Gervonta’s Baltimore Homecoming Awakens Echoes of Harry Jeffra

Published

5 years ago

July 27, 2019

Gervonta's-Baltimore-Homecoming-Awakens-Echoes-of-Harry-Jeffra

Seventy-nine years ago this coming Monday (July 29), Baltimore native Harry Jeffra successfully defended his featherweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over Toronto’s Spider Armstrong. This match — refereed by The Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer – is being recalled as the last world title fight held in the City of Monuments in which a local man defended his title….until tonight, that is, when Gervonta Davis defends his World Boxing Association Super World Super Featherweight Title (that’s a mouthful) on SHOWTIME in an apparent soft defense against Panama’s unheralded Ricardo Nunez.

Harry Jeffra was very good and had a legitimate claim to the world featherweight title, but as title fights go, Jeffra vs. Armstrong warrants an asterisk.

No, there weren’t four international bodies vying for supremacy, but things back then were just as muddled. When Jeffra entered the ring that night, he was one of three recognized featherweight champions. The National Boxing Association (forerunner of the WBA) recognized Petey Scalzo. The New York and Maryland (and eventually Pennsylvania and California) boxing commissions recognized Jeffra. The Louisiana commission was partial to Jimmy Perrin. And overseas? Well, let’s not go there.

Harry Jeffra, who was Sicilian on his father’s side, was born in Baltimore on Nov. 30, 1914. His birth name was Ignatius Guiffre. With a name like that, it was inevitable he would adopt a different ring name, but folks knew him as Harry Jeffra before he ever laced on a pair of gloves. The name was applied to him by his schoolteachers who couldn’t pronounce Guiffre.

Jeffra was born in the shadow of Baltimore’s Pimlico Racetrack and in some of his early fights was billed as the Pimlico Kid. Ironically, in retirement, after working as a jockey’s agent, Jeffra became a stable manager at the fabled racetrack.

Turning pro at age 18, Jeffra had his first 39 fights in Baltimore with the exception of four excursions to nearby Washington, DC. He attracted national notice late in this run with a 10-round split decision over Puerto Rico’s Sixto Escobar, the generally recognized world bantamweight champion.

Jeffra and Escobar would meet five times; Jeffra winning four. The third and fourth meetings were stamped as world title fights. The finale, in Baltimore, would be Escobar’s final pro bout.

Escobar-Jeffra III was staged on Sept. 23, 1937 at New York’s Polo Grounds as part of the “Carnival of Champions” in which four title-holders risked their belts on the same card. Lightweight Lou Ambers and welterweight Barney Ross prevailed against Pedro Montanez and Ceferino Garcia, respectively. Middleweight title-holder Marcel Thill was upended by Fred Apostoli, the San Francisco Bell Boy (although New York continued to recognize Freddie Steele; go figure) and Harry Jeffra got things started by dethroning Escobar, winning a lopsided 15-round decision. “He buzzed around him like an angry hornet in a fight that was full of action,” said the correspondent for the New York Times.

Promoter Mike Jacobs anticipated a crowd of 50,000, but the announced attendance was only 32,600. Many boxing fans hadn’t yet recovered from the Great Depression and all sorts of amusements were in the doldrums.

Five months later, the Baltimorean and the Puerto Rican met up again on Escobar’s turf in San Juan. In this bout, Jeffra bore scant resemblance to the fighter that won their three previous meetings. He was knocked down twice in the 11^th and once in the 14^th and finished the contest with both of his eyes nearly closed. The announced attendance at the outdoor show was 12,000, but promoter Mike Jacobs, a whiz at creative bookkeeping, claimed that the gate receipts totaled only $13,900.

Jeffra had struggled to make weight for Escobar IV. Seven months later he returned to the ring as a featherweight and after adding eight wins to his ledger was pitted against veteran Joey Archibald who held a share of the fractured featherweight title. It was the first defense for Archibald who had won the belt in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, with a 15-round decision over Chicago’s Leo Rodak.

Archibald was managed by wily Al Weill who later handled the ring affairs of Rocky Marciano. Washington, DC was Archibald’s second home. Prior to his Sept. 28, 1939 bout with Harry Jeffra at Griffith Stadium, he was 18-0 in DC rings.

The skein continued with Jeffra losing a split decision that nearly caused a riot. Spectators booed for a good 15 minutes after the verdict was announced and pelted the ring with debris. It was a harrowing experience for ring announcer Jimmy Lake who couldn’t leave his post as the semi-main had been pushed back to the walk-out fight.

Jeffra got his revenge eight months later in Baltimore. He nearly had Archibald out in the second round but the Providence man stayed the 15-round limit only to lose a lopsided decision. Jeffra’s first defense against the aforementioned Spider Armstrong would stand for almost 80 years as the last winning effort by a Baltimore world title-holder in a Baltimore ring. He gave back the belt in a third meeting with Joey Archibald, another disputed split decision at Griffith Stadium, although not as contentious as the first, and then failed in an attempt to regain the title when he was stopped in the 10^th frame by Archibald’s conqueror Chalky Wright.

After losing to Wright, Jeffra soldiered on for a few more years before retiring at age 32. A short-lived and unproductive comeback after a 44-month absence dipped his final record to 94-20-7 (per BoxRec). Although the titles he held were in dispute at the time that he held them, he passes the lineal test as a two-division world champion. The late Hank Kaplan, who was considered the foremost historian of the Sweet Science, is among those who believed that Jeffra did enough to warrant inclusion in the Boxing Hall of Fame.

As a teenager, Jeffra, who stood five-foot-four, was a two-sport standout. He was so good on the links that he considered pursuing a career as a professional golfer. After retiring, he won several amateur tournaments.

In retirement, Harry Jeffra became very involved in local charities including the Baltimore branch of the Veteran Boxers Association. He developed an amusing schtick and was in demand as a public speaker on the rubber chicken circuit. With the money that he saved he was able to send all four of his children off to college.

For years after he quit he ring, Harry Jeffra had a large presence in his hometown. But he eventually faded from view. His name stopped bobbing up in the papers when Baltimore became a major league sports town. Major league baseball returned to Baltimore in 1953 when the St. Louis Browns moved here, taking the name of the city’s Triple-A franchise, the Orioles. That same year, Baltimore acquired an NFL franchise, the Colts. Professional boxing, so vibrant in Jeffra’s heyday with club shows every week, virtually ceased and the old-time boxers spawned by the city, even the best of them, became more obscure with each passing year. When Jeffra died in September of 1988 after a lingering illness, it took several weeks for the news to hit the papers.

Ah, but there was a time when the erstwhile Pimlico Kid was the toast of the town.

Gervonta

At age 24, Gervonta Davis is the youngest active American-born champion. Undefeated, he has stopped 20 of his 21 former opponents including the last 12. His life growing up in Baltimore was quite different from that of Harry Jeffra. There was no golf for him.

“As a tiny kid,” writes Corey McLaughlin in Baltimore magazine, “Davis often slept on the floor of his drug addicted parents’ house in possibly the roughest neighborhood in Baltimore City before going into foster care.” Nowadays, he can laugh about smashing up his $170,000 Ferrari in the first week that he owned it.

gervonta

This past Wednesday, Davis was given the keys to the city of Baltimore by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young in a ceremony at City Hall. In a city plagued by gang violence, the heavily tattooed boxer is being extolled as a role model, notwithstanding the fact that he has had several brushes with the law.

With the honor comes a responsibility, an obligation to give something back to his community. Harry Jeffra understood this. Now it’s Gervonta’s turn.

Gervonta photo by Amanda Westcott compliments of Showtime

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Arne K. Lang

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Floyd-Schofield-Wins-a-Banger-and Gabriella-Fundora-Wins-by-KO

Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

Published

3 days ago

November 1, 2024

David A. Avila

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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