Quick Facts: Calzaghe-KesslerFight, Economics, Geography, and Punching Power

The fight is to be held at the legendary Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. That’s part of the English speaking world, in the U.K, I’ve heard. From the description, Millennium Stadium is supposed to be one swell place.

The expected crowd of 50 to 60 thousand may beat the record of 47 thousand for a fight in October 1993 between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.

Americans have paid little attention to European fighters unless they came to the U.S. Now, all that seems to be changing with HBO’s investment of more than a million bucks in this one.

This is a super-middleweight category where Kessler holds the WBC and WBA division belts. Kessler gets 2 million for this fight and Calzaghe gets 2.5 million. Uh, that’s pounds, not dollars. Yesterday when I checked it out, the British pound was worth $2.07 approximately. For a rough count of the purse, multiply by two. Do the math. Duh!

The fight starts at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday—that’s Cardiff Time. Preliminaries begin 9:00 p.m. on the East Coast and 6:00 p.m. on the West Coast. Hell, does that mean that all those loopy people in Lost Angeles will know who won before we do?

Hotels and restaurants are fully booked. Unless you’re loaded, there will be no room at the Inn.

Calzaghe is aged 35. This is his 21st defense. He’s 43 and 0.

Kessler’s fought only once in the U.S. He’s mostly unknown but he’s no joke.

Thank you, HBO! It’s not PPV. You can watch it free with your subscription to the HBO channel.




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John Duddy Versus Kelly Pavlik? Not Yet, Anyway

Middleweight John Duddy racked up another victory in Dublin on October 20. Inasmuch as they’re both middleweights, there has been considerable talk in boxing circles of a matchup with Kelly Pavlik, fresh from his win over Jermain Taylor.

Opinion regarding such a matchup hasn’t been gentle. I’ve lifted a couple of quotes of fight fans who commented in the Google Videos.

“Duddy is tough and exciting but not in Pavlik’s league”….

“Duddy hasn’t beaten anyone with a name, and he probably never will.”

“I like duddy_ but I feel bad for him. Pavlik is gonna’ kill him in the ring probably…”

There were some other less gentle comments, too, and some confusion about weight classes as one passionate Duddy fan argued that his man would “…kill Judah, Cotto, and Mayweather…etc.”….. That touched off a flaming internet hissy fit and the offender was verbally battered to the ropes by more savvy boxing aficionados.

Back in the world, boxing is a business and Duddy’s business managers are Eddie Loughlin of Queens, NY and Brian Peters, the promoter. It won’t be any time soon they’ll risk their guy against Pavlik. Pavlik has a rematch clause with Taylor at 168 pounds, for one thing. Another factor concerns the business interests of John Duddy and the people who support him. Loughlin and Peters understandably wish to build up fan interest among the wildly passionate Irish in Duddy’s home country as well as in the U.S. That’s the reason they’re trying to put him into another match outside the U.S., this time in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for December 8. The strangeness of that date is that the rest of the world will be watching the Floyd Mayweather- Ricky Hatton bout scheduled for the same date. Perhaps that’s not so weird considering the enflamed passions of Northern Ireland where the Duddy name is well-known. Duddy’s uncle (also named John Duddy) was a victim of the infamous Bloody Sunday shootings in which he, among 17 others, were shot to death by British paratroopers.

Duddy’s got an appealing personality and a throwback style that appeals to many fans, myself included. American trainers have been working on brushing up his defense, as Duddy tends to get hit more than he should if he expects to last.

My own interest in Duddy is piqued from talking to him a bit when he visited the Jesse Harris Boxing Gym about a year ago, along with the undefeated James Moore. Duddy gets great leverage on his punches if the opponent is inclined to stand in front of him. The humble, self-deprecating style is amusing as he runs through a litany of boxers and trainers whom he admires. Duddy enjoys the support of his fans while keeping in check the neon-flashing ambitions of rising to the top of the world’s middleweight division.


His managers and trainers are wise to work on the defense and to build up the gate by a date in Northern Ireland before sending him into the ring with the bigger and taller Kelly Pavlik.

Jorge Delgado

Marvin Pinto

Jorge Delgado Trains for Upcoming ESPN Fight November 10

Jorge Delgado's better than his even up professional record would indicate. He says he's back on track for a win on ESPN's Thursday Night Fights on November 10. Believe it.

Marvin Pinto Training for November 9 Fight at the New Alhambra in Phila

Marvin Pinto of Allentown has an up close and personal brawling style. He's a strong and a relentless puncher. His fighting style looks a little bit like current titleholder Miguel Cotto. That may be because the two met before. Cotto lost to Pinto in an amateur bout a few years ago. I'm sure Marvin would like to meet up with him again sometime. Meanwhile, you can catch a glimpse of him sparring with our own R.J Sockwell farther down this page.

Like to Fight?: Check out The Chicago Tribune Article on Boxing

Read the following article about the boxing which appeared today in the Chicago Tribune:

"These days boxing seems so ...

What's the word? Old-fashioned?

Maybe that's why the spectacle Monday of all those exuberant young boxers from around the world parading down State Street and clicking cell-phone photos in the Chicago Theatre seemed so ...

What's the word? Quaint?

If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that a bevy of amateur boxers from such places as Belarus, Albania, Uganda and Wales has descended upon Chicago out of the blue for an event I'd wager most of us have never heard of, the AIBA World Boxing Championships.

There was once a time when even the average American sports dunce knew something about boxing. Anybody could name Joe Louis, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman before he had a grill. You could have a sports IQ of zero and still know about Mike Tyson biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear.

But boxing times have changed. Quick: Who's the current heavyweight champion of the world?

It's a question that people in a different era would have had the answer to in their top mental drawer.

"The current champ?" said my favorite parking lot security guard, Anthony. "I haven't watched boxing in a while." He kept rummaging through his mind. "The champion, right? I'm a little offbeat on the champions."

"The champion right now?" said my twentysomething sports-nut friend Michael. "I don't know. But going back ..."

No need to go back. The point is made. To many an average American, boxing is a blast from the past.

"Cinderella Man" might be a 2005 movie, but in it Russell Crowe plays a 1930s boxer. By 2006 when Sylvester Stallone reprised his most famous role in "Rocky Balboa," big-time boxing seemed as passe as the idea of Stallone as a sex symbol.

Here in the new millenium, a boxer -- Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather -- has to go on "Dancing with the Stars" with the likes of Marie Osmond to get the public's full attention. (He was, incidentally, recently booted off the show.)

"Most of the big boxing shows go to Las Vegas now where they hook up with casinos," said my former colleague Michael Hirsley when I called to ask about boxing past and present. Michael's working this week as a consultant and press officer for the World Boxing Championships.

Casino owners offer boxing matches as perks to big-spending gamblers, he said. Money flows all around. Chicago was once a boxing hub but now, outside Las Vegas, most of the big boxing matches are in Mexico or Europe. And Chicago boxing fans tend to be Hispanic or Eastern European.

It's as easy to demonize boxing as it is to romanticize it. Boxing can be brutal in a way that makes football look like a fox trot.

But it has long been a means for poor kids to work their way up in the world, and for immigrants to make their place. A century ago, in Chicago and elsewhere, young boxers were often Irish, Jewish and Italian. African-Americans became prominent in the sport. Now it's newer immigrants or, as this week's World Boxing Championships suggests, people from parts of the world where boxing can still be a ticket up and out.

Whatever you think of boxing, it's moving to see how excited the boxers of the world are to be in Chicago.

Even if a lot of Chicagoans don't know that there are four current heavyweight world champions, none of them American."




ChronicBoxing fights back, though. Here's the email and post I sent to the Chicago Tribune: You do make some good points but overall I don't agree with you. Boxing suffers from its own excesses and from the splintering of the market into PPV, HBO, SHOBOX, ESPN, and many different boxing organizations,each of which has a "title" but none are the undisputed title held by Muhammad Ali. Let me share my humble opinions:

1) Check out Cotto-Mosely and Mayweather-Hatton. Look at the numbers when those fights take place.

2) Read about a currently filming movie about Micky Ward and starring Brad Pitt and Mark Wahlberg. You can read about that in one of my own "articles" at


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/410073/the_fighter_stars_mark_wahlberg_and.html


Your parking lot attendant is not a good source for real boxing news. Passions are high among real boxing fans who are even more fanatical. Ricky Hatton (from England) recently got 7,000 people to book flights to America for his last match at Madison Square Garden with aging Jose Luis Castillo.

John Duddy Vs. Kelly Pavlik? Not Yet, Anyway...

Franklin McNeil: The Best Boxing Writer Analyst Ever?

I just had to call some attention to Franklin McNeil, boxing writer for the New Jersey Star Ledger. At a time when some newspapers carry no news at all of this greatest of all sports, Franklin McNeil has been the boxing sportswriter I most admire. By coincidence, the man himself appears on the right side of this page as the author of another great Star Ledger boxing story. This one's about Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler. It's a MUST read.

Franklin McNeil is positively the best, much needed at a time when good boxing writers are in short supply. McNeil really knows what he's talking about. Pay particular attention to what he said about Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz, a virtually uknown (until last week) fighter I've been watching for a long time. Is McNeil right on the money when he says Pacquio is trying to circumvent the "Baby Bull" and take a fight with David Diaz, hoping that name confusion gets him over the top?

November is National Boxing Month

Okay, the headline is a little stretched. But October was, for me, the Sargasso Sea of boxing. I was out of the money and pissed off about paying too much for the PPV. Of course, there was the great accomplishment of Kelly Pavlik in knocking out champion middleweight Jermain Taylor. And there was Sam Peter’s deserved victory over Jamil McCline. Not to mention Pacman’s determined victory over the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera.

But November’s looking good for lots of reasons. Consider the November 3rd fight at Super Middleweight between Welsh boxer Joe Calzhage and Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler. Neither of these names is well known to the American boxing public but gained considerable name recognition in the U.S. since defeating Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, a powerful puncher who was bedazzled by the Calzhage ring generalship. Calzhage is an active puncher who uses the ring to a great advantage. In the career changing fight with Lacy, it seemed that the American couldn’t find Calzhage anywhere except with his forehead which was cratered with jabs. That was another of my bad boxing picks. I should have listened to Teddy Atlas. The former fight trainer and boxing commentator touted Calzhage long before the Lacy fight took place.

Mikkel Kessler is a virtual unknown in the U.S. where there is the traditional tendency to view European fighters as somehow pale in comparison to American and Latin competition. Yet the onslaught of the Russians and the determined drive of dynamic fighters like Ricky Hatton has done much to dispel that notion. Add in a little Calzhage and sprinkle with a little Kessler and you have an interesting mix. Call it the globalization of boxing, if you will. Let me just say one thing about Kessler and about boxing in general. You never know who’s going to come out of the corner. I saw Kessler operating only once but he was devastatingly analytical against a tough and determined Mexican fighter Librado Andrade. You had to see that to appreciate it. For Kessler, it must have seemed like chopping down an oak tree with your bare fists.

You’ve got to hand it to Miguel Cotto. He fights any and all comers. It’s a good thing—for boxing fans. And it’s a good thing I’m not Cotto because Sugar Shane Mosely is the one guy I might like to duck if I were champion of that division. As things stand now, the two have a date for November 10th on PPV. It breaks my heart, kind of, because you have the serious, soft-spoken humble champion Cotto who marches forward with guns blazing into the maelstrom of Shane Mosely, one of the unrecognized geniuses of boxing history. Mosely’s career has been mind-boggling with losses to Vernon Forrest standing out and in the way of his Hall of Fame record. Sometimes I think that Sugar Shane should be standing right where Floyd Mayweather is right now, in front of English champion Ricky Hatton at Welterweight. I respect Hatton, personally, but I’m picking Floyd “Money” Mayweather. My hit on it is that Ricky won’t be able to get out of the way whereas Mayweather’s style is guaranteed to frustrate. I like the fight because somewhere, deep inside Mayweather, is a greater fighter than we have yet seen. And call me a chauvinist, alright. I always go for the ‘merkan. That’s “American” for those of you who don’t speak “cracker.”

There are some interesting happenings in the Jesse Harris Gym with RJ Sockwell preparing to turn professional. The young man from Stroudsburg by way of Queens New York has been getting in lots of sparring with professional fighters at King’s Gym in Reading and at Larry Holmes Gym in Easton, Pennsylvania, and just about anywhere he can find someone willing to stand in with him. While there are a number of up-and-coming fighters at the Jesse Harris gym, most are in the learning stages of their careers. Sockwell is in a league apart. It’s something that is hard to get across to prospective sparring partners until they step into the ring. At that point, it becomes difficult to get them back into the ring.

Aside from superb conditioning and fighting talent, Sockwell is cruelly analytical about the fight game. He seems to know what the opponent is going to do before he climbs the steps to the ring. Sockwell and trainer Jesse Harris work together in a pairing that is intimate and sometimes bristling, but the ringside communication is swift and virtually unspoken. Sockwell is eager, quick, intelligent and powerfully accurate with his punches when he’s on his game. Harris is a mercurial, energetic, adaptive, and unforgiving teacher.

As thing stand, no date has been set for Sockwell’s pro debut and inquiries are being made at the new Mount Airy Casino scheduled to open on Monday, Oct. 22.

Advice for the Beginning Boxer: Amateur Boxing

Click on the Title: "Advice for the Beginning Boxer." This will take you to a full article detailing what you need to know if you're considering the sport of boxing. Advice for the Beginning Boxer will be a regular feature of Chronic Boxing. For parents, amateur boxing is one of the best things you can do for your kid(s).

The Gatti vs. Ward Boxing War Becomes a Movie

There’s all this buzz about an upcoming movie (The Fighter) about retired boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. It wasn’t so long ago that the durable and determined fighter from Lowell, Massachusetts was slugging it out center ring with Arturo Gatti, a fighter who should have retired after his third legendary and bruising battle with Ward. To fight fans, those three meetings were memorable for their ferocity and for their exhibitions of courage under fire. Some may regard it as hyperbole when one hears a mere boxing match described as a “war”. To those who watched, however, the metaphor is fitting inasmuch as it was a war without guns. The movie is simply titled “The Fighter”.

Micky Ward never won any of the major titles, yet many boxing fans think he should have a statue or monument placed somewhere in the New England states much as the Rocky statue still adorns the Philadelphia Art Museum. Ward catapulted into prominence after a tremendous 2001 ring struggle with a highly unusual, highly unorthodox, and yet highly talented fighter variously named Emmanuel Augustus, Emmanuel Burton, Shea Neary, and Antonio Diaz.

That man of four names deserves a movie by himself, yet this one, starring Mark Wahlberg in the title role, is about “Irish” Micky Ward and focuses on his three fights with Arturo Gatti. The film also features co-star Brad Pitt playing Ward’s older brother, a former fighter turned to drugs. The combined memories of the millions of fans who have watched Gatti, Ward, and Emmanuel Burton-Augustus-Neary-Diaz virtually guarantees a large audience for “The Fighter.” Things would have to go horribly wrong for this project to lose money. One expects that Matt Damon may one day kick himself for bowing out of a role in “The Fighter” now played by Brad Pitt.

To say that Mark Wahlberg is taking the role seriously is understatement. For the past year, Wahlberg has been getting up at 4:00 a.m. to train as a fighter trains. He’s following “The Fighter” routine of skipping rope, hitting the speed bag, pounding the heavy bag, hitting the punch mitts, and running during the early morning hours. And as every true fight fan would like it, Wahlberg has a boxing ring set up in his home.

Mark Wahlberg is certain to play a convincing New England working-class tough boy. His role in “The Departed” nearly eclipsed Matt Damon’s in character acting. Like the fighter he will be playing, Wahlberg also grew up on the streets of a blue-collar New England town (Dorchester, Mass.) and was himself a devoted fan of the fighter. Wahlberg’s errant background and youthful scuffles on the mean streets of working class Massachusetts once led to a murder charge which he pleaded down to aggravated assault.

The story of “Irish” Micky Ward is entwined with much of the life in the sturdy New England towns where blue-collar mill workers or fishermen hoist their beers in toasts to their favorite sports figures, but it is nowhere so much entangled as it is with Arturo Gatti, born in Italy, raised in Montreal, and resident of Jersey City, NJ since 1990.

The first Ward-Gatti match was named the “fight of the century by boxing fans and writers. Round nine of that bout was termed “the round of the century,” so fierce was the battle.

The rematch caused Gatti to fight through seven rounds with a broken hand after he dropped Ward in the third. Many fans felt that’s when the fight should have been stopped since Ward went on to take tremendous punishment throughout the remaining rounds.

Though he dropped Gatti hard in round six of Ward-Gatti III, that battle was named “Fight of the Year” by Ring Magazine in 2003. Mickey Ward is clearly the type of fighter who, through heart and determination alone, wins even when he loses. From all indications, Director Darren Aronofsky and stars Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt are just as determined to make this a film worthy of the memories fans have of the now retired “Irish” Micky Ward.

How to Throw a Punch

One of the reasons I find boxing so interesting is that you encounter so many illusionary thoughts and perceptions about the sport. Just about every day I am amazed at what I hear people say about boxing. As for myself, I’ve been wrong about boxing so many times that I sometimes think that the amateur boxers I train would have greater success by doing the opposite of what I suggest. Of course, it’s a rare fighter who listens to his trainer in the first place so perhaps I am not guilty of anything. The first rule of a physician is “do no harm.” The first rule of a boxing trainer should be the same.
I think that one of the most dangerous assumptions about boxing is that there is just one right way to deliver a punch. How do I throw a hook? Throwing a nice hook is really a complicated affair in terms of body mechanics and describing it is even more difficult. Some people are born to the mechanics of that rather awkward motion while others seem incapable of being taught.
Yet, most people can be taught to throw a hook of one type or another, with the result being more or less effective. Whether it is an effect punch in that person’s repertoire cannot be ascertained until the bell rings. Most trainers counsel fighters to throw short hooks from the inside but what if that’s not your best fight? And who hasn’t at least once been tagged (or even dropped) by a long, looping hook which seemed to come from left or right field?
Another great illusion favored by the boxing public is that the most “diesel” or chiseled looking fighter has the best chance of winning. Nothing could be further from the truth. The heavily muscled champions of professional wrestling would stand little chance of winning the championship belt in a boxing ring. Boxing muscles are smooth, long muscles are wired for a fast-twitch response. Even fat, out-of-shape fighters can throw lightening fast punches. Think of James “Lights Out” Toney. Think of the power and speed delivered by wiry little guys like Manny Pacquiao or tall thin guys like Bernard Hopkins or Paul Williams. Boxing muscles may sometimes look pretty but they’re not designed to look pretty; they’re designed to punch.
Now that I’ve said that, I’m thinking of notable exceptions: Evander Holyfield and Ken (old school) Norton. Evander had to develop a great, chiseled body because he is a small heavyweight—he needed to pack on that armor. Ken Norton was an anomaly. Ohmigod...an SAT word!
Boxing wouldn’t be so great a sport as it is if not for the fact that everything you might say about it might one day be overruled, overturned, and just plain wrong.

Jarod Sharp

The Waiting

Blue, Blue, The World is Blue

Yo, WTF is going on here? Why is everything Blue? Except for Amanda, of course...she probably planned the whole thing so that her outfit would contrast.

The very much up and coming fighter warming up is Marvin Pinto of Allentown and Puerto Rico. Is he in on the blue thing too? The sinister looking gentleman leaning against the wall is Giovanni's father. The big guy in the blue shirt is trainer Junior Salcido.

Chillin' at Ringside

Giovanni's been a busy boxer. Check out the earlier film clip of the 125 pounder against Zaul Trujillo, a four time Golden Gloves winner. This photo finds Giovanni in a rare serious mood. Perhaps that's because his sparring partner didn't show up.

Knocking Them Out at the Jesse Harris Gym

It wasn't too long ago that Amanda was boxing for the Jesse Harris Women's team. That was before she became a workaholic. Now, with two jobs and contemplating a third, Amanda's still knocking them out but in a different way.

Fitness Boxers Watch the Sparring at the Jesse Harris Gym

Jarod Sharp Meets Marvin Pinto

Boxing Safety

How does amateur boxing safety rank with other contact sports? Amateur boxing ranks as the safest sport among contact sports such as football and wrestling and among other events such as equestrian events and motorcyle racing.

Doesn't boxing rank as the sport with the most injuries? No, according to the National Safety Council's 1996 accident report, amateur boxing ranked 23rd on its list of injuries. Boxing ranks lower in number of injuries when compared to hockey, soccer, gymnastics, and in-line skating.

How does boxing compare to other sports in amount of fatality rates?


Fatality rates per 100,000 participants


Horse-racing...........128
Sky-diving...............123
Hang gliding.............55
Mountaineering........51
Scuba diving............11
Motorcycle racing......7
College football..........3
Boxing...................1.

The Bump and Punch

Trujillo and Acosta collide toward the end of a sparring session.

Giovanni Acosta Vs. Zaul Trujillo at Larry Holmes Boxing Center In Easton, PA

Trujillo is a four-time Golden Gloves Champion who trains at the Larry Holmes Boxing Training Center. Giovanni is trained by RJ Sockwell at the Jesse Harris Boxing Gym in Stroudsburg, PA.

Sockwell Vs Pinto at Larry Holmes Boxing Center

The only thing I don't like about this video is my own voice. I vow each time to keep my mouth shut but it never happens. Marvin Pinto is trained by Luis Melendez of Allentown, PA. Sockwell is trained by Jesse Harris, three-time boxing hall-of-famer.

Sparring at Larry Holmes Training Center

RJ Sockwell in an October 2007 sparring session at the Larry Holmes Training Center in Easton, PA.

Getting Ready

  Manager/Trainer Luis Melendez readies fighter Marvin Pinto.

Jarod and Giovanni

 

Al Wilkerson and Jesse Oltmanns

 

Larry Holmes Gym Easton PA