R.I.P. Willie the Worm and Billy Joiner, Emblems of a Bright and Bygone Era

Published

6 years ago

July 5, 2019

R.I.P.-Willie-the-Worm-and-Billy Joiner-Emblems-of-a-Bright-and-Bygone-Era

The recent deaths of two former ring personalities went largely unnoticed. On June 26, Willie “The Worm” Monroe passed away at age seventy-three. Three weeks earlier, Billy Joiner drew his last breath at age eighty-one. Neither won a world title and Joiner was a mere journeyman, but both shared the ring with giants of their craft in one of boxing’s brightest eras.

Willie the Worm, who was born in Alabama, the fifth-youngest of 17 children, learned the rudiments of boxing in Rochester, New York, where he reputedly carved out a 43-0 mark as an amateur, and then plied his trade in his second adopted home, Philadelphia, where he trained in Joe Frazier’s gym under the watchful eye, at various times, of three of the sport’s greatest trainers: Yank Durham, Eddie Futch, and George Benton. Durham reputedly gave Willie (pictured) his nickname, likening his fighting style to a sleek and slippery worm. But Willie also packed a knockout punch. He stopped 26 of his 51 opponents, concluding his career with a record of 40-10-1.

Twenty-nine of Monroe’s 51 pro fights were in Philadelphia where he made his pro debut at the legendary Blue Horizon. In Philly, he didn’t have to go far to find a good sparring partner; the city was a hornet’s nest of top-shelf middleweights. Bennie Briscoe, Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts, and Stanley “Kitten” Hayward were contemporaries. Their gym wars were legendary.

Monroe defeated Hart and Hayward, but was never better than on the night of March 9, 1976, when he scored a 10-round decision over Marvin Hagler at the Spectrum, Philadelphia’s largest sports arena. Monroe was a clear winner, punctuating his performance with a strong 10^th round. In the fifth round of that fight, he hit Hagler with three consecutive uppercuts, knocking his mouthpiece out and leaving Hagler with a bloody nose that never went away.

Hagler suffered only three defeats in 67 starts. His first loss, in Philadelphia to the aforementioned Bobby Watts, was assailed as a rip-off. His third loss, to Sugar Ray Leonard in his final pro fight, was highly controversial.

Willie the Worm, rest his soul, remains the only man to defeat Hagler decisively. Unfortunately, few got to see it. Philadelphia was strafed by a late winter snowstorm on the day of the fight, hurting attendance and preventing the film crew from getting to the Spectrum. There is no video footage of the fight.

(In common with the great Joe Louis, Marvin Hagler was lethal in rematches. He would twice avenge his loss to Willie the Worm, first on a 12^th round TKO in Boston in a good back-and-forth fight, and then taking him out in the second round in the rubber match at the Spectrum. Between his setbacks to Monroe and Leonard, Marvelous Marvin went 11 years without tasting defeat, a stretch of 37 fights.)

In retirement, Willie Monroe drove a delivery truck for the Philadelphia Inquirer, worked as a security guard at Garden State Racetrack, and for a time was a professional boxing referee. His death in the Philadelphia suburb of Sicklerville, New Jersey, was attributed to complications of Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, two daughters, and three grandchildren. Willie Monroe Jr, a former two-time world title challenger currently campaigning as a super middleweight, is Willie the Worm’s great nephew.

Billy Joiner

Summon up BoxRec and dial in “Billy Joiner” and what you will find is a fighter who compiled a pro record of 12-13-3 and was stopped five times. And if that’s all you learned about Billy Joiner, then you wouldn’t know even half the story. Joiner was the only man to fight Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston twice.

Cincinnati has a rich amateur boxing history dating back to the days of Ezzard Charles. Billy Joiner’s father, John Joiner, trained 1948 Olympian Wallace “Bud” Smith, a future lightweight champion, and the younger Joiner followed Smith’s footsteps into a decorated amateur career.

A three-time finalist in the National Golden Gloves Tournament in a day when the annual event in Chicago was attended by some of America’s best-known sportswriters, Joiner won the competition in 1962 in the 178-pound weight class and, for good measure, went on to win the AAU tournament before turning pro under the management of George Gainford who also handled Sugar Ray Robinson.

Joiner’s two fights with Ali came as an amateur, long before Ali adopted his Muslim name. In a 2016 interview with Peter Wood, Joiner said that both losses were by one point, which is entirely plausible. Their second meeting was at an outdoor show in Toledo, Ohio, perhaps Ali’s last fight before heading off to the Rome Olympics, as he had already secured that berth.

They also met up again as professionals. On Dec. 8, 1969, they appeared at a press conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to announce their forthcoming fight to be held on Jan. 10, 1970, at a 4,000-seat privately-owned rodeo corral on the outskirts of Tulsa. Blackballed for his refusal to be drafted into the Army, this would be Ali’s first fight in almost three years.

Oklahoma was picked because the state had no boxing commission. In theory, Ali could not be denied a license to fight because there was no licensing agency. To make the fight more palatable to local authorities, it was announced that the proceeds would be donated to a charity benefiting retarded children. But commission or no commission, the authorities killed the fight, yielding to pressure from veterans’ groups. Ten more months would elapse before Ali finally got back in the ring, launching his second coming in Atlanta against Jerry Quarry. (For all the books that have been written about him, his aborted 1970 fight with Billy Joiner remains a little-known incident in Ali’s career.)

Joiner sparred with Sonny Liston in the post-Ali phase of Liston’s career before their two meetings. They fought at LA’s Olympic Auditorium in May of 1968 and then again 10 months later in St. Louis. Liston won the first fight on a seventh round TKO but the rematch went the full distance, ending Liston’s skein of 11 straight knockouts. Joiner subsequently fought Larry Holmes (L TKO 3) on a show in Puerto Rico that included future Hall of Famers Roberto Duran and Wilfredo Gomez and went 10 rounds with rugged Argentine bruiser Oscar Bonavena in Bonavena’s final fight.

It would be said of Billy Joiner that he never lived up to his promise, but if he had come along today he likely would have made his mark as a cruiserweight, a division that did not exist in his day. He was simply too small to compete successfully with the top heavyweights in an era of outstanding heavyweights. In his two fights with Sonny Liston, Billy was out-weighed by margins of 32 ½ and 24 pounds.

In retirement, Joiner spent 30 years with the Ohio State Highway Maintenance Department, rising to the position of superintendent. At the time of his death, the Queen City native resided in Springdale, a Cincinnati suburb.

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Arne K. Lang

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

Published

2 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

5 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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