| |
TALKIN BOXIN
by Howie Reed
February 9, 2004
IN my valiant effort to gain acceptance among the
empty suits of Las Vegas and be considered a
“journalist” I am forced to lead this weeks edition
with the retirement from Boxing of the “Imperial One”
Lennox Lewis. To further curry favor I will not
reprint here the remarks of the late Grandma Reed when she would say, “Good
riddance to bad rubbish.” Mr. Lewis was not rubbish but it’s still good
riddance. He was a man that sat atop for the heavyweight division for ten
years while doing absolutely nothing for the sport. In his “See Ya” speak he
said, “I have
accomplished, I have to be remembered as one of the
great fighters, I did it my way” Blah, Blah and
Blah. The only person that we loved for doing it “My
Way” was Frank Sinatra. “I knew Frank Sinatra’s son
and Lennox you ain’t Frank Sinatra.”
Lewis takes great pride as saying, “I retired while
champion.” BFD. So did Rocky Marciano and he was
undefeated. Of course Mr. Lewis you could have been
undefeated if you’d wanted . The loses to Oliver “The
Light Are on But No Ones Home” McCall and Hashim
Rahman (who lost to John Ruiz for goodness sake) are
explained away as “I wasn’t in shape.” Your lousy
performance against Frankenstein Brother Vi Tilly
Klitschko was a disgrace for a heavyweight. “I though
I was fighting some else. Politics got involved.” Whoa
there Mr. Lewis. The public was told that Kirk Johnson
was injured. Are you now telling us, “That someone was telling Porky’s ?”
Great fighters don’t get in the
ring unless prepared to do their best. You got in the
ring prepared to do “the least” Mr. Lewis was a
walking excuse for the distain that he held boxing,
the fans and everyone but himself. “This will go down
as the era of Ali, Holyfield, Tyson and Lewis.”
Pompous ass.” How about Joe Frazer or Larry Holmes? Or how about the
fights you ducked with Riddick Bowe? Lest us not forget that you got
the title after Mr. Bowe tossed it in the trash can. The title meant so much
to you, it was later sold to Don King. By and don’t let the door hit you in
the ass. Will I miss you? Does a teenage girl miss acne?
That of course is my view. There are others. One of
those comes from the worlds greatest dart player. That
would be Mr. John Lowe of the Motha Country. In this
day in age of hyphenated nationality’s I could be an
“English-American” but the English aren’t too crazy
about me either. Back to Mr. Lowe. The Chairman of the Boards in the opening
of his still ‘work in progress”
autobiography pays a glowing and heartfelt tribute to
his hero Mohammed Ali. Mr. Lowe is a boxing fan par
excellence. He takes a different view of the Imperial
One, which bye-the-by is still the best nickname for
Lennox Lewis.
“The headlines in the Daily Mail, Britain's number one
newspaper reads, “ Did Britain Love Lenox enough?”
Answer. NO they only love good losers. (Henry)
Cooper lays one good hit on Clay, (Joe) Bugner twice
went the distance with Ali, (Frank) Bruno couldn't
beat Lewis's mother, all hero's. Lenox like it or not
is the best British boxer we ever had, apart from one
Billy Walker who in my opinion was the best value
boxer around and still has a wife to die for (god she
is class) remember him? the golden boy of British
boxing.”
NOT only didn’t I remember Billy Walker but until the
e-mail from Mr. Lowe I had never heard of him. “Let’s
go to the old record books as time and patience will
allow.” Billy Walker fought from 1962 to 1969. He
compiled a record of 21-8 which in itself is kind of
average. Walker only had one fight outside the
confines of the “Motha Country” and may well have been successful by
“selecting” opponents. He had a win against two America fighters of some
note. He Ko’d Thad Spencer (32-14) in 6 and Charley Powell (25-11) in 2. He
lost to Karl Mildenberger (30-3) KO 8, Henry Cooper (35-13) KO 6 and Jack
Bodell (49-9) TKO 8.
The Spencer fight was sandwiched between those three loses. Thad Spencer at
the time of the fight was in the midst of a 0-8-1 streak. In that time he
lost to
Jerry Quarry, Leotis Martin, Mac Foster, twice to Tony
Doyle, Ron Stander and Jose Luis Garcia. I saw the
Quarry fight live at the “Old” Oakland Coliseum.
Charley Powell? Came out of San Diego High School to start at defense end
for the “old” San Francisco 49ers long before Mr. Clarret was even a gleam
in his
Daddy’s Eye. His brother Art was a end at San Jose
State who had to make it to the friendly confines of
Canada when he got caught in a Kobe type situation.
Art later became member of the first Oakland Raider
team that played at “old” Kezar Stadium. All that from
the record book ? Naw the good stuff came from what is left of my mind.
Will Mr. Lewis stay in retirement? Most don’t. Joe
Louis, Ali, Holmes and Jeffers all tried to come back
only to taste defeat. The “Imperial One” is a cat of a
different breed. This may well be his swan song. One
has the feeling that he never light the limelight all
that much. In England William Hill is one of the
largest “Bookmakers” who will give odds on anything.
They are quoting 7/2 odds the Lennox Lewis will fight
again in two years. Why? The “guys in the know” seem to think that Brit
Audley “The Fraudly” Harrison will become a World Champion in 2 years. That
is either WBA,WBC,WBO or IBF which depending on the circumstance barely
qualifies. They set those odds at 9/2. Coming off a Super Bowl betting win I
ask my pals in the “Motha Country” if they can get me the following
parley. “Lewis not to fight ….to Harrision not
becoming champ…. to Kerry getting his lying Gigolo
butt kick by George W. “ I’ll bet a fiver. Show me the
money.”
AS we continue our “Truth in Typing World Tour Ought
4”, I would hope that you didn’t open this edition
hoping for the scope on the Antonio Margarito/Hurcules
Kyvelos and Rafael Marquez/Pete Fissina. Didn’t
watch it. I was out very late on Friday night at the
Orleans running down boxing stories that no one else
has. In the line of duty I did find myself having many
Corona’s and a copious amount of MGD. Yes I will share “inside stuff” with
you but first. WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (30-3) destroyed
Hercules Kyvelos(22-1) with a plethora of unanswered punches. Down in the
second Kyvelos beat the count. Just a short time later referee Raul Caiz Sr.
stopped the fight. IBF bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez (31-3). The
truth is that I fell asleep. Had I not I would still be confused with
Margarito/Marquez and WBO/IBF. It was just too much in my weakened
condition.
I reported here last year that Wayne “The Pocket
Rocket” McCullough was on his way to the Motha Country (England) to test the
waters for a few months. I lied. Seems he didn’t go anywhere as he and
former promoter Frank ‘The Snake “ Warren spilt the sheets. McCullough who’s
always in shape is now shopping for a promoter. Despite not having someone
to take a cut of his purses he did get an offer to fight Johnny Tapia when
James Toney got hurt. That fight eventually went to the East Coast with
Sharmba Mitchell (52-3) vs. Lovemore N'Dou (36-5-1) last night. The fight
was to have been Mitchell-Tzysu and Toney-McCline. Hoo Hum. Back to the
“Pocket Rocket”. Always in shape he was ready but said, “I think there might
be a problem’s with Johnny getting licensed. He has some problems.” Tapia
for years walked the high wire. Now he walks it without a net. His falls
take longer to heal up from. Tapia is penciled in for a fight against washed
up Frankie Archuleta (22-4) on March 5 in Las Vegas. Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Believe it when you see it although in New Mexico anything can happen.
During talks for that McCullough-Tapia meeting,
promoter Gary “The Dolt” Shaw made comments that
“McCullough will never get licensed in Nevada”. Mr.
Shaw forgets that it was Nevada that licensed
McCullough when the BBBC (British Boxing Board of
Control) was playing games. McCullough has his Nevada license. How would you
like your crow Mr. Shaw? It seems to be fashionable to add fights to cards
that are laying an egg at the box office. The
Mosley-Wright event on March 13th.is one of those. The venue is cutting the
arena size down to about 7,000 and still needs something else. As I
mentioned last week the first fight added was Joe Mesi- Vassily
Jirov. Now I’ve learned after buying dinner that world
104lb. Champ Vaia “The Lil Darlin” Zaganas has also
been added to the card taking on the ever dangerous
TBA. Was I the first one to find out about this
addition ? NO. I was in fact 24th but the only one
that bought dinner. Anything for company.
WHILE working on news at various venues at the Orleans Hotel/Casino the name
of Michael “Better Than” Nunn came up. A friend associated with boxing had
said a number of years ago at a social setting, “He’s a bum.” Last
week he was sentenced for buying 2 pounds of cocaine in his native Davenport
Iowa. He got 24 years at a Federal Institution not of his choosing. The
judge used the highest guidelines for sentencing because of “Nunn’s long
history drug trafficking dating as far back as 1993.” In 1993 he was the WBA
Super Middleweight Champion. Nunn would continue to fight until late 2001.
Maybe his most famous fight came on March 21, 1998 for the “Vacant WBC Light
Heavyweight title” against Graciano Rocchigiani in Berlin. Nunn would lose a
split decision
(118-111,115-113,113-116) with Rocchigiani being
crowned the WBC Light Heavyweight Champion. Three
months later the WBC decided it was really for the
“interim title”. Rocchigiani sued the WBC, won and is
still trying to collect the 31 million he was
awarded.. One can wonder if the 113-116 person had
business dealings with Nunn.
THE sentencing trail lasted three days with a parade
of witnesses who testified to Nunn’s involvement in
the drug business. “Nunn, who accepted responsibility
for buying the drugs in August 2002, denied his
involvement in drug trafficking, pointing out that
several of the witnesses were in prison and could have
their sentences reduced for providing testimony.” That
argument proved as useless as the person making it. In the end Nunn said,
“'You guys haven't shown me
nothing,'' Nunn said in his statement to the judge.
''Where are your facts, Mr. Prosecutor?'' The next
thing Nunn will be shown is a orange jump suit, four
concrete walls and a roommate named Bubba.
Another that may be facing the same fate is Junior
middleweight Matt "The Predator" Vanda (30-0). He was arrested last week on
suspicion of drug and weapon possession. A police spokesman said Vanda had
"small amounts" of suspected methamphetamine and hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The police also found
$12,000 in cash and a gun at the home. Vanda fought
Sam Garr on January 16, he won, so it’s possible that
the money was from that fight. Vanda’s manager Tommy Brunette defended his
fighter, "If he had a problem with drugs, I would be the first to know about
it," Brunette said. "We would not tolerate any drug use." Not to be a
“SA” but his problems may not have been with drugs but with the police and
getting caught.
ALSO during my fact finding mission at the box fights
for which I made untold sacrifices, I learned that for
“some reason unknown” Diego Corrales(37-2) had skipped out on trainer Kenny
“My Way or the Highway” Adams. Strange thought I between sips of
“brain fluid”. It’s only 4 weeks before his rematch with Joel Cassamayor
(30-1) which is March 6. I also found it strange that Corrales would be
handled by the trainer (Joe Goossen) who preformed the same service for
Cassamayor. Monday’s big news was that Cassamayor has hired the
“flavor of the day trainer” Buddy McGirt. “He (Cassamayor) has suddenly (and
surprisingly) dismissed his long time trainer Joe Goossen.” My dear lady,
the quote comes from a female boxing typist but probably considered a
“journalist” by empty suits that do that sort of thing, it would not have
been a surprise for you if you had been at the box fights with “moi” and the
usual suspects. “No Mame’ Rea Bob”. Not to be confused with “Hey
Bob-A-Rea-Bah” or “No Sir Rea Bob”.
Now the rest of the story. Promoter Gary Shaw had
convinced Corrales that going down to Florida and
sparing with Sharmbra Mitchell was in Corrales best
interest. Adams said, “ I am not going to Florida.
That’s not what you (Corrales) need now.” That’s why
Corrales is now being trained by Goossen. Adams has
cut his training load down to Corry Spinks, a up and
coming heavyweight and really big gal Vonna Ward. How do I know all this ?
Was it my in depth sleuthing at the box fights ? Was it the respect with
which I’m
held in the boxing community ? Is it a tireless work
effort 24/7? All them plus the fact that I ran into
Adams at the DMV.
ONE of our favorites pin cushions has been missing
lately. I write of Senator John “WindBag” McCain. He made national news last
week when he got on the Imus Show to whine about the fact that his boxing
bill (introduced with much “Hurmph, Hurmph, Hurmph . A three Hurmpher.”) has
gone nowhere. “It's being held up by Sen. Harry Reid. Don King and Bob Arum
don't want boxing reform, but we're going to win because there are going to
be more scandals." Sen. “Weenie” Reid’s answer? “I don't know how you can
hold something up. (McCain) can do anything he
wants. I don't know what he's talking about." Not many
outside of Nevada know Reid but he was played in the
movie Casino by Dick Smothers. Of course he’s holding the bill up, so? The
bill is a total waste of time.
That aside McCain showed how little he knows about
boxing in the Great State of Nevada. It is not Arum
or King that run boxing in Nevada it’s a gentleman
named Sig Rogish.
Mr. Rogish not only runs boxing but runs the State of
Nevada with a velvet hand through his business R & R
Partners. Rogish became national in scope when he was one of the first to
join the then California Governor
Ronald Reagan’s kitchen cabinet. Mr. Rogish’s company is in the news the
last couple of weeks when he produced a series of commercials for Las Vegas.
Last year the NFL wouldn’t allow them to be shown during the Super Bowl.
This year they took the same stance so R&R Partners went to a number of
major markets and bough the commercials locally. This PO’d the NFL. They
forced Las Vegas venues to cancel their paid Super Bowl Party’s. Petty
cretins that they are.. But back to boxing.
The fate of the boxing bill will depend on the will of
Mr. Rogish. Not Senator Reid. Last week the Nevada
State Athletic Commission held a “mandatory” training
session. At that session they honored Judge Art Louri
who was retiring after 40 years in the sport. He had
served in almost ever capacity. I am a really big fan
of Mr. Art. He’s reached an age where he can say
exactly what he wants. Given the mike he told the
story about when he was a member of the commission. “Tradition had it
that the chairman always came from Las Vegas.. I through my vote to Northern
Nevada’s Sam Macias over Sig Rogish. Macias won. I never worked a big fight
since. 25 years.”.
I know that folks get tired when I climb on the “soap
box”. Well be prepared to get tired. Whilst working
my fingers to the bone I was listening to “talk”
radio. With out a blow-by-blow account, no pun
intended but I’ll take it, the consensus bottom line
is that “the NFL is about drinking beer and sex.” “Ok
Sherlock what was your first clue ?” “All the
commercials on the Super Bowl were about Beer or
“male dysfunction.. Do you really think the girls on
the sideline are there to make you cheer?” Now I won’t
reveal the name of the Maroon that finally had the
light bulb go of in his head. No S**T Sherlock..
Sports is about drinking beer and sex. Do you really
think that most popular boxing venue’s sell
“reasonably priced beer” cause they’re chasing the
Mother Teresa Award? Does it makes us remember what round it is if the “eye
candy” girls are dressed in
little more than their imagination? “ Of course sport
is about beer and sex. And the problem
is …?
Now I wish to address a very serious problem. That is
how the men of the world are being painted as being
“functionally disabled”. It’s not fair. Here we have
millions of dollars spent to advertise products that
will make the man “harder than Chinese arithmetic”.
It’s like every man can’t perform on command. Please
remember that practice makes perfect. You don’t expect a pinch hitter to
whack one out of the park every time up. How in the heck does the female
world expect us to perform when we’re only called to bat once or twice a
year? Answer that. And finally. One of the commercials that advertise “wood
on command” bragged that it could last for 30 hour’s. “But should the
condition remain after 36 hour’s you should call your
physician.” This assume that your partner at the time
will let you to a phone. “Only after you’ve called
all ex girlfriends, Misty’s Outcall, ten buddy’s to
brag and the Pizza delivery guy that you’re not to
sure of. Oh yes and only if your Doctor happens to be
a lady.”
SOME things make me laugh. On February 28th Jesus
Chavez (40-2) will defend his WBC Jr. Lightweight
title against . Erik Morales (45-1) in Las Vegas.
This one would think would be a “mega fight”. Not so
even though I read that “tickets were going well.”
What ever that means. The fight’s being held at a
minor venue at a strip hotel that has a major venue.
Maybe this fight is just keeping the place warm for
the 4th of July Desert Darts Classic as seen on SKY
TV. Whoops forgot the Desert Darts Classic is moving
back to the Grand Arena.
John Ruiz World heavyweight Champion supplies a giggle and a sigh. “He’s
back” now that Roy “The Fraud” Jones jr. has relinquished the title. Maybe
we can look forward to an exciting unification match between Ruiz and Chris
Byrd (IBF). Won’t be easy to find a venue for that as most phone’s booths
are now gone thanks to the cell phone. Bummer that.
AND FINALLY. Most around the boxing scene come to the conclusion that
promoters are about equal with
lawyers/car dealers and democrats when it comes to the food chain of life.
“Advisor Lou DiBella”, sans title,
is a promoter. He must share the view. "I'm at a
disadvantage as a promoter. I have no record of lying,
stealing and cheating."
(Opinions and editorials of
HotBoxingNews.com is the opinion of those writers and may not be the
opinion of HotBoxingNews.com)
Want to make contact or comments to Howie Reed
Go Here! mailto:reed@hotboxingnews.com
|
|
