Boxing Judge John Stewart’s Career Scorecard Worthy of Commendation

Published

3 years ago

October 29, 2021

Boxing Judge John Stewart’s Career Scorecard Worthy of Commendation

The announcement came without fanfare. There was no laudatory tribute in his local newspaper, no testimonial dinner, no gold watch presented for 43 years of dedicated service to his sport, 42 if you consider that his most recent appearance at ringside was on March 7, 2020, because of, perhaps not entirely, the global pandemic that has changed so many lives.

“I’m retired now,” boxing judge John Stewart, 79, informed an acquaintance of long standing (me) in a recent telephone conversation. “I’m making it official. Really, it was time for me to step away. I’d done headliner shows for a long time, but for the last three in New York I was assigned walkout bouts. I found myself still in the arena at 11:30, a quarter to 12, with nobody there but the judges and the families of the fighters. Sometimes that’s the handwriting on the wall. Anyway, 40 years of doing anything is a long time. It’s like that Kenny Rogers song. You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them.”

If Stewart sticks to his vow to remain away from boxing, which does have a way of luring back longtime riders who periodically choose to exit the carousel, let the record show that the last fight he worked was a third-round technical knockout scored by Big Apple welterweight Arnold Gonzalez over Traye Labby of Pittsfield, Ill., at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, in support of the concluded heavyweight main event in which Robert Helenius stopped Adam Kownacki in six rounds. Not that anyone knew then it was Stewart’s last fight. The man himself wasn’t sure at that point.

“The joy of it began to go out about five years ago,” the Philadelphia native and longtime South Jersey resident told me. “I had been made president of the Chinese boxing commission, and I enjoyed that because for 30-plus years of having bosses telling me where to go and what to do, I finally had become the boss. It was my job to assign and train the officials, to bring in the fighters and the announcers. I had a very good matchmaker (Jack Crowder), which helped. Melvina {Lathan} was my consultant and my wife {Jasmien} even got involved in timekeeping over there.

“I brought people in like {referees} Tony Weeks from Vegas, Benjy Esteves from New York. We even brought Mike Tyson over there and he did some things with the kids that they enjoyed, and Mike did, too. See, the Chinese love boxing people with familiar names. The organization was called the IPBU, for International People’s Boxing Union. A gentleman named Zhang Tao was its founder. I remained president for five years, which were the last five years of my career.”

But, ironically, the deadly virus that originated in China not only nudged Stewart toward the exit, it all but shoved him in that direction. And even if it hadn’t, the seemingly endless flights to and from the other side of the planet had begun to wear on a veteran traveler who was edging ever closer to 80.

“The pandemic stopped a lot of things we were doing over in China,” Stewart noted. “The organization basically folded. We haven’t called them and they haven’t called us. It just sort of faded out, for now. Well, for good in my case.

“And beside that, I can’t take those 13- to 15-hour trips overseas. I’ve filled up three different passport books. That’s a lot of traveling, and that part of it isn’t fun anymore.”

To be sure, John Stewart, a highly respected boxing judge and an even better person, enjoyed his lengthy association with boxing so much that any disappointments he endured in the latter stages of his career did not come close to negatively tipping the scales. Even though Stewart had a day job – he was self-employed, operating a limousine service for 35 years – he said that “boxing can take a hold of you and not let go. Before I became a judge I was going to the PAL {Police Athletic League} gym every day after school, 23^rd and Columbia, in North Philadelphia.”

Rudy Battle, the longtime referee who is now the chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, was instrumental in bringing Stewart – who had judged amateur bouts since the early 1960s until moving up to the pros in 1978 — into a more prominent role. He considers it to be one of the best things he’s ever done in the sport where brickbats are as common, and probably more so, than kudos.

“It’s wisdom and professionalism that comes with experience,” Battle said of the reputation for integrity he believes his friend has earned. “I remember picking him up (at Stewart’s home in Lawnside, N.J.) during a snowstorm in New Jersey and taking him to his first assignment in Atlantic City. After all this time, I can’t remember him being called into question as a central figure in any controversial decisions. He has always conducted himself as a gentleman and I rate him among the top judges in the world. I don’t know if he is recognized as much as he should be, but then John doesn’t go around telling anyone how good a judge he is, and has been. If it’s true John has judged his last fight, he’ll be missed.”

Among the elite fighters whose bouts Stewart has been up close and personal for are Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Andre Ward, brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Pernell Whitaker, Riddick Bowe, Thomas Hearns, Juan Manuel Marquez, Naseem Hamed, Michael Spinks, Azumah Nelson, Meldrick Taylor, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Nonito Donaire, Deontay Wilder and Mikey Garcia. And that’s just a partial list.

Oh, and those three passport books that were fully stamped? Although most of the fight sites where Stewart and his pencil were ringside regulars were in Atlantic City, New York and Philadelphia, international assignments took him to, in addition to China, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Israel, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Thailand and Canada.

Perhaps the most prestigious gig on Stewart’s resume was Tyson’s 91-second crushing of Michael Spinks on June 27, 1988. “The atmosphere was electrifying,” Stewart said of a night when he didn’t even have to use his pencil. “I don’t know if any other fight I did really compares to it. What a lot of people don’t remember is that it took longer for the fighters to come out of their dressing rooms than for the fight to take place. There was some kind of dispute over who would be introduced last. They had to go in there to nearly drag out Mike, as I recall.”

The kind of recognition that sometimes is accorded top referees, and mediocre-to-bad ones as well, comes easier because they are in the ring and moving around with the fighters, in full view of spectators and television audiences. Marc Ratner, former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, said Nevada-based ref Mills Lane gained fame almost on a par with the champions whose fights he worked, and not only for his familiar “Let’s get it on!” catch phrase. “It almost seemed like he worked all the Super Bowls of crazy fights,” Ratner said of Lane, who was the third man in the ring for the Holyfield-Bowe II “Fan Man” fight in 1993, Oliver McCall’s bizarre crying jag against Lennox Lewis and, most notably, the Holyfield-Tyson II “Bite Fight.”

Judges tend to be far less conspicuous, unless they submit a scorecard that is egregiously wrong and, worse, contributes to a decision that smells worse than dead fish left in the sun. There are no obvious red herrings on Stewart’s resume, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t question himself at times.

“I’ve been very fortunate in that there haven’t been many instances where somebody said, `That Stewart guy is dead wrong.’ But whenever the ring announcer reads the decision, you heart palpitates a little bit. You always hope you made the right call, the correct call. That anxiety is probably a bit higher when you’re doing big fights, and I’ve done my share of those.

“I hate to sound like a goody-goody two shoes, but I remember when I started out Russell Peltz {the longtime Philadelphia fight promoter} told me, `John, call it like you see it.’ And that’s what I did. I always called it as I saw it.”

Stewart has been inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, which to my mind is wholly appropriate. Despite the many fights he has judged in New York, he is ineligible for the New York Boxing Hall of Fame because the rules for induction stipulate that possible candidates either have to have been born in the state or lived a significant part of their career there. But his credentials would seem to be worthy of a close look from the Pennsylvania and Atlantic City BHOFs, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame would not seem to be beyond the realm of possibility.

Enjoy your retirement from boxing, John. Not only have you merited a respite, you merit so much more than that.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 158: Title Troubles and Title Clashes and More

Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2025

David A. Avila

Chris-Eubank-Jr-Outlasts-Conor-Benn-at-Tottenham-Hotsour-Stadium

Feudal bragging rights belong to Chris Eubank Jr. who out-lasted Conor Benn to
emerge victorious by unanimous decision in a non-title middleweight match held in
London on Saturday.

Fighting for their family heritage Eubank (35-3, 26 KOs) and Benn (23-1, 14 KOs)
continued the battle between families started 35 years ago by their fathers at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.

More than 65,000 fans attended.

Though Eubank Jr. had a weight and height advantage and a record of smashing his
way to victory via knockout, he had problems hurting the quicker and more agile Benn.
And though Benn had the advantage of moving up two weight divisions and forcing
Eubank to fight under a catch weight, the move did not weaken him much.

Instead, British fans and boxing fans across the world saw the two family rivals pummel
each other for all 12 rounds. Neither was able to gain separation.

Eubank looked physically bigger and used a ramming left jab to connect early in the
fight. Benn immediately showed off his speed advantage and surprised many with his
ability to absorb a big blow.Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Benn scrambled around with his quickness and agility and scored often with bigcounters.

It took him a few rounds to stop overextending himself while delivering power shots.

In the third round Benn staggered Eubank with a left hook but was unable to follow up
against the dangerous middleweight who roared back with flurries of blows.

Eubank was methodic in his approach always moving forward, always using his weight
advantage via the shoulder to force Benn backward. The smaller Benn rocketed
overhand rights and was partly successful but not enough to force Eubank to retreat.
In the seventh round a right uppercut snapped Benn’s head violently but he was
undeterred from firing back. Benn’s chin stood firm despite Eubank’s vaunted power and
size advantage.

“I didn’t know he had that in him,” Eubank said.

Benn opened strong in the eighth round with furious blows. And though he connected
he was unable to seriously hurt Eubank. And despite being drained by the weight loss,
the middleweight fighter remained strong all 12 rounds.

There were surprises from both fighters.

Benn was effective targeting the body. Perhaps if he had worked the body earlier he
would have found a better result.

With only two rounds remaining Eubank snapped off a right uppercut again and followed
up with body shots. In the final stanza Eubank pressed forward and exchanged with the
smaller Benn until the final bell. He simply out-landed the fighter and impressed all three
judges who scored it 116-112 for Eubank.

Eubank admitted he expected a knockout win but was satisfied with the victory.
“I under-estimated him,” Eubank said.

Benn was upset by the loss but recognized the reasons.

“He worked harder toward the end,” said Benn.

McKenna Wins

In his first test in the elite level Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) showed his ability to fight
inside or out in soundly defeating former world champion Liam Smith (33-5-1, 20 KOs)
by unanimous decision to win a regional WBA middleweight title.

Smith has made a career out of upsetting young upstarts but discovered the Irish fighter
more than capable of mixing it up with the veteran. It was a rough fight throughout the
12 rounds but McKenna showed off his abilities to fight as a southpaw or right-hander
with nary a hiccup.

McKenna had trained in Southern California early in his career and since that time he’s
accrued a variety of ways to fight. He was smooth and relentless in using his longer
arms and agility against Smith on the outside or in close.

In the 12 th round, McKenna landed a perfectly timed left hook to the ribs and down went
Smith. The former champion got up and attempted to knock out the tall
Irish fighter but could not.

All three judges scored in favor of McKenna 119-108, 117-109, 118-108.

Other Bouts
Anthony Yarde (27-3) defeated Lyndon Arthur (24-3) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. in a light heavyweight match. It was the third time they met. Yarde won the last two fights.

Chris Billam-Smith (21-2) defeated Brandon Glanton (20-3) by decision. It was his first
fight since losing the WBO cruiserweight world title to Gilberto Ramirez last November.

Viddal Riley (13-0) out-worked Cheavon Clarke (10-2) in a 12-round back-and-forth-contest to win a unanimous decision.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Published

4 days ago

April 24, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective,-Chap.-323:-Benn-vs-Eubank-Family-Feud-and-More.jpg

Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.

This is huge in British boxing.

Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

This is about family pride.

The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.

Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.

Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.

Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.

Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.

Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.

This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.

Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.

“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”

Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.

“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.

Eubank smiles.

“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.

Supporting Bout

Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.

“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.

McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.

It’s youth versus experience.

“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.

Monster in L.A.

Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.

It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.

Pomona Fights

Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.

Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.

Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).

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Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

Published

6 days ago

April 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton

In any endeavor, the defining feature of a phenom is his youth. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper was a phenom. He was on the radar screen of baseball’s most powerful player agents when he was 14 years old.

Curmel Moton, who turns 19 in June, is a phenom. Of all the young boxing stars out there, wrote James Slater in July of last year, “Curmel Moton is the one to get most excited about.”

Moton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father Curtis Moton, a barber by trade, was a big boxing fan and specifically a big fan of Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Curmel was six, Curtis packed up his wife (Curmel’s stepmom) and his son and moved to Las Vegas. Curtis wanted his son to get involved in boxing and there was no better place to develop one’s latent talents than in Las Vegas where many of the sport’s top practitioners came to train.

Many father-son relationships have been ruined, or at least frayed, by a father’s unrealistic expectations for his son, but when it came to boxing, the boy was a natural and he felt right at home in the gym.

The gym the Motons patronized was the Mayweather Boxing Club. Curtis took his son there in hopes of catching the eye of the proprietor. “Floyd would occasionally drop by the gym and I was there so often that he came to recognize me,” says Curmel. What he fails to add is that the trainers there had Floyd’s ear. “This kid is special,” they told him.

It costs a great deal of money for a kid to travel around the country competing in a slew of amateur boxing tournaments. Only a few have the luxury of a sponsor. For the vast majority, fund raisers such as car washes keep the wheels greased.

Floyd Mayweather stepped in with the financial backing needed for the Motons to canvas the country in tournaments. As an amateur, Curmel was — take your pick — 156-7 or 144-6 or 61-3 (the latter figure from boxrec). Regardless, at virtually every tournament at which he appeared, Curmel Moton was the cock of the walk.

Before the pandemic, Floyd Mayweather Jr had a stable of boxers he promoted under the banner of “The Money Team.” In talking about his boxers, Floyd was understated with one glaring exception – Gervonta “Tank” Davis, now one of boxing’s top earners.

When Floyd took to praising Curmel Moton with the same effusive language, folks stood up and took notice.

Curmel made his pro debut on Sept. 30, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo. After stopping his opponent in the opening round, he addressed a flock of reporters in the media room with Floyd standing at his side. “I felt ready,” he said, “I knew I had Floyd behind me. He believes in me. I had the utmost confidence going into the fight. And I went in there and did what I do.”

Floyd ventured the opinion that Curmel was already a better fighter than Leigh Wood, the reigning WBA world featherweight champion who would successfully defend his belt the following week.

Moton’s boxing style has been described as a blend of Floyd Mayweather and Tank Davis. “I grew up watching Floyd, so it’s natural I have some similarities to him,” says Curmel who sparred with Tank in late November of 2021 as Davis was preparing for his match with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Curmell says he did okay. He was then 15 years old and still in school; he dropped out as soon as he reached the age of 16.

Curmel is now 7-0 with six KOs, four coming in the opening round. He pitched an 8-round shutout the only time he was taken the distance. It’s not yet official, but he returns to the ring on May 31 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo are co-featured in matches conceived as tune-ups for a fall showdown. The fight card will reportedly be free for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

Curmel’s presumptive opponent is Renny Viamonte, a 28-year-old Las Vegas-based Cuban with a 4-1-1 (2) record. It will be Curmel’s first professional fight with Kofi Jantuah the chief voice in his corner. A two-time world title challenger who began his career in his native Ghana, the 50-year-old Jantuah has worked almost exclusively with amateurs, a recent exception being Mikaela Mayer.

It would seem that the phenom needs a tougher opponent than Viamonte at this stage of his career. However, the match is intriguing in one regard. Viamonte is lanky. Listed at 5-foot-11, he will have a seven-inch height advantage.

Keeping his weight down has already been problematic for Moton. He tipped the scales at 128 ½ for his most recent fight. His May 31 bout, he says, will be contested at 135 and down the road it’s reasonable to think he will blossom into a welterweight. And with each bump up in weight, his short stature will theoretically be more of a handicap.

For fun, we asked Moton to name the top fighter on his pound-for-pound list. “[Oleksandr] Usyk is number one right now,” he said without hesitation,” great footwork, but guys like Canelo, Crawford, Inoue, and Bivol are right there.”

It’s notable that there isn’t a young gun on that list. Usyk is 38, a year older than Crawford; Inoue is the pup at age 32.

Moton anticipates that his name will appear on pound-for-pound lists within the next two or three years. True, history is replete with examples of phenoms who flamed out early, but we wouldn’t bet against it.

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