor, I can’t remember which, which also kind of played into that that perception.

“We became friends because A, I need a sparring partner and B, he was a veteran who began fighting long before I did, at least in the pros. If Steve told you he would do something, he did it. I never heard nobody talking bad about him. I mean, how could they? As a man, they don’t come any better.”

So, what did Hopkins think of Little, whose final record – 25-17-3, with just six victories inside the distance – as a fighter?

“Steve was a bold, durable guy who couldn’t crack an egg, but he had a good chin and he was relentless,” Hopkins recalled. “He might not have been a pound-for-pound guy, but trust me, he would give any top fighter all he could handle. Even when he didn’t win, the other guy came away knowing he had been in a scrap. Steve was all heart and determination. “

A devoted husband and father, a straight shooter who never embarrassed himself or his loved ones in or out of the ring, Little’s stunner over Nunn should at least have afforded him a chance for one major score, which would at least provide some measure of financial stability for the family whose welfare was always his first priority. But professional boxing is a business, and Steve Little as world champion was never going to contribute to the bottom line of the sport’s true power brokers.

The late Butch Lewis once told me a story that sounded like it could have been true, and since has been confirmed by one of the principals. It is a tale of expediency over compassion, and the greater likelihood of blood being spilled inside the ropes than the milk of human kindness being ladled at a negotiating table.

To secure his shot at Nunn, Little had to sign over options to Nunn’s then-promoter, Don King, which was and is standard practice among certain operatives in a cutthroat industry. It never occurred to anyone, certainly not Nunn or King, that Little would actually win. But win he did, the guy who “couldn’t crack an egg” flooring Nunn in the first round and going on to take a 12-round split decision.

According to Butch Lewis, King’s plan was to have Little make his first title defense against one of the most devastating punchers of the era, Gerald McClellan, for a payday not much larger than the then-career-high $60,000 (minus deductions, of course) for challenging Nunn. Little might have been willing to fight anybody, but if he was going to sign up for an inevitable beatdown from McClellan, he wanted what he considered to be fair compensation.

Bill Cayton, who managed the popular Vinny Pazienza, a good fighter but someone who wasn’t as likely as McClellan to hospitalize an opponent, thought Little was just vulnerable enough to again make the “Pazmanian Devil” a world champion. But Cayton had lost control of Mike Tyson to King, the two men were none too fond of each other, and Cayton was never going to sign over options on Pazienza in any case. So Cayton enlisted Lewis to approach King with an offer: a much larger purse for Little to defend against Pazienza, without signing over options. Not surprisingly, King refused and Little wound up relinquishing his title to Liles for a reported $100,000, of which he probably was fortunate to receive half.

Not the kind of jackpot that would long ensure the financial well-being of a family as large as Little’s.

I talked to Pazienza – he goes by Vinny Paz now – and he said Cayton had indeed told him he was angling to secure a title shot at Little, but things never worked out, “I think because of King.”

“I never met Steve Little, but I think I would have liked him,” Paz continued. “He just seemed like a good guy, and I know he was a tough little bleeper. Me and him would have been a real battle, although I think I would have beat him.”

Little’s subsequent illness and death placed a significant financial burden on his widow, Wanda, a stay-at-home mother who considered him so much more than the family breadwinner.

“My husband was one-of-a-kind in many amazing ways,” Wanda said. “People here (in Reading) remember him as much or more for his good deeds as for his boxing He was my best friend, someone who worked so hard to be a great provider. I was blessed to have him for as long as I did.”

When contacted for this story, King said he did not recall particulars of the 5½-month period between Little’s unexpected upset of Nunn and the loss to Liles.

“The Rolodex is spinning in my brain,” he allowed after momentarily pondering the question. “Steve Little was a guy who really wanted to do something, but he never got the opportunity until we gave him the opportunity. He saw his chance and seized the moment. He pulled it off, and you got to give him credit for that.”

Asked if the Butch Lewis version of the way events played out is factual, King said, “It’s not my recollection, but I can’t really say how that went down. It’s, what, 20 years ago? Look, I understood Bill Cayton. One of the assets God blessed me with is the ability to look or talk to a person and almost tell what they will or will not do in certain circumstances. Bill Cayton was Bill Cayton, and I would go against him on anything I thought was not right. And I won more times than I lost.”

Hopkins, who does not part with his hard-earned cash readily, tried to do right by his late friend when he pledged $200,000 of his purse for the Feb. 2, 2002, defense of his undisputed middleweight title against Carl Daniels, in Reading, to the Little family. It was a magnanimous gesture, but one that didn’t help as much as it might have. Hopkins said he has heard reports that a slick operator, promising huge returns on investments, talked Wanda Little out of $100,000, which soon evaporated like morning dew.

“I heard that that guy was right on her, telling her about all these ideas he had on how she could double the money,” Hopkins said. “It was like one of those Ponzi schemes, from what I heard. She really got took.

“If I had to do it all over again, I would have set her up with some reputable financial planner, somebody who was licensed and bonded. I can’t beat myself up about it now because I tried to do a good thing, but looking back, I think I could have done more.”

King might not be all that clear on the aftermath of Little’s longshot win over Nunn, but he keenly remembers the run-up to that fight. He said Nunn, who is now serving hard time in an Iowa penitentiary on a cocaine trafficking conviction, lost his title more because of overconfidence and lackadaisical training preparations than because of anything Little had done.

“Michael Nunn was one of the most misguided fighters I’ve ever met – one of the most misguided people, actually,” His Hairness opined. “He was a great fighter, but he messed around, got caught selling drugs to an undercover agent and now he’s in prison. What a waste. He was a very talented guy. He went out searching for something he already had, in an illicit type of situation.”

Upon his Steve Sr.’s induction into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame on March 11, 2012, Steve Little Jr., then a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, disputed any notion that his dad had won his championship only because Nunn was out of shape and undisciplined.

“I finally got to see the DVD of that fight, in 2008 after I obtained it from a boxing historian when I was stationed at Cherry Point (North Carolina),” he said. “This was not a case of Michael Nunn fighting down to a lower level; he was fighting just as hard as my dad was fighting his fight. But, on that night, my dad was the better man.”

Not every winning lottery ticket pays off to the same extent. A 42-1 underdog, James “Buster” Douglas, knocked out heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Feb. 10, 1990, and in his first defense, in which he relinquished his crown on a third-round KO by Evander Holyfield, he earned $23.2 million. Four years later, as a 40-1 no-hoper, Little outpointed Nunn and made 1/232nd of Big Buster’s windfall.

In boxing, as in life, the scales of justice do not always balance. The good often die young and virtue sometimes goes unrewarded. But for one glorious moment forever frozen in time, Steve Little won a fight no one thought him capable of winning. That is something all of us can aspire to, and reason enough to keep the small flame lighting the memory of a special but mostly forgotten champion from flickering and dying out entirely.

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Bernard Fernandez

Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2025

David A. Avila

Chris-Eubank-Jr-Outlasts-Conor-Benn-at-Tottenham-Hotsour-Stadium

Feudal bragging rights belong to Chris Eubank Jr. who out-lasted Conor Benn to
emerge victorious by unanimous decision in a non-title middleweight match held in
London on Saturday.

Fighting for their family heritage Eubank (35-3, 26 KOs) and Benn (23-1, 14 KOs)
continued the battle between families started 35 years ago by their fathers at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.

More than 65,000 fans attended.

Though Eubank Jr. had a weight and height advantage and a record of smashing his
way to victory via knockout, he had problems hurting the quicker and more agile Benn.
And though Benn had the advantage of moving up two weight divisions and forcing
Eubank to fight under a catch weight, the move did not weaken him much.

Instead, British fans and boxing fans across the world saw the two family rivals pummel
each other for all 12 rounds. Neither was able to gain separation.

Eubank looked physically bigger and used a ramming left jab to connect early in the
fight. Benn immediately showed off his speed advantage and surprised many with his
ability to absorb a big blow.Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Benn scrambled around with his quickness and agility and scored often with bigcounters.

It took him a few rounds to stop overextending himself while delivering power shots.

In the third round Benn staggered Eubank with a left hook but was unable to follow up
against the dangerous middleweight who roared back with flurries of blows.

Eubank was methodic in his approach always moving forward, always using his weight
advantage via the shoulder to force Benn backward. The smaller Benn rocketed
overhand rights and was partly successful but not enough to force Eubank to retreat.
In the seventh round a right uppercut snapped Benn’s head violently but he was
undeterred from firing back. Benn’s chin stood firm despite Eubank’s vaunted power and
size advantage.

“I didn’t know he had that in him,” Eubank said.

Benn opened strong in the eighth round with furious blows. And though he connected
he was unable to seriously hurt Eubank. And despite being drained by the weight loss,
the middleweight fighter remained strong all 12 rounds.

There were surprises from both fighters.

Benn was effective targeting the body. Perhaps if he had worked the body earlier he
would have found a better result.

With only two rounds remaining Eubank snapped off a right uppercut again and followed
up with body shots. In the final stanza Eubank pressed forward and exchanged with the
smaller Benn until the final bell. He simply out-landed the fighter and impressed all three
judges who scored it 116-112 for Eubank.

Eubank admitted he expected a knockout win but was satisfied with the victory.
“I under-estimated him,” Eubank said.

Benn was upset by the loss but recognized the reasons.

“He worked harder toward the end,” said Benn.

McKenna Wins

In his first test in the elite level Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) showed his ability to fight
inside or out in soundly defeating former world champion Liam Smith (33-5-1, 20 KOs)
by unanimous decision to win a regional WBA middleweight title.

Smith has made a career out of upsetting young upstarts but discovered the Irish fighter
more than capable of mixing it up with the veteran. It was a rough fight throughout the
12 rounds but McKenna showed off his abilities to fight as a southpaw or right-hander
with nary a hiccup.

McKenna had trained in Southern California early in his career and since that time he’s
accrued a variety of ways to fight. He was smooth and relentless in using his longer
arms and agility against Smith on the outside or in close.

In the 12 th round, McKenna landed a perfectly timed left hook to the ribs and down went
Smith. The former champion got up and attempted to knock out the tall
Irish fighter but could not.

All three judges scored in favor of McKenna 119-108, 117-109, 118-108.

Other Bouts
Anthony Yarde (27-3) defeated Lyndon Arthur (24-3) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. in a light heavyweight match. It was the third time they met. Yarde won the last two fights.

Chris Billam-Smith (21-2) defeated Brandon Glanton (20-3) by decision. It was his first
fight since losing the WBO cruiserweight world title to Gilberto Ramirez last November.

Viddal Riley (13-0) out-worked Cheavon Clarke (10-2) in a 12-round back-and-forth-contest to win a unanimous decision.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Published

3 days ago

April 24, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective,-Chap.-323:-Benn-vs-Eubank-Family-Feud-and-More.jpg

Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.

This is huge in British boxing.

Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

This is about family pride.

The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.

Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.

Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.

Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.

Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.

Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.

This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.

Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.

“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”

Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.

“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.

Eubank smiles.

“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.

Supporting Bout

Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.

“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.

McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.

It’s youth versus experience.

“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.

Monster in L.A.

Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.

It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.

Pomona Fights

Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.

Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.

Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).

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Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

Published

6 days ago

April 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

In any endeavor, the defining feature of a phenom is his youth. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper was a phenom. He was on the radar screen of baseball’s most powerful player agents when he was 14 years old.

Curmel Moton, who turns 19 in June, is a phenom. Of all the young boxing stars out there, wrote James Slater in July of last year, “Curmel Moton is the one to get most excited about.”

Moton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father Curtis Moton, a barber by trade, was a big boxing fan and specifically a big fan of Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Curmel was six, Curtis packed up his wife (Curmel’s stepmom) and his son and moved to Las Vegas. Curtis wanted his son to get involved in boxing and there was no better place to develop one’s latent talents than in Las Vegas where many of the sport’s top practitioners came to train.

Many father-son relationships have been ruined, or at least frayed, by a father’s unrealistic expectations for his son, but when it came to boxing, the boy was a natural and he felt right at home in the gym.

The gym the Motons patronized was the Mayweather Boxing Club. Curtis took his son there in hopes of catching the eye of the proprietor. “Floyd would occasionally drop by the gym and I was there so often that he came to recognize me,” says Curmel. What he fails to add is that the trainers there had Floyd’s ear. “This kid is special,” they told him.

It costs a great deal of money for a kid to travel around the country competing in a slew of amateur boxing tournaments. Only a few have the luxury of a sponsor. For the vast majority, fund raisers such as car washes keep the wheels greased.

Floyd Mayweather stepped in with the financial backing needed for the Motons to canvas the country in tournaments. As an amateur, Curmel was — take your pick — 156-7 or 144-6 or 61-3 (the latter figure from boxrec). Regardless, at virtually every tournament at which he appeared, Curmel Moton was the cock of the walk.

Before the pandemic, Floyd Mayweather Jr had a stable of boxers he promoted under the banner of “The Money Team.” In talking about his boxers, Floyd was understated with one glaring exception – Gervonta “Tank” Davis, now one of boxing’s top earners.

When Floyd took to praising Curmel Moton with the same effusive language, folks stood up and took notice.

Curmel made his pro debut on Sept. 30, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo. After stopping his opponent in the opening round, he addressed a flock of reporters in the media room with Floyd standing at his side. “I felt ready,” he said, “I knew I had Floyd behind me. He believes in me. I had the utmost confidence going into the fight. And I went in there and did what I do.”

Floyd ventured the opinion that Curmel was already a better fighter than Leigh Wood, the reigning WBA world featherweight champion who would successfully defend his belt the following week.

Moton’s boxing style has been described as a blend of Floyd Mayweather and Tank Davis. “I grew up watching Floyd, so it’s natural I have some similarities to him,” says Curmel who sparred with Tank in late November of 2021 as Davis was preparing for his match with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Curmell says he did okay. He was then 15 years old and still in school; he dropped out as soon as he reached the age of 16.

Curmel is now 7-0 with six KOs, four coming in the opening round. He pitched an 8-round shutout the only time he was taken the distance. It’s not yet official, but he returns to the ring on May 31 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo are co-featured in matches conceived as tune-ups for a fall showdown. The fight card will reportedly be free for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

Curmel’s presumptive opponent is Renny Viamonte, a 28-year-old Las Vegas-based Cuban with a 4-1-1 (2) record. It will be Curmel’s first professional fight with Kofi Jantuah the chief voice in his corner. A two-time world title challenger who began his career in his native Ghana, the 50-year-old Jantuah has worked almost exclusively with amateurs, a recent exception being Mikaela Mayer.

It would seem that the phenom needs a tougher opponent than Viamonte at this stage of his career. However, the match is intriguing in one regard. Viamonte is lanky. Listed at 5-foot-11, he will have a seven-inch height advantage.

Keeping his weight down has already been problematic for Moton. He tipped the scales at 128 ½ for his most recent fight. His May 31 bout, he says, will be contested at 135 and down the road it’s reasonable to think he will blossom into a welterweight. And with each bump up in weight, his short stature will theoretically be more of a handicap.

For fun, we asked Moton to name the top fighter on his pound-for-pound list. “[Oleksandr] Usyk is number one right now,” he said without hesitation,” great footwork, but guys like Canelo, Crawford, Inoue, and Bivol are right there.”

It’s notable that there isn’t a young gun on that list. Usyk is 38, a year older than Crawford; Inoue is the pup at age 32.

Moton anticipates that his name will appear on pound-for-pound lists within the next two or three years. True, history is replete with examples of phenoms who flamed out early, but we wouldn’t bet against it.

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