Brother Naazim’s Remarkable Life is Now a Wrap

Published

5 years ago

July 24, 2020

Brother-Naazim's-Remarkable-Life-is-Now-a-Wrap

Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once noted that “you can see a lot of stuff by looking,” and part of the legend of Naazim Richardson, who passed away today at 56 after years of declining health, is his attention to even the most seemingly mundane of details, like the wrapping of a fighter’s hands.

Although Richardson’s place in his hometown of Philadelphia’s boxing annals was already secure, or mostly so, his national and global profile rose considerably the night of January 24, 2009, when he served, for the first time, as the chief second for “Sugar” Shane Mosley, who was 37 years of age and a 4-1 underdog heading into his challenge of WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Margarito was being hailed as one of the sport’s most devastating punchers after he had beaten the great Miguel Cotto bloody in winning by 11^th-round stoppage six months earlier.

But in Margarito’s dressing room before the fight to observe the wrapping of his hands, a chore for which many untrained or disinterested state inspectors often give short shrift, Richardson spotted something that very well may have been a determining factor in the outcome, a rousing 11^th-round TKO by Mosley. Officials for the California State Athletic Commission, alerted to the fact Margarito’s hand wraps were illegal (and may well have been for the Cotto fight and others, which might be why Margarito was suspended for one year by the CSAC), agreed that Richardson’s objection was valid. All of a sudden, Margarito’s’s vaunted power seemed less so with rewrapped hands, and after the seventh round, as Mosley continued to pound away at the Mexican, HBO blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley excitedly advised viewers that every big-name fighter considering a change in his corner would soon have Richardson’s phone number on speed-dial.

As was his wont, “Brother” Naazim, a devout Muslim disinclined to seek out the spotlight, refused to take much credit for his fighter’s bravura performance. Nor was everyone inclined to give him his due then; noted trainer Teddy Atlas even downplayed the hand-wraps issue, calling Richardson the “flavor of the month” in a business that is “fickle that way.”

The same scene played out earlier, on September 29, 2001, with Richardson serving as the assistant trainer under Bouie Fisher for Bernard Hopkins’ middleweight unification showdown with the favored Felix Trinidad in Madison Square Garden. Again in the opponent’s dressing room to observe the hand-wrapping, he pointed out a violation to inspectors for the New York State Athletic Commission who almost needed to be prodded into adhering to commission rules prohibiting “layering.” Hopkins then went out and dominated from the opening bell, scoring a dramatic 12^th-round TKO, arguably the most impressive performance of his long career.

“If you put on tape, then gauze, then tape, then gauze, it’s like a (plaster) cast. Naazim did a brilliant job in spotting what (Felix Trinidad Sr.) was doing with the wraps,” Hopkins said in describing layering, which is in violation of rules that stipulate tape cannot be applied directly over the knuckles, and that the required 10 yards of gauze and two yards of tape must be applied in one winding.

Once again, the modest Richardson – who returned to his training duties after recovering from the stroke he suffered in 2008 — was disinclined to try to horn in on Hopkins’ moment of glory. “Bernard just didn’t get hit a lot,” he said. “If Trinidad had bricks in (his gloves), he still wouldn’t have beaten Bernard that night.”

A 2014 inductee into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame, Richardson would move up from Hopkins’ assistant trainer to the top spot after B-Hop and Fisher had a falling out in 2006, being the primary voice in the corner for several more of the cagey veteran’s signature victories. In addition to his work with Hopkins and Mosley, a Californian, he also received kudos for the improvements made on his watch by another Philly guy, cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham.

“He worked with some good fighters, and it was obvious they were all fundamentally sound,” Atlas, who came to regard Richardson as something more substantial than a flavor of the month, said upon hearing of his fellow trainer’s passing. “That’s the mark of a good trainer. He gave his fighters a base upon which to raise their skill level.”

John DiSanto, founder of Phillyboxinghistory.com, is a historian of Philadelphia boxing and he said that Richardson has earned his place alongside a great fight town’s most legendary trainers.

“Naazim will always be remembered as one of the best trainers to come out of Philly,” DiSanto said. “Just an amazing guy. There was nobody who liked to talk boxing more than him. If the conversation was about boxing, he’d just wear you out. He’d talk you under the table.

“The guy’s a legitimate star, and he’ll be greatly missed.”

But while Richardson is mostly known now for his association with world champions such as Hopkins, Mosley and Cunningham, he first began to draw attention as the father of a couple of eight-year-old phenoms, identical twins Rock and Tiger Allen, as well as Mike and Karl Dargan, whom he coached at the Concrete Jungle Gym in North Philadelphia.

As precocious grade-schoolers, the Allen twins drew attention for being able to crank out literally thousands of pushups and in tandem winning dozens of national tournaments. They were to have become as renowned and accomplished as was Hopkins, but a dark cloud arose at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in Tampa when both twins were disqualified. Tiger was the only one of the 96 entrants to fail to make weight, coming in a whopping 4½ pounds over the 125-pound limit. Rock won his opening match in the 132-pound weight class, but the reigning U.S. national champion was disqualified when officials of USA Boxing determined that Tiger had attempted to weigh in in his stead, and signed paperwork indicating he was Rock.

Rock swallowed his disappointment and returned for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the American squad that competed in Athens, Greece, where he lost his first-round bout.

Upon turning pro, Rock, more dedicated to achieving his pro goals, was 15-0 with seven KOs as a rising welterweight prospect when he and Tiger, both 29, were both seriously injured in a one-vehicle crash on June 7, 2011. It weighed heavily on him that two young fighters he had defeated at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, Lamont Peterson and Devon Alexander, went on to become world champions as pros.

“He’s seeing guys that he beat go on with their careers,” the father said in May 2013. “You don’t think it bothers him that he won’t – can’t – be where they are? It does, man. It hurts.”

Naazim Richardson’s passing closes the book on a chapter of Philadelphia boxing that, at varying turns, is both celebrated and controversial. But one thing is undeniable: when it came to anything related to the sport to which he devoted so much of his life, as DiSanto noted, Naazim Richardson definitely knew his stuff.

– – –

A New Orleans native, Bernard Fernandez retired in 2012 after a 43-year career as a newspaper sports writer, the last 28 years with the Philadelphia Daily News. A former five-term president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, Fernandez won the BWAA’s Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism in 1998 and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service in 2005. Last year, Fernandez was accorded the highest honor for a boxing writer when he was named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2020.

This past April 30, Fernandez’s memoir, “Championship Rounds,” was released by RKMA Publishing. For more information about “Championship Rounds” including where to purchase the book CLICK HERE.

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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2025

Thomas Hauser

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”

By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.

Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.

The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.

On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.

The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:

* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”

* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”

* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”

* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”

* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”

* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”

* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”

* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”

* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”

* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”

* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”

* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”

* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”

So . . . Any questions?

****

Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.

Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.

Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.

It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.

Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.

“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”

At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”

Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”

And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”

“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:

https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329

In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12^th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.

The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.

But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.

Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.

Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.

As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2025

David A. Avila

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In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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