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FROM BIRMINGHAM TO BROOKLYN, WILDER READY FOR LARGER STAGE AND ANOTHER MYSTERY GUEST

For someone so intent on making heavyweight history, Deontay Wilder doesn’t appear to have studied up much on the subject.
Introduced to a throng of media members last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., a few hours prior to WBA “regular” middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs’ first-round stoppage of Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin, Wilder, the WBC heavyweight titlist, cut a dashing figure in designer sunglasses, a black dress shirt, black slacks and a tailored white sport coat with black lapels and polka dots. It was a look that would have been a bit extreme on most men, but worked for him. Then again, what wouldn’t be fashionable on a 6-foot-7, 228-pound, extremely fit athlete?
Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) had come north from his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to announce his third title defense on Jan. 16 at the Barclays Center, his New York City debut, against the ever-intriguing opponent to be named. Negotiations had been underway to match Wilder against Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Glazkov (21-0-1, 13 KOs) on that date, but Glazkov, who had yet to sign a contract, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration when it became apparent that the IBF would strip its newly crowned champion, England’s Tyson Fury, for agreeing to an immediate rematch with the man from whom he had wrested that belt, Wladimir Klitschko, instead of fulfilling his mandatory against Glazkov. Had Klitschko won, Glazkov seemed certain to get the gig against Wilder, but he now appears to focusing on the IBF title that soon could become vacant.
“Mr. Glazkov decided to take an easier shot at a world title. That’s his prerogative,” said Lou DiBella, who has promoted Wilder’s last two defenses against relative mystery men Eric Molina and Johann Duhaupas and will do so against, well, whomever it is that shares the ring with Wilder in the Showtime-televised main event on Jan. 16.
Wilder said it is his job to beat whichever individual his management team puts in front of him, and he will continue doing just that while serving proudly as the first American heavyweight champion since … uh, Lennox Lewis?
“I promise you guys that I will unify the division and be the first American (to do so) since 1999. I think it was Lennox Lewis,” Wilder said.
None of the reporters in attendance bothered to remind Wilder that Brooklyn native Shannon Briggs, who held the WBO belt from November 2006 to June 2007, was, until the Alabamian came along, the most recent American to hold a share of what once was known as the most prestigious title in sports, or that Lewis, the son of Jamaican immigrants, was born in England and represented Canada in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. But why would they? Like John Belushi’s character in “Animal House,” reminding his Delta Tau Chi fraternity brothers that it wasn’t over for them, just like it wasn’t over for the U.S. “when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor,” Wilder was rolling, offering scattershot opinions on any number of heavyweight-related topics. If he ever is paired in a unification showdown with the chatty Fury, the prefight press conferences are likely to be as much or more entertaining than anything that takes place in the ring.
DiBella and Brett Yormack, the chief operating officer of the Barclays Center, made a point of noting that Wilder’s Jan. 16 heavyweight title bout would be the first to be staged in Brooklyn since Bob Fitzsimmons was dethroned on an 11th-round knockout by James J. Jeffries on June 9, 1897, on Coney Island, although someone suggested that maybe a more recent big-boy championship fight had been staged in the borough sometime in the 1930s.
“We think this will be the first heavyweight title fight here in over a hundred years,” DiBella said, leaving himself an out if need be. “We’d like to know. We’re curious. We’re having problems researching it. But obviously, it’s been a long time.”
Until Nov. 28, when Fury, as a 5-to-1 underdog rattled the heavyweight establishment with his shocking — and let’s be honest, slumber-inducing points nod over the listless Klitschko – the division’s hierarchy was firmly established and had been for a long time. Wlad and his now-retired older brother, Vitali, had between them logged four title reigns totaling 22 years, 8 months. And while the younger Klitschko might not have been Mr. Excitement, he still represented, at 39, stability and a sense of order in a sport where there are more turnovers than can be found at your neighborhood Dunkin’ Doughnuts. “Dr. Steelhammer” went into that bout in Dusseldorf, Germany, as the WBA “super,” IBF, WBO, IBO, THE RING and lineal champion, bereft only of the WBC crown once held by Vitali.
Wilder, his WBC championship (won on a unanimous decision over Canadian-based Haitian Bermane Stiverne on Jan. 17 in Las Vegas), near-perfect knockout ratio (97 percent) and American citizenship notwithstanding, was destined to remain an outrider until he, or someone, bumped one Wlad from the throne that most of the boxing world recognized as belonging to the legitimate ruler. Taking a 60-mile ride from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, where he stopped the semi-anonymous likes of Molina and Duhaupas, did little to suggest that the 30-year-old who had once dreamed of starring in football for the Alabama Crimson Tide was much more than another pretender, albeit one with bejeweled belt. It was reminiscent of the seven-year reign of Larry Holmes, who never held more than one version (the WBC, then IBF) of the heavyweight title but was always accorded a higher place in the division pecking order than such itinerant alphabet champs as John Tate, Mike Weaver, Gerrie Coetzee, Tim Witherspoon, Pinklon Thomas, Greg Page and Tony Tubbs.
Fury’s takedown of King Wlad I has basically taken a wrecking ball to the status quo, and although the native of Manchester, England, has to be regarded as the division’s top guy, by virtue of his multiple titles and distinction of being the first fighter to defeat Klitschko in 11 years, the presumed gap between he and Wilder is much narrower than the one that many believed existed between he and Wilder.
From Wilder’s perspective, though, he is the true shining light among the current crop of heavyweights, with a ceiling higher than anyone else and the resolve and ability to be just as dominant as Wladimir had been. He figures his Jan.16 defense – DiBella said an opponent likely will be announced sometime this week — is just another step in a process that eventually will lead to his name being entered into the conversation of best big men in boxing history. Consider his thoughts on those heavyweights who presently occupy many of the top spots in the rankings:
* “Tyson Fury’s not a puncher. My one-year-old son hits harder than him. But he entertains the crowd and sings and all that. But when it comes to lacing up those gloves and battling it out, I don’t think he got enough. We have seen smaller fighters, even cruiserweights, drop him.”
* “I think Klitschko was fighting two people. Not only was he fighting Fury, he was fighting an old man called Father Time as well. There were times in that fight when his mind wanted to throw punches, but his body wasn’t reacting. As you get older, your body don’t react like it does when you’re younger. I think Father Time is at his door. He said he’s exercising his rematch clause. I feel he’ll lose that one, too. But maybe he just had an off-night.”
* “We wanted (No. 1 rated WBC contender Alexander) Povetkin for this one. He fought Mike Perez for one round. Why is he not ready? Why did he take another fight against Mariusz Wach to prepare for me? (He’s a) slower guy, don’t hit hard. Now, he is durable. Got a good chin.”
* “Don’t be surprised if Anthony Joshua (who won the super heavyweight gold medal representing England at the 2012 London Olympics) loses to Dillian Whyte (they fight Dec. 12 in London). Dillian Whyte will give him a run for his money, if not beat him. Dillian Whyte is a very hungry fighter.”
* “I think (Cuban expatriate) Luis Ortiz (who takes on Bryant Jennings Dec. 19 in Verona, N.Y.) is a cheater. (He tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone last year.) I don’t respect him. When you got to use chemicals to enhance your performance … anybody who does that should be banned from boxing.”
* “Jennings is a good fighter. I think he’s a good fighter. We’re going to see what he does in that fight, and go from there.”
* “David Haye must win (his Jan. 16 bout with Mark de Mori in London) in great fashion. All the things he’s done, the backing out (of fights) ad stuff like that, we’re ready to write him off. But if he can win in great fashion, maybe then we’ll have something on our hands.”
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Adelaida Ruiz and Fernando Vargas Jr Score KO Wins at Pechanga

Adelaida Ruiz and Fernando Vargas Jr Score KO Wins at Pechanga
TEMECULA, Ca.-After a long period of fighting out of the country, Adelaida Ruiz returned to Southern California and with her came hundreds of her ardent followers as she won by knockout over Mexico’s Maria Cecilia Roman on Friday.
Ruiz (14-0-1, 8 KOs) looked sharp and stepped in with a disciplined attack against Roman (17-8) who fought behind a peek-a-boo style throughout the fight. Ruiz fired away at openings with a measured attack in front of several thousand fans at Pechanga Arena on the MarvNation Promotions card.
Midway through the eight-round match Ruiz increased the tempo of the attack with blistering combinations to the body and head. During one of the combinations Ruiz connected with a left hook to Roman’s temple and down she went.
Roman beat the count, but Ruiz never slowed her attack and each round her blows seemed to increase with power, the impact of the punches resonating in the arena. The interim WBC super flyweight titlist, whose title was not at stake, seemed determined to win by knockout.
In the eighth and final round Ruiz staggered Roman with another left hook to the temple and that only sparked more punches from the Southern California fighter. She unloaded her bullet chambers and the referee decided to stop the action at 1:19 of the eighth round.
Other Bouts
Fernando Vargas Jr. (9-0) won the super middleweight contest by knockout when Heber Rondon (20-5) was unable to continue due to a shoulder injury at the end of the second round. Fans were displeased but it was not up to the fans.
Vargas showed patience against the veteran southpaw Rondon who showed some tricks in his bag. But after some exchanges in the second round it was a surprise to everyone in the arena when the referee signaled the fight was over at the end of the second round.
Undefeated Jonathan Lopez (11-0, 7 KOs) of Florida remained unblemished with a unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Eduardo Baez (21-5-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight fight.
San Bernardino’s Lawrence King (13-1,11 KOs) faced veteran Mexican fighter Marco Reyes (37-10) and was able to use his speed and southpaw stance to win almost every round. But he had to work for it.
Reyes was able to avoid most of King’s attacks but in the sixth round after absorbing some heavy blows the Mexican fighter was unable to continue and the fight was stopped at the end of the sixth round for a knockout win by King.
In a super welterweight fight, Mario Ramos (11-0, 9 KOs) wore down Jesus Cruz (6-3) for three rounds with his left-handed assault and then lowered the boom with a non-stop barrage of lefts and rights. After nearly two-dozen nearly unanswered blows the referee stopped the battering at 2:09 of the fourth round.
Orlando Salgado (3-2) slugged it out with Squire Redfern (0-1) to win a super welterweight fight by decision after four back and forth rounds. Salgado connected with the bigger blows but never could stop Redfern from rallying round after round. All three judges scored in favor of Salgado.
A heavyweight battle saw Mike Diorio (1-5-1) win his first pro fight in out-punching debuting heavyweight Ian Morgan (0-1) after four rounds. Both fighters tired a bit but Diorio had a better idea of how to score and won by decision.
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Book Review
Reviews of Two Atypical Boxing Books: A ‘Thumbs Up’ and a ‘Thumbs Down’

Reviews of Two Atypical Boxing Books: A ‘Thumbs Up’ and a ‘Thumbs Down’
Jack Johnson sheared the world heavyweight title from Tommy Burns in 1908 and lost it to Jess Willard in 1915. Between these two poles he had nine ring engagements, none of which commanded much attention with one glaring exception. His 1910 fight in Reno with former title-holder James J. Jeffries stands as arguably the most sociologically significant sporting event in U.S. history.
Toby Smith, who wrote extensively about Johnny Tapia while working as a sports reporter for the Albuquerque Journal, exhumes one of these forgotten fights in his meticulously researched 2020 book “Crazy Fourth” (University of New Mexico Press), sub-titled “How Jack Johnson Kept His Heavyweight Title and Put Las Vegas, New Mexico on the Map.” With 30 chapters spread across 172 pages of text and 10 pages of illustrations, it’s an enjoyable read.
The July 4, 1912 fight wherein Jack Johnson defended his heavyweight title against Fireman Jim Flynn, was dreadful. For the nine rounds that it lasted, writes Smith, Johnson and Flynn resembled prize buffoons rather than prizefighters.
Johnson, who out-weighed Flynn by 20 pounds, toyed with the Fireman whenever the two weren’t locked in a clinch. The foul-filled fight ended when a police captain decided that he had seen enough and bounded into the ring followed by a phalanx of his lieutenants. “Las Vegas ‘Battle’ Worst in History of American Ring” read the headline in the next day’s Chicago Inter Ocean, an important newspaper.
The fight itself is of less interest to author Smith than the context. How odd that a world heavyweight title fight would be anchored in Las Vegas, New Mexico (roughly 700 miles from the other Las Vegas), a railroad town that in 1912 was home to about nine thousand people. The titles of two of the chapters, “Birth of a Debacle” (chapter 1) and “A Misbegotten Mess” (chapter 27) capture the gist.
Designed to boost the economy and give the city lasting prestige, the promotion was a colossal dud. Fewer than four thousand people attended the fight in an 18,000-seat makeshift wooden arena erected in the north end of town. The would-be grand spectacle was doomed when the Governor sought to have the fight banned by the legislature, giving the impression the fight would never come off, and it didn’t help that Johnson and Flynn had fought once before, clashing five years earlier in San Francisco. Johnson dominated that encounter before knocking Flynn out in the eleventh round.
“Crazy Fourth” reminded this reporter of two other books.
“White Hopes and Other Tigers,” by the great John Lardner, originally published by Lippincott in 1950, includes Lardner’s wonderfully droll New Yorker essay on the 1923 fight between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons in Shelby, Montana, an ill-conceived promotion that virtually bankrupted the entire community. In the same vein, although more straightforward, is Bruce J. Evensen’s “When Dempsey Fought Tunney: Hokum, Heroes, and Storytelling in the Jazz Age.”
Johnson-Flynn II was suffused with hokum. Energetic press agent H.W. Lanigan cranked out dozens of puff pieces under multiple bylines for out-of-town papers in a futile attempt to build the event into a must-see attraction. His chief assistant Tommy Cannon, the ring announcer, had an interesting, if dubious, distinction. Cannon claimed to have copyrighted the term “squared circle.”
I found one little error in the book. The Ed Smith that refereed the Johnson-Flynn rematch and the Ed Smith that refereed the famously brutal 1910 fight between Battling Nelson and Ad Wolgast, were two different guys. (It pains me to note this, as I know another author who made the same mistake and I see him every morning when I look in the bathroom mirror.) But this is nitpicking. One doesn’t have to be a serious student of boxing history to enjoy “Crazy Fourth.”
Knock Out! The True Story of Emile Griffith by Reinhard Kleist
Let me digress before I even get started. Whenever I am in a library in the city where I reside, I wander over to the “GV” aisle and take a gander at the boxing offerings. If, perchance, there is a book there that I haven’t yet read, I reflexively snatch it up and take it home.
When I got home and riffed through the pages of this particular book, I was surprised to find that it was a comic book of sorts, one that I would classify as a graphic non-fiction novel.
Emile Griffith, as is now common knowledge, was gay, or at least bisexual. Reinhard Kleist, a longtime resident of Berlin, Germany, was drawn to him because of this facet of his being. Kleist makes this plain in the introduction: “Despite [Berlin] being one of the most tolerant cities in the world, I have suffered homophobic insults and threats while walking hand in hand down the street with my boyfriend.”
Born in the Virgin Islands, Emile Griffith came to New York City at age 17 and found work in the garment district as a shipping clerk for a company that manufactured women’s hats. The factory’s owner, Howard Albert, a former amateur boxer, saw something in Griffith that suggested to him that he had the makings of a top-notch boxer and he became his co-manager along with trainer Gil Glancy. Kleist informs us that in addition to being “one of the greatest boxers ever seen in the ring,” Griffith was an incredible hat-designer.
Griffith, who died at age 75 in 2013, is best remembered for his rubber match with Benny Paret, a fight at Madison Square Garden that was nationally televised on ABC. Paret left the ring in a coma and died 10 days later without regaining consciousness. At the weigh-in, Paret, a Cuban, had insulted Griffith with the Spanish slur comparable to “faggot.”
The fight – including its prelude and aftermath (Griffith suffered nightmares about it for the rest of his life) – is the focal point of several previous works about Emile Griffith; biographies, a prize-winning documentary, and even an opera that was recently performed at The Met, the crème de la crème of America’s grand opera houses. The fatal fight factors large here too.
During a 17-year career that began in 1958, Emile Griffith went to post 112 times, answering the bell for 1122 rounds, and won titles in three weight classes: 147, 154, and 160. At one point, he had a 17-2 record in world title fights (at a time when there were only two relevant sanctioning bodies) before losing his last five to finish 17-7. No boxer in history boxed more rounds in true title fights.
Griffith, who finished his career with a record of 85-24-2 with 23 KOs and 1 no-contest, entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990. There is absolutely no question that he belongs there, but to rank him among the greatest of all time is perhaps a bit of a stretch. Regardless, I take umbrage with the sub-title. The “true story” of Emile Griffith cannot be capsulated in a book with such a narrow scope. Moreover, it is misclassified; it ought not have been shelved with other boxing books but in some other section of the library as this is less a story about a prizefighter than about a man who is forced to wear a mask, so to speak, as he navigates his way through a thorny, heteronormative society.
Graphic novels are a growing segment of the publishing industry. The genre is not my cup of tea, but to each his own.
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Bazinyan Overcomes Adversity; Skirts by Macias in Montreal

Camille Estephan, one of two prominent boxing promoters operating in Quebec, was back at his customary playpen tonight, The Montreal Casino, with an 8-bout card that aired in the U.S. on ESPN+. The featured bout pit Erik Bazinyan against Mexican globetrotter Jose de Jesus Macias in a super middleweight bout with two regional titles at stake. Bazinyan entered the contest undefeated (29-0, 21 KOs) and ranked #2 at 168 by the WBC, WBA, and WBO.
A member of the National Team of Armenia before moving with his parents to Quebec at age 16, Bazinyan figured to be too physical for Matias. He had launched his career as a light heavyweight whereas Matias had fought extensively as a welterweight. However, the battle-tested Macias (28-12-4) was no pushover. Indeed, he had the best round of the fight. It came in Round 7 when he hurt Bazinyan with a barrage of punches that left the Armenian on shaky legs. But Bazinyan weathered the storm and fought the spunky Macias on better-than-even terms in the homestretch to win a unanimous decision.
The judges were predisposed toward the “A side” and submitted cards of 98-92, 97-93, 97-93.
In his previous bout, Bazinyan was hard-pressed to turn away Alantez Fox. Tonight’s performance confirmed the suspicion that he isn’t as good as his record or his rating. He would be the underdog if matched against stablemate Christian Mbilli.
Co-Feature
In what stands as arguably the finest performance in his 14-year pro career, Calgary junior welterweight Steve Claggett dismantled Puerto Rico’s Alberto Machado, a former world title-holder at 130 pounds. Claggett had Machado on the canvas twice before the referee waived the fight off at the 2:29 mark of round three, the stoppage coming moments after the white towel of surrender was tossed from Machado’ corner. It was the sixth straight win inside the distance for the resurgent Claggett (35-7-2, 25 KOs) who was favored in the 3/1 range.
Claggett scored his first knockdown late in round two with a chopping left hook. The second knockdown came from a two-punch combo — a short right uppercut to the jaw that followed a hard left hook to the body. Machado, whose promoter of record is Miguel Cotto, falls to 23-4.
Claggett, who won an NABF belt, would welcome a fight with Rolly Romero. A more likely scenario finds him locking horns with undefeated Arnold Barboza, a Top Rank fighter.
Also…
Quebec southpaw Thomas Chabot remained undefeated with a harder-than expected and somewhat controversial 8-round split decision over 20-year-old Mexico City import Luis Bolanos. At the conclusion, Chabot, who improved to 9-0 (7), was more marked-up than his scrappy opponent who declined to 4-3-1. This was an entertaining fight between two high-volume punchers.
In a middleweight affair slated for six, Alexandre Gaumont improved to 8-0 (6 KOs) with a second round TKO over hapless Piotr Bis. The official time was 3:00.
A 37-year-old Pole making his North American debut, Bis (6-3-1) was on the canvas six times in all during the six minutes of action. There were two genuine knockdowns, the result of short uppercuts, two dubious knockdowns, a slip, and a push.
As an amateur, Gaumont reportedly knocked out half of his 24 opponents. This sloppy fight with Bis wasn’t of the sort from which Gaumont can gain anything useful, but he is a bright prospect who bears watching.
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