TALKIN BOXIN 
by Howie Reed 
December 1, 2002


TALKIN BOXIN by Howie Reed December 1,2002
I can remember the first time I went to the circus( the Clyde Beaty Circus) to see the Flying Gaonas. They worked without a net which had the crowd in the tent breathless. (In 1964, 16 year old Tito would perform the first triple and a year later the group would join Ringling Brothers. They were originally acrobats but switched to the trapeze after seeing the movie "Trapeze with Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida. Curtis is a Vegas resident and big fight fan. Of course we couldn’t get Gina Lolobrigida. Talk about a consolation prize. "But Howie she’s got to be 70 year’s old." If so you can bet that she’s the best looking 70 year old in the world.) Well this week ladies and gents I’m going to work without a net. Yep I’m going to write about boxing. Are you breathless?

THE Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas is the setting for what could be a couple of fights that I’m sure some will call defining. Will I ? Maybe. Saturday night on HBO Floyd "The Jerk" Mayweather (28-0) will again defend his WBC Lightweight belt again against Jose Luis Castillo (46-5-1). You may remember, but then maybe you don’t, that they fought back in February at the MGM Grand Arena with Mayweather jr. getting a unanimous decision. (115-111, 115-111,116-111). How did I have it scored ? Differently. Even thought I had it for Castillo please be advised due to the high cost of beer ($6.00), only two free tickets and the facilities pronouncement that "No drinking is allowed" in the press area, I was unprepared to render a qualified judgment. Most though the decision was bad. The promoter thought it was "terrible" but who gives a "rats anything" what any promoter thinks?

After the fight Jr. said he hurt his shoulder a couple of days before punching a heavy bag for fun. This was the latest in a long list of excuses that Mayweather has used through the years. As the late Irene Maud used to say, "We shall see what we will see." One of the problems facing the Mandalay Bay is how to sell tickets to a Floyd Mayweather jr. fight. He is very unpopular with most boxing fans due to the fact that he’s a 100% certifiable jerk. On the other side of the coin he’s extremely polite with the press taking time to answer their usually stupid and inane questions. .His perchance for "whacking" females and their father’s with champagne bottles makes most crowds hostile towards him. Saturday night will be no different. Castillo will be the crowd and promoter favorite.

The semi main event is the WBO Heavyweight Title fight between Champion Wladimir Klitschko (39-1) defending against Jameel McCline (28-2-3). Now don’t dare ask how a Heavyweight Title fight can be a semi main. "Howie, how can a Heavyweight Title fight be a semi main ?" Easy. The lead Promoter is Bob Arum who promotes both Mayweather and Castillo. That bout was made first. It’s a guess, but probably a good one, that HBO had a big hand in adding the heavyweight Title fight. For those that find interest in such things Wlad Klitschko is the younger brother of Vitali who’s impressive win over Larry Donald sling-shotted him to a title fight with Lennox Lewis on March 8th of next year. Or so they say. Never mind who "they" be. Slow talking Champion, HBO’s Larry Merchant, said, "Wladimir Klitschko may
be the future of the heavyweight division." Maybe be and someday Larry maybe Pigs will fly. But till that day, it’s just another heavyweight fight between two guys who are not well known. . Klitschko did look good his last out against old Ray Mercer (TKO 6) but other than that his wins are all against the "usual suspects." McCline's claim to fame was that he KO’d Michael Grant with one punch in 43 seconds of the first round. Of course at that time a strong wind would have done the job in 30 seconds.  That was at a time when Grant was like a "deer in very bright headlights". Grants progressing now as the lights aren’t as bright. It’s a fact that McCline may be a one hit wonder. If not this could well be a good fight. It had better be to draw me away from Oklahoma -Colorado for the Big 12 Championship and a spot in the Orange Bowl.

The ultimate one hit wonder Kirk Johnson, who was last seen stinking up the very same Mandalay Bay against John Ruiz, gets Jeremy Bates (15-5) who’s been in with more stiffs than Lisa Marie. Bates gets the payday as a house fighter for Cedric Kushner who promotes Johnson. Why is Johnson a "one hit wonder"? He was getting battered pillar to post (Ever notice how happy I am with a cliché’ ? I look upon them as my ex wife did old men. Don’t ever miss an opportunity to use one.) by Oleg Maskaev when Johnson landed a desperation punch to win. We now know that Maskaev may have a body made in Russia but his chin comes out of the kilns of Dresden. Let the fun begin.

TWO weeks ago there was what at the time was billed as a "Major" fight held in Las Vegas. That was the fight between Paulie Ayala and Erik Morales. HBO though so much of it that they made it a pay for view event. The day prior to the contest local sports writer (Joe Hawk) wrote (a little paraphrasing here)," There will be an event held next week across town that would draw twice as many fans. It’s the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing is dead as a major sport. UFC is the wave of the future." If not Mr. Hawks exact words the meaning has been preserved. At the time Mr. Hawk presented reasons why boxing wasn’t a major sport and I agreed. That made Mr. Hawk very happy.

The UFC was held at the MGM Grand Arena with a sold out crowd of 13,000 plus which didn’t double Ayala-Morales but came close. The PPV numbers for the UFC dwarfed the 120,000 for Ayala-Morales. The question here is "why" ? As in why is boxing no longer a major sport. In attempting to find an answer I come to the conclusion that our country has changed. It’s changed in a way that we no longer respects the sport of boxing which many times doesn’t respect itself. Hell we’ve got fat pig lazy. Very few in this country know what it is to fight for anything. Another reasons for the success of UFC is that it’s a result of many youngster taking Martial Arts Class’s and now becoming young folks with money to burn. It is their sport.

In it’s heyday boxing was a reflection of the United States. It was the opportunity for immigrants, by fighting, to change their lives. Which ever was the last ethnic group to arrive, that immigrant group had to fight. They had to fight hard as those that preceded them were ready to give nothing up. Not a flipping inch. So the Irish fought the Italians who fought the Jews who fight the Blacks who fought dam near everybody. Now the Hispanic invasion is in full stride and there ain’t anyone to fight. Way back when you had great Jewish fighters (Benny Leonard, Max Baer), Irish fighters usually named Murphy or O something and a list of Italian fights that probably exceeded the numbers of Wongs in the Honk Kong Phone Book. They were all fighting for something. Now it’s mostly whining. Someone ought to start a ranking organization for whiners. No weight divisions.

When we were in school there was a fistfight ever day. Recess meant, "Let’s get out and watch the fun." On 105th Avenue in Oakland California , being the youngest kid on the block, I had to learn to survive. Running to Irene Maud didn’t get the job done especially when Chick got home. He had two solutions. Get a pair of boxing gloves and a book by Joe Louis. (When that didn’t work. Some guys just can’t fight Dad suggested , "grab what you can and whack’em". Which I did with great success against Chuck Hunt from up the street. He was wailing on me one day. I hauled A, it only took one trip then, making it to my open garage door. Rounding the corner and hoping to make the door into the house I spied a World War II Army helmet. Yes we use to play war too along with Desert Sheik. For the latter we used old bed sheets for dress and garbage can tops for shields. Don’t be silly. Of course we played Doctor and Nurse but this is a column about boxing although I have been accused of forgetting that fact many times. Where was I ? I grab the helmet, swung and connected. Not only did I stopped Chuck’s charge but knocked him colder than a "foot" wedge. Got a spanking from my Mom. "You have to fight fair." Later that evening got ice cream from Chick. "Fight to win." Never had a problem with Chuck Hunt after that.) The point, and there was one once, is all boys were taught to defend themselves. Get’em a pair of boxing gloves.

That’s not the case today. If the above situation would have happened today, Irene Maud would have sent both of us to counseling for our anger with the statement "Why can’t we all get along." Failing there she would have hired a lawyer and sued the hell out of somebody. Or maybe signed her son up for "Martial Arts Classes." It’s no wonder that the UFC outdraws boxing. People can relate. How can we appreciate something as sport that we don’t know "squat" about ? It can’t be done. The younger generation is into "extreme sports that leave me cold. The kids in the neighborhood have built ramps top jump their bikes. I’ve been here 3 years and never seen a baseball, Football or basketball. That’s America today. On top of that the young in the Black Community, which produced so many great fighters, doesn’t want to be like Ali, Louis or Sugar Ray. They want to be Michael or some scum bag filth "Rap Artist.".

EVEN though there is a school of though out there that the Internet is of no importance to boxing, there are those who share another view of this electronic wonder of the 21st century. There are a growing number of boxers that are utilizing the forum to self promote through hired professionals. No one has been more diligent at his task than the gentlemen doing the deed for Winky Wright. Wright (44-3) is a good fighter. He wins fights. Of course for those that are fans of boxing that’s sometimes not enough. Now if the preceding line had read, "He wins fights spectacularly " then my friend you’d have something. His PR guy is his chance for a De La Hoya fight . Bob Arum Top Rank Grand PoBaah isn’t buying it. . "I can’t sell that fight. He would make Oscar look bad." Winky’s biggest drawback is his mangler (and no I don’t mean manager.) Wright is mismanaged by James Price who to this point in boxing has succeeded in taking his fighters from the top to the bottom in one swell poop. James Page to name just one. Although to be fair Page was probably headed in that direction.

Anyway one time Wright was the WBO jr. middle weight champ. He made the mistake of going to South Africa to defend against hometown favorite Harry Simon who at the time was 16-0. Following the fight Simon was 17-0 and Wright was an ex-champion. Simon later relinquished that title and won the WBO's 160 LB crown against Armand Krajnc in April of this year. Now Harry Simon is in serious trouble. He was involved in a horrific auto crash that killed three and left several others in critical condition. Simon himself is reported to have sustained two broken legs and a broken arm. Simon was the driver of a Mercedes that hit a vehicle, which was filled with Belgian tourists. For Simon this was not his first accident on the road. Last year he was involved in a crash where two died. At the time all the blood sample disappeared so no charges were filed. This time the samples are under lock and key which is where Simon will be if news reports are accurate.

YOU kinda read it here first although it wasn’t 100% accurate. But then nothing in this area is 100% anything. Well yes, 100% drivel we’ll buy but besides that, nothing. My favorite named promoter , that would be Klaus-Peter, announced after his fighter Vitali Klitschko had done the business on Larry Donald that he had signed a contract six weeks ago for a Lennox Lewis fight. He mentioned a March date which would be rather difficult if the fight is held here in the USA as that’s Ruiz-Jones Month. The date was announced is March 8th . Now being the "trained investigator" that I am, the fight will be in the USA. How do I know? Cause Klaus-Peter indicated that he would begin talks with HBO and Lewis’ people. "I guess that his people are going to talk to their people." In my story of last week I wrote that Don King had the contract in his pocket. How do we know he didn’t ? You can bet your last dollar that he’s got a piece of the action. He and Lewis have been too much "Pal, Buddy, Amigo" for King not to be "dipping his peak". You read it first here.

AS some know I am the Boxing Expert (Literary license invoked) for two major Thailand English language newspapers. The Pattaya and Chang Mai Mail. As such I get press releases from Promoters doing business in the Land of Smiles. I have mentioned in these spaces that on December fifth there is a big time fight in Bangkok. The reasons for the contest is part of the Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Birth of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, the longest reigning monarch in the world today. When referring to the King you had better use those exact words. If you don’t as a male, which I cop to, you will under go the ultimate equipment change. The fight is between Yodsanan 3K-Battery and Lamont "The Fighting Postman" Pearson. Here’s a portion of the press release for the fight.

"Pearson's arrival .The WBA Super Featherweight title defense between local champion Yodsanan 3K-Battery and #15 contender Lamont Pearson from USA is growing much more exciting right now. The fight will be held at the Royal Park, Bangkok and live-broadcasted all around Thailand by National 7 since 3.30 to 6:30 PM. Pearson’s biography interests all Thai boxing fans a lot. He is a mailman for the United States Post Office and working hard in delivering the mail six days a week. His records, 19-1-1 (11 KOs), is also very interesting. He formerly fought such many good opponents. So all local fans really wants to see whether Pearson can take Yodsanan punches or not. As of today, Pearson’s party did arrive in Bangkok already. However, they come so quiet without informing their flight itinerary to Songchai International Promotion Co., Ltd. So the host promoter still don’t know where they are staying now. Most local media press feel much disappointed to this point. Some sponsors also complained to Songchai Promotion why not to tell them about Pearson’s arrival. Songchai Promotion is trying hard to find which place they are right now." Try either Pat Pong, Nana Plaza or Washington Square. Failing at those spots next try Bourbon Street for a meal, Silver Dollar for a beverage or Tims Bar Beer (In Pattaya) for a little "Lady’s Walking to Music." These are just guess’s but they will cover my Payola for the next trip.

AND finally. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I did. Notre Dame lost to the University of Spoiled Children. Heck of a way to kick off the Holiday Season.

(Opinions and editorials of HotBoxingNews.com is the opinion of those writers and may not be the opinion of HotBoxingNews.com)

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