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Can Donald Trump ‘Make Boxing Great Again’ and Become its New Howard Cosell?
Donald Trump, the once and perhaps future President of the United States, has thrown his family name back into the wild world of professional boxing, a competitive space he once dominated in Atlantic City, New Jersey as a promoter and site host during the 80’s and 90’s.
“I don’t think people fully understand or appreciate just how involved my father was in that world,” said son Donald Jr. “Boxing is very much his world, where it all started. Now we get to integrate some of that history.”
The always outspoken Trump will provide his special guest commentary on Saturday, September 11th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida when the legendary Evander Holyfield takes on Vitor Belfort in an 8-round heavyweight attraction. Picture this if you can: On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Donald Trump will be doing his best impression of Howard Cosell live from ringside during a “Real Deal” Holyfield PPV. If Trump is truly uncensored and as “No Holds Barred” as advertised, things could get very interesting.
Or downright inflammatory.
“It may get more vicious than the fights,” said Donald Jr. during Thursday afternoon’s promotional press conference. “I’m sure there’ll be some politics mixed in.” “You don’t want to miss this special event,” pitched President Trump. “I love great fighters and great fights. I look forward to seeing both Saturday night and sharing my thoughts at ringside.”
Trump has been well loved by the great majority of attendees at recent UFC events. In July he attended UFC 264 in Vegas where he was loudly cheered as he was escorted to his seat.
In addition to his membership in the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame, Trump is also a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame and a prime candidate for the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. As President, it was Trump who finally pardoned Jack Johnson.
According to his Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame biography: “Donald Trump brought his knack for dealmaking to the Boardwalk and in less than one year’s time, he was the dominant player in boxing. In 1985, the Trump Era officially began with the Trump Castle, Trump World Fair, Trump Plaza and the Taj Mahal properties hosting nationally broadcast events on Pay-Per-View, HBO, Showtime, ABC, NBC, CBS, and ESPN. Thanks to Donald Trump’s vision and his bankroll, Atlantic City became the country’s new fight capital, the new Mecca of professional boxing.”
“Atlantic City became really big in boxing with Trump,” echoed Holyfield, an unabashed supporter of the man who gambled big on boxing. “He did a great job of promoting my fights. I truly appreciate the opportunities I had with Donald Trump. I was pretty much undefeated in Atlantic City. That’s where I beat George Foreman.” Actually, Holy was 10-1 in Atlantic City. His one loss on the Boardwalk came in 2002 against Chris Byrd, a unanimous decision defeat.
Today Holyfield is 44-10-2 with 29 knockouts.
Holyfield recently stepped in on short notice to fight Belfort when Vitor’s original opponent Oscar De La Hoya pulled out of the bout on Triller Fite.TV PPV after being hospitalized with coronavirus. Some have suggested Oscar is “fakin it” to avoid getting beat up by Belfort.
The “Real Deal” Holyfield, now 58, has not been in a boxing ring in over ten years while the Brazilian born Belfort, 44, brings his experience as an elite UFC cage fighter. Both are former world champions in their respective sports. And both are well past their primes.
At his best, Holyfield defeated some of the biggest names in heavyweight boxing including Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer and Buster Douglas.
“Anybody who fought Evander was in for a rough evening,” said Trump. “He had the famous 10th round [against Riddick Bowe] and it was one of the greatest rounds in boxing history.”
“We thought Evander was knocked out but he came back.” “Evander was just brutal,” said the 45th U.S. President.
Belfort has boxed professionally only once, way back in 2006. His biggest combat sports wins have come in the cage against the likes of Tank Abbott, Dan Henderson, Wandelei Silva and Randy Couture. Thus, Belfort is a slight odds-on favorite to win. Holyfield claims to be in fighting shape. “I think I look alright,” he says. “But this is after two years of solid training.”
“Boxing is a game I know how to prepare for against Belfort,” promises Evander. “I’m sure if I was getting into his game I’d be in trouble but he’s getting into my game so he’s in trouble.”
For Belfort, it’s no trouble that Trump is once again getting involved in boxing. “I love having President Trump commentating on my fight. He’s a real fight fan and he always has been.”
All one has to do is look back at some old fights on YouTube to see that the Trump brand was everywhere you looked in boxing. Trump promoted the famous Tyson vs. Spinks fight (where Don Jr. claims to have sat on Herschel Walker’s lap as a 6-year-old with a bowl cut).
Trump events attracted the top celebrities. Boxing manager Jackie Kallen recalls: “The room was packed with A-listers including Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Billy Crystal, Herschel Walker, and so many others you didn’t know where to look.”
Will all this lead to Holyfield-Tyson III with some help from Trump and Triller? “I’ve been training for over two years because there were fights mentioned against other fighters,” says Holyfield. “It’s not that I miss boxing but people always ask me about Mike Tyson. They have offered me so much money that I would definitely take that chance against somebody I’ve already beaten.”
Holyfield was asked about a potential match-up with David Haye but the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world didn’t seem terribly interested. “I don’t wanna think about it.”
Evander’s focus is on Belfort. And on Tyson.
Just how successful was Trump in the world of boxing asks the anonymous writer of Trump’s ACBHOF bio. “It might be difficult to track in terms of exact millions of dollars he profited but as far as the priceless power of branding, each time a boxing match aired on National TV, Atlantic City and ‘The Trump Brand’ was right there for the entire world to see for generations to come.”
In addition to Holyfield vs. Belfort in the Legends II main event, the undercard features British heavyweight David Haye in a comeback bout against Joe Fournier while Andy Vences faces Jono Carroll. Trump supporter Tito Ortiz is also in boxing action vs. MMA great Anderson Silva.
“I’m very happy to see that our President, excuse me, former President, Donald Trump is going to be hosting,” Tito told the world. “People are very separated right now. This is an amazing opportunity for this country to focus on what America is all about. Unity. September 11th is a date that we need to remember what happened 20 years ago. That is what I’m fighting for.”
Boxing Writer Jeffrey Freeman grew up in the City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts from 1973 to 1987, during the Marvelous career of Marvin Hagler. JFree then lived in Lowell, Mass during the best years of Irish Micky Ward’s illustrious career. A former member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a Bernie Award Winner in the Category of Feature Story Under 1500 Words. Freeman covers boxing for The Sweet Science in New England
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More
Those lightweights.
Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.
Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.
Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.
DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.
Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.
“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.
Even in Las Vegas.
Verona, New York
Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.
Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.
“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.
Foster disagrees.
“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.
Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).
Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.
“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.
Muratalla likes challenges too.
“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.
Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship
WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.
Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.
But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.
“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.
In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.
Bad choice for Mucino.
Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.
Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.
Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.
Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.
“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.
It should be exciting.
Fights to Watch
Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).
Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
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Bakhram Murtalaziev was the Fighter of the Month in October
As we close the book on October, let’s look back at the month’s stellar performances. Kenshiro Teraji added another exclamation point to his brilliant career with an 11th-round stoppage of Cristofer Rosales. England’s Jack Catterall, considered no more than a decent domestic-level talent for most of his career, showed that he had been underrated with a comprehensive 12-round decision over declining Regis Prograis. But the top performance, by a landslide, was delivered by Bakhram Murtalaziev who annihilated Tim Tszyu on Oct. 19 in Orlando, Florida.
Murtalaziev was undefeated (22-0, 16 KOs) and the reigning IBF junior middleweight champion, but he was the underdog and the “B” side. As champions go, and there are roughly five dozen across the 17 weight divisions, the California-based Russian ranked among the least well-known. He had won his title in Berlin with an 11th-round stoppage of an unexceptional 38-year-old German-Ecuadorian campaigner, Jack Culcay, and he would be making his first defense.
Managed by Egis Klimas who also handles Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko, among others, Bakhram Murtalaziev came from a good barn in the vernacular of a horseplayer, but on paper that alone was insufficient to get him over the hump against Tim Tszyu who a few short months earlier was widely considered the best 154-pound boxer in the world.
That was before he met up with Sebastian Fundora who blemished his record, but that setback could have been written off as a fluke.
As we recall, Tszyu was scheduled to fight Keith Thurman in the initial PBC offering on Amazon Prime Video, but Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training and Fundora was bumped up from the undercard to fill the breach. With only 12 days’ notice, Tim Tszyu went from fighting a five-foot-seven fighter who fights out of an orthodox stance to fighting a southpaw who stood almost a full foot taller. The “Towering Inferno” has his limitations, but poses a special problem to anyone, let alone an opponent with little time to formulate a good game plan.
Tszyu was hampered in the Fundora fight by a gash on his hairline that hampered his vision. The injury happened in the second round when he ducked under Fundora and walked into an elbow. The gash bled copiously throughout the fight and yet the best that Fundora could do was win a split (albeit fair) decision.
To say that Tszyu failed to rebound from the Fundora misadventure would be putting it mildly. Murtalaziev steamrolled him, knocking him to the canvas four times in all before Tszyu’s corner tossed in the towel at the 1:55 mark of the third stanza. It was painful to watch. Referee Chris Young was faulted for allowing the match to continue as long as it did. Compounding Tszyu’s misery, his celebrated father, a first ballot Hall of Famer, was ringside. Kostya Tszyu hadn’t seen his oldest son fight in the flesh since Tim’s pro debut in 2016.
Although the dichotomy is imperfect, Tim Tszyu, who turns 30 on Saturday, is more of a puncher than a boxer. That may work against him so far as clawing his way back to a position of prominence. The noted boxing coach Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, a keen student of the history of boxing in the modern era, expressed this sentiment in a Q and A story for Boxing Scene. “Destructive fighters usually don’t come back to full capacity after bad KO losses,” he said, citing John Mugabi, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Naseem Hamed to illustrate his point. Moreover, added Edwards, “No one will ever be afraid of him again.”
But there were two stories that emerged from the Murtalaziev-Tszyu fight. Tim Tszyu crashed, but Bakhram Murtalaziev emerged from obscurity, announcing his presence (pardon the cliché) as a force to be reckoned with. As for his next assignment, the best guess is that it will come against Sebastian Fundora or Errol Spence Jr. who are expected to meet early next year. And based on Murtalaziev’s stunning performance in Orlando, it will be impossible to bet against him.
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Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
By TSS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JAMIE REBNER — In sports, middle-aged athletes are not supposed to beat opponents who are half their age and in their athletic primes. Only the greatest ones can use guile, technique, and experience to compensate for the dulling of speed, reflexes, and athleticism that have unavoidably eroded with time.
That is why George Foreman’s feat of reclaiming the heavyweight title at 45 is so impressive. It was thirty years ago this coming Tuesday, Nov 5, 1994, that Foreman scored a monumental upset in knocking out Michael Moorer to win back the title he had lost twenty years prior against Muhammad Ali in The Rumble in the Jungle. In doing so, Big George became the oldest heavyweight champion, breaking the record previously held by Jersey Joe Walcott, who had won the title at 38.
When Foreman beat Moorer, he was in the twilight of his second career, a comeback that began in 1987. George had retired in 1977 after losing to Jimmy Young and experiencing a spiritual awakening in his locker room. That led him to become a minister and devote himself to his family and congregation. During his retirement, he opened a youth center in Houston, which required much financial support, prompting him to return to the ring.
After winning 24 straight fights from 1987-1990, Foreman lost his first title shot by decision to Evander Holyfield in 1991. He rebounded from that loss with three more wins before getting a crack at the WBO title against Tommy Morrison in 1993. But his performance against Morrison was disappointing and he lost another decision. After that, Foreman was out of the ring for 17 months before he was gifted another title shot against Moorer.
Foreman got that gift because Moorer, due to his sullen demeanor and curtness with the media, was not a draw with the fans. He was also an unproven champion, having beaten Holyfield for two belts only seven months prior. So. Moorer needed a name opponent who could bring in the crowds for his first title defense. And the other top heavyweights like Oliver McCall (WBC champ), Lennox Lewis, and Riddick Bowe didn’t have close to Foreman’s drawing power. So. deserving or not, Foreman was chosen as the challenger to make a fight that would be worth the public’s attention and pockets.
Even Foreman was surprised by getting selected to fight Moorer. “I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d get a title shot again,” he told Associated Press sports columnist Tim Dahlberg. Still, George was determined to make his third time a charm.
But as motivated as George was, there was an irrefutable gap in speed between himself and the much younger champion. From the opening bell, Moorer used his superior quickness and reflexes to make Foreman look stiff and slow. And although George landed punches early on, he fired them one at a time while Moorer countered with multiple shots. But despite Moorer’s advantage in connects, his trainer Teddy Atlas advised him from the get-go not to stand in front of Foreman and make himself a stationary target for a right-hand bomb.
But Moorer failed to heed that advice as he continued to outwork Foreman in the middle rounds. Although he was winning, Moorer’s overconfidence kept him at close quarters, and he continued to circle unwisely to his left and into Foreman’s dangerous right hand. And despite absorbing many quality shots, Foreman never appeared hurt or discouraged thanks to his granite chin and unyielding resolve. He was determined to win and he was willing to walk through as many flush shots as he needed to do so.
With Moorer content to stay in range, Foreman gladly returned his firepower and he landed some telling right crosses, uppercuts, and plenty of thudding body blows during the battle. And while Moorer continued to pile up points and rounds, as long as George was marching forward and throwing shots, he had a puncher’s chance.
And with a minute to go in round ten, that punch came. After missing a three-punch combination, Foreman scored with a one-two, with the right hand landing on the forehead. He immediately repeated that combination but this time aimed the right hand lower on Moorer’s jaw. That slight adjustment caused his bulldozer right to collide perfectly with Moorer’s chin, sending the champion crashing to the canvas and sprawled onto his back. The champion couldn’t beat the count, and just like that, the fight was over, Moorer’s short-lived title run ending before it ever truly began.
With a single, shattering blow, Foreman etched his name into boxing history. Wearing the same trunks from Zaire 20 years before, he was now heavyweight champion of the world once again. It was a shocking result that defied conventional wisdom since seldom do 45-year-old boxers score knockouts over champions in their athletic primes. But Foreman reminded us that he was anything but your typical quadragenarian. He was special, and he had two distinct heavyweight championship reigns to prove it.
—
About the author:
Jamie Rebner lives in Toronto, Canada. He has been a freelance boxing writer since 2016 and his writing has appeared in The Fight City, Boxing News Online, The Ring, and Ringside Seat magazine. His Substack blog is Fight Fundamental, and he is currently writing a book about George Foreman’s comeback. He is also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @J_NReb.
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