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Avila Perspective, Chap. 78: Adventures in the I.E., Favorite Moments and Tank

Perspective, Chap. 78: Adventures in the I.E., Favorite Moments and Tank Davis
Accidents happen but once in a while they produce surprisingly good results.
When Jermell Charlo defeated Tony Harrison by knockout to win back the WBC super welterweight world title last weekend in the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, it unexpectedly presented one of the best boxing cards of the year to fans in the Inland Empire; an area otherwise known as the “I.E.”
Despite a postponement due to injury and changes in venue, Premier Boxing Champions cobbled together a large boxing card filled with shocking upsets, turn-arounds and skilled prizefighting.
It was the best fight card by anyone all year that I attended.
The super welterweight world title fight was supposed to take place back in June in Las Vegas. But when Harrison hurt his ankle the fight was canceled and Charlo fought someone else in the casino town.
One of the people working with TGB told me that the rematch was headed for Dignity Health Sports Park formerly known as the StubHub Center. But a few opposed the idea and opted to go to Ontario where the late great Dan Goossen had presented multiple fight cards in the past.
It worked.
The Inland Empire has become the center of the world when it comes to prizefighting in my estimation.
Hear me out.
Three of the most powerful boxing training camps are situated in the Inland Empire: Robert Garcia Boxing Academy is in Riverside; Joel and Antonio Diaz have their gym in Indio; and Abel Sanchez has the Summit in Big Bear Mountain. All three gyms are located in the I.E.
That trio of gyms represents dozens of the best fighters in the world. And when you add about 30 more boxing gyms spread out in the same area it further emphasizes my point that the I.E. is the eye of the hurricane.
Fans in that area are rabid for boxing.
For me it represented an opportunity to drive for only 15 minutes instead of two to three hours on crowded freeways and stopped traffic. It was the same for the thousands of fans from the I.E. who showed up at the Toyota Arena. Usually the I.E. fans are forced to drive to Los Angeles or Las Vegas to watch boxing. But not on Dec. 21.
A couple of years ago a Las Vegas demography expert told me that the casino capital of the world charts which people are their bread and money. According to this expert from the MGM properties, the majority of its visitors arrive from the Inland Empire.
It makes sense.
Inland Empire residents are accustomed to driving for large chunks of time to get to work in Los Angeles or Orange County. They also are willing to attend sporting events in Los Angeles or Las Vegas; unlike residents of Los Angeles or Orange County who are basically spoiled and prefer to stay in their own counties.
So, when a marquee fight card was placed smack in the middle of the I.E., they willingly arrived despite little advertisement and even less reporting by local newspapers and television.
The TGB and PBC fight card was a success anyway.
My Best of the Year
It’s the end of 2019, the best year for boxing in my estimation in two decades. I consider 1999 one of the best in boxing for the last 20 years with multiple mega fights that included Felix Trinidad versus Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis versus Evander Holyfield twice and a few others.
Though mega fights were rare in 2019, one that did occur took place in Saudi Arabia with Anthony Joshua reclaiming the heavyweight title from Andy Ruiz. But there were many other electrifying fight cards on a smaller scale throughout the year worldwide that presented multiple candidates for Fight of the Year starting with the super featherweights Can Xu vs. Jesus M. Rojas; followed by super bantamweight battle between Danny Roman and TJ Doheny, plus the super flyweight rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in Los Angeles. The following month of May saw super welterweights Julian Williams and Jarrett Hurd battle toe to toe for 12 rounds; in June the first heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz took place; welterweights Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter met in September; super lightweights Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor clashed in October; and Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire collided in December. All were tremendous fights and truly made 2019 one for the ages.
For me three fights in particular stood out and grabbed me.
In January a super featherweight world title fight saw China’s Can Xu out-slug Puerto Rico’s punching machine Jesus M. Rojas in Houston, Texas that proved to be the opening salvo for 2019. Xu won that fight with a tireless abundance of strategic punching in bunches seldom seen. Both fighters were a blur of fists and fury. Xu won the fight and became a national hero in China.
In April, the super bantamweight unification clash between Roman and Doheny in the Inglewood Forum was a slam bam affair that just grew fiercer by the round. Roman took the lead and when it looked like Doheny was done he suddenly put on the reverse brakes and an all-out war commenced. Roman eventually won but both gave a cup of their soul in their 12-round battle. On the same card, Mexico’s Estrada’s rematch with Thailand’s Sor Rungvisai resulted in a perfect example of how to diffuse a bully of a puncher with the science of boxing. It was memorable stuff on the same night in the same boxing ring.
The month of May saw a formerly undefeated super welterweight titlist Jarrett Hurd engage Philadelphia’s Julian Williams in a rarely seen battle of inside fighting that harkened back to the 1950s and 60s. It was inside fighting at its best with both exhibiting a high art form of fighting close quarters with neither fighter clinching or grabbing. It also showed how a good referee can also contribute to a wonderful display of boxing. The sweet science was never sweeter than that fight held in Fairfax, Virginia. It’s the type of fight that James Toney made famous.
Though many may not agree I just have to pick Williams and Hurd as the Best Fight of 2019 in my eyes. It should be shown to fighters, trainers, promoters, matchmakers, referees and judges everywhere on the art of fighting inside. Beautiful stuff.
The year 2019 was also in my estimation the best in 20 years for its pure number of memorable fights.
Gervonta vs Gamboa in Last Hurrah for 2019
Gervonta “Tank” Davis meets Yuri Gamboa on Saturday Dec. 28, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Showtime will televise the battle for the vacant WBA lightweight world title.
Davis (22-0, 21 KOs) left the super featherweight division and meets former featherweight champion Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs) to try out the heavier weight division.
One thing about Cuba’s Gamboa has always been his desire to entertain fans. Unlike other Cuban fighters he never puts fans to sleep with a defensive first strategy. He goes for broke.
Last year Gamboa put up his own money to salvage his career by self-promoting a boxing card in Florida. It paid off. Now he’s set to meet one of the most dynamic punchers below 147 pounds in Davis. It won’t be easy but you can never count out Gamboa. He can whack too.
“I’m very appreciative to have this opportunity to fight for the world title on Saturday night. I have to make the best of this position that I’m in. I’m still at the level where I know that I can compete and beat the best fighters in the sport,” said Gamboa. “I’ve faced stronger fighters than Gervonta and I’ve been able to beat them. He’s not going to bring anything I haven’t seen.”
Davis has always possessed power and speed in abundance. Let’s face it. The man has no neck. You can’t hurt a man with no neck. Just kidding. But Davis has shown a considerable chin though he’s rarely had to prove it.
If you haven’t seen Davis or Gamboa before, well, you are in for a treat. They don’t play around.
“Saturday night it’s going to be an action-packed fight and we’ll see who’s got what it takes,” said Davis. “I know that Gamboa is a tough opponent and he’ll lay it all on the line. If it goes 12 rounds, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m looking to make this a great fight for me and also for the fans.”
Fights to Watch
Sat. Showtime 6 p.m. Gervonta Davis (22-0) vs Yuri Gamboa (30-2); Badou Jack (22-2-3) vs Jean Pascal (34-6-1).
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.
This is huge in British boxing.
Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
This is about family pride.
The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.
Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.
Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.
Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.
Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.
Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.
This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.
Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.
“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”
Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.
“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.
Eubank smiles.
“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.
Supporting Bout
Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.
“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.
McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.
It’s youth versus experience.
“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.
Monster in L.A.
Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.
It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.
Pomona Fights
Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.
Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.
Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).
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Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton
In any endeavor, the defining feature of a phenom is his youth. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper was a phenom. He was on the radar screen of baseball’s most powerful player agents when he was 14 years old.
Curmel Moton, who turns 19 in June, is a phenom. Of all the young boxing stars out there, wrote James Slater in July of last year, “Curmel Moton is the one to get most excited about.”
Moton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father Curtis Moton, a barber by trade, was a big boxing fan and specifically a big fan of Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Curmel was six, Curtis packed up his wife (Curmel’s stepmom) and his son and moved to Las Vegas. Curtis wanted his son to get involved in boxing and there was no better place to develop one’s latent talents than in Las Vegas where many of the sport’s top practitioners came to train.
Many father-son relationships have been ruined, or at least frayed, by a father’s unrealistic expectations for his son, but when it came to boxing, the boy was a natural and he felt right at home in the gym.
The gym the Motons patronized was the Mayweather Boxing Club. Curtis took his son there in hopes of catching the eye of the proprietor. “Floyd would occasionally drop by the gym and I was there so often that he came to recognize me,” says Curmel. What he fails to add is that the trainers there had Floyd’s ear. “This kid is special,” they told him.
It costs a great deal of money for a kid to travel around the country competing in a slew of amateur boxing tournaments. Only a few have the luxury of a sponsor. For the vast majority, fund raisers such as car washes keep the wheels greased.
Floyd Mayweather stepped in with the financial backing needed for the Motons to canvas the country in tournaments. As an amateur, Curmel was — take your pick — 156-7 or 144-6 or 61-3 (the latter figure from boxrec). Regardless, at virtually every tournament at which he appeared, Curmel Moton was the cock of the walk.
Before the pandemic, Floyd Mayweather Jr had a stable of boxers he promoted under the banner of “The Money Team.” In talking about his boxers, Floyd was understated with one glaring exception – Gervonta “Tank” Davis, now one of boxing’s top earners.
When Floyd took to praising Curmel Moton with the same effusive language, folks stood up and took notice.
Curmel made his pro debut on Sept. 30, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo. After stopping his opponent in the opening round, he addressed a flock of reporters in the media room with Floyd standing at his side. “I felt ready,” he said, “I knew I had Floyd behind me. He believes in me. I had the utmost confidence going into the fight. And I went in there and did what I do.”
Floyd ventured the opinion that Curmel was already a better fighter than Leigh Wood, the reigning WBA world featherweight champion who would successfully defend his belt the following week.
Moton’s boxing style has been described as a blend of Floyd Mayweather and Tank Davis. “I grew up watching Floyd, so it’s natural I have some similarities to him,” says Curmel who sparred with Tank in late November of 2021 as Davis was preparing for his match with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Curmell says he did okay. He was then 15 years old and still in school; he dropped out as soon as he reached the age of 16.
Curmel is now 7-0 with six KOs, four coming in the opening round. He pitched an 8-round shutout the only time he was taken the distance. It’s not yet official, but he returns to the ring on May 31 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo are co-featured in matches conceived as tune-ups for a fall showdown. The fight card will reportedly be free for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.
Curmel’s presumptive opponent is Renny Viamonte, a 28-year-old Las Vegas-based Cuban with a 4-1-1 (2) record. It will be Curmel’s first professional fight with Kofi Jantuah the chief voice in his corner. A two-time world title challenger who began his career in his native Ghana, the 50-year-old Jantuah has worked almost exclusively with amateurs, a recent exception being Mikaela Mayer.
It would seem that the phenom needs a tougher opponent than Viamonte at this stage of his career. However, the match is intriguing in one regard. Viamonte is lanky. Listed at 5-foot-11, he will have a seven-inch height advantage.
Keeping his weight down has already been problematic for Moton. He tipped the scales at 128 ½ for his most recent fight. His May 31 bout, he says, will be contested at 135 and down the road it’s reasonable to think he will blossom into a welterweight. And with each bump up in weight, his short stature will theoretically be more of a handicap.
For fun, we asked Moton to name the top fighter on his pound-for-pound list. “[Oleksandr] Usyk is number one right now,” he said without hesitation,” great footwork, but guys like Canelo, Crawford, Inoue, and Bivol are right there.”
It’s notable that there isn’t a young gun on that list. Usyk is 38, a year older than Crawford; Inoue is the pup at age 32.
Moton anticipates that his name will appear on pound-for-pound lists within the next two or three years. True, history is replete with examples of phenoms who flamed out early, but we wouldn’t bet against it.
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Arne’s Almanac: The First Boxing Writers Assoc. of America Dinner Was Quite the Shindig

The first annual dinner of the Boxing Writers Association of America was staged on April 25, 1926 in the grand ballroom of New York’s Hotel Astor, an edifice that rivaled the original Waldorf Astoria as the swankiest hotel in the city. Back then, the organization was known as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York.
The ballroom was configured to hold 1200 for the banquet which was reportedly oversubscribed. Among those listed as agreeing to attend were the governors of six states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maryland) and the mayors of 10 of America’s largest cities.
In 1926, radio was in its infancy and the digital age was decades away (and inconceivable). So, every journalist who regularly covered boxing was a newspaper and/or magazine writer, editor, or cartoonist. And at this juncture in American history, there were plenty of outlets for someone who wanted to pursue a career as a sportswriter and had the requisite skills to get hired.
The following papers were represented at the inaugural boxing writers’ dinner:
New York Times
New York News
New York World
New York Sun
New York Journal
New York Post
New York Mirror
New York Telegram
New York Graphic
New York Herald Tribune
Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Times
Brooklyn Standard Union
Brooklyn Citizen
Bronx Home News
This isn’t a complete list because a few of these papers, notably the New York World and the New York Journal, had strong afternoon editions that functioned as independent papers. Plus, scribes from both big national wire services (Associated Press and UPI) attended the banquet and there were undoubtedly a smattering of scribes from papers in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Back then, the event’s organizer Nat Fleischer, sports editor of the New York Telegram and the driving force behind The Ring magazine, had little choice but to limit the journalistic component of the gathering to writers in the New York metropolitan area. There wasn’t a ballroom big enough to accommodate a good-sized response if he had extended the welcome to every boxing writer in North America.
The keynote speaker at the inaugural dinner was New York’s charismatic Jazz Age mayor James J. “Jimmy” Walker, architect of the transformative Walker Law of 1920 which ushered in a new era of boxing in the Empire State with a template that would guide reformers in many other jurisdictions.
Prizefighting was then associated with hooligans. In his speech, Mayor Walker promised to rid the sport of their ilk. “Boxing, as you know, is closest to my heart,” said hizzoner. “So I tell you the police force is behind you against those who would besmirch or injure boxing. Rowdyism doesn’t belong in this town or in your game.” (In 1945, Walker would be the recipient of the Edward J. Neil Memorial Award given for meritorious service to the sport. The oldest of the BWAA awards, the previous recipients were all active or former boxers. The award, no longer issued under that title, was named for an Associated Press sportswriter and war correspondent who died from shrapnel wounds covering the Spanish Civil War.)
Another speaker was well-traveled sportswriter Wilbur Wood, then affiliated with the Brooklyn Citizen. He told the assembly that the aim of the organization was two-fold: to help defend the game against its detractors and to promote harmony among the various factions.
Of course, the 1926 dinner wouldn’t have been as well-attended without the entertainment. According to press dispatches, Broadway stars and performers from some of the city’s top nightclubs would be there to regale the attendees. Among the names bandied about were vaudeville superstars Sophie Tucker and Jimmy Durante, the latter of whom would appear with his trio, Durante, (Lou) Clayton, and (Eddie) Jackson.
There was a contraction of New York newspapers during the Great Depression. Although empirical evidence is lacking, the inaugural boxing writers dinner was likely the largest of its kind. Fifteen years later, in 1941, the event drew “more than 200” according to a news report. There was no mention of entertainment.
In 1950, for the first time, the annual dinner was opened to the public. For $25, a civilian could get a meal and mingle with some of his favorite fighters. Sugar Ray Robinson was the Edward J. Neil Award winner that year, honored for his ring exploits and for donating his purse from the Charlie Fusari fight to the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund.
There was no formal announcement when the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York was re-christened the Boxing Writers Association of America, but by the late 1940s reporters were referencing the annual event as simply the boxing writers dinner. By then, it had become traditional to hold the annual affair in January, a practice discontinued after 1971.
The winnowing of New York’s newspaper herd plus competing banquets in other parts of the country forced Nat Fleischer’s baby to adapt. And more adaptations will be necessary in the immediate future as the future of the BWAA, as it currently exists, is threatened by new technologies. If the forthcoming BWAA dinner (April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in mid-Manhattan) were restricted to wordsmiths from the traditional print media, the gathering would be too small to cover the nut and the congregants would be drawn disproportionately from the geriatric class.
Some of those adaptations have already started. Last year, Las Vegas resident Sean Zittel, a recent UNLV graduate, had the distinction of becoming the first videographer welcomed into the BWAA. With more and more people getting their news from sound bites, rather than the written word, the videographer serves an important function.
The reporters who conducted interviews with pen and paper have gone the way of the dodo bird and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A taped interview for a “talkie” has more integrity than a story culled from a paper and pen interview because it is unfiltered. Many years ago, some reporters, after interviewing the great Joe Louis, put words in his mouth that made him seem like a dullard, words consistent with the Sambo stereotype. In other instances, the language of some athletes was reconstructed to the point where the reader would think the athlete had a second job as an English professor.
The content created by videographers is free from that bias. More of them will inevitably join the BWAA and similar organizations in the future.
Photo: Nat Fleischer is flanked by Sugar Ray Robinson and Tony Zale at the 1947 boxing writers dinner.
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