Featured Articles
Avila Perspective, Chap. 90: Travels with Henry Ramirez, Roger and More
Not all boxing trainers are wheeler-dealers like Henry Ramirez. One day he’s getting on a jet across country and another day he’s driving up the 101 Freeway with a carload of amateur boxers.
The jet-setting ways of Ramirez came to a sudden halt last week.
“It happened so fast. Within a day we were told to head home,” Ramirez said, who was in Washington D.C. with prizefighter Marcos Hernandez who was set to face James Kirkland at MGM National Harbor on a Premier Boxing Champions card. It was canceled.
Ramirez and hundreds of other boxing people discovered that the Coronavirus had derailed all fight cards in March. Now they are learning that April is gone too.
“It’s crazy,” he said.
Ramirez has a small army of boxers ranging from eight-year-old amateurs to 30-year-old professionals at his Rain Cross Boxing Gym in Riverside, California. No matter the season, the gym cranks out noise like one of those chain guns.
“I’ve been doing this since 2000 back when Andy Suarez had a gym,” said Ramirez, who back then was boxing and helping the late Suarez train fellow boxers.
Andy Suarez passed away in 2006. Ramirez picked up the training baton and kept working with fighters like Josesito Lopez and Chris “the Nightmare” Arreola. Both still are active but Ramirez no longer trains them. He still has more than 30 boxers in his gym located in the northern end of Riverside.
“We’re pretty busy all of the time. California has one of the busiest boxing schedules in the country,” said Ramirez who had his crew ready to perform in Washington D.C., Orange County, San Diego County, Ventura County and also in Reno, Nevada.
All were shut down.
Worldwide nearly all boxing cards have been erased except in Mexico and South America were apparently the virus has not hit.
This past weekend Tijuana, Mexico, which sits on the other side of the U.S. border next to San Diego, California, had several boxing cards on the same night. Boxing did not skip a beat in Tijuana.
“The only thing they did was close some schools,” said Felipe Leon, a journalist living in Tijuana. “Everything else is normal.”
Normally, for Ramirez in Riverside, he would be hustling to arrange fights for his amateurs and his pros.
“They canceled the Golden Gloves,” said Ramirez who had several boxers ready to participate. “We had a fight at Chumash Casino, also on the Thompson Boxing card and in Reno that was scheduled. Now we lose all that money. That was a lot of money we were expecting to make that’s out of our hands now.”
The Riverside trainer gave all of his fighters time off for a short while so things can be re-assessed. He receives calls from all of his team wondering if they should head to the gym. He’s got a lot of eager beavers on his crew.
Ramirez has always been able to attract potential boxers to his gym. He credits television as his weapon.
“Basically, they see me working someone’s corner on television and they contact me,” he said. “Television is a big way to attract fighters.”
Over the years Ramirez has been seen working on numerous high-profile fights beginning with Arreola back in October 2005 when he fought Domonic Jenkins at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif. It was a televised fight that featured the late Vernon Forrest in the main event. Arreola won by knockout and continued to grow into a heavyweight contender.
Last Saturday, at the MGM National Harbor, Ramirez’s fighter Hernandez was set to perform in the main event that was being televised by FOX. It was canceled abruptly.
“We got there on Wednesday and by Thursday we were told they might not allow the public to see the fight. Then they told us to pack up and go home. They were canceling the fight and on Friday I was heading back home,” Ramirez said.
Rival fight cards in New York City were also canceled.
“We’re hoping things get back to normal by the middle of May,” said Ramirez who had potential fights set for May. “It’s crazy but not only sports is affected, it’s the whole world.”
Even the ever-busy Henry Ramirez has to slow down.
Roger Knows
Sadly, boxing great Roger Mayweather passed away. Many times I would talk to the former fighter turned trainer; whenever I could.
Very few knew boxing better than Roger Mayweather.
Unknown to many was his love for teaching the youth. Over the years he passed his knowledge on to hundreds of aspiring boxers of all ages.
One of those was Melinda Cooper one of the best female prizefighters of her era.
“He used to work a lot with Melinda,” said James Pena who mentored Cooper throughout her boxing career. “He went with us to at least five tournaments when she was very young. He bought her boxing shoes. He used to call her a bad MF.”
Pena remembers going to Midland, Texas for a tournament back in the 90s and with the money Mayweather was paid to assist, he used it for other things.
“He spent $500 to buy stuff for the other kids to eat at a restaurant,” said Pena of Mayweather. “He really enjoyed helping kids in boxing. He got a big kick out of it.”
My own familiarity with Mayweather came when he was coaching Laila Ali in Las Vegas. I would often visit the Top Rank Gym in town and would sit down and just talk boxing with Mayweather.
On one occasion some young aspiring boxing journalist sat in the small office with us and proclaimed that both Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya were flukes.
“They’re all hype,” said this young guy.
Mayweather looked at him like he was a space alien.
“How are you going to say De La Hoya won world championships in seven weight divisions and call him a fluke,” said Mayweather to the surprised young writer. “You win any world title and you are a champion. If everybody could win a world title they would. You don’t know shit about boxing.”
Upset at the young journalist’s statement, he then proceeded to test his boxing IQ.
“Who do you think is the greatest fighter of all time?” asked Mayweather to the youngster.
The kid responded with somebody I can’t recall who.
Then, Mayweather looked at me and asked my opinion.
“I kind of think Sam Langford,” I answered.
Mayweather looked at me and did a double-take.
“You know boxing,” he said.
I swear, hearing Mayweather say that to me made my career. I had watched him as a fighter and as a trainer for Floyd Mayweather and considered him one of the top boxing minds in the world.
Mayweather then asked me which Las Vegas newspaper I worked for?
I answered I work for the Riverside newspaper. He looked at me in surprise.
“I see you here all the time,” Mayweather said. “I never see the Las Vegas guys in this gym.”
That day kind of inspired me to continue covering boxing like a madman. I’ve retold this story many times because I love the boxing world and all of its participants. No other sport has its history, personality and reach. Whether from Grand Rapids, Michigan or East Los Angeles; whether from Moscow, Dublin, Tokyo, Mexico City or Accra, Ghana, prizefighters come from all over the world.
Losing Roger Mayweather really hurts. We’ve lost another tie to boxing’s history and a man who contributed greatly to its continued success.
Rest in peace Roger Mayweather.
30 Years Ago
This St. Patrick’s Day was the 30th anniversary of the epic fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor that took place in Las Vegas for the WBC super lightweight world title. It was March 17, 1990.
It brings back vivid memories for me.
At the time I was a fledgling journalist for a small free newspaper in the San Gabriel Valley area in Southern California. Money was tight and I could not afford pay-per-view television or cable network viewing. Back then I was living in the suburban city of Montebello. The Montebello Mall was just built and a new sandwich shop opened and claimed it was showing the Chavez-Taylor fight for customers.
I arrived early that day and got an elevated seating spot to watch the small television screen. By the time the main event appeared the place was packed with fans. I forget the name of the sandwich spot, it didn’t last more than a year.
That fight vividly remains in my memory. It was fiercely fought with both displaying their individual talent. Taylor had blinding speed and could take a heck of a punch. Chavez was relentless and his defense was better than most expected, especially against those Taylor combinations.
Of course, nobody knew that Chavez was far behind on two judges scores after 11 rounds, but the commentators felt he needed a knockdown or knockout to win. They were right, and Chavez did exactly that by dropping Taylor in the corner. Referee Richard Steele looked into his eyes and called the fight over with two seconds remaining. Chavez was declared the winner and inside the Montebello sandwich shop about 100 fans erupted in cheers.
I went home and told my live-in girlfriend at the time what had transpired. She just smiled. Oh well. Ironically my ex-girlfriend’s family was from Culiacan where Chavez hailed from.
That same sandwich shop also showed Roberto Duran’s upset of Iran Barkley a year earlier. It proved to be my savior for watching big fights.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel
To comment on this story in The Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
The Hauser Report: What’s Going On With Premier Boxing Champions?
Eight years ago, Al Haymon unveiled what many thought would be the future of boxing. The boxing community had been awash in rumors for months. Haymon was amassing a war chest totaling hundreds of millions of dollars with the help of a venture capital fund in an effort to take over the sport . . . Haymon was signing hundreds of fighters to managerial and advisory contracts . . . Haymon was planning some sort of TV series . . . Time-buys on multiple networks for an entity called Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) were confirmed.
On March 7, 2015, Haymon began the rollout of his plan when NBC televised the inaugural PBC offering – a fight card featuring Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner in separate bouts. Free boxing. On network television.
But the plan fell short of expectations. Advertisers didn’t come onboard. DAZN and then Saudi Arabia became the flavor of the month. Now PBC is seeking to reassert itself through an alliance with Amazon. The first “PBC on Prime Video” offering will be a pay-per-view event on March 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But PBC isn’t the power it once was. No one talks about Al Haymon taking over boxing anymore.
Amazon will distribute the PBC show. It wants to build a live pay-per-view platform for multiple events, and this is an early foray into that realm. It has no interest in playing the sort of role that HBO and Showtime played in boxing. Amazon (like In Demand) will take and distribute the product it’s given.
The PBC pay-per-view events that are streamed on Prime Video will also be available to viewers through other streaming platforms like PPV.com as well as linear-TV cable and satellite PPV distributors.
In addition, Prime Video has said that it will stream a series of “free” (with a subscription to Amazon Prime) PBC Championship Boxing events in the United States and other designated countries on an exclusive basis.
The degree to which Amazon will provide a marketing push for PBC’s shows is unclear at the present time.
Four fights will be on the March 30 PPV stream. The main event was to have matched Keith Thurman vs. Tim Tszyu. Eight years ago when he headlined PBC’s inaugural telecast on NBC, Thurman was young and fresh. Now he’s 35 years old and has won only one fight in the preceding five years (a ten-round decision over Mario Barrios). Tszyu (the son of Kostya Tszyu) was eased into the WBO 154-pound title through an “interim” portal and is being groomed for a big-money fight down the road.
Then, earlier today (March 18), it was reported that Thurman had been injured in training camp and Sebastian Fundora (who’d been slated to fight Serheii Bohachuk on the undercard) will likely face Tszyu. Fundora was speeding along a fast track until his most recent fight which saw him pitching a shutout against Brian Mendoza when a one-punch knockout in round seven derailed his dream.
The primary supporting bouts on the pay-per-view stream are expected to be Erislandy Lara vs. Michael Zerafa and Rolly Romero vs. Isaac Cruz.
Lara is forty years old. During the past five years, he has fought Ramon Alvarez, Greg Vendetti, Thomas LaManna, and Gary O’Sullivan (which somehow enabled him to claim the WBA 160-pound belt). Zerafa’s primary qualification seems to be that (like Tszyu) he’s from Australia.
Romero is a tiresome loudmouth who often fails to back up his talk. He was knocked out by Gervonta Davis and was trailing Ismael Barroso on all three judges’ scorecards when a premature stoppage by referee Tony Weeks gifted him the WBA 140-pound belt. Cruz went the distance in a losing effort against Davis.
Former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza has been consulted with regard to production on the March 30 PPV stream. As of this writing, the commentating team hasn’t been announced (which is odd since the event is less than two weeks away).
Meanwhile, the rest of the sports landscape is rapidly changing.
On January 23, it was announced that Netflix (Prime Video’s most formidable competitor with 247 million subscribers) had signed a deal to stream WWE’s flagship wrestling show – Raw. The ten-year deal will cost Netflix roughly five billion dollars. Netflix can opt out of the deal after five years or, if it chooses, extend it for another ten years.
Then, on March 7, Netflix furthered its commitment to “trash sports” when it announced that Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will meet in the ring in Texas on July 20 in an encounter to be streamed live on Netflix. It’s unclear whether the encounter will be a “fight” or a glorified sparring session.
Adding to the mix; Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers announced on February 6 that they will launch a joint subscription streaming service later this year that will bundle sports content from ESPN and affiliated networks (such as ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS), the Warner Brothers’ Discovery networks that showcase sports (TNT, TBS, TruTV), and Fox (the Fox broadcast network in addition to FS1, FS2 and BTN).
But back to PBC on Prime Video. If the March 30 fight card were streamed as part of the Amazon Prime membership package, it would be a plus for boxing fans. But it won’t be. It’s a pay-per-view event. And even before Thurman’s injury, it wasn’t pay-per-view-worthy as that term was once understood.
You get only one chance to make a first impression. This isn’t a good first impression for PBC on Prime Video.
***
On December 17, I posted a column in which I urged that Gerry Cooney and Cedric Kushner be included on the ballot for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There’s another, more obvious omission that I’d like to address.
Al Haymon has been at the center of the boxing universe for two decades. He built his power through a series of alliances with HBO (his point person was Kery Davis), Golden Boy (Richard Schaefer), and investors (Waddell & Reed) and maintained it through dealings with Showtime (Stephen Espinoza) and various other networks. There were times when it seemed as though he was on the verge of “taking over boxing.” Now Saudi Arabian oil money is the dominant force. But Haymon is breaking new ground through an association between Premier Boxing Champions and Amazon Video.
Haymon likes to style himself as an “advisor” or “manager.” In reality, he functions as a promoter. But labels are irrelevant. The bottom line is that no one has had a greater influence on boxing over the past twenty years than Al Haymon. He belongs in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and the first step toward that end is to put his name on the ballot for induction.
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book — “MY MOTHER and me” — is a personal memoir that will be published by Admission Press this spring and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1
In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Dillian Whyte Returns from Purgatory and Brushes Away a Wimpy Opponent in Ireland
Dillian Whyte Returns from Purgatory and Brushes Away a Wimpy Opponent in Ireland
Tomorrow (Monday) is a national holiday in Ireland which is always the case whenever Saint Patrick’s Day happens to fall on a Sunday. That explains why today’s fight card in the County Mayo town of Castlebar is being staged on a Sunday. After the show, the attendees with regular jobs can stay up late quaffing down a few pints at their favorite pub knowing they can sleep-in tomorrow. (And they likely needed a few pints to wash away the pain of paying good money to see this craphole show.)
All of the A-Side fighters were Irishmen including the headliner Dillian Whyte, a Londoner of Jamaican extraction who claims that one of his grandparents was born in Ireland. The “Body Snatcher” was matched against German-Romanian slug Christian Hammer.
Whyte, who turns 36 next month, last fought in November of 2022 when he won a lackluster decision over Jermaine Franklin. His rematch with Anthony Joshua in August of last year fell out when an “adverse analytical finding” turned up in his VADA test. Whyte bellowed loudly that he was innocent, but there was the presumption of guilt because he had served a two-year ban for illegal substances earlier in his career. But lo and behold, in a curious development, Whyte was cleared this month when a forensics expert associated with the Texas Boxing Commission asserted that the adverse result was caused by a nutritional supplement that contained a contaminent that wasn’t disclosed on the supplement’s list of ingredients. (Whyte was training in the United States and licensed to fight in Texas when the random drug test was administered.)
Hammer brought a 27-10 (17) record but had been stopped five times, most recently by Joe Joyce who blew him away in four rounds. He was in Castlebar just for the payday and retired on his stool after three frames. He was never down in the fight, but was tattooed with a bunch of punches on his flabby midsection. (The weights were not announced.)
With the win, Dillian Whyte advanced his record to 30-3 (20 KOs). More relevantly, he is back in the mix in the heavyweight picture. His American trainer Buddy McGirt hopes to have him back in the ring in a couple of months.
Other Bouts of Note
Roy Moylette, a 33-year-old junior welterweight from the nearby town of Islandeady, made the locals happy when he got off the deck to win the decision in an 8-round bout with Argentine journeyman Requen Facundo (17-15-2). Moylette (14-2-1) entered the pro ranks with a wealth of international amateur experience, but his pro career never took off. Heading into this match, he announced it would be his farewell fight.
The Argentine, a late sub who had begun his pro career as a featherweight, had Moylette on the canvas in the second round but couldn’t sustain the momentum. The referee, who had the unusual but unmistakably Irish name of Padraig O’Reachtagain, scored it 76-75.
In what was likely his final pro fight, 39-year-old Cork super middleweight Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan left on a downbeat note, losing an 8-round decision to Sofiane Khati. O’Reachtagain had it 77-76 for the outsider.
O’Sullivan (31-6, 21 KOs) will be remembered as the Irishman who wore a handlebar mustache during his fighting days in Boston, a look that harked to John L. Sullivan who Spike believed to be a distant relative. In his previous bout in May of 2022 he was stopped in eight frames by Erislandy Lara in Brooklyn, his fourth setback inside the distance and third in his last six.
A 31-year-old French-Algerian, Khati improved to 15-4 (5).
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser: ‘The Blue Corner’
Boxing, like all sports, is more fun to watch when the viewer has a rooting interest. That interest can spring from a variety of factors. Some people like or dislike a particular fighter on a personal level. Others – let’s be honest – root for or against a fighter based on ethnicity.
If I don’t know either of the fighters in a fight, I root for the underdog.
That can be dispiriting. Too many fight cards today consist largely of A-side vs. B-side fights. As a general rule, the A-side fighter comes out of the red corner and the B-side fighter is seated in the blue corner. Upsets are few and far between.
Tom Loeffler’s March 15 fight card at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater is a case in point. There are underdogs and then there are hopeless underdogs. I went to the fights hoping something that wasn’t supposed to happen would happen. But a look at the opponents’ records told me that was unlikely.
BoxRec.com is a wonderful tool for scoping out how competitive a fight is likely to be. Here’s what I learned from BoxRec.com before the fights and how things unfolded in the ring.
Fight #1: Giovanni Scuderi (9-0, 4 KOs) vs. Brandon Carmack – Scuderi’s last opponent had 57 losses. And that opponent might have beaten Carmack. I’m sure Brandon could decimate most people in a bar fight. But he lumbered around the ring like a heavybag with feet. Scuderi telegraphs every righthand he throws. But he has a basic jab. The match had the appearance of a picador sticking lances into a slow sluggish bull. W4 for Scuderi.
Fight #2: Nisa Rodriguez (0-0) vs. Jozette Cotton – Rodriguez is a 33-year-old New York City police officer with an extensive amateur background who was making her pro debut. Cotton was winless in four pro fights. Rodriguez fought tentatively. Cotton had a roll of flab around her waist (which spoke to her conditioning) and fought like she didn’t know how to box. W4 for Rodriguez.
Fight #3 Joseph Ward (10-1, 6 KOs) vs. Derrick Webster – Webster is 41 years old and has now won one of six fights since 2018. KO 2 for Ward.
Fight #4: Reshat Mati (14-0, 8 KOs) vs. Irving Macias – Macias has lost three of his last four fights, and the guy he beat during that stretch has 19 losses (including his last seven fights in a row). W8 for Mati.
Fight #5: Cletus Seldin (27-1, 23 KOs) vs. Jose Angulo – Angulo has lost six of his last eight fights, including four KOs by. W8 for Seldin, Here, I should note that, after the fight, Seldin took the ring announcer’s microphone, dropped to one knee, opened a small box containing a diamond engagement ring, and asked one Jessica Ostrowski to marry him. The future Mrs. Seldin (who was clad in black leather) said yes, and the happy couple paraded around the ring together.
Fight #6: Feargal McCrory (15-0, 7 KOs) vs. Carlos Carlson – Carlson has had ten fights since 2016 and lost seven of them. The three guys he beat during that stretch have 92 losses between them. And he hadn’t fought in more than two years. Referee David Fields did the fans a favor by stopping the bout prematurely in round three. If Carlson had fought as vigorously during the fight as he complained about the stoppage afterward, it would have been a better fight.
Fight #7: The main event matched Callum Walsh (9-0, 7 KOs) against Dauren Yeleussinov. Walsh is a 23-year-old junior-middleweight who UFC CEO Dana White is trying to build as a boxing version of Conor McGregor. Yeleussinov has lost three of his last four fights (including a first-round KO by). And the opponent Dauren beat during that stretch has 22 losses (including a current losing streak of 19 a row). Yeleussinov was tailor-made for Walsh – slow on his feet with slow hands and not much of a punch. Callum got off first all night. KO 9.
In six of the seven fights, the underdog lost every round.
I’m tired of fighters who talk tough and posture at press conferences but won’t fight an opponent who’s remotely competitive. And yes; I know that prospects can’t go in tough every time out. But a prospect’s opponent should pose some kind of challenge.
And let’s be honest; most of the fighters on the March 15 card were there because they were local ticket-sellers, not prospects. Only Walsh has world-class potential. He’s 23 years old with skills and is getting better. Right now, he’s a very good club fighter. Let’s see if he becomes something more.
* * *
One moment from promoter Larry Goldberg’s March 7 club-fight card at Sony Hall in New York stands out in my mind.
In the second fight of the evening, Jason Castanon and Luis Rivera-Reyes squared off against one another in a scheduled four-round junior-welterweight bout. Each man was making his pro debut. Castanon’s opponent had pulled out the previous week, leaving matchmaker Eric Bottjer scrambling for a new opponent. Rivera-Reyes had been scheduled to fight on the undercard of a show in Puerto Rico but his opponent had also fallen out, so he was available.
Bottjer thought that Castanon vs. Rivera-Reyes would be a competitive fight. Each man was old for a boxer making his pro debut. Castano is 30; Rivera-Reyes is 35. But they had comparable amateur backgrounds.
Rivera-Reyes held his own in round one. But Castanon was the stronger, better-schooled fighter. In round two, Luis started getting beaten up. The punishment mounted in round three. Rivera-Reyes was still trying to win but it was a futile effort. With seconds left in the third stanza, a righthand staggered Luis and a second righthand put him down hard. He rose through an incredible act of will because that’s what real fighters do. But he was badly hurt and on wobbly legs. Referee Eddie Claudio asked if he wanted to continue.
Rivera-Reyes shook his head. No.
Afterward, an uncharitable observer said that Luis “quit.”
I think that Luis acted with honor. Sitting several feet from the ring, I had a perfect view of the pain and despair etched on his face as he confronted the reality that he was a beaten man. He didn’t jump to his feet at the count of ten-and-a-half, pretending that he was ready to keep fighting. He didn’t ignore the referee’s question and feign outrage when the fight was stopped. He acknowledged that he had given his all and was beaten. Fighters aren’t video-game figures. They get hurt. And sometimes they just can’t take anymore.
The moment reminded me of the 1983 rematch between Alexis Arguello and Aaron Pryor. Pryor had won their classic first encounter with a brutal knockout that left Arguello unconscious on the ring canvas. In round ten of Pryor-Arguello II, Alexis found himself on the canvas again. He was a warrior, one of the greatest fighters of all time. He could have gotten up. But he didn’t. He had done the best he could and realized that it was over. He sat with tears streaming down his face and later acknowledged. “It’s hard to accept, but it’s good to accept. I did it with grace and just accepted that the guy beat me. Even though I did my best, in the tenth round I accepted it right there. I said, ‘This is too much. I won’t take it. I‘ll just sit and watch Richard Steele count to ten.'”The look in Luis Rivera-Reyes’s eyes when he shook his head will stay with me for a long time. He had been beaten into submission in his first pro fight. And I wondered, how long will he hold onto the dream.
* * *
A nod to “March Madness” which begins this week . . .
College basketball has a problem – court storming.
It’s now in vogue for fans of the home team to surge onto the court after a big win. Tearing down the goal posts in football endangers fans who are tearing down the goal posts. Court storming endangers the players.
On January 21, Caitlin Clark (Iowa’s superstar guard) was knocked to the floor when Ohio State fans stormed the court after a big win.
On February 24, Kyle Fitzpatrick (Duke’s All-American center) injured his knee when Wake Forest fans stormed the court after a dramatic upset.
To date, the NCAA has done nothing about the problem. Several conferences have taken action on their own, the most notable example being the SEC which instituted an escalating fine that begins at $100,000 for the first incident. By contrast, the ACC has no penalty for court-storming; the Big Ten has no penalty until the third incident; and the Big East penalizes offending schools the paltry sum of $5,000.
It shouldn’t be hard to end court storming.
The NCAA should institute a rule – and fans should be advised late in each contest – that court storming will result in forfeiture of the game.
***
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – MY MOTHER and me – is a personal memoir that will be published by Admission Press on April 2 and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1
In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Who Murdered Peter Bufala? A ‘Whodunit’ with a Boxing Backdrop
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Jake Paul KOs Ryan Bourland but Amanda Serrano’s Fight Falls Out
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Boxing Odds and Ends: A Travesty of a Heavyweight ‘Title Fight’ Jake Paul and More
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Two Featherweight Title Fights Top a Strong Bill at Turning Stone on Saturday
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 274: Yeritsyan vs Randall at Chumash Casino, Japan and More
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Jared Anderson and Adam Kownacki: Heavyweights on Worrisome Paths
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Results from Orlando where Berlanga KOed McCrory in a Possible Prelude to Canelo
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 274: Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney in Hollywood, Jake, Amanda and More