Gridiron Stars Bell and Peterson to Give, Take Some Really Off-Tackle Hits

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2022

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NFL running backs Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell face off Saturday night in the co-main event of Social Gloves 2

You see it at virtually every much-anticipated, big-ticket boxing event. The premium seats at or close to ringside are often occupied by standout athletes in other sports, there to witness the action, of course, but also to indulge in the sort of what-if daydreams that can fire the imagination of even the most sedentary of couch potatoes.

Each daydream, individually tailored though it might be, goes something like this: If I took time to train and get myself into decent shape, I bet I could do that. By “that,” the dreamer imagines being inside the ropes, winging loaded-up shots and knocking his (or, increasingly so, her) opponent colder than a gutted mackerel stashed since the preceding month or two in the freezer compartment of their kitchen refrigerator.

Two outstanding NFL running backs of reasonably recent vintage, Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell, get to possibly live their shared dream Saturday night as the co-main event of a highly dubious pay-per-view card to be televised via FITE.tv from Banc of California Stadium, home of MLS’ LA Galaxy. How dubious is most of the 10-bout lineup, collectively titled Social Gloves 2? Well, Peterson and Bell, who collectively have made millions of dollars from football and have six first-team All-Pro selections between them, are getting secondary billing to a matchup of somebody named Austin McBroom (0-0) against another somebody named Ali Eson Gib, who is 0-1 with his only previous bout a technical-knockout loss to Jake Paul, the YouTube guy who has a gazillion social media followers and now is the undisputed champion of all those pugilistic daydreamers who once got the better of a classmate in a sixth-grade schoolyard fight.

Also on the card is a bout between former Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young, who now prefers to go by his nickname, Swaggy P, and whomever is the last-minute replacement for rapper Blueface, whose birth certificate lists him as the much less intriguing Johnathan Jamall Porter.

Make no mistake, Jake “The Problem Child” Paul now would seem to be an erstwhile combination of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali in comparison to McBroom and Gib, who are said to have substantial presences on such platforms as TikTok. When Paul (5-0, 4 KOs, but with none of his wins coming against an actual professional boxer) swaps punches in the ring with UFC legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva on Oct. 29 in Glendale, Ariz., it will be the most legitimate step yet taken by the incrementally more-proficient fighter and extraordinarily adroit self-promoter. Silva might be 47, but he has some boxing experience (going 3-1) and was a lights-out striker in the Octagon, where he was 34-11, but lost seven of his last nine fights, including one no-decision. If Paul gets past Silva, you can bet he’ll grab a bullhorn and call out, say, Canelo Alvarez. Wait a second … he’s already done that.

Peterson’s glory seasons were with the Vikings, for whom he played through the 2016 season, whereupon he became something of a vagabond ball-carrier for hire, logging cameo stints with the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, then-Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks. Playing in just four games in 2021 with the Titans and Seahawks, he rushed for a total of just 98 yards, seemingly finishing a career that should earn him first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with 14,918 yards, fifth on the all-time list. Bell, 30, had a more abbreviated prime, mostly for the Pittsburgh Steelers with stopovers with the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was a capable receiver too, apparently finishing his nine-year NFL career with 6,554 rushing yards and 3,289 more through the air.

Given their production while wearing helmets and shoulder pads, Peterson and Bell both express confidence that their transition will be successful, if not necessarily seamless.

“At the end of the day, I’m leaving with a `W,’” Peterson said when asked by an interviewer for his expected outcome.

Countered the slightly favored Bell, mostly based on his being seven years younger and presumably having less wear-and-tear on his body, “I think it’s a great opportunity to showcase my skills and show what I’m working hard on,” he said when asked the same question. “I’m obviously confident in myself.” Another potential factor that might prove to Bell’s advantage is the running style he exhibited to great effect with the Steelers, that being an ability to patiently wait for holes to open, then stomping on the accelerator and bursting through them.

“Picking and choosing your shots,” Bell said of the one trait of his on the field he hopes translates well to the ring. “When to turn it up and when not to. It’s a little different in football. In football, you get a play, you run the play. In boxing there ain’t no play. You get a read on the guy as you go.”

The history of football players who daydream of becoming heavyweight champion of the world – or in whatever weight class they might find themselves – is spotty at best and depressing at worst. Maybe the best of the lot is former San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders wide receiver Charlie Powell, who at one point in the late 1950s rose as high as a No. 2 ranking. At least Powell’s resume, which saw him go 25-11-3 with 17 wins inside the distance and eight losses in similar fashion, was mostly compiled against legitimate competition. He was 5-8-1 in his final 14 appearances, the last of which was a third-round stoppage at the hands of Muhammad Ali, still known then as Cassius Clay, on Jan. 24, 1963.

Many of the football guys following Powell, some of whom were quite accomplished on the field, were able to milk their fame in that sport en route to building artificially inflated records that crumbled like sand castles once they stepped up in class. Cowboys defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones tried his hand at boxing for a year and all six of his bouts were nationally televised by CBS. He was 6-0 against a parade of pretenders especially picked for the likelihood they would fall down quickly if hit, but even though he had shown some ability fighting as a young kid, enough to convince one notable observer, Angelo Dundee, with whom Jones was not associated, that he might have had something going had he stuck with it, the fight game is not something you can walk away from for two decades and pick up just like that.

Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau, former NFL single-season record holder for sacks, went 15-2 with 15 KOs in his five years as a pro, but all his wins came against carefully selected designated victims. He retired after being stopped in two one-sided rounds by another former NFL star, running back Alonzo Highsmith, who was 27-1-2 with 23 KOs. Highsmith rightly took umbrage in being compared to the mostly inept Gastineau, but he never took the kind of step-up bouts that might have stamped him as something more viable than a curiosity item.

More recently, there was Golden Boy-backed former Michigan State linebacker Seth Mitchell, whom some saw as a superstar-in-the-making during a quick ascent into semi-prominence. But Mitchell (26-2-1, 19) lost two of his last three fights, both on stoppages, one against Johnathon Banks and a bit later against Chris Arreola, which convinced him that the best way to enjoy the rest of his life was to walk away and stay away from that squared circle.

Still, Peterson and Bell are clinging to the remote possibility that whatever best part of themselves they didn’t leave between those chalked sidelines might be resurrected if they don’t embarrass themselves Saturday night. And you can hardly blame either for daring to think that way. They were, after all, once great at their former jobs. Peterson remarked that he even kayoed an unidentified sparring partner in preparation for squaring off against Bell.

“It was in the last minute of the fifth round,” he recalled. “He threw a good combination. I was able to block (most of the punches). Then I came back with a left and was able to swing through his guard with the right and it landed.

“It didn’t really feel like I hit him with a lot of power, but I was talking to some of the fighters (in his Houston gym) and they said that’s kind of how it goes.”

Sometimes it does go like that for a fighter, even a football player on a busman’s holiday. Then again, a lot of times it does not.

I’ll be interested in reading about how this particular bout goes. And no, I won’t be springing for the PPV.

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Bernard Fernandez, named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Observer category with the Class of 2020, was the recipient of numerous awards for writing excellence during his 28-year career as a sports writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. Fernandez’s first book, “Championship Rounds,” a compendium of previously published material, was released in May of last year. The sequel, “Championship Rounds, Round 2,” with a foreword by Jim Lampley, is currently out. The anthology can be ordered through Amazon.com and other book-selling websites and outlets.

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Bernard Fernandez

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Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

10 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to liver the from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round time. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

4 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

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Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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