It’s Kentucky Derby Week (sort of), so Let’s Talk Boxing

Published

5 years ago

April 30, 2020

It’s Kentucky Derby Week (sort of), so Let’s Talk Boxing

This is the week that many of us would have shifted our gaze from boxing to thoroughbred racing. The Kentucky Derby, an event pinned to the first Saturday in May, is America’s biggest single-day sporting spectacle aside from the Super Bowl.

How many people nowadays are as conversant with the Sport of Kings as with the Sweet Science? Whatever the number, it has to be miniscule. But there was a time when men of a certain age who followed boxing religiously were also, by and large, attuned to the doings on the turf.

All sports were once identified with gambling, but none more so than horseracing and boxing. In the late 19^th century, as prizefighting was coming out of the shadows, the leading destinations for big fights were Coney Island, New Orleans, and the Bay Area of San Francisco. It was no coincidence that horse racing also flourished in these locales. Coney Island, which was then an adult playground – having not yet morphed into a family amusement park — then housed three racetracks which sat in close proximity. Jockeys were well-represented among boxers in the smallest weight class.

Back in those days, boxing writers often doubled-up as turf writers during the racing season. The boxing scribe invariably knew where to find the best odds in the bookmakers’ ring; the baseball guy not so much.

The great John Lardner, who created vivid portraits of Stanley Ketchel, Doc Kearns, and other boxing characters, could hold his own talking angles and systems with the sharpest of horse handicappers. The same could be said of Hall of Fame boxing writer Dan Parker who authored an outstanding primer for novice horseplayers titled “The ABC of Horseracing.”

Bill Corum, a nationally syndicated columnist, had his feet planted in both worlds while writing for the New York Journal-American. Corum did hundreds of fights on radio as Don Dunphy’s sidekick before scooting off to Bluegrass Country where he became the president of Churchill Downs.

The boxing/turf writer, someone who follows these two sports above all others, appears to have passed into oblivion with the death of Bill Nack in 2018. The title of Nack’s 2004 memoir, “My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money, and the Sporting Life,” captures his fancies but it should be noted that Nack wasn’t a conventional turf writer. He was drawn to the romance and pageantry of the racing game, feeling no obligation to share any tidbits that might prove useful to a fellow trundling off to the track with hopes of returning home with a few more bucks in his pocket.

During the bare-knuckle days in England, fights were commonly hitched to horseracing festivals. The custom, although somewhat diluted, carried over to the United States. With the advent of electric lights, many big fights were staged on the eve of a big race or the eve of the opening day of a racing meet.

Between 1921 and 1947, 13 future Hall of Famers boxed in Louisville on Derby Eve. In order of appearance, they were Joe Lynch, Memphis Pal Moore, Sammy Mandell, Bud Taylor, Young Stribling, Tommy Loughran, Mickey Walker, Jackie Fields, Freddie Miller, Barney Ross, Wesley Ramey, Sammy Angott, and Joey Maxim. All of their fights were held at the Jefferson County Armory, Louisville’s largest indoor meeting place.

Lynch, Loughran, Walker, Miller, Ross, and Angott were title-holders, but only Miller and Angott fought title fights in Louisville. In those days, champions typically fought non-title fights – sometimes lots of non-title fights – between title defenses and Kentucky actually had a law against title fights that wasn’t rescinded until 1934.

The well-known fighters that fought in Louisville on Derby Eve were typically on the downward slope of their careers, not necessarily washed-up, but well-seasoned. The American Legion, which had the final say-so on approving matches, wanted a recognizable name to ensure good newspaper coverage.

The exception was Sammy Angott who won the vacant NBA lightweight title (recognized in 41 states) in Louisville on Derby Eve, 1940, with a 15-round unanimous decision over Chicago’s Davey Day.

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Angott hadn’t yet reached his peak. He was still three years away from what many would consider his signature win, a 10-round unanimous decision over Willie Pep at Madison Square Garden. Pep was 62-0 going in.

There were, however, extenuating circumstances. Angott was born in Pennsylvania and made his pro debut in Brooklyn, but in the late 1930s he made his home in Louisville and was one of the city’s most popular athletes before the onset of his title reign.

The thread between boxing and the Kentucky Derby frayed and eventually broke apart. The reasons aren’t completely clear, but the local organizers took to sponsoring competing attractions on the eve of the big race, giving visitors many more diversions from which to choose.

Many racetrack terms diffused into boxing. In the olden days when proceeds from winning bets were an important component of a boxer’s earnings, boxers were often accused of fighting under wraps, meaning fighting in a way that concealed their true form so as to build up the odds in a rematch. The unscrupulous Abe Attell, by his own gloating admission, mastered this artifice. “Under wraps” was originally a racetrack term. It denoted the practice by which a trainer covered a horse’s unique leg markings with bandages so as to confuse the clockers that timed the workouts. I don’t know who invented the term “tomato can,” but before this cruel aspersion entered the language an inferior boxer was often classed as a selling-plater, the reference to a horse only good enough to run in a cheap claiming race where every horse is for sale.

Nowadays, both horse racing and boxing are derided as an old man’s sport. This is certainly true of horseracing. A handful of historic races, most notably the Kentucky Derby, attract large crowds, but on an ordinary racing day, the races play to a sea of empty seats and the few regulars in attendance are invariably pensioners. The sport would have died out years ago if the U.S. government hadn’t carved out an exemption for horseracing when updating legislation prohibiting sports betting across state lines and if the technology hadn’t advanced to where a man could wager into a pari-mutuel pool from the comfort of his home or office.

As for boxing, it has struggled to attract new fans in the United States in the white non-Hispanic demographic, but calling it an old man’s sport betrays a parochial sensibility. Moreover, it should be noted that the popularity of boxing has always been cyclical.

—

The Kentucky Derby, a rite of May from the very inception, has been held every year on the first Saturday of the month since 1932.

With one exception.

In January of 1945, all of America’s racetracks went dark by order of the Department of War Mobilization, a lockout that ended with the signing of the Armistice on May 8. That year, the Derby was run on June 9, five weeks past the due date.

The United States, indeed virtually the entire world, now finds itself in a different kind of war. The 2020 edition of the “Run for the Roses,” the 145^th renewal, won’t transpire until Sept. 5 (knock on wood) where it will rub up against the first big weekend of college football (knock on wood).

I’m not a horseplayer, but I wouldn’t let a Kentucky Derby pass without having a flutter (a British expression). Over the years I have made a few nice scores, a corroboration of the daffodil that even a blind squirrel will sometimes find an acorn.

I’ll miss the Kentucky Derby this Saturday. I have no tie to Kentucky, but hearing “My Old Kentucky Home” always brings a tear to my eye. And the sense of anticipation as the final horses enter the starting gate just can’t be beat.

Stay safe. Be well.

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Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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