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Did Jackie Tonawanda Posthumously Bamboozle the Boxing Hall of Fame?

PART ONE OF A TWO-PART STORY — On June 12, the late Jackie Tonawanda will be formally inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. She will be enshrined alongside such notables as Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Wladimir Klitschko and Andre Ward.
Here are seven true facts about Tonawanda:
*Tonawanda was the first woman to apply for a professional boxing license in New York. The New York State Athletic Commission acted on her petition on Oct. 8, 1974 and turned her down.
*Tonawanda filed a complaint with the New York State Human Rights Commission charging the NYSAC with sex discrimination that violated her constitutional rights and took it a step further, hiring attorney Stanley N. Soloman to argue her case before the New York State Supreme Court.
*The NYSAC sought to have her suit dismissed but was shot down by Justice Harry B. Frank who ruled in a decision rendered on June 17, 1975 that her case could go forward.
*Nine days before Judge Frank’s ruling, Tonawanda appeared on a show at Madison Square Garden called “Oriental World of Self Defense” which showcased several different styles of martial arts. Tonawanda was matched against a man, identified as Larry Rodiana, in a 5-round kickboxing contest. No major paper covered the event, but it would be widely reported that she knocked out Rodiana in the second round.
*On Sept. 19, 1978, Jackie Tonawanda and two of her colleagues, Marian Trimiar and Cathy “Cat” Davis, became the first licensed female boxers in New York.
*On Feb. 16, 1979, Tonawanda appeared on a boxing card in Louisville where she lost a 6-round split decision to Diane Clark.
*Tonawanda passed away on June 9, 2009 at a hospital in Harlem. Her death at age 75 or thereabouts was attributed to colon cancer.
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Sportswriters are inherently drawn to athletes who are different. Over the years, Tonawanda, who called herself “Lady Tyger” and billed herself as the “Female Ali,” was the subject of many newspaper stories. On Oct. 6, 1974, she was profiled in a story in the New York Daily News. The most recent story about her in a traditional newspaper was authored by Herb Boyd and ran in the Amsterdam (NY) News on May 7, 2020.
Reading these newspaper stories, one is struck by the discrepancies.
The inconsistencies would not have surprised Randy Gordon. The one-time editor of The Ring magazine who chaired the New York State Athletic Commission from 1979 to 1985, Gordon was flabbergasted to learn that Tonawanda, elected to the IBHOF in the Female Trailblazer category, was headed to Canastota. “{Her} entire story is clouded in secrecy, mystery, distortion, deceptions, lies, falsehoods,” he wrote in a story that was published on Feb. 15 of this month at “NY Fights.” For good measure, Gordon called Tonawanda the greatest scam artist in the history of boxing (italics mine).
The 1974 story in the New York Daily News was written by Bill Verigan. Tonawanda told Verigan that she got into boxing because of a boyfriend who was killed in the Vietnam War: “He was a boxer and when he’d go to the gym, I’d go too.”
“Over the years,” wrote Verigan, “she has gotten to know many fighters. The likes of Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano have showed her their tricks and tutored her.”
Two years later, on Oct. 22, 1976, a more elaborate story about Tonawanda appeared in the Miami News under the byline of Mary Jane Fine. Tonawanda was then in Miami keeping fit by working out at Chris Dundee’s 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach.
As a child growing up in Long Island, wrote Fine, Jackie Tonawanda considered becoming a psychiatrist and her hobbies included listening to classical music. Tonawanda told her that she had a fight scheduled in January with light heavyweight contender Mike Quarry (brother of Jerry) at the Houston Astrodome with a $4 million purse riding on the outcome and Ms. Fine dutifully relayed this information to her readers.
About that 1979 fight in Louisville between Tonawanda and Diane Clark:
The card’s headliner was Greg Page. A local fighter who would go on to win a share of the world heavyweight title, Page was making his pro debut after a decorated amateur career. Clark was subbing for the mysterious Lillian “Wonder Woman” Wells who pulled out for unexplained reasons. A United Press pre-fight story declared that Tonawanda was making the thirteenth defense of the World Female Light Heavyweight Title that she had won in 1971. Clark was dressed with an 11-4 record.
Jackie Tonawanda would come to assert that she was ill when she entered the ring against Clark, telling one reporter she had pneumonia. As for Diane Clark, in 2013, Washington Post reporter DeNeen L. Brown discovered her living in a homeless shelter in Prince George County, Maryland. Clark told Brown that her memory of the night in Louisville when she won a split decision over Jackie Tonawanda was bittersweet. As a little girl, she said, she had dreams of owning a world title belt and was crushed when there was no belt to be had.
(Brown’s story had a heartwarming postscript. Her story about Clark was brought to the attention of Matt Farrago, founder of Ring 10, a charity established for the purpose of taking care of ex-boxers in need. In a follow-up story, Brown was able to tell her readers that thanks to the largesse of Ring 10, Diane Clark now had her own apartment.)
One thing to keep in mind as we press forward is that Jackie Tonawanda isn’t going into the International Boxing Hall of Fame because of her boxing prowess; she is going in as a trailblazer, as a woman who played an instrumental role in pushing back the barriers that kept women from competing with other women in the sport of boxing.
Tonawanda fought the establishment. Here’s what NYSAC chairman Jim Dooley wrote in hopes of getting the New York State Supreme Court to dismiss her lawsuit: “Licensing of women as professional boxers will at once destroy the image that attracts serious boxing fans and bring professional boxing into disrepute among them to the financial detriment of those whose livelihoods depend on the activity.” Dooley had a firm ally in New York Daily News pooh-bah Dick Young, New York’s most-widely-read sports columnist. “Let Miss Tonawanda apply for a marriage license,” he quipped. “That could supply her with all the fighting she craves.”
But here too, viewed strictly as a trailblazer, one could argue that the mercurial Jackie Tonawanda doesn’t measure up. Check back soon as we continue to peek behind the curtain with an eye toward separating fact from fiction.
To read PART TWO of this story CLICK HERE
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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More
It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.
In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.
Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.
CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.
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Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.
Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”
And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer
Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.
Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)
Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.
Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.
In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.
When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.
Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.
May he rest in peace.
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

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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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

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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