Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Canadian boxing Wall of Fame 2013

Sixty Names On The Wall: by Brian Zelley

The following sixty have been selected for 2013
*************************************************************
Al Ford - Al Foreman - Al Sparks - Albert Belanger
Armand Savoie - Art Hafey - Arthur King - Asif Dar
Arturo Gatti - Billy Irwin - Billy McGrandle -
Billy Townsend - Blair Richardson - Bob Cleroux 
Bob Edgett - Burke Emery - Chris Clarke - Clyde Gray
Donato Paduano - Donny Lalonde - Donnie Poole
Rocky MacDougall - Gary Summerhays - George Chuvalo
George Dixon - George Godfrey - Gordon Wallace 
Hank Hartenberger - Herb Embuldeniya - Ian Clyde
Jack Delaney - Jackie Burke - Jackie Callura - Jerry Shears
Jimmy McLarnin - Johnny Coulon - Johnny Greco 
Larry Gains - Leslie Borden - Lennox Lewis - Lou Brouillard
Michael Strange - Nicky Furlano - Paul Hortie - Pop Foster
Ritchie Howard - Sam Langford - Sammy Luftspring
Scotty Olson - Tommy Burns - Tommy Paonessa 
Trevor Berbick - Troy Ross - Tyrone Gardiner  - Vic Foley
********** Wilf Greaves - Willie deWit - Yvon Durelle **********
Gregg Mac Ross    ************************  Lou Joshua Eisen
***********************************************************************
ART HAFEY

IAN CLYDE

                                         SCOTTY "Bulldog: OLSON



                         Donnie Poole -   Kris K. - George Chuvalo






Sunday, April 14, 2013

Wallace Bud Smith

Wallace "Bud" Smith, Champion:  by Brian Zelley

*  Wallace is one of the many 
obscure champions that very
seldom is considered by fans
of boxing when they discuss
champions.

In many ways, it was not
until he became a tragic
boxer that he got his 
picture on the front of a 
boxing magazine.

That happened after his  
death he received  front
page notice and an article
by Jack Welsh that appeared
in the October 1973 issue of
"Boxing Illustrated".
The title read: "Obscure champ 'Bud' Smith Takes Final Count
In Cincy Shooting".  Mr. Welsh said it all in his opening line:
"Wallace 'Bud' Smith held the world's lightweight title 16 years
ago, and when it was gone, the Cincinnati-born fighter was the
epitome of a non-person."  Then Jack hit the readers between 
the eyes and hearts with the following comment:
"Bud's post-fighting activities found him wrapped in obscurity
as perhaps no man before him."


BEYOND 1973

Well, it was great that Wallace would get recognized, but it
was short lived as his name, his great amateur journey, and
his pro journey to a world championship was quickly forgotten
and he would continue to remain the lost obscure champion.

For 38 years he would remain an obscure champion,
but it was another error that would result in a major
discussion about him again in November 2011.  
It was a real "kick in the head" for the memory of 
Wallace Smith, when there was an HBO remembrance
of champions from Cincinnati, and the name                                         Wallace "Bud" Smith was nowhere to be found, 
so he was mentioned in some boxing site with 
a brief summary of his amateur and pro boxing story.

Friday, March 29, 2013

1981 BOXING moments

the pages of "The RING" magazine: by brian zelley

Introduction:
Throughout the eighties there was a lot of action in the ring.  the following
is a look back at the magazine in 1981:
Champions listed by "The RING"

LARRY HOLMES,
MATHEW SAAD
MUHAMMAD,
MARVIN HAGLER,
AYUB KALULE,
RAY LEONARD,
AARON PRYOR,
Y.  UEHARA,
S. SANCHEZ,
W. GOMEZ, 
JEFF CHANDLER,
S. OGUMA.



California Moments:

California based boxers in the top ten:
Mike Weaver, Marty Monroe, Ken Norton,
Yaqui Lopez, Randy Shields, Pete Ranzany,
Bruce Curry, Monroe Brooks, Johnny Sato,
Frankie Baltazar, Ruben Castillo, Juan Meza,
Albert Davila, and  Oscar Muniz.

Canadians in the Commonwealth Ratings:

Trevor Berbick, Conroy Nelson, Eddie Melo,  
Gary Summerhayes, Wayne Caplette,
Fernand Marcotte, Chris Clarke,
Gaetan Hart, John Summerhayes, 
Nicky Furlano, Thomas Gourley, 
 and Leonard Pennock, 

Boxing results:
Of interest to Canadian fans and friends of
NICKY FURLANO, he is mentioned in the 
"Rings Around The World" section.

Nicky headlined a card in Niagara Falls.
* "Nicky Furlano won a unanimous decision
after a good action fight."
Also, on the card was Bobby Bland who 
stopped one Preston Jones in the 4th rd.








Monday, March 18, 2013

1980 to 1989 World Boxing Champions

THE CHAMPIONS 1980 to 1989: 

 By Brian Zelley
Introduction:
A brief look at the world champions
and some of the top title bouts in
the Eighties.

There were plenty of names to go 
around from heavyweights such as
Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson,  to many
others with some of the best being
Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, 
Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.
But, there would be many other greats
or near greats such as:
Aaron Pryor, Salvador Sanchez,
Wilfredo Benitez, Alexis Arguello,Wilfredo Gomez, Michael Spinks,      Ray Mancini,  Barry McGuigan,and Julio Cesar Chavez.

Mike Tyson:

Of all the champions in the eighties, it was MIKE TYSON that appeare
to be the most controversial for some of his antics, but one would have
to look long and hard to find a fighting force like Tyson.  Mike began
his pro journey under the guidance of Cus D'Amato who had previously
guided Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres.

It would be November 22, 1986 when the power punching
Mike Tyson would fight for a piece of the world 
heavyweight title against  Trevor Berbick.  Well,
it came as no shock to many when Tyson stopped
Berbick early in the fight. After two knockdowns 
by power left hooks, referee Mills Lane  stopped the
slaughter to save Berbick and now Tyson was a partial
champion.  But, it  would be his March 7, 1987 12-round
 decision over "Bonecrusher" Smith that would make him
 an almost complete world  champion with the WBA and WBC
versions of the world heavyweight title but he would need
 to defeat the IBF title holder Tony Tucker  to become the
real deal in heavyweight history.  

And, once again Mike proved that he was not just a quick
knockout king but could also go the distance when he defeated 
Tucker in the 12-rounds on August 1, 1987.  

Throughout the rest of the eighties, "Mighty" Mike 
continued to win over various boxers such as
Tyrell Biggs,  Larry Holmes, Tony Tubbd,  
Michael Spinks, Frank Bruno and Carl Williams./

Other Names in the Eighties: 
*  Aside from the names previously mentioned there were
 some interesting  bouts by others. One was British  middleweight
Alan Minter who would win the title from Vito Antuofermo 
by a split decision in  Las Vegas.  

But, in a rematch with Vito later in the year in London, Minter would
eliminate any controversial decisions by stopping Antuofermo in 9 rds.
Before the year ended, Alan would lose the title to one of the best in 
the eighties by the name of Marvin Hagler.

* In 1980, tragedy would rear it's ugly head on September 19, 1980
when bantamweight champion Lupe Pintor  stopped Welsh boxer
Johnny Owen in Los Angeles.  

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

1920 to 1929, The Golden Age of Boxing

THE FORGOTTEN YEARS of BOXING: by Brian Zelley

The Roaring Twenties was a time of some of the greatest boxing,
but in the here and now of the 21st Century many boxing fans
minimize and overlook the greats of the Roaring Twenties.

One only has to look at the various polls of the modern age and
those champions  hare often overlooked in the listings or choices.
But, then again look at some of the champions of that era.

The Champions:
Heavyweight:  Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. 

Light Heavy:  George Carpentier, Battling Siki, Mike McTighe,
Paul Berlenback, Jimmy Slattery, Tommy Loughran.

Middleweight: Mike O'Dowd, Johnny Wilson, Harry Greb, 
and Mickey Walker,

Welterweight: Jack Britton, Mickey Walker, Joe Dundee, 
 and Jackie Fields

Lightweights:  Benny Leonard, Rocky Kansas, Jimmy Goodrich,
and Sammy Mandell,.

Featherweight: Johnny Kilbane, Johnyy Dundee, Eugene Crique,
Steve Sullivan, Kid Kaplan, Benny Bass, Tony Canzoneri, 
Andre Routis and Bat Battalino.

Bantamweight: Joe Lynch, Pete Herman, Johnny Buff, Abe Goldstein,
Cannonball Martin, Charlie Rosenberg, Bud Taylor, Bushy Graham
and Panama Al Brown.

Flyweight:  Jimmy Wilde, Pncho Villa and others.












































There were also a number of Jr. welterweight and lightweight 
champions many of which also won other titles such as:
Johnny Dundeek and Barney Ross,   But, one of the active 
champions was Todd Morgan  from the Pacific Northwest
who fought the likes of Vic Foley in Vancouver and Joe Glick
in New York.





BOXING in JANUARY

BOXING's JANUARY HAPPENINGS: 

 By Btian Zelley

Step back in time to February 1966
and in the black and white pages of
"Boxing Illustrated" and there was
an article by E. M. Orlick titled
"It Happened In January" that
covered many interesting moments
to take place in boxing during the 
month of January including
championship fights and various other interesting happenings
including the last professional fight of champion Fritzie Zivic
on January 17, 1949 with a ten round victory over Eddie Steele
in Georgia, and Virgil Akins victory over Tony DeMarco in
an elimination bout to fill the welterweight title left vacant by
Carmen Basilio.  

Some of the title fights included:
1932: Johnny Jadick wins a 10-rounder over Tony Canzoneri
to win the Jr. welterweight tiutle.
1939: Joe Louis stops light-heavyweight champion John Henry
Lewis to retain his heavyweight title.  
1964" Pone Kingpetch outpoints Fighting Harada to regain the
flyweight title. 

Beyond 1966:
1967:  Emile Griffith retains the middleweight title with a 
decision over Joey Archer.

1968:   Howard Winstone stops Mitsunori Seki in nine to
win a piece of the featherweight title and in the flyweight
division Chartchai Choinoi stops Efren Torres in Mexico.

1969: Bob Foster scores a first round win over
Frankie DePaula in light-heavyweight action, in featherwight
action it is Johnny Famechon over Jose Legra in London.*

The Seventies:

*Johnny Famechon would lead the charge in the Seventies 
with his victory over Fighting Harada in featherweight 
action in Tokyo, but there would be others to add some
magic moments to the Seventies.

* In action in 1972 was Joe Frazier and his stoppage of 
Terry Daniels, but in January 1973 it would be 
George Foreman who would win a sensational victory
over Smoking Joe with two rounds of destruction.

*But, there would be a lightweight destructive force
that would stop Jimmy Robertson in five at Panama City
and that would be in the person of Roberto Duran.  And,
fast forward to 1977 and it would be Carlos Palomino who 
would defeat Armando Muniz in Los Angeles action, but 
Roberto Duran would still be in action to stop one
Vilomar Fernandez  in 13 rds. at Miami Beach, and in 
1978 Duran would unify the lightweight title with a 
convincing win over Esteban deJesus in  Vegas.

*To close out the Seventies, Wilfred Benitez would
defeat Carlos Palomino in San Juan.

The Eighties:

* Some of the champions that would see action in one of the
January's of the  '80's would include middleweight champion
Marvin Hagler, jr. middleweight Wilfred Benitez,  lightweight
Arturo Frias. jr. middleweight Davey Moore  jr. lightweight
Roger Mayweather  and lightweight Ray Mancini.  By 1985,
there would be Donald Curry, Rocky Lockridge, with others
to follow such as Tim Witherspoon, Hilario Zapata, and the big
one in January 1988 with Mike Tyson over Larry Homes in four.
and to close out the last January in the Eighties it would be
Meldrick Taylor inaction

The Nineties:

*  It would be another new decade, and some of  the                                  January moments would include a cross-section of                                           new and old fighters . 

Carlos DeLeon,  Virgil Hill, Prince Charles William,  Luis Mendoza,
and many more such as IRAN BARKLEY  and MELDRICK TAYLOR.