THIS is a column is suppose to and actually sometimes does “Talk Boxin”. In perspective boxing is but a very small pebble in the lake of life. What those inside boxing take as important or noteworthy is many times hardly worth reporting. There are times, many times to few, when boxing does something that makes me proud and honored to be a part of the sport. One of those events took place last Friday night at the ORLEANS Casino in my hometown of Las Vegas. It was the monthly reasonably priced professional fight card. I was pleased when walking in as one of my favorite people associated with the sport, Jody by name, was standing just inside the area where tickets are collected. She was handling out miniature American Flags.
They were a popular item. Those who substitute cynicism for common sense or logic will say, “It’s because they were free.” I disagree. The United States of America, England and Spain are fighting a “filthy degenerate mass murderer.” Like those that put it on the line each time they enter the ring, those three countries are “putting it on the line.” They and they alone are stepping up to the plate in a contest that will surly dictate the future of the world. “Does the world live in constant fear of a group of madmen or do we live by the rule of law that holds the truly evil accountable for their actions.”
Just prior to the main event the lights were dimmed and the audience was asked to stand. There followed a statement, read by Announcer Jake, on behalf of the Orleans and freedom loving people everywhere. That was followed by a stirring rendition of the National Anthem with this writer
singly loudly, abet off key. Thank you Orleans and thank you boxing.
THERE has always been a school of though in the World of Boxing that David Tua’s most difficult task was overcoming his own management. Those of that school point out that someone with his punching power wasted his “prime years” wading through the “usual suspects”. Those same people point to Tua’s miserable performance against Lennox Lewis as the end result of those wasted years. For the record that view may be more true then many us wish to admit. Tua certainly has been mishandled by promoter American Presents. After keeping him semi inactive he was put in with Lewis and then Chris Byrd. Two very bad moves. The last fight was the start of the end for America Presents that went “Belly Up” shortly after.
One boxing insider said, “Tua used to have power that could paralyze with one punch. Joe Goosen ( former Trainer) tired to turn him into a two handed fighter. Now his power is just above average.” Some have suggested that Tua has been ill served by long time co-manager/now trainer Kevin Berry. More fuel was poured on that fire at the last press conference before Saturdays night fight against Hashim Rahman.. “Most of all I thank Hasim Rahman for showing up. With his weight problem and lack of communication amongst his team, Rahman has to be the luckiest man in boxing! He is a one-punch wonder, who got massacred in the rematch when Lennox Lewis decided to train properly. Somehow, he managed to get another big fight, and made an old Evander Holyfield look young! Now he gets to participate in a box-off for the championship of the world. Like I said, he is the luckiest man in boxing. ” Tua did not seem to like what pal Berry was saying.
Not done Berry continued, “Since the last time David Tua and Hasim Rahman met, David is 10-2 with 10 knockouts and two decision losses to world champions. Rahman is 6 wins and 4 losses, with all 4 losses by knockout! The winner of this fight is not difficult to pick. Rahman’s chin is soft, and he just happens to be facing the biggest puncher in the division. He lost to Lennox Lewis and Holyfield. After this fight, it will be three strikes and he’s out!” Tua declined to add fuel to the fire. He is a gentleman.
Rahman is no slouch in the “Yak Yak” department. “After listening to tight pants Crocodile Dundee over there”, Rahman said gesturing to Barry, “it almost got me scared! Hey tight pants, has David been hitting you? David Tua must have hit you hard. Seriously, I must be lucky. Tua was an amateur star long before I even started boxing. Tua was a pro before I even stepped into a gym, and here I am fighting on the same level as him.If I listened to tight pants (Barry), I might as well not show up. I might as well give up and go back to Baltimore. I’ve been hearing from you how easy it will be for Tua. It’s gonna be easy, but you got the wrong victim! I’m gonna beat you, man. I will be focused on the belt this time.” Rahman must be a product of the public school system. Kevin Berry is from new Zealand and Crocodile Dundee is from Australia which is a really different place. As this is a Don King fight you might ask why I haven’t quoted King. Besides the fact that I NEVER quote King, sometimes, he wasn’t there. According to Bobby Goodman he was “addressing the troops.” Who’s ? No idear.
The preceding all leads up to the report on the Saturday night fight between David Tua (42-3-1) and Hashim Rahman (35-4-1). The official decision was a draw which probably had everyone, including Stevie Wonder, shaking their collective heads. The scoring was 116-112 for each and then a 114-114. Talkin Boxin, added by limited scoring fluid, had it 115-114 for Rahman. The AP had it 116-112. Once again in a pivotal fight David Tua proved that he does not have the “acquired skills” to win against an opponent that has any semblance of a jab and can stay in the center of the ring. Saturday night Rahman dominated the first five rounds with a average jab and an occasional overhand right. Tua tried to “jab back” but neither his heart or skills were in the effort.
Talkin Boxin gave Tua the next 3 rounds mostly as he used his “45 degree right” to set up the occasional left. The flip side of those rounds is that at 256 Rahman was taking a break. Rahman broke up the rally when he won the 9th by being aggressive and fighting back. The 10th was key as it appeared to be Tua’s until near the end when Rahman turned it on to “half” the round on the Talkin Boxings card. Tua probably won the last two but it really didn’t make any difference. Tua was cut by fights end under both eyes and bleeding from the nose. Rahman had a slight cut under his left eye brow. There definitely were no winners including the “sparse” crowd that turned out for the fight. One big looser was Judge Bill Clancy who had 116-112 for Rahman. He gets the Ray Charles Award for the week. The TV Talking Heads didn’t rally against his “lousy” judging. Guess that’s reserved for Nevada Judges.
ITs time once again to visit the swell folks and the world of boxing. If this were an old “Soaper” radio show there would be dramatic music playing under the announcer as he opined, ” Welcome to the weekly world of boxing. The column that asks the question, “Can a sport run by hoodlum’s, crooks, thieves, liar’s and politicians survive in a world run by hoodlum’s, crooks, thieves, liar’s and politicians ?” The answer ? Probably.
THERE are a lot of things that are positive about the sport of boxing. One of those is not “CryBaby” Sharmba Mitchel. Those not familiar with the little wimp he is a jr. weltweight (aka super lightweight) of above average ability. That is to write that he is OK against average or below average
opponents but when he steps up in class as he did against Kostya Tzysu he quits like a dog. (That fight was February of 2000 in Las Vegas. Shambra quit on his stool after the 6th round. He said he “hurt his knee”.) Mitchell can’t draw flies so his promoter Gary Shaw, they make a great pair, is looking for Arturo Gatti. Gatti is promoted by Main Events where Mr. Shaw use to work until they recently “parted” ways. Toss into the mix the IBF (formerly known as “I Be Fixin” and probably headed back in that direction again) and you got the making of fun.
Mitchell wants the IBF to make him the number one contender so he’ll sometime down the road maybe get a fight with IBF Champ Kostya Tszyu again. Ain’t going to happen especially when Mitchell called Tszyu a “bum”. Not the little jerks best move. That aside for appearances sake, “Appearances are everything”, Shaw wants a title eliminator between Mitchell and Gatti. ” Main Events informed the IBF that Gatti would not be participating in a junior welterweight elimination bout against Mitchell.” OK. Now from Mr. Shaw. “Obviously Main Events was not confident Gatti could beat Mitchell. It is too bad, a fight between two former world champions and the top two contenders would have been a win-win situation for boxing fans, getting a great fight and seeing the winner become the true mandatory challenger.” With Gatti out, next would be Oktay Urkal (not your basic household name) then Zab Judah, whose career is mired in litigation. Whose left? Omar Weis at #5 whose claim to fame is that he whacked the heck out of Camacho jr. I give the final say to main Events, “It makes absolutely no sense for Arturo to fight such an irrelevant opponent in order to get a title shot. Arturo is clearly the number one draw in the division and Arturo, Pat Lynch and Main Events will determine who, where, and when he fights.”
AS one gets older and some would think wiser, although I’m fighting that label, we seem to remember words spoken by a parent. Mom’s was “be patience”. Last week in my attempt to bring readers up to speed on the various ranking organizations information on the WBO was missing. Their web site was “under construction” which eliminated the chance that I’d be able to lift information. “Low and Behold”, which Mom also used like a Latin does chilies, the past week the WBO has through their action said more than I ever could. All the information concerned who was going to get the first shot a “new” heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders. One of the Championship belts that Sanders won when he KO’d Wladimir Klitschko was from the WBO. Less than two weeks after that win the WBO decided that Sanders had to defend the title within 120 days and sign for that fight by last Thursday less than 20 days from winning the title. When no agreement was signed a purse bid with #2 Lamon Brewester (29-2) was held in Germany.
As this was unfolding the WBO #1 contender was David Tua. Working without a net, I’m going out on the limb and predict that he’ll still be #1 after beating .#13 Hashim Rahman. The actual draw shouldn’t change ranking but it does give the WBO an excuse, maybe. To put Rahman’s ranking in perspective, remember he KO’s Lennox Lewis, he’s ranked behind Francois Botha, Juan C. Gomez. Sinan Samil San , Jameel Ben McCline , Fres Oquendo , Kirk Johnson , Evander Hollyfield ,Lou Savarese and John Ruiz. Rahman is ranked ahead of Atila Levin and Fabio. For reasons “unknown” the WBO decided that David Tua was “unavailable” to fight Sanders. The question is, “Why was the #1 contender unavailable ?” This is exactly what Martin Pugh, Tua’s co-manager, asked, “The WBO declared Tua unavailable without any formal notice to him, his management or his promoter. Why is the WBO in such a hurry to hold a purse bid for this fight? And isn’t it curious that the purse bid is scheduled one day before Tua’s fight against Hasim Rahman?” Good questions with the WBO doing a classic Gregory Hines to keep from answering.
WBO President Paco Valcarcel wrote “rest assured that all my actions are guided by my strict guidance to our rules and regulations.” Even the dense will recognize the answer as “physobabble” which means nothing but does take up some space. Senior Valcarel’s action are especially “suspect” when one looks at the recent history of the WBO. As Ace Reporter Kevin Iole of the Las Vegas Review Journal points out, ” the WBO frequently has overlooked its rules. WBO Regulation 5 states a heavyweight champion must fight a mandatory once within every 12-month period, but Klitschko took 26 months before fighting a mandatory .Klitschko won the title Oct. 14, 2000, by defeating Chris Byrd, but Klitschko did not make a mandatory defense until Dec. 7 (2002), when he stopped Jameel McCline. In the interim, Klitschko defeated Derrick Jefferson, Frans Botha and Ray Mercer, all rated No. 10, and Charles Shufford, who was unrated.” So much for rules.
On Friday The WBO purse bids process was held. The bid was won by Klaus-Peter (Klitschko’s promoter) and German Universum $1,832,200. The opponent will; be , no don’t you dare laugh, Lemon Brewster. Is it just me or do we pronounce is like the fruit ? The Sanders-Lemon fight will have to take place prior to July 7 or Sanders will loose the prestigious WBO Crown. The champ gets 75% of the purse of the fight is held in South Africa or 80% at a neutral site.
HOOKS, JABS and other things that go bump in the night. One of the lessor lights that promotes is a character named Les Bonano. He primarily plies his trade in the South most notably Louisiana and Mississippi. To provide a benchmark on Mr. Bonano he is a former Sheriff in New Orleans which at one time (while he was in office) had the reputation as at the bottom of the pecking order for law enforcement. Corrupt is too kind a word although there is no “poof” that Mr. Bonano was touched or tainted or troubled by the situation. His most visual, valuable and viable fighter was Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne. That is until Etienne got KO’d in under a minute against Mike Tyson. For that fight, such as it was, Mr. Bonano took away a couple of hundred thousand without absorbing a punch. Now that the Black Rhino is no longer a “name” Bonano has dropped him like a bad habit. (Although why one would like to drop a bad habit, they are fun, is a mystery to me.) . “I am ashamed by his performance”, said Bonano. He wasn’t ashamed to accept the $200,000 dollars as a result of Ertienne getting hammered. Just a guess on my part but along with truth I’m now going to add the word ashamed to the list of words that Bonano doesn’t understand. (excerpt)
(Opinions and editorials of HotBoxingNews.com is the opinion of those writers and may not be the opinion of HotBoxingNews.com)