Pacquiao-Ugas Ruminations and a Toast to the Late Stanley “Kitten” Hayward

Published

3 years ago

August 16, 2021

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Before the Pacquiao-Spence fight was taken off the wagering board, Manny was a plus 170 underdog. When the new line was posted on Pacquiao-Ugas, the Filipino icon shifted into a solid favorite, minus 350 or thereabouts depending on where one shops.

Was a shift of that magnitude justified? True, a good betting line is one that allows the bet-taker to achieve a balanced book, but the question here is whether the Pacquiao-Ugas betting line exaggerates PacMan’s chances of winning.

Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas had a common opponent in Shawn Porter. Spence defeated Porter whereas Ugas lost to him but both fights were very close. When the scores were announced for the Ugas-Porter fight (115-113, 116-112, 111-117), the crowd booed and Ugas left the ring in disgust.

It seemingly does not bode well for Ugas heading into his match with Pacquiao that he won by only a split decision in his most recent fight with Abel Ramos. However, most everyone thought that it should have been unanimous. “Despite what the scorecards showed, this was a dominant outing for Ugas,” a “clinical performance,” said ESPN’s Steve Kim.

“Now that I’m a world champion, I want all the big names in the welterweight division,” said Ugas after the fight. On Sept. 21, he gets his wish and — while acknowledging that we have certainly been wrong before — we rate the Cuban a very live underdog.

R.I.P. Stanley “Kitten” Hayward

If you were a boxer in Philadelphia during the mid-to-late 1960s, and if you were a middleweight, give or take a few pounds, you could get battle-hardened without ever leaving the gym. Philadelphia was a hornets nest of tough middleweights, give or take a few pounds, and their gym wars were legendary.

Stanley “Kitten” Hayward, who went on to fight for the world junior middleweight title, was right in the thick of it.

Hayward died last week at age 82. John DiSanto, a close friend of Hayward, broke the news on his Philly Boxing History web site and the news became more generally known when Hall of Fame boxing writer Nigel Collins announced the news on his twitter page. There has been no mention of it, at least not yet, in the Philadelphia papers which says something about how the sport of boxing has fallen out of the mainstream.

Inside that hornets nest were such notables as Bennie Briscoe, Eugene “Cyclone Hart,” Willie “The Worm” Monroe, Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts, and Gypsy Joe Harris – fabled names from a fabled era of Philadelphia boxing. And, of course, Stanley “Kitten” Hayward who fought all of them with the exception of Watts and defeated Briscoe in the first of their two meetings.

Hayward defeated two Future Hall of Famers: Emile Griffith and Curtis Cokes. He stopped Cokes in the fourth stanza of a Pier 6 brawl at the Blue Horizon. For goosebumps, the fight ranks among the best ever held in that intimate sock palace. (Unfortunately, it was a dud at the gate. The weather, unseasonably cold and wet, depressed attendance.)

kitten

Hayward won a 10-round split decision over Griffith at the Spectrum, but Griffith turned the tables in the rematch, winning a 12-round decision over Hayward at Madison Square Garden. In that fight, Griffith took control after “Kitten” suffered a bad cut over his left eye in the fifth round. Prior to that point, the Philadelphian was out-boxing him.

Stanley Hayward’s title shot came between his two fights with Emile Griffith. The vacant WBA 154-pound title was at stake when he locked horns with Freddie Little in Little’s adopted hometown of Las Vegas.

The title was vacant because Little was jobbed when he challenged Sandro Mazzinghi five months earlier on Mazzinghi’s turf in Rome. Little was up 7-1 on the Associated Press card when the ring doctor stopped the match after the eighth round to prevent the Italian from taking more punishment, whereupon the WBA-appointed German referee saw fit to declare the bout a “no contest.”

There was such a stink that the WBA declared the title vacant and mandated a rematch (sound familiar?). When Mazzinghi declined, Stanley Hayward got the call.

Freddie Little, who finished his career with a 51-6 (31) mark, was very good. He never got enough credit when he was fighting because the junior middleweight division was in its infancy and because he wasn’t colorful. The Picayune, Mississippi, native was a high school health teacher who went on to hold important state government posts in Carson City and serve on the Nevada Athletic Commission. Ah, but I digress.

Little controlled the 15-round fight with his jab, Hayward was troubled by cuts once again, and the title stayed in Las Vegas. Hayward soldiered on but was never the same. He left the sport in 1977 with a record of 32-12-4.

During his boxing days, Hayward was a notorious ladies man and reckless with his money. In retirement, he was a different cat (er, kitten). He spent 33 years as a Court Crier for the city of Philadelphia and was in good shape financially when his health started to decline following a stroke last year. He leaves behind his wife of 30-plus years, the former Vernell Washington, and a daughter. We here at TSS send our condolences to his loved ones.

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Arne K. Lang

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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

Published

15 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his last three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, applied the exclamation point, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

Published

1 day ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11^th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is Brandon Figueroa should he defeat former Inoue foe Stephen Fulton next weekend. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

Published

1 day ago

January 24, 2025

David A. Avila

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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