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Mickey Bey Didn’t Lose Faith as his match with Tevin Farmer kept Falling Apart
“I have no illusions that I can fight forever,” says Mickey Bey who turns 40 in six months, “but I have one more run left in me. My goal is to become the oldest fighter to win the world lightweight title,” he says, noting that the record-holder in this regard is Raymundo Beltran who was 36 when he captured the vacant WBO diadem in 2018.
If successful, Bey would become a two-time world lightweight champion as he briefly held the IBF version of the belt. His road to what he hopes will culminate in another title reign begins on Feb. 25 in Atlanta where he meets former super featherweight title-holder Tevin Farmer in a BLK Prime promotion that will serve as the co-feature to a match between Adrien Broner and Ivan Redkach.
“If you look at my pro record,” continues Bey who is 23-3-1 (11 KOs), “you’ll see that I haven’t taken much punishment. In fact, I’ve never had a clear-cut loss.” Indeed, two of those three setbacks – versus Rances Barthelemy and George Kambosos Jr – were by split decision and the other came in a fight that Bey was winning handily until he lost focus in the final round.
John Molina exploited Mickey’s slip-up when they met in a 10-rounder in 2016 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Through the nine completed rounds, Bey was up by a country mile; he had won every round on one of the scorecards. In the 10th, Molina pulled the fight out of the fire, forcing the stoppage with a barrage of unanswered punches after discombobulating Bey with a short left hook.
“It isn’t like me to showboat,” says Bey, “but I did that night and I paid the price. I was with Floyd Mayweather at the time. Floyd was sitting ringside and I was actually talking at him when Molina cracked me. It was probably a blessing in disguise. It was like God was telling me to stay in my lane.”
In Bey’s mind, he hasn’t suffered a clear-cut loss since his amateur days and he was an outstanding amateur, winner of 170 of 178 fights according to one newspaper report. In 2004, he defeated future lightweight champion Brandon Rios in the 125-pound class in the Olympic Box-Offs. However, there was one more hurdle to pass to earn a ticket to the Summer Games, a new wrinkle in Olympic qualifying, and he failed to accompany the squad to Athens when he lost to an Argentine opponent at the last stand tournament in Brazil. Heading into that competition, Bey was shaking off the effects of pneumonia.
Mickey and his younger brother Cortez Bey, also an outstanding amateur, turned pro as a tandem on a card in their hometown of Cleveland on April 29, 2005. The de facto promoter was their sponsor, Roy Jones Jr.
Bey was five years into his pro career and undefeated at 16-0 when he signed with Top Rank. His first fight under the Top Rank banner was a 6-rounder at the MGM Grand against Eric Cruz underneath a world featherweight title scrap between Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez. Mickey won a unanimous decision but broke his hand in the process.
This was Bey’s first fight in Las Vegas, but he was no stranger to the city, having befriended the Mayweathers. Jeff Mayweather and Floyd Sr. trained him for his early fights in Las Vegas and he would later be persuaded to bolt Top Rank and join Floyd Mayweather Jr’s “Money Team” stable.
In hindsight, Bey wishes that he had stayed with Bob Arum’s organization. “I never had a bad experience with Arum. Bob was always a man of his word. I know that I would have gotten a title fight sooner if I had stayed there. Being a promoter would eventually become basically just a hobby for Floyd. That was becoming obvious even before he let Tank get away,” says Bey, referencing Gervonta “Tank” Davis who has a big fight on Saturday in Washington, DC, against Hector Luis Garcia.
Bey’s first title fight came against Mexico’s Miguel Vazquez who was making his seventh title defense. The match, co-promoted by Floyd Mayweather Jr and Oscar De La Hoya, was the chief supporting bout to Floyd’s rematch with Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand.
Bey won a split decision but his elation at winning the title was tempered by the fact that he knew it wasn’t a fan-friendly fight. It wasn’t simply a matter of mis-matched styles. Bey had hurt his hand again in training, but this was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Flash forward to Dec. 14, 2019 at Madison Square Garden. Bey is matched against George Kambosos Jr, an undefeated (17-0) Australian but a fighter without a signature win and best known as Manny Pacquiao’s longtime sparring partner.
For Bey, this is his first fight in 15 months and only his second fight in three-and-a-half years, but he acquits himself well while losing a split decision. And you know the rest of the story. Kambosos goes on to upset Teofimo Lopez, begetting a monster payday in his first of two fights with Devin Haney.
Bey concedes that he had no burning desire to fight again after fighting Kambosos, but that he reconsidered after the Australian became an overnight sensation. But getting his career back on track has proved to be daunting.
Bey and Tevin Farmer were first scheduled to fight on May 21 in Accra, Ghana. The fight was then shifted to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but could not go on as scheduled when UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan passed away on May 13 as custom dictated a period of mourning that sacked all local sporting events.
Farmer vs. Bey was rescheduled for Aug. 12 in Prescott, Arizona, but evaporated when promoter EJ Matthews, who operated under the name Bigger Than Life Entertainment, failed to meet his obligations. To say that the fight fell out at the eleventh hour doesn’t capture the gist of it. Four undercard bouts in what was to be a six-bout card were completed when the lights were turned off. Bey vs. Farmer “just vanished like lost luggage,” wrote Arizona’s ace boxing scribe Norm Frauenheim.
BLK Prime, which rescued the orphaned fight, raised eyebrows when it jumped into the fight game with fistfuls of money, seemingly overpaying — and grossly overpaying – to acquire the services of Terence “Bud” Crawford, a brilliant fisticuffer whose ring artistry hadn’t translated into strong pay-per-view buys, and the under-achieving problem child Adrien Broner.
Mickey Bey was ringside for BLK Prime’s maiden venture, Crawford’s successful title defense against David Avanesyan last month in Omaha, Bud Crawford’s hometown. While the ppv numbers are proprietary – a company spokesman said they exceeded expectations, whatever that means – the event at Creighton University’s basketball arena was a smash hit at the gate with 14,360 tickets sold. It was Bey’s first trip to Omaha and he came away very impressed. His qualms that BLK’s Atlanta promotion could turn into another boondoggle were assuaged.
“The atmosphere was one of the best of any fight that I have been to,” says Bey. “Everything the promoter did was first-class, very professional.”
Although Bey wasn’t included on Team Devin Haney’s two excursions to Melbourne, he has been deeply involved in the career of the undisputed lightweight champion. “Of all the young fighters out there, he has the best chance of surpassing Floyd’s 50-0,” he says.
“In some regards, Devin reminds me of my old amateur teammate Andre Ward. I knew Andre had the best chance of winning a gold medal in Athens. It was his determination and his discipline. He probably could have made our Olympic team as a long-distance runner if he had been so inclined.”
Bey’s trainer Kevin Henry has also been heavily involved in the career of Haney, having first worked with the precocious boxer when Haney was nine years old and sticking around for all but his last three fights. “Kevin Henry and Floyd [Mayweather] Sr. were most responsible for crafting Devin into the fighter that he has become,” notes Bey.
Ring rust could be an issue when Mickey Bey and Tevin Farmer step into the ring on Feb. 25. Both will have been out of action for 25 months. However, Bey doesn’t consider this a problem. “Had the fight come off when it was originally scheduled,” he says, “I would have had a much shorter camp and I wouldn’t be in the shape that I am now.”
Bey studies the odds on fights and is respected among his peers for his sharp opinion. When he says, “I will defeat Farmer, of that I have no doubt,” one is tempted to saunter over to the sportsbook without waiting for the inevitable rebuttal from his opponent.
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Arne K. Lang’s latest book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” rolled off the press in September. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/clash-of-the-little-giants) or via Amazon.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More
Those lightweights.
Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.
Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.
Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.
DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.
Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.
“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.
Even in Las Vegas.
Verona, New York
Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.
Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.
“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.
Foster disagrees.
“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.
Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).
Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.
“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.
Muratalla likes challenges too.
“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.
Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship
WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.
Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.
But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.
“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.
In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.
Bad choice for Mucino.
Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.
Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.
Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.
Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.
“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.
It should be exciting.
Fights to Watch
Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).
Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
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Bakhram Murtalaziev was the Fighter of the Month in October
As we close the book on October, let’s look back at the month’s stellar performances. Kenshiro Teraji added another exclamation point to his brilliant career with an 11th-round stoppage of Cristofer Rosales. England’s Jack Catterall, considered no more than a decent domestic-level talent for most of his career, showed that he had been underrated with a comprehensive 12-round decision over declining Regis Prograis. But the top performance, by a landslide, was delivered by Bakhram Murtalaziev who annihilated Tim Tszyu on Oct. 19 in Orlando, Florida.
Murtalaziev was undefeated (22-0, 16 KOs) and the reigning IBF junior middleweight champion, but he was the underdog and the “B” side. As champions go, and there are roughly five dozen across the 17 weight divisions, the California-based Russian ranked among the least well-known. He had won his title in Berlin with an 11th-round stoppage of an unexceptional 38-year-old German-Ecuadorian campaigner, Jack Culcay, and he would be making his first defense.
Managed by Egis Klimas who also handles Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko, among others, Bakhram Murtalaziev came from a good barn in the vernacular of a horseplayer, but on paper that alone was insufficient to get him over the hump against Tim Tszyu who a few short months earlier was widely considered the best 154-pound boxer in the world.
That was before he met up with Sebastian Fundora who blemished his record, but that setback could have been written off as a fluke.
As we recall, Tszyu was scheduled to fight Keith Thurman in the initial PBC offering on Amazon Prime Video, but Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training and Fundora was bumped up from the undercard to fill the breach. With only 12 days’ notice, Tim Tszyu went from fighting a five-foot-seven fighter who fights out of an orthodox stance to fighting a southpaw who stood almost a full foot taller. The “Towering Inferno” has his limitations, but poses a special problem to anyone, let alone an opponent with little time to formulate a good game plan.
Tszyu was hampered in the Fundora fight by a gash on his hairline that hampered his vision. The injury happened in the second round when he ducked under Fundora and walked into an elbow. The gash bled copiously throughout the fight and yet the best that Fundora could do was win a split (albeit fair) decision.
To say that Tszyu failed to rebound from the Fundora misadventure would be putting it mildly. Murtalaziev steamrolled him, knocking him to the canvas four times in all before Tszyu’s corner tossed in the towel at the 1:55 mark of the third stanza. It was painful to watch. Referee Chris Young was faulted for allowing the match to continue as long as it did. Compounding Tszyu’s misery, his celebrated father, a first ballot Hall of Famer, was ringside. Kostya Tszyu hadn’t seen his oldest son fight in the flesh since Tim’s pro debut in 2016.
Although the dichotomy is imperfect, Tim Tszyu, who turns 30 on Saturday, is more of a puncher than a boxer. That may work against him so far as clawing his way back to a position of prominence. The noted boxing coach Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, a keen student of the history of boxing in the modern era, expressed this sentiment in a Q and A story for Boxing Scene. “Destructive fighters usually don’t come back to full capacity after bad KO losses,” he said, citing John Mugabi, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Naseem Hamed to illustrate his point. Moreover, added Edwards, “No one will ever be afraid of him again.”
But there were two stories that emerged from the Murtalaziev-Tszyu fight. Tim Tszyu crashed, but Bakhram Murtalaziev emerged from obscurity, announcing his presence (pardon the cliché) as a force to be reckoned with. As for his next assignment, the best guess is that it will come against Sebastian Fundora or Errol Spence Jr. who are expected to meet early next year. And based on Murtalaziev’s stunning performance in Orlando, it will be impossible to bet against him.
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Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
Foreman-Moorer: 30 Years Later
By TSS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JAMIE REBNER — In sports, middle-aged athletes are not supposed to beat opponents who are half their age and in their athletic primes. Only the greatest ones can use guile, technique, and experience to compensate for the dulling of speed, reflexes, and athleticism that have unavoidably eroded with time.
That is why George Foreman’s feat of reclaiming the heavyweight title at 45 is so impressive. It was thirty years ago this coming Tuesday, Nov 5, 1994, that Foreman scored a monumental upset in knocking out Michael Moorer to win back the title he had lost twenty years prior against Muhammad Ali in The Rumble in the Jungle. In doing so, Big George became the oldest heavyweight champion, breaking the record previously held by Jersey Joe Walcott, who had won the title at 38.
When Foreman beat Moorer, he was in the twilight of his second career, a comeback that began in 1987. George had retired in 1977 after losing to Jimmy Young and experiencing a spiritual awakening in his locker room. That led him to become a minister and devote himself to his family and congregation. During his retirement, he opened a youth center in Houston, which required much financial support, prompting him to return to the ring.
After winning 24 straight fights from 1987-1990, Foreman lost his first title shot by decision to Evander Holyfield in 1991. He rebounded from that loss with three more wins before getting a crack at the WBO title against Tommy Morrison in 1993. But his performance against Morrison was disappointing and he lost another decision. After that, Foreman was out of the ring for 17 months before he was gifted another title shot against Moorer.
Foreman got that gift because Moorer, due to his sullen demeanor and curtness with the media, was not a draw with the fans. He was also an unproven champion, having beaten Holyfield for two belts only seven months prior. So. Moorer needed a name opponent who could bring in the crowds for his first title defense. And the other top heavyweights like Oliver McCall (WBC champ), Lennox Lewis, and Riddick Bowe didn’t have close to Foreman’s drawing power. So. deserving or not, Foreman was chosen as the challenger to make a fight that would be worth the public’s attention and pockets.
Even Foreman was surprised by getting selected to fight Moorer. “I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d get a title shot again,” he told Associated Press sports columnist Tim Dahlberg. Still, George was determined to make his third time a charm.
But as motivated as George was, there was an irrefutable gap in speed between himself and the much younger champion. From the opening bell, Moorer used his superior quickness and reflexes to make Foreman look stiff and slow. And although George landed punches early on, he fired them one at a time while Moorer countered with multiple shots. But despite Moorer’s advantage in connects, his trainer Teddy Atlas advised him from the get-go not to stand in front of Foreman and make himself a stationary target for a right-hand bomb.
But Moorer failed to heed that advice as he continued to outwork Foreman in the middle rounds. Although he was winning, Moorer’s overconfidence kept him at close quarters, and he continued to circle unwisely to his left and into Foreman’s dangerous right hand. And despite absorbing many quality shots, Foreman never appeared hurt or discouraged thanks to his granite chin and unyielding resolve. He was determined to win and he was willing to walk through as many flush shots as he needed to do so.
With Moorer content to stay in range, Foreman gladly returned his firepower and he landed some telling right crosses, uppercuts, and plenty of thudding body blows during the battle. And while Moorer continued to pile up points and rounds, as long as George was marching forward and throwing shots, he had a puncher’s chance.
And with a minute to go in round ten, that punch came. After missing a three-punch combination, Foreman scored with a one-two, with the right hand landing on the forehead. He immediately repeated that combination but this time aimed the right hand lower on Moorer’s jaw. That slight adjustment caused his bulldozer right to collide perfectly with Moorer’s chin, sending the champion crashing to the canvas and sprawled onto his back. The champion couldn’t beat the count, and just like that, the fight was over, Moorer’s short-lived title run ending before it ever truly began.
With a single, shattering blow, Foreman etched his name into boxing history. Wearing the same trunks from Zaire 20 years before, he was now heavyweight champion of the world once again. It was a shocking result that defied conventional wisdom since seldom do 45-year-old boxers score knockouts over champions in their athletic primes. But Foreman reminded us that he was anything but your typical quadragenarian. He was special, and he had two distinct heavyweight championship reigns to prove it.
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About the author:
Jamie Rebner lives in Toronto, Canada. He has been a freelance boxing writer since 2016 and his writing has appeared in The Fight City, Boxing News Online, The Ring, and Ringside Seat magazine. His Substack blog is Fight Fundamental, and he is currently writing a book about George Foreman’s comeback. He is also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @J_NReb.
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