When ‘The Beast’ Ruled Boxing in Tampa

Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2021

When ‘The Beast’ Ruled Boxing in Tampa

A week from Sunday, the fifty-fifth Super Bowl will be played in Tampa, Florida. At various times, the city on the west coast of America’s third-most-populous state had a vibrant boxing scene. This was especially true in the mid-1980s when a fighter from Uganda, of all places, was embraced by the locals and made the turnstiles hum. A poll in the Tampa Bay Times named John Mugabi the fourth-most-notable athlete in the Bay region following Lee Roy Selmon and James Wilder, standouts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and golfer Gary Koch.

They called John Mugabi “The Beast.” When he fought Frank “The Animal” Fletcher before an SRO crowd in 1984, the event was dubbed “Wild Kingdom.” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

For a city like Tampa to become a boxing hub, the first pre-requisite is a tenacious promoter who is addicted to the sport. In Tampa, that man was the late John Alessi Sr. whose wholesale bakery and delicatessen, in the Alessi family since 1906, was a local institution. (Alessi’s chief lieutenant, Brad Jacobs, would remain in boxing and is currently the COO with Bob Arum’s Top Rank organization.)

Alessi had a veiled helpmate in Dr. Ferdie Pacheco who parlayed his role as Muhammad Ali’s personal physician into a gig as NBC’s director of boxing and ringside analyst. Boxing’s Renaissance man, Pacheco grew up in Ybor City, the Tampa neighborhood founded by Cuban immigrant cigar makers of Spanish descent. Although Pacheco settled in Miami, Ybor City was never far from his heart. He never missed an opportunity to go back and hold court at the historic Columbia restaurant where he had worked as a waiter as a teenager. When an NBC fight emanated from Tampa, Pacheco’s invisible hand was at work.

An Olympic silver medalist, John “The Beast” Mugabi was 14-0 when his British manager Mickey Duff brought him to Tampa in 1983 for a match with Indiana’s Gary Guiden. Mugabi knocked him out in the third round and Guiden, who was 39-6 heading in, never fought again.

This would be the first of John Mugabi’s nine fights in Tampa where he wound up purchasing a home. His bouts with Curtis Parker, James “Hard Rock” Green, the aforementioned Frank Fletcher, and Earl Hargrove were noteworthy.

Mugabi vs. Curtis Parker (Nov. 12, 1983)

They met at Tampa’s Sun Dome on a Saturday afternoon in a match nationally televised on NBC with the Tampa Bay area blacked out. A Philadelphia man, Parker was 24-4 heading in and had never been knocked off his feet, let alone stopped. But Mugabi had Parker fighting off his back foot from the opening gong and knocked him down twice before the bout was stopped in the opening frame.

Mugabi vs. James Green (Feb. 18, 1984)

They met on a Sunday afternoon at Tampa’s Hyatt Regency Hotel where Alessi potted many of his shows. The bout was buttressed by a strong undercard. Future heavyweight title-holders Bonecrusher Smith and Trevor Berbick were on the card, as was Mugabi’s stablemate Cornelius Boza-Edwards whose bout the previous year with Bobby Chacon was named The Ring magazine Fight of the Year. NBC televised only Mugabi’s fight.

“Hard Rock” Green, who came up the ladder in Atlantic City, was a rough customer, better than his 18-3 record would indicate. In the second round, Mugabi took a thumb in the eye, compromising his vision. That was seemingly a big advantage for the muscular five-foot-five Green as “The Beast” had never fought beyond six rounds, but Mugabi persevered and took Green out in the 10^th.

This fight before a raucous SRO crowd was the early favorite for Fight of the Year, but would be edged out by the rematch between Edwin Rosario and Jose Luis Ramirez.

Frank Fletcher (Aug. 5, 1984)

“Wild Kingdom,” another Sunday afternoon affair on NBC, was contested at Tampa’s Egypt Shrine Temple before another SRO crowd. Frank “The Animal” Fletcher was on the comeback trail after getting stopped in a middleweight title elimination match by Juan Domingo Roldan.

Mugabi stalked Fletcher and caught up with him in the fourth round, blasting him out with a four-punch combination. “The Animal” had one more fight before leaving the sport with an 18-6-1 record.

Earl Hargrove (March 17, 1985)

This St. Patrick’s Day card on NBC, yet another sellout, was billed as the “Shootout at the OK Corral.” Between them, Mugabi and Hargrove had 49 knockouts in 50 fights. Hargrove was 26-1, his lone defeat coming in a world title fight with Mark Medal.

Mugabi had a habit of beating up on Philadelphia fighters and Earl Hargrove, who came out blazing, would suffer the same fate as Parker and Fletcher, only quicker. Mugabi dismissed him in 109 seconds. The fight didn’t last as long as ring announcer Mark Biero’s pre-fight introductions.

—

Mugabi’s braintrust had been angling for a fight with WBC 154-pound title-holder Thomas Hearns, but Hearns wanted no part of him, bypassing “The Beast” for matches with Roberto Duran and Fred Hutchings. Ergo, Mugabi set his sights on middleweight kingpin Marvin Hagler. They met in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace on a soggy evening, March 10, 1986. Hagler was making his 11^th title defense.

Mugabi was 25-0 with all of his wins coming by stoppage. Only nine of his opponents had lasted beyond the second round. Against Hagler, he was a beast but Marvelous Marvin was the more beastly beast. The fight ended in the 11^th round with the Ugandan on the seat of his pants after eating two crushing right hands.

There were some doubts about Mugabi despite his eye-popping record. In defeat, Mugabi dispelled many of those doubts. The fight was competitive through 10 heats with Mugabi trailing by only one point on the scorecard of Dave Moretti. When Hagler left the ring, said LA Times sportswriter Jim Murray, “his face looked like a sack of plums.” Said Hagler’s manager Pat Petronelli, “Marvin’s whole body hurts.”

After this fight, Mugabi dropped back to 154 and fought Duane Thomas, a Kronk Gym fighter, for the vacant 154-pound belt. The fight was stopped in the third round after Mugabi turned his back on the referee, unable to see out of his left eye, which he claimed had been thumbed. Then, after taking off all of 1987, Mugabi won the 154-pound title in his second crack at it with a first-round stoppage of Rene Jacquot in Paris. (The lightly-regarded Jacquot had won the belt from Donald Curry in what was truly an astounding upset.)

The belt was at stake on Dec. 5, 1986, when Mugabi opposed Terry Norris at the Sun Dome in what would be his final appearance in Tampa. The 22-year-old Norris, trained by up-and-comer Abel Sanchez at a compound on a California ranch situated by the Mexican border, gave the Beast a taste of his own medicine, stopping him in the opening round before a stunned crowd that stood around for an hour after the fight trying to figure out what had just happened.

One hard punch from Norris and Mugabi turned into a zombie. He fought as if he were sleepwalking, which he blamed on pills that he had taken for itching a few hours before the fight. He said he did not know the name of the pills which were provided to him by a doctor in England and which he consumed without anyone knowing.

The final blow to John Mugabi’s reputation came at Prince Albert Hall in London where he was knocked out in the opening round by Gerald McClellan. Five years after this setback he popped up in Australia where he had a series of small fights before quitting the sport for keeps.

John “The Beast” Mugabi had 50 pro fights in all, winning 42, but like so many boxers he left the sport with little to show for it. An illiterate who never learned to read and write, he was easy prey for the finaglers, of which there are more than a few lurking about in professional boxing. He now lives in Brisbane where he hangs out at the gym where Jeff Horn and Dennis Hogan train while picking up side jobs as a personal trainer.

It has been written that in Brisbane, Mugabi is anonymous; when he walks the streets, no one recognizes him. That’s quite a comedown for a boxer who was once the Toast of the Town in Tampa.

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Arne K. Lang

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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

Published

3 days ago

March 19, 2023

David A. Avila

Mercito-Gesta-Victorious-Over-Jojo-Diaz-at-the-Long-Beach-Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.

Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.

Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.

The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.

In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.

Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.

Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.

From the seventh until the 10^th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.

“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”

Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.

Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”

Other Bouts

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.

A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.

The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.

San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

Published

3 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Jojo-Diaz's-Slump-Continues-Mercito-Gestra-Prevails-on-a-Split-Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.

Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.

Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.

With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.

Co-Feature

Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.

Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.

Other Bouts of Note

New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.

In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.

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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Published

3 days ago

March 18, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Big-Baby-Wins-the-Battle-of-Behemoths-TKOs-Big-Daddy-in-6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.

It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.

Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.

In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21^st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.

The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.

As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.

Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.

A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.

It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.

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