AIN'T NO SUNSHINE

The last time I saw Ray "The Rainman" Austin, the cool March air of the New England winter was still blowing through the forests that surround the Foxwoods Resort and Casino. According to the calendar on the wall it was winter, but the sweet smell of spring was in the air. The gray skies held dark clouds, and it had begun to rain.

Later in the evening, Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor would again show their hatred by pounding away on each other’s skulls. But first, there was a tedious undercard to wade through and it was painstakingly boring as the prelims these days have a tendency to be.

Gerry Cooney was in the audience, doing what he has done best since that magical June night in 1982 when he mixed it up in the desert with Larry Holmes at Caesars Palace. Cooney was in the stands glad-handing with the out of town crowd, signing every autograph and smiling just right for the lines of picture takers. He’s the only goodwill ambassador that boxing seems to have left these days.

And then we all heard it. It’s the unmistakable sound of leather slapping against skin that ricochets through the air like a gunshot. Your brain always makes your head whirl toward the sound. Ray Austin, from Cleveland, Ohio was up in the ring against a pug named Willie Williams from Atlanta, Georgia who is always brought in on nights such as this so he can fight just well enough to lose. It was a long, slow right hand that made the sound.

At 6’6" tall and 250 pounds, Ray Austin is never going to be fast. His punches come at his opponents like a log being dropped out of a second story window. His punches plow through their target, and he’s got the type of body that looks bigger than what the tape measure tells you.

In only ten days, from Mannheim, Germany, 36 year-old Ray Austin is getting a Rocky Balboa-like shot of a lifetime to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world against IBF titlist Wladimir Klitschko.

At the same time that Wladimir Klitschko was winning his Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Ray Austin had recently been released from a stint in prison and he was employed as a burger flipper at a Wendy’s fast food restaurant in East Cleveland, Ohio.

With an ugly pro record of 24-3-4 (16)KO, Ray Austin never had the opportunities in life or in the sport of boxing that Wladimir Klitschko has had. Klitschko was an Olympic darling and is a product of the old Soviet sports system. Growing up, Klitschko had access to the best training facilities, expert coaching and he fought the best amateur boxers in the world. When he turned to the professional ranks after winning Olympic gold he did so with the heft of a wealthy contract and a top-flight German promotional team. Klitschko also has a PhD, in Sports Science from the University of Kiev. It’s where he gets his nickname, "Dr. Steelhammer".

Ray Austin, on the other hand, was a high school dropout and a product of the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. His amateur career consisted of barenuckle fights fought under dim streetlights on dirty street corners. "There is no way I could say how many street fights I was in because sometimes I got into more than one per day," claims Austin. "I was always fighting back then. I had no choice."

Austin comes from a family that fought. His father, Robert Bolden, a former construction worker who is in his sixties, is a giant, hulk of man at 6’7" tall. He fought mainly in the streets but he’d sometimes lace up the gloves and head into the gyms that used to dot the Cleveland landscape. Then there is Ray’s uncle, Bo Bolden, who fought as an amateur and briefly as a professional. They’re the kind of men, even at their age, you wouldn’t want to mess with.

Despite his professional successes, Ray Austin says his most memorable fight came when he was only 16 years old. It was the fight that would get him kicked out of Shaw High School in his sophomore year. "There was a guy in the neighborhood who used to beat everybody up," Austin recalls. "I knew the time would come when I’d have to fight him, so I started working out. At that time of my life, I was always around guys in the game anyway, and I used to go with them to the gym. When the time came to fight the guy, I was up for the challenge. He thought I’d be easy, but I knocked him out with about three punches. It was then I thought that maybe I should take this sport seriously. I’d played a lot of football and basketball, but, after beating that guy up, I started going to gyms and watching fights on TV and I started working out with trainers that taught me patience."

Austin was a ship without a rudder as a young man. He has five children with three different women. He was married and had a son by the time he was 17 years old. He was a boy in a man’s body trying to make it in a man’s world.

Like many disadvantaged, inner-city youth, Ray Austin began to look around and he saw lots of guys his age who had a lot more material possessions than he did. Thick wads of one hundred dollar bills, the latest clothes and rivulets of sparkling jewelry. It was all very intoxicating.

Of course, they were dealing drugs in the back alleys and dark corners of East Cleveland and of course a young, impressionable Ray Austin wanted a cut of the action and the easy money. Nobody dared mess with him as he could beat two guys with one hand if he decided he wanted to. So, a young Ray Austin began selling crack on street corners.

Inevitably he wound up in prison. In 1988 he was arrested for stealing a car and for that he received a year in state prison. Shortly after he got out of prison, he was arrested for possession of what the cops believed to be three ounces of cocaine. It turned out not to be coke so Austin was off the hook. But, in early 1992, at only 21 years-old, Austin was busted for cocaine trafficking and spent most of the next four years behind the walls of the Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton, Ohio. He didn’t box while he was in prison, but he could have had he wanted. He calls his years in the joint, "A f---ing nightmare."

By the time they unlocked the bars in late 1995, Ray Austin was nearly 26 years old and he had no prospects for the future. He had always been involved in street fights and he had been a fixture around the boxing gyms of Cleveland while following his father and uncle around. He had a loose relationship with Richie Giachetti who had trained heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and later Mike Tyson among many other top fighters.

By chance, Austin ended up turning pro at the late age of 27, but he lost his first fight, a four-round decision to Charles Hatcher in July 1998 in Columbus, Ohio. He weighed an out of shape 260 pounds and was paid $800.00 for his inaugural effort and had this to say about his first fight as a pro, "I was just a guy off of the streets with no amateur fights, and Hatcher had a lot more experience. Even though I lost, I came away confident that I could do better. I knew that if I worked harder and got in better shape, I could be a force."

It took several years, but over time Ray Austin developed into that force. He served as a sparring partner for some of the biggest names in the game and he fought and defeated a host of fringe contenders. Along the way, he was involved in some controversial decisions and won fights he should have lost and lost a few he should have won. He has never made any sort of real heavyweight money, but should he beat Klitschko the wallets of the world would be his for the picking. Nearly nine years after turning pro, Austin is now the #2 contender and Klitschko has been mandated to fight him.

Many of the so-called experts don’t give Austin much of a chance when he meets Klitschko in Germany. Klitschko is generally regarded as the number one heavyweight in the world and the best of the alphabet titlists parading as heavyweight champions. At age 30, Klitschko is close to his prime, has been ranked at or near the top of the division for nearly seven years and he has a very respectable pro record of 47-3 (42)KO.

When asked how he thinks things will go on March 10th, Klitschko, in his heavy Ukrainian accent, had this to say. "I won't underestimate Austin, but there will be no mercy in the ring."

Klitschko is a busy puncher that throws volumes of shots for a man that stands 6’6" tall and weighs 240 pounds. It could be an easy fight if he fights smart and used his left jab to keep the aggressive Austin off balance. However, Klitscho’s three losses have come by way of stoppage and he has suffered embarrassing knockout defeats and most pundits are not sold on his ability to take a heavyweight punch.

Austin says he’ll be ready for his first grasp at a major title and he openly discredits Klitschko’s last three opponents. "I’m not Calvin Brock," says Austin. "I'm not a 213-pound Chris Byrd, either. I’m a full-grown heavyweight. The last time Klitschko faced a man his weight was against Samuel Peter, who knocked him down three times while giving away five inches in height. Same thing when Lamon Brewster knocked him out."

Austin has the promotional representation of Don King on his side and King has a special affinity for Austin. King is also a product of the mean streets of Cleveland, Ohio and the self-proclaimed "world’s greatest promoter" also spent time behind the same Lorain Correctional Institution bars that Austin would 30 years later. At the press conference to announce the fight, King said that Austin, "Will end Klitschko’s career".

Whatever happens when Austin steps into the ring before nearly 14,000 Wladimir Klitschko fans is anyone’s guess. Maybe Ray Austin will throw a punch that comes all the way from the depths of the street corners of East Cleveland, Ohio and from behind the walls of the Lorain Correctional Institution. Maybe Wladimir Klitschko will fall flat at the feet of Ray Austin and a new champ will be crowned. And maybe then the dark clouds of life that Ray Austin has lived under for 36 years will lift – even if for just one day.

"I’m the most underrated heavyweight there is," says Austin. "And I guarantee some rain is going to fall on Klitschko when we fight."

For Ray "The Rainman" Austin, there ain’t no sunshine when he fights.

February 2007

THE BIG GAMBLE

Joe Mesi isn’t like the other pugs you’ll come across in this game.

As soon as he opens his mouth you know he’s different than the rest of them. He’s articulate and insightful and he expresses himself like maybe your neighbor the schoolteacher would. And that’s fitting, because after all, he does have an education that allows him to teach school if that’s the path he decides he wants to go down when all of this is over.

He’s not mean looking or imposing like say a Mike Tyson, and he doesn’t particularly look like a fighter. His jet-black hair, mahogany eyes, olive skin and handsome features make him look like an unassuming Italian guy you might see making pizzas behind the counter at your local pizzeria. He’s not a freakish giant with bulging muscles like a lot of these other heavyweights lurking around the rings of the world today - and maybe all of that is his problem.

But those things would only be a little problem and that would only be part of the story.

"Baby" Joe Mesi, and he doesn’t want you to call him "Baby" anymore, was on an incredible storybook-like run of boxing success until he ran into a right hand thrown by former Cruiserweight titlist Vasiliy "The Tiger" Jirov on a spring night in Las Vegas nearly three years ago. Mesi was undefeated, he was fighting for the second time in a row on HBO and he was being talked about as the next Rocky Marciano. You see, Joe Mesi was going to be the next great American heavyweight.

Mesi had already been anointed as the third professional sports franchise from Buffalo, New York because of his ability to draw nearly twenty thousand fans to the HSBC Arena on the nights that he fought. The fans went wild for him and his fights were more like events than athletic pursuits. Many people, if given the choice to see the Buffalo Sabres play hockey, the Buffalo Bills play football or to watch Mesi fight would go see Joe.

And so, by the time Joe Mesi came into that fight against Jirov he did so with a lifetime of promise. He had a sparkling record of 28-0 (25)KO’s, was rated as the #1 contender by the World Boxing Council and he was in preliminary discussions to fight Mike Tyson in a big money fight in Buffalo.

Mesi had won practically every round against Jirov until, with twenty seconds left in the ninth round, he was decked with a rather innocuous looking right hand to the side of the head. It was at that moment that the sweet life that Joe Mesi had known began to unravel like a spool of thread dropped down a flight of stairs.

Under the furious assault of Jirov, Mesi would crumple down to the floor two more times in the tenth and final round. Although a battered, bloodied and humbled Mesi was declared the winner of the fight by unanimous decision the damage had been done.

It was not until several weeks later that it would be revealed that Joe Mesi had suffered the nastiest condition in all of boxing and a term that no fighter ever wants to hear - subdural hematoma. In layman’s terms, subdural hematoma means bleeding on the brain, which for boxers usually means the end of the story.

But for Joe Mesi, the story was just beginning. What would follow was an unbelievable, twisted, soap opera that played out in court rooms, doctors offices and in newspaper stories across the country and around the world. The issue was this - Joe Mesi suffered bleeding on his brain but he wasn’t going to stop boxing and he wasn’t going to let the Nevada State Athletic Commission or their doctors tell him otherwise.

When asked to recall the Jirov fight and what led up to him having his boxing license suspended, Mesi, who is forever honest, like the schoolteacher he was trained to be, had this to say. "For the Jirov fight I was in great condition. In the ninth round I threw 90 punches. It wasn’t Jirov’s power in the tenth round that was putting me down. I was hurt and I was hurt badly, obviously. I was injured. It wasn’t his hard punches putting me down. I just didn’t have my whereabouts. Jirov’s very strong and he hit me and hurt me, no doubt. But I was just going down not because of conditioning problems, but just because of the injury. I was just injured and hurt and I didn’t have my whereabouts."

Throughout the odyssey to regain his right to fight and get licenses to fight, Mesi’s father and manager, Jack, has been with him every step of the way. In fact, his father has pushed as hard as anyone to get his son back in the ring and to face more of the same types of punches that threaten his son’s very life. Jack has come under heavy criticism for his stance and for his decision to see Joe back in the ring.

The son has his own thoughts on the criticism leveled at his Dad. "It’s very unfortunate because my father has nothing to do with this. I’m a thirty-three year old man and I make my own decisions. I make the decision whether I want to continue or whether I don’t want to continue. My father has been behind me, supporting me throughout my whole career and will continue to be no matter what I do. But, I’ve made the decision to continue because of what the doctors have told me. I haven’t gotten one negative response from any of the doctors that I’ve visited. Therefore, I’m going continue with my pursuit to become heavyweight champion."

The questions many fans and many in the boxing business have asked is, "What exactly is the danger for Joe Mesi to return to active fighting?" Because of the unknown answer to that question the major networks have shown no inclination to bring Mesi back to their airwaves.

Of the four comeback fights he has had since returning to the ring in April 2006 only one has been shown on live television in the United States. The networks, already leery of the reputation boxing has in the mainstream sports world, would prefer that if something fatal is going to happen to Mesi that it not take place on their airwaves.

While Mesi has won all four of his comeback fights against soft opposition, he has scored only one knockout and that was against a fighter that had just 9 wins against 27 losses. Mesi has appeared far from the top of his form in those bouts, which is to be expected after over two years away from the ring. He admitted that for his first fight in his return that he had to lose 30 pounds in a relatively short amount of time. As a result, he languished to an eight-round unanimous decision win against Ronald Bellamy in Puerto Rico.

When asked about the perceived dangers of returning to the ring and the concern many have for him after having suffered what many believe should have been a career-ending injury, Mesi is defiant, yet convincing with his answer. "I’ve visited three of the best neurologists in the country. Dr. Robert Cantu, my lead neurologist out of Boston, Massachusetts, assures me that I’m at no greater risk when I enter the ring than my opponents."

Mesi says his doctors have pronounced him medically fit to return to the ring and he claims he has exhausted all avenues to ensure his health is fine. "I’ve had more MRI’s and blood work in the past few years than you can possibly imagine. I’ve taken more tests than you can imagine. For me and my team and my doctors there is no concern. If I was concerned I wouldn't be sitting here as an active, licensed fighter competing right now. I would not be doing it. I have too much to live for. There is no concern on my part. It’s a risky sport, we are all at risk, but I’m at no greater risk than my opponents. No doctor that I’ve visited, that treated me, that examined me said, ‘Don’t fight’. My doctors are world-renowned. I’ve talked to six, seven, eight of them. I’ve traveled around the world to see these doctors and get tested. These doctors have supported me. I feel very, very confident about my future in boxing."

If Mesi is angry with anyone about his two years away from the ring it is the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He says he can never get those two years of his career back and he blames it on the NSAC and their inability to see the same results that he and his doctors see. Mesi views the NSAC in a negative light and no matter what the medical evidence that he presented to them suggested, their answer for allowing him to fight again was always a resounding "No". The view of the NSAC was that Mesi suffered a life-threatening injury and that he should never step into a boxing ring again as an active participant.

Mesi paints the NSAC as unsympathetic to his plight and calls their very qualifications to make the determination on his boxing future into question. "Some of the Nevada commission doctors weren’t even neurologists", he says with some degree of incredulity.

When asked why some of the neurologists the commission had on their side denied his licensure, Mesi came back with this explanation. "Those neurologists said that because the rule is black and white and it’s a blanketed rule and they have to say that. But, now they have my reports and we think we can have them handle my case like any other cases, case by case. It can’t be so black and white."

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe went through his own battles to return to the ring after it was revealed in a legal matter that he had apparently suffered brain damage from his years in boxing. The initial warning flags for Bowe were his erratic behavior and slurred speech. Bowe later decided he wanted to return to the ring and was also forced through a myriad of legal hoops. Bowe did eventually return to the ring after a lengthy self-imposed retirement and some time in prison but he was far from his top form and it remains to be seen whether he will continue to box.

Bowe is sympathetic towards Mesi’s plight and said this when asked to comment on the legal and medical battles that both he and Mesi have been forced to endure. "Well, it’s very frustrating. I sympathize with Joe. I’m willing to see whoever they want me to see, go through all of the trials and tribulations. I’ve been doing it, so it’s a piece of cake. I want to know for myself that I’m O.K. However, I know that I am and if there was anything wrong with me I wouldn’t fight."

For his part, Mesi is not looking back, especially now that he has been granted licenses to fight in several different states. He is now preparing to fight clubfighter George Lineberger on the VERSUS television network this Thursday night. Lineberger brings a record of 29-8-1 (25)KO into the fight and his claim to fame is that he has fought Eric "Butterbean" Esch twice. Although no world-beater, the 38 year-old Lineberger who hails from Akron, Ohio will be the most dangerous foe that Mesi has faced since the Jirov fight.

Lineberger is 6’3" tall and usually weighs in at around 250 pounds. In his last fight, he won a four-round decision over Butterbean. The fight, however, is taking place well underneath the boxing radar and far removed from the bright lights of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Mesi will face Lineberger at the Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia.

Whatever happens to Joe Mesi is anyone’s guess. Most see his future as bleak should he continue to fight and they are skeptical about his chances to regain his old form. Mesi, however, is convinced that he’ll someday be heavyweight champion of the world and that all of the perceived wrongs that he has suffered through over the past several years will eventually be righted.

When asked what impact he’s going to have on the heavyweight division, Mesi was quick to answer. "I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to bring excitement. I’m going to generate money. I’m going to generate fans. I’m the cash cow of the division. I’m the most marketable guy and I fight with excitement. I generate excitement and I’m going to bring that to the division. The heavyweight division needs it right now."

Some say that Joe Mesi is rolling the dice and gambling with his life. Here’s hoping he doesn’t come up snake-eyes.

February 2007

FOREVER YOUNG

Who would've thought that Shane Mosley would still be doing early morning roadwork in the snowy mountains of Big Bear, California and spilling his blood in boxing rings after all of these years? Who would've predicted the type of career that "little" Shane Mosley was going to have when he and his father Jack were barnstorming the inner city gyms of Los Angeles seeking sparring partners that could take all that he could give? Who would have figured that he would beat Oscar De La Hoya twice and still look like a kid after 14 years of punching for pay?

But, there was Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on Saturday night against Luis Collazo and once again he was doing what he does best - fighting and winning.

Never mind that Luis Collazo was a former welterweight titlist who arguably had never lost a fight. Never mind that Shane Mosley hadn’t fought as a true 147-pound welterweight in nearly five years - or since his last fight with arch-nemesis Vernon Forrest. Never mind that Shane Mosley is now 35 years-old and was fighting against an opponent who was bigger and younger than him. Never mind that Luis Collazo was only 12 years old when Shane Mosley fought his first professional fight, a fifth-round knockout over Greg Puente in Hollywood, California way back in 1993.

There is no secret to this ever-trickling fountain of youth that Mosley seemingly drinks from. He's a physical marvel and fitness fanatic and he is never too far from top shape. Whether it be snowboarding or basketball or boxing, Mosley is an active participant in life and he is competitive to the extreme.

He said he went into camp for the Collazo fight at 149 1/2 pounds and said that he feels more comfortable fighting as a welterweight than he ever did at junior middleweight . He told a group of reporters last week that, "I feel so good it's scary. It's like I'm high or something. I really can't describe it."

He beat the young Luis Collazo like a drum, barely losing a frame on the judges scorecards over twelve rounds. What's even more impressive is that Collazo gave the undefeated Ricky Hatton fits and twelve rounds of pain when they faced each other back in May. In the process of sending a clearly beaten Collazo back to New York, Mosley picked up something called the WBC interim welterweight title and says that he wants to stay sharp and fight again in June.
Of Collazo, Mosley said, "he underestimated my youth.” And then he smiled that boyish grin of his and he laughed that little laugh of his that you can barely hear but that you know is there.

When the current WBC titlist, Floyd Mayweather, steps up to fight Oscar De La Hoya in May he will vacate his title and Mosley will become the full WBC champ. That will make Shane Mosley one of the oldest welterweight titlists in boxing history. There could be a new dawn in the welterweight division especially if Mayweather keeps his promise and retires after the fight against De La Hoya in May.

Atop the 147-pound division now is a motley crue of alphabet claimants consisting of undefeated WBA titlist Miguel Cotto, WBO belt holder Antonio Margarito and the IBF entrant in Kermit Cintron. Mosley mentioned all of their names at the post fight press conference, “We can all get together and see who's the best welterweight.” And then he smiled that broad, infectious smile and laughed that little laugh again.

Asked when he knew he had Collazo beat, Shane thought for just a second and said, “I knew I was faster than him and could hit him with the quick jabs. By the third round I knew I would be able to hit him with different shots.”

His father and trainer, Jack Mosley, had it figured out after the first round and he told Shane that Collazo wasn’t as good as the sparring partners they had used to prepare for him.

Throughout the fight it was the older, wiser Mosley who was the more active fighter and the busier puncher. It seemed that he was the hungrier fighter and wanted the win more. Despite earning untold millions over his long career, Mosley wasn’t resting on his laurels.

He never stopped trying for the knockout, “because that’s what the fans pay for” and he looked like he was on his way to just that in the eleventh round. Mosley clipped Collazo with an angry right hand and the younger fighter slowly crumpled to the floor after his foot got tied up with Mosley’s. Perhaps it was a slip, but at that point in the fight it was academic as Mosley was pitching a virtual shutout and he was looking good doing it.

Based on this performance the diminutive Mosley, who has such a fit, compact body that he looks like he’s wearing a suit of armor made from muscles, may feel like he can go on for several more years. “I live good”, he says, meaning that he doesn’t abuse his body, doesn’t blow up in weight and doesn’t lay around in between fights. “Hey, I’m 35 years old and I’m still around and ready to go. If Bernard Hopkins can fight at 40, 41, 42 years old - I know I could do the same thing. I look at the paper and it says 35 and I just can’t believe that I’m 35. I feel young. I feel like I’m 25 years old. I feel good.”

Whether his ever-watchful wife and manager, the lovely Jin, will let him go on that long remains to be seen. Shane is the father of five children and seems to lead a charmed and happy life.

The beautiful Jin told Ivan Goldman of The Ring Magazine last year that, “I’m trying to wind him down right now. I look at pugilistic dementia, and I worry. I make him take MRIs. I talk to Dr. Margaret Goodman, I talk to anybody that might know something.”

It’s a family affair for Shane as his father is also his trainer and except for a brief period, his father has been in his corner for every fight since Shane was nine years old. His family is close to him and is looking out for the best interests of their son and husband. They will tell him when it’s time.

Carmen Basilio, the great welterweight and middleweight champion was once in the same place in life and almost the same age as Mosley when the pressures to get out of the game while he was still on top began to mount.

“My wife was on my back about quitting”, said the hoarse-voiced Basilio who was as rough and tough as they come. “The sportswriters locally and a couple of New York writers said I should quit fighting. “They’re all worrying about me getting hurt”, he says with a degree of disdain. “I was thirty-four years old at the time, but I was in good condition. I was a good fighter. When I quit I was a good fighter. Now I wish I hadn’t done that. I wish that I’d stuck around for three or four more fights.”

And that’s the same dilemma that Shane Mosley now finds himself in. It’s always nice to go out on top and have the Cinderella-like ending to a great career. But this is boxing and that type of ending is rarely written into the script. How nice it would be for Shane, Jin, Jack and the Mosley family to climb into that horse drawn carriage and ride off into the night in a fairy-tale called the rest of their life. They could bid boxing farewell forever.

But it probably won’t end that way.

Every pug thinks they have one more left in ‘em - and that they’ll be forever young.

February 2007

CHITS AND BITS

A proud and resolute Floyd Mayweather at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada

It’s not supposed to be the trainer that you notice in boxing. But you can’t help noticing Floyd Mayweather, Sr. - also known as "Big" Floyd.

For most boxing trainers, their job is often thankless, anonymous and relegated to the background. Its typically a life of early mornings and late nights spent hanging out in smelly gyms, emptying spit buckets and barking out orders in an effort to get hard messages through to pugs who have even harder heads. But Floyd Mayweather, Sr. is not just any trainer and he has a hard time even saying the word anonymous. You see, staying in the background is not what he’s all about.

Listen to "Big" Floyd and he’ll tell you that he’s the greatest boxing trainer in the world. Listen to him long enough and you begin to believe him. Need his opinion? You don’t have to ask for it because he’ll tell you; "Shit man, I’m the best and I’ve forgotten more than all of these other guys will ever know."

Maybe he is the best. Up until last week he was the trainer of Oscar De La Hoya who just happens to be the biggest name in boxing. Then there is his son, "Little" Floyd or Floyd, Jr. who is currently regarded as the number one pound-for-pound boxer on the planet whom was trained by his father for many of his formative years and early in his pro career.

Of his son, "Big" Floyd says this, "I taught him everything he knows, but I didn’t teach him everything I know." He’s also the trainer of Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Laila "She Be Stingin’" Ali who is the best lady boxer on the planet. And just last night he coached a young protégé named "Bad" Chad Dawson to the WBC Light Heavyweight title in an impressive victory over the previously undefeated Tomasz Adamek from Poland.

Mayweather, Sr. was a solid fighter in his own right who struggled to a career record of 29-6-1 (19)KO and he did get so far as to match wits with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978. He comes from a boxing family that includes well-known boxing brothers Roger and Jeff. But he no longer trains his son and he hasn’t spoken to his brother Roger in over a decade. For that matter, it’s been several years since he has spoken to his own son, but that doesn’t stop "Big" Floyd from taking any of the credit for the success his son has experienced.

Let "Big" Floyd tell you about "Little" Floyd. "People know that Floyd is the best fighter in the world because his Daddy trained him. I might not be training him now but I taught him everything he knows. Who do you think trained him from the beginning? It was me! It’s so plain to see that Ray Charles could see that one. I don’t think it was a miracle that Floyd became the fighter he is today. Somebody had to have been there to show him from day one."

"Big" Floyd has often been a vocal critic of his son. After every one of his son’s fights, no matter how good he has or has not performed, the father always seems to know best and points out all of his son’s mistakes, no matter how small. The criticism is not lost on the son.

"My father can say whatever he wants to say," the current, undefeated, WBC welterweight champion and four division titlist says. "He’s said he taught me everything I know but not everything he knows. I’m glad he didn’t, because then my record would be like his. He lost to one legend, Sugar Ray Leonard, but his other losses were to journeymen and cab drivers."

"Big" Floyd never got a shot at a title and he never made the type of money in his entire boxing career that his son has made for even one fight. So who can blame him when he recently asked De La Hoya for $2 million to train him to fight his son for their May 5th super fight that will take place in Las Vegas?

De La Hoya countered with an offer of $500,000 up front and another $500,00 if he won.

"What I’m asking for is nowhere near what he’s going to make", said Floyd. "There’s too much money for me to take chits and bits."

When the offer was left as a take or leave it, "Big" Floyd left it. He said no dice, that he’s not a gambler and that it was $2 million he would need to show Oscar the secrets of "How to beat my son".

So instead, De La Hoya, whom Floyd calls "super tight with a buck" chose Freddie Roach as his trainer.

Floyd justifies his $2 million dollar asking price this way, "Oscar was sensational in his last fight" (a fifth-round stoppage of Ricardo Mayorga) "He didn't start looking sensational until he got with me. I know my job too well, man - and I'm not stupid, either. I have the blueprint for this fight. What other coach is he going to find to beat ‘Little’ Floyd? But, hey, it’s his money and it’s his call. It's not like I was uncomfortable with what he’s been paying me. It’s still six figures. But this is a little different ‘cause he’s fighting my son, man. I've already told him, 'That’s my son, and he’s going to be my son forever.’"

Last week, Oscar announced that he had hired Freddie Roach to be his trainer for the fight against "Little" Floyd. If "Big" Floyd was hurt by Oscar’s sleight and the loss of what would have been $1 million he isn’t letting it show.

"Fine", is what he says. "I make money, money don’t make me." What will I do? I'm not a fighter no more. What do I do for a living? I’m a boxing trainer, man…and the best in the business thank you very much…and that's what I’ll continue to do. I got me a whole bunch of fighters now, I know my job and I'll just keep doing my job, man. Shit"

Floyd has disdain for just about every other trainer in the sport. Whether they be a hall of fame trainer such as Emanuel Steward or Buddy McGirt or Freddie Roach, Floyd is not impressed with any of them.

"I couldn't care less about Freddie Roach", says Floyd. "Freddie Roach don't know shit, I can tell you that. You tell me, who has he really trained? He didn't train James Toney, James Toney trained himself. And who in the hell is Manny Pacquiao? He’s strong and he can punch hard, but that's it - he don't know how to box. So, tell me, who has he trained?"

Having spent time in federal prison for cocaine trafficking in the late 1990’s, "Big" Floyd isn’t one to look back. He came out of prison with nothing and after becoming estranged from his son and getting the De La Hoya gig he now has a house in Las Vegas and a stable of fighters that look to him for his wisdom and acumen. He’s street smart and carries himself in a way that says, "Don’t come up in here". In his mid-50’s he looks like he could go fifteen rounds tomorrow if he had to.

Last night in Kissimmee, Florida at the Silver Spurs Arena, "Big" Floyd worked his magic in the corner of Chad Dawson. At the post fight press conference, Floyd showed up wearing a well tailored, designer, pin-stripe suit with a matching polka-dot tie while Dawson wore a T-shirt. It can be safely said that most boxing trainers don’t show up attired in designer suits, recite poetry to the media and make proclamations of their own immortality. But Floyd Mayweather, Sr. is not most boxing trainers.

Asked what he thought of the big fight on May 5th that he will not be a part of, Floyd, shrewdly, had this to say, "Oscar needs me more than my son does. Freddie Roach is a joke blowing smoke with no hope."

And then the self-proclaimed "greatest boxing trainer in the word" was gone like the wind.

After all, "Big" Floyd is a busy man. And it’s like he told you - he don’t work for chits and bits.


February 2007

THE BIG TIME CALLED

All Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik ever wanted was a shot. Saturday night he got it.

Looking every inch a champion in the making, Pavlik, all 6’2 1/2" of him, made the most of his shot. That shot was an appearance on HBO, which is the Holy Grail for any fighter, particularly a young contender.

Compare it to the old days if you want to. A young, stand-up comedian knew he made it big when he would be invited to appear on the Johnny Carson Show to perform his routine. If he got a nod of the head from Carson it would be his stepping stone to the big time. Pavlik got the nod from HBO on Saturday night – now the big time is calling.

Hailing from the same championship streets of Youngstown, Ohio that former hometown heroes Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Harry Arroyo and Jeff Lampkin used to do their roadwork on, the 24 year-old Pavlik is upholding the city’s great boxing tradition by making his mark on boxing’s world stage.

In front of 7,100 electrically-charged fans at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California Pavlik shocked the masses of this Disneyland city when he short-circuited rugged Mexican Jose Luis Zertuche with two right hands, forcing the referee to jump in and perform an emergency rescue on the helpless Zertuche halfway through the eighth round.

Showing all the poise and confidence that you want to see in a young contender, Pavlik used a fade away left hand that disguised the two right hands that came in behind it. He threaded Zertuche’s chin like the eye of a needle with an unbelievably straight right hand bomb that did the real damage followed by a sharp, arcing, hybrid right hook/uppercut that was the finisher which put Zertuche down and out. The rugged Mexican came into the fight having never been stopped or off his feet in twenty-four pro fights, but stopped he was and this ending was as conclusive and final as any that you will see.

Zertuche, with his thick, black hair and handsome looks was "asleep on his feet" as Lennox Lewis put it. The end was reminiscent of the right hand that Thomas Hearns used to separate Roberto Duran from his senses back in 1984. Like Duran, Zertuche was out before he hit the floor.

Immediately after referee Raul Caiz, Sr. jumped in and tumbled to the floor with Zertuche, Pavlik put his gloved hands on his hips, looked straight into HBO’s camera and in a Clubber Lang-like moment said, "That’s where it’s at right there! Now I deserve my shot", followed by a less than confident, "At least I hope so."

With the victory, Pavlik’s record moves to a glistening 30-0 (27) KO. No opponent has lasted to the end of the ninth round with him and more importantly, with the win, Pavlik becomes the #1 contender in the WBC. The ranking should mandate that at some point in the not too distant future, middleweight champion Jermain Taylor will have to deal with Pavlik or be stripped of his title. However, in the Byzantine world that is the WBC it’s hard to say what Pavlik’s #1 ranking will mean - as heavyweight Samuel Peter has recently found out.

Whatever the case, it was an exciting, thrilling, fight and Pavlik answered most of the questions that the critics ask of young contenders. Zertuche was a difficult and tricky opponent who was not afraid to mix it up and go for broke. Whereas Zertuche’s punches were wide, like an 18-wheeler making a left-hand turn, Pavlik’s were straight and came right down the pike. Zertuche never showed any signs of wanting to quit and he went to war with Pavlik who obliged him every step of the way. Whether the combat was in the trenches or at long range, Pavlik seemed to have all the arrows in his quiver as he fired straight, accurate shots that snapped Zertuche’s head back and sent perspiration flying into the ringside seats.

In the hand-to-hand warfare, Zertuche also got his licks in and Pavlik’s chin was repeatedly tested but on this night Pavlik was not be denied and he walked through the big shots that Zertuche landed clean. Bob Arum, Pavlik’s non-stop promoter told the assembled media, "He answered the question, 'Can Kelly Pavlik take a punch?’ I think what you saw here in Southern California is something that you were not expecting. We put him in with a tough, hard-punching Mexican who's never been off his feet."

Pavlik, seeing through small nicks above and below his right eye, seemed to be able to hurt Zertuche with anything that landed and that was the real difference in this fight. Asked to comment on his own performance and that of Zertuche, Pavlik had this to say, "I’m a humble fighter and he hit me with some good punches…take nothing away from him, I mean the kid is a helluva fighter. He came to fight tonight but I just was a better man at the end."

Perhaps the only real knock on Pavlik’s performance was the fact that he let Zertuche off the hook and failed to finish him after decking him with a huge right hand for an eight count at the end of the sixth round. It was another punch that Zertuche never saw coming. Pavlik fought the seventh round too cautious and failed to jump on Zertuche when he was obviously weak in the knees and reeling around the ring on legs that weren’t getting the message from his scrambled head.

Throughout the fight, Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew implored his charge to "finish your combinations with the left hook!" Had Pavlik done that he may have finished Zertuche even earlier. Pavlik also needs to learn how to hold when he’s hurt as last night he attempted to clinch Zertuche on several occasions, but each time Zertuche managed to break free and land his own shots.

Afterwards, Pavlik, who was scraped, bruised and cut around his right eye was asked if this fight and his performance accomplished all that he wanted. Again, the young contender wavered between confidence and uncertainty. "Yes, I did. I think I did. I’m not sure. We’ll wait ‘til we get back and see what the critics say. But, you know we started off, we wanted to box a little more. But the first round once again I felt like I was in a little bit of quicksand you know? Every time I tried to move and get my rhythm going I just couldn’t do it and I was getting caught with stupid punches. So then after that, you know, like by the third or fourth round I started finding my rhythm a little bit and my balance was a little bit more fluid and I just was able to sit there and counter his mistakes and take my time a little bit more."

With his undefeated record still intact and his exciting HBO performance in the bag, Pavlik knows he’s on the doorstep of something big and it’s what he’s been fighting for since turning pro nearly seven years ago. Asked what he thought his next step on the ladder of success night be and who he sees on his radar screen Pavlik was non-committal, "Whoever, like I said earlier you know, anybody that’s in the way of me getting to a world title I’ll go and fight. So, I’m there for it."

They ended up taking Jose Luis Zertuche to the hospital in an ambulance while Pavlik was busy thanking his friends and family back in Youngstown. Critiquing himself, Pavlik, who is polite, thoughtful and well spoken had this to say, "You seen the changes that I made and how I adapted and that’s my corner you know - Jack Loew, Miguel and all the experience that I have. You adapt to the fight."

Zertuche presented Pavlik with a host of tough questions and he answered all of them. Pavlik’s eye is on the prize and it seems the fight he wants is with the middleweight champion. "You know you fight a style that the other fighter has and I think I did a good job of that tonight and within the other top level guys - as in Jermain Taylor – he makes enough of his own mistakes that I think I’ll only have to worry about one of them."

Tonight, the big time called - and Kelly Pavlik picked up the phone.

January 2007

THE GHOSTS OF YOUNGSTOWN

Try following in the footsteps of a boxing hero like Ray Mancini and only then can you begin to understand the anonymous journey that Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik has been traveling for the past seven years. Just when it seems like the people of Youngstown have stopped talking about their beloved "Boom Boom" - somebody will bring up Harry Arroyo’s name.

For Kelly Pavlik, the ghosts of Youngstown are never far away.

They all, of course, hail from that same Ohio town. A city rich with boxing tradition, it’s best known for the millions of tons of steel it produced over the years - and two lightweight boxing champions. Back in the 1980’s when Mancini and Arroyo were making their names and winning versions of lightweight titles the city had twice as many residents as it does now.

The blue-collar, working men’s crowds would spring to their feet in wide-mouthed glee when "Boom Boom" fought. Back then, the mills that built this region had yet to be shuttered entirely and Youngstown was a steel-making powerhouse. On the days when Ray or Harry fought, the people of Youngstown crowded around their televisions on Saturday afternoons, the barber shops were full of fight talk and the taverns were packed with back-slapping fight fans.

The great history of Youngstown boxing has not been lost on Kelly Pavlik and he hopes to follow in those same championship footsteps. "Their careers are an inspiration to me to win a world title and defend it a couple of times. I talked to "Boom Boom" a lot earlier in my career, and Harry Arroyo I talk to a lot. When I was nine, I went down to the Southside Boxing Club, where I train now, and Harry Arroyo was in there. I didn’t even know it was him until I left. My mom told me. I just kind of fell in love with the sport after that. He was a great guy, funny as can be."

Now, two decades later, Kelly Pavlik, a 6’2 1/2" tall, physical marvel of an undefeated middleweight is trying to forge his way in this cold, steel world called boxing. In 29 fights only three foes have lasted the distance with him. At 24 years of age he has already won as many fights as "Boom Boom" did in his entire storied career and he already has more knockouts. But back when Mancini and Arroyo were cutting their fistic teeth boxing was different. Boxers were developed into matinee-idols and their stories were told to large audiences on free network television and their pictures were splashed on the pages of daily newspapers across the country.

Mancini and Arroyo were both reared on the CBS Sports Spectacular weekend series and they were exposed to a mainstream America that came to love and root for them. The country was particularly taken with "Boom Boom" who became a fighter because he was too short to play basketball. He decided he was going to win the lightweight title for his father Lenny, a World War II veteran who had his own boxing career cut short because of a war injury. The nation watched with sympathy as Mancini went down swinging against the great Alexis Arguello in his first try at winning the title that Lenny never could. Later, we watched in shock as Duk Koo Kim went down swinging against "Boom Boom" – and then to his grave.

They don’t show boxing on the big three networks anymore and it’s rare that a newspaper will actually devote some of its pages to a boxer. As a result, Kelly Pavlik has been relegated to making a name for himself on cable networks like ESPN and VERSUS on late night boxing telecasts. But Saturday night on HBO, Kelly Pavlik is getting the chance to tell his story and fight his fight. If he wins and does so impressively, it won’t be long before a title shot will come and he’ll have the chance to become the third boxing champion from Youngstown.

Bob Arum has promoted all of them – Mancini, Arroyo and now Pavlik. Not lost in Arum’s sharp, money-smart mind is the fact the color of Pavlik’s skin is the same as that of Mancini and Arroyo before him – white. In the old economy of boxing, that used to mean a lot of green. Unfortunately, for Arum and Pavlik, that too has changed. The network suits that control boxing look at white fighters with the notion that white guys from the mid-west can’t fight.
For Arum, who believes he may have another Youngstown star on his hands, it’s been frustrating in trying to move Pavlik’s act onto a bigger stage. Last year he told Michael Rosenthal of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper that, "You can't say he's a white kid who can't fight. Why waste time with him on the network? Really, that's the reverse prejudice we have now. Not that the network people are bad people. It's just a perception. They judge people by their racial background. The general tendency is that white guys can't fight. It's much tougher for a white kid to break through, like a Kelly Pavlik."

Pavlik is highly rated by the sanctioning bodies that profess to have some control over boxing these days. He’s ranked #2 by the WBC, #3 by the WBA, #5 by the WBO and #8 by the IBF while The Ring magazine rates Pavlik as the #10 contender in its latest issue.

Speaking of contenders, Pavlik holds a second round knockout win over Grady Brewer who won "The Contender" reality television series tournament last year on ESPN. Although he was destroyed by Pavlik in 2001, Brewer lasted the eight round distance with current middleweight champion Jermain Taylor a year later.

Pavlik, who is as soft-spoken as he is hard punching has this to say about himself and his opposition, "Overall in the middleweight division, I think that with my strength at this weight that I’m among the top fighters. Some of the guys that I’ve fought…I’ve watched some of these other up and coming prospects fight the same guys and you see a lot of them struggle with these guys. With a lot of the boxing critics, I don’t get the credit because I’m not the Olympic medalist and didn’t make the Olympic team. It’s kind of frustrating at first, but it makes me work harder. I think I’m among the top three fighters at middleweight."

How far Kelly Pavlik will go in boxing is anyone’s guess. His career has gone slowly by today’s accelerated standards. He turned pro before Jermain Taylor did and he has more fights and more knockouts than Taylor does. However, he has nowhere near the recognition of Taylor nor has he achieved the big-time financial rewards that Taylor has enjoyed. Along the way his career had had stops and starts because of several hand injuries. It seemed just when he was on the brink of really getting some notice something would happen again to one of his hands. Luckily, those problems seem to be behind him and his career is gaining momentum.

Pavlik is a big middleweight who turned professional at age 18 only two weeks after graduating from Mahoning County Joint Vocational School. From the beginning he has possessed the punching power that has led to 26 pro knockouts. So far, nobody has lasted past the ninth round with him. "My amateur record was 89-9. I had a lot of hand speed and I was outboxing people then. When I hit 17, the power seemed to really come all of a sudden, and I had more snap to the punches and I was getting more and more stoppages. But I learned those basic boxing skills. I don’t have to go in there and slug and rely solely on power. I can box, too."

His punches come straight and quick and he gets the kind of leverage on his shots that make the comparison to the legendary Tommy Hearns inevitable. His pro debut was a third round knockout and he took out the opponent with a beautiful right hand bodyshot. ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas, who saw that fight from ringside called the punch, "A beautiful right hand right between the arms, right in the solar plexus."

As Pavlik prepares to face a tough Mexican fighter named Jose Luis Zertuche at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California this Saturday night he and his manager, Cameron Dunkin are only looking forward. "Kelly’s ready for a title fight now" says Dunkin. "He’s in the top 10 and we’re pushing to get him into a mandatory position."

Pavlik’s last fight was a homecoming to Youngstown and he didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd in blasting out Lenord Pierre in only four rounds. Again, Pavlik displayed awesome punching power along with a veteran’s maturity. When asked to comment on the win over Pierre, Pavlik was matter-of-fact: "I’m a humble fighter, but I know with my power, most people I hit with those types of shots don’t get up."

Pavlik can virtually taste the title at this point of his career. He’s entering his seventh year as a pro and the fight against Zertuche will be his 30th . He’s hopeful about his future and feels that he’s in good hands. "I’m going to leave it up to Top Rank and Bob Arum. They’ve made hundreds of world champions. So I’m sure whatever road they have chosen for me is going to be the right one. But I’m hoping to get my shot against Taylor or Winky Wright."

Mancini was on hand to see Pavlik’s last fight in person and his praise of Pavlik was glowing. Mancini obviously feels a strong affinity towards Pavlik and there is excitement in his voice when he speaks of him. "I’ve known Kelly since he was 10 years old. His trainer, Jack Loew, and myself grew up together. Jack told me when he was 10 years old in the amateurs this kid is the real deal. He said, ‘Raymond keep an eye on him.’ I’ve watched him in the ring and he is. He can punch, he can box, he’s tough – tough as they come. A lot of heart, and I’m gonna’ tell ya’ this kid is gonna’ go. He’s the best prospect I’ve seen since Jeff Lampkin, you know, back in the 80’s. This kid is the real deal and I think he’ll be a champion very soon."

If that happens, maybe the people of Youngstown will stop bringing up the names of those ghosts from the past named Mancini and Arroyo. There's a new ghost in town.

January 2007

HATTON'S VEGAS TANGO WITH URANGO

It was the great writer F. Scott Fitzgerald who told you there are no second acts in American life - but don’t tell that to Manchester, England’s Ricky Hatton. His first act in America played out on a cold, damp stage last May in Boston against Luis Collazo where he was lucky to avoid disaster and escape with his undefeated record. On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Hatton gets ready for the second act in his America life against IBF Jr. Welterweight titlist Juan Urango.

Ricky says the play is going to be better this time. He’ll be fighting in his natural weight division and won’t have the extra seven pounds he needed to be a welterweight to carry around on his back. However, he will have the weight on his shoulders of the 3,000 fans that have made the trek over from England to watch him tango with Urango. Hatton came to Las Vegas last week to get used to the surroundings of the "The Strip" and acclimatize his trained body to the time change. When the first bell against Urango clangs it will be late into the night in Las Vegas but only seven o’clock in the morning at home in Manchester.

When he climbed out of the back of a long, black, stretch limousine and into the unseasonably cold Las Vegas air of this El Nino winter he saw his name in lights on the marquee and had a reporter’s microphone propped immediately in front of his face. They asked him what it was going to be like to fight for the first time in the city of sin and he replied with his quick talking, rapid fire, Mancunian accent. "Absolutely fantatsic, really. It’s been a long time comin’. It seems like for the last maybe three, four five years even I’ve been wantin’ to come over ‘ere. Now I’m finally gettin’ me a chance at it meself. I can’t wait to put on a big show for people."

As a boy he thought he might like to become a professional soccer player but that didn’t work out. For a time, he worked side-by-side on his knees in the family business with his father, Ray, installing carpets. But that didn’t work out either, because, as Ray bluntly puts it, "He’s probably…I’d go as far as to say the worst carpet fixer in England. I’d even stretch it to Europe. I don’t know what they’re like in America but there can’t be many worse than him."

Instead, Ricky Hatton became a boxer, stopped the great Kostya Tszyu in a sensational contest to win the championship, has been unbeaten for 10 years in 41 pro fights with 30 knockouts - and some say he might just be the best fighter that England has ever produced. He’s already won three world titles in two different weight divisions and will be going for another on Saturday night.

At a diminutive 5’6’’ tall and scaling 140 pounds, or 10 stone, Hatton at age 28 still looks like a boy. Fair skinned with dirty blond hair he is quick to grin and has small, alert eyes set behind high, prominent cheekbones. His sharp angular jaw fits his blocky body and thick legs. Quick with his hands and on his feet, Hatton is an aggressive fighter that likes to mix it up and come forward, "I think I don’t fight like a typical British fighter", Hatton says. "Me style is probably more towards more of a Mexican type style fighter." The elder statesman of boxing, HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant says this about Manchester’s favorite son, "Hatton is just all fighter. The British version of Julio Cesar Chavez."

His boyhood chums still call him "Ricky" and he still has those same friends because his enormous success hasn’t changed him. He still walks the same streets of his hometown and greets friends with a hearty, "Cheers, mate!" He lives within a stone’s throw of his parents’ home and is all of England’s boy next door. Despite his overwhelming success in England and in the world of boxing there are no pretensions surrounding Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton. He’s still the same chap that grew up tossing darts, playing pool and swilling pints in the neighborhood pubs.

Hatton is humble and boyish and he accepts his celebrity in stride, "The fans when they see me oot and aboot and when they see me on the telly and in different papers and stuff like that - they feel warm to me ‘cause they say I’m just a regular goy. I’m no different to the goy out there. I’m no different to you."

He’s drawn sell-out crowd after sell-out crowd to the Manchester Evening News Arena where he always enters the ring to the theme song of his beloved Manchester City Football Club. Twenty thousand fans would serenade him to the tune "Blue Moon" and then whip themselves into a furious frenzy while cheering him on to victory.

With his enormous success in Great Britain the American boxing writers began to question whether Hatton was just another highly touted Brit who would flop once he played on the big stage in Las Vegas for the first time. Nobody needs to remind Ricky Hatton that former British darlings Barry McGuigan, Lloyd Honeyghan, Frank Bruno and Naseem Hamed all failed miserably and were scorched on their first journeys to the desert.

To his credit, Hatton has been eager to finally test himself. For several years he has itched to match his skills against the best America has to offer, but to finally find himself in Las Vegas fighting a big fight for the first time is a dream come true. "I never really had thought, you know, from where I come from, boxin’ at the wurkin’ man’s clubs or social clubs in and ‘round Manchester ‘round the council estates to this. It’s unbelievable, really. And also, because I also know when me family comes over and me very close friends, me boyhood friends are going to walk down the strip and see me name up on the big screen and the flashing lights. It’s really quite emotional to be honest."

Nearly forgotten in the build-up to Hatton’s Las Vegas boxing debut has been his opponent, Colombia’s Juan Urango. His nickname is the "Iron Twin" in reference to "Iron" Mike Tyson. Like Tyson, Urango is a wild swinging, come ahead, banger that likes to get on the inside and work. He’s thickly built and a man of few words. Undefeated himself at 17-0-1 (13) KO’s he won Hatton’s old IBF title in his last fight, a disputed decision over Naoufel Ben Rabah.

The deeply religious Urango uses words like he has to pay for them and is not one to boast or make predictions. He's taken to calling the man everyone else calls Ricky, "Mr. Hatton" - and he intersperses his comments with "all glory goes to God." Urango is the father of six children is humble about his accomplishments and his origins. Through a translator, he deadpans: "I come from the country. Hard working. We’re working hard every day our countrymen, in a poor country. A pretty simple life. You’re out there working hard every day. There are farms, cattle, horses. Real country."

For his part, Hatton expects Urango to put up a real fight. Ever the optimist, the little boy in Hatton doesn’t see any way that this night will go badly. And he quickly says, "I can’t help thinking this fight will be an excitin’ foight. I mean, we’ve got the roight opponent to make it really somethin’ special. I’m expectin’ some firewurks, some real firewurks. I mean, noither of us will be takin’ a backwurds step. We’ll each be takin’ a big punch to give a big punch and go for the knockout. You know, I don’t want anybody to go 'way from a Ricky Hatton fight and sayin’ that sent us to sleep or that was a load of crap. Juan Urango has a stoyle that is always in a good foight so it can’t help but be a fantastic foight really."

Las Vegas is a long way from Manchester and his life in England is a long way from this life in America, but Ricky Hatton is ready for the second act. Just don’t tell him what that chap F. Scott Fitzgerald said.

January 2007

COLLAZO LOOKS TO SOUR SUGAR SHANE

You can make the argument that former WBA Welterweight titlist Luis Collazo, next up to face “Sugar” Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on February 10th, has never really lost a fight at all.

The first blemish on Collazo’s record came at the hasty hand of referee Jay Nady, who as he often does, prematurely jumped into the middle of Collazo's proceedings against Edwin Cassiani. It was just another screw up in the long list of fights that Nady has tainted by stopping too soon. Collazo’s second loss was a questionable decision to Ricky Hatton last May in Boston. Some argue that Collazo should easily be undefeated right now, so as he prepares to get sour on “Sugar” Shane in Vegas – Collazo should have a lot to feel sweet about.

Despite the fact that he appeared spectacular while dismantling Fernando Vargas in his last fight, many feel that “Sugar” Shane Mosley may have fermented and that he’s ripe for the picking. After all, Mosley is closer to 40 than he is 30 and he’s a veteran of nearly 50 professional fights with 14 years on his pro clock.

Like all fighters, Mosley sees things differently than the critics and had this to say about Collazo, whom he will face at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. “Luis Collazo is a rising star in this game and I’m looking forward to matching skills with him on February 10th. “I’m coming to fight and to put on a great show for the fans, and from what I’ve seen of Collazo, he feels the same way. I’m ready to go to war.”

Mosley showed signs of being a little long in the tooth as far back as 2002 when he dropped two in a row to Vernon Forrest at 147 pounds. Prior to meeting up with Fernando Vargas, who has been reclaimed from the damaged goods bin several times too many, Mosley hadn’t scored a knockout win in over five years.

For Collazo he finds himself with another great opportunity and in another great position to overtake one of the true big names in boxing. Big Apple to the core, Collazo is a former two-time New York Golden Gloves champion who participated in the 2000 Olympic trials. He is the proud owner of a crafty southpaw style along with enough power to keep opponents honest. His boxing skills and movement have been more than adequate in building his record to 27-2 (13) KO’s and on a good night he’s the type of guy that can do it all. Some say he was never more brilliant than the night in 2005 when he tapped out a jazz tune for eight rounds on Miguel Angel Gonzalez’ noggin in Chicago.

The close and controversial loss to Hatton still rubs Collazo the wrong way, but he knows the fight with Mosley is even bigger and represents a huge step up to a different stage in his career. “I’m very excited to be in another marquee fight,” the 25 year-old Collazo says. “I'm younger than Shane so I’ve admired him for a long time. It says a lot about Mosley that he didn't avoid me like some other fighters have in the past because I'm a slick southpaw.”

Don King is in Collazo’s promotional corner and he thinks he’s found a 147-pound diamond in the rough. “I call Luis Collazo the un-crowned champion because everyone who saw him fight the sensational Ricky Hatton last year knows he successfully defended his WBA welterweight title,” King bellowed. “Luis took everything Hatton threw at him and still had “The Hitman” out on his feet in the final round.”

King is often prone to rants of foolishness, but the part about Collazo having Hatton nearly “out on his feet” is true. On that dark, cold, rainy night in Boston at the half empty TD Banknorth Garden, it was Hatton’s family that was ringing their hands and looking on with lip-biting concern as Hatton absorbed one clean shot after another from Collazo’s fists. A heavy punch in the last round had Ricky hanging on and the English boys in the stands who all night long incessantly chanted, “Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!” clammed up tighter than a New England clam when it looked as though their boy Ricky might indeed be the one to go.

Though Collazo didn’t get the decision in the Hatton fight he did gain something more valuable – respect. Many boxing fans had never seen Luis Collazo fight and didn’t really know who he was until that night but they know him now. While he was down for a flash in the first round - the rest of the way he gave as good as he got – and then some. Hatton took many flush, clean, hard shots to the head and he was hit hard enough and often enough by Collazo’s fists to blacken his eyes and apparently scare him out of the welterweight division and back down to 140 pounds.

For those who believe that Collazo’s measly thirteen knockouts won’t pose a problem for Mosley, Hatton sees things differently and commented on Collazo’s power in this manner, “He hurt me several times. The force of his shots moved me back.”

The first time that Collazo fought in Las Vegas was the quick Jay Nady stoppage where Collazo “lost” to Edwin Cassiani in three rounds. The fight took place on Fremont Street in Las Vegas under 91 degrees of hot April sun in 2002 and the experience was not a good one for the Queens, New York resident.

After a cautious couple of rounds against the big-punching Colombian, it was Collazo who was moving forward behind the jab and catching punches on the gloves all the while looking every bit a young, undefeated prospect at 14-0. In the third, things were going well until Cassiani caught Collazo and landed several big right hand shots. Nady then abruptly called a halt to the proceedings without Collazo ever touching the canvas.

Steve Farhood was on hand for the Nady stoppage against Cassiani and saw the stoppage this way when he called the fight on Showtime, “I think what Nady saw, when those right hands landed flush, I think he saw the eyes roll just a little bit in Collazo. I’m not a fan of the standing eight-count necessarily, but that’s a situation where a standing eight count would have been perfect. Because you had a fighter who had not been previously hurt who was suddenly hurt and it would have bought the referee and Collazo a little bit of time.”

Asked what he thought of Nady’s quick stoppage, the Brooklyn-born Collazo had his to say at the time: “That’s two times. He don’t like Brooklyn!” He was of course referring to Nady’s quick stoppage when he also summarily halted fellow Brooklynite Zab Judah’s dance moves against Kostya Tszyu.

On his next trip to Vegas, Collazo is hoping for a better roll of the dice and that Jay Nady won’t be the referee. He’s got a big name opponent, another fight on HBO and many feel he is catching “Sugar” Shane Mosley at just the right time to beat him – and that would be a sweet thing indeed if your name is Luis Collazo.

January 2007

MAKE THE FIGHTS AND THEY WILL COME

Have a look around the arena the next time you attend a boxing match or are watching a fight on television. There are pockets of unsold seats and wide swaths of the place that are empty and cold. The atmosphere is often void of excitement with stodgy old farts sitting at ringside with their gray-haired companions. The naysayers might be right this time when they tell you that if the sport of boxing is not dead - then it’s on life support.

Listen to the fans and writers and they’ll tell you that boxing is destined to go the way of men’s tennis and horse racing, which is to say, pretty much irrelevant. Wise boxing sage that he is, Stephen Gordon, Managing Editor-in-Chief of the Cyber Boxing Zone says it like this, "It saddens me so much to realize boxing is on its last legs as a sport in the United States. Boxing, like horse racing, has now become only an ‘event’ sport rather than a sport that draws daily interest from the general sporting public. The only time you hear or read real coverage of horse racing is during the Triple Crown stretch of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont. The rest of the year the sport is basically ignored by the media."

Boxing has so many ills that a medicine cabinet full of pharmaceuticals couldn’t cure what ails it at this point. The so-called "governing" bodies are either inept or corrupt -likely both. With super champions, champions emeritus and interim champions a flow chart written by Bill Gates would be of no help in trying to keep track of the plethora of title belts that pollute the sport.

Many point to the boxing promoters as the real problem in boxing. Most within the industry see the promoters as only being out for themselves while pasting together any cutthroat deal they can muster to pad their own bank accounts. Promoters and managers have essentially been replaced by television networks that green light the fights and sign the checks but their influence still looms like a dark shadow over many of the key decisions.

Casinos and television networks have made the clubfight obsolete because the promoters that are left have forgotten how to really promote a fight at the local level and put butts in the seats in a community. Regional and inner city rivalries have become a thing of the past.

It used to be that Don King and Bob Arum along with the aid of the WBC and WBA controlled boxing. Muddying up that mix of mayhem over the past couple of decades has been the addition of two more sanctioning bodies in the form of IBF and the WBO - with thirty four more "world champions".

No longer do King and Arum hold the promotional monopoly in boxing. Now there are names like DiBella Entertainment, Main Events, Cedric Kushner, Gary Shaw Promotions, Goossen-Tutor, Duva Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions, Warriors Boxing and a list that continues on as long as your arm. Even active fighters are jumping aboard the promotional bandwagon by forming their own loosely organized "promotional companies" in hopes of keeping a larger share of the pie by promoting their own fights. With so many so-called promoters representing so many different fighters with so many self interests, just getting two guys to take off their shirts and punch each other in the mouth has become nearly impossible.

These various promotional companies all sue one other, call each other names and bicker over promotional rights to fighters and titles. As they make veiled threats and trash each other’s fighters, representatives and business practices their escapades keep the Internet boxing sites filled with daily content – much to the delight of readers that are able to follow the ongoing antics and soap opera-like plot lines.

Meanwhile, each promoter retains a cadre of attorneys in the wings to keep fighters from reneging on signed contracts or fleeing to a rival. Most of the entertainment value in boxing these days is in following the comedic shenanigans of the promoters and managers who all accuse each other of back stabbing and what Lennox Lewis coined "politricks" and "skullduggery". The real battles in boxing these days are waged in the boardrooms and courtrooms.

Add to all of this the fact that the two dominant television networks in boxing continually "counter program" one another and split the ever-shrinking boxing viewing audience by broadcasting fights on the same night. HBO rarely allows fighters that appear exclusively on their network to fight a fighter that may appear on Showtime, thus preventing attractive, fan-friendly match-ups from ever seeing the light of day. Recently, the HBO announcing team shocked and disappointed a live viewing audience by announcing the results of the fights of Showtime’s simultaneous live telecast before many had a chance to see them.

Now comes ominous and serious trouble on the horizon. The recent explosion in popularity of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Armed with unified rules and controlling sanctioning bodies that call the shots on everything from rankings to contracts to television deals to marketing it has attracted the coveted younger demographic and also the attention of both HBO and Showtime. Both networks are poised to begin broadcasting MMA bouts on their airwaves in 2007.

While the ratings for MMA events and pay-per view buy rates are held close to the vests of those in charge – they are said to dwarf that of recent boxing events over the past few years. Once subscription networks get a whiff of these ratings and the demographics they bring to the table - it’s a real possibility that boxing could disappear from their networks entirely in the not too distant future.

Because of it’s fragmented nature, boxing suffers in today’s world of slick marketing campaigns, targeting a specific market and moving quickly in a world of change. Multiple promoters, sanctioning bodies and warring factions within a faction make fights difficult to piece together. Deals can fall apart at the last minute because of a myriad of issues ranging from contract details to promotional disagreements or minor monetary issues. Each promoter ends up cutting separate and individual deals with sponsors, casinos and networks. Attempting to hold this hodgepodge together until the actual fight often proves impossible.

Then there is the issue of pay-per view. The past few years has seen the frequency of PPV events multiply like rabbits left unattended. Once reserved for only the very biggest of fights, PPV has become one of the few vehicles left to broadcast boxing. The number of available television dates on the premium networks are often reserved well in advance and are tied to other incentive packages with individual entities often leaving the un-connected promoters disconnected entirely.

Fights that once appeared on "free television" or were known as "ESPN quality" are now appearing on PPV for prices ranging anywhere from $19.95 to $59.95. This practice has only served to alienate the boxing fans that remain who cannot afford cable bills in excess of their monthly mortgage payments.

None of this is good for the health of the sport and none of these complex problems that plague boxing has a simple answer. Boxing is still what the great Jimmy Cannon called, "The red light district of sports." But, unless something changes soon, corporate America will be driven further away from boxing and into the bosom of more welcoming hosts with less complicated problems.

Gone is the time in boxing when in a span of 2 ½ years super fight after super fight was put together that captured the imagination of sports fans around the world. Consider that from June 1980 to November 1982 Roberto Duran fought Ray Leonard in Montreal and New Orleans as well as Wilfred Benitez in Las Vegas. Larry Holmes faced Muhammad Ali and Gerry Cooney in the Las Vegas desert. Leonard stared down Tommy Hearns in that same desert and Aaron Pryor filled the Orange Bowl against Alexis Arguello in Miami. Fights such as those only come along once every several years in this age of disagreement.

"Where have all the boxing fans gone?" is the question that many within the industry are asking.

Here’s a little message for those captains who are steering this rudderless ship called boxing hopelessly aground. It’s a simple answer really - Make the Fights and They Will Come.

January 2007

A LIFE GONE AWRY

One now gets the sense that the only way it will end for Michael Gerard Tyson is badly.

With the troubling reports continuing to emanate from Scottsdale, Arizona that the former two-time heavyweight boxing champion of the word, and once proclaimed "baddest man on the planet" has been arrested for DUI and cocaine possession, we now all get the message that Mike Tyson’s life has shattered into a million pieces of ruin.

At just about two o’clock in the early morning hours of December 29, in the dark streets where Indian School Road and Drinkwater Blvd. cross, Mike Tyson now age 40, was stung by a Scottsdale police task force conducting a DUI sting.

Tyson had just exited a local nightclub and was behind the wheel of his late model, black, BMW 745I. According to the police report, Tyson was observed to be driving erratically, his vehicle was weaving in traffic and he failed to yield at a stop sign. Later, Tyson’s vehicle nearly collided with an undercover SUV that would ultimately intercept him. For the man formerly known as "Iron" Mike Tyson, it would be just another addition to a well known rap sheet that began nearly three decades ago as a twelve year-old boy on the streets of Brownsville, Brooklyn.

The arresting officer searched Tyson’s person and vehicle and "observed a white powder substance on the center console of the vehicle, Mike was wiping the dash off as I approached."
Tyson also possessed "two bags of a white powder substance...in his back left pocket. In addition a bag was located on the driver seat in a Marlboro cigarettes pack." That substance was later deemed to be cocaine.

According to the police report, Tyson "performed poorly on the one leg stand, walk and turn" and was arrested for operating under the influence. A drug test confirmed that Tyson was under the influence of a depressant, a stimulant and cannabis and he was subsequently informed in court today that he would be charged with felony drug possession.

If anything has become clear since Tyson’s latest brush with the law, it is this – his life has an eerie parallel to that of former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Regarded as a man of violence, Liston was a menacing, brooding, dead-eyed fighter that held the heavyweight championship from 1962-1964. Tyson has stated on many occasions during the past decade that he has a strong affinity and feeling of kinship with Liston whose life ended tragically premature.

In a strange pilgrimage shortly before he self-destructed by biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in front of a worldwide audience in June 1997, Tyson visited Liston’s final resting place at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas and placed flowers on his grave marker. It was seen as a strange attempt to connect with another troubled soul that Tyson views as his kindred spirit.

The similarities are striking. Both Liston and Tyson served stints in prison for a variety of offenses. Tyson was imprisoned several years in the early 1990’s for raping Miss Black America beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington. Liston’s longest stint behind bars was for robbery and assaulting a police officer. Both men were born into extreme poverty yet fought their way to the highest heights of the sporting world in becoming heavyweight champion of the world. Both had troubled childhoods, numerous brushes with the law and often blamed the public and press for their litany of problems. Neither could ever overcome the labels put on them by a fickle public as "crass, uneducated, oafs with a penchant for crime".

Charles "Sonny" Liston would die alone under mysterious circumstances in 1970 at his home in Las Vegas. Although his death was ruled by a coroner to be of natural causes, Liston’s body contained traces of heroin, yet he was purportedly terrified of needles and was not an intravenous drug user. Many blamed Liston’s association with the Las Vegas underworld and the mob for his death.

Like Tyson today, Liston was seen as a tragic figure that had a kind heart, but was misunderstood throughout his life by the press and public as nothing more than a sullen, illiterate, thug. Tyson, like Liston before him, is an ex-con who was paid to be violent. Unfortunately, the public has never been able to separate the fact that although Liston and Tyson were bred for violence - they were also human beings.

Despite their successes in the ring, both men struggled to cope in a society outside the ring that only saw them as mean-spirited criminals incapable of human interaction and decency. In contrast, those who knew Liston personally counted him as a great friend who had a warm spot in his heart, especially for children. Tyson, in more solvent times, was known as a generous philanthropist who contributed vast sums of his former fortune to numerous charities, worthy causes and individuals in need.

Despite his many good deeds over the years, Tyson realized several years ago the sad plight of his existence, and the often-introspective fighter once had this to say, "My life is doomed the way it is. I have no future. I feel bad about my outlook, how I feel about people and society, and that I'll never be part of society the way I should."

As much as Tyson has the strong connection to Liston, Sonny had a similar feelings for former heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Liston attempted to model himself after his hero who was celebrated as an American icon and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in 1981. In the late 1960's, both Louis and Liston resided in Las Vegas - as would Tyson in the 1990’s. There is a story that Louis and Liston would often get together in Las Vegas to party, drink, do drugs and gamble together until the wee hours. Liston was just happy to be with his boyhood idol.

After Louis’ boxing career ended in 1951, he was socked with a huge tax debt by the IRS and spent the remainder of his years a broke, alcoholic who also turned to the warm embrace of illegal drugs. Louis was once incarcerated in a Colorado insane asylum and suffered through many years of his life hearing voices that weren’t there and with the fear that imaginary people were trying to kill him. Louis once said, "Nobody wants to die, but everybody wants to go to heaven." Joe Louis died in Las Vegas a near penniless, wheelchair bound, cripple, dimly aware of his tragic surroundings.

Joe Louis, Sonny Liston and now Mike Tyson. Three former heavyweight champions of the world with a lot in common not only in the ring but outside of it as well. Those who knew Liston had a saying about him and it could easily be applied to Tyson’s tragic life today; "He died the day he was born".

Attached to the arresting officer’s report in the Tyson case are a few comments that Tyson made after his arrest. It speaks to utter desperation. It speaks to a man that is grasping at straws. It speaks to the fact that Mike Tyson’s life is one of despair. "I’m an addict" stated Tyson, who also admitted that the cocaine found in his pockets was indeed his. "I use it anytime I can get my hands on it."

When they discovered Sonny Liston’s dead and bloated body inside his Las Vegas dwelling in 1970 there was an unread newspaper that had been delivered to his modest, well kept home and left on the front doorstep. The newspaper was dated December 29, 1970.

Exactly 36 years ago today.

December 2006

MEMORIES

It’s the holiday season, and as my humble gift to you, I’d like to share a few of my most fond boxing memories in nearly 30 years of following the fights and being on the road. In no particular order, here are some of the most memorable evenings the sweet science has blessed me with over the years.

Micky Ward vs. Arturo Gatti I, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut, May 18, 2002 - My then girlfriend, and now wife, Rebecca, and I attended this fight at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. We drove down from Maine that morning and even though it was May we still had to endure some snow showers and slippery roads in Massachusetts. We ended up sitting in front of a Boston guy that had attended Hagler vs. Hearns in Las Vegas and he was with his father and son. To the left of me were some Micky Ward fans from his hometown of Lowell, Mass. To the right of me were some very inebriated New York City guys and one of them happened to be from Ireland. So, you can guess whom he was rooting for. They were all drunk as skunks and were rooting for Irish Micky Ward - as were we. The fight was a masterpiece and we yelled ourselves hoarse. We were jumping up and down, grabbing the arms of complete strangers and at the end some of were hugging each other. What a fight and what a night!

Roberto Duran vs. Davey Moore, June 16, 1983 - I was living in Canada at the time and this fight was actually broadcast live in Canada with the complete undercard – for free. My brother and I were only about 15 years-old at the time and we had just discovered something called beer! We were home alone watching the fights and drinking a few brewskies. Duran caught the old magic and electrified Madison Square Garden with a knockout victory. It was Duran's birthday and after the thrilling, upset victory the sellout crowd at the Garden sang him happy birthday as he stood on the ring apron and cried. I had tears in my eyes too. Roberto Duran became my favorite fighter that night and he remains my favorite to this day. An unforgettable night.

Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, October 7, 1995 - My buddy Rob and I drove all night from New Brunswick, Canada to see this fight in Atlantic City. We left at about six at night and got in Atlantic City at six in the morning. On the way down, while in Maine, we came upon an accident where a bull moose charged into a moving SUV. By the time we happened upon the scene, the moose was lying in the middle of the road and the family travelling in the SUV was bloodied and badly shaken up. The moose was barely alive on the road and its eyes were still open. The next night, Tommy Morrison fared about as well against Lennox Lewis as that moose did against the SUV. When we hit Atlantic City the hookers and pimps were just calling it a day and the surfers were unloading their surfboards to catch a wave. In front of Caesars Palace on the day of the fight, Rob and I were propositioned by a hooker who was sitting inside one of the fake horse and carriages in front of Caesars. She was peeking out from the carriage and said, "Psssst….Hey guys!" We didn’t take her up on her offer. Atlantic City was all that I heard it was and then some.

Benjie Marquez vs. Stevie Valdez, The Blake Street Baseball Club, Denver Colorado, June 25, 1997 - I go to a local clubfight card and sit beside my friend from Boxing Illustrated Dave Hartoon at ringside in the press section - as usual. At the fights in Colorado I always sat with Dave who was a true boxing press guy who I still think about all of the time. The Blake Street Baseball Club was an open-air facility about a block from Coors Field in downtown Denver. It's early evening in Colorado in the summertime, which usually means rain. On this night it was hail. Two local pugs in a four-rounder were really going at it when a hailstorm blows in! Hail pelts the crowd, the ring and the fighters! People desert their seats in a mad dash for cover from the pelting hail. Meanwhile, in the ring, in the middle of a hailstorm, the two fighters fight to the final bell in the fourth! The bell rings and the fighters and referee immediately jump out of the ring and dash for cover! After the storm passes they squeegee out the ring and the fights continue! As they say, "The show must go on!" and it did. But it only got better! Two local clubfighters by the names of Benjie Marquez with a record of 23-13-2 and Stevie Valdez with a record of 8-19-2 engage in a tremendous give and take battle that rivals any fight I have ever seen for intensity, drama and heart. I still say it’s one of the best fights I have seen – ever! After 10 rounds of blood and guts, Stevie Valdez got his 9th career win.

Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, June 11, 1982 - I'm 13 years old and I talk my Dad into spending $20 a ticket to take me to see this fight on closed-circuit in Saint John, New Brunswick. We show up at this arena called the Lord Beaverbrook Rink (which is usually a hockey venue) and on this night the place is packed. Thousands of guys have all shown up to see the fights. It's on a grainy big-screen with lousy sound but the beer is flowing freely and I've never seen so many drunk tough guys congregated all in one place at the same time. Saint John is a port city and is strictly a blue-collar, working class city with piers and mills and guys that work "down on the docks". It's my first live big fight experience and my baptism couldn't have been any more beautiful.

Turning Stone Casino, Verona, New York, June 12, 1999 - My buddy Rob and I are in town for the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. We're strolling around the Turning Stone Casino wasting some time when we go into a small bar/nightclub around noontime. Who's up on stage rehearsing his singing act? None other than Smokin' Joe Frazier. The place is totally empty except us, Joe and his bodyguard. We watch Joe practice his singing, dancing and lounge act. We were awestruck! Here we are watching Joe Frazier (the first time we had ever seen him) do a private singing session. Joe hits all the high notes and I must say he still had some moves.

Roberto Duran at Sportsworld, Boston, Mass., November 22, 1998 - I heard Duran was going to be in town signing autographs at a little sports card shop for a couple of hours on a chilly Sunday morning. I show up an hour before Duran is supposed to be there and I'm sitting outside the place when after a while I see Duran and a few of his people walking down the street. Duran had just been knocked out by William Joppy a few months earlier and has already put on about 40 pounds in that short time. I meet him inside the sports card shop and he's still as intimidating as I imagined he would be when he was a spitfire of a lightweight. He has coal black hair and eyes and he's got thick shoulders and arms. Looking into his eyes and shaking his hand like that sent a little shudder through me. I only imagined what must have been going through the minds of his opponents when they met him at center ring and looked into those same eyes. Duran was happy-go lucky and jovial on this Sunday morning as he was making $35 per autograph and a lot of old friends showed up to see him. Then he was gone, but I got to meet a true legend.

Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward II, Atlantic City, New Jersey, November 23, 2002 - My then girlfriend, and now wife, Rebecca, and I leave a bar at Caesars Palace and are walking around the casino. It's about an hour before the fights begin over at the Boardwalk Hall and I see Micky Ward and his then girlfriend Charlene standing next to a set of escalators. I walk over, introduce myself and wish Micky good luck. I get to shake his hand and talk to him just an hour or so before he got into the ring with Gatti to fight another fight of the year. Ward was the epitome of cool and collected and he looked about as fit as I have ever seen any fighter look. Micky Ward was one of a kind. When they made Mick and that left hand shot to the body – they broke the mold.

George Foreman vs. Michael Moorer, November 5, 1994 - My friend Rob and I again. We're up in Fredericton, New Brunswick Canada watching Foreman vs. Moorer on pay-per view. Like everybody else we think the fight is lost for George when out of nowhere comes that unbelievable right hand shot. We're in my apartment when that shot lands and after Moorer doesn't get up we're both jumping up and down and hooting and hollering like a couple of kids! The must heave heard us screaming in Vegas. It was just total, unrestrained, uncharacteristic emotion and celebration! Rob and I looked at one another when that shot landed and then we saw Moorer sprawled out on the canvas - we were shocked and I'll never forget it. I’ll never forget Jim Lampley’s call of that knockout as long as I live, "It happened! It happened!"

Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward III, Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 6, 2003 - My then girlfriend Rebecca and I have been together for four years at this point. I've convinced her to come to Atlantic City with me to see the Final Chapter of Gatti vs. Ward. She was with me for the first two fights as well. It's the night before the fight and she doesn't know that my real motivation was to get her down to the beach on the Boardwalk so I can propose to her. We go for a walk along the beach the night before the big fight. I plant the engagement ring in the sand and call her over. I say, "What is that in the sand?" She picks up the ring, gets sort of a confused look on her face and then she figures out what's going on. She made me get down on one knee and all of that - but she said "Yes!" We head for the Irish Pub to celebrate and run into Micky Ward's publicist Bob Trieger and his friend Ed Kelley. Bob keeps the drinks and the stories coming and we all have a great night of cheer and fun! Little did we know, the next night would be just as thrilling as Gatti and Ward did it again!

St. Dominic's Arena, Lewiston, Maine, September 22, 1995 - They're holding a big celebration to commemorate Muhammad Ali's second fight against Sonny Liston that took place here 30 years ago. Floyd Patterson is also here to help with the festivities. Shannon Briggs, who was then trained by Teddy Atlas is the main event of a fight card that is happening later on in the same arena where Ali hit Liston with the "Phantom Punch". Ali is the special guest of honor, but there is a snag. Ali hasn't been paid his $25,000 fee for appearing and the hotel ballroom full of people is getting restless because of Ali's absence. Finally, a briefcase full of cash appears and a few minutes later - so does Ali to the chant of "ALI! ALI! ALI ALI" At this point, Ali' Parkinson's is pretty well advanced and he shakes uncontrollably and can barely walk without assistance. But, ever the entertainer, Ali breaks the crowd up when the mayor of Lewiston presents him with a key to the city. Ali whispers into the microphone, "I come all the way to Maine...and this is all I get?" He can still work a room like no fighter before or since.

Michael Dokes vs. Louis Monaco, Azteca Theater, Denver, Colorado, April 5, 1997 - I'm there in Denver with my friend Tim Stanovich from Chicago at this old, run-down theater similar to the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia. Michael Dokes is fighting later in the night and I see him sitting in the crowd watching the prelims. I go over and talk to him and he's a bit bizarre to say the least. He barely speaks above a whisper and he is dressed like a pimp. I hear he's getting $2,500 for the fight against hometown boy and clubfighter Louis Monaco. Dokes goes down in the first round from a huge shot that probably broke his nose and he goes on to lose to Monaco in a ten round decision. Afterwards I just wonder to myself - How does a guy go from heavyweight champion of the world earning millions of dollars - to this?

Graziano's Bar, Canastota, New York, June 12, 1999 – We’re there having a rip-roaring time and I am drunk out of my mind. Who is buying me drinks and whose cigarettes am I smoking? Alexis Arguello's! Amazing! And who is sitting with us in the same booth drinking like a fish as well? None other than Ruben Olivares. Arguello and Olivares want to have me help them pick up some chicks! For me and my buddy Rob this whole scene is just nuts! I must say that Alexis Arguello is one of the funniest guys I've ever shared some drinks with. I'm not sure I've ever laughed that hard for that long!

Ricky Hatton vs. Luis Collazo, TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Mass., May 13, 2006 - It's a dreary night in Boston and it hasn't stopped raining for what seems like days. The trip from the hotel to the arena in a taxi was death defying. It's cold and it's wet so Ricky Hatton must feel right at home in this cold and half empty arena. It definitely English weather. Whatever the case, about a thousand Hatton fans from England show up to cheer on "Our boy, Ricky!" and they are exchanging insults and taunts with quite a few Luis Collazo supporters from Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Things get real tense and then the boys in blue from the Boston Police Department show up. They make the cops in Boston big and they appear as though they don't have much of a sense of humor. A few guys are led out with their hands behind their back and a couple Englishmen made an awfully long trip to miss the fight and spend a night in the slammer. Hatton goes on to narrowly defeat Collazo and he takes his lumps along the way. I thought the fight could have gone either way but I give it to Hatton by a point. On the taxi ride back to the hotel after the fight the cabby tells us that he had Hatton in his cab earlier in the week. Said Ricky was a real nice boy - and a big tipper!

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Diego Corrales, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, January 19, 2001 - The fighters are weighing in and Corrales misses making the 130-pound mark his first time. He comes back about an hour later and strips down to nothing. I'm standing beside HBO fight judge Harold Lederman, and he says, "I haven't weighed 130 since my Bar Mitzvah!" Corrales looks like a prisoner of war he is so skinny. 6'0" tall and 130 pounds. His skin is gray and dry and he looks like he's close to death with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. He looks like one of those starving African kids you see on those UNICEF commercials as his head looks too big for his emaciated body. Only a few of us are there. Jose Sulaiman, Marc Ratner and a handful of others. If Corrales doesn't make the weight there is no fight...He steps on the scales and everybody takes a deep breath....130 it is! Miguel Diaz his trainer erupts in celebration. The fight will go on!

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Ricardo Mayorga, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 6, 2006 - I'm sitting in the press section with Jack Hirsch and Sean Sullivan, the man behind Boxing Digest. The main event is about to begin and the crowd in the MGM Grand Garden is getting restless. The night before, over at Mandalay Bay, I was presented with a Barney Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America, so for me it has been a great weekend already. Michael Buffer is going through the motions and introducing the celebrities who are all seated in various spots around ringside. "Georrrggge Lopezzzz!!! Vince Vaaaauuuggghhhnnnn!!!" But then something crazy happens. Buffer announces that Sylvester Stallone is in the crowd. Stallone stands up to take bow and wave and then everyone in the MGM Grand Garden begins chanting, "ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY! I feel like I'm in the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1976, and at any moment Apollo Creed is going to be coming down the aisle on a float dressed like Uncle Sam!

So there you have it, some of my best memories of being on the road and following what the great fight writer John Schulian called, "The Crooked Nose Crew". I'd like to hear your memories and stories as well.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

December 2006