Kevin Blackistone FanHouse

A Legacy to Some, Painful Reminders of Loss for One

Kevin Blackistone — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:35:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

LAS VEGAS -- In a curio cabinet in the living room rests a huge red, white and blue ornamental belt adorned with a massive gold buckle from The Ring magazine proclaiming the late Eddie Futch the greatest boxing trainer of the last century. In the bedroom is a bookcase still reserved for his precious books of poetry, some so worn and old they are bound by a staple of Eddie's corner man's box: tape.

In the garage are white cardboard file boxes, each labeled with sticky notes, stacked neatly on plastic shelving all from floor to ceiling filled with the training logs, contracts and correspondence of each prizefighter Eddie made a champion: Arguello, Berbick, Bowe, Norton, Spinks, Holmes and, of course, Frazier.

"It's what I have left of Eddie," Eddie's widow, Eva, told me as she explained one historic boxing item after another tucked around the modest Vegas home, on a quiet cul-de-sac well off the bawdy strip, where she and Eddie lived for a few years before he died in 2001.

"I felt comforted by the memories for a long time, but now," Eva said, her bright blue eyes glossing over, "they've become a burden."

With that admission, Eva excused herself from my presence for a moment to find her compose. She would do so again before my visit ended three hours later.

"Having a broken heart is every bit as valid as having a broken arm," she said.

Eva isn't proof that love hurts as much as she is proof that lost love can haunt. It has haunted her more and more in the home she and Eddie shared before he died in 2001. There aren't any ghosts that hover, just the physical recollections.

There are the brilliantly colored original paintings on her kitchen wall by Joe Dobbins, Eddie's nephew. There are the countless original boxing posters from decades past of Eddie's fighters and fights Eddie promoted, like one from the early '60s touting a boxer named Cassius Clay.
Eva isn't proof that love hurts as much as she is proof that lost love can haunt. It has haunted her more and more in the home she and Eddie shared before he died in 2001. There aren't any ghosts that hover, just the physical recollections.

There are boxes of boxing gloves from various champions like the ones Michael Spinks used to beat Eddie Mustafa Muhammad for the light heavyweight championship in 1981. There is a menu from Jack Dempsey's restaurant in New York City in 1941. There is the first Ring magazine dated Feb. 15, 1922 -- 20 cents. There is Eddie's I.D. card from the Thrilla in Manila, the third and final match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on Oct. 1, 1975, in the Philippines that many consider the most epic fight in boxing history, the one in which Futch famously and humanely refused his bloodied and battered charge Frazier to go into the 15th round.

I never thought there was a nicer or more sincere person in boxing than Eddie Futch, and I was hardly alone in that thought. Now I wonder if there was a nicer wife in the game than Eva.

Eva said she's reached a point in her still young life where she wants to -- where she must -- part with the pugilistic chapter in her life.

"I never thought about selling it [the memorabilia] because it can be great comfort," she said, showing me the suit Eddie wore when they were married in 1996. "But I feel like other people can learn from Eddie's life. What he went through was a lot."

Eddie had gone through most of his life when Eva met him in 1991 in Reno, where he was training Riddick Bowe and she was studying and administering holistic wellness techniques. She was 31. He was 80. She was a blue-eyed blond from Sweden. He was a grizzled but quiet-spoken black man from the hard-knock side of African-American life. It didn't make sense to most anyone who witnessed their love life bloom.

"For Eddie and I, there was never a sense of surprise when we got married," Eva said. "Eddie was the fun of my life."

They were married 5 ½ years when Eddie died.

Eva spends her time nowadays working on a wellness center she is trying to start in Vegas and providing comfort to patients at a nearby hospice with her therapy dog Joe-Joe, a German Shepard named after Joe Louis, for whom Eddie worked with in the 40s, and Joe Frazier, Eddie's most-famous pupil.

"It's therapeutic for me," Eva said of her volunteer work at the hospice, "because it helps me forget."

Then she comes home and is reminded all over again of who she said was the only love of her life.

"I feel like a prisoner here sometimes," Eva said of her home, which she's had to fortify in recent years because of attempted break-ins. "It's been difficult."

Eva said she not long ago donated some of Eddie's materials to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., where Eddie was inducted in 1994. There is a World Boxing Hall of Fame in Riverside, Calif., where Eddie also is enshrined.

What Eva has left of Eddie's work over the years is enough to seed a boxing museum on its own. She would like to do so in Las Vegas, which is where whatever is boxing's most-recognized hall of fame should be. What a wonderful gesture it would be for the existing boxing hall of fames to merge in Las Vegas, the epicenter of the fight game for the past 30 or more years, and use it as a depository for Eddie's wonderful life.

Or maybe the University of Las Vegas would be interested in housing the Eddie Futch collection. It certainly is worthy of an academy's library with all the correspondence Eddie had from the years with famous people like, for example, Eddie Rickenbacker, the famous race car driver and fighter pilot, and Roots author Alex Haley.

"I'd like to keep the core of it together," Eva said. "It's about boxing history and African-American history. It's inspiring."

It once even buoyed a young woman who felt so alone after losing her love. Now, if she can find a home for it, it can free her.

A Legacy to Some, Painful Reminders of Loss for One originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weekend's Biggest Fight? Boxing vs. Mixed Martial Arts

Kevin Blackistone — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:23:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

Somewhere during the broadcast Thursday night of the Miami-Georgia Tech football game, a commercial broke across the screen advertising UFC 103, a mixed martial arts fight card featuring somebody named Vitor Belfort against some guy named Rich Franklin. For a pay-per-view price of $44.99, it stated, I could see it all live Saturday night from Dallas starting at 9 PM ET.

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Mayweather-Marquez Photos

LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Nate Jones, co-trainer for Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez and Bernard Hopkins appear during the official weigh-in for Mayweather and Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nate Jones;Floyd Mayweather Jr.;Juan Manuel Marquez;Bernard Hopkins

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Mayweather vs. Marquez Photos

LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Boxing announcer Michael Buffer, Koraun Mayweather, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his advisor Leonard Ellerbe attend the official weigh-in for Mayweather's fight against against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Buffer;Koraun Mayweather;Floyd Mayweather Jr.;Leonard Ellerbe

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Boxer Juan Manuel Marquez poses during the official weigh-in for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Juan Manuel Marquez

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: WWE wrestler Triple H attends the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Triple H

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Radio personality Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo gestures during the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Eddie Sotelo

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Radio personality Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo (L) and boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya entertain the crowd during the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Eddie Sotelo;Oscar De La Hoya

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Actor/comedian D.L. Hughley speaks at the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** D.L. Hughley

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya gestures during the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Oscar De La Hoya

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LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 18: WWE wrestler Triple H (L) and boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya talk during the official weigh-in for boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two will fight at the MGM on September 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Triple H;Oscar De La Hoya

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More: Bankable 'Money'? | Mayweather Comes in Heavy | Tonight's Results
Photos: Mayweather Vs. Marquez

Guess what commercial aired next? Undefeated former welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather's returning to the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez. For a pay-per-view price of $49.95, that commercial stated, I could see that card live as well Saturday night. It would be coming from Las Vegas, and starting at 9 PM ET, too.

I'm going to watch the latter. I'd already planned to. Boxing promoters better hope there are a lot more fans like me, too.

Because if there was one thing those back-to-back commercials underscored, it was that the big fight Saturday night isn't between Mayweather and Marquez, or Belfort and Franklin for that matter; it is between Mayweather's classic fighting sport, boxing, and the still relatively newfangled fighting sport known as MMA.

If this UFC event beats Mayweather-Marquez, boxing will be holding a second fiddle on the fight front. MMA will have knocked out a guy in Mayweather who once was part of a PPV record draw when he beat Oscar De La Hoya, the king of PPVs. And MMA is threatening to do so with a couple of guys tugging a card considered to be no big deal even among MMA aficionados.

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Latest UFC Images

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC light heavyweight Rich Franklin squares off with UFC lightweight Vitor Belfort at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rich Franklin;Vitor Belfort

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Latest UFC Images

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin weighs in at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tyson Griffin

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin (L) squares off with UFC lightweight Hermes Franca (R) at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tyson Griffin;Hermes Franca

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck squares off with UFC welterweight Frank Trigg at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Koscheck;Frank Trigg

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC welterweight Martin Kampmann weighs in at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Martin Kampmann

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC welterweight Martin Kampmann (L) squares off with UFC welterweight Paul Daley (R) at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Martin Kampmann;Paul Daley

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop (L) squares off with UFC heavyweight Junior Dos Santos at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mirko Cro Cop;Junior Dos Santos

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC heavyweight Junior Dos Santos weighs in at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Junior Dos Santos

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DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 18: UFC heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop weighs in at the Weigh Ins for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mirko Cro Cop

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More: UFC 103 Predictions | UFC 103 Fight Card | UFC 103 Results
Photos: UFC 103 Photos

I wish I could dismiss that fact like mere fiction. I still love boxing with all its warts and dismiss MMA as something I can see after closing hours any night on Bourbon Street. I don't get MMA. It's not my cup of blood. (That reminds me: Dear MMA fans, please stop telling me how much more humane your sport is than boxing because no one has been killed in it. That's pure myth. Tell it to the family of Sam Vasquez in Houston, to name one.)

But anyone like me who doesn't believe Saturday is about something more than what happens between Mayweather and Marquez is delusional. Saturday night isn't so much about how Mayweather looks after his brief retirement. (Marquez at his age and smallish size is tailor-made for Mayweather's return.) It is about whether he can hold off not only Marquez but the rising tide of MMA as well. MMA organizers know it and they are circling in the waters.

"No matter what happens on Saturday night, boxing is in trouble. Period. End of story. They're in trouble," UFC's irascible boss Dana White said Thursday. "[The UFC] continues to grow every year. We're up this year from where we were last year in this horrible economy."

Those are fighting words, indeed, and the booty is PPVs, the ultimate barometer of success in the fighting sports. They are the lifeblood of fight games and boxing can't allow it to be siphoned away by some hyped up version of itself. (Note to wrestling fans, who put up outrageous PPV numbers too: I don't recognize Vince McMahon and your WWE stuff for the same reason I don't watch special effects flicks -- it's made up.)

Longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum sadly sounded like UFC's often juvenile boss White when he used homophobic phraseology to denounce MMA in an on-camera interview with FanHouse's Ariel Helwani during a recent Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto press conference in Yankee Stadium. Arum told Helwani that UFC fans were "a bunch of skinhead white guys who are watching a bunch of people in the ring who look like skinhead white guys." The 78-year-old businessman then stooped deeper into the well of repulsive insults by impugning MMA fighters and gay people.

With the challenge of this weekend, Arum would be wise to adopt the Jets' coach Rex Ryan approach to marketing by robo-calling previous PPV boxing buyers and plead with them to dial in again Saturday.

And if Arum hasn't apologized for his smear, he should -- publicly -- unless, of course, the types of fans he wants to attract to replace all the hemorrhaging followers are those with such Neanderthal-like thoughts. I'm referencing the first part of his first charge and all of the second. Given that MMA addressed a swastika and white-power tattooed fighter simply by asking him to cover his offensive body art with athletic wrap doesn't sit well with me, either. Any MMA organization the guy wanted to fight for should've forced him to rid himself of such offensive ink. MMA fans should be demanding it too. I haven't heard a hue and cry. But that's an issue for another column.

For the purview of this column, Arum's charge was evidence of his level of concern for the rising tide of MMA and its threat to the game from which he loves to make money. Arum's statements were preceded by similar coarse observations about MMA from Mayweather, who dismissed MMA as the only fighting sport white fighters can find in which they can thrive. Undoubtedly, that didn't win Mayweather many new viewers for his upcoming bout and may have cost him some.

Mayweather, now 32, should be particularly concerned about Saturday because he never proved to be Oscar De La Hoya as a draw. His bark is louder that his bite. He and the late Arturo Gatti fought for a super lightweight title in June 2005 and attracted 365,000 buys, and many of those came undoubtedly because of the huge popularity of Gatti. Arum promoted Mayweather's fight with Brooklyn bad boy Zab Judah in April 2006 and it sold just 375,000 PPVs even though Arum boasted it would rival the 1.4 million buys De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad Jr. brought in 1999. Mayweather versus Carlos Baldomir late in 2006 did worse than all of the above. Now Mayweather is returning to the ring with boxing organizers hoping -- if not praying -- that he can be De La Hoya.

If Mayweather-Marquez is in Mayweather's old draw range, boxing will be dusting itself off as it tries to get up from the canvas.

Weekend's Biggest Fight? Boxing vs. Mixed Martial Arts originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vernon Forrest One of True Good Guys

Kevin Blackistone — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:01:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

The truth is that, often times, those of us in this business find ourselves struggling to say only good things about a recently deceased personality whose acts in life demanded that we make him or her known to the public. With Vernon Forrest, it seemed to be the opposite.

It is not manufactured hyperbole for the purpose of being polite that you are hearing and reading such wonderful things about Forrest, a three-time boxing champ who we learned Sunday was fatally shot Saturday night in a carjacking attempt in Atlanta. A more famous Atlanta fighter, Evander Holyfield, may be most well-known as the Real Deal, but there was absolutely nothing phony about the good guy who was Forrest. As HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, whose network carried many of Forrest's bouts, told the Associated Press on Sunday of Forrest: "He was one of the most gracious and charitable fighters in boxing and he will be missed by the entire boxing community and all of his friends at HBO."

Forrest will be missed most, however, by people beyond the ring -- people who need people, as the old Barbra Streisand song goes.

Forrest told this story any time he was asked. It goes that he was hanging out at the home of a friend who worked with the psychologically and emotionally challenged. (How novel is that? He wasn't hanging out at the strip club or dogfighting ring.) He watched one of those in his friend's stead, an autistic child, who Forrest said struggled for an hour to tie his shoes.

Forrest said he became so frustrated watching the child fight to do something most of us take for granted that he could no longer take it for granted. His friend refused to help the child because the friend hoped the child would break through alone. The child's battle broke Forrest, however, and Forrest eventually helped the child tie his shoes. Then Forrest set out to help others with similar struggles.

"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant," Forrest recounted to the New York Times in August 2006 before a match against Ike Quartey. "A light just turned on in my head."

Deaths in Sports

Vernon Forrest, July 25: The 38-year-old Forrest, left, during a 2008 fight against Sergio Mora, was shot and killed in an apparent robbery, according to Atlanta police. Click through to see recent deaths in the world of sports.

Jae C. Hong, AP

Marco Antonio Nazareth, July 22: The 23-year-old boxer dies four days after suffering a brain hemorrhage in a technical knockout loss to Omar Chavez.

Martin Venegas, Mexsport

Ed Rudolph, July 19: The former national speedskating champion, pictured here in 1961, was killed in a crash when the driver of a GMC Suburban swerved to avoid a deer and collided with his Acura.

Sue Burns, July 19: A part owner of the San Francisco Giants and devoted philanthropist, Burns died of complications from lung cancer.

Donald Miralle, Getty Images

Arturo Gatti, July 11: The former junior welterweight champion was found dead in a hotel room at the age of 37. Gatti, known for his legendary bouts that electrified fans, participated in Ring Magazine's 'Fight of the Year' a total of four times.

Frank Franklin II, AP

Rene Capo, July 7: A two-time judo Olympian, Capo also played college football at the University of Minnesota. He was 48.

Lou DiGesare / realjudo.net

Mathieu Montcourt, July 7: The French tennis player was found dead by his girlfriend outside his apartment.

Lionel Bonaventure, AFP / Getty Images

Lou Creekmur, July 5: The Hall of Fame lineman was known for his tenacious style of play and starred on three Detroit Lions championship teams.

Steve McNair, July 4: A fan favorite during his 13 years in the NFL, McNair was found dead in a Nashville condo, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head.

Gail Burton, AP

Alexis Arguello, July 1: The former boxing champion, pictured here in 1986, was one of the best junior lightweights to step in the ring.

Allsport / Getty Images

It was the mid-'90s when Forrest had his epiphany. He was closing in on 20 professional fights without a loss but didn't have much bank or accolades to show for it. A native of Augusta, Ga., Forrest had planned to jumpstart his pro career in 1992 like Oscar De La Hoya with an Olympic gold medal from the Barcelona Games, but he was easily upset in his opening match and said afterward that he'd been stricken with food poisoning.

Nonetheless, Forrest scrapped together around $80,000 with some other easily touched people, like his hip-hop video friend Ki Toy Johnson, and formed a company called Destiny's Child Inc. Their idea: to provide long-term care to people like the autistic child whose shoestrings he helped tie.

Forrest, who studied business administration at Northern Michigan University, and his partners purchased a suburban Atlanta home in 1996 and retrofitted it for the demands of their business. Destiny's Child, which took in patients from institutions or families that were no longer able to care for them, didn't get any cheaper to finance than it was to start up. This was healthcare, after all, the very industry President Obama and many others are saying is too costly to meet the needs of everyone who should have it and, as a result, needs to be reformed. Forrest was experiencing all of that.

Forrest's payroll grew to include as many as 25 caregivers, coordinators, and administrative staff. There was a $5 million insurance policy as protection against malpractice that he had to pick up. And in 2000, the state of Georgia requested that Forrest's company take in 17 patients who were enrolled in a competing firm that folded. Forrest couldn't say no to the extra patients anymore than he could sit idly by as that autistic kid fought to tie his shoes.

It didn't matter that the increased patient load nearly bankrupted Destiny's Child.

The story continues that, with Forrest at the helm, Destiny's Child picked up the clothing and medical cost for the new patients. Forrest was said to have financed the entire $100,000 rescue operation. It would be six more months before Medicaid payments kicked in.

"One of the things that I always wanted to do is help people out," Forrest told Black Enterprise magazine in March 2003. "But I didn't want to do something cosmetic. I want to know what I do is going to make a difference in somebody's life."

"I didn't want to do something cosmetic. I want to know what I do is going to make a difference in somebody's life."
-- Vernon Forrest By 2003, Black Enterprise stated that Forrest's altruistic venture had 30 patients and generated just over $1 million in annual revenues that were derived mostly from Medicaid reimbursements.

"Our objective as a whole is to make sure nobody is abused or mistreated, and so we try to do right by the people we have there," Forrest told the magazine.

Forrest was standing out in the ring by then, too. He was 35-0 at the end of 2002 after beating Shane Mosley in back-to-back fights to win and retain the World Boxing Council's welterweight title. He was Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year.

That proved to be Forrest's zenith in the ring. He lost for the first time in 2003, twice to Ricardo Mayorga. After battling his way back to a light middleweight title in 2007, he lost it to a star from the boxing reality show The Contender, Sergio Mora, in 2008. He got the belt back in a rematch.

But ultimately Forrest will not be remembered by what he did as a prizefighter. He'll be recalled for what he did as a fighter for people not as fortunate as he was.

Vernon Forrest didn't just sound like one of the good guys in the sport of boxing. He sounded like one of the good guys in sports, period.

Vernon Forrest One of True Good Guys originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tyson's Life Marked by Misery, Tragedy

Kevin Blackistone — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

A burly black man, his face incised with what appears to be a traditional Maori tribal tattoo, stares at you into a camera lens and, belying his appearance, announces through a thick Brooklyn accent that he is about to lose his composure.

"I'm gonna cry," the man says, his voice softening and cracking.

He then purses his lips and takes a deep breath in an attempt to steel himself.

The sad soul is Mike Tyson, the one-time heavyweight champ and longtime public menace. He is recalling his long-deceased mentor in the ring of boxing, and of life, Cus D'Amato, in a scene from a recently released James Toback documentary, Tyson.

Never before had anything filmed, videoed, written or otherwise recorded about the most-dissected troubled athlete of our time succeeded in creating so much catharsis for such a contemptible character. In the immediate wake on the conscience that Toback's bio-doc left, it seemed unlikely, too, that anything would come along that would humanize anymore a fellow human being so many of us had come to think of as something less.

But Tuesday, a man who once threatened to devour his opponent's children, discovered he was about to live the worst nightmare of most of us. Tyson learned he would have to bury one of his progeny.

Tyson's 4-year-old daughter, Exodus, died at a Phoenix hospital on Tuesday, one day after apparently getting her neck entangled on a cord dangling from a treadmill at her home, according to police. Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident but was seen arriving at the hospital Monday where his little girl was taken.

"There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus," Exodus' family said in a statement. "We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy to grieve and try to help each other heal."

We've seen many sides over the last quarter century of Tyson -- as transcendent an athlete in sports as Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan -- but most of them are despicable. He was a notorious truant and juvenile delinquent growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood with a record that began when he was 8 years old. His boxing talent was discovered when he was a 12-year-old resident of a reformatory in upstate New York. At age 20 in 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.

Mike Tyson Photos

Former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson attends the Winky Wright versus Paul Williams middleweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada in this April 11, 2009 file photo.Tyson's four-year-old daughter Exodus has died, a day after being found with a cord tied around her neck in an apparent accident at her home, Phoenix police said on May 26, 2009. Media reports said Exodus Tyson was playing near some exercise equipment when she accidentally got tangled in a cord or rope hanging from a treadmill on Monday. She was taken to a Phoenix hospital in critical condition. REUTERS/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

The home where 4-year-old Exodus Tyson, daughter of former boxing champion Mike Tyson, lived is seen Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in Phoenix, a day after her neck apparently was caught in a treadmill cord while she was playing at home, police said. Exodus was declared dead Tuesday at a hospital, police said. Police have said their investigation showed her injury was a "tragic accident." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Abdul Khalik, 53, right, and niece Shahida Popal, 3, who Khalik says was a playmate of Exodus Tyson, talk about the Tyson girl and the family Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in Phoenix, after the death of 4-year-old Exodus, daughter of former boxing champion Mike Tyson, a day after her neck apparently was caught in a treadmill cord while she was playing at home. Police have said their investigation showed her injury was a "tragic accident." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical center is seen Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in Phoenix, where 4-year-old Exodus Tyson, daughter of former boxing champion Mike Tyson, was pronounced dead a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord while she was playing at home, police said. Police have said their investigation showed her injury was a "tragic accident." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(FILES): This April 16, 2009 file photo shows former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson arriving for the premiere of "Tyson" in West Hollywood. Tyson's four-year-old daughter died May 26, 2009, a day after accidentally catching her neck in a cord on a treadmill at her home, police said. Exodus Tyson had been hospitalized on life support since May 25, 2009, when she was found with her neck wrapped in the cable of the exercise machine by her seven-year-old brother. "We are grateful for the tremendous outpouring of love and prayers from all over the world," the family said in a statement. AFP PHOTO / Files / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - JULY 26: (FILE PHOTO) Former boxer Mike Tyson sits in the crowd before the interim WBA light flyweight title fight between Cesar Canchila and Giovani Segura at the MGM Grand Garden Arena July 26, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tyson's daughter Exodus has died May 26, 2009 the day after she was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix following a choking incident involving a treadmill at home. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mike Tyson

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CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 21: (FILE PHOTO) Mike Tyson arrives at the 'Che' Premiere at the Palais des Festivals during the 61st International Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2008 in Cannes, France. Tyson's daughter Exodus has died May 26, 2009 the day after she was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix after a choking incident involving a treadmill at home. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mike Tyson

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(FILES)Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson arrives at the premiere of "Tyson" in West Hollywood, in this April 16, 2009 file photo. Mike Tyson's four-year-old daughter was hospitalized on life support on May 25, 2009 after getting her neck caught in a cable on an exercise treadmill at home, police said. The girl, identified by local media as Exodus Tyson, was found by her seven-year-old brother on Monday morning. The girl's mother, summoned from another room, freed her, called emergency services and tried to resuscitate her. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

NEW YORK - APRIL 20: (FILE PHOTO) Mike Tyson attends Sony Pictures Classics' screening of "Tyson" at the AMC Loews 19th Street on April 20, 2009 in New York City. Tyson's daughter Exodus was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix after a choking incident at home, according to reports on May 25, 2009. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mike Tyson

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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson leaves Superior Court after pleading guilty to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub in Mesa, Ariz. Tyson's 4-year-old daughter is on life support after she was found with her neck on a treadmill cable at their Phoenix home Monday May 25, 2009, police said. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

But that success was short-lived. He was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas in 1990, and in 1992 he was convicted and imprisoned for three years on charges of raping an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant, Desiree Washington, in Indianapolis. Washington testified in court that Tyson raped her in his hotel room and laughed about it as she wept.

After his release, Tyson got three months in jail for beating up two men after a minor car crash in suburban Washington D.C. And in 1997, he etched himself infamously in America's psyche forever more when, trying to regain from Evander Holyfield the undisputed crown he once held, Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear.

I've never witnessed in person a more disgusting thing in sports, and I wrote that evening from ringside in the MGM Grand arena that Tyson had turned a professional boxing match into a human cockfight and should be banned from the sport for life. I was not alone.

But if there is one thing I never should have forgotten, and I am reminded of in these latest developments, it is that Tyson, no matter his history of horrible behavior, is one of us.

No one should have to suffer what Tyson has put others through, particularly the countless women -- in nightclubs and restaurants and, most famously next to Washington, an attendant in a parking lot -- to whom he's exercised loutish and anti-social aggressive sexual behavior. And no one should have to suffer the latest tragedy that just befell Tyson along with the mother and 7-year-old brother of the little girl believed to be the youngest of Tyson's six children. I remember hearing an NPR piece some years ago on executions at the Texas death house in Huntsville, Texas, and one of men who witnessed many of them over the years said the one thing that haunted him was hearing the mothers of the condemned scream.

No one who has buried their child has ever gotten over it, those who've suffered doing so have said. You never forget the details. Your life becomes reorganized as what happened before your child died and what happens afterward. And when it is an accident, like that which killed Tyson's daughter, you are always wondering what you could have done differently and should have done differently in your responsibility as a parent. I can't imagine a heavier burden to carry.

Part of the idea behind the film Tyson was for Tyson and his newest handlers to recast him to the public, yet again, this time as some sort of character who the rest of us could find acceptable. There was a memoir being written on his already well-documented hard, fatherless upbringing that ultimately led him down the troubled and tragic path he seemed only to veer off but never escape.

Everhip.com recently asked the Tyson filmmaker Toback about Tyson's current and future life.

"He's spending a lot of time with his kids, with his girlfriend, and he has a new daughter," Toback told Everhip.com. "I think what he says at the end [of the film] is the real answer to that question, which is the 'Past is history, the future's a mystery.'"

They won't be any longer.

Tyson's Life Marked by Misery, Tragedy originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Wed, 27 May 2009 20:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pacquiao the Destroyer Rules Ring

Kevin Blackistone — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:56:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

LAS VEGAS -- At the end of the day, it wasn't that Floyd Mayweather Jr. failed to do what it appeared he'd done earlier Saturday, which was steal the thunder from the first big pay-per-view boxing event of the year by announcing his much-rumored return to the ring from a 17-month respite. Mayweather's Saturday afternoon press conference did, indeed, overshadow the junior-welterweight championship bout scheduled Saturday night between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton.

But something transpired Saturday evening that even Mayweather couldn't have anticipated. Pacquiao snatched back everyone's attention, stealing back his own thunder, with a second-round knockout of Hatton that was so devastating it left some observers temporarily in fear for Hatton's well-being. It was nothing sort of Tyson-esque

VIDEO: Pacquiao Knocks Out Hatton

Pacquiao landed a perfect left hook on Hatton's chin just before the bell sounded. It turned off Hatton's senses and left him lying on his back as if about to be wheeled away on a gurney. It was several minutes before he was revived and brought to his feet. He was later whisked to a hospital for examination.

"I told Ricky don't get discouraged by this because there's nobody out there who can beat this little Filipino," Bob Arum boasted when it was all over. "Oscar De La Hoya on his best night couldn't beat Manny Pacquiao."

It wasn't just Pacquiao's final punch, however, that made everyone take notice. It was his utter domination of Hatton in the five minutes and 59 seconds that Hatton lasted with him between the ropes.

Hatton never had a chance. Hatton didn't even look like he belonged. He looked like the glorified club fighter some boxing lifers suggested he was all along.

Pacquiao-Hatton Photos

Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, right, laughs with trainer Freddie Roach at a news conference after Pacquiao beat British boxer Ricky Hatton by TKO in the second round of their junior welterweight title boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong)

LAS VEGAS - MAY 02: Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines looks down at referee Kenny Bayless counting after Ricky Hatton of England was knocked down in the first round during their junior welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 2, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manny Pacquiao;Ricky Hatton;Kenny Bayless

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Referee Kenny Bayless counts to British boxer Ricky Hatton, center, after he was knocked down by Manny Pacquiao, far left, of the Philippines in the second round of their junior welterweight title boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by TKO in the second round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

British boxer Ricky Hatton hits the mat after he was knocked down by Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, during the first round of their junior welterweight boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won the fight by TKO in the second round. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, throws a left to British boxer Ricky Hatton, right, during the first round of their junior welterweight boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by TKO in the second round. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

British boxer Ricky Hatton is knocked down by Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, during the first round of their junior welterweight boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won the match by TKO in the second round. (AP Photo/ Isaac Brekken )

Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, follows through with a right hand to British boxer Ricky Hatton during the first round of their junior welterweight boxing match Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao wins by TKO in the second round. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Ricky Hatton's girlfriend Jennifer Dooley attends the Junior Welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of England at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2009 in Las Vegas. Pacquiao stopped Hatton in the second round to match a boxing record by taking a title in his sixth different weight class. AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

If it wasn't for the record of 45-1 with 32 KOs that Hatton brought into the ring, Pacquiao would stand to be criticized after this spectacle for having taken on a bum of the month. That is how completely he dismantled Hatton.

"Manny makes me look good," Freddie Roach said. "I'm the best trainer in the world because I have the best fighter in the world. He listens. He's getting better all the time. Anybody in the world, he can beat them all."

Hatton tried to bully the smaller Pacquiao when the fight started, and it didn't work. He tried to trade punches with Pacquiao, and it didn't work. He came forward and got knocked back and got knocked down, twice in the first round. He was out of options by the second round. Pacquiao's KO punch was a humanitarian gesture. It spared Hatton further damage in a third round.

Hatton couldn't throw a punch without being hit, which was something his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said he tried to teach Hatton to do. If Pacquiao made Roach look like the best trainer in the world, Hatton did the opposite for Mayweather.

There hasn't been such a lopsided championship fight between two highly regarded champions in many a year.

"I hope you enjoyed the show," Pacquiao told the media and his fans afterward, looking as fresh as when he entered the ring.

"Nothing personal," he said of his vanquished opponent.

The undisputed best pound-for-pound fighter in the world then said he was headed to a club for an evening of singing.

I'm more interested in the song Mayweather will sing now in the wake of the human tsunami's latest leveling of humankind. Anything short of accepting the challenge put down by Pacquiao on Saturday night will be a sour note.

Pacquiao left Mayweather without excuse. Mayweather can't say there is a bigger money fight for him as he said when so many wanted to see him fight Antonio Margarito. There isn't. Oscar De La Hoya reiterated to me on Saturday at Mayweather's press conference that he has no desire to resume his career between the ropes.

Mayweather can't say there is some other title he'd rather pursue because the 140s is where all the credibility is at. De La Hoya compared the 140s now to its last heyday back in the '80s when Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns were all trading leather, wins, losses and knockouts.

The bottom line is that Mayweather, who announced Saturday that he would return to the ring July 18 against Juan Manuel Marquez, needs to make a date with Pacquiao. Before Pacquiao destroyed Hatton, I would have suggested September as a perfect date. With Hatton being examined in a hospital, I'd understand if Mayweather wanted to get another fight under his belt and hold off till November. Any later and I'll start to wonder.

Pacquiao isn't ready to rest.

"If [Miguel] Cotto wants to come down a few pounds, we can make that happen," Roach declared. "If Shane Mosley wants to come down, we can make that happen."

Mosley was seated a few chairs away on the stage in the press room when Roach invited his participation. Mosley didn't flinch but he didn't jump to sign a contract, either.

"I can fight anybody," Pacquiao assured.

He was being modest. Pacquiao can beat anyone. We can only hope Mayweather steps up to prove him wrong or steal back the thunder that was once his.

DYST V3 test

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers watches as Mo Williams #2 takes a shoe to the face by Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers after a steal in the closing seconds of the first half at The Quicken Loans Arena on February 8, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images)

David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images

Brazil's Diogo (L) vies for the ball with Paraguay's Hernan Perez during their U-20 South American Championship football match in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela on February 8, 2009.(Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images )

Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images

A Dalmatian looks at its handler as a judge goes to touch the dog during the first day of the 2009 Westminster Dog Show in New York February 9, 2009.(Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

Lucas Jackson, Reuters

Denver Nuggets forward Chris Anderson touches his head during a time out in the first half of their NBA basketball game with the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, New Jersey February 7, 2009. (Ray Stubblebine, Reuters)

Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

Margarita Marbler, of Austria, skis to a bronze medal finish the ladies moguls freestyle FIS World Cupskiing qualification at Cypress mountain in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP)

Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP

West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant (25) is fouled by Providence guard Jeff Xavier (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. West Virginia won 86-59. (Don Wright, AP)

Don Wright, AP

Missouri's DeMarre Carroll, top, celebrates the Tigers' 62-60 win over Kansas in Columbia, Missouri, Monday, February 9, 2009. (Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT)

Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT

David Clarkson #23 of the New Jersey Devils fights Erik Reitz #4 of the New York Rangers during their game on February 9, 2009 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (Al Bello, Getty Images)

Al Bello, Getty Images

Driver Patrick Sheltra (60) begins to spin coming out of the fourth turn during the ARCA 200 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.

Darryl Graham, AP

Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives serves the ball, in this multiple exposure, to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their Fed Cup tennis match in Brno February 7, 2009.

Petr Josek, Reuters

Pacquiao the Destroyer Rules Ring originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sun, 03 May 2009 01:56:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mayweather Jr. Eager to Reclaim Throne

Kevin Blackistone — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:17:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

LAS VEGAS -- It is not raining here today -- when does it ever? -- but Floyd Mayweather Jr. walked onto the Hollywood Theater stage in the MGM Grand this afternoon with his black jean legs stuffed inside calf-high black rubber boots. I guess this was to symbolize that he's about to -- as they say on the strip club scene -- make it "rain money" in the fight game upon announcing just hours before the Manny Pacquaio-Ricky Hatton bout that he is done with retirement. It was even revealed that "Money" is now Mayweather's nickname.

More Coverage: Marquez Up First | Boxing Central

Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Productions said Mayweather will return to the ring in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 18 against Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather is now 32, 17 months after he walked away from the fight game to make TV commercials and wrestling money. He is 39-0 with 25 knockouts and the biggest personality in the game.

Marquez is now 35. He is 50-4-1 with 37 knockouts. Marquez isn't what he once was, when he was beating up Manny Pacquaio and ruling his class.

It is a perfect comeback fight. Marquez will have to lose weight to fight Mayweather at a catch weight of 144.

"He's a good little man," Mayweather said, before later staring him down for the cameras. "I'm a great bigger man. There's a difference."

Mayweather's return isn't about this fight; it is about the game. It is about breathing life into Vegas, which is suffering in the recession. It is about helping HBO pay-per-view get back record audiences again.

For Mayweather, it is about money and legacy. It is about who he will fight after beating up Marquez. His second fight will probably come in September and it will probably be against the winner of Pacquiao-Hatton, which my instincts tell me will be Pacquiao. Pacquiao is who Mayweather would want, too, because a Pacquiao victory over Hatton would solidify his current moniker as the fight game's best pound-for-pound fighter, which was Mayweather's old title.

"Nobody has took my throne," Mayweather declared on the stage Saturday.

He's right. It's merely on loan. He can reclaim it in September.

Pacquiao-Hatton Photos

LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Fans of boxer Ricky Hatton of England react as he is introduced at his official weigh-in for his junior welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Fans and media take pictures as Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of England appear for their official weigh-in for their junior welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: A sign for Floyd Mayweather Jr. is held as boxing fans wait for the official weigh-in for the junior welterweight title fight between Ricky Hatton of England and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was reported that on May 2 Mayweather will announce the end of his retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Manny Pacquiao's mother, Dionisia Pacquiao, waits to watch an official weigh-in for her son and his opponent Ricky Hatton of Britain at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. The boxers will meet for a 12-round, junior welterweight bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya and actor Mario Lopez (R) speak to fans before an official weigh-in for junior welterweight boxers Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of Britain at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. The boxers will meet for a 12-round bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Ricky Hatton fans cheer during an official weigh-in for Hatton and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 1, 2009. Hatton of Britain and Pacquiao of the Philippines will meet for a 12-round, junior welterweight bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Junior welterweight boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines weighs in for his fight with Ricky Hatton of Britain at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. The boxers will meet for a 12-round bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Manny Pacquiao fans cheer for boxer during an official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of Britain will meet for a 12-round, junior welterweight bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Junior welterweight boxer Ricky Hatton of Britain weighs in for his fight with Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. The boxers will meet for a 12-round bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Junior welterweight boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines gestures to fans during an official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1, 2009. Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton of Britain will meet for a 12-round bout at the arena May 2. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING)

Reuters

Mayweather Jr. Eager to Reclaim Throne originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 02 May 2009 16:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Andre Ward Finally Sees Chance Ahead

Kevin Blackistone — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:23:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

LAS VEGAS - The last time I saw Andre Ward, he was ascending the medal platform in a warehouse-type building in a dingy part of Athens, Greece, to receive the Olympic gold medal in the light heavyweight division. I'd all but forgotten about him until Saturday morning, when I shared breakfast and chitchat with him, a dozen or so other scribes, and his promoter Dan Goossen.

And that is Ward's problem, which he and Goossen hope to address in earnest May 16 in Ward's hometown, Oakland, Calif., where he is scheduled to fight his first name opponent, the big-hitting (and big be hit) Colombian, Edison Miranda. Ward never seized the boxing public's psyche after Athens. He never cashed in that gold medal as others had before him, like, most notably, Oscar de la Hoya.

After all, another Olympics has come and gone and Ward doesn't have a world title to go with his 18-0 record. De La Hoya had multiple world titles by now.

"I don't want to be a fly-by-night fighter," Ward explained.

He's barely even been a fly-under-the-radar fighter. And he was the U.S. team's lone gold medalist at Athens.

Ward and Goossen said all of that is about to change. In Miranda, they go up against a raw puncher with a body by Adonis and a chin by Moon Pie. If ever a fighter was made to make Ward's style look exciting he was Miranda.

If Ward prevails, Ward said he'd like to fight the world super middleweight champion - finally - Carl Froch.

It is a shame that it has taken Ward so long to climb just this far. He's an engaging personality. He professes his faith - he's Christian - without browbeating. He is clean cut enough and well-spoken enough to be a pitchman. He eschews bravado, though that isn't always a good thing in the fight game. He's even part of the lineage that is all the rage in our country, biracialism - he's the product of a black and white union.

"He's always had the talent," Goossen said of his charge. "Now he's got the maturity."

I never thought of boxers as fine wines.

Andre Ward Finally Sees Chance Ahead originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 02 May 2009 15:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amir Khan Caught in Middle of Brit Furor

Kevin Blackistone — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:12:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing, FanHouse Exclusive

LAS VEGAS -- Amir Khan stood sheepishly Friday in a back corner of the crowded stage as we all awaited Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton to weigh-in. His shyness was understood when his name was called to say a few things about the upcoming fight.

"Traitor," some of the sauced Brits screamed from the bleachers. "F-off, Khan," a trio of Brits screamed.

If there is a more loathed man among Brits this week than Khan, who, oddly enough, was born amongst them in Manchester, England, I don't know who it would be. He may as well be Salman Rushdie in Mecca.

Here's his problem: He's the current English lightweight champion, the WBO Inter-Continental lightweight champion, and the WBA International lightweight champion. He's the lightweight top contender in the WBO and beat Marco Antonio Barrera. He's professed to be a good friend and fan of Hatton.

But Khan had the temerity to spar with Pacquiao in Pacquiao's preparation for his fight against the Brits' favorite fighter, Hatton.

Khan was clearly aware of his uneasy situation and tried to smooth over any hard feelings with British fight fans, who are said to number 25,000 in Las Vegas this weekend.

"It's a 50-50 fight," Khan told the audience. "It's going to be hard because you've got Ricky Hatton who can punch hard and Pacquiao who is very quick."

His countrymen didn't buy his diplomacy and hooted him back to Pacquiao's corner of the stage.

Amir Khan Caught in Middle of Brit Furor originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Fri, 01 May 2009 20:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Real Results From Skewed Weigh-In

Kevin Blackistone — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:29:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing, FanHouse Exclusive

LAS VEGAS -- With 6,000 screaming fans crammed into a cordoned off portion of the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, Manny Pacquiao stepped onto a scale and tipped it at 138 pounds. Then came Ricky Hatton; his weight was announced at 140 pounds.

Too bad they aren't fighting this evening.

If there is one thing I've never liked about boxing it is the day-ahead weigh-in, particularly for a fight like this. Neither fighter will be near the light welterweight limit of 140 come Saturday night. Pacquiao will be closer to 148, which was what he weighed in knocking Oscar De La Hoya into retirement last December.

Hatton, whose one advantage in this fight is he is naturally bigger than Pacquiao, will work between the official weigh-in Friday and the opening bell Saturday night to emphasize he is the bigger man in the ring. He will beef up in the hours in between with plenty of protein and step into the ring Saturday probably weighing more than 150. Rumor was that he had trouble getting down to the max of 140 to begin with. He denied the accusation.

Getting bigger doesn't always work to a fighter's advantage, which was supposedly what did in Roberto Duran in his infamous No Mas bout with Sugar Ray Leonard. He spent the hours between weighing in and the opening bell beefing up on steak and orange juice and suffered diarrhea, along with some well-placed fists.

There isn't any chance, of course, that boxing will ever change this method of weigh-in. Promoters can't afford to have a guy not make weight just before stepping into the ring, which would force a nullification of whatever crown the fight was for or, at worst, force the cancellation of the bout.

But if Hatton has a decided size advantage in this fight and uses it to win this fight, then this fight won't be right. It'll be a super welterweight fight disguised as a light welterweight one, which isn't what we're being sold.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Pacquiao-Hatton Photos

LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Terry Mirlow, of London, holds a British flag as he cheers on Ricky Hatton of England after the weigh-in for Hatton's junior welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Terry Mirlow

Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Host/actor Mario Lopez attends the weigh-in for the junior welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of England at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mario Lopez

Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: (L-R) Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of England shake hands after both fighters stepped on the scale during the weigh-in for their junior welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manny Pacquiao;Ricky Hatton

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Retired boxer/promoter Oscar De La Hoya attends the weigh-in for the junior welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Ricky Hatton of England at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Oscar De La Hoya

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: (L-R) Humberto Soto of Mexico and Benoit Gaudet of Canada pose after their weigh-in for their super featherweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Humberto Soto;Benoit Gaudet

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: A fan of boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines holds up a sign before the start of the weigh-in for Pacquiao's junior welterweight title fight against Ricky Hatton of England at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Ricky Hatton of England answers questions from host/actor Mario Lopez after Hatton stepped on the scale at 140 pounds during the weigh-in for his junior welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ricky Hatton;Mario Lopez

Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Ricky Hatton of England steps on the scale at 140 pounds during the weigh-in for his junior welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ricky Hatton

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LAS VEGAS - MAY 01: Ricky Hatton of England looks up to the crowd after he weighed-in at 140 pounds during the weigh-in for his junior welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines at the MGM Grand Garden Arena May 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ricky Hatton

Getty Images

No Real Results From Skewed Weigh-In originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Fri, 01 May 2009 19:29:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pacquiao a True Champion

Kevin Blackistone — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:30:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

It is virtually impossible to find a superstar athlete these days for whom some disdain can't be mustered. Michael Phelps gets busted. LeBron James gets the benefit of the NBA's preferential refereeing. The Williams Sisters get surly. Rafael Nadal showed some audacity by suggesting tennis adjust its schedule to his liking. And Derek Jeter is a Yankee.

But there is Manny Pacquiao, all 5 feet, 6 inches and 140 pounds of him. What is there about him not to like?

He is at the top of his game, the fight game, after a 2008 campaign that saw him fight three times in three different weight classes (super featherweight, lightweight and welterweight) and win all three to gain two world titles along the way. In the non-title bout at welterweight, he knocked Oscar de la Hoya into retirement.

He does his thing in exciting style, echoing Aaron Pryor, which earned him the respectful nickname PacMan.

He comes from poor beginnings in the Philippines and is as humble as a monk.

"I just try my best to make the fans happy with my performance," PacMan told me Tuesday in a phone conversation from his training camp in Southern California. "That's one of the main things I fight for, is to make people happy and proud of my sport, a sport that I'm lucky enough to be in."

As a result, he is winning over people in droves like a recent successful presidential candidate did in arenas you wouldn't expect. To be sure, by the time AT&T Park in San Francisco opened Tuesday evening for the Giants' game against San Diego, the last-place Giants' gift to fans who made it a sellout with Filipino Heritage Night tickets was selling on eBay for as much as $40, or twice the price of the Filipino Heritage ticket. It was the ubiquitous bobblehead, but of someone rarely caricatured: a junior welterweight boxing champion not even from here, Pacquiao.

That is how popular the "human tsunami," as fight analyst Larry Merchant so perfectly dubbed Pacquiao, has become. Now, he is drawing legions of fans beyond even the Philippines, where he is so much the rage that his fights famously have brought about informal ceasefires between sniping Muslim rebels and Catholic government forces. Now, he is the reason for sold out arenas, as will be the case, promoter Bob Arum announced Tuesday, on May 2 when Pacquiao meets Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton from England for Hatton's title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"'The Battle of East and West,'" Arum boasted of his latest PacMan fight, "is on track to break all existing pay-per-view records."

Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather set the record. That's how big PacMania could be two weekends from now.

But here is the ultimate reason for me to applaud Pacquiao: he is willing to risk it all for a selfless reason, his people. Pacquiao reiterated that he is going to make a second run for national office next year in his homeland. His first in 2007 was unsuccessful.

I've always been drawn to athletes who aren't fearful of using their platforms as bully pulpits for causes greater than the enrichment of their bank account. Paul Robeson. Curt Flood. Muhammad Ali. Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Joey Cheek. Here is one in Pacquiao willing not only to voice his concerns but put them on a ballot as well.

"I plan on running for Congress again because that's what's in my heart," PacMan said in a very measured and respectful tone that reflects his demeanor. "I want to help people.

"I know that politics is difficult and corrupt even sometimes. I want to change it. I don't want to run for Congress to make any money; I have my own money. I'm okay. My family is doing well. I'm just here to help."

In Pacquiao's first bid for office he was booed at a rally by some in his country who didn't want him to align himself with a particular side, or shelve his outrageously successful boxing career that brought so much good feeling to the Philippines. It was a sign that he risked his good standing.

"I don't think he should be entering politics," Dr. Belinda Aquino, director of the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, told me Tuesday. "He will lose some credibility. I'm afraid he may be being used."

Aquino pointed out that in the Philippines' multi-party political system competing parties are always looking for some means other than their platforms to attract voters and garner power and often those means are celebrities who can be convinced to run for office. Former President Joseph Estrada was known as the Ronald Reagan of the Philippines because he, too, was formerly a B-movie actor. Vice President Manuel De Castro was a one-time Larry King of Philippines' television. Other actors and athletes are in smaller elected offices nationally and regionally.

"I'm sure there's a motivation for people to get Pacquiao involved in politics," Dr. Aquino said.

PacMan said he is unconcerned. As much as he is driven to box by a desire to please ticket buyers, he said he is driven to public service by a desire to pull up those in the poor part of the Philippines where he grew up, once watching in horror as his father slaughtered the family dog for sustenance.

"That doesn't matter if it has a bad affect on my popularity," he said. "My ultimate goal is to help people, and to be able to find a way to assist the people in need, because I came from that area and those people are desperate for help."

Manny Pacquiao is champion of the people, too.

Pacquiao a True Champion originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Most Significant Fighter of His Time

Kevin Blackistone — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:32:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

It was siesta, or lunch time, in Badalona, Spain, a suburb of Barcelona, when I wandered out of the Olympic boxing venue in the summer of 1992 with a couple of scribe friends and a legend of the corner, Lou Duva, for lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. (Hey, you couldn't eat paella every day!) Lou promised to give us his take on the U.S. Olympic boxing team, which he was scouting for his stable.

There were a number of promising pugilists on the U.S. squad. There was a lanky light welterweight from Augusta, Ga., named Vernon Forrest, who was a favorite to win gold. There was a light middleweight from Houston with a world title named Raul Marquez. And there was a world champion from Los Angeles named Oscar De La Hoya.

Duva most wanted De La Hoya, whom he'd worked with as an amateur. "He could be a good one," I recall Duva said of De La Hoya, who won the gold medal.

That turned out to be an understatement of massive proportions.

If there has been a prize fighter who has left a more indelible mark on the fight game since then than Oscar De La Hoya -- who said Tuesday he'd laced up his gloves for the last time -- I don't know him.

And that is a conservative estimation. Why not go back the last quarter century, from about the time Sugar Ray Leonard's career peaked with a comeback-from-injury decision over Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1986?

After all, Mike Tyson was a flame out. Roy Jones Jr. never had a dance partner. Lennox Lewis was Larry Holmes on Ritalin. Pernell Whitaker was undone by advancing age and bad luck, including a questionable loss on points to De La Hoya.

I don't recall exactly when New York boxing writer Michael Katz pinned his "Chicken" De La Hoya tag on Oscar, but by the time De La Hoya met Whitaker in 1997, it was more rubber than real. He'd walked through Rafael Ruelas, Jesse James Leija and -- for the light welterweight title, his third weight-class crown -- his idol, Julio Cesar Chavez.

And starting in 1999, De La Hoya fought everybody at every weight he could meet. Beat Ike Quartey to retain the welterweight belt. Lost it to Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley. Broke Fernando Vargas in a grudge match for the light middleweight title. Lost that to Mosley in a rematch. Stepped up to Bernard Hopkins, the best middleweight since Hagler. At 34, tried a younger Floyd Mayweather, and last December at 35 tried a younger, smaller Manny Pacquiao.

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Challenger David Haye attends a a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, April 16, 2009. Haye will challenge world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko at the Veltins-Arena at Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20, 2009. About 60,000 spectators are expected for the fight at the soccer stadium. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Challenger David Haye wears a shirt, on which depicts him he holding the heads of the Klitschko brothers at a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, April 16, 2009. Haye will challenge world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko at the Veltins-Arena at Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20, 2009. About 60,000 spectators are expected for the fight at the soccer stadium. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - APRIL 16: Wladimir Klitschko (L) of Ukraine and David Haye (R) of United Kingdom (R) pose after the press conference at the Veltins Arena auf Schalke on April 16, 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The IBF - IBO and WBO World Heavyweight Championship fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye will take place at the Veltins Arena auf Schalke on June 20, 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Wladimr Klitschko;David Haye

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IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko and his British challenger David Haye (R) poses for photographers during a press conference in the Veltins Arena in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen on April 16, 2009. Britain's rising ring star David Haye declared open war at the press conference on world heavyweight champions the Klitschko brothers as he prepares to meet IBF and WBO belt-holder Vladimir on June 20. AFP PHOTO DDP / CLEMENS BILAN GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read CLEMENS BILAN/AFP/Getty Images)

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GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - APRIL 16: Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine attends the press conference at the Veltins Arena auf Schalke on April 16, 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The IBF - IBO and WBO World Heavyweight Championship fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye will take place at the Veltins Arena auf Schalke on June 20, 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)

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World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, left, and challenger David Haye are pictured at a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, April 16, 2009. Wladimir Klitschko will defend his WBO and IBF title against David Haye from England at the Veltins-Arena at Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20, 2009. About 60,000 spectators are expected for the fight at the soccer stadium. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, with his belts, and challenger David Haye are pictured at a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday, April 16, 2009. Klitschko will defend his WBO and IBF title against David Haye from England at the Veltins-Arena at Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20, 2009. About 60,000 spectators are expected for the fight at the soccer stadium. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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De La Hoya lost six of his 11 most-marquee matchups since first dismantling Chavez in 1996. I was ringside for most of them and they can be parsed. His Trinidad loss was questionable. His first loss to Mosley, a split decision, was questionable, too.

But none of that detracts from what made De La Hoya, despite standing just 5-foot-10 and tipping the scales at no more than 160 pounds, such an overwhelming figure in boxing -- pugilistic personality.

It wasn't just that De La Hoya always came to fight, as his close losses evidenced. Other fighters of his generation respected the sport as much. It wasn't just that he was the best for a spell, as his ascension to Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year and Pound-for-Pound best fighter in the world by the middle and late '90s proved.

It was that De La Hoya brought an honorable excitement to the ring that appealed not just to hardcore fight fans, but casual ones. Women were attracted to his clean good looks, a burgeoning Mexican-American community that clamored for one of its own celebrated him, and cable TV programmers in need of a universal draw flocked his way.

De La Hoya the fighter had charisma. He was in the ring a Sugar Ray Leonard incarnate. He wasn't as good a fighter, but he was an even better draw. He was a mainstream star in a sport that doesn't have them anymore.

If there was one fighter who boxing should have freed up every now and then for free TV to grow itself again on the American sports psyche it was De La Hoya. To be certain, De La Hoya became the undisputed champion of pay-per-view broadcasts for a non-heavyweight in the history of his game.

During De la Hoya's 16-year pro career, he was on 19 HBO Pay-Per-View broadcasts that generated 14.1 million buys for upward of $700 million in revenue. He set the pay-per-view record with 2.5 million buys for his 2007 bout with Mayweather.

De La Hoya became boxing's stimulus plan.

"As an attraction, I don't see any way he could have been bigger," Bob Arum, who wound up beating out Duva to promote De la Hoya for most of his career, told New York Daily News boxing columnist Tim Smith the other day. "He was huge. He was 'the' attraction in boxing, certainly after Tyson."

The good news for boxing in the wake of De La Hoya's announcement is that he is only leaving the ring, and not the game. Several years ago, De la Hoya ventured into an arena other fighters before him have tried with lackluster success, promotion. He almost immediately picked up that aspect of the game as he did the fighting part.

De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has left Don King Productions in the dust and is gaining on Arum's Top Rank as the fight game's leading promotion concern. His fighters and his cards are mimicking his charisma and respect for the game.

De La Hoya is continuing to be to boxing what Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were to the NBA, the great resuscitator.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

The Most Significant Fighter of His Time originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Margarito Leaves Mess in His Trail

Kevin Blackistone — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:45:00 EST

Filed under: Boxing

To this day, it remains the most disgusting thing I've ever witnessed in sports: Billy Collins Jr. vs. Luis Resto, June, 1983.

It was just supposed to be a little pre-fight entertainment to the main card on CBS that afternoon, Davey Moore against Roberto Duran. Collins was a promising young welterweight, undefeated at the time, while Resto wasn't much more than a journeyman.

But after 10 rounds, Collins was a bloody mess and vision-impaired for the rest of his life. And Resto was found to be a co-conspirator in a fight he helped turn into a crime.

Resto and his trainer, Panama Lewis, were found to have removed most of the padding from his gloves just before the fight, allowing Resto to pound Collins' face into pulp with his knuckles basically sheathed only in leather.

Resto and Lewis were convicted of assault and conspiracy, sent to prison and banned from boxing. Collins never fought again, dying nine months later in an automobile accident while suffering from depression.

We learned just about a year ago, however, that the vicious beating Resto and Lewis gave Collins was even more brutal than long thought. In a documentary film, Cornered, on that horrific crime released last April, Resto revealed that he and Lewis not only removed the padding from his gloves, but also soaked the tape used to wrap his hands in plaster of Paris, providing Resto with fists hardened in casts underneath his unpadded gloves. He may as well have been bludgeoning Collins with a bag of bricks.

You would think no one in boxing would dare do such a heinous thing again. But the Antonio Margarito-Shane Mosley welterweight title bout Saturday night from Los Angeles and broadcast on HBO began with the announcement that fight officials found what one of them described as plaster of Paris hidden in the wrapped hands of Margarito. They forced Margarito to have his hands taped again. The fight went on. Mosley won easily and in stunning fashion.

That wasn't poetic justice, however. It wasn't poetic justice that Margarito also lost a potential $11 million pay day to fight Manny Pacquiao. For had Margarito's attempt to cheat not have been suspected first by Mosley's keen-eyed trainer Nazim Richardson, the fight world would have been in danger of witnessing another Resto-Collins tragedy.

What poetic justice would be in this case is to have the boxing licenses of Margarito and his handlers -- in the wake of Mosley snatching Margarito's belt -- suspended and an investigation begun immediately into exactly what happened.

How did this despicable act go undetected by fight officials? Why didn't the referee recognize the oddity that Richardson did? Why do I wonder now about the 4-to-1 odds Margarito carried into a fight against a consummate professional in Mosley who'd held world titles in three different weight classes in his career?

What poetic justice would be in this case is to have Margarito's $2.3 million purse for Saturday withheld, just like Mike Tyson's was after the bite fight, until and unless satisfactory answers are made to the above questions. What poetic justice would be in this case is to have Margarito and his handlers banned from boxing, just like Resto and Lewis were, if what we were told happened just before Saturday night's title fight turns out to be true.

We know that "trickeration," as Don King calls it, goes on from time to time in prizefighting, one of my favorite sports, nonetheless. It is part and parcel of the game. It isn't golf. Never has been.

But high jinks can't be tolerated when they threaten the livelihoods, if not lives, of the athletes.

What poetic justice would be in this case further is also to have Margarito's bloody victory last summer over then undefeated welterweight champion Miguel Cotto investigated and, if some potentially deadly shenanigans are discovered, have the fight annulled and Cotto restored as champion.

I couldn't help but start replaying Margarito's punishing beatdown of Cotto over and over again in my mind after HBO punch-by-punch announcer Jim Lampley made the announcement from ringside about what California fight officials said they found on Margarito's fist. Margarito didn't just make Cotto, who'd been dominating opponents coming into his Margarito meeting, bow down to him. Margarito turned Cotto, who wasn't necessarily known as a bleeder, into a bloody mess, not unlike what Resto did to Collins over a quarter-century ago.

Margarito was the underdog against Cotto. He was three years older at 30. He had five losses on his record, including a surprising loss to Paul Williams a year earlier.

But as their fight wore into the middle rounds, Margarito was cutting up Cotto's mouth and face. Blood was just about pouring from Cotto's mouth in the 11th round when he dropped to one knee and signaled that he'd had enough of what was hitting him. Just fists, I suspect he was certain then.

Who wasn't?

After Saturday night in the Staples Center, I'm not so sure, not so sure at all.

Margarito Leaves Mess in His Trail originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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