Category: News Story

Ruiz goes back to his ring future

SOMERVILLE, Mass. – Former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, John “The Quietman” Ruiz, has gone back to his roots to prepare for his December 13 WBA “Interim” heavyweight title fight against Hasim “The Rock” Rahman at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Ruiz, 31, now lives in Las Vegas, but he has returned home to Massachusetts for training camp. He’s running the same streets and hills in Chelsea, a working class suburb of Boston where he grew up, and working out at the nearby Somerville Boxing Club, where he first met his longtime manager, Norman “Stoney” Stone. After losing a 12-round decision and WBA title to Roy Jones this past March, Ruiz (38-5-1, 27 KOs) took some time off to resolve personal problems, and accepted an opportunity to replace David Tua Read more [...]

“Yeah, I Was in the Gloves” By Bernie McCoy

Even after all these years, the thing that I remember most vividly about that night was the boxing robe. It wasn't the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but it was in the top ten. It was an almost black-red color, the color that cherries have when they're displayed on a fruit stand. On the back of the robe, in white script, was the legend "Salem Crescent". Those two words were enough for anyone who knew anything about Golden Gloves boxing in New York I was in the corner of a boxing ring in the gym at St Thomas Aquinas School, almost at the end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. It was the first round of the Golden Gloves a long time ago. It was a time before headgear, it was a time before two minute rounds for first time boxers or as they were known in the Gloves, sub-novice fighters. If Read more [...]

Professional Boxing Series Continues at HP Pavilion at San Jose September 10, 2003

San Jose, CA--- Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E) and Golden Boy Promotions announced today that Miller Lite Fight Night at the Tank will continue at HP Pavilion at San Jose on Thursday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. Featured on the card will be Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez (22-0-0, 17 KO’s) of Chino, CA. Gonzalez will face a tough opponent in Samuel Lopez (14-1-0, 5 KO’s) in this 12 round bout for the NABO Bantamweight Title. Also appearing on the card is undefeated super middleweight Ricardo Cortes (10-0-1, 6 KO’s) of San Jose, CA and undefeated prospect Arturo Quintero (7-0, 4KO’s) of Las Vegas, NV. Roger Gonzalez (22-0-0, 17 KO’s) hails from Chino, California and is currently the NABO bantamweight champion. He is one of boxing’s most highly regarded young contenders. Read more [...]

Irwin backs out of Balletto fight

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – Billy “The Kid” Irwin, according to veteran promoter Jimmy Burchfield, is living up to his nickname. Acting more like a kid than man, Irwin has informed Burchfield that he is reneging on his agreement to fight Gary “Tiger” Balletto, claiming he didn’t have enough time to train. Irwin had verbally agreed to fight International Boxing Union lightweight champion Balletto (29-1-2, 25 KOs), of Providence (RI), October 31 in the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights main event, but the Canadian lightweight title-holder Irwin (41-5, 29 KOs) has officially backed-out of the match. “Two months isn’t enough time to train,” an irritated Burchfield rhetorically asked. “Irwin must believe Gary Balletto is the top lightweight in the world. Eight weeks is more than Read more [...]

Christy Martin, That was Then…. By Bernie McCoy

Its really not to difficult to imagine a scenario where several women, in various parts of the country, might have been sending long distance high fives to Laila Ali, last Saturday. They would have been watching, on TV, Christy Martin, on her hands and knees, gazing blearily into her corner as her husband/manager, Jim Martin, more than likely encouraging her to "stay down, stay down" Martin, of course did stay down, since, in fact, she was probably the last person in the Grand Casino in Biloxi, MS who wanted the one-sided boxing match with Laila Ali to continue. Those women? Lets give them names: Jovette Jackson, Del Pettis, Sue Chase, Angela Buchanan. They were all opponents that Christy Martin KO'd as part of a long string of carefully chosen bouts during her days as the "face" of Women's Read more [...]

Exclusive: McClain Talks about the Promotion of the Ali-Martin card By Sue TL Fox

(AUG 25) WBAN interviewed "Yahya" Johnny McClain one on one about the latest promotion that he was involved in with the Ali-Martin card that was held on August 23, in Biloxi, Mississippi. I spoke to McClain about the August 25th article on Fightnews.com that is entitled,  "Promoters Spar After Ali-Martin."  McClain said that in regards to that article, that  “it is not true.”  McClain went on to explain,  “Brian Young (Prize Fight Promotions) did not speak to me after the fight or any other time regarding those matters….AND if we did ‘spar’---I would kick his ass.” McClain also talked about the remarks made in that article about him removing the Prize Fight Banner at the Post Fight Conference.  McClain said, “I DID remove the sole banner, because he (Young) had the Read more [...]

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 [...]

Crying Wolfe: Ali saga on Ann Wolfe

The out-of-the-blue announcement of the August 23,  Laila Ali and Christy Martin matchup brought the expected reaction from the "usual suspects" in Texas. RPM Boxing issued a broadside stating that Ali, by taking the Martin bout, was once again, "dodging the bullet", a matchup with RPM's estimable fighter, Ann Wolfe. Wolfe's name, indeed, has usually been a noticeably absent element any time opponents for Laila Ali are the subject. However, like almost everything to do with Ali and her career, it comes back to Johnny "Yahya" McClain, who is Laila's husband and, not surprisingly, the promoter of the August 23 card on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. McClain has done a masterful job of positioning Laila Ali as the new "face" of Women's Boxing, replacing the other woman in the ring on August Read more [...]

Mike Tyson and Fifteen Years By Bernie McCoy

Fifteen years is a long time. To adjudge just how long, think of one name in the boxing world, Mike Tyson. Fifteen years ago this week, Mike Tyson laid a very solid claim to the title, " the baddest man on the planet" by annihilating, and there's really no other word for it, Michael Spinks in just over a minute in a heavyweight championship bout in Atlantic City. Fifteen years later, Tyson continues to scuffle around the heavyweight ranks, but he is now known more for his bizarre conduct and statements to the press than for his ferocious boxing skill in the ring. Tyson was scheduled as a "program saver" for the original incarnation of the  Lennox Lewis championship fight on June 21. However, remaining true to his career-long erratic behavior, Tyson dropped out of the scheduled bout soon Read more [...]

Friday the 13th: Boxing card at the Chinook Winds Casino – by Katherine Dunn

Friday, June 13th, 2003, Chinook Winds Casino, Lincoln City, Oregon. Promoter: Top Rank; Matchmaker: Pete Susens  -Ringside Physicians: Dr. Luis Rios, Dr. Ron Shear; Referees: Jim Erickson, Dave Hagan, Jeff Macaluso; Judges: Greg Baker, Robert Flamme, Trevor Lewis, Denis Ryan; Regulation: The Siletz Tribal Athletic Commission I’ve decided to blame Bob Arum for the Friday the 13th horror show at the Chinook Winds Casino. In letting the casino and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz off the hook, I’m giving them credit for their first fight card, back on December 4 of 1999, when they hosted the excellent HBO broadcast of Fernando Vargas vs Winky Wright and Diego Corrales vs John Brown. That was promoted by Ringside Ticket, Inc run by Patrick Ortiz. Then the Siletz held the respectable Read more [...]

Auturo Gatti-Mickey Ward, They Deserved Better By Bernie McCoy

The first fight was the best, probably the best of this generation. The return bout wasn't quite as great, it couldn't have been, there's never more than one Taj Mahal. The third fight was the least of the three, but will probably be better than 90% of the boxing matches we'll see in the next five years. When Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward finished the last round of their ten round segment of thirty rounds of boxing on Saturday night in Atlantic City, they stopped punching for the first time in thirty minutes of ring savagery. They  then  stood in the middle of the ring, forehead to forehead and muttered words to each other that only they were privy to, words that, in a true sense,  only they should have been privy to. There was no prancing around the ring, no jumping on the ring ropes, Read more [...]

Michelle Gatewood wins her pro debut By Sue TL Fox, Ringside

(JUNE 16) On Saturday night (June 14) in front of a packed house of boxing fans, Lucky Eagle Casino, in Rochester, Washington, had it's "Fight Night 41".  In the women's bout, it featured two newcomers to the sport. Doll Crain, who weighed in at 100 lbs., and then had to put on some quick pounds for the fight, fought Michelle Gatewood, 110 lbs., out of Spokane, Washington. Crain has been on the fight scene for quite awhile working as a boxing trainer, and a cornerman for various fighters on many cards. Crain showed tremendous heart despite the brutal pummeling she endured. Gatewood punished Crain, she delivered one blast after another until Crain fell to the canvas. Crain would pop right back up, only to be sent right back down again. In the third round at 1:23 seconds, the referee Read more [...]

Talkin’ Boxin’ by Howie Reed – Boxing News in May of 2003

THERE were two major fights (major cause they were on TV only) Saturday Night on Television. One on Showtime (Sharmba Mitchel-Ben Tackie) and one on HBO ( WBA Leonard Dorin-IBF Champion Paul Spadafora). In the air of disclosure I will admit that I saw neither. I write this with no shame and no sorrow. Before going into a long explanation it should be noted that Dorin-Spadafora boxed to a flat footed draw. (115-113 Dorin, 115-114 Spadafora, 114-114). From news reports it was a good fight. Of some interest is that prior to the fight Dotin’s folks had complained about the fight using two California judges. In the end one favored Dorin and the other called it a draw. The WBA judge had it for Spadafora. The Showtime fight was "kinda" a title eliminator to see who wasn’t going to fight Kostya Read more [...]