The Inoue and Serrano Championship Watches

Published

12 months ago

June 7, 2024

The-Inoue-and-Serrano-Championship-Warches

Now and then, a feel-good story of particular interest surfaces in boxing. When Naoya Inoue and Amanda Serrano were presented with championship watches by the Boxing Writers Association of America on June 6 to honor their designation as the BWAA’s male and female Fighters of the Year for 2023, it continued a long history of championship adornments. And it was an important marker on the journey of a man named Bobby Ermankhah.

Boxing’s first championship belt belonged to Tom Cribb, the champion of England, who was given a lion-skin sash with silver claws after defeating Tom Molineaux of the United States in 1811. Seven decades later, Richard K. Fox (publisher of the National Police Gazette) introduced boxing belts to the United States.

Fox was engaged in a bitter feud with John L. Sullivan. When Paddy Ryan knocked out Joe Goss in 1880, the publisher presented “his” champion with a jewel-studded belt, Sullivan’s followers were so outraged that they raised $10,000 to give “their” champion a gold-plated diamond-studded prize bearing the words, “Presented to the champion of champions by the People of the United States.” Legend has it that, when John L. received his belt, he put it on and loudly proclaimed, “Fox’s is like a dog collar compared to mine.”

In 1922, Ring magazine began publication and entered the belt trade. Jack Dempsey was the first recipient of a Ring belt.

Craig Hamilton (the foremost boxing memorabilia dealer in the United States) continues the narrative, recounting, “Championship rings came into boxing with Muhammad Ali. I don’t remember seeing any before that, and relatively few fighters have had them since. As for watches, it was not uncommon for gold pocket watches to be given to fighters in the first three decades of the twentieth century. The earliest that I remember was a gold Tiffany pocket watch given to John L. Sullivan in 1907 by his fans in Boston long after Sullivan had retired from boxing. Most often, the watches were given to fighters by their manager or promoter. I know that Tommy Burns got one. And Tex Rickard gave one to Jack Dempsey around the time of the Carpentier fight. Nat Fleischer (founder of The Ring) had a collection of 93 watches that had been previously owned by fighters, But most of those were personal, not presentation, watches.”

Enter Bobby Ermankhah, the driving force behind the Inoue and Serrano championship watches.

Ermankhah was born in Tehran in 1971. His father was a high-ranking Army official during the Shah’s regime. Babak (as Bobby was known then), his older sister, and their parents lived well. Then, in 1979, the Shah was overthrown.

“After the revolution,” Ermankhah recounts, “everything changed for the country and, obviously, for my family. We went from having everything to the fear of having nothing. My father was put in prison. Eventually, he was released but he wasn’t allowed to leave Iran.”

“In 1980,” Bobby continues, “the Iraq-Iran War began. You were not drafted into the Army until you were eighteen. But after the age of fourteen, you couldn’t leave the country. My mother was against my serving in the Army and made plans for my sister and me to leave the country. We loved Iran but we didn’t like the new government. The way I was brought up; I believe in God; I believe in doing the right thing. But I don’t think you need religion to know right from wrong. For some people, it helps. But when a small group of people tell everyone else what to believe, that’s a problem for me.”

At age eleven, Ermankhah left Iran with his sister (who was three years older than he was). They spent four months in Turkey, four months in Switzerland, and eleven months in Italy. When Bobby was twelve, they arrived in the United States. After six months in New York, they got their own apartment.

“We were children, but we looked after each other the whole time,” Bobby says. “We were raised to be independent. My mother has visited us here in the United States since then. But I’ve never been back to Iran and my father isn’t allowed to leave the country, so I haven’t seen him in more than forty years.”

Ermankhah studied electrical engineering at Chelsea Vocational High School and graduated in 1990 as class valedictorian. After that, he worked as an electrician with several local unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But the electrical work dried up and he got a job as a teller for CitiBank.

“My sister had married by then,” Bobby says, continuing the saga. “Her husband had a small jewelry store in Flushing (an area of Queens, which is one of New York’s five boroughs). I’d saved some money, and I opened in Flushing a small Greek restaurant with my brother-in-law called The Greek Specialties. It did not do well. It lasted about a year-and-a-half, and I lost all the money I’d saved since I was fourteen years old. After that, I started working at my brother-in-law’s store, which was called King’s Jewelry and was also in Flushing. That was in 1994. I’d always loved watches. I bought a Rolex Datejust Twotone for $2,500. Everyone made fun of me. Who will go to Flushing to buy a Rolex? But I added some diamonds for $500 and sold it for $5,000. Then, with the $5,000, I bought two more Rolexes and sold them.”

In 1999, Ermankhah opened his own business, selling watches in a small booth in the back of an exchange at 45 West 47th Street in Manhattan. In 2005, he founded Azad.

The name “Azad” translates to “freedom” in Persian. The debut Azad collection was launched in 2008. In Ermankhah’s words, “An Azad watch is a luxury item and a statement. I start with the design and go from there. Any car can get you from one place to another, but some people like a different look. Most companies repeat what they’ve already done before and copy what everyone else is doing. Our customers want something different.”

But there were problems. In 2008, the year of Azad’s launch, the economy tanked. “It was a very difficult time for us,” Bobby acknowledges. “We didn’t sell a thing the first six months. But over time, the pace picked up.”

Azad now has eighteen different basic models that have been released in editions of twenty to five hundred pieces. Each model can be made with dozens of variables (e.g. different stones, colors, metals, bands, etc). The watches are assembled in New York. The parts come from Switzerland, Japan, and Germany, except for the cases, which are made in Hong Kong. There are ten to fifteen different suppliers of parts for each watch, which makes them harder to counterfeit. The key corporate players are vice president Cedric King and creative director Anna Zakrepine.

Meanwhile, Ermankhah is still at 45 West 47th Street in the heart of New York’s diamond district. But the Azad booth is now in the front of the store, encompassing four-and-a-half showcases and the front window. And the company recently opened a 2,000-square-foot showroom and factory on the third floor of the same building.

Insofar as the sweet science is concerned, Azad has been involved with boxing for years. It has had sponsorship deals with Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center. The first fighters to wear Azad patches on their trunks were Paulie Malignaggi, Paul Williams, Chris Arreola, and Kendall Holt. Since then, it has had relationships, among others, with Gennady Golovkin, Sergio Martinez, Jermain Taylor, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Deontay Wilder, and John Duddy.

“Boxers work hard to get what they get,” Ermankhah says. “They deserve recognition, but only a few champions are recognized on the street. You can’t walk around wearing your championship belt to show that you’re a champion. But you can always wear a watch.”

That brings us to the championship watches presented to Naoya Inoue and Amanda Serrano at the June 6 BWAA awards dinner. The design and red-and-white color motif of Inoue’s watch are evocative of the Japanese flag. It’s inner movements are visible from both the front and back. The stainless steel case is encrusted with more than two hundred diamonds. On its back, the watch reads, “Naoya Inoue, 2023 BWAA Fighter of the Year.”

Serrano’s watch is from Azad’s prestige Zada collection and, like Inoue’s, has a stainless steel case encrusted with diamonds.

“I’d love to make a one-of-a-kind watch for every BWAA Fighter of the Year in the future,” Ermankhah says. “It would be an honor.”

Is this the start of a new tradition?

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – MY MOTHER and me – is a personal memoir available at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1

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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Thomas Hauser

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

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Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2025

Thomas Hauser

In recent years, there has been lavish praise and extensive criticism regarding Turki Alalshikh’s boxing initiative. Some of it has been warranted and some hasn’t. One issue deserves greater comment.

The judging has been pretty good.

Scoring a fight is subjective, which can open the door to bias, incompetence, and corruption.

Most people in boxing know who the good judges are. But some bad ones keep getting high-profile assignments. Why? Because they shade things toward the house fighter which is where the money lies.

When there’s a bad decision in boxing, almost always it favors the house fighter.

Overall, Turki Alalshikh’s fights have been marked by honest scoring.

Oleksandr Usyk went the distance four times against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Fury-Usyk I and Usyk-Joshua II could legitimately have been scored either way. It was in the Saudi’s financial interest (not to mention the interests of Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn) that Fury and Joshua win those fights. Yet Usyk won all four decisions.

Clearly, Turki Alalshikh wanted Hamzah Sheeraz to defeat Carlos Adames. Yet Adames retained his title when that bout was credibly scored a draw.

The list goes on.

Bad scoring trickles down from the top. Judges know that the monied interests behind a promotion want a certain fighter to win and that their receiving lucrative judging assignments in the future often depends on scoring the fight at hand a certain way.

The judging for Turki Alalshikh’s fights so far seems to have been based on the instruction, “Be fair. Get it right.”

Kudos for that.

****

Six years ago after unifying the four major cruiserweight titles, Oleksandr Usyk was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America as its “Fighter of the Year.” That designation was repeated in 2024 in recognition of his unifying the heavyweight crown.

While in New York to accept his most recent honor, Usyk sat with former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason for an interview that will air in early-June on the nationally syndicated television show Game Time.

Oleksandr came across as thoughtful and likeable during the conversation.

He shared memories of his father: “My father was a military guy. He teach me like a street fight, to work a knife, shooting. I use jujitsu, karate, wrestling, kickboxing. I say, ‘Poppa, what we do this for?’ . . . He says, ‘We prepare’ . . . ‘For what we prepare?’ . . . ‘For life.’”

Usyk won a gold medal in the 201-pound heavyweight division at the 2012 London Olympics. But his father died before Oleksandr could return home and show the medal to him. After Usyk beat Tyson Fury to unify the heavyweight crown, he cried as he proclaimed, “Hey, poppa, we did it.”

“A lot of people in Ukraine who hear that, they cry too,” Oleksandr told Esiason. “Is normal. [Some] people, ‘Hey man! Don’t cry.’ Why not cry? I like to cry.”

Speaking of the size differential between Fury and himself, Usyk noted, “For me, is like a story. David and Goliath. I not afraid because boxing is a sport. Yeah, it’s a guy a little bigger for me. No problem.”

Asked how he would describe his fighting style,” Oleksandr answered, “It’s a wonderful style.”

“Boxing for me is a gentleman’s sport,” he added. “Just respect for my opponents. A lot of people make a show. But if you make a good show and then bad boxing – [with a wave of his hand] PFFFTHF! First in boxing is class and skill; then the show.’

He explained how his training regimen includes holding his breath underwater: “I make like a fight time. Three minutes underwater, one minute rest, twelve rounds. Is hard.”

What’s the longest that Usyk has held his breath underwater?

“My record is 4 minutes 47 seconds.”

The interview closed with Oleksandr appealing directly to the American people to support his Ukrainian homeland in its defense against Russian aggression.

“I’m not political. I’m just [a] man who lives in Ukraine who’s worried for my people.”

And he talked of having brought some Ukrainian soldiers to his fights as guests: “They’re my power, my angels.”

****

Don King has been the subject of an endless stream of anecdotes. Jody Heaps (who spent three decades as a senior creative director and executive producer at Showtime) adds one more to the mix.

“Don had just brought Mike Tyson to Showtime,” Heaps recalls. “We were doing a shoot with Don sitting in a barber chair and he was in a great mood. Toward the end, someone came over to me and said, ‘If Don has the time, could you ask him about his favorite movie scene for a promotion we’re doing.’ So I asked Don what his favorite movie scene was. He told me movies weren’t his thing and said, ‘You tell me. What’s my favorite scene?’

“I talked it over with the crew,” Heaps continues. “Then I suggested the shower scene in Psycho. I figured Don had seen it. Everybody has seen it. But Don told me, ‘I don’t know anything about it. What happens in that scene?’ So I explained that you see Janet Leigh in shower. Then you see a silhouette on the shower curtain. The shower curtain is pulled aside. You see the knife plunging in again and again. And the last thing you see is blood circling down the drain.”

“Don says, ‘Okay; I’ve got it.’ He looks right at the camera and, with incredible drama, starts recreating the scene. Five seconds in, everyone is mesmerized. He takes us through Janet Leigh in the shower, the silhouette on the shower curtain, the knife plunging in again and again, the blood circling down the drain. And at the end, he laughed that loud booming laugh of his and proclaimed, ‘It was a clean kill!’

“There was stunned silence,” Heaps says in closing. “Don made it sound like it was real and he’d been there when it happened.”

****

Like most sports fans, I watched the first round of the NFL draft on April 24. I’ll do the same when the NBA draft is held on June 25. Allow me the following thoughts.

Adam Silver seems like a basketball fan.

Roger Goodell seems like a fan of making money.

Adam Silver looks sincere when he hugs a draftee.

Roger Goodell looks like he wants to take a shower.

Adam Silver comes across as though he has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself.

Roger Goodell comes across as though he doesn’t and can’t.

Adam Silver has James Dolan to deal with and keeps him in line.

Roger Goodell can’t put a lid on Jerry Jones.

Adam Silver is booed in good-natured fashion by fans at the draft.

Roger Goodell is booed with rabid enthusiasm

****

And last; a memory of Turki Alalshikh’s May 2 fight card in Times Square . . .

Security was tight. The police had been instructed to keep pedestrians on the sidewalk moving as they passed the ring enclosure which was blocked from view by a ten-foot-tall fence. Well before the event began, a young man with a video camera planted himself on the sidewalk across the street from the enclosure. A uniformed police officer approached and the following colloquy occurred.

Cop: I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to move.

Young man: I’m with the media.

Cop: And I’m with the New York Police Department. You’ll have to move.

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329

In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino

Published

3 days ago

May 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino

A jam-packed fight card featuring a world champion, top contenders and knockout artists delivered the action but no knockouts on Saturday in the Los Angeles area.

You can’t have everything.

Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta (8-0, 2 KOs), fresh with a multi-year 360 Boxing Promotion’s contract deal, once again fought and defended the WBO super fly world title and this time against Argentina’s Carla Merino (16-3, 5 KOs) at Commerce Casino.

It was expected to be her toughest test.

Hiruta, who is trained and managed by Manny Robles, showed added poise and a sharp jab that created and established an invisible barrier that Merino could never crack. It was as simple as that.

A sharp right jab from the southpaw Japanese world champion in the opening round gave Merino something to figure out. When the Argentine fighter tried to counter Hiruta was out of range. That distance was a problem that Merino could not solve.

The pink-flame-haired Hiruta looks like an anime figure incapable of violence. But whenever Merino dared unload a combination Hiruta would eagerly pounce on the opportunity. It was clear that the champion’s speed and power was a problem.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training in Southern California and has sparred with numerous styles and situations in the talent-crazy Southern California area. Each time she fights the poise and polish gained from working with a variety of talent and skill partners seems to add more layers to the Japanese fighter’s arsenal.

After six rounds of clear control by Hiruta, the Argentine fighter finally made an assertive move to change the momentum with combination punching. Both exchanged but Hiruta cornered Merino and opened up with a seven-punch barrage.

In the eighth round Merino tried again to force an exchange and again Hiruta opened up with a three-punch combo followed by a four-punch combo. Merino dived inside the attack by the Japanese champion and accidentally butted Hiruta’s head. No serious damage appeared.

Merino tried valiantly to exchange with Hiruta but the strength, speed and agility were too much to overcome in the last two rounds of the fight. Left hand blows by the champion connected solidly several times in the final round.

After 10 rounds all three judges saw Hiruta the winner by decision 98-92 twice and 99-91. The fighter from Tokyo retains the WBO super fly title for the fourth time.

Bohachuk Wins

Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) defeated Mykal Fox (24-5, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision but had problems corralling the much taller fighter after 10 rounds in a super welterweight match.

It was only the second time Bohachuk won by decision.

Fox used movement all 10 rounds that never allowed Bohachuk to plant his feet to deliver his vaunted power. But though Fox had moments, they were not enough to offset the power shots that did land. Two judges scored it 97-93 for the Ukrainian and another had it 98-92

“Good experience for me,” said Bohachuk of Fox’s movement.

King of LA

In a super featherweight match Omar “King of LA” Trinidad (19-0-1, 13 KOs) dominated Nicaragua’s Alexander Espinoza (23-7-3, 8 KOs) but never came close to knocking out the spirited fighter. But did come close to dropping him.

The fighter out of the Boyle Heights area in the boxing hotbed of East L.A. was able to exchange freely with savage uppercuts to the body and head, but Espinoza would not quit. For 10 rounds Trinidad battered away at Espinoza but a knockout win was not possible.

After 10 rounds all three judges favored Trinidad (100-90, 99-91, 98-92) who retains his regional WBC title and his place in the featherweight rankings.

“I’m living the dream,” said Trinidad.

Maywood Fighter Medina on Target

Lupe Medina (10-0, 2 KOs) proved ready for the elite in knocking down world title challenger Maria Santizo (12-6, 6 KOs) and winning by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight match up.

Medina, a model-looking fighter out of Maywood, Calif, accepted a match against Santizo who had fought three times against world titlists including L.A. great Seniesa Estrada. She looked perfectly in her element.

Behind a ramrod jab and solid defense, Medina avoided the big swinging Santizo’s punches while countering accurately. For every home run swing by the Guatemalan fighter Medina would connect with a sharp right or left.

In the fifth round, Santizo opened up with a crisp three-punch combination and Medina opened up with her own four-punch blast that seemed to wobble the veteran fighter. Medina stepped on the gas and fired strategic blows but never left herself open for counters.

Medina didn’t waste time in the sixth round. A crisp one-two staggered Santizo who reeled backward. The referee ruled it a knockdown and Santizo was in trouble. Medina went into attack mode as Santizo pulled every trick she knew to keep from being overrun by the Maywood fighter.

In the last two rounds Medina seemed to look for the perfect shot to end the fight. Santizo kept busy with short shots and stayed away from meaningful exchanges. Medina also might have been gassed from expending so many punches in the prior round.

The two female fighters both seemed to want a knockout in the eighth round. Santizo was wary of Medina’s power and dived in close to smother Medina’s firing zone. Neither woman was able to connect with any significant shots.

After eight rounds all three judges scored in favor of Medina 77-74, 76-75 and 80-71.

It was proof Medina belongs among the top minimumweight fighters.

Other Bouts

In a super welterweight fight Michael Meyers (7-2) defeated Eduardo Diaz (9-4) by unanimous decision in a tough scrap. Mayers proved to be more accurate and was able to withstand a late rally by Diaz.

Abel Mejia (8-0) defeated Antonio Dunton El (6-4-2) by decision after six rounds in a super feather match.

Jocelyn Camarillo (4-0) won by split decision after four rounds versus Qianyue Zhao (0-2) in a light flyweight bout.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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David Allen Bursts Johnny Fisher’s Bubble at the Copper Box

Published

3 days ago

May 17, 2025

Arne K. Lang

David-Allen-Bursts-Johnny-Fisher's-Bubble-at-the-Copper-Box

The first meeting between Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, and David Allen, the White Rhino, was an inelegant affair that produced an unpopular decision. Allen put Fisher on the canvas in the fifth frame and dominated the second half of the fight, but two of the judges thought that Fisher nicked it, allowing the “Bull” to keep his undefeated record. That match was staged last December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, underneath Usyk-Fury II.

The 26-year-old Fisher, who has a fervent following, was chalked a 13/5 favorite for the sequel today at London’s Copper Box Arena. At the weigh-in, Allen, who carried 265 pounds, looked as if he had been training at the neighborhood pub.

Through the first four rounds, Fisher fought cautiously, holding tight to his game plan. He worked his jab effectively and it appeared as if the match would go the full “10” with the Romford man winning a comfortable decision. However, in the waning moments of round five, he was a goner, left splattered on the canvas.

This was Fisher’s second trip to the mat. With 30 seconds remaining in the fifth, Allen put him on the deck with a clubbing right hand. Fisher got up swaying on unsteady legs, but referee Marcus McDonnell let the match continue. The coup-de-gras was a crunching left hook.

Fisher, who was 13-0 with 11 KOs heading in, went down face first with his arms extended. The towel flew in from his corner, but that was superfluous. He was out before he hit the canvas.

A high-class journeyman, the 33-year-old David Allen improved to 24-7-2 with his 16^th knockout. He promised fireworks – “going toe-to-toe, that’s just the way I’m wired” – and delivered the goods.

Other Bouts of Note

Northampton middleweight Kieron Conway added the BBBofC strap to his existing Commonwealth belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Welsh southpaw Gerome Warburton. It was the third win inside the distance in his last four outings for Conway who improved to 23-3-1 (7 KOs).

Conway trapped Warburton (15-2-2) in a corner, hurt him with a body punch, and followed up with a barrage that forced the referee to intervene as Warburton’s corner tossed in the white flag of surrender. The official time was 1:26 of round four. Warburton’s previous fight was a 6-rounder vs. an opponent who was 8-72-4.

In the penultimate fight on the card, George Liddard, the so-called “Billericay Bomber,” earned a date with Kieron Conway by dismantling Bristol’s Aaron Sutton who was on the canvas three times before his corner pulled him out in the final minute of the fifth frame.

The 22-year-old Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs) was a consensus 12/1 favorite over Sutton who brought a 19-1 record but against tepid opposition. His last three opponents were a combined 16-50-5 at the time that he fought them.

Also

In a bout that wasn’t part of the ESPN slate, Johnny Fisher stablemate John Hedges, a tall cruiserweight, won a comprehensive 10-round decision over Liverpool’s Nathan Quarless. The scores were 99-92, 98-92, and 97-93.

Purportedly 40-4 as an amateur, Hedges advanced his pro ledger to 11-0 (3). It was the second loss in 15 starts for the feather-fisted Quarless, a nephew of 1980s heavyweight gatekeeper Noel Quarless.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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