Rusty Rubin, Managing Editor
www.ringsports.com

Anyone bother to look at the heavyweight division lately?

Let me tell you that if you have to consider Lennox Lewis, John Ruiz, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson in the top 10, boxing has a major problem.

Lewis fought once over the past year and looked like he shouldn’t have, based on his performance against Vitali Klitschko, and his age. Tyson hasn’t fought in about a year and may be fighting in K1 instead of in the squared circle. Holyfield has nothing to prove and shouldn’t fight any longer and Ruiz was at best a club fighter who never could fight much. A very sad commentary on today’s heavyweights.

And it seems that through the years, the popularity of our sport has coincided with the popularity of today’s heavyweights. Who is your favorite? Or more to the point, how can you even rate this crop of big boys?

What’s in the future? Hard to say, but we may catch a break because next year is an Olympic year and a lot of new blood is going to enter the pro ranks thereafter. But remember it’s almost impossible to go straight from the Olympics to a world title, as Leon Spinks is the only one that comes to mind, and he had a few bouts before he fought and defeated Ali.***

A decent turnout on a very cold Tahoe night for a CKP Heavyweight Explosion. Perhaps the best fighter of the night was a heavyweight named Jovo Padar, who ran his record to 21-1 (12), with a 6th round TKO over Derrick Bryant.

Other winners included: David Bostice, Vaia Zagayas, Joey Gilbert and Gilbert Martinez.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.

Glove2Glove:

Please say prayers for solid boxing guy, member of the WBHOF and all around class act Sabatini Abrucchi who is recovering from cancer surgery.

Please say prayers for the soul of former top-notch fighter Art Soto, who passed away on Nov. 14.

Say a prayer for the return to health of great boxer Mando Ramos, who is badly hurting, a result of an unsuccessful back surgery.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.

Chas. Shandor, father in law of Ringsports.com writer Nick Constantine has been diagnosed with cancer and needs your prayers.

Prayers are asked for and welcomed for LaVerne Gaither of Atlanta, who is having some serious medical problems.

Your prayers have worked and Martin Sommers is back in hospice care. He and his family pass along their heartfelt thanks, and ask that your prayers continue.

Also down but not out with cancer is Kathy Ceravola, sister of top referee Elmo Adolph, and my best friend and co-founder of Glove2Glove, Susiey Walker.
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.

Classified:
Reader Ed Ramos has the following articles available for sale. All come with letter of authenticity
1- Rocky Marciano golden gloves autographed 1968 trophy-$700.This trophy comes with a notarized letter of authenticity. The autograph was obtained by the son of the promoter of this tournament.
2-Muhummud Ali plaque -$1500.This plaque was given to Ali over 10 years ago and is in excellent condition.
3-Joe Louis-Max Shmeling vintage puppets from either the 1930s or 1940s-$300 set. These puppets are extremely rare and are in very good condition.
4-Sonny Liston cut signature-$1000.
5-Cassius Clay 1963 cut signature-$900.
6-Sugar Ray Robinson autographed collage poster-$400.
7-Boxing Illustrated autographed by Ali in 1974-1975-$300.This vintage Ali autographs is one of the best ones that I have ever seen on a magazine.
8-Cassius Clay autographed boxing glove from the early 1960s-$1500 or best
offer.

Touching on politics briefly:

Is it me or does anyone out there understand that Michael Jackson should not be dominating the news. In fact a vigil for a possible pedophile is downright stupid. How about a vigil for the fine young men who are risking their lives daily in Iraq?***

Speaking of Iraq, has anyone else taken notice the resemblance that Iraq is taking on to Viet Nam?

First, after 9/11 our government went for assistance from the Military Industrial Complex, and their best advice was no different then it was in Nam. We have no new ways to fight a guerilla war as did in Nam and are doing in Iraq.

Iraq is surrounded by countries that either support terrorism or at least do little or nothing to stop the infiltration. And that’s the problem. We’re committed to Iraq, while in Afghanistan, and let me remind you of the mistake that Hitler made in WWII, when they attacked Russia, you can’t fight on two fronts, which is what we’re doing now, not to mention Korea, where we are also committed.

We can send in all the troops we want, but we are fighting an unseen enemy, and they get help from the surrounding countries. In short, we’re in a war we can’t hope to win.

Yet, we must support our troops who are serving there. The good news is that we accomplished our mission a long time ago, we took out Sadaam and his two bloodthirsty sons. So why do we remain? Can anyone spell Halliburton?

The question then, is even if we made a mistake, how do we extricate ourselves from Iraq and prevent a civil war from taking place there?

Does any of this sound a bit like Viet Nam to any of you? The difference is that we could have continued to pound North Viet Nam with bombs and probably bring them to their knees eventually. In Iraq, it’s different, much different. You can’t bomb what you can’t see, and sadly our fine young men are bogged down, for the most part fighting an invisible foe.

I’m not a military expert, but I can’t see anyway we can win this battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. At least not without the support and the help of the Muslim countries and other peace loving people in the world, and that just doesn’t seem like a likely scenario at present.

Now maybe that’s something worthwhile to have a vigil for.

Agree or disagree, all responses are welcome and the best will be published.