Canelo and the Boneyard

Published

5 years ago

October 28, 2019

This weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will attempt to heave his 5’8 frame from middleweight, where he reigns as the champion of the world, to the choppy waters of light-heavyweight where he is rendered a little man. His opponent is Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev, a top contender to the 175lb crown and a man in possession of a strap himself, a modern incarnation of the world champion.

As a championship leap, the most difficult for a physically mature fighter has historically been in the smallest divisions, but above lightweight the toughest may have proven to be the one Canelo has resolved to undertake this weekend. Light-heavyweight is a boneyard of capable middleweights who have jumped in the dark and suffered badly as a consequence. But history tells us that all is not lost for the Mexican; middleweight to light-heavyweight is fraught with danger but not without promise. Here we look at the 160lb champions who tried their hand, the failures, and rare successes, beginning back in 1955 at the New York Polo Grounds and Bobo Olson’s brave crack at the legendary Archie Moore.

Olson, like Canelo, ruled as the middleweight champion of the world when he stepped up and like Canelo he was targeting one of the most menacing puncher’s in the division’s history. A stiff rather than a serious puncher, Olson’s chances seemed to lie in his ability to scrap with the best middleweights the world had to offer on even terms, having succumbed just once to punches at 160lbs to the lethal fuselage wielded by the immortal Sugar Ray Robinson. Such was his plan. Moving to his left, Olson sought to round up Moore and jab him; the old champion measured Olson’s guns and found them wanting – then he trapped the smaller man (Olson was 5’10 and had a short reach) onto a gorgeous check right and tested him in a clinch. Uppercuts probed the sore spot and the awful truth was revealed – Olson couldn’t hold the Moore punch.

This is the most serious and practically difficult problem for any potential dual champion to overcome. Physics is not the friend of the smaller man. When we say “a light-heavyweight puncher trapped in a middleweight’s body” of someone like Gennady Golovkin we talk with reason. That said, an in-extremis puncher at middleweight is only a very good one at light-heavyweight, and a severe puncher at light-heavyweight will always hit harder than him – always. This is why Olson, who had survived numerous hitters at middleweight in the 1950s, found himself literally crawling on the floor behind Moore’s best shots later that same decade. And it broke him – Olson was never the same again.

The only middleweight to dent Olson before that fateful night was the aforementioned Robinson whose crack at the 175lb crown likely remains the most famous. The retelling of the story has the one-hundred-degree heat as the villain of the tale although Robinson himself fingered God almighty as the guilty party when he recovered in the dressing room. The conditions did play a part in Robinson’s desperate collapse that night, of that there can be no doubt, but as Maxim ruefully remarked, there was no air-conditioning unit in his corner – he did not collapse from the heat; why did the superior athlete succumb while Maxim did not?

Simply put, it was the bigger man’s physicality, another practical problem to overcome in wrestling a championship away from a naturally heavier opponent. Little remarked upon that night is the exhausted referee’s involvement. Maxim was warned for roughhousing, but Robinson, unthinkably, was spoken to by the referee for holding. This is the most graceful, fluid fighter in history and in his stab at the light-heavyweight title he was warned for holding. These interventions by the third man speak of the process.

As the bigger man, Maxim wants to induce exchanges, even against the electrifying Robinson. Maxim had calculated that his punches would be the heavier even against a nominee for the best puncher in history pound-for-pound. And he was indisputably right. The heat made this a nightmare for Robinson because it made box-moving so difficult for him. Inside he had to survive a vicious buffeting and mauling from Maxim, who drained him of energy and strength even as he lost rounds. So desperate did Robinson become to stem this tide that he resorted to holding – and eventually to quitting.

The physical pressure that the bigger man can bring to bear up close cannot be underestimated. The psychological pressure the bigger man can bring to bear in making prey of a retreating opponent exacts its own toll. Strength of character is as important as strength of body and in confronting a much bigger man the failure of either is terminal whatever the scorecards say at the moment of disaster. Canelo must make these discomfitures his ally in pressing him to work rather than hold, step rather than run.

It is a dual battlefront for the Mexican. He must avoid exchanges with a powerful puncher – he must avoid the inside where a hunted fighter might traditionally rest. A man doesn’t come by the name of Krusher by playing pattycake, nor by acting the choirboy in the pocket.

There is good news in for Canelo in the form of Dick Tiger, however. Like Canelo, Tiger stood five feet eight inches; like Canelo he sported a reach of around seventy inches. Like Canelo, he, in 1966, stepped up from middleweight to take on the reigning light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres. Torres was shorter than Kovalev but his reach was longer and like the Russian he was a respected technician.

There is more. Like Canelo, Tiger made a fight out of slipping the jab, and like Canelo, he deployed a vicious body-attack, something the Mexican is almost certain to repeat against his bigger opponent. Tiger’s edge though was his innate toughness. Perhaps no fighter had more fight-discipline or intestinal fortitude. He was rocked by Torres right hands in the fifth, but he never erred. Canelo has shown some of this discipline in his fights with Golovkin. The fight plan is the fight plan, but the pain is the pain and Canelo will have to take his lumps against Kovalev to be successful. This, Tiger did, matching his body-attack against the Torres right and coming out, barely, with a victory. It was a performance born of grit and bought by experience and courage and remained perhaps the finest display by a middleweight at 175lbs until Bernard Hopkins came to call decades later.

For now, I must mention a problematic postscript for Canelo in the telling of Dick Tiger’s tale. For all that Torres was a capable fighter who could swat, he held no darkening power. When a true puncher came hunting, Tiger, the great Biafran, was met with disaster, knocked unconscious by the terrifying Bob Foster (as shown in the picture).

Canelo would do well to heed Tiger’s post-fight remarks after his knockout at the hands of Foster: “I do not see anything. I do not hear anything. Everything is all quiet, and it is dark. There is no pain, there is no sound. I did not know I was on the floor. Was I on the floor?”

These are dark and dangerous waters for a middleweight, even an iron-chinned one.

Does Canelo truly have an iron chin? Does Kovalev still wield that darkening power? Could Canelo turn hunter in the manner of that other famous weight-hopping redhead, Bob Fitzsimmons? Time, as always, will tell.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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