Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser

Published

6 months ago

October 24, 2024

Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser

Pete Rose was inappropriately named. His bulky torso blended into a thick neck at one end and heavy bulging thighs at the other. He had heavy eyebrows, dark piercing eyes, and a granite-like jutting jaw. “Pete Bulldog” would have been better nomenclature. He was not evocative of a rose.

Rose played baseball in an era when fans wanted their sports heroes to be good guys.

He wasn’t.

Rose was married twice and was an unrepentant philanderer throughout both marriages. When he was in his thirties – he later admitted – he had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl. In 1990, he pled guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns and was sentenced to five months in prison.

A report compiled for Major League Baseball by John Dowd in 1989 concluded that Rose made at least 412 wagers on baseball games in 1985, 1986, and 1987. Fifty-two of those wagers were on teams that Rose played on and/or managed. As a result, he was banned for life from Major League baseball – a ban that precluded his being employed by any major league team and also from being considered for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The only thing Rose seemed sorry about was that he had been caught and punished. But as a baseball player, he was a legend.

Rose was born in 1941 – the year that Ted Williams batted .406 and Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games. He played in the major leagues from 1963 through 1986. Baseball was more than a job to him. It was his way of life. Rose, it was said, was a baseball player first and a person second.

“Everybody wants a base hit when he goes up to bat,” Mickey Mantle observed. “But with Pete, you always had the feeling that he wanted it more.”

Rose was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1963 and its Most Valuable Player ten years later. With a lifetime batting baverage of .303, he was far from being baseball’s greatest hitter. But he was its most persistent and durable good one.

On September 11, 1985, Rose lined a single to centerfield off San Diego pitcher Eric Show for the 4,192nd base hit of his remarkable career. In so doing, he surpassed the “unbreakable” record emblazoned in baseball’s record book by Ty Cobb.

“Millions of Americans have fantasized about breaking Ty Cobb’s record,” Rose said. “But I’m the one who’s doing it.”

He finished his career with 4,256 base hits. Other MLB records that he holds to this day include most games played (3,562), most plate appearances (15,890), most career singles (3,215) and, less laudably, most career outs (10,328). He ranks second in career doubles (746), sixth in runs scored (2,165), and ninth in total bases (5,752).

“Statistics,” Rose once said, “are what let you look at a player who died before you were born and make him your hero.”

There was a time when Rose also tried his hand at boxing. When he was six years old, his father gave him a pair of boxing gloves and taught him the rudiments of self-defense. Later, Pete had two amateur fights and lost both of them.

“Just before my sixteenth birthday,” Rose reminisced years later, “Dad arranged for my first amateur match at the Finley Street neighborhood club. I fought Virgil Coles, an experienced boxer from the inner city who pretty much used me as his punching bag. But I took everything Coles dished out and on occasion landed a few wild punches myself. I was getting my brains beat out. Dad knew it but didn’t want me to see that he was concerned. I stood on my feet for the full three rounds and never once hit the canvas.”

And Rose’s second fight?

“The second one was against a guy who had five kids at ringside watching. I didn’t get knocked out. But I did say to myself, ‘I better go play ball.’”

Rose died from cardiovascular illness on September 30 at age 83. When I heard the news, my mind wandered back to two conversations that I had long ago.

The first conversation was with Rose shortly before he broke Ty Cobb’s record.

“I’ve won more games than any professional athlete ever,” Rose told me over lunch. “Baseball, football, basketball, you name it. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? I’ve walked off the field a winner more than nineteen hundred times. I’ve won more baseball games than forty-five Hall of Famers played in. I’m the winningest professional athlete ever.”

“What about Willie Shoemaker?” I queried. “He won more than six thousand races.”

That earned me a dirty look and the rejoinder, “Yeah; but jockeys have eight or nine shots at winning every day.”

The second conversation was with Tim McCarver fourteen years later. McCarver was an all-star catcher and World Series champion before becoming one of baseball’s great television commentators.

“Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?” I asked.

“That’s a difficult question,” McCarver answered. “It would be very awkward for Pete to be in the Hall of Fame until he’s reinstated by Major League Baseball. So here we are in a society that’s very forgiving, but the powers that be have yet to forgive Pete Rose.”

“If the powers that be asked you for a recommendation,” I pressed, “what would you say?”

“I’d say it’s time; that Pete has been punished enough.”

That conversation took place a quarter-century ago. My opinion at the time was that Rose should not be eligible for induction into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Now Rose exists only in memory and in baseball lore. To quote Tim McCarver, “It’s time. Pete has been punished enough.”

* * *

Lou DiBella promoted a club-fight card at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater on Wednesday night. The opening and closing bouts call for comment.

In the first fight of the evening, Jerry Forrest (27-6-2, 20 KOs, 2 KOs by) was matched against Earl Newman (10-3, 7 KOs, 1 KO by).

Forrest has had eight step-up fights in his career and failed to win any of them. Forty-four months ago, he survived three knockdowns to salvage a draw when a grossly-out-of-shape Zhilel Zhang all but collapsed under his own weight. That made Forrest a bit of a name. Then, two years ago, he was beaten so savagely by Jared Anderson that hardened ringside observers cringed at the carnage.

Newman was winless in his last four bouts dating back to 2016.

Forrest wasn’t in fighting shape. And Newman (who has fought at weights as low as 177 pounds) weighed in at 252 pounds.

Both men looked tired when the fight began and more tired as the eight-round contest dragged on. Boxing is hard. I understand that. And each fighter gave an honest effort. But it was a painfully slow, sluggish encounter with the fighters moving as though they were in waist-high water. Forrest won a unanimous decision and did a back-flip in the ring after the decision was announced. If only he’d been that active during the fight.

Forrest-Newman was sad. The closing fight of the evening featured the outrageous.

Women’s boxing is erratic. At one end of the spectrum, Madison Square Garden has hosted legitimate championship fights like Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano and Sandy Ryan vs. Mikaela Meyer that enobled the sport. But a study by John Sheppard of BoxRec.com several years ago noted that there were more available women’s “championship” belts than active women boxers.

Miyo Yoshida (17-4 with zero knockouts either way) had one of those belts – the IBF 118-pound strap. She won it last year by outboxing Ebanie Bridges (a paper champion whose greatest notoriety stemmed from having ample breast implants and appearing at weigh-ins dressed like a lingerie model). Yoshida was defending her belt at the Hulu Theater against 39-year-old Shurretta Metcalf (13-4-1, 2 KOs) who beat Mio by decision last year.

Yoshida-Metcalf looked like a club fight, not a “championship” bout. Metcalf had a huge advantage in height and reach, and Yoshida didn’t know how to bob and weave to get inside. Meanwhile, Shurretta threw wild punches from long range all night. When she landed, it seemed almost by accident.

The decision could have gone either way. I thought each fighter clearly won three rounds with four rounds up for grabs. Then the judges’ verdict was announced: 96-94, 97-93, and an abominable 99-91 for Metcalf.

97-93 was a stretch. 99-91 reeked of being an agenda-driven scorecard.

Matt Delaglio was recently named executive director of the New York State Athletic Commission and inherited a job that has long been marked by incompetence and neglect. Delagio is conscientious and well-qualified for the position. But he has a lot of work to do. One of the things on his “to-do list” should be an overhaul of ring judging in New York. Right now, the judging in New York is unacceptable.

* * *

Earlier this year, the IBF was in the spotlight for fragmenting the heavyweight title by virtue of its decision to strip Oleksansr Usyk of his belt and recognize Daniel Dubois as heavyweight champion of the world. On December 7, the WBA will outdo that absurdity by sanctioning a fight between Mahmood Charr and Kubrat Pulev for its “regular” heavyweight championship of the world.

Charr, age 40, has not fought since 2022 and is best known for being knocked out twelve years ago by Vitali Klitschko. He is the current WBA “champion” and, according to Wikipedia, underwent double hip replacement surgery in 2017.

Pulev, 43, has won two fights in the past three years (against Ihor Shevadzutskyi and Andrzaj Wawrzyk) and is best known for being knocked out by Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua.

This is the environment boxing has created that turns off fans and drives them to other sports.

* * *

World in My Corner (1956) is one of those hokey, old, black-and-white boxing movies that’s fun if you like hokey, old, black-and-white boxing movies.

Audie Murphy plays Tommy Shea, a poor kid from New Jersey struggling to make it as a fighter. There’s a crooked promoter (the reprehensible Harry Cram), an honest trainer (the saintly Dave Bernstein), and a love interest (the beautiful Dorothy Mallinson, who suffers under the thumb of her wealthy controlling father). The real Jimmy Lennon Sr plays ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr. Chico Vejar (a veteran of 116 fights in the 1950s) plays welterweight champion Al Carelli.

More on Cram: You know a promoter is a bad guy when, almost always, he’s smoking a cigar.

Audie Murphy is unconvincing as a hard-luck tough from the wrong side of the river. Think Tom Cruise in a boxing ring. The love story is trite, but so is the rest of the film.

Dorothy: Can I ask you something?

Tommy: Sure

Dorothy: Why do you fight?

Tommy: You’re not asking me something. You’re asking me everything.

Tommy agrees to throw a fight against Carelli to get the money to marry Dorothy. Then he changes his mind.

Tommy: I’m not throwing the fight.

Cram: I don’t like your sense of humor.

If you’re a fan of old-time boxing movies, World in My Corner is fun.

Photo (c) Wojtek Urbanek

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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Jorge Garcia is the TSS Fighter of the Month for April

Published

23 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Jorge-Garcia-is-the-TSS-Fighter-of-the-Month-for-April

Jorge Garcia has a lot in common with Mexican countrymen Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza. In common with those two, both reigning world title-holders, Garcia is big for his weight class and bubbled out of obscurity with a triumph forged as a heavy underdog in a match contested on American soil.

Garcia had his “coming of age party” on April 19 in the first boxing event at the new Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California (roughly 35 miles north of San Diego), a 7,500-seat facility whose primary tenant is an indoor soccer team. It was a Golden Boy Promotions event and in the opposite corner was a Golden Boy fighter, Charles Conwell.

A former U.S. Olympian, Conwell was undefeated (21-0, 16 KOs) and had won three straight inside the distance since hooking up with Golden Boy whose PR department ballyhooed him as the most avoided fighter in the super welterweight division. At prominent betting sites, Conwell was as high as a 12/1 favorite.

The lanky Garcia was 32-4 (26 KOs) heading in, but it was easy to underestimate him as he had fought extensively in Tijuana where the boxing commission is notoriously docile and in his home state of Sinaloa. This would be only his second fight in the U.S. However, it was noteworthy in hindsight that three of his four losses were by split decision.

Garcia vs. Conwell was a robust affair. He and Conwell were credited with throwing 1451 punches combined. In terms of punches landed, there was little to choose between them but the CompuBox operator saw Garcia landing more power punches in eight of the 12 rounds. At the end, the verdict was split but there was no controversy.

An interested observer was Sebastian Fundora who was there to see his sister Gabriela defend her world flyweight titles. Sebastian owns two pieces of the 154-pound world title where the #1 contender per the WBO is Xander Zayas who keeps winning, but not with the verve of his earlier triumphs.

With his upset of Charles Conwell, Jorge Garcia has been bumped into the WBO’s #2 slot. Regardless of who he fights next, Garcia will earn the biggest payday of his career.

Honorable mention: Aaron McKenna

McKenna was favored to beat veteran campaigner Liam Smith in the co-feature to the Eubank-Benn battle this past Saturday in London, but he was stepping up in class against a former world title-holder who had competed against some of the top dogs in the middleweight division and who had famously stopped Chris Eubank Jr in the first of their two encounters. Moreover, the venue, Tottenham Hotspur, the third-largest soccer stadium in England, favored the 36-year-old Liverpudlian who was accustomed to a big fight atmosphere having fought Canelo Alvarez before 50,000-plus at Arlington Stadium in Texas.

McKenna, from the small town of Monaghan, Ireland, wasn’t overwhelmed by the occasion. With his dad Feargal in his corner and his fighting brother Stephen McKenna cheering him on from ringside, Aaron won a wide decision in his first 12-round fight, punctuating his victory by knocking Smith to his knees with a body punch in the 12^th round. In fact, if he hadn’t had a point deducted for using his elbow, the Irishman would have pitched a shutout on one of the scorecards.

“There might not be a more impressive example of a fighter moving up in class,” wrote Tris Dixon of the 25-year-old “Silencer” who improved his ledger to 20-0 (10).

Photo credits: Garcia/Conwell photo compliments of Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; McKenna-Smith provided by Mark Robinson/Matchroom

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Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2025

David A. Avila

Chris-Eubank-Jr-Outlasts-Conor-Benn-at-Tottenham-Hotsour-Stadium

Feudal bragging rights belong to Chris Eubank Jr. who out-lasted Conor Benn to
emerge victorious by unanimous decision in a non-title middleweight match held in
London on Saturday.

Fighting for their family heritage Eubank (35-3, 26 KOs) and Benn (23-1, 14 KOs)
continued the battle between families started 35 years ago by their fathers at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.

More than 65,000 fans attended.

Though Eubank Jr. had a weight and height advantage and a record of smashing his
way to victory via knockout, he had problems hurting the quicker and more agile Benn.
And though Benn had the advantage of moving up two weight divisions and forcing
Eubank to fight under a catch weight, the move did not weaken him much.

Instead, British fans and boxing fans across the world saw the two family rivals pummel
each other for all 12 rounds. Neither was able to gain separation.

Eubank looked physically bigger and used a ramming left jab to connect early in the
fight. Benn immediately showed off his speed advantage and surprised many with his
ability to absorb a big blow.Chris Eubank Jr Outlasts Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Benn scrambled around with his quickness and agility and scored often with bigcounters.

It took him a few rounds to stop overextending himself while delivering power shots.

In the third round Benn staggered Eubank with a left hook but was unable to follow up
against the dangerous middleweight who roared back with flurries of blows.

Eubank was methodic in his approach always moving forward, always using his weight
advantage via the shoulder to force Benn backward. The smaller Benn rocketed
overhand rights and was partly successful but not enough to force Eubank to retreat.
In the seventh round a right uppercut snapped Benn’s head violently but he was
undeterred from firing back. Benn’s chin stood firm despite Eubank’s vaunted power and
size advantage.

“I didn’t know he had that in him,” Eubank said.

Benn opened strong in the eighth round with furious blows. And though he connected
he was unable to seriously hurt Eubank. And despite being drained by the weight loss,
the middleweight fighter remained strong all 12 rounds.

There were surprises from both fighters.

Benn was effective targeting the body. Perhaps if he had worked the body earlier he
would have found a better result.

With only two rounds remaining Eubank snapped off a right uppercut again and followed
up with body shots. In the final stanza Eubank pressed forward and exchanged with the
smaller Benn until the final bell. He simply out-landed the fighter and impressed all three
judges who scored it 116-112 for Eubank.

Eubank admitted he expected a knockout win but was satisfied with the victory.
“I under-estimated him,” Eubank said.

Benn was upset by the loss but recognized the reasons.

“He worked harder toward the end,” said Benn.

McKenna Wins

In his first test in the elite level Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) showed his ability to fight
inside or out in soundly defeating former world champion Liam Smith (33-5-1, 20 KOs)
by unanimous decision to win a regional WBA middleweight title.

Smith has made a career out of upsetting young upstarts but discovered the Irish fighter
more than capable of mixing it up with the veteran. It was a rough fight throughout the
12 rounds but McKenna showed off his abilities to fight as a southpaw or right-hander
with nary a hiccup.

McKenna had trained in Southern California early in his career and since that time he’s
accrued a variety of ways to fight. He was smooth and relentless in using his longer
arms and agility against Smith on the outside or in close.

In the 12 th round, McKenna landed a perfectly timed left hook to the ribs and down went
Smith. The former champion got up and attempted to knock out the tall
Irish fighter but could not.

All three judges scored in favor of McKenna 119-108, 117-109, 118-108.

Other Bouts
Anthony Yarde (27-3) defeated Lyndon Arthur (24-3) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. in a light heavyweight match. It was the third time they met. Yarde won the last two fights.

Chris Billam-Smith (21-2) defeated Brandon Glanton (20-3) by decision. It was his first
fight since losing the WBO cruiserweight world title to Gilberto Ramirez last November.

Viddal Riley (13-0) out-worked Cheavon Clarke (10-2) in a 12-round back-and-forth-contest to win a unanimous decision.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 323: Benn vs Eubank Family Feud and More

Published

5 days ago

April 24, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective,-Chap.-323:-Benn-vs-Eubank-Family-Feud-and-More.jpg

Next generation rivals Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. carry on the family legacy of feudal warring in the prize ring on Saturday.

This is huge in British boxing.

Eubank (34-3, 25 KOs) holds the fringe IBO middleweight title but won’t be defending it against the smaller welterweight Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday, April 26, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

This is about family pride.

The parents of Eubank and Benn actually began the feud in the 1990s.

Papa Nigel Benn fought Papa Chris Eubank twice. Losing as a middleweight in November 1990 at Birmingham, England, then fighting to a draw as a super middleweight in October 1993 in Manchester. Both were world title fights.

Eubank was undefeated and won the WBO middleweight world title in 1990 against Nigel Benn by knockout. He defended it three times before moving up and winning the vacant WBO super middleweight title in September 1991. He defended the super middleweight title 14 times before suffering his first pro defeat in March 1995 against Steve Collins.

Benn won the WBO middleweight title in April 1990 against Doug DeWitt and defended it once before losing to Eubank in November 1990. He moved up in weight and took the WBC super middleweight title from Mauro Galvano in Italy by technical knockout in October 1992. He defended the title nine times until losing in March 1996. His last fight was in November 1996, a loss to Steve Collins.

Animosity between the two families continues this weekend in the boxing ring.

Conor Benn, the son of Nigel, has fought mostly as a welterweight but lately has participated in the super welterweight division. He is several inches shorter in height than Eubank but has power and speed. Kind of a British version of Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

“It’s always personal, every opponent I fight is personal. People want to say it’s strictly business, but it’s never business. If someone is trying to put their hands on me, trying to render me unconscious, it’s never business,” said Benn.

This fight was scheduled twice before and cut short twice due to failed PED tests by Benn. The weight limit agreed upon is 160 pounds.

Eubank, a natural middleweight, has exchanged taunts with Benn for years. He recently avenged a loss to Liam Smith with a knockout victory in September 2023.

“This fight isn’t about size or weight. It’s about skill. It’s about dedication. It’s about expertise and all those areas in which I excel in,” said Eubank. “I have many, many more years of experience over Conor Benn, and that will be the deciding factor of the night.”

Because this fight was postponed twice, the animosity between the two feuding fighters has increased the attention of their fans. Both fighters are anxious to flatten each other.

“He’s another opponent in my way trying to crush my dreams. trying to take food off my plate and trying to render me unconscious. That’s how I look at him,” said Benn.

Eubank smiles.

“Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s a gun fight. Defense, offense, foot movement, speed, power. I am the superior boxer in each of those departments and so many more – which is why I’m so confident,” he said.

Supporting Bout

Former world champion Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) tangles with Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) in a middleweight fight set for 12 rounds on the Benn-Eubank undercard in London.

“Beefy” Smith has long been known as one of the fighting Smith brothers and recently lost to Eubank a year and a half ago. It was only the second time in 38 bouts he had been stopped. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did it several years ago.

McKenna is a familiar name in Southern California. The Irish fighter fought numerous times on Golden Boy Promotion cards between 2017 and 2019 before returning to the United Kingdom and his assault on continuing the middleweight division. This is a big step for the tall Irish fighter.

It’s youth versus experience.

“I’ve been calling for big fights like this for the last two or three years, and it’s a fight I’m really excited for. I plan to make the most of it and make a statement win on Saturday night,” said McKenna, one of two fighting brothers.

Monster in L.A.

Japan’s super star Naoya “Monster” Inoue arrived in Los Angeles for last day workouts before his Las Vegas showdown against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday May 4, at T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will televise and stream the Top Rank card.

It’s been four years since the super bantamweight world champion performed in the US and during that time Naoya (29-0, 26 KOs) gathered world titles in different weight divisions. The Japanese slugger has also gained fame as perhaps the best fighter on the planet. Cardenas is 26-1 with 14 KOs.

Pomona Fights

Super featherweights Mathias Radcliffe (9-0-1) and Ezequiel Flores (6-4) lead a boxing card called “DMG Night of Champions” on Saturday April 26, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Pomona, Calif.

Michaela Bracamontes (11-2-1) and Jesus Torres Beltran (8-4-1) will be fighting for a regional WBC super featherweight title. More than eight bouts are scheduled.

Doors open at 6 p.m. For ticket information go to: www.tix.com/dmgnightofchampions

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 9 a.m. Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Liam Smith (33-4-1) vs Aaron McKenna (19-0).

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