The Square Ring

by Howie Reed, THE PATTAYA MAIL

Back in the day, John L Sullivan would walk into a bar and yell, “I can whip any man in the house.” If he were alive today upon entering a beverage establishment he’d have to state, “I can whip any man, women or anything in between in the house.”

John L was a guy that could and did back up what he said. He fought from 1879 to 1892 fighting almost everywhere including an 1888 bout in Cardiff against William Samuells. Sullivan’s only loss came in his last bout when he was KO’d by Gentleman James Corbett in 21 rounds at the Olympic Club in New Orleans, or N’Awlins as locals call it. Mr. J. Brown claims that the fight was actually held in Metairie, Louisiana, which is next door to N’Awlins.
John L’s bragging ways have carried on in today’s boxing. There are those though that subscribe to the theory that, “if you say it and deliver, then it ain’t bragging.”

Just shut up…Please!

WBA super-middleweight champion Anthony Mundine is one of those whose “big mouth” usually overloads his talent. Now that usually isn’t a major problem as the sport has come to expect “donkeys and jackasses” braying at the moon, with the moon being played by boxing writers and fans.
Next Wednesday, Mundine will defend his title against fellow Aussie Sam Soliman (35-10) in Melbourne. As Mundine KO’d Soliman in 9 rounds last year, another win is expected. Mundine, for those that may have forgotten, said days after 9/11, “America had it coming.” When involved in “footie” in Aussie Mundine whined his way to becoming the most unpopular person in the game. His latest outburst is beyond the pale though.
“I’m a Muslim and I can’t allow myself to lose to a Christian. My people are persecuted all over the world and they need inspirational figures like myself, Zinedine Zidane in soccer and also fellow fighters like Sugar Shane Mosley to look up to.”

Yes, one can see his viewpoint in regard to his “people” being persecuted as folks tend to shy away from those “people” who have bombs strapped to their bodies – not wanting to get blown up. Imagine that!
Charlie Gergan, who trained and managed Mundine’s father, the great Tony Mundine, fired back: “Anthony has made some silly statements regarding he can’t lose to Sam Soliman because he is a Christian and not a Muslim. That is stupidity. Anthony must realize that the three boxers who defeated him - Sven Ottke, Manny Siaca and Mikkel Kessler were not Muslim. He also said Shane Mosley is a Muslim. That is also wrong. Anthony is a good boxer but is not nearly as good as his father Tony. I am sure his father would have defeated him easily had they both met at their best.”

Sir Frog’s pal Mikkel Kessler laid an “ass kicking” on Mundine with a blowout 120-108, 117-113 and 116-112 back in 2005. Mundane has been “ordered” by the WBA to defend against Mikkel Kessler after Soliman. The “Muslim role model” is now running from the Kessler fight like a cat with battery acid on its butt.

“I can be a six-time world champion in three different weight divisions. I will definitely finish a great fighter. I will be the best athlete ever overall, “ says Mundine.

What a load. He’s never fought outside Aussie and couldn’t beat fellow super-middleweight Joe Calzaghe or middleweights Jeff Lacy or Arthur Abraham. He’d get “incinerated” by Kelly Pavlik.

Farming new ground for boxing

With most of the boxing old grounds barren, it’s wise for those that farm for boxers to find new acreage. Last year the seed was planted in Sweden but as of today the crop has failed to flourish.

Next came the UAE with their latest crop, Dorine-Huseine, with that dying before it started. Mother Russia had a couple of heavyweight championship fights that did absolutely nothing in Moscow.

Give boxing promoters one thing, they very seldom give up and do actually search for more fertile lands. Next up may be Odessa, which as almost no one knows is the largest seaport in the Ukraine.

While maybe opening new lands, the promoters are also to some degree going “back to the future.” They are recycling David ‘The Tuaman’ Tua (49-3-1) and present heavyweight prospect Roman Greenberg, who at 27-0 has yet to face a warm body.

Now some could argue, count TSR as some, that a match between The ‘Tua Man’ and Greenberg would be interesting. The problem is that they won’t face each other but rather members of the largest family in boxing - the TBA’s. Also considered for the card are Serbian Enad Licina (31-1) as well as Ukrainian Jewish New Yorker Dmitry Salita and Yuri Voronin (25-8-2) from Odessa. The latter is only 2-5-1 in the last 8.

Asia has been a fertile ground for boxers that has been greatly overlooked, and there are more reasons for this than a “Teelocks” excuse for going home to visit her family.

Golden Boy Promotions may have finally realized that fact by signing the 20-0 Indonesian featherweight star Daud Chino Yordan. The youngster packs a punch with 15 KO’s. Yordan has a five-year contract with 4 fights a year and could open Asia up for other promising boxers in the region. His first fight was to have been May 31 as part of the undercard of Mosley-Judah in Las Vegas.

Highly Anticipated

Boxing columnists with way too much time on their hands, little talent or knowledge are constantly scouring the worldwide web looking for boxing news. A term that is used to death in these stories is “highly anticipated.” The next words spoken should be, “by who?”

The term, “highly anticipated” flows from a boxing flak’s computer with that same ease as the term “I love you too much” does from employees at most of Pattaya’s better refreshment venues. When heard, “I love you too much” should be followed by, “for now.” It’s just like 2 following 1 and preceding 3.

There is though one match up that probably is “highly anticipated’ in Thailand. That would be he rubber match between Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson in Bangkok on June 24. Fenech, a little long in the tooth at 43, is the youngster against 50-year old Azuma Nelson.

The spin out of ‘Aussieland’ by his trainer John Lewis is, “He’s been sensational in sparring sessions with former IBF 130 pound champion Gairy St Claire. What Fenech is doing in the ring is freakish.”

Nelson is always in shape so it’ll be interesting to see how these old timers do in the ring. When they fought back in 1992 in Melbourne they drew 37,000 fans. Be interesting to see the turnout in Bangkok, which as you know is the City of Angles except “no wings, no dance.”

If I were a hack I would type that the Chris Byrd’s (40-5-1) match against Shaun George (17-2) last Saturday night in Las Vegas was the “highly anticipated” return of Chris Byrd to the light heavyweight ranks. But I’m not, so I won’t.

Chris Byrd was a darn good middleweight in the amateurs but being smarter than most knew he had to move up in weight in the pros to make big money. He became a “very elusive” heavyweight who won a heavyweight tile when Vitali Klitschko quit on his stool when he “hurt” his elbow in 9th round of their title fight. Klitschko was leading by a wide margin on all three cards.

Bryd would then lose on a UD to Wladimir Klitschko. He would then collect the IBF title against Fres Oquendo only to lose it first time out to? Yep, Wladimir Klitschko. And the term “very elusive?” Hard to hit, moved a lot and hit like a feather duster.

The venue for his return to the light heavy division, he had one previous pro fight at that weight, was the Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV. He opened the Cox to boxing in 2001 when he laid a whipping on David Tua. That one was memorable because TSR bet on Byrd at 13-1. Nice pay day.
Byrd’s fight last weekend could have ended in disaster. He got knocked down three times before referee Jay Nady stopped the bout at 2:45 of round 9. Byrd had dislocated his left shoulder at sometime during the fight.

While in the dressing room afterwards, a doctor administered a combination of valium and morphine to relieve Byrd’s pain. When Byrd became unresponsive he was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital unconscious. He was later revived and released but his career is over in the ring.

“I’m not letting him fight anymore,” Byrd’s wife Tracey told boxing writer Tim Smith. Sometimes the wife knows best.

Jeeves time

“Your Lordship, more than 18,000 packed the bullring in Agua Calientes, which means ‘hot water’, to watch ex –champ Jorge Arce (49-4-1) and Thailand’s Devid Lookmahanak (18-2) go ‘mano-e-mano’ in a bout that could have gone ether way.

“Arce squeaked out a majority decision 115-113, 115-114, 114-114 that would have been a draw but for a ‘flash knockdown’ in the 7th. Lookmahanak, fighting for the first time outside Thailand, will certainly be a name to take note of in the super-flyweight division.

“Arce now gets a rematch and a title shot against WBC/WBA champion Cristian Mijares who unified the titles with a split decision win over Alexanander Munoz last Sunday. When Arce and Mijares met the first time, Mijares came away with a lopsided UD.

“Next Sunday, Rocky Hatton (43-1) gets back in the ring before upwards of 55,000 fans at the City of Manchester Stadium against Juan Lazcano (37-4-1). Lazcano is perfect and should be a nice showcase for Hatton’s talents.

“In the semi main, if Paul Malignaggi (24-1) puts on a good a show against Lovemore ‘Not Less’ N’dou (46-9-1) then he’ll get Hatton in September. Readers in the UK can watch the fight live on Sky Box Office while USA readers can see the fights live on VERSUS at 3:30 PM Eastern Time. Thai fans? ‘No Eye Deer’ but it would be 3:30 in the AM on Sunday.

“William Sergeant wishes to disagree with Teddy Atlas on his contention that Oscar de La Hoya was never in his fight against Floyd Mayweather jr. ‘Teddy Atlas must need glasses cuz Oscar was jabbing the hell out of Mayweather till he stopped late in the fight. I still feel Oscar won on points!’

“Your Lordship I heard that your pal and TV star Benny ‘I keek a touchdown’ Ricardo’s son ran a lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research. A little bird told me that between just you and Hugh Hefner he raised $25,025 US dollars. How much of that did you give your Lordship?”
Just bring the lager, cigars and Fleetwood Mac for the DVD, Jeeves.