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.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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Arne K. Lang

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

19 hours ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

19 hours ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

2 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

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Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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