Month: July 2003

Whaley’s fight cancelled after tragedy strikes event! Brad Rone Declared Dead after fight

(JULY 19, 2003) Last night in Cedar City, Utah, at the Cedar Raceway, Kelly Whaley was to have fought in the main event against Angela Poe, when one fight prior to their fight ended in tragedy. The Whaley team told WBAN that the venue could not have been any more perfect and it was going very well up to the point of a heavyweight bout between Billy Zumbrun of Ogden who fought the ill-fated Brad Rone of Las Vegas. With only about five seconds left in the first round, Zumbrun had delivered a body blow to the kidney, and that shortly after the bell range, Rone fell to the canvas. Rone was taken to Valley View Medical Center, where he was declared dead. The cause of death is unknown, but it has been speculated that it could have been heart related. An autopsy will be performed by the Salt Lake Read more [...]

The Right Way By Bernie McCoy

Frank Lahey, one of the great football coaches at Notre Dame once said, "Egotisim is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity". Yesterday's silliness at the Biloxi MS press conference for the August 23 Laila Ali/Christy Martin may not have been totally stupid, but it was close enough to make the evening news. Putting Ali and Martin in a room with one microphone is similar to putting Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie in a room with one trumpet. Both women have egos equaling or exceeding their skill in the ring; both women are used to being the center of attraction at press conferences;  both women are used to throwing "punch" lines at their future opponents in the ring and getting no response in return. Thus, when Ali and Martin turned the press conference into the type of "dialogue" Read more [...]

“Little Mama” wouldn’t sit down! By Sue TL Fox- July 1, 2003

(JULY 1) Today in Biloxi, Mississippi, the press conference for the August 23rd, Pay-Per-View fight that is to take place at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, proved to be quite exciting when Martin and Ali ended up in a pre-fight brawl! WBAN spoke to Laila Ali shortly after the incident and told WBAN about what had occurred between Christy "The Coal miner's daughter" Martin and herself. Ali said that Martin was the first to get up and speak about the upcoming fight, and that Martin gave thanks to Don King, who successfully promoted her as a boxer, and that "Laila" knows in order for her to be considered one of the best that she has to go through her (Martin). I asked Ali if she had interrupted Martin anytime throughout her talking, and Ali said, "no." Ali then went on to say that Read more [...]