Elder Statesman Saoul Mamby (1947 – 2019) Was Even More Perseverant Than B-Hop

Published

5 years ago

December 19, 2019

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I think I interviewed the late Saoul Mamby just once. There might have been a time or two more, but I can’t say for sure, given the thousands of fights I have covered in my four-decades-plus on the boxing beat, not all of which made a deep enough impression on my memory that I can instantly dial up time, place and details. In any case, it is that first occasion I was at ringside for a Saoul bout I recall now, for reasons that only peripherally touch upon his participation in the main event that night at Resorts International Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J.

It was Oct. 11, 1988. I was there to report for the Philadelphia Daily News on what I seem to recall was a seven-bout card, headlined by the 10-round junior welterweight matchup pitting up-and-coming John Wesley Meekins, 23, and 41-year-old warhorse Mamby, a former WBC super lightweight champion on the way down. Eighteen years younger, stronger and faster, Meekins negated Mamby’s edge in experience to win a majority decision.

The Bronx-born, Brooklyn-based Mamby’s status as a former world titlist in and of itself seemingly should be enough to commemorate his passing, at age 72, after a lingering illness. But the reason that date still registers with me so much later is this: a 23-year-old ex-convict from Philadelphia, Bernard Hopkins, made an inauspicious pro debut on the Meekins-Mamby undercard with a four-round majority decision loss to Clinton Mitchell.

Hopkins, you’ve heard about. Inactive for 20 months after the loss to Mitchell, he would come up the hard way, eventually becoming a middleweight champion (setting a record with 20 title defenses, since tied by Gennadiy Golovkin) and light heavyweight champion. He also holds the record for being the oldest widely recognized world titlist, making the last successful defense of his IBF 175-pound belt with a split decision over Beibut Shumenov, from whom he also annexed the WBA strap, on April 19, 2014, when B-Hop was 49.

By then a legend for his longevity as well as his many signature victories, Hopkins was just 29 days shy of his 53^rd birthday for his final fight, on Dec. 17, 2016, when he was tagged with the only loss inside the distance in his exemplary, 28-year career, going out in eight rounds against 27-year-old construction worker Joe Smith Jr. in Inglewood, Calif. Only then did Hopkins concede that he was as susceptible to the one opponent, Father Time, that no fighter can stave off indefinitely.

I have covered dozens of Bernard Hopkins fights, many of which were for the PDN, tying us so closely in some people’s minds that we have almost come to be viewed as joined at the hip. Roy Jones Jr. even has referred to me as “Bernard Hopkins Fernandez.” And don’t think that more than a few people see some significance in the fact that we both will be formally inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 14, 2020, B-Hop in the Modern category and I in the Observer category.

But, as remarkable as Hopkins has been for achieving what he did in a sport that is harsh and unforgiving to those who try to hang on too long, consider this: Saoul Mamby, incredibly, was 60 when he appeared in his last sanctioned fight, losing a 10-round unanimous decision to 32-year-old ham-and-egger Anthony Osbourne on March 8, 2008, in Georgetown, Guyana. Osbourne, a Jamaican, entered the ring then with a 6-27-1 record.

Given the spate of aging fighters who either have launched or were contemplating ill-advised comebacks, most notably former middleweight and super middleweight champion Nigel Benn at 55 (he ultimately decided against it), Mamby’s name had been bandied about quite a bit recently as a prime example – maybe the prime example — of someone who, as in the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, “raged, raged against the dying of the light” of a ring career he hoped to prolong for as long as possible.

Unlike Hopkins, so celebrated now for surviving as long and as successfully as he did at the highest levels of boxing, Saoul Mamby is not likely to ever be posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, despite the WBC super lightweight title he claimed with a 14^th-round TKO of Sang Hyum Kim on Feb. 23, 1980, and retained through five defenses. He was a good but not especially remarkable, 33-12-5, with 12 KOs when he finally yielded his championship to Leroy Haley on a unanimous decision on Feb. 13, 1983, coming up short again in his bid to reclaim the same title, again by UD, to then-champ Billy Costello on Nov. 3, 1984. His final record after the loss to Osbourne shall forever stand at 45-34-6, with 18 wins by KO or TKO.

But consider this: even as he regressed from champion to trial horse, enduring an eight-fight losing streak along the way, Mamby lost only one time inside the distance, a first-round stoppage against 23-year-old contender Derrell Coley on Aug. 13, 1993. Saoul was 46 then and Coley came in at 20-0-1 with 14 KOs.

Records, however, are merely statistics, from which conclusions can be twisted to fit someone’s preferred narrative. It should be noted that Mamby, a Vietnam veteran, gave the great Roberto Duran, the reigning lightweight champ, all he could handle in losing a 10-round, non-title unanimous decision on May 4, 1976. But the “Hands of Stone” was just one of the top-tier fighters with whom Mamby swapped punches, a list that also includes Costello, Coley, Edwin Viruet, Antonio Cervantes, Esteban De Jesus, Buddy McGirt, Maurice Blocker and Javier Castillejo.

Mamby was unquestionably a lesser version of himself when he squared off against Meekins, a New York City resident who never did quite fulfill the championship promise he flashed for a time as a hot prospect. Still, I made Saoul the focus of my story for the PDN, which I thought to be of possibly greater interest to readers.

“It’s a tribute to him that he’s still able to do what he does,” Meekins said of Mamby. “He obviously takes care of himself. I personally can’t even imagine what it would be like to be fighting when I’m his age.”

A prophetic look into the future. Meekins was 29 when he quit the ring in 1994, with a 24-5-2 record with 17 wins by KO.

Mamby, by this time apparently accustomed to the reality that he no longer was the “A” side of most of the bouts in which he participated, shrugged off another loss that, once upon a time when he was still a champion, he likely would have won.

“It wasn’t too bad a performance on my part, considering that I only had a week to get ready,” he told me “I have no complaints. I did my best. The judges said it wasn’t good enough.:

And now for the part that I find most surprising, given what would transpire later. The story I wrote for my newspaper ran a few inches longer than the hole into which it was assigned, so most of the copy that made it into print dealt with the main event. Some of the undercard bouts – including the one involving the debuting Hopkins – didn’t make the cut.

Many years later, I asked Hopkins if he remembered who the main-event fighters were on the night he turned pro. He said he wasn’t sure.

“It was John Wesley Meekins and Saoul Mamby,” I said.

“Oh, yeah, John Meekins,” Hopkins replied. “Good young fighter. From New York, I think.”

The passage of time has made it easier to forget some of what Saoul Mamby did as the most elder of boxing’s once-active elder statesmen. Now that he’s gone, I don’t ever want to make that mistake again.

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Eddy Reynoso is The TSS 2019 Trainer of the Year

L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year

Published

2 days ago

December 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

L.A.’s Rudy Hernandez is the 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year

If asked to name a prominent boxing trainer who operates out of a gym in Los Angeles, the name Freddie Roach would jump immediately to mind. Best known for his work with Manny Pacquaio, Roach has been named the Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America a record seven times.

A mere seven miles from Roach’s iconic Wild Card Gym is the gym that Rudy Hernandez now calls home. Situated in the Little Tokyo neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles, the L.A. Boxing Gym – a relatively new addition to the SoCal boxing landscape — is as nondescript as its name. From the outside, one would not guess that two reigning world champions, Junto Nakatani and Anthony Olascuaga, were forged there.

As Freddie Roach will be forever linked with Manny Pacquiao, so will Rudy Hernandez be linked with Nakatani. The Japanese boxer was only 15 years old when his parents packed him off to the United States to be tutored by Hernandez. With Hernandez in his corner, the lanky southpaw won titles at 112 and 115 and currently holds the WBO bantamweight (118) belt. In his last start, he knocked out his Thai opponent, a 77-fight veteran who had never been stopped, advancing his record to 29-0 (22 KOs).

Nakatani’s name now appears on several pound-for-pound lists. A match with Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue is brewing. When that match comes to fruition, it will be the grandest domestic showdown in Japanese boxing history.

“Junto Nakatani is the greatest fighter I’ve ever trained. It’s easy to work with him because even when he came to me at age 15, his focus was only on boxing. It was to be a champion one day and nothing interfered with that dream,” Hernandez told sports journalist Manouk Akopyan writing for Boxing Scene.

Akin to Nakatani, Rudy Hernandez built Anthony Olascuaga from scratch. The LA native was rucked out of obscurity in April of 2023 when Jonathan Gonzalez contracted pneumonia and was forced to withdraw from his date in Tokyo with lineal light flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji. Olascuaga, with only five pro fights under his belt, filled the breach on 10 days’ notice and although he lost (TKO by 9), he earned kudos for his gritty performance against the man recognized as the best fighter in his weight class.

Two fights later, back in Tokyo, Olascuaga copped the WBO world flyweight title with a third-round stoppage of Riku Kano. His first defense came in October, again in Japan, and Olascuaga retained his belt with a first-round stoppage of the aforementioned Gonzalez. (This bout was originally ruled a no-contest as it ended after Gonzalez suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads. But the referee ruled that Gonzalez was fit to continue before the Puerto Rican said “no mas,” alleging his vision was impaired, and the WBO upheld a protest from the Olascuaga camp and changed the result to a TKO. Regardless, Rudy Hernandez’s fighter would have kept his title.)

Hernandez, 62, is the brother of the late Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez. A two-time world title-holder at 130 pounds who fought the likes of Azumah Nelson, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Chicanito passed away in 2011, a cancer victim at age 45.

Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez was one of the most popular fighters in the Hispanic communities of Southern California. Rudy Hernandez, a late bloomer of sorts – at least in terms of public recognition — has kept his brother’s flame alive with own achievements. He is a worthy honoree for the 2024 Trainer of the Year.

Note: This is the first in our series of annual awards. The others will arrive sporadically over the next two weeks.

Photo credit: Steve Kim

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A Shocker in Tijuana: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia !!

Published

3 days ago

December 15, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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It was a chilly night in Tijuana when Jaime Munguia entered the ring for his homecoming fight with Bruno Surace. The main event of a Zanfer/Top Rank co-promotion, Munguia vs. Surace was staged in the city’s 30,000-seat soccer stadium a stone’s throw from the U.S. border in the San Diego metroplex.

Surace, a Frenchman, brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but a quick glance at his record showed that he had scant chance of holding his own with the house fighter. Only four of Surace’s 25 wins had come by stoppage and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records. Munguia was making the first start in the city of his birth since February 2022. Surace had never fought outside Europe.

But hold the phone!

After losing every round heading into the sixth, Surace scored the Upset of the Year, ending the contest with a one-punch knockout.

It looked like a short and easy night for Munguia when he knocked Surace down with a left hook in the second stanza. From that point on, the Frenchman fought off his back foot, often with back to the ropes, throwing punches only in spurts. Munguia worked the body well and was seemingly on the way to wearing him down when he was struck by lightning in the form of an overhand right.

Down went Munguia, landing on his back. He struggled to get to his feet, but the referee waived it off a nano-second before reaching “10.” The official time was 2:36 of round six.

Munguia, who was 44-1 heading in with 35 KOs, was as high as a 35/1 favorite. In his only defeat, he had gone the distance with Canelo Alvarez. This was the biggest upset by a French fighter since Rene Jacquot outpointed Donald Curry in 1989 and Jacquot had the advantage of fighting in his homeland.

Co-Main

Mexico City’s Alan Picasso, ranked #1 by the WBC at 122 pounds, scored a third-round stoppage of last-minute sub Yehison Cuello in a scheduled 10-rounder contested at featherweight. Picaso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) is a solid technician. He ended the bout with a left to the rib cage, a punch that weaved around Cuello’s elbow and didn’t appear to be especially hard. The referee stopped his count at “nine” and waived the fight off.

A 29-year-old Colombian who reportedly had been training in Tijuana, the overmatched Cuello slumped to 13-3-1.

Other Bouts of Note

In a ho-hum affair, junior middleweight Jorge Garcia advanced to 32-4 (26) with a 10-round unanimous decision over Uzbekistan’s Kudratillo Abudukakhorov (20-4). The judges had it 97-92 and 99-90 twice. There were no knockdowns, but Garcia had a point deducted in round eight for low blows.

Garcia displayed none of the power that he showed in his most recent fight three months ago in Arizona and when he knocked out his German opponent in 46 seconds. Abudukakhorov, who has competed mostly as a welterweight, came in at 158 1/4 pounds and didn’t look in the best of shape. The Uzbek was purportedly 170-10 as an amateur (4-5 per boxrec).

Super bantamweight Sebastian Hernandez improved to 18-0 (17 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of Argentine import Sergio Martin (14-5). The end came at the 2:39 mark of round seven when Martin’s corner threw in the towel. Earlier in the round, Martin lost his mouthpiece and had a point deducted for holding.

Hernandez wasn’t all that impressive considering the high expectations born of his high knockout ratio, but appeared to have injured his right hand during the sixth round.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Ringside in Ontario where Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel Battled to a Spirited Draw

Published

3 days ago

December 14, 2024

David A. Avila

Ringside in Ontario where Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel Battled to a Spirited Draw

ONTARIO, CA -Two SoCal welterweights battled to a majority draw and Ohio’s Charles Conwell wowed the crowd with precision and power in his victory.

In the main event Alexis Rocha sought to prove his loss a year ago was a fluke and Raul Curiel sought to prove he belongs with the contenders.

Both got their wish.

After 12 rounds of back-and-forth exchanges, Rocha (25-2-1, 16 KOs) and Curiel (15-0-1, 13 KOs) battled to a stalemate in front of more than 5,000 fans at Toyota Arena. No oner seemed surprised by the majority decision draw.

“We got one for the people It was a Rocha landed impressive blows while Curiel just could not seem to get the motor running.

Things turned around in seventh round.

During the first half of the fight, it looked like Rocha’s experience in big events would be too much for Curiel to handle. Rocha landed impressive blows while Curiel just could not seem to get the motor running.

Things turned around in seventh round.

Maybe trainer Freddie Roach’s words got to Curiel. The Mexican Olympian who now lives in the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, suddenly planted his feet and ripped off five- and six-punch combinations. It was do or die.

The change of tactics forced Rocha to make changes too especially after absorbing several ripping uppercuts from Curiel.

Back and forth the welterweights exchanged and neither fighter could take charge. And neither fighter was knocked down though each both connected with sweat-tossing blows.

The two fighters battled until the final seconds of the fight. After 12 blistering rounds, one judge saw Rocha the winner 116-112, while the two other judges scored it 114-114 for a majority draw.

“I respect this guy. It was 12 rounds of war,” said Santa Ana’s Rocha.

Curiel felt the same.

“I respect Rocha. He is a good southpaw,” Curiel repeated. “Let’s do it again.”

Battle of Undefeated Super Welterweights

Few knew what to expect with undefeated Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) facing undefeated Argentine Gerardo Vergara (20-1, 13 KOs). You never what to expect with Argentine fighters.

Conwell, a U.S. Olympian, showed why many consider him the best kept secret in boxing with a steady attack behind impressive defense. He needed it against Vergara, a very strong southpaw.

Vergara seemed a little puzzled by Conwell’s constant pressure. He might have expected a hit-and-run kind of fighter instead of a steamroller like the Ohio warrior.

Once the two fighters got heated up in the cold arena, the blows began to come more often and more powerfully. Conwell in particular stood right in front of the Argentine and bobbed and weaved through the South American fighter’s attack. And suddenly unleashed rocket rights and left hooks off Vergara’s chin.

Nothing happened expect blood from his nose for several rounds.

For six rounds Conwell blasted away at Vergara’s chin and jaw and nothing seemed to faze the Argentine. Then, Conwell targeted the body and suddenly things opened up. Vergara was caught trying to decide what to protect when a left hook jolted the Argentine. Suddenly Conwell erupted with a stream of left hooks and rights with almost everything connecting with power.

Referee Thomas Taylor jumped in to stop the fight at 2:51 of the seventh round. Conwell finally chopped down the Argentine tree for the knockout win. The fans gasped at the suddenness of the victory.

“We broke him down,” Conwell said.

It was impressive.

Other Bouts

Popular John “Scrappy” Ramirez (14-1, 9 KOs) started slowly against Texas left-hander Ephraim Bui (10-1, 8 KOs) but gained momentum behind accurate right uppercuts to swing the momentum and win a regional super flyweight title by unanimous decision after 10 rounds

Bui opened the fight behind some accurate lead lefts, but once Ramirez found the solution he took the fight inside and repeatedly jolted the taller Texas fighter with that blow.

Ramirez, who is based in Los Angeles, gained momentum and confidence and kept control with movements left and right that kept Bui unable to regain the advantage. No knockdowns were scored as all three judges scored the fight 97-93 for Ramirez.

A battle between former flyweight world champions saw Marlen Esparza (15-2, 1 KO) pull away after several early contentious rounds against Mexico’s Arely Mucino (32-5-2, 11 KOs). Left hooks staggered Esparza early in the fight.

Esparza always could take a punch and after figuring out what not to do, she began rolling up points behind pinpoint punching and pot shots. Soon, it was evident she could hit and move and took over the last three rounds of the fight.

Mucino never stopped attacking and was successful with long left hooks and shots to the body, but once Esparza began launching impressive pot shots, the Mexican fighter never could figure out a solution.

After 10 rounds two judges scored it 98-92 and a third judge saw it 97-93 all for Esparza.

Victor Morales (20-0-1, 10 KOs) won by technical knockout over Mexico’s Juan Guardado (16-3-1, 6 KOs) due to a bad cut above the right eye. It was a learning experience for Morales who hails from Washington.

Left hooks were the problem for Morales who could not avoid a left hook throughout the super featherweight fight. Guardado staggered Morales at least three times with counter left hooks. But Morales turned things around by controlling the last three rounds behind a jolting left jab that controlled the distance.

At one second of the eighth round, referee Ray Corona stopped the fight to allow the ringside physician to examine the swelling and cut. It was decided that the fight should stop. Morales was awarded the win by technical knockout.

A super bantamweight fight saw Jorge Chavez (13-0, 8 KOs) score two knockdowns on way to a unanimous decision over Uruguay’s Ruben Casero (12-4, 4 KOs) after eight rounds. Chavez fights out of Tijuana, Mexico.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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