The Hauser Report: Literary, Medical, and Other Boxing Notes

Published

3 years ago

August 24, 2022

The Hauser Report: Literary, Medical, and Other Boxing Notes

Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn by Ed Gruver (Lyons Press) is what its title says it is – a book about the June 18, 1941, heavyweight championship fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn.

Conn was born and raised in Pittsburgh and grew up fighting. He liked to say that he started in alleys and worked his way up to the streets. He had his first pro fight at age sixteen, defeated five former world champions by age twenty, and was light-heavyweight champion of the world at 21. In a twist of fate, when a heavyweight prospect named Joe Louis fought Hans Birkie in Pittsburgh in 1935, Conn (then seventeen years old) handled the spit bucket in Louis’s corner.

Conn was 23 and Louis 28 when they fought in 1941. The weight differential between them was enormous. The challenger weighed in at 169 pounds (announced as 174). Louis tipped the scales at 204. Many expected the bout to be a replay of the 1921 “million-dollar-gate” encounter between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in which the hard-punching heavyweight champion obliterated his charismatic but smaller foe.

But Conn matched up well against Louis in two areas. His footwork was superior and his hands were faster.

More significantly, perhaps, The Brown Bomber was slipping a bit. Fighters got old at a young age in those days. And Louis hadn’t fought a top-level challenger since Max Schmeling in 1938, feasting instead on thirteen opponents referred to collectively by some sportswriters as the “bum of the month club.”

Louis was a 17-to-5 betting favorite over Conn. 54,487 fans packed the Polo Grounds in New York on fight night. They saw a great fight between two great fighters.

Scoring in New York in 1941 was on a round basis. Conn’s footwork and hand speed were dazzling. After twelve rounds, he led 7-4-1 and 7-5 on two scorecards and was even on the third. In the twelfth stanza, he staggered Louis. In today’s world, he would have been the new heavyweight champion. But championship fights in 1941 were fifteen rounds, not twelve.

Conn’s version of what happened next was, “In the twelfth round, I staggered Louis. It made me feel good. I knew I had the title if I wanted to box for it. But I thought how great it would be to beat the unbeatable Louis at his own game. I went into the thirteenth with the idea of knocking Joe cold.”

“Casting caution to the wind,” Gruver writes, “Conn went all out for glory. Operating on a knife’s edge, the Kid was extending a Homeric effort. If he succeeded, sportswriters would speak of his stunning victory in epic prose which would echo in eternity. There would be odes written in the Old World as well as in the new, paeans to Conn fighting with the passionate intensity of his Irish ancestors.”

But, Gruver continues, “trading blows with Joe Louis proved to be a bridge too far.” Louis froze Conn with a crushing right hand and, soon after, ended matters with thirteen unanswered blows.

Conn, Gruver recounts, “fell limply like a marionette whose strings had been cut” and struggled to regain his feet. But as the count reached ten, his gloves were still touching the canvas. The time of the stoppage was 2:58 of the thirteenth round.

Had Conn beaten the count, rounds fourteen and fifteen (if there was a fifteen) would likely have gone poorly for him. In all probability, Louis would have won by decision or knockout. Also, while much has been written about Conn going for the kill in round thirteen, Gruver acknowledges that, having fought twelve hard rounds, Conn might no longer have been physically able to maneuver out of harm’s way.

The Joe Louis lode has been mined by numerous authors (most notably, David Margolick, Don McRae, Randy Roberts, and Chris Mead). Conn was the subject of an excellent biography by Andrew O’Toole. Gruver’s work doesn’t have the texture or depth of analysis that these books offer. And he glosses over the endless dysfunctional family struggles that plagued Conn throughout his life culminating in the boxer’s sad decline into pugilistic dementia (which was particularly well covered by O’Toole).

There are also times when digressions interrupt Gruver’s narrative flow. The end of round six of one of the most exciting fights in boxing history isn’t the place to insert a three-page biography of Bill Corum (Don Dunphy’s radio commentating partner that night).

That said; Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn is an entertaining read. Gruver brings his subject to life. The fight itself is dramatically told over the course of five chapters. And Conn (who clearly has a place in Gruver’s heart) gets his due as a great fighter.

* * *

One of many divisive issues facing society today is the question of whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in a gender category other than that assigned to them at birth. Recently, Dr. Nitin Sethi (chief medical officer for the New York State Athletic Commission) offered some thoughts on the matter as it relates to combat sports.

Sethi supports transgender rights. He has pledged to protect transgender individuals against discrimination in employment, education, access to healthcare, and other areas of everyday life. But he is also, in his words, “committed to the value of fair competition.”

“A combat-sport bout,” Sethi states, “should occur between two equally matched competitors. At present, there is no consensus whether a bout between a transgender woman against a cisgender (biological) woman is a fair bout between two equally matched competitors.”

Metrics such as testosterone levels, Sethi notes, are inadequate to ensure fairness at the time of the bout. “It can be argued,” he posits, “that by the time a transgender woman combatant launches her professional career, she has already gone through male puberty, thus conferring her with the musculature and bony structure of a male. So, a transgender woman combatant may have an unfair advantage over her cisgender woman opponent.”

The converse would be true in the case of a fight between a transgender man and a cisgender man.

“Combat sports such as boxing,” Sethi continues, “are unique since every punch thrown at the head is thrown with the intention of winning by causing a knockout, which is a concussive head injury. These sports carry an exceedingly high risk for both acute and chronic neurological injuries.”

Thus, Sethi advocates for “two equally skilled and matched athletes competing on a level playing field and to keep matches fair, competitive, entertaining, and, most importantly, safe for all combatants.” At the present level of scientific knowledge, he concludes, allowing transgender athletes to compete in combat sports raises serious health and safety concerns that he finds unacceptable.

* * *

The Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP) says that its primary mission is to educate all persons involved in combat sports with regard to medical issues. This responsibility is of particular importance when it comes to the doctors themselves. In many jurisdictions, physicians with no combat sports experience evaluate fighter medical data, conduct pre-fight physicals, and are at ringside on fight night. And to be blunt about it, there are concerns that, in recent years, the ARP has fallen short in carrying out its educational mission.

Dr. Gerard Varlotta (a renowned orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist who has served as a ringside physician for the New York State Athletic Commission since 1991) is seeking to educate. Toward that end, he has been the driving force behind a book titled Association of Ringside Physicians’ Manual of Combat Sports Medicine that will be published in early-September.

“I started thinking about the manual a decade ago,” Varlotta says. “The longer I worked as a ringside physician, the more I realized that most of us come from different backgrounds and have different training and there was no one place we could go to cross-learn about how to care for fighters. Boxing and MMA are complicated sports. There are a lot of nuances that need to be understood from a medical perspective. I began working on the project in earnest about three years ago. It has taken since then to get enough people with the right expertise to write the chapters, edit everything, and put it all together.”

No one picks up a Merck Medical Manual for pleasure reading. The same is true of this book. The manual consists of 53 essays authored and co-authored by 71 contributing writers. It’s 600 pages long and technical in nature.

That said; any doctor who takes on the role of being a ringside physician should study this book.

* * *

HBO Boxing is long gone, although fans can relive HBO fights on YouTube and other platforms. Meanwhile, Larry Merchant (who enjoyed a highly-praised career as a newspaperman before transitioning to television) will make an appearance next month in an unexpected theater.

On September 10, EPIX will televise Part 1 of an eight-part documentary entitled “NFL Icons.” The first episode paints a wonderful portrait of the immensely likable John Madden – a Hall of Fame coach and possibly the greatest expert analyst in any sport ever.

At one point, the documentary shows Madden facing the press after leading the Oakland Raiders to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the 1977 Super Bowl. The first question comes from Merchant who inquires, “Coach, it looked like the halftime show could have given you a better game than the Vikings. How much stronger is the AFC than the NFC? You’ve dominated this game for five years.”

“I didn’t see the halftime show,” Madden answers.

“I don’t remember it,” Merchant told The Sweet Science when asked about the exchange this week. “But hearing about it from you now, I like it.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – In the Inner Sanctum: Behind the Scenes at Big Fights – will be published by the University of Arkansas Press this autumn. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, he was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-319-Rematches-in-Las-Vegas-Cancun-and-More

Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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