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Boxing’s Thrill Factory: Then and Now

Boxing’s Thrill Factory: Then and Now
Through the years — going back even before Jack Dempsey — some fighters included maximum aggression and violence in their repertoire. Max Baer’s contribution was manifested in his lethal right hand. Later, Chicagoan Bob Satterfield had a “get you or be gotten” style that tingled spines whenever he fought. It was chill-or-be-chilled and the fans loved it.
Charley Norkus and Danny Nardico possessed paralyzing power. When they met, they produced an incredible, although predictable, bloodbath—a ruthless, wild, pier six brawl yielding eight knockdowns and full-tilt boogie violence. Nardico went down six times and Norkus twice before the “Bayonne Bomber” was finally able to put away Nardico in the ninth with jackhammer blows. Only the first Moore vs Durelle fight could match this, though Foreman vs Lyle in 1976 came close.
Speaking of full-tilt boogie, Boom Boom Mancini and Art Frias gave the phrase new meaning when they engaged non-stop in less than one round in 1982. One would not give it up; the other wanted it, no matter what. David Tua and “The President” Ike Ibeabuchi did this for 12 amazing rounds in 1997. Holyfield and Bowe did it three times in the 90s.
Matthew Saad Muhammad and Indian Yaqui Lopez went to the brink, perhaps in a way that has yet to be matched. Danny “Little Red” Lopez was Saad before Saad and Gatti before Gatti.
Rocky Marciano, Tony Zale, Rocky Graziano, Carmen Basilio (pictured in his second fight with Sugar Ray Robinson), Gene Fullmer and Tony DeMarco were ultra-aggressive and later Jerry Quarry, Julio Gonzalez, Ricky Hatton, and Julian Letterlough picked up the mantle. Latinos Michael Carbajal, Humberto Gonzalez, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Miguel Cotto, Johnny Tapia and Juan Manuel Marquez ran with it.
God knows, “Iron” Mike Tyson became the poster child for this, but Tony Ayala Jr. also made his mark. He was not beyond spitting on an opponent he had decked. Tony was bad Ju Ju. If Tyson was the heavyweight version of someone who brought the heat, then most assuredly Arturo Gatti and Irish Micky Ward were the lower weight versions. Of course, Hearns and Hagler kept things very hot in the middleweight class as did Gerald McClellan who was pure aggression at its most violent level.
Sugar Ray Leonard’s baby face belied a ring assassin who, once he had his man stunned, would finish matters with stunning closure.
Nigel Benn, Michael Watson, Chris Eubank, Carl Froch in the UK and Michael Katsidis in Australia carried forth with this “Bring the Heat” style but it proved nearly fatal for Watson and cost Katsidis in the end. Earlier, it cost the relentless Bobby Chacon terribly. Julio Chavez Sr. and Roberto Duran were both savage stalk-and-destroy types. The excitement their battles produced was truly memorable.
‘It was a tough fight, but that’s the way I like to win them … I said I was going to introduce new blood to the sport, and I guess you saw a lot of new blood.” —Michael Katsidis
Female great Holly Holm, active from 2002 to 2013, was just vulnerable enough to provide plenty of thrills. Lucia Rijker, in contrast, was probably too good for her own good, and dominated during a boxing career that ran from 1996-2004. Christy Martin is considered to have legitimized women’s participation in the sport of boxing during her thrilling run between 1989 and 2012. All things considered, she was the ultimate thrill provider.
Something or some combination of things set these boxers apart from the rest. None refused to stay down; some had to be saved by their corner. None had quit in their DNA. All had doggedness, tenacity, and a persistent determination to beat their opponent no matter what it took. Unfortunately, for some it took too much, for they did this with a total disregard for their wellbeing.
“A Quarry never backs up.” —Jack Quarry
There were many, many others but space does not allow for their inclusion.
Today’s Thrill Factory
Deontay Wilder has gotten to the point where the outcome of his fights is predicated on “when,” not “if.” His KO power is such that the “when” can come at any time. While his style leaves much to be desired, the one-punch power is what thrills fans. The “Bronze Bomber” is dangerous until the last second of the fight.
Dillian Whyte enjoys his reputation as someone who brings the heat and his results back up his boasts. He says, “…this is my time now. Crack another skull and get closer to fighting for a world title… I come with maximum violence.”
Adam Kownacki keeps on winning with a no back-up style that has his Polish fans in Brooklyn up and roaring throughout his fights. He’s not pretty but he’s 20-0.
Andy Ruiz has always been a guy who breaks his opponent down, but his atypical and explosive ambush of Anthony Joshua suggests he could be another worthy spine-tingler. The rematch will tell us what we need to know.
Light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev brings a heavy-handed excitement with his bludgeon-like power and deceptive technical skills.
Gennady Golovkin continues to be pure excitement, but now that he’s on the downward slope of his great career, the “if” has become equal with the “when.” He arguably has become a more modern version of the great Kostya Tszyu.
Manny Pacquiao has always been super-thrilling but his loss of KO power in recent years has taken much of the edge off. Nevertheless, when he fights it’s an event that draws massive attention much like Canelo today and Oscar De La Hoya in the past.
Terence Crawford’s ability to adjust and then close the show makes him compelling, but not necessarily more thrilling than other welterweights. The division is a hot one—as is the junior welterweight division with Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis leading another bunch of exciting fighters.
Vasiliy Lomachenko provides thrills with the unique things he does in the ring, reflecting his legendary amateur career and his “Hi-Tech” training. Teófimo Lopez has the potential to be included in today’s thrill house.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis is a modern-day prototype of an aggressive and violent fighter. He likely will move up in weight, leaving rugged Miguel Berchelt to remain king of an exceptional division
Naoya “Monster” Inoue has the right nickname but his showing against an aroused Nonito Donaire showed that he is human after all and that makes him even more exciting. “Monster” is today’s best example for inclusion in the Thrill Factory.
Nicaragua’s Roman Gonzalez used to be one of the most exciting fighters, but Father Time caught up with him. Filipino Donnie Nietes is a superb technical fighter, but not an exciting one, while Japan’s Kazuto Ioka, Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada and Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai are the opposite. The junior bantamweight division is loaded.
And lest we forget, the exciting Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has become boxing’s greatest attraction, continues to surge, finishing the decade with two grueling fights with Gennady Golovkin and a savage KO over Sergey Kovalev. His KOs of Baldomir, Kirkland, Khan, and Kovalev were frightening in their ferocity and finality.
While today’s boxing offers plenty of thrills, the facts suggest that the house of thrills and excitement is not nearly as full as it could be. There are plenty of potential occupants, particularly from Japan, Mexico and Eastern Europe, but they have yet to fully emerge.
Back in the day, you could throw a dart. It’s not like that today.
Or is it?
Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
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“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.
It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.
In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.
Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.
It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.
“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”
Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.
Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.
Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.
Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.
We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.
Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”
But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.
“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”
Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.
Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”
If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.
Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”
Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.
Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.
On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.
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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More
It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.
In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.
Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.
CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.
****
Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.
Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”
And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer
Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.
Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)
Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.
Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.
In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.
When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.
Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.
May he rest in peace.
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.
Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.
“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.
After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.
Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.
One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”
Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.
“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.
A real fight was happening.
Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.
Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.
In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.
“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”
Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.
In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.
“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”
Espinoza Wins
WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.
“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.
Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.
Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.
It was Espinoza’s third title defense.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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