Ten Notable Boxers From Nebraska Not Named Terence Crawford

Published

7 years ago

August 10, 2017

Terence Crawford meets Namibia’s Julius Indongo at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 19th on ESPN. At stake are all the meaningful belts in the 140-pound division and for Crawford something more – a chance to cement his status as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.

Regardless of whether he wins or loses or what he accomplishes in the next few years, Omaha’s Crawford will reign supreme as the best boxer to emerge from the state of Nebraska. Granted, there isn’t a whole lot of competition. The Cornhusker State, historically rural, lacks the demographic components one associates with a high incidence of prizefighters. However, there have been some very solid practitioners of the manly art with Nebraska ties and with Crawford riding so high, now would seem to be a good time to excavate them from the dustbin of history and acknowledge them.

Here are ten notable boxers who sprung from the soil of Nebraska. They are listed in order of notability, needless to say a subjective exercise.

Ace Hudkins, Valparaiso (68-20-13, 25 KOs)

Before Terence Crawford arrived on the scene, Ace Hudkins was unimpeachably the best boxer spawned in the Cornhusker State.

Born in Valparaiso, Hudkins made his pro debut in Lincoln in 1922 at age 16 and fought all over Nebraska during his tenderfoot days, appearing in such burgs as Alliance, Bridgeport, Central City, McCook, Tecumseh, and Wahoo. Twelve bouts into his pro career his record stood at 3-3-6, hardly the template of a man who would go on to become one of the most celebrated boxers of his era. But Hudkins got better as the competition got stiffer and became a big box office attraction in New York and Los Angeles.

Paul Gallico, one of America’s most well-known sportswriters, about used up all the adjectives in his knapsack when he wrote that Hudkins was “tough, hard, mean, cantankerous, combative, fast, courageous and filled at all times with bitter and flaming lust for battle.” He might have added that the Nebraska Wildcat, as he was dubbed, wasn’t averse to bending the Queensberry rules.

In 1928, Hudkins challenged middleweight champion Mickey Walker at Comiskey Park, the home of the Chicago White Sox. Walker, who would be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990, won a split decision, but the consensus was that Hudkins was robbed. The multitude, which watched the fight in a driving rain, booed loudly when the verdict was announced. The rematch the next year in Los Angeles, which Walker won fairly, set a California record for gate receipts that stood for eighteen years.

Hudkins, who reportedly retired a millionaire, invested his ring earnings wisely. With several of his brothers he ran a thriving California company that leased horses and buckboards and such to producers of movie and TV westerns. He died in 1973 in Hollywood at age sixty-seven after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Ed “Bearcat” Wright (70-24-19, 42 KOs)

Born in 1897 in Brazoria, Texas, Wright represented Omaha throughout a career that lasted from 1919 to 1936. While still a raw novice he had four fights with venerable Sam Langford, the legendary Boston Tar Baby. There was an extenuating circumstance. Nebraska’s ban on interracial matches wasn’t repealed until 1923.

Wright likely had many more fights than those which have been documented. And don’t be fooled by his record. In his day, men of his hue had to “do business” to put food on the table. He was stopped in four rounds by future heavyweight champion Primo Carnera at Omaha’s minor league baseball park in 1932, but the outcome was almost certainly prearranged.

Wright had 30 fights in Nebraska rings and fought three other former or future world champions (Jack Johnson, Mickey Walker, and Max Baer). His son, also known as Bearcat Wright, was 8-0 as a pro boxer and had numerous regional and tag team titles bestowed upon him as a professional wrestler.

Luther McCarty (19-4-2, 15 KOs)

The White Hope Era paralleled the heavyweight title reign of Jack Johnson which lasted from Dec. 26, 1908 to July 4, 1915. The Caucasian hopefuls that tumbled out of the chute were a motley lot, but McCarty was legit.

Depending on the source, McCarty was born on a farm 30 miles southwest of Lincoln, on a ranch near McCook, or in a hollow somewhere in Hitchcock County. We’ll take it on faith that he was actually born in Nebraska and had an emotional tie to the state.

It appears that McCarty was left to his own whiles at a very young age, whereupon he bummed around the country taking odd jobs while sating his wanderlust. He was in his late teens when he came to the fore in Los Angeles. De Witt Van Court, one of America’s foremost boxing authorities, asserted that he showed considerably more promise than former champions Jim Corbett and Jim Jeffries at the same age.

McCarty died in the ring in 1913 at age twenty-one in Calgary, Alberta, in the first defense of his White Heavyweight Title. The punch that felled him didn’t appear to pack much force, but it fractured his neck. He never fought in Nebraska but engaged in 4-round exhibitions with his traveling foil in opera houses in Lincoln and Omaha.

Ron Stander (38-21-3, 29 KOs)

During his fighting days, Stander hung his hat across the river from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa; hence his nickname, the Bluffs Butcher. But Stander trained in Omaha, had twenty-six fights in Omaha, and settled in Omaha after leaving the sport.

In his 10th pro fight Stander knocked out Earnie Shavers, in hindsight a monster upset as Shavers came to be recognized as one of the hardest punchers in the history of the heavyweight division.

Stander’s record stood at 23-1-1 when he challenged Smokin’ Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight title at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in 1972 in what arguably ranks as the biggest single day non-football sporting event in the history of the Cornhusker State. He lasted only four rounds, but went out on his shield.

Art Hernandez, Sidney (46-20-2, 13 KOs)

The second oldest of the four fighting Hernandez brothers, the late Art Hernandez won five Nebraska Golden Gloves titles before turning pro in 1961. The former Sidney, Nebraska schoolboy had twenty fights in Omaha rings and fought extensively overseas, including five trips to France.

In 1964, Art Hernandez boxed legendary (albeit long-in-the-tooth) Sugar Ray Robinson to a draw at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. In 1969, he came out on the short end of a fight with former five-time world champion Emile Griffith, losing a split decision.

In retirement, Art Hernandez was the chief of security at Omaha’s Douglas County Hospital.

Ferd Hernandez, Sidney (35-10-4, 7 KOs)

The oldest of the brothers, Ferdinand “Ferd” Hernandez won the National Golden Gloves welterweight title in 1960 as a member of the Omaha team that won the team title over the favored Chicago contingent.

Ferd had three of his first five pro fights in Omaha before being lured away by the siren song of Las Vegas. In 1965 he won a 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson. Late in his career he went the distance with future Hall of Famers Nino Benvenuti and Luis Rodriguez.

In retirement, Hernandez became a world-class referee. He refereed four world title fights including the 1975 bout between Muhammad Ali and Ron Lyle. He died in 1996 at his brother Art’s home in Omaha at age fifty-five.

(Note: Dale Hernandez, the youngest of the fighting Hernandez brothers, had the most natural talent. Unlike his brothers, he could knock a man out with one punch. He isn’t included here because he was born and raised in Pierre, South Dakota.)

Carl Vinciquerra, Omaha (45-5-5, 25 KOs)

Vinciquerra took a leave from Creighton University where he was the starting fullback on the varsity football team to pursue his dream of Olympic glory. He represented the U.S. in the light heavyweight division at the 1936 Berlin games after winning a National Golden Gloves title.

Vinciquerra had most of his early fights in Chicago but had 16 fights in Omaha rings where he scored three wins over his former Creighton teammate and amateur rival Paul Hartnek.

Vince Foster, Omaha (30-4-1, 19 KOs)

A 1946 Midwest Golden Gloves champion, Foster, a welterweight, made a big splash in his debut as a Madison Square Garden headliner, overwhelming rugged 54-fight veteran Tony Pellone en route to a seventh round stoppage. “It was the most exciting victory scored in the Garden since Sandy Saddler’s knockout of Willie Pep in October (of the previous year),” said the ringside correspondent for the Associated Press.

Half Irish and half Native American, Foster was here and gone in a flash. In his next outing at New York City’s temple of fistiana, he was knocked out in the opening round by future world title challenger Charley Fusari. Two months later, he died when his car plowed into the back of a cattle truck in Pipestone, South Dakota, where he was visiting his two half-siblings who were enrolled in the Santee Sioux Indian boarding school. Akin to the ill-fated Luther McCarty, he was only 21 years of age.

Glen Lee, Edison (56-20-5, 22 KOs)

Born in the flyspeck village of Edison, not far from Grand Island which he eventually called home, Lee, a welterweight, made his pro debut in Omaha in 1933 and had thirteen of his first twenty-one fights in Nebraska rings before heading west where he became a popular attraction at LA’s Olympic Auditorium.

His career was winding down when he fought a rubber match with the ultra-talented Ceferino Garcia on Garcia’s home turf in Manila. Lee was TKOed in the 13th frame in what is recognized as the first world title fight ever held in the Philippines.

Lee’s younger brother Don Lee was a welterweight contender during the 1940s.

Morrie Schlaifer, Omaha, (49-40-6, 25 KOs)

Before he regressed into a trial horse, Schlaifer was one rough customer. Active from 1920 through 1927, he fought all the top welterweights of his day. His best win came in 1925 when he stopped future welterweight champion Pete Latzo in the third round on Latzo’s turf in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (In a pro career that numbered 147 fights, Latzo was stopped only twice.)

Schlaifer holds the record for most fights in Nebraska (42). Thirty-nine of those fights were in Omaha.

NOTE: Records include newspaper decisions.

Honorable Mention: JOHNNY SUDENBERG – He lost his last 13 documented fights, plunging his ledger into the red, but the great Jack Dempsey, on his way up the ladder, found the Omaha Swede a tough nut to crack. They fought three times in bouts staged in Nevada mining camps. Dempsey won the last but the first two, both vicious encounters, were recorded as draws.

Honorable Mention: PERRY “KID” GRAVES – Hailing from Red Bluff in Cass County, near Plattsmouth, Graves laid claim to the world welterweight title in 1914 with a second round stoppage of five-time rival Johnny “Kid” Alberts (aka Albert Miskowitz) in Brooklyn. He continued fighting for 11 more years but never had another bout packaged as a title fight – such were the vagaries of his times.

Disqualified: MAX BAER — A murderous puncher and briefly the world heavyweight champion, the “Livermore Larruper” was born in Omaha but grew up on a ranch in Livermore, California, near Stockton, where he made his pro debut. He never fought in Nebraska.

Special Citation: BRUCE “THE MOUSE” STRAUSS — If Strauss had a business card, it likely read “have gloves, will travel.” During his 14-year career (1976-1989) the affable leather-pusher, born and bred in Omaha, fought in twenty-three states, five Canadian provinces, and eight foreign countries. Dubbed the Prince of Palookas by the celebrated sportswriter Rick Reilly, Strauss appeared on the David Letterman Show where he recounted the time that he was knocked out twice in one night, the second under the pretense of being his twin brother.

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Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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