Corrie Sanders’ Upset of Wladimir Klitschko Always Overshadowed by Ali-Frazier

Published

4 years ago

March 6, 2020

Corrie Sanders’ Upset of Wladimir Klitschko Always Overshadowed by Ali-Frazier

There are certain dates in boxing that are so consequential they are remembered annually, with reverence, for their historical significance. Perhaps no date fits that description more than March 8, 1971, the night when Joe Frazier scored a 15^th-round knockdown of Muhammad Ali en route to winning a hard-fought, unanimous decision in Madison Square Garden in the “Fight of the Century.”

The upcoming anniversary of that remarkable event marks 49 years since “The Greatest” and “Smokin’ Joe” made magic together for the first of their three times sharing the ring, and the familiar written and spoken remembrances will again pay homage to arguably the most anticipated boxing match of all time. But the real tsunami of tributes will come in 2021, on the 50^th anniversary of a megafight that seized the world’s attention as none before or since.

But there is another notable heavyweight fight that took place on another March 8, not exactly overlooked by history, but understandably relegated to a lesser place in a pecking order that forever shall reserve the top spot on that date for Ali-Frazier I. Still, Corrie Sanders’ shocking, second-round stoppage of WBO titlist Wladimir Klitschko on March 8, 2003, in Hanover, Germany, merits recognition both as a monumental upset and as a reminder that those who do not learn from history are sometimes obliged to repeat it.

Not exactly on the same elevated plateau as Ali-Frazier I, but not too far below it, is the celebrated date of Feb. 11, 1990, when Buster Douglas, a supposedly no-chance challenger to Mike Tyson’s supposedly invincible heavyweight championship reign, transformed the 42-to-1 odds against himself into the most stunning upset ever in boxing, and maybe in any sport, when he knocked out Tyson in 10 rounds in Tokyo. You say that Tyson went into that bout underprepared and overconfident? That Douglas dared to believe he was more than just another of Iron Mike’s designated victims? All true, but the parallels between Tyson-Douglas and Wlad-Sanders are eerily similar and cannot be dismissed.

Just as Douglas was generally considered to be a talented fighter whose mental lapses and indifferent approach to training made him less than he could have and maybe should have been, so, too, was Sanders, a 37-year-old South African southpaw, viewed as something of an underachiever, despite the 38-2 record with 30 KO victories he brought into his matchup with the younger and arguably more naturally talented of boxing’s Klitschko brothers.

Making the sixth defense of the WBO title he had won on a unanimous decision over slick-boxing southpaw Chris Byrd on Oct. 14, 2000, Klitschko was a huge favorite over Sanders, a Buster-like 40-1 long shot whose lack of peak conditioning for more than a few of his fights had become a recurring theme. When the always-impressively-muscled Wlad, whose intimidating nickname was “Dr. Steelhammer,” looked at Sanders, the fleshy guy bereft of six-pack abs, it must have been much the same as when Tyson made the mistake of writing off Douglas as just another fat impostor who would fall down the first time he got nailed solidly.

“He was what people in boxing call a `bum,’” Klitschko said in 2009 of his impression of Sanders, which soon proved to be incorrect. “I was tired. I’d been busy. I went into the ring thinking I’ll knock this guy out in one round and go home.

“This is the worst way to think. It’s a psychological disaster. You can’t think about vacation when you’re about to step in the ring. In my entire career, nobody ever beat me (like Sanders did).”

Klitschko’s miscalculation was apparent to HBO analyst George Foreman even before Sanders floored the Ukrainian twice in the first round and twice more in the second. Big George noted that Klitschko was “bone-dry” before the opening bell, a sign that he had not warmed up properly in his dressing room before making his way to the ring.

“Wladimir Klitschko seems so perfect, you wonder what’s wrong with him. Can Corrie Sanders find out?” Larry Merchant, another member of the HBO broadcast crew, said of the awe-inspiring man who had come in on a 16-bout winning streak, 15 of those victories coming inside the distance, including put-aways of such quality opponents as Axel Schulz, Monte Barrett, Frans Botha and Ray Mercer.

What was wrong with Wlad was something that had been demonstrated before, in his only pro defeat, an 11^th-round TKO against American journeyman Ross Puritty on Dec. 5, 1998, and would again be demonstrated in losses inside the distance against Lamon Brewster and Anthony Joshua. Even in a unanimous, 12-round conquest of Samuel Peter on Sept. 24, 2005, in Atlantic City, N.J., Klitschko had to overcome three trips to the canvas. For all his obvious strengths, which are sure to gain him first-ballot induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2021, what “Dr. Steelhammer” lacked was a granite jaw. If you caught him just so, he could and would go down.

Whether or not Wlad’s falsely inflated sense of confidence for the Sanders fight extended to his trainer, Fritz Sdunek, or older brother Vitali Klitschko, the future WBC heavyweight titlist who also was a member of the corner team on that date, is a matter of conjecture. What is indisputable is that Vitali, clearly upset that referee Genaro Rodriguez had stopped the bout less than a half-minute into the second round, a reasonable action given those four knockdowns in quick succession, angrily confronted Sanders, shouting his intention to gain either revenge or a restoration of family pride, take your pick.

“This belt belongs to us!” Vitali, who had made a promise to his mother to always “protect” his younger brother, yelled at Sanders. “It is family property! You fight me next!”

For his part, Sanders, who figured he had just earned the right to savor his career highlight, felt Vitali’s vitriolic display was an improper intrusion.

“He should have let me have the moment, but he was shouting this and that,” the normally laid-back Sanders said of the tense exchange. “It was me who deserved the belt that night, no one else. He had no right to get into the ring as it was my time and not his. I simply told him, `I’ve beaten your brother and next time I’ll beat you.’”

As things turned out, it was indeed Vitali who got the next crack at Sanders, even though a do-over with Wlad seemingly was made to order for HBO, which, if rumors are correct, hadn’t been all that hot to televise the just-concluded fight, the consensus in the cable giant’s executive offices being that Wlad was so superior that Sanders would put up token resistance at best. But then Sanders vacated his newly won WBO title in December 2003 so that he could concentrate on a challenge for the presumably more prestigious WBC belt, which had become vacant in the wake of Lennox Lewis’ retirement. Lewis had retained his championship in his final fight, a sixth-round stoppage of a badly bleeding Vitali Klitschko on June 21, 2003, but he trailed on all three official scorecards at the time. HBO had no qualms whatsoever in signing off on a pairing of Vitali, known as “Dr. Ironfist,” with Sanders in a pugilistic version of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys.

Vitali avenged Wlad’s defeat by stopping Sanders in eight rounds on April 24, 2004, at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, but it was no cakewalk for the winner. Sanders, an all-around athlete who had played rugby and cricket as a schoolboy and had become so proficient at golf that he considered trying out for the PGA Tour, would go on to win three more bouts, but he called it quits, at 42, when he was TKO’ed in one round by 30-year-old Osborne Machimana on Feb. 2, 2008, for the South African heavyweight title.

The perspective of time has a way of either illuminating or diminishing the careers of certain fighters who are not easily categorized. In retrospect, Cornelius Johannes Sanders was, like Buster Douglas, probably better than what he was given credited for being throughout much of a career played out in relative anonymity. Sanders – who bore an unfortunate facial resemblance to Mark Gastineau, the former New York Jets defensive end who wasn’t nearly as successful a boxer as he was at sacking quarterbacks – had much of life still to live when, on Sept. 23, 2012, he died at 46, a day after being shot by robbers at a restaurant in Brits, South Africa, to celebrate a family member’s 21^st birthday. He died a hero, trying to shield his teenage daughter, Marinique, during the premeditated attack.

Three Zimbabweans, all in their early 20s and first offenders, were convicted of murder, armed robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Each is serving what is tantamount to a 30-year sentence, a penalty not seemingly in keeping with the seriousness of the crimes committed.

“The loss against him changed a side of my character tremendously. It made me tougher and it made me better,” Wlad said upon being informed of Sanders’ death. “Without my experience with Corrie I wouldn’t be the same way.

“The boxing world will remember Corrie as a heavy hitter and a good man. I have nothing bad to say about Corrie at all.”

Was Corrie Sanders a one-hit wonder? Not really. Before his rout of Wlad, he had wins over such recognizable names as Johnny DuPlooy, Al “Ice” Cole, Bobby Czyz, Carlos De Leon and Bert Cooper. Would his status in global boxing been more established had he not been so intent on fighting primarily in South Africa, instead of moving to the United States as had been the case with several of his countrymen, like Botha? Probably. But home is where the heart is, and Corrie Sanders’ heart was forever anchored in the nation of his birth.

“Maybe I loved my country too much,” he once said.

Can’t fault a man for that.

Bernard Fernandez retired in 2012 after a 43-year career as a newspaper sports writer, the last 28 years with the Philadelphia Daily News. A former five-term president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, Fernandez won the BWAA’s Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism in 1998 and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service in 2005. On Jun 14, 2020, New Orleans native Fernandez — who now writes exclusively for The Sweet Science — will be formally inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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The Murder of Samuel Teah Calls to Mind Other Boxers Who Were Homicide Victims

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2023

Arne K. Lang

The-Murder-of-Samuel-Teah-Calls-to-Mind-Other-Boxers-Who-Were-Homicide-Victims

There will be a boxing show this Friday at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena, a low-budget card featuring the return of former IBF 130-pound world title-holder Tevin Farmer. During the event, there will assuredly be a somber moment when those in attendance stand and silently pay homage to Samuel Teah as the timekeeper tolls the traditional 10-bell farewell. Teah passed away last week on Black Friday, Nov. 24, another victim of America’s epidemic of gun violence. He was 36 years old.

Teah was shot in the mid-afternoon during an altercation that spilled onto the sidewalk of a street in Wilmington, Delaware, and died at a Wilmington hospital. As of this writing, there’s been no arrest, but the shooting was apparently not random. A bus driver for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Teah was purportedly in Wilmington (roughly 35 miles from his home in Philadelphia) to visit the mother of his child.

Samuel Teah fought as recently as this past May when he suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of journeyman Andrew Rodgers at a show in Pennsylvania’s Newton Township, reducing his record to 19-5-1. Two months earlier he had spoiled the undefeated record of Enriko Gogokhia, an Egis Klimas fighter (think Oleksandr Usyk and Vasily Lomachenko) on a card in Ontario, California. This embellished his reputation as a spoiler. Earlier in his career, he had spoiled the undefeated record of O’Shaquie Foster, winning an 8-round unanimous decision over the man that currently reigns as the WBC world super featherweight champion.

What made Teah’s death more tragic, if that were possible, were all the tragedies that he had overcome. He was born in Liberia when that country was embroiled in a civil war. The family escaped to a refugee camp in Ghana and eventually reached the United States, settling first in New York and then Philadelphia. On the day after Christmas in 2008, when Teah was 21 and working at a Home Depot, he lost six members of his family in a fire that swept his mother’s West Philadelphia duplex after a kerosene heater exploded.

For some, Teah’s violent death may call to mind the murder of another Philadelphia boxer, Tyrone Everett.

That’s an awkward comparison.

Tyrone Everett was a world-class fighter. Six months before he was shot dead by his girlfriend in May of 1977, Everett, then 34-0, lost a 15-round split decision to Puerto Rico’s Alfredo Escalera in a failed bid to win Escalera’s WBC junior lightweight title, a decision so rancid that it stands among the worst decisions of all time. Moreover, the circumstances of Everett’s murder were sordid. His girlfriend, no stranger to the police, fatally shot him after finding him with a transvestite and there was heroin in the apartment they shared. (Editor’s note: For more on this incident, check out the new book by TSS contributor Sean Nam: “Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, Fixed Fights, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing” available on Amazon).

Samuel Teah was no Tyrone Everett. A man of deep faith, Sam’s positive attitude, despite all his tribulations, was infectious. “Everyone liked Teah,” said prominent Philadelphia sports journalist Joe Santoliquito who, upon hearing of Teah’s death, tweeted, “he will always have a special place in my heart.”

While the circumstances are different in every case, Teah joins a long list of boxers who met a violent death. If we limit the list to fighters who were still active at the time of their passing, here are four that jump immediately to mind.

Stanley Ketchel

The fabled Michigan Assassin, Ketchel met his maker on Oct. 15, 1910, at a ranch in Conway, Missouri. In the immortal words of John Lardner, “Stanley Ketchel was twenty-four years old when he was fatally shot in the back by the common-law husband of the lady who was cooking his breakfast.”

Battling Siki

Famed for knocking out Georges Carpentier when the “Orchid Man” held the world light heavyweight title, Siki was only 28 years old when he was gunned down in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan on Dec. 15, 1925, but by then the Senegal-born Frenchman had already degenerated into a trial horse. Siki’s body was found in the middle of the street with two bullets in his back fired at close range by an assailant, never identified, who was thought to be avenging a beating he suffered at one of the speakeasies that Siki was known to frequent.

Oscar Bonavena

At age 33, Oscar Bonavena was still an active boxer when he was gunned down on May 22, 1976, on the outskirts of Reno, Nevada, at the front gate of the infamous Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel. Bonavena had come up short in his biggest fights, losing a 15-round decision to Joe Frazier and losing by TKO in the 15^th round to Muhammad Ali, but the rugged Argentine was still a major player in the heavyweight division.

The shooter was a bodyguard for the brothel’s owner Joe Conforte, and rumor has that Conforte was the de facto triggerman, having Bonavena assassinated because the boxer was having an affair with Conforte’s 59-year-old wife Sally who was also Bonavena’s manager of record at this point in the boxer’s career. The story about it spawned “Love Shack,” a 2010 movie that despite a seemingly can’t-miss storyline and a formidable cast (Joe Pesci played Joe and Helen Mirren played Sally) proved to be a box-office dud.

Vernon Forrest

While all homicides are tragic, some are more distressing than others and the death of Vernon Forrest on July 25, 2009, was particularly gut-wrenching. Forrest was shot twice in the back by would-be robbers with whom he exchanged gunfire on July 25, 2009 at a gas station in Atlanta.

Forget the fact that Forrest was a two-division title-holder who had regained the WBC world super welterweight title in his most recent fight with a lopsided decision over Sergio Mora. Few in the sport were as widely admired. His philanthropic work included establishing group homes in Atlanta for the mentally disabled. His death came just two weeks after the death of Arturo Gatti who left the sport following a loss by TKO to Alfonso Gomez in July of 2007 and died under suspicious circumstances at age 37 at a hotel in Brazil.

We here at The Sweet Science send our condolences to Samuel Teah’s family and loved ones. May he rest in peace.

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Benavidez Dismantles Andrade: Will Canelo Be Next?

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Benavidez-Dismantles-Andrade-Will-Canelo-Be-Next?

SHOWTIME aired its final pay-per-view event tonight with a show that aired from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The four-fight PPV card included world title fights in the 140 and 130-pound divisions, plus an interim title fight at 168 and the return of former two-division title-holder Jarmall Charlo. The interim title fight was a battle of unbeatens between David Benavidez and Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade and that was the featured attraction.

Benavidez, 26, is big for the weight class and lived up to his new nickname, “El Monstro.” He had too much firepower for the 35-year-old Andrade, a 2008 Beijing Olympian who began his pro career at 154 and had won world titles in two lower weight classes. His big moment came in the waning seconds of round four when he knocked Andrade to his knees with a sweeping right hand. The fight turned brutally one-sided at that point although one of the judges had Benavidez ahead by only one point when the sixth round ended. But there would be no seventh round. Andrade’s corner wisely stopped the fight.

A consensus 7/2 favorite in man-to-man betting, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) began his pro career in Mexico at age 16. In his post-fight interview, he called out Canelo Alvarez while brashly predicting that he would be a legend before he left the sport (and you’ll get no argument from this corner). It was the first pro loss for Andrade (32-1).

Co-Feature

Jermall Charlo returned to the ring after a 29-month absence and scored a lopsided 10-round decision over Jose Benavidez Jr. The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This bout was slated for the catch-weight of 163 pounds. Charlo came in overweight (166.4) but the match went ahead. Benavides Jr, a world title challenger during his days as a welterweight, had his moments, but was outclassed by Charlo who advanced his record to 33-0 (22). Benavidez falls to 28-3-1.

Matias-Ergashev

In what shaped up as the most action-packed fight of the night, 31-year-old Puerto Rican Subriel Matias retained his IBF 140-pound title, battering Shohjahon Ergashev into submission in a match that was halted by Ergashev’s corner two seconds into the sixth round. The heavy-handed Ergashev, who was undefeated heading in, dominated the first round-and-a-half, but Matias (20-1, 20 KOs) gradually wore him down.

Matias, who avenged his lone defeat to Petros Ananyan with a dominant showing in the rematch, had become something of a forgotten man in the talent-rich 140-pound weight class, but tonight he showed that he belongs among the elite in the division. It was the first pro loss for Egrashev (23-1, 20 KOs), a southpaw from Uzbekistan who fights out of Detroit and had SugarHill Steward (formally Javan “Sugar” Hill) in his corner.

Garcia-Roach

In the pay-per-view opener, Lamont Roach (24-1-1, 9 KOs) wrested the WBA 130-pound title from Hector Garcia (16-2) with a well-earned split decision. The judges had it 116-111 and 144-113 for Roach with the dissenter favoring Garcia 114-113.

A 32-year-old Dominican southpaw, Garcia was making the first defense of the title he won from Roger Gutierrez, a belt he was allowed to keep after moving up to lightweight to challenge Gervonta Davis, a bout he lost on a ninth-round stoppage. Roach, an underdog in the betting making his first start in 16 months, had come up short in a previous world title fight, losing a decision to Jamel Herring in 2019.

Roach was trailing on two of the scorecards through 10 rounds in what had been a ho-hum fight. But he cranked up the juice in the homestretch, rocking Garcia in the 11^th and flooring him with a right hook in the final stanza. Take away that knockdown (an illegal punch as it landed behind Roach’s head), and Garcia would have retained his belt with a draw.

Non-PPV

In his first start at 140 pounds, Puerto Rico’s Michel Rivera rebounded from his first pro loss (a wide decision at the hands of Frank Martin) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Sergey Lipinets. The judges had it 96-94 and 97-93 twice. Rivera, who improved to 25-1 (14) patterns his style and his persona after Muhammad Ali with whom he bears a strong facial resemblance.

It was the first fight in 16 months for the 34-year-old Lipinets (17-3-1), from SoCal via Kazakhstan. He rarely took a backward step but it wasn’t effective aggression.

In the opener on Showtime’s YouTube channel. 21-year-old super welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr, now trained by Ronnie Shields, scored the best win of his career, advancing to 16-1 (11 KOs). The pride of Vineland, NJ, Mielnicki had Alexis Salazar on the canvas three times before the match was halted at the 2:27 mark of the opening stanza. Guadalajara’s Salazar (25-6) had been stopped only once previously.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME

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Katie Taylor Turns the Tables on Chantelle Cameron in a Dublin Blockbuster

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2023

David A. Avila

Katie Taylor Turns the Tables on Chantelle Cameron in a Dublin Blockbuster

Underdogs win too.

Katie Taylor changed tactics and changed the outcome to defeat her conqueror Chantelle Cameron by majority decision and become undisputed super lightweight champion on Saturday.

“Two weight undisputed champion, that sounds great,” said Taylor.

It took six months but the sold-out crowd in Dublin, Ireland saw Taylor (23-1) avenge a loss to Cameron (18-1) and re-assume her position as one of the leaders of the female fight world.

It was a different Taylor who returned to Ireland and this time she brought changes against the younger, stronger Cameron that proved effective.

At first it looked grim for Taylor who resumed her style of speed combinations and was met with jolting left jabs from Cameron. One jab actually delivered Taylor to the canvas but a slip of the foot was caught by the referee.

In the second round Taylor showed her cards.

Using her speed and agility, Taylor used her own jabs and movement to score and then would suddenly clinch both arms. And in between clinches, quick uppercuts and rights scored.

It was the recipe used by the Irish fighter for the remainder of the fight.

The change in tactics by Taylor took away Cameron’s most effective weapon, her strong left jab. Unable to use that weapon, she dove in looking to use her strength and was butted by Taylor in the third round. A deep bloody gash on the forehead of Cameron formed quickly.

Cameron never quit attacking and finally found success in the fourth and fifth rounds with pounding body shots. It seemed to slow her opponent down, who had been busier until the body attack slowed her volume.

Both tried their best to control the rounds. Taylor used her hit-and-clinch recipe while Cameron pounded the body and used her strength inside. The best round erupted in the seventh as both unleashed wicked combinations and uppercuts.

The crowd roared its approval.

All that furious action seemed to drain Taylor and allowed Cameron to overpower her with body shots in the eighth. It also forced Taylor to grab Cameron every time she got close. It became so obvious that the referee warned Taylor to stop holding.

A tired Taylor seemed ready to be taken over, but somehow she mustered enough energy to sling quick combos and clinch. Cameron tried avoiding the clinches but was not able to find a solution.

Taylor closed out the fight with speed combinations as Cameron looked to end the fight with one big blow that never arrived. A spent Taylor looked relieved at the final bell as Cameron could not land the big one.

After 10 rounds one judge scored it 95-95 while two others saw it 98-92 and 96-94 for Taylor who becomes undisputed super lightweight champion.

“Whoever wrote me off you don’t know me very well,” said Taylor. “Tonight, you saw the real me. When I’m boxing no one can beat me.”

The win by Taylor sets up a trilogy with Cameron.

“I don’t think there has ever been a trilogy in women’s boxing. This would be the first,” said Taylor.

2024 look out.

Nicolson Wins

Australia’s Skye Nicolson (9-0) controlled every round over Sweden’s Lucy Wildheart (10-3) by hitting and moving against the slow-moving fighter and eventually won by stoppage in the ninth round to retain an interim featherweight title.

Nicolson proved too fast and agile for Wildheart who seemed a second slower and was punished by counter shots. Eventually a bloody nose forced Wildheart’s corner to stop the fight at 1:11 of the ninth round.

The speedy featherweight Nicolson is the number one contender for undisputed champion Amanda Serrano.

Other Bouts

Ireland’s Gary Cully (17-1, 10 KOs) won by split decision over Reece Mould (18-2, 6 KOs) to return to the victory column after suffering a knockout loss six months ago in the same arena.

Cully, a tall lightweight, started slowly but soon found his rhythm and used uppercuts and movement to offset the hard-charging Mould. There were no knockdowns in the back-and-forth battle with two judges favoring Cully 97-93, 96-93 and one for Mould 97-93.

“I’m back baby and it feels good,” said Cully who was stopped by Mexico’s Jose Felix six months ago.

Speed southpaw Paddy Donovan (12-0, 9 KOs) knocked out Danny Ball (13-2-1) in their welterweight clash with a left to the body in the fourth round. He first dropped Ball with an overhand left during an exchange.

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