http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/ This site features articles by Jim Amato on some of boxing's greatest fighters and great fights. Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:42:11 -0000 Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:13:28 -0000 http://images.boxinggreats.multiply.com/logo http://boxinggreats.multiply.com 100 100 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/169/Bob_Foster Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:13:28 -0000 THEY COULD HAVE BEEN CLASSICS By Jim Amato In April of 1967, Jimmy Ellis pounded out a fifteen round decision over Jerry Quarry to win the vacant W.B.A. heavyweight championship. In March of 1968, Joe Frazier halted Buster Mathis to win heavyweight title recognition in New York State. Two months later Bob Foster knocked out the great Dick Tiger to capture the light heavyweight crown. Foster felt the big money was in the heavyweight division and he began to challenge the champions. Frazier actively defended his title turning back Manuel Ramos, Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonevena, and Dave Zyglewicz. Ellis on the other hand made only one defense, a disputed verdict over ex-champion Floyd Patterson. Proposed matches for Jimmy against Henry Cooper and Gregorio Peralta never materialized. By the time Ellis met Frazier in February of 1970 to unify the crown, the ring rust had settled in. After Frazier destroyed Ellis he would go on to meet Foster later on that year with disastrous results ... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/220 Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:11:31 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/168/Ellis_cracks_Martin Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:06:09 -0000 JIMMY ELLIS By Jim Amato It's too bad that the cruiserweight division was not around in the 60's and 70's. Many fine boxers scaled under 190 pounds and gave creditable performances against bigger men. Doug Jones is an example as he came close to upsetting Cassius Clay in 1963. Doug had lost in 1962 to Harold Johnson for the light heavyweight title. In 1965, he lost to Ernie Terrell for WBA Heavyweight crown. Back then there was no middle ground. If you weighed over 175 pounds, you fought heavyweights, period. Bob Foster, who was one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time, had trouble moving up to heavyweight. Jones, Terrell, and Zora Foley soundly beat him in heavyweight bouts. After winning the light heavyweight crown in 1968, he failed in attempts to beat Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. How would he have fared at 190 pounds? I'm sure if you took all the top boxers who weighed between 175 pounds and 190 pounds since 1960; most experts would rate Holyfield num... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/219 Sun, 6 Jul 2008 04:01:32 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/166/Don_Jasper Sat, 5 Jul 2008 22:05:16 -0000 I believe that is Gerry Cooney's autograph on Cobb's left http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/165/Tex_Cobb_Program Sat, 5 Jul 2008 21:57:40 -0000 I recently learned that rugged Duluth, Minnesota heavyweight of the 1950's Don Jasper passed away June 9th. He was 78 years old. Jasper lost his first pro fight in 1949. He also lost his second pro contest. From there he went 14-0-1 over his next fifteen fights. He didn't lose again until 1955 when he dropped a six rounder to Eddie Lee Walker in Detroit. Jasper was popular in the Detroit area and had several fights there. Prior to his loss to Walker, Jasper had scored a sensational one punch, one round knockout over Bill Cochrane. On April 21st, 1956 Jasper was stopped in nine rounds by fading former heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles in Windsor, Canada. Later in Toronto, Jasper was halted in four by Mansfield, Ohio's Art " Curly " Miller. Jasper won two out of three against tough Gene White. In their last bout in 1957, Jasper won a ten round decision to capture the Minnesota State heavyweight title. Jasper lost his last two bouts to undefeated prospects and hung up the gloves ... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/218 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 21:53:49 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/164/Johnny_Lira_in_action Sat, 5 Jul 2008 00:51:49 -0000 JOHNNY LIRA The city of Chicago has produced its share of outstanding professional fighters. One of them was a tough as nails lightweight who campaigned in the late 1970's and early 1980's. His name was Johnny Lira and he fought his way into the top echelon of the lightweight rankings. Lira turned pro in 1976 and quickly gained notice by winning his first twelve fights. In 1977 he drew with Manuel Lopez but defeated Lopez in a return bout. Johnny hit the big time in 1978 when he received a shot at the United States Boxing Association lightweight title. His opponent was the highly ranked southpaw bomber Andy Ganigan. Johnny was a decided underdog going in but he shocked the boxing establishment by stopping Ganigan in round six. Lira then went to New York's Madison Square Garden to outscore the talented Larry Stanton. Lira was now high in the ratings and in 1979 he received a shot at the World Boxing Association's version of the lightweight title. Their champion was a hard hitting... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/217 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 00:50:58 -0000 A CASE FOR COBB Who was the best white heavyweight of the 80’s? Gerry Cooney? Maybe, but doubtful. Gerry had the big punch but his chin was suspect. Also Cooney never benefited by being tested on his way up. He may well have been the best packaged and most protected heavyweight title challenger in boxing history. No, for my money Randy “Tex” Cobb was the king of the white heavies in the 80’s. In all Tex met five world champions and several to contenders. Cobb began his career in 1977 and worked his way slowly into contention. By the end of 1979 Tex had reeled off 13 straight kayo wins. Number 13 being against tough Cleveland heavyweight Terry Mims. In 1980 he was finally forced to go the distance against journeyman Cookie Wallace. Two fights later Tex broke into the heavyweight ratings stopping thunderous punching Earnie Shavers in Detroit. Three months later Tex dropped a controversial decision to ex-champion Kenny Norton. ... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/216 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 21:30:57 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/163/Wilfredo_Gomez Tue, 1 Jul 2008 10:27:02 -0000 Who is the greatest 122-pound fighter off all time? This one is a no brainer. The answer is the incomparable Wilfredo Gomez. His accomplishments at this weight are truly awesome. He was the complete package of speed, coordination, balance and power. The Puerto Rican had it all. Other than a tendency to swell around the eyes, he truly was an almost flawless fighter in his prime. The crowning achievements of his career were probably his knockouts of bantamweight champions Carlos Zarate and Lupe Pintor. Zarate was unbeaten and was considered unbeatable. Zarate's fearsome knockout record meant little to Gomez. With speed and precision Gomez took Zarate apart scoring a fifth round knockout. Pintor later won the bantamweight crown from Zarate via a very controversial decision. Pintor would establish himself as a fine champion. In moving up to challenge Gomez, Lupe fought the fight of his life. Wilfredo would prevail, but those who saw... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/215 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 10:04:16 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/162/Sir_Henry_Cooper Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:40:48 -0000 Sir Henry Cooper by Jim Amato He came from a fighting family and by the time his boxing career ended in 1971 he was the most beloved British boxer of all time. Only once did he challenge for the World's title but he dominated the British heavyweight scene for over fifteen years. His popularity soared even more after retirement and eventually the Queen of England knighted him. Sir Henry Cooper was more than just a British fighter. He was a fine example of what British boxing is all about. Henry's professional career started in September of 1954 and he proceeded to win his first nine fights including an eight round points win over Joe Bygraves. In Henry's tenth bout he lost the first of many bouts due to an eye cut to Uber Bacilleri. He would later avenge that loss. The roller coaster career of Henry Cooper had now begun. He would drop a ten rounder to Joe Erskine and stop Brian London in one round only to lose in five to Peter Bates. 1955 was a rough year for Henry as Bygr... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/214 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:39:13 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/161/Fighting_Harada Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:16:51 -0000 The Great Masahiko " Fighting " Harada He just may be the most popular Japanese fighter of all time. In a career that lasted a little over a decade he squeezed in 63 pro contests. He was the winner of 55 of those. He won world championships in two weight divisions and he came very close to becoming a three weight class titleholder. Please remember this was back in the day when there were only eight weight classes and one champion per division. He is the only man to beat the legendary Eder Jofre and he turned the trick twice. His name was Masahiko but in boxing circles his nickname was " Fighting ". That should tell you something about his aggressive whirlwind style. He was " Fighting " Harada. Harada started his career in 1960 and in less then three years he reeled off 25 straight wins, ten by knockout. He had established himself as a top ranking flyweight contender. Edmundo Esparza upset Harada by decision in June of 1962 to end his win streak b... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/213 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:15:53 -0000 Sal Marino is the President and co-founder of the Trumbull County Of Ohio Legends Of Leather Boxing Club. He is also a sports writer and local radio http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/160/Sal_Marino_and_Duran Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:02:19 -0000 Duran! Duran! Duran! The name thundered from Madison Square Garden to Panama in the 70’s! For you that only know the older, slower, middleweight Duran of later years, let me tell you what all the fuss was about when Roberto was in his prime! The uninhibited aggression of Duran combined with a good defense and a solid chin made Duran arguably the best lightweight of all time. Duran, full of swaggering arrogant exuberant aggression had hit the lightweight division with the kind of impact that young Cassius Clay had made on the heavyweights. September 1971 Duran climes into the ring at Madison Square Garden on the Buchanan-Laguna semi-final. Tough Benny Huertas is the opponent. At the bell Duran’s punches start catching Huertas. Voices in the big crowd start to rise in excitement, then fill to a giant roar as Huertas is writhing on the canvas and KOed in only one round! The sportswriters gathered at ringside for the main event look at each other like who the hell is this guy? The... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/212 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:58:26 -0000 http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/photos/album/159/Briscoe_-vs-_Mundine_Sr. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:20:23 -0000 " BAD " BENNIE BRISCOE By Jim Amato There are certain boxers from my past that in retrospect would be champions today. One such boxer was tough enough to be nicknamed " Bad ". He was Bennie Briscoe from Philadelphia and brother you better bet he was just that, " Bad ". He was probably the most feared middleweight of his era and it was a tough time just be a middleweight in Philly. If you were bad there, you were bad everywhere. Briscoe turned pro in 1962 and would win his first fifteen contests. Among his victims were Charley Scott and Percy Manning. In a return with Manning in 1965, Bennie would suffer his first setback. That year he would also lose to Tito Marshall and Stanley " Kitten " Hayward. In 1966 Bennie would halt the highly respected George Benton. Bennie was now among the middleweight elite. The year 1967 would see him lose two decisions to the great Luis Rodriguez. Sandwiched in between those losses was a draw in Argentina with a fella named Carlos Monzon. In 196... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/211 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:05:29 -0000 I began to follow boxing back in 1964. In the forty + years to our present day I have seen some all time great fighters. Roberto Duran as a lightweight will always stand out but there were so many others. When I close my eyes and let the mind's eye take over, I recall so many great fights. In usually remembering a fight it is a close, well contested battle. For me it is usually one the ends with a sudden knockout. The KO is the final punctuation mark on any fight regardless of how close the contest may be. It is vivid proof to the statement that " one punch will change the fight". It always gave fighters like Earnie Shavers and Bennie Briscoe " a puncher's chance of winning". I have listed some KO's that stand out in my memory. They are in random order. It is very difficult to pick one over another. They all had an impact on me and the sport itself so here goes; Joe Frazier-KO-2 over Bob Foster Bob Foster-KO-4 over Mike Quarry Jose Napoles-KO-7 over Ernie Lopez T... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/210 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:05:44 -0000 He may have been the second best middleweight in the world in the late 1970's through the mid 80's. The " Hagler Era ". he was twice defeated by the Marvelous one in title fights but no one other then Hagler could seem handle him. Mustafa Hamsho was born in Syria in 1953. He turned professional in 1975 sometimes fighting under the moniker of Rocky Estafire. He lost his first pro fight in Binghampton, N.Y. to Pat Cuillo. After eight bouts it would have been hard to foresee Hamsho as a future contender as his ledger stood at 4-2-2. Mustafa would go on to win his next 27 bouts and firmly establish himself as a legitimate title threat. Contenders Rocky Mosley Jr., Bobby " Boogaloo " watts, Irish Pat Murphy, Leo Saenz, the talented Wilfred Scypion, Rudy Robles, rugged Curtis Parker and former champion Alan Minter were among Hamsho's victims during the streak. Finally on October 3, 1981 faced Marvin Hagler for the middleweight... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/209 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:00:13 -0000 <h1 itxtvisited="1">&nbsp;</h1> <p align="left" itxtvisited="1"><img height="173" alt="kid gavilan" src="http://www.eastsideboxing.com/boxing-news/images/cubanhawk.jpg" width="144" align="left">&nbsp;Many writers claim they watched Monday and Friday night fights “with their dads,” but if they did, they better be my age. I recently noted one renowned writer as claiming he grew up watching Friday Night Fights. That’s hogwash. He wasn’t even born.<br itxtvisited="1"><br itxtvisited="1">Back in 1949, we had a pitifully tiny <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal! important; FONT-SIZE: 100%! important; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px! important; COLOR: lightgreen! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: lightgreen 0.07em solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent! important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important; " href="http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=16151&#x26;more=1#" target="_blank" itxtdid="6212080">TV</a> set on which my Dad and I (and some of my friends) would watch different programs, but the one that we enjoyed the most were the fights. They were televised from New York or Chicago and names like Madison Square Gardens, St Nicholas Arena or Marigold Gardens were commonplace. Some programs aired boxing matches on Monday. By far the most popular was "Gillette's Cavalcade of Sports," spotlighting the "Friday Night Fights" from Madison Square Garden.<a name="more16151"></a>. The Cavalcade lasted until 1960, a 14-year period which was the longest continuous run of any boxing program in <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal! important; FONT-SIZE: 100%! important; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px! important; COLOR: lightgreen! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: lightgreen 0.07em solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent! important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important; " href="http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=16151&#x26;more=1#" target="_blank" itxtdid="6212071">television</a> history. The show's theme song was the “Look Sharp/Be Sharp March by Mahlon Merrick and we would always chime in with Shar... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/journal/item/16/THE_KID_by_Ted_Sares Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:49:25 -0000 <font class="arttext"> <p><br><br>An overlooked heavyweight in the talent rich 1970's was New Jersey's Randy Neuman. Born on July 21, 1948 Randy joined the punch for pay ranks in 1969. He reeled off eleven straight wins but in 1971 he was stopped in two by Jimmy Harris. Randy came right back to decision Harris in a return bout. <br><br>Randy continued his move up the ladder with two decisions over rugged Argentine Raul Gorosito and a verdict over Brian O'Melia. On December 9, 1971 Randy captured the New Jersey State heavyweight title by outscoring Chuck Wepner. In 1972 Randy followed the Wepner win with a points victory over Jimmy Young at Madison Square Garden. A month later he lost the New Jersey title back to Wepner. <br><br>In 1973 Randy received an opportunity to meet long time top contender Jerry Quarry who was beginning a comeback. Quarry proved to be too much, halting Randy after seven rounds. Neuman attempted to regain the New Jersey title in 1974 but lost in seven to Wepner. <br><br>Despite a disqualification loss in the Bahamas to... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/journal/item/15/RANDY_NEUMAN Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:43:49 -0000 The British produced some quality heavyweights during the 1950's and 60's. Of course " Ol' " Enry ' Cooper comes to mind. There was rugged Joe Erskine and Wales gave us Dick Richardson. Later Billy " The Golden Boy " Walker would emerge. One of the best was Brian London who would twice fight for world title honors. Brian was born in 1934 and turned professional in 1955. He won his first twelve bouts, eleven by knockout before being stopped in one round by Henry Cooper in 1956. Brian bounced back to win eight of his next nine before dropping a decision to the clever Willie Pastrano in 1958. Three months later London would halt Joe Erskine in eight rounds to win the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. He would then stop Pastrano on cuts in a rematch. Brian was now a serious contender for a world title shot. In 1959 he lost his titles by decision to Henry Cooper. Nevertheless he was awarded a shot at Floyd Patterson's heavyweight title.After a valiant effort, Floyd sto... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/207 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:22:06 -0000 Mike Rossman may not have been the best light heavyweight of all time, but he was a solid and formidable professional. Mike Rossman - A Forgotten Champion By Jim Amato The date is August 1, 1975. The place is the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two of the top middleweight prospects are meeting in a rematch of a May 19th bout in Binghamton, N.Y. On that occasion Mike Nixon, the brother-in-law of Jerry and Mike Quarry, beat Mike Rossman. The loss that night to Nixon was the first of Rossman's budding career – and he vowed to avenge it. The return saw nip and tuck action all the way with Rossman boxing well behind an educated left jab, but Nixon came on some in the middle rounds. Although Rossman was probably in front, Nixon was closing the gap quickly. Then, in the seventh round, a full swing Rossman right from out of nowhere caught Nixon and just like that the show was over. It was one of the most decisive one punch knockouts I have ever... http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/notes/item/206 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:25:28 -0000