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Thomas Hauser’s Notes and Nuggets: Boxing on UFC Fight Pass, Callum Walsh, and More
Dana White has talked about expanding UFC’s role in boxing. But for the most part, his involvement with the sweet science has been limited to club-fight cards on UFC Fight pass.
UFC Fight Pass is a streaming service that was launched in 2013 and offers combat-sports-related content on a worldwide basis. The cost in the United States is $9.99 per month (or $95.99 for a one-year subscription). Subscribers have access inter alia to the early preliminary bouts on UFC pay-per-view cards but not the chief supporting fights or main event.
The first boxing match on UFC Fight Pass featured a past-his-prime Roy Jones vs. Scott Sigmon on February 8, 2018. 360 Promotions (run by Tom Loeffler) is now its boxing promoter of choice. On Thursday, November 9, Loeffler promoted a seven-bout card in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The event (seen live on UFC Fight Pass) was timed to feed off the attention being generated by UFC 295, which will take place in the main arena on Saturday night.
The Thursday card was a showcase for Callum Walsh, a 22-year-old native of Cork, Ireland who now lives in California. Walsh (pictured) entered the ring with an 8-0 (7 KOs) ring record and was matched against Ismael Villarreal (13-1, 9 KOs) in a ten-round junior-middleweight bout.
White hopes that Walsh will tap into the Conor McGregor fan base and become the next face of Irish boxing. With that in mind, he has put the UFC publicity machine behind him.
“Callum is getting a lot of support from UFC social media,” Loeffler noted at the final pre-fight press conference. “That gives him exposure to a wide audience.” The promoter then went into overdrive, declaring, “Callum has the makings of a global superstar.”
Talk like that is fine with Walsh, who says, “I’ve never wanted to do anything with my life but box. I’ve imagined myself in the spotlight for so long that the attention I’m getting now seems normal to me. I feel like I’m destined for greatness. I’m on the road to where I want to be.”
When fight night arrived, the seven fighters in the red (designated winners) corner had a composite 83-1-1 ring record built largely against suspect opposition The assumption (which proved correct) was that the numbers would be 90-1-1 when the night was over.
Cain Sandoval (now 11-0 with 11 KOs) looked like the most promising prospect on the card en route to a fifth-round stoppage of a game but overmatched Wesley Ferrer.
Eric Dali (who worked two of the bouts) showed again why he should be one of the go-to referees for big fights on the east coast.
Freddie Roach (who trains Walsh and two other fighters on the card) ennobled the proceedings with his presence.
Walsh is a southpaw with fast hands and reasonable power. Against Villarreal, he was the aggressor early. Then Ismael began letting his hands go. And after getting whacked a few times, Callum grew more cautious.
It was a good fight. Villarreal came to win. But so did Walsh. Callum was tested and he passed the test. Ismael tired in the late rounds and Walsh regained control (although he was dropped in the final stanza). The judges’ scores (97-92, 97-92, 96-93) were a bit wide of the mark. But the right guy won.
The current plan is for Walsh to return to Madison Square Garden next year on St. Patrick’s Day Weekend. At the moment, his press clippings have outstretched his accomplishments. But Callum has skills. He can punch. UFC has the infrastructure to promote fighters from ground level to major pay-per-view events. And as Jake Paul has taught us, this is a new age in boxing. The marketing of a fighter can now take precedence over his ring exploits.
*****
On November 7, DiBella Entertainment promoted a pro-am card at the Edison Ballroom in New York. “Heroes On The Hudson” was sponsored by Morgan Stanley and Cavu Securities with a portion of the proceeds going to charities that support wounded veterans. The action in the ring was typical club fight fare. And as the evening progressed, my mind wandered to Cedric Kushner.
Kushner died eight years ago and would have been seventy-five this year. He had a variety of nicknames. But the one that stuck among his friends was “Uncle Ced.”
Cedric loved a night out with the boys. He was known for doing business with women of the night. And there was a memorable telephone call that he received from heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi at three o’clock one morning. Ibeabuchi (who had significant mental health issues) called to tell Cedric (his promoter) that he was seeing demons. Cedric, in turn, told virtually everyone he spoke with the next day, “Knowing Ike, I understand why he was seeing demons. What I don’t understand is why he called me.”
When I began writing about boxing on a regular basis, I was dismissed by many of the sport’s power brokers as a fringe internet writer so I was accustomed to slights. Often, I found myself in conversation with a promoter or other insider who was looking over my shoulder for someone better to talk with. That never happened with Cedric. He always treated me with the same respect that he accorded major media figures. I was grateful for that. His memorial service (at which I spoke) was held at the Edison Ballroom with Lou DiBella presiding.
Everyone has their own favorite Cedric Kushner story, whether it’s about the hooker with knockout drops on her nipples or the duffel bag full of cash that Don King used to lure Hasim Rahman away from Cedric. Mine involves a drive from Atlantic City to New York that I shared with Cedric and Lou DiBella on the morning after a fight.
Lou was driving. There were three of us in his SUV. At various times, Cedric unfavorably critiqued Lou’s driving skills and complained about the music that Lou was playing. At one point, we stopped at a turnpike plaza for gas and a bite to eat. Most of the food lines were short. The exception was the line for Burger King (which looked to have a half-hour wait). So, of course, Cedric made his way toward the line for Burger King.
“Cedric,” Lou cautioned, “don’t get on that line.”
“I want a Whopper.”
“I’m not staying here for two hours so you can eat a Whopper.”
Needless to say, Cedric got on the line for Burger King.
“Cedric, I’m warning you. I’ll leave you on the f****** turnpike.”
Lou could be loud. And Cedric, who weighed more than 350 pounds at the time, was wearing shorts. So their exchange (which was growing increasingly animated) attracted considerable attention.
Cedric emphatically repeated his declaration. “I want a Whopper!”
“Cedric, so help me, God!” Lou was shrieking now. “I will f****** leave you here on the f****** turnpike and you’ll have to f****** find another way to get back to New York.”
Assessing the situation, Cedric concluded that, yes, Lou might actually leave him on the turnpike. So he joined me on the line for Sbarro to get a slice of pizza.
Slicing pizza is an inexact science. The young man behind the counter (he was about sixteen) gave me my slice and then gave a slice to Cedric. My slice was noticeably larger than Cedric’s.
Cedric looked at my slice and then at his . . . Looked at my slice and then at his.
“Excuse me,” Cedric said to the server. “Could you explain to me why his slice (gesturing toward my plate) is so much larger than mine?”
You could see the wheels in the young man’s head turning as he weighed how much of a wise-ass he should be. Finally, he said simply, “Hey! That’s life.”
Cedric contemplated the remark; decided that, yes, this was another one of life’s indignities; and paid for his slice. Then, as we were walking away from the counter, he turned to me and said, “I’m not a vengeful person. But I hope that young man is slicing pizza for the rest of his f****** life.”
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – The Universal Sport: Two Years Inside Boxing – was published by the University of Arkansas Press. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Bygone Days: The Largest Crowd Ever at Madison Square Garden Sees Zivic TKO Armstrong
Bygone Days: The Largest Crowd Ever at Madison Square Garden Sees Zivic TKO Armstrong
There’s not much happening on the boxing front this month. That’s consistent with the historical pattern.
Fight promoters of yesteryear tended to pull back after the Christmas and New Year holidays on the assumption that fight fans had less discretionary income at their disposal. Weather was a contributing factor. In olden days, more boxing cards were staged outdoors and the most attractive match-ups tended to be summertime events.
There were exceptions, of course. On Jan. 17, 1941, an SRO crowd of 23,180 filled Madison Square Garden to the rafters to witness the welterweight title fight between Fritzie Zivic and Henry Armstrong. (This was the third Madison Square Garden, situated at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue, roughly 17 blocks north of the current Garden which sits atop Pennsylvania Station. The first two arenas to take this name were situated farther south adjacent to Madison Square Park).
This was a rematch. They had fought here in October of the previous year. In a shocker, Zivic won a 15-round decision. The fight was close on the scorecards. Referee Arthur Donovan and one of the judges had it even after 14 rounds, but Zivic had won his rounds more decisively and he punctuated his well-earned triumph by knocking Armstrong face-first to the canvas as the final bell sounded.
This was a huge upset.
Armstrong had a rocky beginning to his pro career, but he came on like gangbusters after trainer/manager Eddie Mead acquired his contract with backing from Broadway and Hollywood star Al Jolson. Heading into his first match with Zivic – the nineteenth defense of the title he won from Barney Ross – Hammerin’ Henry had suffered only one defeat in his previous 60 fights, that coming in his second meeting with Lou Ambers, a controversial decision.
Shirley Povich, the nationally-known sports columnist for the Washington Post, conducted an informal survey of boxing insiders and found only person who gave Zivic a chance. The dissident was Chris Dundee (then far more well-known than his younger brother Angelo). “Zivic knows all the tricks,” said Dundee. “He’ll butt Armstrong with his head, gouge him with his thumbs and hit him just as low as Armstrong [who had five points deducted for low blows in his bout with Ambers].”
Indeed, Pittsburgh’s Ferdinand “Fritzie” Zivic, the youngest and best of five fighting sons of a Croatian immigrant steelworker (Fritzie’s two oldest brothers represented the U.S. at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics) would attract a cult following because of his facility for bending the rules. It would be said that no one was more adept at using his thumbs to blind an opponent or using the laces of his gloves as an anti-coagulant, undoing the work of a fighter’s cut man.
Although it was generally understood that at age 28 his best days were behind him, Henry Armstrong was chalked the favorite in the rematch (albeit a very short favorite) a tribute to his body of work. Although he had mastered Armstrong in their first encounter, most boxing insiders considered Fritzie little more than a high-class journeyman and he hadn’t looked sharp in his most recent fight, a 10-round non-title affair with lightweight champion Lew Jenkins who had the best of it in the eyes of most observers although the match was declared a draw.
The Jan. 17 rematch was a one-sided affair. Veteran New York Times scribe James P. Dawson gave Armstrong only two rounds before referee Donovan pulled the plug at the 52-second mark of the twelfth round. Armstrong, boxing’s great perpetual motion machine, a world title-holder in three weight classes, repaired to his dressing room bleeding from his nose and his mouth and with both eyes swollen nearly shut. But his effort could not have been more courageous.
At the conclusion of the 10th frame, Donovan went to Armstrong’s corner and said something to the effect, “you will have to show me something, Henry, or I will have to stop it.” What followed was Armstrong’s best round.
“[Armstrong] pulled the crowd to its feet in as glorious a rally as this observer has seen in twenty-five years of attendance at these ring battles,” wrote Dawson. But Armstrong, who had been stopped only once previously, that coming in his pro debut, had punched himself out and had nothing left.
Armstrong retired after this fight, siting his worsening eyesight, but he returned in the summer of the following year, soldiering on for 46 more fights, winning 37 to finish 149-21-10. During this run, he was reacquainted with Fritzie Zivic. Their third encounter was fought in San Francisco before a near-capacity crowd of 8,000 at the Civic Auditorium and Armstrong got his revenge, setting the pace and working the body effectively to win a 10-round decision. By then the welterweight title had passed into the hands of Freddie Cochran.
Hammerin’ Henry (aka Homicide Hank) Armstrong was named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990. Fritzie Zivic followed him into the Hall three years later.
Active from 1931 to 1949, Zivic lost 65 of his 231 fights – the most of anyone in the Hall of Fame, a dubious distinction – but there was yet little controversy when he was named to the Canastota shrine because one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who had fought a tougher schedule. Aside from Armstrong and Jenkins, he had four fights with Jake LaMotta, four with Kid Azteca, three with Charley Burley, two with Sugar Ray Robinson, two with Beau Jack, and singles with the likes of Billy Conn, Lou Ambers, and Bob Montgomery. Of the aforementioned, only Azteca, in their final meeting in Mexico City, and Sugar Ray, in their second encounter, were able to win inside the distance.
By the way, it has been written that no event of any kind at any of the four Madison Square Gardens ever drew a larger crowd than the crowd that turned out on Jan. 17, 1941, to see the rematch between Fritzie Zivic and Henry Armstrong. Needless to say, prizefighting was big in those days.
A recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling, TSS editor-in-chief Arne K. Lang is the author of five books including “Prizefighting: An American History,” released by McFarland in 2008 and re-released in a paperback edition in 2020.
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Jai Opetaia Brutally KOs David Nyika, Cementing his Status as the World’s Top Cruiserweight
In his fifth title defense, lineal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (27-0, 21 KOs) successfully defended his belt with a brutal fourth-round stoppage of former sparring partner David Nyika. The bout was contested in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia where Opetaia won the IBF title in 2022 with a hard-earned decision over Maris Briedis with Nyika on the undercard. Both fighters reside in the general area although Nyika, a former Olympic bronze medalist, hails from New Zealand.
The six-foot-six Nyika, who was undefeated in 10 pro fights with nine KOs, wasn’t afraid to mix it up with Opetaia although had never fought beyond five rounds and took the fight on three weeks’ notice when obscure German campaigner Huseyin Cinkara suffered an ankle injury in training and had to pull out. He wobbled Opetaia in the second round in a fight that was an entertaining slugfest for as long as it lasted.
In round four, the champion but Nyika on the canvas with his patented right uppercut and then finished matters moments later with a combination climaxed with an explosive left hand. Nyika was unconscious before he hit the mat.
Opetaia’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Opetaia to unify the title and then pursue a match with Oleksandr Usyk. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, a Golden Boy Promotions fighter, holds the WBA and WBO versions of the title and is expected to be Opetaia’s next opponent. The WBC diadem is in the hands of grizzled Badou Jack.
Other Fights of Note
Brisbane heavyweight Justis Huni (12-0, 7 KOs) wacked out overmatched South African import Shaun Potgieter (10-2), ending the contest at the 33-second mark of the second round. The 25-year-old, six-foot-four Huni turned pro in 2020 after losing a 3-round decision to two-time Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov. There’s talk of matching him with England’s 20-year-old sensation Moses Itauma which would be a delicious pairing.
Eddie Hearn’s newest signee Teremoana Junior won his match even quicker, needing less than a minute to dismiss Osasu Otobo, a German heavyweight of Nigerian descent.
The six-foot-six Teremoana, who akin to Huni hails from Brisbane and turned pro after losing to the formidable Jalolov, has won all six of his pro fights by knockout while answering the bell for only eight rounds. He has an interesting lineage; his father is from the Cook Islands.
Rising 20-year-old Max “Money” McIntyre, a six-foot-three super middleweight, scored three knockdowns en route to a sixth-round stoppage of Abdulselam Saman, advancing his record to 7-0 (6 KOs). As one can surmise, McIntyre is a big fan of Floyd Mayweather.
The Opetaia-Nyika fight card aired on DAZN pay-per-view (39.99) in the Antipodes and just plain DAZN elsewhere.
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R.I.P. Paul Bamba (1989-2024): The Story Behind the Story
Paul Bamba, a cruiserweight, passed away at age 35 on Dec. 27 six days after defeating Rogelio Medina before a few hundred fans on a boxing card at a performing arts center in Carteret, New Jersey. No cause of death has been forthcoming, leading to rampant speculation. Was it suicide, or perhaps a brain injury, and if the latter was it triggered by a pre-existing condition?
Fuel for the latter comes in the form of a letter that surfaced after his death. Dated July 25, 2023, it was written by Dr. Alina Sharinn, a board-certified neurologist licensed in New York and Florida.
“Mr. Bamba has suffered a concussion and an episode of traumatic diplopia within the past year and now presents with increasing headaches. His MRI of the brain revealed white matter changes in both frontal lobes,” wrote Bamba’s doctor.
Her recommendation was that he stop boxing temporarily while also avoiding any other activity at which he was at risk of head trauma.
Dr. Sherinn’s letter was written three months after Bamba was defeated by Chris Avila in a 4-round contest in New Orleans. He lost all four rounds on all three scorecards, reducing his record to 5-3.
Bamba took a break from boxing after fighting Avila. Eight months would elapse before he returned to the ring. His next four fights were in Santa Marta, Colombia, against opponents who were collectively 4-23 at the time that he fought them. The most experienced of the quartet, Victor Coronado, was 38 years old.
He won all four inside the distance and ten more knockouts would follow, the last against Medina in a bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association for the WBA Gold title. As widely reported, the stoppage, his 14th, broke Mike Tyson’s record for the most consecutive knockouts within a calendar year. That would have been a nice feather in his cap if only it were true.
Born in Puerto Rico, Paul Bamba was a former U.S. Marine who spent time in Iraq as an infantry machine gunner. In interviews on social media platforms, he is well-spoken and introspective without a trace of the boastfulness that many prizefighters exhibit when talking to an outsider. Interviewed in a corridor of the arena after stopping Medina, he was almost apologetic, acknowledging that he still had a lot to learn.
His life story is inspirational.
His early years were spent in foster homes. He was homeless for a time after returning to civilian life. Speaking with Boxing Scene’s Lucas Ketelle, Bamba said, “I didn’t have any direction after leaving the Marine corps. I hit rock bottom, couldn’t afford a place to stay…I was renting a mattress that was shoved behind someone’s sofa.”
He turned his life around when he ventured into the Morris Park Boxing Gym in the Bronx where he learned the rudiments of boxing under the tutelage of former WBA welterweight champion Aaron “Superman” Davis. “I love boxing,” he would say. “The confidence it gives you permeates into other aspects of your life.”
Bamba’s newfound confidence allowed him to carve out a successful career as a personal trainer. His most famous client was the Grammy Award winning R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo who signed Bamba to his new sports management company late in the boxer’s Knockout skein. Bamba was with Ne-Yo in Atlanta when he passed away. Ne-Yo broke the news on his Instagram platform.
Paul Bamba had been pursuing a fight with Jake Paul. Winning the WBA Gold belt opened up other potentially lucrative options. In theory, the holder of the belt is one step removed from a world title fight. Next comes an eliminator and, if he wins that one, a true title fight attached to a hefty purse will follow…in theory.
Rogelio “Porky” Medina, who brought a 42-10 record, had competed against some top-shelf guys, e.g., Zurdo Ramirez, Badou Jack, James DeGale, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant; going the distance with DeGale and Plant. However, only two of his 42 wins had come in fights outside Mexico, at age 36 he was over the hill, and his best work had come as a super middleweight.
Thirteen months ago, Medina carried 168 ½ pounds for a match in New Zealand in which he was knocked out in the first round. He came in more than 30 pounds heavier, specifically 202 ¼, for his match with Paul Bamba. In between, he knocked out a 54-year-old man in Guadalajara to infuse his ledger with a little brighter sheen.
Why did the WBA see fit to sanction the Bamba-Medina match as a title fight? That’s a rhetorical question. And for the record, the record for the most consecutive knockouts within a calendar year wasn’t previously held by Mike Tyson. LaMar Clark, a heavyweight from Cedar City, Utah, scored 29 consecutive knockouts in 1958 after opening the year by winning a 6-round decision. (If you are inclined to believe that all or most of those knockouts were legitimate, then perhaps I can interest you in buying the Brooklyn Bridge.)
Clark was being primped for a fight with a good purse which came when he was dispatched to Louisville to fight a fellow who was fairly new to the professional boxing scene, a former U.S. Olympian then known as Cassius Clay who knocked him out in the second round in what proved to be Clark’s final fight.
Paul Bamba was a much better fighter than LaMar Clark, of that I am quite certain. However, if Paul Bamba had gone on to meet one of the world’s elite cruiserweights, a similar outcome would have undoubtedly ensued.
One can summon up the Bamba-Medina fight on the internet although the video isn’t great – it was obviously filmed on a smart phone – and pieces of it are missing. Bamba was winning with his higher workrate when Medina took his unexpected leave, but one doesn’t have to be a boxing savant to see that Paul’s hand and foot speed were slow and that there were big holes in his defense.
This isn’t meant to be a knock on the decedent. Being able to box even four rounds at a fast clip and still be fresh is one of the most underrated achievements in all of human endurance sports. Bamba’s life story is indeed inspirational. When he talked about the importance of “giving back,” he was sincere. In an early interview, he mentioned having helped out at a Harlem food pantry.
Paul Bamba had to die to become well-known within the fight fraternity, let alone in the larger society. One hopes that his death will inspire the sport’s regulators to be more vigilant in assaying a boxer’s medical history and, if somehow his untimely death leads to the dissolution of the fetid World Boxing Association, his legacy would be even greater.
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