Forged by Longtime Coach Al Mitchell, Mikaela Mayer Seems Destined for Stardom

Published

4 years ago

June 18, 2021

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Mikaela Mayer makes the first defense of her WBO 130-pound world title on Saturday at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas against her toughest opponent yet in Argentine veteran Erica Anabella Farias. A win by Mayer would be another feather in the cap of her 77-year-old trainer Al Mitchell who is one of boxing’s most interesting personalities.

One of the bedrocks of amateur boxing in America, Al Mitchell grew up in Philadelphia in one of the city’s toughest neighborhoods. “Most of the kids on my block would eventually go to prison,” says Mitchell.

Some of them spent time in prison with Mitchell who got caught up in the street life as a teenager and was remanded to the city’s Holmesburg Prison whose alumni would come to include Bernard Hopkins. When he got out, he went back to the recreation center where he had learned to box but rather than resuming his amateur career, he found coaching more to his liking.

In 1988, Mitchell took a team of boxers to a Junior Olympics tournament at the Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Michigan. Founded in 1985, the center was designed for the purpose of allowing elite athletes to continue their education while providing them with the resources to maximize their athletic potential. Athletes of college age attend classes tuition-free at Northern Michigan University and reside with their younger cohorts in the school’s dorms. For many years, NMU was home to the National Junior Olympics Tournament.

In an oft-told story, when Mitchell was returning with his team to Philadelphia, he came across a 15-year-old boxer from Georgia who was stranded at the airport. Mitchell called the kid’s mother and promised her that he would see that her son got home safely and let his Philadelphia team go on ahead without him.

The 15-year-old boxer was Vernon Forrest who would turn pro under Mitchell’s tutelage and go on to win world titles in two weight classes.

The honchos at the training center were impressed with Mitchell’s compassion and with the tools displayed by the young boxers he brought there. The coaching position was vacant and they induced Mitchell to take the job. He arrived in Marquette in the summer of 1989. He reckoned that he would only be there for a few months.

From a ‘hood in Philadelphia to a sleepy college town in Michigan’s Northern Peninsula is quite a transition. Marquette is white; not predominantly white, just white. And then there’s the weather. Arriving in the summer, Mitchell didn’t appreciate how cold it would get when winter set in. In December, January, and February, the average daily HIGH temperature in Marquette is below freezing.

Mitchell acknowledges that he almost left several times. His boxers, notably Vernon Forrest and Ricky Ray Taylor, a Golden Gloves champion from the Mississippi Gulf Coast who never turned pro and currently trains boxers in New York, talked him out of it. In time, however, Mitchell settled in. When the weather is nice, he says, Marquette is the most beautiful town in the world. And the locals were more than welcoming.

After three years in the NIU dorm where he lived on the same floor as his boxers, Mitchell, who is divorced, purchased a home. It’s four blocks from the shoreline of Lake Superior and one-and-a-half blocks from the college. When he is gone for any length of time, he can count on his neighbors to mow his lawn.

“My neighbors all have the keys to my house,” he says. “In Philadelphia that would never happen. Around here, if I hear bang, bang, bang, I know that it’s just a car backfiring.”

Mitchell was never shot, but he was brutally attacked by robbers during the time that he owned a North Philadelphia bodega, a place where most walk-ins came to turn in their numbers, i.e., their selections in the daily lottery-type game that was once a staple of community life in America’s ghettos.

The assailants got him when he was closing up for the day and left him in such bad shape that he spent five days in a coma during a lengthy hospital stay. He bears a souvenir of the incident, a plate in his head.

Mitchell was named the head coach of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team that included Floyd Mayweather, David Reid, Fernando Vargas, and Antonio Tarver, and was a consultant to the 2004 and 2012 squads, the latter of which was the first to include women.

The greatest U.S. Olympic team was the 1976 edition that won seven medals (five gold) in Montreal. They set the benchmark against which future squads would be unfairly compared.

There were 11 weight divisions in 1976, a number that would grow to 12 and currently sits at eight for boxers with male chromosomes. A boxer faces more hurdles today as there are more boxing federations which has given rise to more international qualification tournaments. Back in the days of Sugar Ray Leonard and the Spinks brothers, notes Mitchell, a U.S. Olympic boxer who made it all the way to the finals wouldn’t have faced more than one Russian. “Today he may face three.”

By that he means that in the old days, fighters from such countries as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan would have been classified as Russians. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, those countries became separate entities. And they have mirrored the Russians and Cubans by investing heavily in their amateur athletes with stipends and other perks that encourage their boxers to delay or forego their entrance into the professional ranks.

Mitchell has proposed moving the Olympic boxing competition from the summer to the winter. With a less cluttered cast of athletes, dispersed over fewer sports, there would theoretically be room for the International Olympic Committee to reinstate the discarded weight divisions. In the United States, this would inevitably translate into more ink for the boxing team, raising the profile of a sport that many no longer consider mainstream.

Mitchell’s proposal fell on deaf ears.

As for the U.S. delegation in Tokyo — five male and four female – Mitchell says it’s a solid team with the women likely to out-perform the men because they have stayed in the program longer. Two of the four women – Ginny Fuchs and Naomi Graham – are in their thirties. On the men’s side, Duke Ragan is the granddaddy at age 24.

The last American to win a gold medal was Andre Ward who accomplished the feat at the 2004 Games in Athens. Ward has morphed into a color commentator for ESPN Boxing where he has impressed knowledgeable fans with his insightfulness.

Al Mitchell, who worked extensively with Ward before he turned pro, isn’t surprised. “Ward and Floyd Mayweather, who was on my 1976 team, had the highest ring IQs of all the boxers that I have coached. When I first worked with Andre, I thought this kid doesn’t punch hard enough to go very far. But he had great anticipation and no one was better at processing what his opponent had and making the right adjustments. I had no doubt that he would perform better against Kovalev in their second meeting than he did in their first.”

Mitchell notes that Andre Ward’s sidekick Tim Bradley is also one of his former students. “He also does a great job and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Mitchell’s style of coaching has been likened to that of a drill sergeant. He would roust his boxers out of bed at 5 am to go running and it made no difference what the weather was like outside. His gruff demeanor when putting his boxers through their paces may have been inherited from his father, a staff sergeant during the Korean War who returned home with PTSD symptoms and died when Al was 16.

Needless to say, many of the boxers who come to Marquette don’t have the fortitude to stay there very long and who can blame them? It’s no picnic, to put it mildly. When Mikaela Mayer first turned up, Mitchell assumed that she would hang around for a few weeks, at most. She fooled him. Asked to identify her chief asset, Mitchell cited her work ethic. The two have been together now for 11 years.

Mitchell had no interest in teaching women how to be better boxers – “My father would turn over in his grave,” he told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel – but with women now eligible to fight in the Olympics, he felt he had little choice. And Mayer owes her success to more than just a good work ethic. Mitchell and his top assistant Kay Koroma have crafted her into a very formidable fighter who, at age 30, perhaps has yet to reach her peak. (And by the way, she’s a lot more attractive than the photo of her that appears in boxrec, whoever that may be; it certainly doesn’t look like her.)

Back in Philadelphia before boxing became all-consuming, Mitchell concedes that he was a hustler. In addition to having his fingers in the illegal numbers game, he ran a speakeasy. He must have been a hard-boiled guy in those days but one wouldn’t know it if meeting him for the first time today. He comes across as a gentle soul although one suspects it wouldn’t be a smart idea to give him any lip.

For her fight with Erica Farias, Mikaela Mayer spent four weeks at Mitchell’s gym in Marquette (which is no longer formally attached to the university which currently supports athletes in only two Olympic summer sports; Greco-Roman wrestling and weightlifting), then three weeks at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, finishing up with a week at the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas.

Her bout with Farias will be the co-feature of a show headlined by the WBA/IBF bantamweight title fight between Japan’s baby-faced assassin Naoya Inoue and Filipino challenger Michael Dasmarinas. The bouts, and a third fight between Adam Lopez and Isaac Dogboe, air free on ESPN with a start time of 7 pm ET. Undercard action commences at 5 pm ET on ESPN+.

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Every Joe Gans Lightweight Title Fight – Part 5: Kid McPartland

Lamont Roach holds Tank Davis to a Draw in Brooklyn

Published

6 hours ago

March 2, 2025

David A. Avila

Lamont Roach holds Tank Davis to a Draw in Brooklyn

They just know each other, too well.

Longtime neighborhood rivals Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Lamont Roach met on the biggest stage and despite 12 rounds of back-and-forth action could not determine a winner as the WBA lightweight title fight was ruled a majority draw on Saturday.

The title does not change hands.

Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) and Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) no longer live and train in the same Washington D.C. hood, but even in front of a large crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they could not distinguish a clear winner.

“We grew up in the sport together,” explained Davis who warned fans of Roach’s abilities.

Davis entered the ring defending the WBA lightweight title and Roach entered as a WBA super featherweight titlist moving up a weight division. Davis was a large 10-1 favorite according to oddsmakers.

The first several rounds were filled with feints and stance reshuffling for a tactical advantage. Both tested each other’s reflexes and counter measures to determine if either had picked up any new moves or gained new power.

Neither champion wanted to make a grave error.

“I was catching him with some clean shots. But he kept coming so I didn’t want to make no mistakes,” said Davis of his cautionary approach.

By the third round Davis opened-up with a more aggressive approach, especially with rocket lefts. Though some connected, Roach retaliated with counters to offset Davis’s speedy work. It was a theme repeated round after round.

Roach had never been knocked out and showed a very strong chin even against his old pal. He also seemed to know exactly where Davis would be after unloading one of his patented combinations and would counter almost every time with precise blows.

It must have been unnerving for Davis.

Back and forth they exchanged and during one lightning burst by Davis, his rival countered perfectly with a right that shook and surprised Davis.

Davis connected often with shots to the body and head, but Roach never seemed rattled or stunned. Instead, he immediately countered with his own blows and connected often.

It was bewildering.

In a strange moment at the beginning of the ninth round, after a light exchange of blows Davis took a knee and headed to his corner to get his face wiped. It was only after the fight completed that he revealed hair product was stinging his eye. That knee gesture was not called a knockdown by the referee Steve Willis.

“It should be a knockdown. But I’m not banking on that knockdown to win,” said Roach.

The final three rounds saw each fighter erupt with blinding combinations only to be countered. Both fighters connected but remained staunchly upright.

“For sure Lamont is a great fighter, he got the skills, punching power it was a learned lesson,” said Davis after the fight.

Both felt they had won the fight but are willing to meet again.

“I definitely thought I won, but we can run it back,” said Roach who beforehand told fans and experts he could win the fight. “I got the opportunity to show everybody.”

He also showed a stunned crowd he was capable of at least a majority draw after 12 back-and-forth rounds against rival Davis. One judge saw Davis the winner 115-113 but two others saw it 114-114 for the majority draw.

“Let’s have a rematch in New York City. Let’s bring it back,” said Davis.

Imagine, after 20 years or so neighborhood rivals Davis and Roach still can’t determine who is better.

Other Bouts

Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) surprised Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KOs) with a more strategic attack and dominated the WBC super lightweight championship fight between southpaws to win by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

If Valenzuela expected Russell to telegraph his punches like Isaac Cruz did when they fought in Los Angeles, he was greatly surprised. The Maryland fighter known for his power rarely loaded up but simply kept his fists in Valenzuela’s face with short blows and seldom left openings for counters.

It was a heady battle plan.

It wasn’t until the final round that Valenzuela was able to connect solidly and by then it was too late. Russell’s chin withstood the attack and he walked away with the WBC title by unanimous decision.

Despite no knockdowns Russell was deemed the winner 119-109 twice and 120-108.

“This is a small stepping stone. I’m coming for the rest of the belts,” said Russell. “In this sport you got to have a type of mentality and he (Valenzuela) brought it out of me.”

Dominican Republic’s Alberto Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) won the battle between slick southpaws against Spain’s Sandor Martin (42-4,15 KOs) by split decision to keep the WBC super lightweight in a back-and-forth struggle that saw neither able to pull away.

Though Puello seemed to have the faster hands Martin’s defense and inside fighting abilities gave the champion problems. It was only when Puello began using his right jab as a counter-punch did he give the Spanish fighter pause.

Still, Martin got his licks in and showed a very good chin when smacked by Puello. Once he even shook his head as if to say those power shots can’t hurt me.

Neither fighter ever came close to going down as one judge saw Martin the winner 115-113, but two others favored Puello 115-113, 116-112 who retains the world title by split decision.

Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez (10-0, 7 KOs) showed that his lack of an extensive pro resume could not keep him from handling former champion Julian “J-Rock” Williams (29-5-1) by unanimous decision to win an interim super welterweight title.

Tellez had better speed and sharp punches especially with the uppercuts. But he ran out of ideas when trying to press and end the fight against the experienced Williams. After 12 rounds and no knockdowns all three judges saw Tellez the winner 119-109, 118-110, 117-111.

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Dueling Cards in the U.K. where Crocker Controversially Upended Donovan in Belfast

Published

19 hours ago

March 1, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Great Britain’s Top Promoters, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, went head-to-head today on DAZN with fight cards in Belfast, Northern Ireland (Hearn) and Bournemouth, England (Warren). Hearn’s show, topped by an all-Ireland affair between undefeated welterweights Lewis Crocker (Belfast) and Paddy Donovan (Limerick) was more compelling and produced more drama.

Those who wagered on Donovan, who could have been procured at “even money,” suffered a bad beat when he was disqualified after the eighth frame. To that point, Donovan was well ahead on the cards despite having two points deducted from his score for roughhousing, more specially leading with his head and scraping Crocker’s damaged eye with his elbow.

Fighting behind a high guard, Crocker was more economical. But Donovan landed more punches and the more damaging punches. A welt developed under Crocker’s left eye in round four and had closed completely when the bout was finished. By then, Donovan had scored two knockdowns, both in the eighth round. The first was a sweeping right hook followed by a left to the body. The second, another sweeping right hook, clearly landed a second after the bell and referee Michael McConnell disqualified him.

Donovan, who was fit to be tied, said, “I thought I won every round. I beat him up. I was going to knock him out.”

It was the first loss for Paddy Donovan (14-1), a 26-year-old southpaw trained by fellow Irish Traveler Andy Lee. By winning, the 28-year-old Crocker (21-0, 11 KOs) became the mandatory challenger for the winner of the April 12 IBF welterweight title fight between Boots Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis.

Co-Feature

In a light heavyweight contest between two boxers in their mid-30’s, London’s Craig Richards scored an eighth-round stoppage of Belfast’s Padraig McCrory. Richards, who had faster hands and was more fluid, ended the contest with a counter left hook to the body. Referee Howard Foster counted the Irishman out at the 1:58 mark of round 10.

Richards, who improved to 19-4-1 (12 KOs) was a consensus 9/5 favorite in large part because he had fought much stiffer competition. All four of his losses had come in 12-round fights including a match with Dmitry Bivol.

Also

In a female bout slated for “10,” Turkish campaigner Elif Nur Turhan (10-0, 6 KOs) blasted out heavily favored Shauna Browne (5-1) in the opening round. “Remember the name,” said Eddie Hearn who envisions a fight between the Turk and WBC world lightweight title-holder Caroline Dubois who defends her title on Friday against South Korean veteran Bo Mi Re Shin at Prince Albert Hall.

Bournemouth

Ryan Garner, who hails from the nearby coastal city of Southampton and reportedly sold 1,500 tickets, improved to 17-0 (8) while successfully defending his European 130-pound title with a 12-round shutout of sturdy but limited Salvador Jiminez (14-0-1) who was making his first start outside his native Spain.

Garner has a style reminiscent of former IBF world flyweight title-holder Sunny Edwards. He puts his punches together well, has good footwork and great stamina, but his lack of punching power may prevent him from going beyond the domestic level.

Co-Feature

In a ho-hum light heavyweight fight, Southampton’s Lewis Edmondson won a lopsided 12-round decision over Oluwatosin Kejawa. The judges had it 120-110, 119-109, and 118-110.

A consensus 10/1 favorite, Edmondson, managed by Billy Joe Saunders, improved to 11-0 (8) while successfully defending the Commonwealth title he won with an upset of Dan Azeez. Kejawa was undefeated in 11 starts heading in, but those 11 wins were fashioned against palookas who were collectively 54-347-9 at the time that he fought them.

An 8-rounder between Joe Joyce and 40-year-old trial horse Patrick Korte was scratched as a safety precaution. The 39-year-old Joyce, coming off a bruising tiff with Derek Chisora, has a date in Manchester in five weeks with rugged Dillian Whyte in the opposite corner.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 315: Tank Davis, Hackman, Ortiz and More

Published

2 days ago

February 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 315: Tank Davis, Hackman, Ortiz and More

Brooklyn returns as host for elite boxing this weekend and sadly the world of pugilism lost one of its big celebrity fans this week.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), the “Little Big Man” of prizefighting, returns and faces neighborhood rival Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) for the WBA lightweight world title on Saturday March 1, at Barclays Center. PPV.COM and Amazon Prime will stream the TGB Promotions card.

Both hail from the Washington D.C. region and have gym ties from the rough streets of D.C. and Baltimore. They know each other well. I also know those streets well.

Davis has rocketed to fame mostly for his ability to discombobulate opponents with a single punch despite his small body frame. Fans love watching him probe and pierce bigger men before striking with mongoose speed. Plus, he has a high skill set. He’s like a 21^st century version of Henry Armstrong. Size doesn’t matter.

“Lamont coming with his best. I’m coming with my best,” said Davis. “He got good skills that’s why he’s here.”

Roach reminds me of those DC guys I knew back in the day during a short stint at Howard University. You can’t ever underestimate them or their capabilities. I saw him perform many times in the Southern California area while with Golden Boy Promotions. Aside from his fighting skills, he’s rough and tough and whatever it takes to win he will find.

“He is here for a reason. He got good skills, obviously he got good power,” said Roach.

“I know what I can do.”

But their close family connections could make a difference.

During the press conference Davis refrained from his usual off-color banter because of his ties to Roach’s family, especially mother Roach.

Respect.

Will that same respect hinder Davis from opening up with all gun barrels on Roach?

When the blood gets hot will either fighter lose his cool and make a mistake?

Lot of questions will be answered when these two old street rivals meet.

Other bouts

Several other fights on the TGB/PBC card look tantalizing.

Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) who recently defeated Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in a fierce battle for the WBA super lightweight world title, now faces Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) another one of those sluggers from the DC area.

Both are southpaws who can hit. The lefty with the best right hook will prevail.

Also, WBC super lightweight titlist Alberto Puello (23-0, 10 KOs) who recently defeated Russell in a close battle in Las Vegas, faces Spain’s clever Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs). Martin defeated the very talented Mikey Garcia and nearly toppled Teofimo Lopez.

It’s another battle between lefties.

A super welterweight clash pits Cuba’s undefeated Yoenis Tellez (9-0, 7 KOs) against Philadelphia veteran Julian “J-Rock” Williams (29-4-1, 17 KOs). Youth versus wisdom in this fight. J-Rock will reveal the truth.

Side note for PPV.COM

Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Lampley heads the PPV.COM team for the Tank Davis versus Lamont Roach fight card on Saturday.

Don’t miss out on his marvelous coverage. Few have the ability to analyze and deliver the action like Lampley. And even fewer have his verbal skills and polish.

R.I.P. Gene Hackman

It was 30 years ago when I met movie star Gene Hackman at a world title fight in Las Vegas. We talked a little after the Gabe Ruelas post-fight victory that night in 1995.

Oscar De La Hoya and Rafael Ruelas were the main event. I had been asked to write an advance for the LA Times on De La Hoya’s East L.A. roots before their crosstown rivalry on Cinco de Mayo weekend. My partner that day in coverage was the great Times sports columnist Allan Malamud.

During the fight card my assignment was to cover Gabe Ruelas’ world title defense against Jimmy Garcia. It was a one-sided battering that saw Colombia’s Garcia take blow after blow. After the fight was stopped in the 11^th round, I waited until I saw Garcia carried away in a stretcher. I asked the ringside physician about the condition of the fighter and was told it was not good.

Next, I approached the dressing room of Gabe Ruelas who was behind a closed door. Hackman was sitting outside waiting to visit. He asked me how the other fighter was doing? I shook my head. Suddenly, the door opened and we were allowed inside. Hackman and Ruelas greeted each other and then they looked at me. I then explained that Garcia was taken away in very bad condition according to the ringside physician. A look of gloom and dread crossed both of their faces. I will never forget their expressions.

Hackman was always one of my favorite actors ever since “The French Connection”. I also liked him in Hoosiers and so many other films. He was a great friend of the Goossen family who I greatly admire. Rest in peace Gene Hackman.

Vergil

Vergil Ortiz Jr. finally made the circular five-year trip to his proper destination with a definitive victory over former world champion Israil Madrimov. His style and approach was perfect for Madrimov’s jitter bug movements.

Ortiz, 26, first entered the professional field as a super lightweight in 2016. Ironically, he was trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz who brought him into the prizefighting world. Last Saturday, they knew what to expect from their former pupil who is now with Robert Garcia Boxing Academy.

Ever since Covid-19 hit the world Ortiz was severely affected after contracting the disease. Several times scheduled fights for the Texas-raised fighter were scrapped when his body could not make weight cuts without adverse side effects.

Last Saturday, the world finally saw Ortiz fulfill what so many experts expected from the lanky boxer-puncher from Grand Prairie, Texas. He evaluated, adjusted then dismantled Madrimov like a game of Jenga.

For the past seven years Ortiz has insisted he could fight Errol Spence Jr., Madrimov and Terence Crawford. More than a few doubted his abilities; now they’re scratching their chins and wondering how they missed it. It was a grade “A” performance.

Nakatani

Japan’s other great champion Junto “Big Bang” Nakatani pulverized undefeated fighter David Cuellar in three rounds on Monday, Feb. 24, in Tokyo.

The three-division world champion sliced through the Mexican fighter in three rounds as he floored Cuellar first with a left to the solar plexus. Then he knocked the stuffing out of his foe with a left to the chin for the count.

Nakatani, who trains in Los Angeles with famed trainer Rudy Hernandez, has the Mexican style figured out. He is gunning for a showdown with fellow Japanese assassin Naoya “The Monster” Inoue. That would be a Big Bang showdown.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 4 p.m. Subriel Matias (21-2) vs Gabriel Valenzuela (30-3-1).

Sat. PPV.COM 5 p.m. Gervonta Davis (30-0) vs Lamont Roach (25-1-1); Alberto Puello (23-0) vs Sandor Martin (42-3); Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-2) vs Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1); Yoenis Tellez (9-0) vs Julian “JRock” Williams (29-4-1).

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