Super Bowl Sunday Special Edition: Remembering Lyle Alzado and Shane Dronett

Published

3 years ago

February 13, 2022

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Lyle Alzado played in the 1978 Super Bowl as a member of the Denver Broncos and in the 1984 Super Bowl as a member of the Los Angeles Raiders. Shane Dronett, like Alzado a defensive end who tragically died young, was a key component of the 1998 Atlanta Falcons squad that advanced to Super Bowl XXXIII.

If football hadn’t come calling, Alzado and Dronett would have likely made their mark in the sweet science. Both were outstanding amateur boxers.

Lyle Alzado was born in Brooklyn, the son of a Spanish-Italian father and a Jewish mother of Polish descent. At Lawrence High School in the Long Island village of Cedarhurst, he excelled on the gridiron, but his grades were so poor that no major football school was willing to take a chance on him. After a stint at a junior college in Texas, he surfaced at Yankton College in South Dakota, a small private college that no longer exists; it went bankrupt in 1984 and is now the site of a federal prison.

One guesses that Alzado missed a lot of classes at Yankton because he popped up repeatedly in Omaha,160 miles away. He went there to resume his amateur boxing career. A story in an Omaha paper reported that he was 27-1 in New York area rings before heading west. As Alzado’s legend grew, so also did his ring record which was inflated in news reports to 44-1.

In Omaha, Alzado frequently sparred with Ron Stander. On Feb. 4, 1969, they fought in a semi-final match-up in the Omaha City Golden Gloves tournament. Stander got the nod, a decision that was roundly booed according to a story in the Lincoln Star.

Ron Stander lived across the river from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa – hence his nickname, the Bluffs Butcher. As a pro, his signature win was a fifth-round KO of Earnie Shavers. He went on to fight Joe Frazier in the first and only heavyweight title fight ever staged in Omaha.

The Bluffs Butcher talked a good fight. “If we were fighting in an alley,” he said, “Frazier wouldn’t stand a chance.” But they didn’t fight in an alley and Joe butchered him. Stander was a bloody mess when his corner pulled him out after four rounds.

Alzado was selected in the fourth round of the 1971 NFL Draft and went on to become a cornerstone of Denver’s “Orange Crush” defense. In 1977, Denver’s Super Bowl season, Alzado was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in a poll by the United Press.

The Broncos lost the Jan. 19, 1978 Super Bowl to the Cowboys by a 27-10 score despite a strong game by Alzado who constantly pressured quarterback Roger Staubach while registering two sacks.

Alzado had another fine season in 1978, earning first-team All-Pro honors. By then, his exploits in the ring as an amateur boxer had become well-publicized and an enterprising promoter arranged a match with Muhammad Ali who had regained the world heavyweight title the previous year in his second meeting with Leon Spinks.

An 8-round exhibition, the match played out on July 14, 1979 at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, home of the Broncos, on a sweltering Saturday afternoon when the temperature reached 100 degrees. Contested before 20,000 (far below expectations), the match was tame, but Alzado made a credible showing and Ali would pay him the ultimate compliment, saying he had the makings of a champion if he chose to pursue a boxing career full-time. (Who would have guessed that when he and Ron Stander were sparring at a little boxing gym in Omaha that one would go on to share the ring with the most famous man on the planet and the other with his famous arch-rival?!)

Alzado was mired in a contract dispute with the Broncos when he fought Ali and the club shipped him off to the Cleveland Browns where he had three solid seasons. In 1982, he was traded to the former and future Oakland Raiders who were in their first season of their Los Angeles phase.

The Raiders with their bad-ass reputation and Lyle Alzado were a perfect fit. In Alzado’s first season in LA, with future Hall of Famer Howie Long manning the opposite flank, the Raiders led the league in sacks. The following year, Alzado was one of the linchpins of the Raiders team that won the NFL’s ultimate prize, knocking off the favored Washington Redskins 38-9 in the Super Bowl.

Shane Dronett

Shane Dronett, who grew up in Bridge City, Texas, took up boxing at the age of 11. As a senior in high school, he was a Texas Golden Gloves champion. He also excelled on the gridiron, earning All-State honors as a tight end and linebacker.

Dronett enrolled at the University of Texas where he grew into a six-foot-six, 265-pound defensive end. He cracked the starting lineup midway through his freshman season, was All-Conference as a sophomore and again as a junior when he made several All-America teams and then left school for the NFL with a year of eligibility remaining.

Selected in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, Dronett had 19 ½ sacks in his first three seasons and set a franchise record in 1994 with four blocked field goals. When his production tailed off, the Broncos let him go and, similar to Alzado, he would enjoy a late career surge with a new team, in his case the Falcons.

Dronett couldn’t get Atlanta over the hump in the Jan. 31, 1999 Super Bowl. The Falcons fell to the Broncos, 31-19. But he played so well that year and again the following year that he was tendered a five-year, $20 million contract. It proved to be a bad deal for the Falcons as, bedeviled by knee and shoulder injuries, he played only one more full season.

—

Lyle Alzado and Shane Dronett had a lot in common besides the fact they were outstanding amateur boxers who played defensive end for the Denver Broncos. On the practice field they were known for their fiery personalities. And both were not far removed from their playing days when they left this mortal earth, their lives cut short by brain disease.

Alzado, who parlayed his notoriety on the football field into an acting career, spent the last year of his life on a mission to educate others about the dangers of steroid use. In a July 8, 1991 Sports Illustrated cover story, he confessed that his denials about using anabolic steroids and human growth hormones were a big lie. He blamed the steroids on the inoperable brain tumor that was slowly eating away at him, convinced that the drugs had compromised his immune system. He died on May 14, 1992, at age 43 at the home of his fourth wife in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and was buried in Portland.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Shane Dronett are more distressing.

In 2006, Dronett began acting erratically; at various times confused, delusional, and paranoid. Doctors discovered a small benign tumor on his brain. They removed it, but Dronett’s problems continued. On Jan. 21, 2009, at his home in Georgia, he brandished a handgun at his wife and then turned it against himself, committing suicide. He was 38 years old. He left behind two young daughters, the oldest of whom, Hayley, chose to remember her father from her younger days: “He was the best dad in the world.”

Dronett’s personality change was mindful of some retired boxers whose autopsies showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (“CTE”), a progressive degenerative disease of the brain associated multiple concussions. “This was not the man I married,” said his wife, Christine, who consented to have his brain tissue examined by Boston University neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee whose pioneering work and that of several of her colleagues is detailed in “Damage,” boxing writer Tris Dixon’s widely acclaimed new book. Dr. McKee confirmed that Shane Dronett had CTE.

—

Regarding Lyle Alzado, no link has been found between steroid use and brain cancer. However, by warning athletes away from performing-enhancing drugs, Alzado performed a needed service. And likewise, the widow of Shane Dronett did her part to make the sport of football safer for future participants by willingly assisting Dr. McKee in her groundbreaking research which forced the NFL to acknowledge the seriousness of concussions and do something about it.

Perhaps Alzado and Dronett would have lived longer and left this world on a less sorrowful note if they had chosen a career in boxing instead of football, but then again, they became pillars of teams that made it all the way to the Super Bowl, America’s biggest annual sporting spectacle, and that must have been quite a rush.

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Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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