Glimpses into the Past (Part Three of a Three-Part Story)

Published

3 years ago

February 14, 2022

Ted Sares

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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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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.

Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.

Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.

Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.

There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.

It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.

Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.

At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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