Boxing Thread

[Bluetonic]

Anyone seen the Frank Warren card for September? The Magnificent Seven...looks really good.

 

Here's how the card is looking at the minute

 

-Nathan Cleverly v Karo Murat

-Kell Brook v Michael Jennings

-Enzo Maccarinelli v Alexander Frenkel

-Ryan Rhodes v Lukas Konecny

-Darren Barker v Matthew Macklin

-Derek Chisora v Sam Sexton

-James DeGale v TBA

 

Non-televised fights:

 

-Frankie Gavin v Curtis Woodhouse

-Don Broadhurst v TBA

-Ronnie Heffron v TBA

Gavin's not fighting Woodhouse anymore, he's fighting an Irish jobber for the Irish title.

 

As for Enzo, well he was never very good, but he's a really nice guy so I hope his good run carries on, was well pleased watching him win the European title on some crap stream.

[Egg Shen]

did anyone see David Tua/Monte Barrett last weekend? as far as heavyweight contests, it was as good a fight as ive seen in a while. A large portion of the contest was plodding with not a lot happening, but when it ignited it was pretty exciting stuff. The last round was fantastic stuff, both just trading bombs, i think everyone was thinking 'Barret's gonna get KO'd!!!' then BOINK, down goes David Tua, first knockdown of his career and considering some of the competition he's fought that was some achievment by Monte Barrett.

 

A draw was called which was maybe understandable and Tua won a lof of the early rounds, but there was some controversy.

[Egg Shen]

...then there was this:

 

Danny Green vs Paul Briggs

 

thoughts?

 

Danny Green's post fight interview is scathing but he's since retracted his comments as apparently Briggs was legit hurt. It was the slightest of punches though, very weird.

[David]

The fact that a lot of money was put on a 1st round KO doesn't help matters.

[Egg Shen]

anyone watching Marquez/Diaz tonight?

[David]

anyone watching Marquez/Diaz tonight?

Tonight?

 

I thought it was Saturday?

[wandshogun09]

So did anyone watch Marquez-Diaz 2?

 

I thought it was a great fight maybe not quite as good as the first but still really good.I'm a big JMM fan so I'm chuffed he got the win after getting shown up by Mayweather.He's still got something left although he's not quite the same guy who fought Pacquiao and Barrera.

[nfc90210]

Edit: Yeah, I know that I spelt notorious wrong in the thread title.

 

Just over four years ago Alan Conceicao who did/does post on Death Valley Driver Video Review Message board wrote two good pieces on notorious boxing fuck-ups Ike Ibeabuchi and Tony Ayala Jr. They were posted in DVDVR Random Boxing Thoughts thread. I stumbled across them again today. They are pretty good and deserve to be resurrected.

 

So, Ike...

 

Jun 6 2006, 06:22 AM

 

IKE IBEABUCHI

 

 

Ike Ibeabuchi last stepped into a boxing ring in 1999, just 7 years ago. In the time since that appearance, much has been said about the Nigerian based boxer. The general public has, in large part, forgotten him. Hell, they barely had a chance to know him to begin with. However, that should not diminish what he accomplished in the time period that he had in the sport.

 

No, Ike was special. Ike was the last truly amazing looking prospect the heavyweight division has ever seen. His early career never truly displayed what was possible from "The President". Watching him defeat people like Calvin Jones on undercards of bigger bouts didn't surprise the world, though terribly notify it of who this man was. The television exposure was minor. The hype was nonexistent. No one really knew this man. That all changed the night he walked into Sacramento's Arco Arena on June 7th, 1997.

 

TUA/IBEABUCHI

 

History almost forgets that Ike Ibeabuchi was the huge underdog coming into the fight with David Tua. Tua had KOed John Ruiz in 19 seconds, Oleg Maskaev in 11 rounds, David Izon in an incredible 12, and Darroll Wilson in one. He was touted not just as any sort of ordinary heavyweight, but a Samoan Tyson, capable of KOing anyone at any point in a fight, no matter how far down on points. His power was staggering; the short left hook that landed on the button of Wilson put him on the canvas for probably 10 minutes. The Ruiz fight nearly killed The Quiet Man, forced him to totally revamp his style to the jab and grab of today, and was the most vicious KO seen this side of Codrington/Green. The Izon bout was the biggest of Tua's career to this point, as Izon had defeated Tua in the Olympics (even dropping him with a body shot) on his way to a bronze medal at the 1992 games. Instead, Izon fought valiantly (as always) and absorbed an incredible amount of punishment (as always) before finally succumbing to Tua's assault in the final round of a scintillating bout that, at the time, ranked as the third highest number of punches in a heavyweight bout.

 

Almost universally, Ike Ibeabuchi/David Tua is considered to be the greatest heavyweight bout of this era (1996-2006) in the heavyweight division. Considering the epic war Tua went through with David Izon 6 months before, its a pretty impressive mark. There very little questioning as to why. In 12 rounds, Tua and Ibeabuchi totalled nearly 200 punches more than Ali and Frazier in 14 rounds. Ibeabuchi averaged almost 90 punches a round for ALL 12 rounds, marks that almost no heavyweight in history could touch. Ike beat Tua in a fashion no one even considered, much less attempted afterwards; Rather than attempt to simply outbox Tua, Ike dared to face him head on, throwing as many power shots as Tua did, and generally nearly twice as many.

 

He took on a person who was perhaps the hardest puncher in the division in a phone booth. To call it anything short of madness would be a huge understatement. In fact, Ike was rocked in the 10th round from a series of Tua blows. Unlike Fres Oquendo, Oleg Maskaev, Hasim Rahman, and so many others, however, Ike was returning fire by the time the bell hit. The display of courage won him a razor thin decision that put him on the map with HBO and boxing fans everywhere. While there were and have been questions about the decision, there's no doubt about what it says officially. When I recently rewatched the bout, I had Ike by a point in a fight I wouldn't have cared about if it had gone either way. In any case, it was a coming out for Ike and, in some sense, the end of Tua. Tua would see wild fluctations in his weight from then on and often looked lost in the ring. Ike was a different story.

 

AFTERMATH AND THE LEGEND

 

Some say it was happening before the Tua fight. Some say it was the beating that he took in it that would lead to the behaviour. One thing is for certain; after the Tua fight, Ike's tendencies went from bizarre to dangerous and outright illegal.

 

Ibeabuchi preached being a christian, but displayed a love of strippers and hookers as he began to cash in on his success. This in and of itself is not horribly surprising from any public figure. What is surprising is the changes in mental status. Ike began to report hearing things prior to the Tua bout. He claimed he saw demons. They lived in his basement, on airplanes, and virtually everywhere he went. Ike grew increasingly paranoid, and following the Tua bout, his career advancement was basically put on hold while his trainer Curtis Cokes tried to keep him satiated. It would prove to be futile.

 

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

 

To understand what happened to Ike, perhaps looking at his childhood and development would be best. Ike was a product of the Nigerian Amateur Boxing System, a horribly corrupt amateur boxing factory where kids are taken from homes when they show promise in order to win national glory. Ike was not the first at heavyweight, nor has he been the last. Henry Akinwande, Davi Izon, Samuel Peter, Duncan Dokiwari, and David Defiagbon all went through it along with Ike. Their story is all the same; total poverty, general lack of education, a western boxing coach seeing potential, and then typically exploitation. Ike was processed from the time he was a teenager to be a fighter with no other life prospects. Hell of a way to grow up.

 

THE DEMONS SPEAK, AND IKE LISTENS

 

In the turmoil of the post-Tua world, Ike was now nearing mandatory status for a fight with Lennox Lewis. He had a contract with HBO. He was also certifiably insane. He was a paranoid schitzophrenic sex addict. All of this would collide in 1998 when he heeded the call of the demons. Following an altercation with his girlfriend (a stripper), Ike abducted her son, stole her car, and lead the police on a high speed chase outside Phoenix, Arizona. It ended horrifically; Ike crashed the car, flipping it upside down and smacking square into an overpass. There's even been reports that Ike attacked the child after the car came to rest. What's known for certain is that the child is permanently handicapped, and Ike only recieved two months in jail for his misdeeds. Quietly swept away and kept under the nose of the boxing fandom, it would probably not have made much noise....if it wasn't for Ike's encore.

 

IKE IBEABUCHI/CHRIS BYRD

 

Chris Byrd would fall again to Wladimir Klitschko several years later, but nothing quite tops the crushing defeat at the hands of Ike Ibeabuchi. Byrd was at the peak of his abilities when he fought with Ibeabuchi, and some considered him impossible to KO. They were completely wrong.

 

Ike came in swarming in the fight, taking the fight directly to Byrd and totally outthrowing and outlanding him in the first 4 rounds. Round 3 ended with Ike tagging Byrd clean and beginning to rain shots against the ropes just as the bell rang. In fact, watching it again, the view of Ike's face as he turns to his corner is one that best exemplifies Ike. His mouth is open, his eyes glaring with nothing but vile hatred. The end of the fight featured fireworks that are unmatched in the time since. Ike landed a half uppercut/hook to Byrd as Byrd lay on the ropes that forced Chris' head up violently. The spray coming off him looked like he had been shot, a la JFK, and less hit with a punch. Drooling, Byrd would arise only to be dropped again, with the referee calling for the bell as the 5th was just to end.

 

The combination of his talents was obvious; he was a 6'3'' 235lb chiseled, iron jawed, swarming power puncher from hell. Ike had everything anyone could possibly want in a fighter. He was Julio Cesar Chavez and Mike Tyson put in Shannon Briggs' body. The destiny was now clear. It was on to Lennox Lewis, Michael Grant be damned.

 

MIRAGE

 

Its fitting that the Ike Ibeabuchi's career ended at the venerable Vegas hotel/casino. A couple months after the Byrd fight, as Ike had done so many times before, Ike called for a escort to come to his room. The commonality of such practice is known to anyone who's been to Vegas; you're passed cards featuring the nude bodies of women and phone numbers to call them from virtually a seemingly endless line of mexican immigrants lining Las Vegas Blvd. And for Ike, this was no unfamiliar process either. It should have been. It wasn't.

 

Again, the demons spoke. The escort wanted her money up front. The demons inside Ike didn't want to pay. Ike would kidnap the woman and brutally rape her for hours in his hotel room, keeping her as a hostage of sorts. Eventually when he released her, it would not be long for the cops to come. This time, unlike what happened in Phoenix, there would be no slap on the wrist.

 

71979

 

Ike Ibeabuchi is now serving his sentence. After a fight of 4 years to determine whether or not Ike was even mentally competent to stand trial (he was finally found so), he was convicted in a short trial to 3-20 year sentence, dependant on parole. His next hearing is in 2007. His career is over. Even if released, Ike will be almost 35, his prime years gone. The sport of boxing needed Ike during those years desperately.

 

However, the world and society did not. Ike is a abhorrent human being who has shown little remorse for his crimes. Ike should not only serve the full 20 years, he should promptly be deported upon release. While its possible that inmate #71979 at Lovelock Correctional Center could be a great champion in 18 months even now, its not worth it to put people's lives at risk for a sport. Serious attempts were made in 2004 to get him out. In fact, Ike Ibeabuchi would be courted by Sig Rogich, a Reagan and Bush (both of 'em) adviser who did his damndest to get him out and into a promotional contract. The courts, thank god, didn't buy it.

 

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

 

Ike's mental instability makes Mike Tyson look like the pope. Assuming that he never had mental illness, he had the talent and skills to mow down anyone in the division, from Rahman to Kirk Johnson to Holyfield and even Lennox Lewis. Lewis never did like midsized heavyweights with a chin and decent jab, and Ike's Mercer impersonation could have been nearly fatal. Then again, perhaps the lack of demons would have made Ike lazier and more like his current brethern of wasted talent in the division today. Who knows. In the end, it doesn't really matter. What's done is done. Where Ike's place in history falls won't really matter, because a champion he'll never be.

 

And so it ends for Ike. He is a footnote in history. The dominant heavyweight of our time that should have been.

[nfc90210]

And Tony...

 

Once again credit for this goes to Alan Conceicao.

 

Jun 7 2006, 03:28 AM

 

TONY AYALA JR.

 

 

Ayala, like Ibeabuchi, was the surest of sure things. In 1982, the young junior middleweight terror was on his way to big fights and huge money against the Haglers', Hearns', Durans', and Sugar Ray Leonards' of his day. Not only was it his destiny, but he was destined to do it young; in his early 20s. Hell, he was only 19 when he was put in jail.

 

But just like Ike, his rush for victory in the ring was a drive bordering on insanity mixed with sexual addiction. Inevitably, it destroyed him and his career. Unlike Ike, he actually got out of his cell and had a chance to fufill his dream. It would be many years too late, and as it turned out, too soon to let Ayala back in to society.

 

--------------------------

 

SAN ANTONIO

 

The man who would become El Torito was born on February 13th, 1968, in one of America's top boxing towns; San Antonio, TX. The culture of San Antonio is built for the fight game. With a huge mexican population (most of the top 10 FM and AM stations are spanish language) and a fine tradition of fighters (legend Jesse James Leija was born and resides there today), there's little surprise that many of the hispanic youth were being fed to boxing gyms.

 

One of the fathers tossing his children into the fight game was Tony Ayala Sr. All four of Ayala's sons would become fighters, and it was his namesake who was by far and away the most talented.

 

BOY WONDER

 

Tony Ayala Jr. began training to be a boxer at the age of 5. He was an amateur standout and a terror in sparring. Phil Berger, former New York Times Boxing writer, once wrote about Ayala's drubbing of Pipino Cuevas, then welterweight champion, in a training session. Cuevas was a murderous puncher with a serious reputation and a 4 year reign at the top. Ayala destroyed him in front of a packed gym, leaving Cuevas incredulous. Cuevas was 20. Ayala Jr. was 14. Ayala never lost an amateur bout.

 

TROUBLE BREWING

 

Ayala Jr. was born to be a fighter. Of this there was no question. Unfortunately, he never developed an "off" button for his rage. Ayala would later claim that it was the result of sexual assault done to him as a child. He had been subjected to drugs from an early age, and has acknowledged use of heroir before fights. Signs of trouble must have been evident before, but at the age of 15, they first came to light.

 

Ayala, not even out of his teens, would pick up his first sexual assault conviction. Convicted of rape at a drive in theater, he recieved probation after paying $40,000 to the victim in a settlement of sorts. The warning signs around him perhaps didn't go off; maybe it was simply an attempt to grab money. And there was no reason to stop his career. Tony turned pro at 17 and began a path of destruction under the guidance of the Duvas. He showed incredible poise, fantastic defense, and hammering power that reminded the best trainers of the day of the greats. Ayala was vicious as well; he spit on Robbie Epps after knocking him out a single round in one of his more famous incidents.

 

Ayala was on fire; Champion Davey Moore was about to grant Ayala a title shot that Tony was a sure fire favorite for. Destiny was close. Just not close enough.

 

PROMISE DESTROYED

 

On New Year's Day 1983, Tony Ayala Jr. broke into the home of a school teacher living next door to him in New Jersey and brutally raped her. Ayala's ravenous sexual appetite would be his undoing seemingly once and for all. He was sentenced as a repeat offender to a 35 year sentence in prison, never to be seen again by the boxing public. At least, that's what had been thought.

 

In a shocking turn of events, his psychologist in prison, a man by the name of Brian Raditz, was able to supposedly rehabilitate Ayala in just a matter of years, and campaigned hard for his return to society. His status in medicine at stake, he actually convinced the state of New Jersey that Tony Ayala Jr. was okay and safe to rejoin us in the public, as well as contribute to society in the only way he knew how; fighting.

 

CORRUPTIONS

 

Ayala Jr was released in prison on April 20th (aint that a fun date?) in 1999. In a shocking turn of events, shortly afterwards, Brian Raditz, his prison psychologist, quit his job with the New Jersey correctional system and signed Tony Ayala Jr. to a $1 million dollar promotional deal under his newly created firm. The plan was no clear, and the danger to society fully realized; A rapist was back on the prowl, with large sums of money, and had been enabled to do what he wanted by a corrupt official meant to protect us from folks exactly like Ayala.

 

Ayala lost 50 lbs and was back in the ring later in 1999. He had no problem finding TV partners (ESPN would bring him back a couple times, and his first return bout was on PPV) to show his fights on the air, using the legend that he had built up while in prison as a bargaining tool and promotional piece. Sturdy journeymen like Tony Menefee soon fell, and Ayala was on his way back up, with even talk of a De La Hoya bout looming in the distance.

 

Perhaps for the good of mankind, Yori Boy Campos made a worthwhile contribution to society and ended Ayala's run with a 9th round KO. Just a couple months later, Ayala would be arrested again; this time shot after breaking into a house belonging to a woman he knew from a gym he frequented. Ayala's sexual deviancy wasn't done yet. And neither, it turned out, was his career.

 

CURTAIN CALL

 

Ayala returned to the ring again in 2001, and would fight on another two years. His final step up came against Contender fighter Anthony Bonsante, and he was KOed in a fairly uncompetitive bout in the 11th round. Ayala again would run in trouble with the law, as he was arrested and charged with having sex with a 13 year old girl. The girl would recant her story later, but by early 2004, it wouldn't matter. Ayala was headed to jail again, this time for 10 years for violations of his probabtion. Ayala is there now, back where he belongs.

[wandshogun09]

Thanks for posting them articles nfc90210,interesting read.

 

Just been looking around on Amazon at books/autobiographies on boxing.Thinking about getting the Eubank and Benn autobio's cause I was a fan of them both.Any reccomendations?

 

Oh and Miguel Cotto vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is in the works for December.

Edited August 5, 2010 by wandshogun09

[Stylin_and_Profilin]

'Hands of Stone' on Roberto Duran - fantastic book.

[David]

Willie Limond has gone to amazing lengths to prepare for next month's dream world welterweight fight against Erik Morales in Mexico City.

 

But the only problem with the Glasgow fighter's build-up is he can't sleep at night because he goes into an incubator to replicate the high-altitude conditions he'll face in Central America.

 

The contraption was recommended to Limond by Dr Neil McFarlane, a specialist in sports medicine at Glasgow University, to prevent his body being shocked by climate change.

 

Now Limond has gone all the way and bought a face mask to wear when he's not in bed and incubated.

 

He said: "My girlfriend says I look like Hannibal Lecter with the mask on and my two wee boys, Jake and Drew, think their old man's gone mental when he climbs under his incubator at night.

 

"But fighting puts food on the table, fills the fridge and pays the bills.

 

"I'm doing this for them and to give myself the best chance possible when I take on the fight of my life. I used to get up in the middle of the night to watch Morales fight. He was, and still is, a hero of mine.

 

"But I'm paying for the hire of this machinery, which isn't cheap, so I go there as a worthy challenger for his world title.

 

"I don't want to arrive in the ring as a spent force because being 6000 feet above sea level has done me in.

 

"I regard it as an honour to be in the same ring as this man because he's a true warrior but that doesn't mean I'll stand in awe of him when the first bell sounds."

 

Limond spends up to 10 hours a day doing his altitude preparations and has noticed a difference.

 

He said: "When I go out running I feel as if I'm flying. I'm going so fast I have to rein myself in.

 

"I thought it was the heat in Mexico that would affect me most but Dr McFarlane's tip about altitude will help me most. I'm going out to Mexico 10 days before the fight to acclimatise but I would have needed to go out much earlier without these aids."

 

It's bad enough taking on a world champion in his own backyard but the date for the fight looks to have been specifically chosen for Morales' benefit.

 

Limond said: "September 11 is Mexican Day of Independence, which will make Morales' fans in a 50,000-capacity stadium even more excitable.

 

"But this is going to be the pinnacle of my career and I know I have a chance of winning in spite of having been written off in advance."

 

Limond has gone to the new Scott Harrison School of Boxing in the East End of Glasgow to do his ring work.

 

His tie-up with former world champion Harrison's father, His tie-up with former world champion Harrison's father, Peter, has boosted his confidence. Limond said: "Peter trained Scott when he won his world title and it's been good working with him and sparring with another former champ , Alex Arthur.

 

"I've been in full training for six weeks and I've got another five to go before I come out of incubation and go into the ring hotter than the weather outside."

I'm really looking forward to this fight for obvious reasons, and hopefully we'll get coverage of it over here in the UK.

 

A win for Limond would be awesome.

[Sergio Bellend]

Thanks for posting them articles nfc90210,interesting read.

 

Just been looking around on Amazon at books/autobiographies on boxing.Thinking about getting the Eubank and Benn autobio's cause I was a fan of them both.Any reccomendations?

 

Oh and Miguel Cotto vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is in the works for December.

 

I'd certainly recommed 'Four Kings' by George Kimball, which details the rivalry between Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran. An utterly brilliant book and a steal at

[wandshogun09]

'Hands of Stone' on Roberto Duran - fantastic book.

 

I'd certainly recommed 'Four Kings' by George Kimball, which details the rivalry between Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran. An utterly brilliant book and a steal at

[wandshogun09]

And I'd expect Morales vs Limond to be picked up by Sky,maybe even ITV at a long shot.

 

If Limond wins against a name like Morales it will be huge for him,it's gotta be shown live surely.He could pull it off at this stage aswell I think.