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Arizona Boxing News & Notes With Don Smith: 84 Olympic Moment, Warfare: The Battle Begins & News By Don Smith PhilBoxing.com Sat, 23 Jan 2016  Holyfield. Boxing Fans, Editor?s Note: The Sport of boxing dates back to Egypt around 3,000 BC and contrary to rumors; I wasn?t ringside at the inaugural bout holding a papyrus scroll with a Reed Pen in hand covering the historical event for Arizona Boxing News & notes. Arizona didn?t become a state until February 14, 1912, silly! Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer Olympics except for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, because Swedish law banned the sport at the time. The 2016 Olympic Summer Games will be held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil commencing on August 5 and ending August 21 with a spectacular ceremony. NBC network will be showing a majority of the events while cabling and live streaming other events. In the past, event scheduling hasn?t been kind to Olympic boxing fans that would have to set alarm clocks to catch bouts at wee hours in the morning. Once upon a time, USA Men?s Olympic Boxing Teams dominated the Summer Games; but during the 2012 Olympics, American Women represented USA proudly while the boys gave lackluster performances and left London with only sightseeing memories. 1984 was a different story when America, as a team, flexed its? boxing muscle and left the city of Angels with 9 Olympic Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze medallion that should have been Gold except for poor officiating by a Yugoslavian referee who should have recused himself; but didn?t. His flagrant act of nepotism is a low light in the history of the Games. The victim was Evander ?The Real Deal? Holyfield who was a heavy favorite to win Gold in the light heavyweight division. Holyfield fighting out of Atlanta Georgia faced Kevin Barry of New Zealand, a game but inexperienced boxer, in the semifinal with the winner fighting for Gold and the loser taking home the bronze. It was a rough bout with both fighters warned by the Yugoslavian referee. Holyfield was way ahead deep into the second round as a result of two standing 8 counts administered by the better conditioned Holyfield. There was no way for Holyfield to lose or was there. With less than 10 seconds left in the second round, Holyfield brought Barry down to one knee with a crushing body blow and a vicious hook to the head. Immediately, the referee signaled RSC; in boxing terminology, the referee stopped the contest. Holyfield was all smiles until he was disqualified because, according to the referee, Holyfield continue to punch Barry after he was told to stop punching, twice. Later, Holyfield would tell officials and reporters that he didn?t hear the warnings. As a result of the decision, Holyfield returned to Atlanta with the Bronze while a shocked Barry packed his Silver Medal and headed home to New Zealand. In a bit of Irony, Barry walked over to Holyfield and raised his hand to signify who the real winner was. Barry wasn?t able to challenge for Gold because the second round head shot delivered by Holyfield resulted in a mandatory 28 day injury timeout from boxing; therefore, the Gold was awarded to the referee?s fellow countryman Anton Josipovic who lifted Holyfield up to join him on the Gold Medal podium. Holyfield handled the horrific miscue like a gentleman; but a mention of the incident still leaves a bad memory for those fans old enough to remember the theft. Here are the names of the 9 officially proclaimed 1984 Olympic Gold Medal winners from the American Team: Paul Gonzales-light flyweight, Steve McCrory-Flyweight, Meldrick Taylor-Featherweight, Pernell Whitaker-Lightweight, Jerry Page-Light Welterweight, Mark Breland-Welterweight, Frank Tate-Light Middleweight, Henry Tillman-Heavyweight and Tyrell Biggs-Super Heavyweight. **Virgil Hill, born in Clinton Missouri, won Silver representing the United States of America in the 1984 Olympics. Fight Hard Promotions extended a formal invitation to Arizona US Senator John McCain to attend their Warfare: The Battle Begins boxing show at Valentino?s Event Center in Phoenix on February 6. FHP was hoping the highly decorated Viet Nam War hero and veteran politician would agree to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the event?s special salute for service men and women in the armed forces; past and present. McCain, a highly decorated Viet Nam War veteran is unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Fight Hard has asked Arizona 7th District Congressman Rudy Gallego, a veteran of the Iraq War, to do the honors and we will provide readers with his response when it is announced. Gallego, born in Chicago, is a big boxing fan. There have been a few changes on the card; most notably Andrew Hernandez will headline the show with a defense of his UBF Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Title. Other fighters expected to appear on the 2/6 card are: Bantamweight Salvador Sanchez aka Sal II, 30-6-3, Junior Bantamweight Alex Rangel 16-5-2, Lightweight Ray Lampkin 8-0, Featherweight Jesus Serrano 10-4-2, Featherweight Walter Santibanes 8-2, Flyweight Elihu Soto 4-0, Bantamweight Ryan Riddell 1-0, Light Heavyweight Dakota Dawson 3-3 and super bantamweight Daron ?Sweet Tay? Williams 1-0. All bouts are subject to change and tickets are available at the door and through Ticketmaster. Valentino?s will open the doors at 5 PM on fight night, parking is free and general admission seating cost $35.00 and ringside accommodations are available for $55.00. Go online to www.fighthardpromotions.com for more information. Election Update: Incumbent USA Boxing Arizona President Jacob Magallanez maintained his position with a victory over challengers Mike Sanchez, Seferino Rodriguez and Andrew Soto after the online election votes were counted on January 18. . Walt Hoskins returns as Treasurer and Tom Garcia ran unopposed for the position of Vice-President as did Richard Soto, chief of officials. The position of Student Athlete Representative and Secretary remain vacant. President Jacob Magallanez issued the following statement after his victory was verified and certified. Sad to hear, the voting turnout was low. ?I am pleased that the Arizona voting clubs are satisfied with my performance as the LBC President and are confident that I will continue to serve Arizona USA Boxing Athletes and Coaches. I will dedicate myself to directing our efforts in their best interests. Moving forward, I plan to have a mandatory Duty to Report Clinic (Safe Sports), another Coaches Certification Clinic and my goal is to bring an AIBA Star Coach Certification Clinic to Arizona. The next AZ USA Boxing Tournament will be the Arizona State Junior Olympic Championships April 1-2-3; Region 9 Four Corners Championships at Cinco de Mayo in downtown Phoenix on May 7-8 and National J.O. ?s June 27-July 2 in Dallas, Texas? ? Jacob Magallanez, President, USA Boxing Arizona. Casino Del Sol Show: Our sincere apologies to Roy Jones Promotions for missing the Friday 1/22 show in Tucson. We previewed the card in a previous column and it looked rather promising. ABNN will print a recap of the event in our next Arizona boxing report. We were able to talk to 19 year old boxing newcomer David Courtney before he left for Tucson to face Carlos Cordova in his 4 round super lightweight professional debut. David was so eager to start his career that he agreed to move up in weigh to meet Cordova who is also making his debut. Cordova, David made the weight; but Cordova registered two pounds over and as a result, handed Courtney an extra $200.00. The young lightweight decided t turn professional after 3 amateur bouts. According to Courtney, his 1-2 amateur record isn?t a true measure of his skills and test of his heart for the sport. David?s road to boxing reached the ring after a troubled walk on the wild side. Born on the Westside in Phoenix, Arizona, Courtney began his high school studies at Trevor Browne HS located at 75th Avenue and West Catalina Drive in Phoenix. I taught there for two years; so, I am very familiar with the campus although my tenure at the school was many moons before David became a Brown Bear (Team Mascot). David still lacks a diploma. His stay at Trevor wasn?t long. Teenage angst, a common recurring problem with ?At Risk youth? disrupted his life and eventually he was shipped off to a series of group homes courtesy of Child Protection Services. His parents were going through marital turmoil; so, he was raised by peers whose habits included consuming alcohol, experimenting with drugs and hanging out at all the wrong places; so much for family values. He told me a lack of family structure in his life, low self-esteem and his lifestyle choices led Child Protective Services (CPS) to send him to Canyon State Academy in Queen Creek Arizona. Canyon State is described (in their literature) as an alternative school for troubled youth. The ?Academy? also professes to be a treatment center for troubled youth between the ages of 12-18. I contacted several experience youth counselors and asked them to evaluate the Academy based on the qualifications of their staff members and the strength of their accreditation. Every professional solicited said he or she couldn?t, in good faith, recommend the facility as a school or treatment center. Canyon State, despite the glowing public relations campaign; is best described as a boot camp and the ?tough love? approach to rehabbing troubled youth has proven to be ineffective and sometimes fatal. For example: Charles Long, director of the Buffalo Soldiers Camp was sentenced to six years for manslaughter in the death of 14 year old Anthony Haynes who was forced to sit for hours in the Arizona Sun at midday sun in 113 degree heat. He died on July 2, 2001 of ?near drowning brought on by dehydration.? During 2005 alone33 states reported 1,619 staff incidents of abuse according to a governmental investigation. Rite Of Passage, A Nevada based? for profit? Company operates the Canyon State Academy as well as a second facility in Arizona. Both campuses lost their original accreditation; but through some expedient maneuvering picked up a post-secondary accreditation which allows Rite of Passage to keep their venues open. Courtney would stay there at Canyon State until his 18th birthday on December 7, 2014. During his interment he witnessed multiple cases of verbal abuse and heard about one kid getting his arm broken. The teenager thought it best to keep to him; so he took up cross-training to take his mind off his ordeal and surroundings. I asked him if there was one incident that was instrumental in sending him to Canyon State and he said he remembers waking up on someone?s porch at the beckon call of the local police. The owner of the house knew he wasn?t a renter or a relative; so, he blew the whistle on the kid. In retrospect, David is lucky to be alive. He began to enjoy boxing after he watched Miguel Cotto knock out Jab Judah on television in 2007. Six months ago, he walked into Central Boxing Gym in Phoenix and started working out. His speed, work ethic and heart caught the eye of veteran trainer Tom Garcia and the two men prayed for the day that Courtney would make his professional debut. The day has come and ABNN will share the result with other bits of boxing news in our next edition. Boxing News: Arizona Boxing News & Notes talked briefly to super lightweight contender Ray Beltrami who is still waiting to return to the ring; but thinks he might be battling again in March?Edward Ceballos is off the 2/6Fight Hard Card due to an injury while Edgar Brito encountered contract problems and will sit out the 2/6 show and hope everything can be resolved?..The juggernaut continues to roll: Undefeated Phoenix light heavyweight David Benavidez upped his record to 12-0-11 knockouts with a second round stoppage of Kevin Cobbs 10-2-3. The 19 year old heavy handed puncher/boxer is making believers out of non-believers; his fight was televised on Fox Network sports, Tuesday January 19.?..Middleweight Janks Trotter (9-2-1) tries for his second middleweight title (154 lb. division) against Stuart McLelland (10-2-3) in Calgary Alberta Canada on February 26. The Jankster won a 160 lb. Canadian middleweight title last year. A win for Trotter might open the door to an encounter with fellow Canadian Steve Claggett who scored a TKO victory over McLelland in his last bout. Team Trotter drools when they think of a possible match against Claggett who is a big draw in Canadian boxing circles?..The 69th Annual Arizona Golden Gloves State Championship Tournament is coming to the Arizona Event Center in Mesa, Arizona on Friday February 26 through Sunday February 28. Boxing fans should dial the Event Center at 480-779-7716 for tickets, directions and a special group rate to an event is an Arizona Tradition? Mendoza Boxing plans to send 4 fighters including Youth National Gold Medal winner Fernando Martinez to the Golden Gloves Tournament. The medal and honor enabled the Cordona high school student 132 lb. to be profiled on 2-3 local sport shows. Jesus Ibarra (Broadway Boxing) turns 18 in May and is leaning towards entering the professional ranks?.Iron Boy 32 is on for 2/20 at the Celebrity Theatre and Top Rank is co-producer. The card is a good one and names and additional info is scheduled for our next edition. We wish Iron Boy?s Francisco C. De Vaca good luck with his upcoming fight in California. He is expected to fight on the Celebrity Card on 2/20. Tribute: They weren?t boxers; but, occasionally we stray from ring news to mention and honor announces the passing of a person(s) who made a difference. Recently, we lost two musical giants-the first Icon to leave planet earth was a singer/songwriter who rebelled against the norm by creating Avant Garde sounds and wearing futuristic apparel that was compatible with his space age music; but didn?t jive or dance well with the Julliard School of Music crowd. The other passing legend was an integral of a prolific band that produced a long run of melodic musical morsels that helped everyday people ?get over? daily heartaches just by inserting a CD into the windmill of their mind and spend time in the Hotel California and wait for the next Tequila sunrise?.Farewell, David Bowie and Glenn Frey. On The Record: Arizona Boxing News & Notes wants to make it clear that RV: Recreational Violence a film depicting the Phoenix Serial Killings committed by Dale Hausner (Boxing Photographer & Talk Show Host)and his brother Jeff and Samuel Dieteman (roommate) is an independent film and not related to another project (Documentary) that investigated the bizarre murders. The Discovery project is untitled and we have no release date for either artistic endeavor?..Until Next Time! Click here to view a list of other articles written by Don Smith.  |
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