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Alex Garcia Might Have Gotten There Ahead of Andy Ruiz Jr.
Alex Garcia Might Have Gotten There Ahead of Andy Ruiz Jr.
Making history by getting there first is something that can never be taken away from Andy Ruiz Jr., who became the first Mexican or Mexican-American heavyweight champion when he shocked IBF/WBA/WBO titlist Anthony Joshua of Great Britain on a seventh-round technical knockout at Madison Square Garden on June 1. Some characterized Garcia’s victory as an upset almost on a par with Buster Douglas’ conquest of the seemingly invincible Mike Tyson in Tokyo on Feb. 11, 1990.
Ruiz, who was born and still resides in Imperial, Calif., not far from the Mexican border, flew to Mexico City two days after stopping Joshua for a celebratory meeting with Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“Me becoming the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world, it’s a blessing,” gushed the 30-year-old Ruiz, who almost instantly became a national hero of that country, so rich in boxing history with such legendary champions (including those of Mexican descent) in lower weight classes as Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Canelo Alvarez, Ruben Olivares, Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Canto, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez, Fernando Vargas and Mikey Garcia.
The coronation of Ruiz further reduces the memory of what another Mexican-American heavyweight contender, Alex Garcia, might have accomplished nearly a quarter-century earlier. Garcia seemingly was in line for a fat, seven-figure title shot, but blew the gig because of a greedy manager who put him into a low-paying ($15,000) stay-busy bout with dangerous journeyman Mike Dixon that turned out horribly wrong. More on that in a bit.
A lot of puzzle pieces would have to fall into place for more Mexican heavyweight history to be made, beginning with a repeat victory for Ruiz over Joshua in a contractually mandated rematch whose particulars have yet to be negotiated. If Ruiz can hang onto his bejeweled straps in the do-over, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that a future defense might be arranged against another Mexican-American, longtime contender Chris Arreola, who is 0-3 in shots at the big prize but could soon find himself back in the mix. Hey, it’s boxing. Stranger things have happened.
The 38-year-old Arreola (38-5-1, 33) insists he will retire if he loses Saturday’s Fox-televised 12-round matchup with fellow power puncher Adam Kownacki (19-0, 15 KOs) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. But if he wins, and especially if he wins inside the distance, he thinks it just might lead to a go against Ruiz, in what would be the first all-Mexican world heavyweight title bout. Kownacki, 30, also has history on his mind, holding firm to the belief that an impressive victory over Arreola might put him in position to become the first-ever Polish heavyweight champion.
“I was happy for him, for his family, because he deserves it,” Arreola said of Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), an acquaintance of long standing whose unexpected rout of Joshua, who was floored four times, stands in stark contrast to Arreola’s failed bids for world titles against Vitali Klitschko, Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder, all of which came on knockouts or stoppages. “I’ve known the kid since he was 17 years old and he’s always been hungry. He’s always worked hard. He’s always been a big boy, but he’s always been a big boy with skill.
“I was elated for him. I was elated for the Mexican fans that finally had a Mexican champion. He did it, man. And honestly, a lot of pressure came off me.”
If there are common links between Ruiz, who made Mexican boxing history, and Arreola, who for so long had wanted to, the main ones deal with their hardscrabble upbringings and apparent aversion for always showing up for fights in prime condition.
Although Ruiz’s hometown is Imperial, he frequently has made the relatively short trip (20 miles) to Mexicali, where his grandfather in the 1960s ran a gym that was something less than splendidly furbished. Not that life on the U.S. side of the border was any easier or more privileged for the large kid with the constantly famished appetite.
“Everyone had it tough there because it’s just a small town near the Mexican border,” Ruiz said in an interview with the New York Times. “Lots of drug smuggling. There’s gangs. Cartels. But luckily, boxing saved my life. It kept me disciplined, it kept me away from the streets.”
Ruiz might always have been hard on the inside, but that internal grit sometimes was difficult to detect as it always came wrapped in a flabby exterior. Particularly fond of Snickers candy bars, he waddled into the ring against Joshua at a jiggly 268 pounds, his love handles lapping over the waistband of his trunks like waves during a tropical storm’s landfall. But in boxing, as in everything else, appearances sometimes can be deceiving.
Like Ruiz, Arreola long has been viewed as a heavyweight whose potential has been blunted by a supposed lackadaisical approach to training. Several inches taller than Ruiz at 6-3, he has fought as low as 229 pounds and as high as 262¼, but he insists conditioning will not be a problem against Kownacki after three months in the gym with new trainer Joe Goossen.
More physically imposing than either Ruiz or Arreola with his robe off was Garcia, whose Mexican-American roots made him attractive as a possible title challenger in the early to mid-1990s. Garcia had a deserved reputation as a tough customer, first as a standout middle linebacker at San Fernando (Calif.) High School and later as a gang member who served five years in various state penal institutions before shifting his pro career into high gear.
There was talk of Garcia being in line for a $1 million payday to fight then-WBO champion George Foreman, but Garcia’s then-manager, a Los Angeles attorney, insisted the smart play was to hold off a while longer, at which point Garcia’s purse would have risen to $5 million. But Foreman was dethroned by Tommy Morrison, and Garcia was put in for chump change and a couple of vacant minor titles against Dixon, whose 16-30 career record is deceiving considering that he shared the ring at various times with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Ray Mercer, Bruce Seldon, Corrie Sanders, Herbie Hide, Oliver McCall, Michael Grant, Larry Donald, Jameel McCline, Kirk Johnson, Buster Mathis Jr. and Zeljko Mavrovic, among others. Dixon floored Garcia with a left hook to the temple in the second round, and when the favorite arose it was on wobbly legs. Dixon went right at him and was whaling away when referee Joe Cortez stopped the fight.
It hardly seemed to matter that Garcia got some too-little, too-late revenge in the rematch with Dixon on May 24, 1994, winning a 10-round unanimous decision. The seven-figure window of opportunity that had been so conspicuously open not that long ago had just as conspicuously slammed shut.
Might Garcia have beaten Foreman or Morrison? Probably not. But then that’s what everyone had predicted of Douglas vs. Tyson and, later on, Ruiz vs. Joshua. Garcia might have been a movie star of sorts, cast in the role of Minoso Torres in the 1992 film Diggstown, but real boxing matches do not follow scripts. There would be no visit to the Mexican presidential palace for Garcia, who did not even get the multiple failed shots at the title that went to Arreola or the successful one that went to Ruiz.
Proving once again that boxing history is a constantly moving target.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More
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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Bakhram Murtalaziev was the Fighter of the Month in October
As we close the book on October, let’s look back at the month’s stellar performances. Kenshiro Teraji added another exclamation point to his brilliant career with an 11th-round stoppage of Cristofer Rosales. England’s Jack Catterall, considered no more than a decent domestic-level talent for most of his career, showed that he had been underrated with a comprehensive 12-round decision over declining Regis Prograis. But the top performance, by a landslide, was delivered by Bakhram Murtalaziev who annihilated Tim Tszyu on Oct. 19 in Orlando, Florida.
Murtalaziev was undefeated (22-0, 16 KOs) and the reigning IBF junior middleweight champion, but he was the underdog and the “B” side. As champions go, and there are roughly five dozen across the 17 weight divisions, the California-based Russian ranked among the least well-known. He had won his title in Berlin with an 11th-round stoppage of an unexceptional 38-year-old German-Ecuadorian campaigner, Jack Culcay, and he would be making his first defense.
Managed by Egis Klimas who also handles Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko, among others, Bakhram Murtalaziev came from a good barn in the vernacular of a horseplayer, but on paper that alone was insufficient to get him over the hump against Tim Tszyu who a few short months earlier was widely considered the best 154-pound boxer in the world.
That was before he met up with Sebastian Fundora who blemished his record, but that setback could have been written off as a fluke.
As we recall, Tszyu was scheduled to fight Keith Thurman in the initial PBC offering on Amazon Prime Video, but Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training and Fundora was bumped up from the undercard to fill the breach. With only 12 days’ notice, Tim Tszyu went from fighting a five-foot-seven fighter who fights out of an orthodox stance to fighting a southpaw who stood almost a full foot taller. The “Towering Inferno” has his limitations, but poses a special problem to anyone, let alone an opponent with little time to formulate a good game plan.
Tszyu was hampered in the Fundora fight by a gash on his hairline that hampered his vision. The injury happened in the second round when he ducked under Fundora and walked into an elbow. The gash bled copiously throughout the fight and yet the best that Fundora could do was win a split (albeit fair) decision.
To say that Tszyu failed to rebound from the Fundora misadventure would be putting it mildly. Murtalaziev steamrolled him, knocking him to the canvas four times in all before Tszyu’s corner tossed in the towel at the 1:55 mark of the third stanza. It was painful to watch. Referee Chris Young was faulted for allowing the match to continue as long as it did. Compounding Tszyu’s misery, his celebrated father, a first ballot Hall of Famer, was ringside. Kostya Tszyu hadn’t seen his oldest son fight in the flesh since Tim’s pro debut in 2016.
Although the dichotomy is imperfect, Tim Tszyu, who turns 30 on Saturday, is more of a puncher than a boxer. That may work against him so far as clawing his way back to a position of prominence. The noted boxing coach Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, a keen student of the history of boxing in the modern era, expressed this sentiment in a Q and A story for Boxing Scene. “Destructive fighters usually don’t come back to full capacity after bad KO losses,” he said, citing John Mugabi, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Naseem Hamed to illustrate his point. Moreover, added Edwards, “No one will ever be afraid of him again.”
But there were two stories that emerged from the Murtalaziev-Tszyu fight. Tim Tszyu crashed, but Bakhram Murtalaziev emerged from obscurity, announcing his presence (pardon the cliché) as a force to be reckoned with. As for his next assignment, the best guess is that it will come against Sebastian Fundora or Errol Spence Jr. who are expected to meet early next year. And based on Murtalaziev’s stunning performance in Orlando, it will be impossible to bet against him.
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Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
By TSS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JAMIE REBNER — In sports, middle-aged athletes are not supposed to beat opponents who are half their age and in their athletic primes. Only the greatest ones can use guile, technique, and experience to compensate for the dulling of speed, reflexes, and athleticism that have unavoidably eroded with time.
That is why George Foreman’s feat of reclaiming the heavyweight title at 45 is so impressive. It was thirty years ago this coming Tuesday, Nov 5, 1994, that Foreman scored a monumental upset in knocking out Michael Moorer to win back the title he had lost twenty years prior against Muhammad Ali in The Rumble in the Jungle. In doing so, Big George became the oldest heavyweight champion, breaking the record previously held by Jersey Joe Walcott, who had won the title at 38.
When Foreman beat Moorer, he was in the twilight of his second career, a comeback that began in 1987. George had retired in 1977 after losing to Jimmy Young and experiencing a spiritual awakening in his locker room. That led him to become a minister and devote himself to his family and congregation. During his retirement, he opened a youth center in Houston, which required much financial support, prompting him to return to the ring.
After winning 24 straight fights from 1987-1990, Foreman lost his first title shot by decision to Evander Holyfield in 1991. He rebounded from that loss with three more wins before getting a crack at the WBO title against Tommy Morrison in 1993. But his performance against Morrison was disappointing and he lost another decision. After that, Foreman was out of the ring for 17 months before he was gifted another title shot against Moorer.
Foreman got that gift because Moorer, due to his sullen demeanor and curtness with the media, was not a draw with the fans. He was also an unproven champion, having beaten Holyfield for two belts only seven months prior. So. Moorer needed a name opponent who could bring in the crowds for his first title defense. And the other top heavyweights like Oliver McCall (WBC champ), Lennox Lewis, and Riddick Bowe didn’t have close to Foreman’s drawing power. So. deserving or not, Foreman was chosen as the challenger to make a fight that would be worth the public’s attention and pockets.
Even Foreman was surprised by getting selected to fight Moorer. “I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d get a title shot again,” he told Associated Press sports columnist Tim Dahlberg. Still, George was determined to make his third time a charm.
But as motivated as George was, there was an irrefutable gap in speed between himself and the much younger champion. From the opening bell, Moorer used his superior quickness and reflexes to make Foreman look stiff and slow. And although George landed punches early on, he fired them one at a time while Moorer countered with multiple shots. But despite Moorer’s advantage in connects, his trainer Teddy Atlas advised him from the get-go not to stand in front of Foreman and make himself a stationary target for a right-hand bomb.
But Moorer failed to heed that advice as he continued to outwork Foreman in the middle rounds. Although he was winning, Moorer’s overconfidence kept him at close quarters, and he continued to circle unwisely to his left and into Foreman’s dangerous right hand. And despite absorbing many quality shots, Foreman never appeared hurt or discouraged thanks to his granite chin and unyielding resolve. He was determined to win and he was willing to walk through as many flush shots as he needed to do so.
With Moorer content to stay in range, Foreman gladly returned his firepower and he landed some telling right crosses, uppercuts, and plenty of thudding body blows during the battle. And while Moorer continued to pile up points and rounds, as long as George was marching forward and throwing shots, he had a puncher’s chance.
And with a minute to go in round ten, that punch came. After missing a three-punch combination, Foreman scored with a one-two, with the right hand landing on the forehead. He immediately repeated that combination but this time aimed the right hand lower on Moorer’s jaw. That slight adjustment caused his bulldozer right to collide perfectly with Moorer’s chin, sending the champion crashing to the canvas and sprawled onto his back. The champion couldn’t beat the count, and just like that, the fight was over, Moorer’s short-lived title run ending before it ever truly began.
With a single, shattering blow, Foreman etched his name into boxing history. Wearing the same trunks from Zaire 20 years before, he was now heavyweight champion of the world once again. It was a shocking result that defied conventional wisdom since seldom do 45-year-old boxers score knockouts over champions in their athletic primes. But Foreman reminded us that he was anything but your typical quadragenarian. He was special, and he had two distinct heavyweight championship reigns to prove it.
—
About the author:
Jamie Rebner lives in Toronto, Canada. He has been a freelance boxing writer since 2016 and his writing has appeared in The Fight City, Boxing News Online, The Ring, and Ringside Seat magazine. His Substack blog is Fight Fundamental, and he is currently writing a book about George Foreman’s comeback. He is also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @J_NReb.
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