R.I.P. Eric Griffin, One of the Greatest Amateur Boxers of All Time

Published

1 year ago

October 16, 2023

RIP-Eric-Griffin-One-of-the-Greatest-Amateur-Boxers-of-All-Time

Eric Griffin passed away a week ago Saturday (Oct. 7) at age 55 at a hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana. Griffin was no great shakes as a pro, but the longtime resident of Broussard, Louisiana, was quite simply one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time.

That’s not one man’s opinion.

In 2000, a USA Boxing publication came out with a list of the top ten U.S. amateur boxers of the twentieth century. (USA Boxing, headquartered at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the governing body of amateur boxing in the United States.)

All of the boxers on the list were former Olympians. No attempt was made to rank-order them. Listed alphabetically, here they are:

Mark Breland (1984, Los Angeles)

Cassius Clay (1960, Rome)

Oscar De La Hoya (1992, Barcelona)

Eddie Eagan (1920, Antwerp)

George Foreman (1968, Mexico City)

Joe Frazier (1964, Tokyo)

Eric Griffin (1992, Barcelona)

Roy Jones Jr. (1988, Seoul)

Sugar Ray Leonard (1976, Montreal)

Floyd Patterson (1952, Helsinki)

All but three of the boxers on this list are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The outsiders are Eddie Eagan, Breland, and Griffin. (FYI, Eddie Eagan never turned pro. The U.S. representative in the light heavyweight class at the 1920 Games in Belgium, he went on to earn a law degree from Yale, attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, won a second gold medal at the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, as a member of the U.S. four-man bobsled team, and was the chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission from 1945 to 1951.)

All but two of the top-ten won Olympic titles. Eric Griffin’s name pops up again. Roy Jones Jr. is the other who returned home without a gold medal.

Eric Griffin, who grew to be five-foot-three, won his first amateur tournament at the age of 13. He weighed 80 pounds. In 1988, he suffered one of his rare losses when he was out-pointed by Michael Carbajal in the Olympic Trials. Regardless, Griffin was headed to the Olympic Summer Games in Seoul, Korea, either as the U.S. entrant in the light flyweight (106-pound) class or as an alternate in the event that Carbajal defeated him again in the Olympic Box Offs.

The Box Offs were held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The Griffin-Carbajal rematch never materialized. On the eve of the match, Eric was sent home when the results of his drug test were made known. He had tested positive for marijuana, one of three boxers ousted from the Box Offs without throwing a punch. The others were Lavelle Finger and William Guthrie, both from St. Louis, who tested positive for cocaine.

Griffin protested his innocence but fessed up when his coach and sponsor Bob Jordan, an executive with a Houston company that manufactured computers, threatened to sue the UCLA lab that performed the test. Griffin wouldn’t let Jordan, a surrogate father to him – Eric never knew his biological father – go off on a wild goose chase.

Eric Griffin was then 20 years old. In addition to being kicked off the team, he was slapped with a six-month suspension. His next move, logically, was to turn pro, but he was more interested in repairing his image. Money would not wipe away the damage. So, he elected to stay the course in hopes of competing in the next Olympics, the 1992 games in Barcelona.

His relationship with Jordan was ruptured when he confessed to having smoked marijuana. As Sports Illustrated writer William Nack noted, Bob Jordan had grown up in a small town in the 1950s in a place and time where it was thought that anyone who tried marijuana was destined to become a dope fiend. Without Jordan’s financial assistance, Eric took a job washing dishes at a Houston restaurant to make ends meet. The two eventually reconciled and Griffin followed Jordan when Jordan returned to his hometown of Jasper, Tennessee, where Eric lived in a trailer with his wife and their young son.

During the years between the 1988 and 1992 Summer Games, Eric Griffin just kept winning and winning. He won four world titles and was twice a finalist for the Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. (No boxer has ever won this prestigious annual award which was first issued in 1930.)

Griffin not only made the 1992 U.S. Olympic boxing team but was named a co-captain along with Fort Worth bantamweight Sergio Reyes. The team’s head coach, Joe Byrd, said of Griffin, “he’s our heart, our backbone.”

Heading into Barcelona, the U.S. boxers accorded the best chance of winning a gold medal were Griffin and 19-year-old Los Angeles lightweight Oscar De La Hoya. Griffin was accorded far less ink in the U.S. press than De La Hoya who was more photogenic and had a better back story.

Barcelona 1992

This was the first Olympiad in which a computerized scoring system was used to determine the winner of each boxing match. The impetus was Roy Jones Jr, or rather the judges that ruled against Jones in the gold medal round four years earlier in Seoul, awarding the contest to his South Korean opponent. There have been controversial decisions in every Olympiad, but none aroused more indignation.

In Barcelona, there were five judges plus five alternates in the event of an electronic malfunction. Each of the judges had a metal box with two buttons, one for each fighter. When a punch landed, they pressed the appropriate button. For a punch to count on the master sheet, at least three judges had to hit the button within one second of each other. The boxer that landed the most punches was deemed the winner.

Griffin won his opening match comfortably. In his second bout, he was pit against a local man, Rafael Lozano, against whom he would be credited with landing 31 more punches. But not all of them registered on the official master sheet; only those that satisfied the one-second criterion. In round two, one of Griffin’s punches so buzzed Lozano that the referee issued a standing 8-count, but this punch did not register. At the end, the fight was awarded to the Spaniard by the ludicrous score of 6 to 5. “My stomach sank to the floor [when Lozano had his hand raised],” Griffin told a reporter at the press conference the next day, adding that it felt as if he had swallowed a bowling ball.

Griffin didn’t whine or curse the officials, but U.S. reporters were not so magnanimous. Griffin “traveled thousands of miles expecting to reconcile his sins, only to find that four years of sacrifice and commitment can be swept away in 9 minutes of incompetence,” fulminated George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel. The judges, noted Bill Varner, a syndicated writer for the Gannett chain of papers, were all middle aged (the youngest was 42), but “were expected to have the reflexes needed to master children’s video games.”

Had Eric Griffin left Barcelona with a gold medal, he would have likely commanded a nice bonus from a major promotional group. But the sport’s heavy hitters – Bob Arum, Don King, and Dan Duva – had no interest in him; he was too small and too black. When he turned pro, it was with Philadelphia promoter Artie Pelullo who had a contract to promote a series of monthly shows at Las Vegas’ Riviera Hotel.

As a Pro

Fighting for Pelullo, Griffin won his first 11 fights. He lost the twelfth to Marcos Pacheco, a journeyman from Mexico, when he dislocated his left shoulder and was pulled out by his corner after six rounds. He avenged that setback in his next fight, winning a lopsided decision, and won three more fights before he suffered a loss that could not be explained away as a fluke. Against Carlos Murillo, a rough customer from Panama, both of Eric’s eyes were nearly shut when he was knocked down with a body punch in round nine and referee Steve Smoger waived it off.

Two more losses would follow, both to Jesus Chong, and they would write the finish to Eric Griffin’s boxing career. Chong stopped him in the seventh in their first encounter and in the second round of the sequel. The rematch at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas was for the WBO world light flyweight title vacated by Venezuela’s Leo Gamez who surrendered the belt when he could no longer make the weight.

Chong, from Durango, Mexico, packed a powerful punch – 28 of his 32 victories would come by knockout – but he was a wild swinger. Could it be that Eric Griffin, now only 29 years old and having answered the bell for only 102 rounds at the pro level, was already a shot fighter?

Yes. Davey Lee Armstrong, a two-time Olympian who fell victim to dementia before he died at age 64, was only 27 years old when his manager/trainer Emanuel Steward saw that his reflexes had dulled and urged him to retire. It wasn’t only that Armstrong had taken up boxing at a very young age, said Steward, but that as the best he was continually fighting the best and that compounded the wear and tear on his body.

After the Fall

When Eric left the sport, he returned to his hometown, Broussard, a city of about 10,000 situated a few miles down the road from Lafayette, the largest city and unofficial capital of Louisiana’s Cajun Country and worked on and off as a short order cook, the same occupation of his maternal grandmother, the woman that raised him. He had no conspicuous cognitive problems said his cousin Jason Papillion, with whom we spoke, but a clump of health issues that Papillion attributed to obesity. The picture of him that accompanied his obituary (the only useful picture that we could find for this story) is incongruent with that of a man who in his athletic heyday weighed less than 110 pounds.

In 1997, when Griffin was preparing for what would be his final fight, Michael Carbajal, his amateur rival, had already broken the glass ceiling for boxers in the smallest weight class, commanding a seven-figure purse for his first fight with Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, and Oscar De La Hoya, Eric’s Olympic teammate, was already a multi-millionaire. Griffin’s last ring appearance was in a world title fight at Caesars Palace, home to some of the grandest boxing events of the era, but don’t be fooled. Griffin-Chong II wasn’t staged in the big outdoor arena under the stars, but in a ballroom. The fight wasn’t nationally televised; it aired exclusively on KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. The attendance, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was 727, and Griffin’s purse, akin to that of Jesus Chong, was $20,000. That’s $20,000 gross before his manager and Uncle Sam got their cut.

Someone glancing at Griffin’s 16-4 pro record on boxrec, oblivious to his amateur exploits, would be surprised to find his name on a top-ten list with such legends as Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and Sugar Ray Leonard. But boxing can be a cruel mistress and even some who achieved great heights in the squared circle have life stories that read as cautionary tales.

Griffin was laid to rest Saturday, Oct. 14. He is survived by, among others, two children, five grandchildren and Ms. Junel Thomas of Opelousas, Louisiana, his companion the last 10 years of his life. We here at TSS send our condolences.

Griffin’s cousin Jason Papillion keeps the flame of boxing alive in Cajun Country. If you are ever down in that neck of the woods, drop by Papillion’s Boxing Club in Lafayette and tell him we said “hi.” Papillion had a solid, if unspectacular, pro boxing career of his own, competing against such notables as Winky Wright, and Jason’s son Keon Papillion is a promising super welterweight prospect with a 6-0-1 record.

We asked Papillion what he would remember about Eric Griffin the man. “He was full of love and got a lot of love in return,” he said. “He was a very humble guy who never forgot where he came from.”

In the grand scheme of things, perhaps that counts for more than an Olympic gold medal.

—

Arne K. Lang is a recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling. His latest book, titled Clash of the Little Giants: George Dixon, Terry McGovern, and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910, was released by McFarland in September, 2022.

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Women’s Prizefighting Year End Review: The Best of the Best in 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2024

David A. Avila

Women’s Prizefighting Year End Review: The Best of the Best in 2024

It’s the end of the year.

Here are our awards for the best in women’s boxing. But first, a rundown on the state of the sport.

Maybe its my imagination but it seems that fewer female fights of magnitude took place in 2024 than in previous years.

A few promoters like 360 Promotions increased their involvement in women’s boxing while others such as Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions seem stagnant. They are still staging female bouts but are not signing new additions.

American-based promotion company Top Rank, actually lost 50 percent of their female fighter roster when Seniesa Estrada, the undisputed minimumweight champion, retired recently. They still have Mikaela Mayer.

A promotion company making headlines and creating sparks in the boxing world is Most Valuable Promotions led by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. They signed Amanda Serrano and have invested in staging other female fights

This year, the top streaming company Netflix gambled on sponsoring Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, along with Amanda Serrano versus Katie Taylor and hit a monster home run. According to Netflix metrics an estimated 74 million viewers watched the event that took place on Nov. 16 at Arlington, Texas.

“Breaking records like this is exactly what MVP was built to do – bring the biggest, most electrifying events to fans worldwide,” said Nakisa Bidarian co-founder of MVP.

History was made in viewership and at the gate where more than 70,000 fans packed AT&T Stadium for a record-setting $17.8 million in ticket sales outside of Las Vegas. It was the grand finale moment of the year.

Here are the major contributors to women’s boxing in 2024.

Fighter of the Year: Amanda Serrano

Other candidates: Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields, Franchon Crews, Dina Thorslund, and Yesica Nery Plata.

Amanda Serrano was chosen for not only taking part in the most viewed female title fight in history, but also for willingly sacrificing the health of her eye after suffering a massive cut during her brutal war with Taylor. She could have quit, walked away with tons of money and be given the technical decision after four rounds. She was ahead on the scorecards at that moment.

Instead, Serrano took more punches, more head butts and slugged her way through 10 magnificent and brilliant rounds against the great Taylor. Fans worldwide were captivated by their performance. Many women who had never watched a female fight were mesmerized and inspired.

Serrano once again proved that she would die in the ring rather than quit. Women and men were awed by her performance and grit. It was a moment blazed in the memories of millions.

Amanda Serrano is the Fighter of the Year.

Best Fight of the Year – Amanda Serrano versus Katie Taylor 2

Their first fight that took place two years ago in Madison Square Garden was the greatest female fight I had ever witnessed. The second fight surpassed it.

When you have two of the best warriors in the world willing to showcase their talent for entertainment regardless of the outcome, it’s like rubbing two sticks of dynamite together.

Serrano jumped on Taylor immediately and for about 20 seconds it looked like the Irish fighter would not make the end of the first round. Not quite. Taylor rallied behind her stubborn determination and pulled out every tool in her possession: elbows, head butts, low blows, whatever was needed to survive, Taylor used.

It reminded me of an old world title fight in 2005 between Jose Luis Castillo a master of fighting dirty and Julio Diaz. I asked about the dirty tactics by Castillo and Diaz simply said, “It’s a fight. It’s not chess. You do what you have to do.”

Taylor did what she had to do to win and the world saw a magnificent fight.

Other candidates: Seniesa Estrada versus Yokasta Valle, Mikaela Mayer versus Sandy Ryan, and Ginny Fuchs vs Adelaida Ruiz.

KO of the Year – Lauren Price KO3 Bexcy Mateus.

Dec. 14, in Liverpool, England.

The IBO welterweight titlist lowered the boom on Bexcy Mateus sending her to the floor thrice. She ended the fight with a one-two combination that left Mateus frozen while standing along the ropes. Another left cross rocket blasted her to the ground. Devastating.

Other candidates: Claressa Shields KO of Vanessa LePage-Joanisse, Gabriela Fundora KO of Gabriela Alaniz, Dina Thorslund vs Mary Romero, Amanda Serrano KO of Stevie Morgan.

Pro’s Pro Award – Jessica Camara

Jessica Camara defeated Hyun Mi Choi in South Korea to win the WBA gold title on April 27, 2024. The match took place in Suwon where Canada’s Camara defeated Choi by split decision after 10 rounds.

Camara, who is managed by Brian Cohen, has fought numerous champions including Kali Reis, Heather Hardy and Melissa St. Vil. She has become a pro fighter that you know will be involved in a good and entertaining fight and is always in search of elite competition. She eagerly accepted the fight in South Korea against Choi. Few fighters are willing to do that.

Next up for Camara is WBC titlist Caroline Dubois set for Jan. 11, in Sheffield, England.

Electric Fighters Club

These are women who never fail to provide excitement and drama when they step in the prize ring. When you only have two-minute rounds there’s no time to run around the boxing ring.

Here are some of the fighters that take advantage of every second and they do it with skill:

Gabriela Fundora, Mizuki Hiruta, Ellie Scotney, Lauren Price, Clara Lescurat, Adelaida Ruiz, Ginny Fuchs, Mikaela Mayer, Yokasta Valle, Sandy Ryan, Chantelle Cameron, Ebanie Bridges, Tsunami Tenkai, Dina Thorslund, Evelin Bermudez, Gabriela Alaniz, Caroline Dubois, Beatriz Ferreira, and LeAnna Cruz.

Claressa Shields Movie and More

A motion picture based on Claressa Shields titled “The Fire Inside” debuts on Wednesday, Dec. 25, nationwide. Most boxing fans know that Shields has world titles in various weight divisions. But they don’t know about her childhood and how she rose to fame.

Also, Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) will be fighting Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs) for the undisputed heavyweight world championship on Sunday Feb. 2, at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. DAZN will stream the Salita Promotions fight card.

“Claressa Shields is shining a spotlight on Flint – first on the big screen and then in the ring on Sunday, February 2,” said event promoter Dmitriy Salita, president of Salita Promotions. “Claressa leads by example. She is a trailblazer and has been an advocate for equality since she was a young lady. This event promises to be one of the most significant sporting and cultural events of the year. You don’t want to miss it, either live, in person or live on DAZN.”

Shields is only 29 years old and turns 30 next March. What more can she accomplish?

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Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year

Published

2 days ago

December 23, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Lucas-Bahdi-Forged-he-RSS-2024-Knockout-of-the-Year

A Knockout of the Year doesn’t have to be a one-punch knockout, but it must arrive with the suddenness of a thunderclap on a clear day and the punch or punches must be so harsh as to obviate the need for a “10-count.” And, if rendered by an underdog, that makes the KO resonate more loudly.

Within these parameters, Lucas Bahdi’s knockout of Ashton “H2O” Sylva still jumped off the page. The thunderclap happened on July 20 in Tampa, Florida, on a show promoted by Jake Paul with Paul and the great Amanda Serrano sharing the bill against soft opponents in the featured bouts.

The 30-year-old Bahdi (16-0, 14 KOs) and the 20-year-old Sylva (11-0, 9 KOs) were both undefeated, but Bahdi was accorded scant chance of defeating Jake Paul’s house fighter.

Sylva was 18 years old and had seven pro fights under his belt, winning all inside the distance, when he signed with Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, in 2022. “We believe that Ashton has that talent, that flashiness, that style, that knockout power, that charisma to really be a massive, massive, superstar…” said the “Problem Child” when announcing that Sylva had signed with his company.

Jake Paul was so confident that his protege would accomplish big things that he matched Sylva with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. Currently 18-0 and ranked #2 by the WBA, Schofield was further along than Sylva in the pantheon of hot lightweight prospects. But Schofield backed out, alleging an injury, opening the door to a substitute.

Enter Lucas Bahdi who despite his eye-catching record was a virtual unknown. This would be his first outing on U.S. soil. All of his previous bouts were staged in Mexico or in Canada, mostly in his native Ontario province. “My opponent may have changed,” said Sylva who hails from Long Beach, California, “but the result will be the same, I will get the W and continue my path to greatness.”

The first five rounds were all Sylva. The Canadian had no antidote for Sylva’s speed and quickness. He was outclassed.

Then, in round six, it all came unglued for the precocious California. Out of the blue, Bahdi stiffened him with a hard right hand. Another right quickly followed, knocking Sylva unconscious. A third punch, a sweeping left, was superfluous. Jake Paul’s phenom was already out cold.

Sylva landed face-first on the canvas. He lay still as his handlers and medics rushed to his aid. It was scarifying. “May God restore him,” said ring announcer Joe Martinez as he was being stretchered out of the ring.

The good news is that Ashton “H2O” Silva will be able to resume his career. He is expected back in the ring as early as February. As for Lucas Bahdi, architect of the Knockout of the Year, he has added one more win to his ledger, winning a 10-round decision on the undercard of the Paul vs Tyson spectacle, and we will presumably be hearing a lot more about him.

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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

4 days ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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