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Has the U.S. Lost its Presence in Boxing? Part Two of Our Latest Survey

More than 50 boxing notables shared their thoughts in our latest TSS survey. As is our custom, we listed the respondents alphabetically. Those with last names beginning with the letters “A” through “L” were included in PART ONE. Here’s PART TWO. We welcome your feedback.
PAUL MAGNO-writer and author: The decline of boxing in the U.S. has opened the door for expansion across the globe. So, really, it’s kind of like a good for you, not-so-great for us scenario. At the very least, though, it establishes the fact that boxing is still a sport that can reach the mainstream if presented correctly. American fight fans just have to roll with the punches and accept that they’re no longer the center of the fistic universe. They’ll have to get used to watching fights at odd hours at “away” venues. The American fight game can learn from all of this and rebuild based on those lessons—if it decides one day to smarten up.
ADEYINKA MAKINDE–barrister, writer and contributor to the Cambridge Companion to Boxing: The decline in fighters from Western developed countries after the Second World War saw a corresponding rise from poorer parts of the globe. The rise of the Griffiths and the Paret’s confirmed that trend. Also, if the U.S. does not hold any of the Heavyweight titles, that’s indicative that it is “no longer a major player in professional boxing.” Also reflecting this “re-adjustment” is the box office success of non-American boxers in their homelands. Anthony Joshua can fill stadiums in Britain and command huge guarantees from Saudi sponsors. However, in terms of financial muscle, the situation is less clear as DAZN is a multinational brand with huge American input. ESPN and PBS are still in there. There are fewer American boxing superstars, but the US continues to be a major player as a centre for raising monies as well as locations such as Las Vegas and NYC.
LAYLA McCARTER-WIBF welterweight champion and former world title-holder in multiple divisions: Perhaps the U.S. has lost its presence as the major player in pro boxing, but I believe this trend to be temporary. Promoters and networks come and go. Great ones like King and Arum are aging out of the sport. The UK is having its run now, but I’m confident that new promoters will emerge in the U.S. and once again be successful.
KELSEY McCARSON-TSS writer: I think the U.S. will remain the fulcrum of professional boxing for the foreseeable future but that the rise in global audiences that are able to digitally cross borders will reveal more competition than ever for U.S.-based promotional companies. It would seem like that’s a good thing. One of my favorite things about boxing over the last few years is Eddie Hearn’s rise to global prominence. In the old days, Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya had a virtual monopoly through their partnerships with HBO. Now, there are many more ways fighters can get paid to fight on TV and streaming platforms.
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“…how can we profess to be a major player when the sport is on life support here in the United States with no vaccine to save it?” Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum
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SCOOP MALINOWSKI-writer, author, creator of BIOFILE: America no longer produces the abundance of great champions it once did. The best fighters are developed in other nations, particularly Eastern Europe. American tennis is in a similar situation.
JASON MARCHETTI-boxing writer: I disagree. The US is still a major player in professional boxing, although there continues to be inconsistencies of what promoters and fighters say versus what they agree to. The sanctioning bodies and promoters control which fights get made instead of the fans, and its killing the sport in the US.
LARRY MERCHANT-legendary HBO commentator; 2009 IBHOF inductee: Trick question. Boxing hasn’t been a mainstream sport in the U.S. for decades, yet four networks show boxing regularly and we have more consequential fighters and fights in the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions by far than any other country. And even though we may have to wait for another comeback by George Foreman to make a heavyweight impact on casual fans, most heavyweight championship fights recently have been staged, yes, in the U.S. That said, Great Britain and probably Mexico reign as the pound-for-pound champions for their “presence”—or passion— and that does count for a lot.
ROBERT MLADINICH–Former fighter, retired NYC Detective, author, writer, and actor. It’s sad but the United States has taken a back seat to Europe in attracting fans to live shows. Wilder vs. Fury 2 could have brought nearly 100,000 fans to an arena in England. Years ago that fight would have broken attendance records here.
DIEGO MORILLA-boxing writer; Copy Editor of The Ring en Español : Sometimes certain countries gain more ground at certain times, depending on the level of activity of their fighters. Japan is now enjoying huge success. The quality of their fighters in those lower divisions is off the charts. That’s just an example of one country “exploding” in a particular region. Since the most visible weight class is the heavyweights, fans tend to assess the value of boxing in general depending on the quality displayed in that division. The U.K now rules the heavyweights with as many as five in the top 10. It used to be Eastern Europe and the Klitschko’s. Now it’s England. This surge may be responsible for this notion that the US is losing ground in boxing, but the level of quality in the U.S. is so deep that it’s only a matter of time before it bounces back to the top and claims at least half of the pound-for-pound names, as well as a similar number of names in the list of best paid and most relevant athletes in the world.
ERNESTO MORALES (aka GENO FEBUS)-writer, former fighter: For decades the Western Hemisphere fighters & trainers, managers, promoters, and fans were spoiled believing they had a never-ending superiority. When a U.S. fighter lost abroad it was considered a fluke/upset. As time went, non-U.S. fighters trained harder, their hunger grew, and became CONFIDENT that they were just as good if not better, with the main reason for their success being their extensive and superior amateur programs. Heavyweight is the most influential division worldwide, and it’s OWNED by Europe.
LUIS PABON- elite referee: Undoubtedly the Europeans have been gaining ground, especially the larger weights. Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, they are very good, but even in the USA the 130, 135, 147, 160 are the best divisions, and the Mexican-Americans, who are USA, they are also very good. I think it is global. Europe, Japan, Mexico, they are very good but even together they do not beat the USA.
JOE PASQUALE-professional judge: Team sports are supported & easier. And since WW2 there are fewer inner city gyms. Less media attention for amateur boxing world & Olympic events has resulted in fewer participants and professional contenders from the USA. Boxing has become more global like the world economy. Talent is emerging from countries where there is more national and government support for boxing. China has massive amateur boxing programs with thousands of boxers supported and educated. The USA barely does that for their amateur team sports and nothing for boxing except at a minimum on the Olympic level.
DENNIS RAPPAPORT: former co-manager of Gerry Cooney, among others; elite promoter: Historically the best fighters were from the U.S. In recent years the Eastern Europeans, Germany and England have made major strides. England has produced some excellent fighters and the sport’s popularity has been overwhelming. The Russians, Ukrainians and former members of the USSR are very hungry and determined and have impressive amateur pedigrees. The Latins have always been a major force and now with the emergence of The Philippines, pose even more competition. Bottom Line is the momentum, at least for now, has shifted away from US dominance.
JOHN RASPANTI-lead writer/editor for MaxBoxing; author: I don’t agree. Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles are major players in promoting and staging the most important fights. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fought last month in Vegas. Fight three will probably be back in Sin City. Vasyl Lomachencko and Teofimo will likely fight in New York in a few months. Major fights are scheduled in Southern California. The United States is a big time player in the sweet science and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.
CLIFF ROLD-writer and Managing Editor of BOXING SCENE: How could it have lost its presence? By and large, the US is still the richest market in the sport. This is where the greatest fortunes are possible. As long as this is true, it will be a premier part of the game.
FRED ROMANO-boxing historian, author and former HBO Boxing consultant: There certainly is a broader representation of quality fighters from places outside the United States compared with a couple of decades ago. Boxing is also more global in terms of financial control and preferred venues as well. Nevertheless, the US boxing presence is still stout, and the US will remain a major player in the sport in all respects.
DANA ROSENBLATT-former World Middleweight Champion; inspirational speaker and commentator: The U.S. is close to losing its lead in worldwide boxing due to boxing not being as widely present in the Boys Clubs. The loss of weekly fights on the major networks is also another reason why we have slipped in terms of our dominance of the sport.
TED SARES-TSS writer: The U.S. is behind at the top and especially so in the heavyweight division. It never was much of a force at the bottom divisions where Asians and Latinos thrive. It’s in the middle that the U.S. will maintain a competitive, if not premier, spot with other nations. Fighters like Crawford, Tank, Spence, Thurman, Porter, Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia, Plant, Andrade, the Charlos, Hurd, Williams, Harrison, Lubin, Prograis, Hooker, Zepeda, Diaz, JR., Farmer, and Colbert ensure this.
RICHARD SCHWARTZ-elite cut-man and RING 10 board member: The rest of the world is catching up to the U.S. just like in basketball. We still produce some of the world’s best like Mayweather, Crawford, Spence, the Garcia’s, Wilder, etc. Boxing has always been populated by those from the lowest socio-economic group and will continue to be, but many good athletes are going into other athletic endeavors. Many world champs and great fighters are now coming out of European countries. When I was growing up, I could only think of Ingemar Johansson. New York is no longer the mecca of boxing; that title has been taken over by Las Vegas, but the sport will continue to survive the world over.
ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY-former world title challenger; you name it in boxing, he’s done it!: I wouldn’t say that the USA has lost its presence entirely as the major player in the game but we have been joined by the most serious competition we have ever had. The U.K. may actually be number one right now but that doesn’t mean the U.S. has been wiped off the boxing map. Many countries who were not able to turn out professionals back in the 80’s like Cuba and Russia are now seeing some of their greatest amateurs turning pro and they are simply achieving what many great Americans have done in the past. We are not off the map; we have just been joined by many others, that’s all.
MIKE SILVER- author, writer, historian: Until the USA has an undisputed world heavyweight champion, it will appear to have lost dominance over the sport. Although certainly not as dominant a major player as in previous decades, the USA still holds 15 of the 37 title belts from featherweight to heavyweight. That’s 40 percent, which isn’t bad. I don’t include the six weight classes from light flyweight to bantamweight because there just aren’t enough small Americans competing in those divisions, nor is there much interest in them.
ALAN SWYER– film producer, creator “El Boxeo”: Though boxing has gotten a recent surge thanks to the heavyweight division — first Ruiz’s upset win, then Fury mauling Wilder — the powers that be have accepted its status as a niche sport. Bud Crawford may well be the best fighter in the world, but outside of fight fans, who knows about him? Or Lomachenko? How many newspapers even cover boxing regularly? Far too much changed when the Olympics — the spawning ground for Ali, Leonard, Oscar, and others — not merely de-emphasized it, but worse turned it into fencing. As I showed in my documentary “El Boxeo,” the popularity of the sport today owes largely to Latinos, followed by Brits and Eastern Europeans. Other than Mayweather (plus Andy Ruiz during his fifteen minutes of fame), what boxer has captured the imagination of the casual American sports fan of late?
RICHARD TORSNEY-former fighter; boxing official: (1) Boxing has always been practiced by the downtrodden. Young people in the US have more opportunities than in the past. Education is broadly available. US athletes can choose sports such as basketball, football, soccer, baseball, etc., that affords them reduced or even free college tuition. Boxing does not. Thus, we have fewer practitioners. (2) In days gone by the US media treated boxing as an important sport. It doesn’t any longer. Without publicity, interest is lost, fans don’t fill arenas and young folks don’t get to see their names and photos in the paper. Without media coverage it’s like a tree falling in the woods…, it makes no noise.
BOB TRIEGER-boxing publicist: I agree that America has lost some of its presence, but not all of it. Every trend in boxing has been in cycle and I’m confident that Americans will once again rule. NYC and LV remain two of the top markets in the world. It will be interesting to watch how America responds to the Coronavirus pandemic. America still produces many of the best boxers and that will not change,
GARY “DIGITAL” WILLIAMS-the voice of Boxing in the Beltway: I think it depends on the weight class. We are starting to lose credibility in the heavyweight division definitely. However, from 140-160, I think the US is in good shape.
PETER WOOD-author, former fighter, NY Boxing Hall of Fame inductee: I will answer this question with another question: If the US has lost its presence as a major player in professional boxing, who has replaced us?…I rest my case.
Observations:
The responses were pretty much evenly divided between “agree” and “disagree.”
Surprisingly (at least to me), many felt that as long as the U.S. does not rule the heavyweight division, it does not rule boxing.
I thought Brian “The Bizz” Bizzack summed up the downward trend of U.S. Boxing very well, but Larry Merchant made the case for the U.S. and many agree with his analysis if not his conclusion.
Iceman John Scully and many others opined that other countries have simply caught up with the U.S–and that’s a difficult one to debate.
Clearly, media coverage has been especially poor. Rich Torsney nailed it when he says, “Without media coverage it’s like a tree falling in the woods…, it makes no noise.”
Once again, my heartfelt thanks to everyone that contributed, particularly in these difficult times.
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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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