Brother Naazim’s Remarkable Life is Now a Wrap

Published

4 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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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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