Should Russian Boxers Be Barred from Competing? Results of a New TSS Survey

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2022

Ted Sares

Should-Russian-Boxers-Be-Barred-from-Competing?-Results-of-a-New-TSS-Survey

The question this time was a somewhat complex one, to wit: “Do you believe that Russian (and Belarusian) boxers should be barred from competing until the conflict in Ukraine is over? If yes, why so? If not, why not?”

Twenty-seven notables in the boxing community weighed-in. The respondents are listed alphabetically.

Russ Anber — elite trainer, cornerman, and owner of Rival Boxing Equipment: In my opinion, yes! If you are a Russian or Belarussian boxer who’s home and legal status is still in Russia, then yes I think they should be barred from fighting. If you are Russian born, but you are now a legal, landed Immigrant or Permanent Resident in another country, then you are free to box. If you are Russian and travelling on a “Work Visa” and your place of residence and citizenship is still in Russia, then that would render you ineligible. As a side note I think this should be applied to all professional athletes including the NHL. If you are a Russian player playing on a Work Visa, then you lose that right.

Joe Bruno — member of Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, prolific writer, and former BWAA official: No Russian athlete should be allowed to compete anywhere while his country is killing innocent civilians in Ukraine.

Jeff Bumpus — former boxer, writer: I can understand both sides of the argument. I know that the 1980 (U.S. Olympic) team did not compete and the only ones who suffered were the athletes from both countries who were denied the stage (the Russians boycotted the ‘84 LA games). Holding the athletes out doesn’t solve the international crisis, but neither does ignoring a tyrant. The 1938 Olympics went forward despite Hitler’s aggressions. Were we wrong for sending Jesse Owens and the (others) to Germany? Or did any of it make any difference? I say no, it did not. And an athlete’s window of opportunity is very small. It’s a hard question to answer. If pressed, I say put the world affairs aside and let them compete.

Michael Culbert — former pro boxer: These boxers are just trying to make a living and have nothing to do with politics. It would be very unfair to be banned because of what their government has done.

Jill Diamond — WBC International Secretary: Sports should transcend politics; however, peace should transcend sports. We use the tools we have to accomplish this. It’s all terribly sad.

********** It’s Putin not them! **********

John DiSanto — keeper of Philly Boxing History, author: I believe they should NOT be barred from competing. The war in Ukraine was started by a corrupt leader and “government”, not the people of Russia. Although Russian athletes represent their country, they are not responsible for the problems. Although this might be reaching, a Russian boxer might even speak out against the aggression of his president, and thus help the overall cause of ending the war. So, no.

Rick Farris — president & founder at West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame: Who cares? Boxing is not important compared to what is going on in the world. I have never considered the best of Russia’s boxers to be competitive as professionals. And who cares about amateur boxing beyond those involved?

Jeffrey Freeman — aka KO Digest, TSS writer: I stand with conservative pundit Candace Owens on this one: “Absolutely appalling the way Russians are being treated in America and abroad. That our leaders and government institutions are allowing for and at times calling for this discrimination…..is quite telling. Russian lives matter.”

Clarence George — writer and historian: Of course Russian and Belarusian fighters shouldn’t be banned. We don’t punish people for their nationality. As Paul Sorvino said in Goodfellas (1990), “We’re not animali.”

Lee Groves — writer, author and the wizard of CompuBox: I understand the desire for administrators to demonstrate their outrage against Putin’s savagery, but I do not think penalizing Russians and Belarusians just for being born Russian or Belarusian is the proper way to do so. These athletes can’t control where they are born and they shouldn’t be prevented from making a living. If a specific athlete has been found to have supported or contributed to Putin’s carnage, that’s a different matter, but without that caveat, a ban is wholly unfair.

Henry Hascup — historian and President of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame: No, Schmeling wasn’t banned back in the 30’s so why should they. It’s Putin, not them!

Chuck Hasson — author and historian: I really don’t think I am qualified to decide such a complex question. We have all tried to provide for our immediate families and these guys aren’t into political policy. They just want to take care of loved ones.

Arne Lang — TSS editor-in-chief, author, historian: I would prefer that this was handled on a case-by-case basis. For example, David Avanesyan is slated to fight this coming weekend in his adopted homeland of England and I am perfectly fine with it so long as Avanesyan doesn’t bring any Russian insignia into the ring with him.

Ron Lipton — member of NJ and NY Boxing Halls of Fame, referee, historian, writer: No. There are many people in Russia who are protesting the war. It should not be held against one fighter nor should the lone fact of their heritage be a reason to ban them from making a living. There was a guy in boxing once, let me think of his name, give me a moment please, he stood up against many for his beliefs, oh yeah, I remember, Muhammad Ali.

Paul Magno — writer, author, and boxing official in Mexico: Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see the direct correlation between an individual Russian athlete competing as a private citizen and the war in Ukraine as a whole. How would banning him/her impact Russia or strike any sort of blow to the Russian invasion? I guess there’s the propagandists’ use of a victorious Russian athlete to support their war efforts. There’s also the possibility that money earned from the event could be funneled into the war effort. So, maybe I’m wrong. But I just can’t get past the idea of shutting down a fighter’s livelihood for something that is 100% not their fault and something they actually may be against.

Adeyinka Makinde — UK barrister, author, contributor to the Cambridge Companion to Boxing: Politics should be kept strictly out of sports. Sporting links can maintain a vital link between nations which may be ruptured at diplomatic and trade level. All boycotts and barring edicts do is replicate national political rivalries and reveal the hypocrisy of those who have done the same or similar deeds of which they accuse the wrongdoing nation that is the target of the boycott.

Layla McCarter — world title holder, multiple weight divisions; member of Female Boxer Hall of Fame: It’s complicated. On the one hand stopping Russians from competing is meant to put pressure on Putin from his own people. On the other, the Russian people are paying the price for Putin’s actions. If they speak out against him, they are punished. By not allowing them to compete the world is punishing them. Fair? I don’t think so, so I lean toward letting them compete.

Robert Mladinich — former boxer, author, writer, actor: No fights should be sanctioned in Russia or for boxers based in Russia or Belarus but I don’t think it is fair to penalize boxers from those nations who are in other countries on work visas. It’s an emotional, hot button issue and I could entertain arguments for or against them being banned but it is important to strike a balance while still holding Russia accountable.

Joseph Pasquale — elite boxing judge and member of AC Boxing Hall of Fame: I imagine there will great difficulty just in obtaining visas to compete out of Russia under these war conditions. Compared to most sports, boxers have a very narrow window of peak career opportunity. This conflict will probably handicap many.

Russell Peltz — legendary Philadelphia boxing promoter, 2004 IBHOF inductee, author: I’m undecided. I hate to penalize any Russian athlete whose political leaning I have no clue about. On the other hand, it MAY be necessary to go all in 100% against everything Russian, whether it’s oil, vodka, McDonalds, athletes, etc

Dennis Rappaport — famous manager, promoter, and historian: Fights in Russia should not be sanctioned; however, you really should not prevent Russian fighters from boxing elsewhere. Even Schmeling wasn’t prevented from fighting in the U.S.

Fred Romano — boxing historian, author and former HBO Boxing consultant: This is not the type of question I would answer without careful consideration. I would like to know the precedents in such situations before drawing a conclusion. Punitive action against an individual for the actions of others must pass strict scrutiny.

Dana Rosenblatt — former middleweight champion of the world, inspirational speaker: The only way to make sanctions stick is if all Russians feel it. Then they will take action against their own government. All Russian boxers should be banned until the conflict is over.

Ted Sares — TSS writer: For sanctions to be 100% effective, they must be symbolic as well as actual. In my view, Russian boxers should be barred from competing in the U.S. until the conflict is over.

“Iceman” John Scully — former boxer, manager, trainer, writer: Of course not. They are not politicians. Many other countries do ungodly things to human beings including China and no one has ever called for them to be removed from any rankings. The fighter should not suffer. And the fact of the matter is millions of Russians do not agree with the invasion of the Ukraine. Ultimately people are trying to make the boxers victims as well.

Alan Swyer — filmmaker, writer, and producer of the acclaimed El Boxeo: Despite the Kremlin’s contention “that sport is beyond politics,” Russia has long used athletics as a tool for propaganda. That explains why systematic doping has resulted in 46 Olympic medals stripped from Russian athletes. Russian boxers should definitely be barred from competing not just until the conflict is over, but until Russian aggression ceases.

Peter Wood — former boxer, writer. author, and artist: In 1980, I strongly disagreed with Jimmy Carter’s decision to boycott the Moscow Olympics–the boycott was in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. However, today, in 2022, the situation is much different. I strongly support barring Russian & Belarusian boxers from competition. McDonald’s, Netflix, Shell, Visa, Mastercard, Adidas, AT&T, and hundreds of other major companies agree with me–they have halted business with Putin. So should the boxing community.

Summary

Most respondents felt that the boxers should not be punished for the situation in Ukraine, but there were some strong feelings on the other side of the argument.

How do you see it?

Ted Sares is a member of Rings 4, 8 and 10. He is a retired competitive power lifter. He can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com

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Ted Sares

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 179: 360 Promotions, Probellum, and Golden Boy

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-289-East-L.A.-A-Fight-Town-Claressa-Shields-and-More

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Arne's-Almanac-Jake-Paul-and-Women's-Boxing-a-Curmudgeon's-Take

Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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