A word of remembrance about James Earl Jones who died on September 9 at age 93.

Born in Mississippi during the height of segregation, raised by his grandmother after being abandoned by his parents, and plagued by a stutter so severe that he often refused to speak when he was young, Jones became one of the great actors of modern times. During a storied career on stage, in movies, and on television, he was honored with an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy. He was the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King and known the world over for his iconic intonation “This is CNN.”

“Audiences,” Robert McFadden wrote, “were mesmerized by the voice. It was Lear’s roaring crash into madness, Othello’s sweet balm for Desdemona, Oberon’s last rapture for Titania. He liked to portray kings and generals, garbage men and bricklayers.”

Jones was recognized in theatrical circles as an extraordinary talent for years. But boxing propelled him to mainstream stardom.

In 1968, The Great White Hope opened on Broadway with Jones (6-feet-2-inches tall, 200 pounds) in the role of Jack Jefferson – a character modeled on Jack Johnson. Jones didn’t like boxing. “I’m not and never have been a fan of boxing,” he told me years later. “I had an unfortunate experience at a fight I went to long ago in Spain. A Nigerian fighter was killed in front of my eyes.”

But Jones played the role of Jack Jefferson to perfection and, two years later, reprised the role in the film adaptation. I had the honor of interviewing him when I was researching Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.

“I met Muhammad Ali for the first time backstage after a performance of The Great White Hope, “Jones reminisced. “Ali was still not allowed to fight, and meeting him was exciting, particularly given his response to the play he’d just seen. He said of Johnson, ‛That’s me. You take out the white woman, and that play is about me.’ Then he told me, ‘I want to go on stage and say those lines.’ He was referring to the scene where the Jack Johnson character is in exile in Europe. He’s been reduced to performances of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to earn a living, and the powers that be keep pursuing him, hoping to get him to agree to a title fight with a prearranged loss. Finally, they talk him into coming back to fight with the idea of turning the crown over to Jess Willard in Cuba. And the character says, ‘Come get me. Here I is!’

“We waited until the audience had left,” Jones continued. “Then Ali went out onto the stage and spoke to an empty theater. ‘Here I is! Here I is!’ He felt those lines expressed his life, and he spoke them with feeling.”

As for Ali’s own acting ability, Jones contemplated Muhammad’s extraordinary charisma and noted, “I wondered at the time, could he translate that into the craft of acting, which is using somebody else’s lines, which is the most difficult thing for any natural performer to do? I never saw him when he played in Buck White, because I was working somewhere else myself. I did see him on television much later in Freedom Road. And I played Malcolm X in two very short scenes in The Greatest, where Ali played himself but was essentially reading someone else’s lines. And what I found was, given his own words he was a great performer. But given somebody else’s words, there was a self-consciousness that he was unable to overcome. So he wasn’t a great craftsman in the art of acting, but that by no means takes away from his accomplishments. Ali represents America to me; power at its best, power well used, because real power is individual power. And each time we reconsider Ali, we realize there’s more to him and more value than we realized before.”

And there was a footnote to it all.

“Ali visited the set at Twentieth Century Fox when we were filming The Great White Hope,” Jones recalled. “We got in the ring together. We were both wearing boxing gloves. The photographers were busy flashing. Muhammad said, ‘Go ahead, hit me as hard as you can.’ Well, I’d played the Jack Johnson character since the play opened on Broadway. I‘d been put through my paces by real boxing trainers. So I gave Muhammad my best left hook. He blocked the blow. And in the process, quite accidentally, he broke my thumb. You know, when a fighter like Ali blocks a punch, the block is devastating in its own power. I felt the pain immediately.”

***

The main event at Madison Square Garden between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer didn’t start until Saturday morning at 12:45 AM. But it was worth the wait.

Ryan, age 31, came into the fight with a 7-1-1 (3 KOs) record. She won the WBO 147-pound title by decision over Maria Pier Houle last year, kept it on a draw against Jessica McCaskill, and stopped Terri Harper in four rounds this past March.

Mayer, age 34 (and now 20-2 with 5 KOs), once held the WBO 130-pound belt but lost a close decision in a title-unification bout against Alycia Baumgardner two years ago. She has since moved up to welterweight and was narrowly defeated by Natasha Jones in an IBF title fight in January of this year.

An element of bad blood was injected into the proceedings when trainer Kay Koroma (who had previously worked with Mayer) began working with Ryan, leaving Mayer in the hands of Kofi Jantuah. Then, as Team Ryan was leaving its hotel for Madison Square Garden on fight night, an attacker wearing a hoodie splashed Sandy with red paint and escaped in a waiting car with an accomplice.

Ryan was a slight betting favorite. The encounter shaped up as a competitive fight but turned out to be much more than that. It was an exceptionally good, non-stop action battle.

Ryan moved inexorably forward and Mayer couldn’t keep her off. But it wasn’t always effective aggression and Mikaela held her own on the inside. Each woman went effectively to the body which is a weapon often absent from the arsenal in women’s boxing. Both fighters were in good shape. Ryan was physically stronger.

It was a hard fight to score. According to CompuBox (which is an inexact science) Mayer landed 186 punches to Ryan’s 185. All three judges gave rounds eight and ten to Mayer. Those were the only rounds they scored alike.

I thought each woman clearly won three rounds with the other four up for grabs. The judges scored the bout 97-93, 96-94, 95-95 for a majority decision in Mayer’s favor.

A rematch is definitely in order.

***

Question: What do Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum (who oversaw the fights that stretched from 6:40 on Friday evening till 1:20 on Saturday morning), Mae West, Bobby Fischer, and Barbra Streisand have in common?

Answer: They all went to Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.

Erasmus was founded in 1786 as a private institution and became part of the New York City public school system in 1896. Arum graduated in 1949 and is one of the school’s many famous alumni.

Erasmus graduates who made a mark in the National Football League include Hall of Fame quarterback Sid Luckman, owner Al Davis, and coach Sam Rutigliano. Jerry Reinsdorf (who owns the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox) and baseball hall of fame pitcher Waite Hoyt went to Erasmus, as did NBA all-star forward and championship coach Billy Cunningham.

Bobby Fischer (arguably the greatest chess player of all time) attended Erasmus. So did former New Jersey governor James Florio and author Mickey Spillane.

Then we come to the world of entertainment. Oscar winner Susan Hayward and opera diva Beverly Sills (whose original name was Belle Miriam Silverman) are on the list of Erasmus attendees. So is Mae West (the quintessential sex symbol of the 1920s and 1930s who at one point was the highest-paid woman in the United States and starred in films opposite Cary Grant).

“I never met Mae West,” Arum says. “But I enjoyed watching her movies; that’s for sure.”

Record company executive Clive Davis (who graduated from Erasmus and counts Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, and Billy Joel among his signees) is a lifelong friend of Arum’s.

“Neil Diamond, I know because he wrote Sweet Caroline,” Arum adds, referencing another Erasmus alumnus. “That’s boxing’s new anthem, and my granddaughter’s name is Caroline.”

And finally – drumroll, please – there’s Barbra Streisand (Erasmus, Class of 1959). “I’ve met her,” Arum recounts. “But she wasn’t very friendly.”

***

The New York State Athletic Commission took a step in the right direction on Saturday when Matt Delaglio was named executive director.

Delagio served as director of boxing during the rocky tenure of Kim Sumbler who resigned as executive director in May of this year. He was then designated as acting executive director, but there were fears in boxing circles that he would be passed over for the job on a permanent basis in favor of a less qualified political appointee. Those fears have now been laid to rest.

The next thing Governor Kathy Hochul needs to do is upgrade the NYSAC at the commissioner level.

In theory, the NYSAC is overseen by five commissioners. Two of these positions are currently vacant. Too often, NYSAC commissioner appointments are made as trade-offs for political favors. The result is that, because of uninformed leadership, the NYSAC has been known to embarrass itself.

Delagio is a hard worker and conscientious public servant who understands the sport and business of boxing. It would be nice if Governor Hochul appointed two new commissioners who understand the sport and business of boxing as well as he does and have the same commitment to public service that he has.

PICTURED: James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, his co-star in the Broadway and film versions of “The Great White Hope.”

 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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Terri Harper Wins Third Division World Title

Encounters in previous battles were key.

Terri Harper proved to Rhiannon Dixon that winning a WBO welterweight world title and keeping it are extremely difficult as she lifted it by unanimous decision to become a three-division champion on Saturday.

Harper (15-2-2, 6 KOs) showed Dixon (10-1, 1 KO) the subtleties and nuances at boxing’s elite level before an enthusiastic crowd at Sheffield, England. The former super featherweight and super welterweight titlist adds the lightweight title to her coffers.

Dixon discovered that experience counts.

Immediately Harper unraveled a planned defensive tactic to lure the frenetic moving Dixon into her counter right cross. It stopped the charges immediately.

Dixon, whose herky-jerky southpaw movements caused problems to other foes, could not rattle Harper who had faced numerous world champions in the past such as Cecilia Braekhus, Alycia Baumgardner and Sandy Ryan.

Patience was the key.

After some adjustments were made by Dixon, the lightweight match turned into a session of feints and clinches. Harper was able to manipulate the exchanges inside as Dixon tried to seek a solution.

In the latter rounds Dixon attacked the body with some heavy blows that seemed to open up more paths for her heavy blows. Right hooks did damage to Harper who was forced to hold.

“I got caught by a shot,” admitted Harper.

Once again Harper dipped into her vast trunk of experience and began blasting accurate shots with her rights and lefts. Though Dixon was not stunned, they snapped back the defending champions head violently.

Knowing she was behind, Dixon opened up her attack and so did Harper. Both exchanged heavy blows with neither relenting or surrendering. Each had bloody noses and each had energy in reserve for the last two frantic rounds.

After 10 rounds, all three judges saw it in favor of Harper 97-93 twice and 96-94.

“For me, its my best performance so far,” said Harper.

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing predicts her win will lead to other pivotal matchups against the top lightweights in the world such as Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano or Caroline Dubois.

“She made history tonight,” Hearn said.

Other Bouts

Super bantamweight standout Peter McGrail (10-1, 6 KOs) stopped Brad Foster (15-4-2) with a left hand body shot to the liver for a win by knockout at 1:08 of the second round.

Middleweight prospect George Liddell (9-0, 6 KOs) beat George Davey (9-2-1) to the punch with an overhand right that dropped the fellow British fighter in the fifth round. Though he beat the count a subsequent right by Liddell forced the referee to halt the match at 2:20 of the fifth round.

Olympic gold medalist Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs) took a chance against Mexico’s Sergio Orozco (9-9) with a major fight against former world champion Sunny Edwards looming in November. He emerged unscathed, winning by knockout in the third round with a perfect four-punch combination knockdown. Though Orozco beat the count the referee stopped the fight at 1:49 of the third round.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Mikaela Mayer emerged the winner over Sandy Ryan after a furious battle to lift the WBO welterweight world title by majority-decision on Friday.

It was close.

Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) used her experience to lure England’s heavy-hitting Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) into her type of warfare in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden’s theater in New York City.

Early on Mayer used a steady jab and combination punches against the strong forward advancements of Ryan. In the first round a quick right cross rocked the British fighter briefly for just a few seconds.

Over and over Mayer timed Ryan’s charges with heavy overhand rights and uppercuts. But Ryan kept advancing.

“I was catching her coming in all the time,” explained Mayer about her strategy.

Through most of the first half of the fight Mayer kept turning Ryan with angles that nullified the British fighter’s heavy left hooks.

But Ryan found her mojo in the sixth round with a body shot and left hook around Mayer’s guard. The American fighter rallied back with combinations of her own but kept getting hit with Ryan’s left hook.

Was Mayer getting tired?

In the seventh round Mayer opened up with rapid combination punching. And when Ryan attempted to rein the American fighter into her firing zone, Mayer caught her with quicker punches that connected.

“I knew I could beat her to the punch,” said Mayer. “She couldn’t handle my timing.”

If there were any questions about Mayer’s stamina she opened up the ninth round with a six-punch combination including a right uppercut.

Knowing that a world title was at stake, both fighters opened up with volleys in the 10^th and final round trying to dominate. Ryan continued looking to blast away with the left hook and Ryan looking to connect with overhand rights or uppercuts. Both blasted away until the final bell.

One judge scored it 95-95 but two others saw it 97-93 and 96-94 for Mayer who becomes the new WBO welterweight champion.

“She’s probably the strongest fighter I’ve fought,” said Mayer who was coming off a controversial loss to Natasha Jonas in Liverpool, England.

Before the fight, it was revealed that someone threw paint on her as she was leaving her hotel.

“I was shook up,” said Ryan about fans accosting her. “It was a great fight.”

The new champion Mayer said she would not mind a rematch but intends to unify all the welterweight world titles.

“I want to be undisputed,” Mayer said.

Other Bouts

Puerto Rico’s Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KOs) soundly defeated Mexico’s Damian Sosa (25-3) using superior boxing technique over 10 rounds in a super welterweight fight between sluggers.

Zayas proved he is more than just a slugger with a technical battle that nullified Sosa’s power and aggressiveness. The fight was never in doubt despite no knockdowns in their clash. Zayas won every round on all three cards.

Brooklyn’s Bruce Carrington (13-0) out-fought Sulaiman Segawa (17-5-1) in a close back-and-forth battle that ended in a majority decision victory for the fighter known as “Shu Shu.” The scores were 95-95 and 97-93 twice.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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