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Glimpses into the Past (Part Three of a Three-Part Story)
Glimpses into the Past (Part Three of a Three-Part Story)
Tracking all the way back to the 1940’s, I have witnessed literally thousands of fights during my almost 85 years of life and consider myself something of an aficionado. Some memories have been grand; others I wish I could erase. Most have been indelible. I have seen or heard some truly remarkable things. A representative sample of them continues here in the final part of this 3-part series.
Playing Possum
Jake LaMotta had lost once to Laurent Dauthuille and when they fought again in 1950 for the world middleweight championship, the Frenchman was leading by a wide margin going into the fifteenth and final round. I was listening to this one on the radio at a very young age, and was rooting for Jake. As Dauthuille was pounding away and seemingly had Jake hanging on, LaMotta suddenly turned the tables. He was playing possum and waiting for just the right moment to launch his attack. It worked as he KO’d Laurent with just 13 seconds to go. I went nuts. There is a video available and it’s well worth the hunt.
Ebb and Flow
The ebb and flow classic between Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore and Canada’s Yvon Durelle in 1958 is a must-see for all hard-core boxing fans. The rugged French Canadian decked the Mongoose three times in the first round and appeared to be on his way to a certain stoppage victory. But Moore somehow managed to weather the storm and survive the round. Then, incredibly, he began to work his way back.
Moore was knocked down again in the fifth round but still would not fold. Durelle was not only visibly discouraged but was also tiring. He had made a fatal mistake, letting the Mongoose off the hook, and now it was Archie who took control and began to put some hurt on the rugged challenger. Durelle finally went down in the seventh and tenth rounds, and then Moore settled matters in the eleventh round of a fight that had to be seen to be believed. This classic gave new meaning to the words courage and comeback. It was one of the most brutal, thrilling slugfests of all time, maybe — just maybe — the greatest fight in history. Thankfully, I remember it.
Of course, I also remember Castillo vs Corrales (May 2015).
Charles Mohr
Under the most successful coach in the history of American collegiate boxing, the legendary and beloved John Walsh, University of Wisconsin boxers won eight NCAA team championships and 38 individual titles from 1933 to 1960. If you were into college boxing, Wisconsin was the place to be.
It all came to a tragic end on April 9, 1960, the date 22-year-old Wisconsin senior Charles Mohr, probably the finest collegiate boxer in the U.S., went into the ring against Stu Bartell who represented another collegiate boxing powerhouse in San Jose State.
Mohr was the 1959 intercollegiate middleweight champion, with a 23-5 slate over a four-year period. He was heavily favored to retain his title. Minutes later, he was in a deep coma from an intracranial hemorrhage following a moderate blow to the head and died eight days later without regaining consciousness. The improbability of this happening was shocking. Then, twenty-two days after Charlie Mohr’s death, the University of Wisconsin abolished the sport. The NCAA soon followed Wisconsin’s lead. It was the last NCAA boxing tournament ever held. Things happened so fast, the entire episode seemed unreal and took years to settle in.
The Knockout from Hell
Wilfred Benitez, the Puerto Rican prodigy, met Maurice Hope on May 23, 1981 in Las Vegas. At stake was the WBC junior middleweight title. Benitez was 41-1-1, Hope 32-2-1.
Benitez was stylish with incredible defensive skills, but he also had deceptive punching power. Hope also had sneaky punching power. In fact, he had previously stopped future world middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo, (who would later go the full 15 rounds in a fight with Marvelous Marvin Hagler). Hope was born in Antigua but lived in England most of his life and represented Great Britain at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
As for the fight, Benitez was well ahead on all three scorecards when out of nowhere he landed a thunderous overhand right in the twelfth round that separated Hope from his senses and rendered him totally unconscious. He was out before he landed. No jab or lead-in combination was involved; just the overhand shot. The KO was of the highlights variety and was seen on televised sports shows throughout the world. Hope required hospitalization, but fortunately recuperated. He would only fight one more time.
Rage
On August 1, 1982, San Antonio boxer Tony ‘El Torito’ Ayala, Jr savaged talented middleweight Robbie Epps until the referee called the fight in front of 12,000 howling pro-Ayala fans at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum. Epps was no slouch having won his first 22 pro bouts and having beaten Darryl Penn and the very capable Dwight Davison (28-0 coming in).
Ayala, 5’7”, stayed low against his 6’2″ opponent using him as a big bag and throwing combos and straight shots with nothing coming back for the 21st win of his career. Even after the overly hesitant referee stopped the slaughter, Ayala kept going after Epps as there was no love lost between the two. This reflected a fatal flaw in his character that would emerge too many times. Indeed, his streak of violence continued outside the ring, with repeated accounts of assault against women and attendant imprisonment. Yet, despite his horrible shortcomings, his fights were memorable for their unbridled rage and the Epps fight was the best of the best for me.
“He could have been one of the greatest.”— Osmar Alaniz, boxing coach and friend of the Ayala family
Riddick Bowe vs Elijah Tillery I
A manager should always have his fighter’s back and when Riddick Bowe (26-0) fought Elijah Tillery (23-4)in 1991 at the Convention Center in Washington, DC, Bowe’s manager Rock Newman did just that. After a first round in which “Big Daddy” pummeled Tillery, a nasty second fight broke out at the end of the round. Bowe flung a left jab at Tillery and was answered by three kicks. After the bigger Bowe pinned “Phoenix Steel” against the ropes, Newman appeared out of nowhere and grabbed poor Tillery in a stranglehold and pulled him down into the abyss. The entire episode was high camp and had me on the floor laughing. Many years later, Riddick’s explanation was shocking because it was slurred and unintelligible. It was not funny—not one bit.
When the HBO Commentators Were Shut Down
In 1997, The HBO team mercilessly criticized Micky Ward’s effort against his touted opponent Alfonso Sanchez (16-0) even comparing it to visual torture. Someone suggested –with tongue in cheek –that the referee should stop the fight. But Ward fans knew what the announcers obviously didn’t; to wit, that no matter what kind of off-day Micky was having, he could end a fight at any time with his laser-like body shot to the kidneys—and that’s just what he did at 1.53 of Round Seven. After hurting Sanchez with one left hand shot and realizing that he was vulnerable, he launched another sizzling left and that was that. I was up and screaming because I was a Ward fan and that went all the way back to his Golden Gloves days in boxing-crazy Lowell, MA.
Oh No!
“As a boxing writer for the Miami Herald and later for Sports Illustrated, Pat Putnam used his talent and reportorial skills to weave compelling tales about fighting men. It was Putnam who scooped the world in 1964 with the revelation that Cassius Clay was going to change his name to Muhammad Ali. He was a prolific journalist.” — Bernard Fernandez (May 2, 2008).
I loved Pat’s writing but I also greatly admired the “fact” he was an ex-Marine, a combat veteran, and a POW of the Korean war (a brutal conflict that I personally have studied intensely). Putnam claimed he was a prisoner of war for 17 months and told people that his wartime experience left him with only one lung and a lifetime of back problems. He also said that he received several decorations. This information was included in Steve Springer’s widely syndicated obituary in the Los Angeles Times:
Then, three years after his death in 2005, it was discovered that his military claims were false. Die-hard Putnam fans went into shock and then into denial. Many would not accept the truth. Some boxing site managers would not even permit discussion of it on their boxing platforms. All I could say was “Oh No.”
Unassailable—I think not
“Murat was on the verge of disqualification. I wanted to give him every opportunity to finish the fight and I felt that he was abusing the opportunity I was giving him.” — Steve Smoger
“New Jersey boxing was out of control Saturday night in Atlantic City. Referee Steve Smoger, who physically manhandled Bernard Hopkins’ opponent Karo Murat all night, at one point stuck his palm in Murat’s face and shoved him backward with a sneer, clearly intent on inflicting harm. Smoger should have been yanked halfway through the twelve rounds and sent home with a sedative.” — Ivan G. Goldman, 10-28-13, Boxing Insider.”
Aging Bernard Hopkins defended his IBF light-heavyweight title against tough challenger Karo Murat on October 26, 2013 . Steve Smoger was the referee. Hopkins won by unanimous decision in a hard-fought, entertaining and even dirty battle. But what stuck in my memory bank was the way Smoger pushed, no, the way he shoved Murat away at the end of the fight for no apparent reason and then, punctuating the strange scene, turned around and gave Hopkins a great big hug, a wider smile, and reportedly even a kiss. That lack of neutrality was sickening to watch.
“Hopkins-Murat will not be played at Steve Smoger’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony” — Adam Abramowitz
Five Memorable Quotes
Hey! All the padding is out of the damn gloves…It’s all out…Commissioner…Commissioner! No padding! There’s no damn padding!” — Billy Collins Sr.
“I don’t know anybody outside of the Gatti camp who seriously maintains that Gatti made weight for that fight [against Joey Gamache] They jumped him on and off the scale very quickly. It seemed pretty clear to me that someone at the commission had been told in advance that there might be a problem and the response was, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ ” — Thomas Hauser
‘I’m all about fighting the best fighters.” — Danny Garcia after slaughtering 33-1 underdog Rod Salka,
“Mental health has got to be the biggest battle I’ve ever fought, more so than any opponent.” — Tyson Fury
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” –Nelson Mandela
Ted Sares welcomes questions or comments and can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.
Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.
“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.
After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.
Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.
One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”
Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.
“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.
A real fight was happening.
Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.
Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.
In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.
“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”
Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.
In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.
“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”
Espinoza Wins
WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.
“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.
Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.
Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.
It was Espinoza’s third title defense.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.
The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.
The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.
Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.
Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.
A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.
In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.
Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.
Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.
In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.
Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.
Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.
In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.
Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.
Semi-wind-up
In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.
A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.
The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.
Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.
Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.
Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.
Heavyweights
In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.
Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.
The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.
In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions
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Weekend Recap and More with the Accent of Heavyweights
Remembering Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Kenny Adams
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Wins Welterweight Showdown in Atlantic City
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Avila Perspective Chap 320: Boots Ennis and Stanionis
Dzmitry Asanau Flummoxes Francesco Patera on a Ho-Hum Card in Montreal
Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday
Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welterweight Week in SoCal
TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts
Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside
‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’
Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton
Arne’s Almanac: The First Boxing Writers Assoc. of America Dinner Was Quite the Shindig
Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More
Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Jorge Garcia is the TSS Fighter of the Month for April
Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader
Avila Perspective, Chap. 324: Ryan Garcia Leads Three Days in May Battles
Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia
Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas
Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs
Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas
Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia
Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader
Avila Perspective, Chap. 324: Ryan Garcia Leads Three Days in May Battles
Jorge Garcia is the TSS Fighter of the Month for April
Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More
Floyd Mayweather has Another Phenom and his name is Curmel Moton
Arne’s Almanac: The First Boxing Writers Assoc. of America Dinner Was Quite the Shindig
Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside
‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’
Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welterweight Week in SoCal
TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts
Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Wins Welterweight Showdown in Atlantic City
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Avila Perspective Chap 320: Boots Ennis and Stanionis
Dzmitry Asanau Flummoxes Francesco Patera on a Ho-Hum Card in Montreal
Remembering Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Kenny Adams
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Featured Articles4 weeks agoWeekend Recap and More with the Accent of Heavyweights
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Featured Articles4 weeks agoRemembering Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Kenny Adams
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