The Brutal Efficiency of Canelo Alvarez

Published

3 years ago

November 7, 2021

On Saturday night, November 6, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez scored an eleventh-round knockout over Caleb Plant at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to secure the fourth and final belt in his quest to become the “undisputed” super-middleweight champion of the world.

Alvarez is widely regarded as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world and boxing’s brightest star. Three months ago, SportsPro (a London-based company) released a study that listed him as the fourth “most marketable athlete in the world” (behind Simone Biles, Naomi Asaka, and Ashlyn Harris). The next-highest-ranked boxer was Anthony Joshua at #75. The study was keyed to social media metrics. Canelo has close to 18 million followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and, according to SportPro, has generated more than 578 million impressions on these platforms.

In reality, the list is an indication of potential rather than true marketing power. For example, in 2020, SportPro named Ryan Garcia as the twelfth “most marketable athlete in the world.” LeBron James is now designated as #24. Most people would rather have LeBron’s marketing income than Garcia’s.

Canelo, now 31, turned pro at age 15 and has improved steadily throughout his career. He entered the ring to face Plant with a 56-1-2 (38 KOs) record, the sole loss coming against Floyd Mayweather eight years ago.

“I didn’t have the experience, the maturity,” Canelo said earlier this year about that fight. “I wasn’t the boxer I am today. Very different. That moment hurt a lot. But at that moment, I got to thinking, I’m not going to let this kill my dreams. Someday, I’m going to be the best boxer in the world. And now I am.”

One might add that, at age 15, Canelo was held to a draw by a fighter named Jorge Juarez (who finished his career with an 8-27-3 record). Only an idiot would suggest that this “blemish” on Canelo’s record diminishes his accomplishments as a fighter. The same is true of the loss to Mayweather.

Plant, age 29, came into the Canelo fight with a 21-0 (12 KOs) record and the IBF 168-pound belt around his waist. He has a compelling backstory focused on a hardscrabble upbringing in Ashland, Tennessee, and tells it with great drama.

Canelo wanted Plant’s belt. He’d won his first 168-pound title (WBA) against Rocky Fielding in 2018 and added the WBC and WBO straps against Callum Smith (2020) and Billy Joe Saunders (2021). Becoming a unified champion appealed to him.

When Canelo-Plant was first announced, it was undetermined which network would host the pay-per-view telecast. Canelo had fought his most recent six fights on DAZN with Golden Boy and Matchroom as his promoters. This would be a Premier Boxing Champions card, which meant that Fox or Showtime would handle the pay-per-view and DAZN would be out in the cold.

Most boxing observers expected that Fox would get the nod (as it had with previous Premier Boxing Champions offerings like Fury-Wilder II and III, Pacquiao-Thurman, Pacquiao-Ugas, and Errol Spence’s forays against Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, and Shawn Porter). But Showtime sent a “don’t-take-us-for-granted” message to PBC impresario Al Haymon when it went into the Jake Paul business earlier this year, and Canelo-Plant wound up on Showtime Pay-Per-View.

Asked how he felt about changing promoters and networks, Canelo answered, “I just want to fight with everybody and have relationships with all the promoters and do the best fights out there. If I need to fight [on] Showtime with PBC, I’m good. If I need to fight [on] DAZN with Eddie Hearn, I’m good. I’m good with everyone, having a relationship with everybody.”

That made sense. But there was one misstep that Canelo’s team seemed to make in the negotiations for Canelo-Plant. And they’d made it before.

Plant’s purse for fighting Canelo was reported to be $10 million. That number was negotiated in significant measure as a consequence of the purses believed to have been paid to Canelo’s most recent five opponents – Danny Jacobs ($12 million), Sergey Kovalev ($12 million), Callum Smith ($6 million), Avni Yildirim ($2.5 million), and Billy Joe Saunders ($8 million).

This is an area where Floyd Mayweather got it right. There came a time when Mayweather told the world that the belts were largely irrelevant. People were paying to see Floyd Mayweather. If a fighter wanted to fight Floyd, he stood in line and accepted a purse (generally between $1 million and $3 million) that left the lion’s share and more for Floyd.

Canelo’s most recent fight (against Saunders) drew 66,065 paying fans to AT&T Stadium in Texas. There were also 989 complimentary tickets that night for a total attendance of 67,054. Plant’s most recent fight was against Caleb Truax at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. Prior to that, he’d fought Vincent Feigenbutz at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. One might also note that Canelo’s two fights against Gennady Golovkin in Las Vegas generated a combined live gate in excess of $51 million.

It has been widely reported that PBC guaranteed Canelo “nearly $40 million” to fight Plant (which was in line with previous guarantees to Canelo for his fights on DAZN). There’s a school of thought that Canelo should be concerned with what he makes, not his opponents’ purses. Still, $10 million for Plant seemed excessive. Had Caleb beaten Canelo, he might have become a $10 million fighter. He wasn’t before they fought and he isn’t now.

The promotion moved into high gear at the September 21 kick-off press conference in Los Angeles. Plant was introduced first and stood on stage facing the audience. Canelo came out next, stood beside Plant, and made a point of not standing in Caleb’s space. Both men were wearing sun glasses. As pre-arranged, they then turned to face each other. Canelo took his glasses off. Plant moved into Canelo’s space, put his hands behind his back, and started jawing. Canelo responded. Plant said something Canelo didn’t like. Canelo gave Plant a two handed shove to the chest, pushing him back. Plant came forward, slapped at Canelo with his left hand, and missed. Canelo countered with a quick jab that jammed Plant’s sunglasses into Caleb’s cheek beneath his right eye and drew blood followed by a slapping right hand.

What caused the blow-up?

Plant later said that it happened “because he’s a bitch.”

Canelo said Plant suggested that Canelo had sexual intercourse with his own mother and noted, “He can say whatever he wants to me but not to my mom. And he swing first. I just push him, but he swing first. Then I do what I do.”

Meanwhile, when it was Plant’s turn to speak, he took the microphone and accused Canelo of being a “cheater.”

In February 2018, urine samples taken from Canelo by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) had tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance. Canelo denied wrongdoing, and the amount of the drug in his system was consistent with the inadvertent ingestion of tainted beef. But a boxer is responsible for what goes into his body. Canelo agreed to a six-month suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and paid $50,000 out of his own pocket for year-round VADA testing. There was no admission of wrongdoing on his part. But there was an acknowledgment that clenbuterol had been present in his system. Since then, Canelo has been tested more thoroughly by VADA than any boxer ever, always without complaint and never with an adverse test result.

“Did he get suspended for six months?” Plant asked rhetorically at the kick-off press conference. “Did he test positive? It’s not a ‘well, he said he is’ and ‘he said he ain’t.’ It’s not up for discussion. It’s not what I say. It’s what the commission said. It’s what the banned substance list said. I don’t want this to be in our sport. There’s no room for that in our sport. And you know, he got suspended for six months. So it is what it is. He’s a cheater.”

When it was Canelo’s turn to speak, he looked directly at Plant and said in English, “I just want to say something. You are not on my level. And you will see November 6. You don’t want to find out. I promise you. Thank you, everybody. I see you November 6. You know what I do.”

PBC wisely skipped the ritual, post-press-conference staredown. But thereafter, it sent out promotional material referencing the press conference itself as “epic” (presumably because of the altercation). “Epic” is a word that, in boxing circles, was once reserved for actual fights like Ali-Frazier III in Manila.

Plant was more measured than PBC in characterizing the physical confrontation between the two fighters. “It’s boxing,” he said. “How many times has that happened before us? How many times is that gonna happen after us? People make such a big deal out of that because it’s a headline and a way for you guys to promote whatever videos you all are making or whatever for the fight. But it’s just like, he pushed me; I got one on him; he got one on me; and that was it. I’ve been in worse scuffles than that. So, what’s the big deal, really?”

Title unification was the marketing message during fight week.

“Only five male fighters in the history of boxing have accomplished becoming undisputed champion,” Canelo said. “I want to be the sixth.”

Canelo’s big wins had come against Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin, Danny Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, and Billy Joe Saunders. Plant’s big wins had been against Jose Uzcategui, Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz, and Caleb Truax. With that as background, Canelo opened as a 7-to-1 betting favorite and the odds moved slightly higher during fight week.

Plant voiced optimism throughout the proceedings:

* “I know that people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m winning on November 6. All those people who tell me that I can’t do something, you live believable lives and you do believable things. I promised myself that I was going to run this all the way to the top with no problem crashing and burning along the way. I set out to live an unbelievable life and accomplish unbelievable things. The people who doubt me are the reason that I’m here.”

* “I can’t focus on what other people say about me. If I listened to the doubters, I wouldn’t even be here. People are going to say what they’re going to say. But I get the final say, and I can’t wait to prove everything in the ring.”

* “The moment isn’t going to be too big for me. The closer we get, the smaller the moment feels.”

Meanwhile, Canelo predicted that Plant wouldn’t last eight rounds and said, “I respect his skills. He’s a good boxer. He boxes well. He’s got a good fast jab, good combinations. He’s tall, and it’s going to be rough in the early rounds. It’s not an easy fight. But I have the skills and I have the experience of being with fighters of all kinds of styles in the ring. I’m very confident that I can do it. Not confident in a bad way; just confident in what I know and what I can do. As the fight progresses, I am going to be able to get him out of there.”

Still, this wasn’t a computer game. Nothing in boxing is preordained. A fighter has to prove himself anew every time he enters the ring. And Canelo knew that.

Now a confession. I didn’t watch the fight live. I’m a big Canelo Alvarez fan. But I don’t like boxing’s pay-per-view model. And with Anthony Dirrell vs. Marcos Hernandez (who now has two wins in his last seven fights) as the chief supporting bout, I decided I’d track Canelo-Plant through online reports and watch it on YouTube afterward rather than spend $79.99 to see it in real time.

At 11:30 PM eastern time, I went online to Boxing Scene to see where things stood. Dirrell had knocked out Hernandez shortly after 11:00 PM. Most likely, it would be a while before Canelo-Plant started. I checked back at 11:50. There was still no indication that the fight had begun. I turned to ESPN.com and read that the ringwalks were underway.

Back to Boxing Scene. Keith Idec scored round one for Plant and gave rounds two, three, and four to Canelo. ESPN was lagging behind on its scorecard but offered several sentences of commentary for each round that it scored.

At the end of eight rounds, Boxing Scene and ESPN each had Canelo ahead 78-74 . . . Then, at 12:39 AM, Boxing Scene reported, “Canelo drops Plant with hard punches in eleventh and then finished him off with another series of big shots to knock Plant down and out with the fight being waved off by the referee.”

Several minutes later, I saw the knockout on YouTube. On Sunday, I watched the entire fight on one of several YouTube postings.

Coming into the bout, Plant had seemed to think that his skills were sufficient that he could will himself to victory. But that was a false hope.

Canelo has a will of iron too. And he’s a professional. He always comes into fights in shape. He’s a superb boxer, seamlessly blending defense with offense. He has a great chin. And now he has “man strength.”

Canelo has carried his power with him – and then some – while moving up in weight. He carries his power late in fights. And trainer Eddy Reynoso brings out the best in him

For most of Canelo-Plant, Canelo was stalking with Caleb in retreat. Plant tried to survive and score points when he could. But he was overmatched. Plan A wasn’t working for Caleb, and there was no Plan B. Canelo was quicker. Canelo hit harder. Canelo’s arsenal was more varied. Canelo took his time. He was disciplined and patient. As the fight wore on, his body work took a toll. Ultimately, he beat Plant into submission.

The end came in round eleven. A left hook followed by a brutal right uppercut (the most damaging blow in the sequence) and another left hook as Plant was sagging occasioned the first knockdown of Caleb’s career. He stopped his fall by thrusting both gloves against the canvas and rose up.

“Do you want to fight?” referee Russell Mora asked.

“Yeah,” Plant answered.

Caleb said it like he meant it. But he had nothing left. Canelo chased him around the ring, pinned him against the ropes, and knocked him down again with three crushing right hands – two up top and the third to the body as Plant was falling.

It was over.

After the fight, the fighters exchanged words of respect in the ring. Then Plant was taken to University Medical Center for observation. As of this writing, he has not commented publicly on his defeat.

As for what comes next, Canelo says that, after four fights in eleven months, his body needs rest. Most likely, he’ll return to the ring on May 7, 2022 (Cinco de Mayo weekend).

Meanwhile, boxing fans have heard a lot in recent years about how Mexican fans have been slow to embrace Canelo in comparison with Julio Cesar Chavez. Sometimes one needs distance to judge the full measure of greatness. Looking back over the past decade, it’s clear that Canelo has established himself as a great fighter. The Mexican people should be proud of him.

Indeed, Canelo might be the greatest fighter to ever come out of Mexico. But when asked to compare himself with other Mexican ring greats, he says simply, “I’m doing my history. Other fighters do their history. I don’t want to compare myself to other fighters. I do things for myself, my history. The goal is to be an all-time great.”

He has already reached that goal. The question now is, “How much better will he get?”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – Broken Dreams: Another Year Inside Boxing – was published by the University of Arkansas Press. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, he was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Bygone Days: The Largest Crowd Ever at Madison Square Garden Sees Zivic TKO Armstrong

Published

4 days ago

January 10, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Bygone Days: The Largest Crowd Ever at Madison Square Garden Sees Zivic TKO Armstrong

There’s not much happening on the boxing front this month. That’s consistent with the historical pattern.

Fight promoters of yesteryear tended to pull back after the Christmas and New Year holidays on the assumption that fight fans had less discretionary income at their disposal. Weather was a contributing factor. In olden days, more boxing cards were staged outdoors and the most attractive match-ups tended to be summertime events.

There were exceptions, of course. On Jan. 17, 1941, an SRO crowd of 23,180 filled Madison Square Garden to the rafters to witness the welterweight title fight between Fritzie Zivic and Henry Armstrong. (This was the third Madison Square Garden, situated at 50^th Street and Eighth Avenue, roughly 17 blocks north of the current Garden which sits atop Pennsylvania Station. The first two arenas to take this name were situated farther south adjacent to Madison Square Park).

This was a rematch. They had fought here in October of the previous year. In a shocker, Zivic won a 15-round decision. The fight was close on the scorecards. Referee Arthur Donovan and one of the judges had it even after 14 rounds, but Zivic had won his rounds more decisively and he punctuated his well-earned triumph by knocking Armstrong face-first to the canvas as the final bell sounded.

This was a huge upset.

Armstrong had a rocky beginning to his pro career, but he came on like gangbusters after trainer/manager Eddie Mead acquired his contract with backing from Broadway and Hollywood star Al Jolson. Heading into his first match with Zivic – the nineteenth defense of the title he won from Barney Ross – Hammerin’ Henry had suffered only one defeat in his previous 60 fights, that coming in his second meeting with Lou Ambers, a controversial decision.

Shirley Povich, the nationally-known sports columnist for the Washington Post, conducted an informal survey of boxing insiders and found only person who gave Zivic a chance. The dissident was Chris Dundee (then far more well-known than his younger brother Angelo). “Zivic knows all the tricks,” said Dundee. “He’ll butt Armstrong with his head, gouge him with his thumbs and hit him just as low as Armstrong [who had five points deducted for low blows in his bout with Ambers].”

Indeed, Pittsburgh’s Ferdinand “Fritzie” Zivic, the youngest and best of five fighting sons of a Croatian immigrant steelworker (Fritzie’s two oldest brothers represented the U.S. at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics) would attract a cult following because of his facility for bending the rules. It would be said that no one was more adept at using his thumbs to blind an opponent or using the laces of his gloves as an anti-coagulant, undoing the work of a fighter’s cut man.

Although it was generally understood that at age 28 his best days were behind him, Henry Armstrong was chalked the favorite in the rematch (albeit a very short favorite) a tribute to his body of work. Although he had mastered Armstrong in their first encounter, most boxing insiders considered Fritzie little more than a high-class journeyman and he hadn’t looked sharp in his most recent fight, a 10-round non-title affair with lightweight champion Lew Jenkins who had the best of it in the eyes of most observers although the match was declared a draw.

The Jan. 17 rematch was a one-sided affair. Veteran New York Times scribe James P. Dawson gave Armstrong only two rounds before referee Donovan pulled the plug at the 52-second mark of the twelfth round. Armstrong, boxing’s great perpetual motion machine, a world title-holder in three weight classes, repaired to his dressing room bleeding from his nose and his mouth and with both eyes swollen nearly shut. But his effort could not have been more courageous.

At the conclusion of the 10^th frame, Donovan went to Armstrong’s corner and said something to the effect, “you will have to show me something, Henry, or I will have to stop it.” What followed was Armstrong’s best round.

“[Armstrong] pulled the crowd to its feet in as glorious a rally as this observer has seen in twenty-five years of attendance at these ring battles,” wrote Dawson. But Armstrong, who had been stopped only once previously, that coming in his pro debut, had punched himself out and had nothing left.

Armstrong retired after this fight, siting his worsening eyesight, but he returned in the summer of the following year, soldiering on for 46 more fights, winning 37 to finish 149-21-10. During this run, he was reacquainted with Fritzie Zivic. Their third encounter was fought in San Francisco before a near-capacity crowd of 8,000 at the Civic Auditorium and Armstrong got his revenge, setting the pace and working the body effectively to win a 10-round decision. By then the welterweight title had passed into the hands of Freddie Cochran.

Hammerin’ Henry (aka Homicide Hank) Armstrong was named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990. Fritzie Zivic followed him into the Hall three years later.

Active from 1931 to 1949, Zivic lost 65 of his 231 fights – the most of anyone in the Hall of Fame, a dubious distinction – but there was yet little controversy when he was named to the Canastota shrine because one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who had fought a tougher schedule. Aside from Armstrong and Jenkins, he had four fights with Jake LaMotta, four with Kid Azteca, three with Charley Burley, two with Sugar Ray Robinson, two with Beau Jack, and singles with the likes of Billy Conn, Lou Ambers, and Bob Montgomery. Of the aforementioned, only Azteca, in their final meeting in Mexico City, and Sugar Ray, in their second encounter, were able to win inside the distance.

By the way, it has been written that no event of any kind at any of the four Madison Square Gardens ever drew a larger crowd than the crowd that turned out on Jan. 17, 1941, to see the rematch between Fritzie Zivic and Henry Armstrong. Needless to say, prizefighting was big in those days.

A recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling, TSS editor-in-chief Arne K. Lang is the author of five books including “Prizefighting: An American History,” released by McFarland in 2008 and re-released in a paperback edition in 2020.

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Jai Opetaia Brutally KOs David Nyika, Cementing his Status as the World’s Top Cruiserweight

Published

6 days ago

January 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Jai-Opetaia-Brutally-KOs-David-Nyika-Cementing-his-Status-as-the-World's-Top-Cruiserweight

In his fifth title defense, lineal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) successfully defended his belt with a brutal fourth-round stoppage of former sparring partner David Nyika. The bout was contested in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia where Opetaia won the IBF title in 2022 with a hard-earned decision over Maris Briedis with Nyika on the undercard. Both fighters reside in the general area although Nyika, a former Olympic bronze medalist, hails from New Zealand.

The six-foot-six Nyika, who was undefeated in 10 pro fights with nine KOs, wasn’t afraid to mix it up with Opetaia although had never fought beyond five rounds and took the fight on three weeks’ notice when obscure German campaigner Huseyin Cinkara suffered an ankle injury in training and had to pull out. He wobbled Opetaia in the second round in a fight that was an entertaining slugfest for as long as it lasted.

In round four, the champion but Nyika on the canvas with his patented right uppercut and then finished matters moments later with a combination climaxed with an explosive left hand. Nyika was unconscious before he hit the mat.

Opetaia’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Opetaia to unify the title and then pursue a match with Oleksandr Usyk. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, a Golden Boy Promotions fighter, holds the WBA and WBO versions of the title and is expected to be Opetaia’s next opponent. The WBC diadem is in the hands of grizzled Badou Jack.

Other Fights of Note

Brisbane heavyweight Justis Huni (12-0, 7 KOs) wacked out overmatched South African import Shaun Potgieter (10-2), ending the contest at the 33-second mark of the second round. The 25-year-old, six-foot-four Huni turned pro in 2020 after losing a 3-round decision to two-time Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov. There’s talk of matching him with England’s 20-year-old sensation Moses Itauma which would be a delicious pairing.

Eddie Hearn’s newest signee Teremoana Junior won his match even quicker, needing less than a minute to dismiss Osasu Otobo, a German heavyweight of Nigerian descent.

The six-foot-six Teremoana, who akin to Huni hails from Brisbane and turned pro after losing to the formidable Jalolov, has won all six of his pro fights by knockout while answering the bell for only eight rounds. He has an interesting lineage; his father is from the Cook Islands.

Rising 20-year-old Max “Money” McIntyre, a six-foot-three super middleweight, scored three knockdowns en route to a sixth-round stoppage of Abdulselam Saman, advancing his record to 7-0 (6 KOs). As one can surmise, McIntyre is a big fan of Floyd Mayweather.

The Opetaia-Nyika fight card aired on DAZN pay-per-view (39.99) in the Antipodes and just plain DAZN elsewhere.

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R.I.P. Paul Bamba (1989-2024): The Story Behind the Story

Published

1 week ago

January 6, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Paul Bamba, a cruiserweight, passed away at age 35 on Dec. 27 six days after defeating Rogelio Medina before a few hundred fans on a boxing card at a performing arts center in Carteret, New Jersey. No cause of death has been forthcoming, leading to rampant speculation. Was it suicide, or perhaps a brain injury, and if the latter was it triggered by a pre-existing condition?

Fuel for the latter comes in the form of a letter that surfaced after his death. Dated July 25, 2023, it was written by Dr. Alina Sharinn, a board-certified neurologist licensed in New York and Florida.

“Mr. Bamba has suffered a concussion and an episode of traumatic diplopia within the past year and now presents with increasing headaches. His MRI of the brain revealed white matter changes in both frontal lobes,” wrote Bamba’s doctor.

Her recommendation was that he stop boxing temporarily while also avoiding any other activity at which he was at risk of head trauma.

Dr. Sherinn’s letter was written three months after Bamba was defeated by Chris Avila in a 4-round contest in New Orleans. He lost all four rounds on all three scorecards, reducing his record to 5-3.

Bamba took a break from boxing after fighting Avila. Eight months would elapse before he returned to the ring. His next four fights were in Santa Marta, Colombia, against opponents who were collectively 4-23 at the time that he fought them. The most experienced of the quartet, Victor Coronado, was 38 years old.

He won all four inside the distance and ten more knockouts would follow, the last against Medina in a bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association for the WBA Gold title. As widely reported, the stoppage, his 14^th, broke Mike Tyson’s record for the most consecutive knockouts within a calendar year. That would have been a nice feather in his cap if only it were true.

Born in Puerto Rico, Paul Bamba was a former U.S. Marine who spent time in Iraq as an infantry machine gunner. In interviews on social media platforms, he is well-spoken and introspective without a trace of the boastfulness that many prizefighters exhibit when talking to an outsider. Interviewed in a corridor of the arena after stopping Medina, he was almost apologetic, acknowledging that he still had a lot to learn.

His life story is inspirational.

His early years were spent in foster homes. He was homeless for a time after returning to civilian life. Speaking with Boxing Scene’s Lucas Ketelle, Bamba said, “I didn’t have any direction after leaving the Marine corps. I hit rock bottom, couldn’t afford a place to stay…I was renting a mattress that was shoved behind someone’s sofa.”

He turned his life around when he ventured into the Morris Park Boxing Gym in the Bronx where he learned the rudiments of boxing under the tutelage of former WBA welterweight champion Aaron “Superman” Davis. “I love boxing,” he would say. “The confidence it gives you permeates into other aspects of your life.”

Bamba’s newfound confidence allowed him to carve out a successful career as a personal trainer. His most famous client was the Grammy Award winning R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo who signed Bamba to his new sports management company late in the boxer’s Knockout skein. Bamba was with Ne-Yo in Atlanta when he passed away. Ne-Yo broke the news on his Instagram platform.

Paul Bamba had been pursuing a fight with Jake Paul. Winning the WBA Gold belt opened up other potentially lucrative options. In theory, the holder of the belt is one step removed from a world title fight. Next comes an eliminator and, if he wins that one, a true title fight attached to a hefty purse will follow…in theory.

Rogelio “Porky” Medina, who brought a 42-10 record, had competed against some top-shelf guys, e.g., Zurdo Ramirez, Badou Jack, James DeGale, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant; going the distance with DeGale and Plant. However, only two of his 42 wins had come in fights outside Mexico, at age 36 he was over the hill, and his best work had come as a super middleweight.

Thirteen months ago, Medina carried 168 ½ pounds for a match in New Zealand in which he was knocked out in the first round. He came in more than 30 pounds heavier, specifically 202 ¼, for his match with Paul Bamba. In between, he knocked out a 54-year-old man in Guadalajara to infuse his ledger with a little brighter sheen.

Why did the WBA see fit to sanction the Bamba-Medina match as a title fight? That’s a rhetorical question. And for the record, the record for the most consecutive knockouts within a calendar year wasn’t previously held by Mike Tyson. LaMar Clark, a heavyweight from Cedar City, Utah, scored 29 consecutive knockouts in 1958 after opening the year by winning a 6-round decision. (If you are inclined to believe that all or most of those knockouts were legitimate, then perhaps I can interest you in buying the Brooklyn Bridge.)

Clark was being primped for a fight with a good purse which came when he was dispatched to Louisville to fight a fellow who was fairly new to the professional boxing scene, a former U.S. Olympian then known as Cassius Clay who knocked him out in the second round in what proved to be Clark’s final fight.

Paul Bamba was a much better fighter than LaMar Clark, of that I am quite certain. However, if Paul Bamba had gone on to meet one of the world’s elite cruiserweights, a similar outcome would have undoubtedly ensued.

One can summon up the Bamba-Medina fight on the internet although the video isn’t great – it was obviously filmed on a smart phone – and pieces of it are missing. Bamba was winning with his higher workrate when Medina took his unexpected leave, but one doesn’t have to be a boxing savant to see that Paul’s hand and foot speed were slow and that there were big holes in his defense.

This isn’t meant to be a knock on the decedent. Being able to box even four rounds at a fast clip and still be fresh is one of the most underrated achievements in all of human endurance sports. Bamba’s life story is indeed inspirational. When he talked about the importance of “giving back,” he was sincere. In an early interview, he mentioned having helped out at a Harlem food pantry.

Paul Bamba had to die to become well-known within the fight fraternity, let alone in the larger society. One hopes that his death will inspire the sport’s regulators to be more vigilant in assaying a boxer’s medical history and, if somehow his untimely death leads to the dissolution of the fetid World Boxing Association, his legacy would be even greater.

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