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Ten Notable Boxers From Nebraska Not Named Terence Crawford

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.
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 254: Canelo vs Jermell Charlo in a Battle of Undisputed Champions

LAS VEGAS-Less than the usual massive crowd gathered for boxing kingpin Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Jermell Charlo in the desert heat outside of the T-Mobile Arena on Friday afternoon. Usually the weigh-ins are slightly bigger for Mexico’s idol.
Is the declining crowd an indicator of Alvarez fans ebbing belief in his abilities?
Still, on Saturday night, two undisputed world champions from differing divisions will collide as Guadalajara, Mexico’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) meets Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena for the super middleweight world championship. PPV.Com will stream the clash of champions.
This year has seen a hyper-speed uptick in champions fighting other champions, perhaps the result of watching their female counterparts Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor produce the biggest fight of 2022. This year several marquee collisions were spawned from lightweights to heavyweights.
Or maybe the pandemic lull created a twitch panic among the elite.
Charlo was one of those who had been sidelined while others like Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Naoya “Monster” Inoue and Canelo Alvarez filled their pockets with cash. And others like Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez gained undisputed glory.
Instead of watching on the sidelines, Charlo decided to make his move for greater glory by attempting to dethrone one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not the kingpin of boxing when it comes to money.
“If I accomplish this massive goal, it will be hard to top,” Charlo said a few weeks ago during his media workout. “I’ll be in the record book with the greats of boxing for a long time.”
Risks brings rewards.
Canelo, long a member of the boxing elite, has held his position as the box office king for many years now by taking the daunting risks throughout his boxing life.
“Jermell is right, I have nothing to prove. But this time I have something to prove to him,” said Alvarez while in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “He never believed in my skills. He’s been calling me out. Now I have an opportunity to show him my skills.”
Undisputed super welterweight will challenge undisputed super middleweight in a two-division jump not often seen, except for Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran and Sugar Shane Mosley. It’s the road taken by those who seek to be great.
Both are 33 but the redhead Alvarez has been fighting professionally since he was 15. That’s a lot of bullets in the chamber he has already used. Charlo has height, speed and the ability to adapt to different styles. Stylistically, it’s a battle that makes even the skeptics take pause.
It all depends on Alvarez’s resiliency. Charlo has ring rust, while Alvarez seemingly has lost the hunger. Whose weakness will prove the greater?
“Now is the time for this fight. We’re in our primes and at our best,” said Charlo. “I wanna shake the doubters off and prove to the world why I”m in this position. There’s a reason I made it this far.”
Alvarez remembers being as hungry as Charlo.
“I never overlook any fighter,” Alvarez said. “I know what he’s going to bring and I’m ready.”
Undercard
Several other notable bouts are included on the pay-per-view card.
Former world titlists and current welterweight contenders Yordenis Ugas (27-5) and Mario Barrios (27-2) battle for an interim title set for 12 rounds.
Super welterweights Jesus Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs) and Erickson Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs) match skills in a match that pits a southpaw veteran against an undefeated southpaw from Arizona. For the past three years Ramos has been moving up the ladder and was last seen pounding out highly-touted Joey Spencer. Can he survive Lubin who nearly toppled Sebastian Fundora?
Doors open at T-Mobile Arena at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.
Lampley is back
Legendary HBO announcer Jim Lampley was hired along with ace reporter Lance Pugmire who will co-host the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus Jermell Charlo showdown via viewer chat live on PPV.com.
It’s the same concept used by Monday Night Football that features former quarterback greats Peyton Manning and Eli Manning in alternative programming.
Lampley returns to boxing after a five-year absence following HBO’s yanking of the popular program that vaulted elite boxing to the top behind the likes of George Foreman, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
The veteran announcer will be live streaming all the action on media platforms before and during the fight action. He was sorely missed by all who follow the sweet science.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk a Go for Saudi Arabia: Date TBA

It is now official. Representatives of WBC and Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and WBO/WBA/IBF title-holder Oleksandr Usyk have come to terms. The Fury-Usyk fight will be staged at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on a date to be determined. (Speculation centers around Dec. 23.)
Fury vs Usyk is the latest addition to Riyadh Season, a months-long, state-sponsored, city-wide entertainment and sports festival that commences this year on Oct. 28 with the fight between Tyson Fury and MMA star Francis Ngannou serving as the centerpiece of the grand opening ceremony.
A point that will be central to the pre-fight hype is that more than three decades have passed since boxing had a unified heavyweight champion. The last man to be recognized as such was Lennox Lewis who unified the title in November of 1999 when he won a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Lewis entered the contest sporting the WBC belt whereas Holyfield held the WBA and IBF diadems.
As noted in boxrec, the vacant IBO heavyweight title was also at stake, a fact acknowledged in most British pre- and post-fight reports, but largely omitted from stories in American papers. As for the WBO, which was born the same year as the Florida-based IBO and came to leapfrog past it in credibility, it was out of the loop. Their heavyweight champion was Vitali Klitschko who had won the belt from Herbie Hyde.
The Lewis-Holyfield fight in Las Vegas was a rematch. They had fought eight months earlier at Madison Square Garden. That fight was ruled a draw, a decision deemed so unjust to Lennox Lewis that it spawned a federal investigation.
The tentative Dec. 23 date for Fury-Usyk would be a quick turnaround for the Gypsy King but would give him two months to heal in the event that he emerges from his non-title fight with Ngannou with a facial cut or another issue requiring medical attention. As noted in a story in the London Mirror, the date of Dec. 23 has also been bandied about as the likely date for the resurrection of the aborted fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn. Something would have to give and it wouldn’t be Fury-Usyk.
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Atlantic City Welcomes the 7th Annual Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend

While the world of boxing will be focused on Las Vegas and the mega showdown between two undisputed champions, across the country Atlantic City will play host to the seventh annual Hall-of-Fame Induction Weekend. This year’s festivities are highlighted by the celebration of heavyweight boxers that once helped make Atlantic City the leading destination for “big time” fights. At the top of this year’s class are names like George Foreman, David Tua, Shannon Briggs, and Pinklon Thomas. With names like these, it’s easy to understand why this year’s Induction Weekend, now a staple of the city’s entertainment calendar, figures to be the best ever.
Ray McCline, a lifelong boxing fan, is the brainchild behind the event which has matured beyond the infancy stage. For McCline (himself a 2022 inductee into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame), creating an entire weekend around the sport in a way that could also benefit the city financially was a no-brainer.
“It’s great to see what this weekend has become. It’s been a long road from the original idea, but with great support and partnerships, it’s been possible,” states McCline.
In the past the ACBHOF has had to be as nimble as some of the fighters that they’ve honored to continue making sure the weekend wasn’t lost in the shadows of a city that has dealt with economic struggles. McCline and his staff at the ACBHOF have done an excellent job integrating the history of boxing with the history of Atlantic City. They’ve done this by offering fans the opportunity to spend more than just one evening immersed in the culture of the sport.
“It continues to grow and get better and that’s what it’s all about; making this the type of weekend that boxing fans mark on their calendars each year. This year we’re fortunate to partner with Hard Hitting Promotions to provide a great night of live professional boxing for fans as well,” says McCline. It’s the type of addition to an already full weekend schedule that only strengthens the ACBHOF brand.
A partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has also been a key to recent enhancements for the weekend of events.
After years of having to adapt the schedule to the schedules of their host properties, having this partnership with Hard Rock has allowed for the ACBHOF to lock in the final weekend of September or first weekend of October which is important because it allows fans to plan out their post summer and pre-holiday schedules without having to skip their trip to Atlantic City. “A major bonus,” says McCline. “It was one of the major hurdles that we had to jump over. Integrating Hard Rock and their established relationships in the world of entertainment only benefits both parties.”
It’s a fact that isn’t lost when you see crowds of concert-goers and people arriving in the city for other events enter the Free Fan Expo that takes place prior to the award ceremony.
Which brings us to this year’s schedule of events. Tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 29) will be the customary V.I.P opening cocktail reception followed by the live fights at Bally’s Casino. On Saturday at Hard Rock is the free Fight Fan Experience which allows fans to interact with legends of the sport from the past and fighters of today and tomorrow. During the evening hours. the actual awards and induction ceremony will take place at the Hard Rock. The weekend activities culminate in a legends brunch on Sunday morning at the Blue Water Grille at the Flagship Hotel.
What’s going on in Las Vegas isn’t lost on McCline. “This year is going to be great for those attending the induction ceremony at the V.I.P. level. We were able to set up our post ceremony cocktail reception in conjunction with showing the Canelo-Charlo fight. At the end of the day, we’re all fans of the sport so why miss a historic fight?”
Just listening to the joy that springs from the voice of Ray McCline when discussing both this year’s event and plans for the future is refreshing, especially when one considers all of the roadblocks that he’s overcome to bring his vision to reality in the form of a full weekend of celebration.
Note: The main event of the boxing show on Friday is a 10-round contest between super lightweights Branden Pizarro (18-1-1) and Esteban Garcia (16-2). For more information on event tickets, room reservations, and weekend schedules, visit the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame website at: www.acbhof.com
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