On March 27th, 1982 both Wilfredo Gomez and Jeff Chandler defended their titles via 6th round knockouts..... nothing special about that right? Not unless you know that BOTH fights officially ended at 2:28 of the round!
In 1952 German middleweight Peter Muller knocked out the referee of his fight! The punch was thrown on purpose after the referee warned him for low blows.
Did you know Jack Johnson was sent to prison in Fort Levavenworth after losing the Jess Willard fight in Cuba and not returning Europe to live.
Speaking of Jack Johnson one of his opponents Victor McLaglen went on to win a Academy Award for his acting in the movie "The Informer".
Sugar Ray Robinson fought the best fighters of the world in his era, so who does he say hit him the hardest? Sugar Ray repeatedly stated that it was Artie Levine.
In case anyone asks you the official scorecards for the first Ali vs. Frazier fight "The fight of the Century" read like this
Arthur Mercante (referee) Frazier 8 rounds, Ali 4 rounds, 1 even
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A F F F A A F F A F E F F F
Arthur Aidala Frazier 9 rounds, Ali 6 rounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A F F F F F F A A F F A A F
Bill Recht Frazier 11 rounds, Ali 4 rounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
F A F F A F F F A F F F F A F
Soccer can be bad for boxers! 80's lightweight Roger Medel had his boxing career ended by a kick to head while playing soccer. The kick was so powerful it took a six hour operation to save his life. At the time the 20 year old Medel was ranked number 14 at lightweight by The Ring magazine.
Everyone seems to think Duran was being hopelessly outclassed by Sugar Ray Leonard in the "No Mas" fight. But the judges had the fight scored as 4-2-1, 4-2-1 and 4-3 in rounds before Duran quit.
In 1985 The Ring magazine ranked the greatest 1st rounds ever:
1. Jack Dempsey vs. Luis Firpo
2. Benny Leonard vs. Ritchie Mitchell
3. Jack Dempsey vs. Jess Willard
4. Chan Hee Park vs. Guty Espadas
5. Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns
Here is a list of nick names given to Ali opponents by Ali
1. The Mummy (George Foreman)
2. The Ugly Bear (Sonny Liston)
3. Dracula (Leon Spinks)
4. The Peanut (Larry Holmes)
5. The Octupus (Ernie Terrell)
6. The Rabbit (Floyd Patterson)
7. The Washerwoman (George Chuvalo)
The first boxing magazine was "Boxing Reviewed" in 1790!!
The first ring fatality in a title bout (to my knowledge) was Walter Croots who dies after a 20th round KO in 1897.
The largest purse Joe Louis ever received was $625,916.00, that was for his second fight against Billy Conn.
No wonder boxing is in bad shape, back when ESPN put on weekly boxing shows the highest rated one was when Tommy Morrison fought Tim Tomashek. Jeepers creepers that sucks! Oh yeah second place was Tommy Morrison vs. Bob Quarry and third was Virgill Hill vs. Mike Peak.
The 4 largest USA Tuesday Night Fights broadcasts were Foreman vs. Everett Martin, Foreman vs. Ken Lakuska, The final show and Larry Holmes vs. Ray Mercer on tape delay.
Speaking of TV. Sacramento's channel 3 in 1980 covered the weigh in for the Pete Ranzany vs. Sal Lopez fight live. The problem was that Ranzany had trouble making weight and got on the scales completely naked, yep no one warned channel 3 and Mr. Ranzany was shown to Sacramento in his birthday suit.
They say Mike Tyson was a big boxing fan/historian (which is true) but how could he then rate Pinklon Thomas as a better boxer than Larry Holmes when asked to rank his top 10 heavyweights in June of 1985? His number 3 selection was David Bey...... urgh we should have seen the signs earlier
A lot of people like George Foreman for being honest, here is a case where it cost "Big" George $30,000. In November 1975 Foreman was sued by Erma Compton who claimed Foreman had struck her while at a hotel in the Catskills. Foreman who had just become a preacher answered truthfully "yes" when asked if he struck the women. And with that one word he lost $30,0000.
Did you know Marvin Hagler is the all time middleweight knock out king with a .788 % KO percentage, Stanley Ketchel had a .766 % KO percentage.
The first women to be licensed as a referee was Mrs. Bear James of Kansas City in 1978.
Zora Folley died a strange death. In 1972 while playing around at poolside, picked up his friend to throw him in the pool. But the 41 year old Folley slipped and hit his head on the side of the cement pool causing his death.
Talk about a tought neighborhood! 80's World Champions Milton McCrory, Duane Thomas and Jimmy Paul all grew up on the same street! It was Marx Street in Detroit.
The first title fight held in a Las Vegas Casino was between Roberto Duran and Esteban DeJesus at Cesars Palace in 1978.
Do you realize that Primo Carnera still holds the record for most KO's in a career by a heavyweight champion at 69. Ezzard Charles is second with 58. Charles also holds the record for most bouts in a career by a heavyweight champion at 122.
Jimmy Ellis lost a 10 round decision to none other than Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Well how did that not get in the movie!
When Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johannson meet in their rubber match in 1961 it was the first and only that the same 2 men fought for the heavyweight title 3 fights in a row.
Bill Brady was the 1st manager of 2 heavyweight champions James Jeffries and Jim Corbett, it took Don King nearly 90 years to equal that feat.
The smallest attendance at a heavyweight title fight was between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston II with only 2,434 people attending the fight because of threats of violence.
Joe Frazier became well known in America because of his Gold Medal win the Olympics, but it should not have happend! Joe was allowed to participate in the Olympics because Buster Mathis who won the Olympic box offs broke his thumb in a fight and could not go. The ironic part is that it was Joe Frazier's head that he broke it on in the finals of that tourney. Talk about adding insult to injury!
Here is a odd fact, the great Carlos Monzon had 60 KO's in his career but never scored on in the first round. Talk about a slow starter.
When Rocky Marciano died he left behind no will, no insurance and little in assets. Rocky was known for his peny pinching and as much as 1 million dollars in cash is still missing. One time Rocky went to the movies with his daughter and stashed a brown bag under the seat while they watched the movie. Rocky forgot about the bag but his daughter remembered and handed the bag to her father. In it was $40,000 in cash! Rocky hated banks and always kept cash hidden.... perhaps it is buried somewhere in Brockton?
What heavyweight holds the record for most knockouts? George Godfrey with 76 (Archie Moore while he fought at heavyweight was never a full fleged heavy) Primo Carnera is the record holder for knockouts among heavyweight champions with 68.
Jack Dempsey's heaviest fighting weight was 194 1/2 pounds.
Joe Frazier when asked how he would fare against his son in a boxing match said "If I said 'Fall down', he's gonna fall down. I'm still his father."
In a case of taking it too far South African boxing fanatic Tony Wolf committed suicide after his favorite boxer Gerrie Coetzee was beaten by John Tate for the heavyweight title.
Light heavyweight great Billy Conn was payed $2.50 for his first pro fight..... his manager took $2.00 of it because "You lost the fight, and besides you got to eat!"
I think the quickest kayo in a pro bout for the history of Madison Square Garden was the 54 seconds it took Gerry Cooney to knock Ken Norten out.
What boxer refereed a heavyweight title fight 8 years before he participated in one? Geroges Carpentier refereed the Jack Johnson vs. Andre Spoul fight in 1913 and fought Jack Dempsey in 1921 for the heavyweight title.
Speaking of Carpentier, amazingly he scored a knockout in every weight division from flyweight to heavyweight.
In the fight to the finish days the most number of rounds fought was 276 rounds!! The bout was between Patsy Tunney and Jack Jones and took place in 1825 in Chesire, England.
Speaking of fights that went some 75 rounds or more, you must take this into account. Back in the pre-Queensberry rules a round was ended when one boxer fell or was wrestled to the ground, then they had 30 seconds to return to scratch and fight again.
What was the strangest way a bout was stopped? This might qualify. 1981 in Liberal Kansas a womens fight (yes it was around back then also) was stopped because Robin Haukaas bra broke!! Angie Lopez won by....... BKO
"I've got it made! I've got a wife and a TV set...... and they're both working." Willie Pep.
The last title fight to go past 15 rounds was the light heavyweight bout between Mike McTigue and Battling Siki, McTigue won the title on a 20 round decision.
Victor McGlaglen who won a Academy award for his role in the movie "The Informer" fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six round no decision.
Actors Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dean Martin were also boxers.
Al McCoy was the first left handed boxer to win a world title when he won the middleweight title in 1914.
Who is the only heavyweight champion to be knocked out in his pro debut? Mike Weaver (WBA heavyweight champ) who was knocked out in the third round by Howard Smith.
The Jack Dempsey vs. Bill Brennan heavyweight title fight was the first scheduled for 15 rounds.
In a bout between former heavyweight champ Jack Johnson and Jack Thompson in 1923 the referee (Villanmil is the only name mentioned) became so disgusted by the slowness of the bout that he walked out of the ring! The promotor had to finish refereeing the bout.
The record for most knockdowns in one non-title bout (or any bout probably) had to be when Battling Nelson (one of the toughest boxers ever) was knocked down 7 times..... oh yeah his opponent Christy Williams was knocked down 42 times!! And they thought Nelson was tough. The fight ended in the 17th round with Nelson declared the winner by knockout.
Did you know Willie Pep fought Sugar Ray Robinson! According to Pep he and Sugar Ray fought as amateurs in Norwich, Connecticut in 1938. Robinson supposedly won the decision and weighed in at 128 to Willie's 110.
Muhammad Ali was not only a great pro boxer he was also a great amateur. He lost only one bout in the amateurs to a boxer named Amos Johnson.
Did you know that Angelo Dunde the great trainer of Muhammad also worked the corner of Jimmy Ellis? That is not unusual..... but he worked the Ellis corner AGAINST Ali! Angelo Dundee worked with both boxers at the time but since he was only the "trainer" of Ali and the cornerman for Ellis he decided to work with the camp that needed him the most.
American president Gerald Ford used to be the boxing coach for Yale University.
WBA jr. middleweight champ Davey Moore was in the crowd at the Marvin Hagler knockout win over Caveman Lee and was asked if he would consider moving up in weight for a fight with Hagler. His reply "No, I'm gonna starve myself."
Here is proof that boxing and politics do not go together. In 1979 Venzuelan WBA lightweight champion Ernesto Espana was in Washington D.C for a title fight (that was cancelled) and tried to deliver a gift to president Carter. A pair of boxing gloves inscribed "To Jimmy Carter a true world champion of human rights." Espana was rebuffed by security guards and they also refused to take the gloves to give to the president at a later time. Espana left after being threatend with arrest.
After his loss to Muhammad Ali British champ Joe Bugner became angry with English reporters who claimed he did not try hard enough to beat Ali. Bugner screamed out "Get me Jesus Christ, I'll fight him tomorrow!". Hugh McIllvanney of the London Observer replied "Ah, Joe, you're only saying that 'cause you know he has bad hands."
Here a fact about former Middleweight champ Stanley Ketchel:
His father was murdered.
His mother was murdered.
He was murdered.
His murderer was murdered.
The woman that was associated with his murder was murdered.
members.tripod.com/~fivedogs/misc1.html
In 1952 German middleweight Peter Muller knocked out the referee of his fight! The punch was thrown on purpose after the referee warned him for low blows.
Did you know Jack Johnson was sent to prison in Fort Levavenworth after losing the Jess Willard fight in Cuba and not returning Europe to live.
Speaking of Jack Johnson one of his opponents Victor McLaglen went on to win a Academy Award for his acting in the movie "The Informer".
Sugar Ray Robinson fought the best fighters of the world in his era, so who does he say hit him the hardest? Sugar Ray repeatedly stated that it was Artie Levine.
In case anyone asks you the official scorecards for the first Ali vs. Frazier fight "The fight of the Century" read like this
Arthur Mercante (referee) Frazier 8 rounds, Ali 4 rounds, 1 even
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A F F F A A F F A F E F F F
Arthur Aidala Frazier 9 rounds, Ali 6 rounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A F F F F F F A A F F A A F
Bill Recht Frazier 11 rounds, Ali 4 rounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
F A F F A F F F A F F F F A F
Soccer can be bad for boxers! 80's lightweight Roger Medel had his boxing career ended by a kick to head while playing soccer. The kick was so powerful it took a six hour operation to save his life. At the time the 20 year old Medel was ranked number 14 at lightweight by The Ring magazine.
Everyone seems to think Duran was being hopelessly outclassed by Sugar Ray Leonard in the "No Mas" fight. But the judges had the fight scored as 4-2-1, 4-2-1 and 4-3 in rounds before Duran quit.
In 1985 The Ring magazine ranked the greatest 1st rounds ever:
1. Jack Dempsey vs. Luis Firpo
2. Benny Leonard vs. Ritchie Mitchell
3. Jack Dempsey vs. Jess Willard
4. Chan Hee Park vs. Guty Espadas
5. Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns
Here is a list of nick names given to Ali opponents by Ali
1. The Mummy (George Foreman)
2. The Ugly Bear (Sonny Liston)
3. Dracula (Leon Spinks)
4. The Peanut (Larry Holmes)
5. The Octupus (Ernie Terrell)
6. The Rabbit (Floyd Patterson)
7. The Washerwoman (George Chuvalo)
The first boxing magazine was "Boxing Reviewed" in 1790!!
The first ring fatality in a title bout (to my knowledge) was Walter Croots who dies after a 20th round KO in 1897.
The largest purse Joe Louis ever received was $625,916.00, that was for his second fight against Billy Conn.
No wonder boxing is in bad shape, back when ESPN put on weekly boxing shows the highest rated one was when Tommy Morrison fought Tim Tomashek. Jeepers creepers that sucks! Oh yeah second place was Tommy Morrison vs. Bob Quarry and third was Virgill Hill vs. Mike Peak.
The 4 largest USA Tuesday Night Fights broadcasts were Foreman vs. Everett Martin, Foreman vs. Ken Lakuska, The final show and Larry Holmes vs. Ray Mercer on tape delay.
Speaking of TV. Sacramento's channel 3 in 1980 covered the weigh in for the Pete Ranzany vs. Sal Lopez fight live. The problem was that Ranzany had trouble making weight and got on the scales completely naked, yep no one warned channel 3 and Mr. Ranzany was shown to Sacramento in his birthday suit.
They say Mike Tyson was a big boxing fan/historian (which is true) but how could he then rate Pinklon Thomas as a better boxer than Larry Holmes when asked to rank his top 10 heavyweights in June of 1985? His number 3 selection was David Bey...... urgh we should have seen the signs earlier
A lot of people like George Foreman for being honest, here is a case where it cost "Big" George $30,000. In November 1975 Foreman was sued by Erma Compton who claimed Foreman had struck her while at a hotel in the Catskills. Foreman who had just become a preacher answered truthfully "yes" when asked if he struck the women. And with that one word he lost $30,0000.
Did you know Marvin Hagler is the all time middleweight knock out king with a .788 % KO percentage, Stanley Ketchel had a .766 % KO percentage.
The first women to be licensed as a referee was Mrs. Bear James of Kansas City in 1978.
Zora Folley died a strange death. In 1972 while playing around at poolside, picked up his friend to throw him in the pool. But the 41 year old Folley slipped and hit his head on the side of the cement pool causing his death.
Talk about a tought neighborhood! 80's World Champions Milton McCrory, Duane Thomas and Jimmy Paul all grew up on the same street! It was Marx Street in Detroit.
The first title fight held in a Las Vegas Casino was between Roberto Duran and Esteban DeJesus at Cesars Palace in 1978.
Do you realize that Primo Carnera still holds the record for most KO's in a career by a heavyweight champion at 69. Ezzard Charles is second with 58. Charles also holds the record for most bouts in a career by a heavyweight champion at 122.
Jimmy Ellis lost a 10 round decision to none other than Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Well how did that not get in the movie!
When Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johannson meet in their rubber match in 1961 it was the first and only that the same 2 men fought for the heavyweight title 3 fights in a row.
Bill Brady was the 1st manager of 2 heavyweight champions James Jeffries and Jim Corbett, it took Don King nearly 90 years to equal that feat.
The smallest attendance at a heavyweight title fight was between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston II with only 2,434 people attending the fight because of threats of violence.
Joe Frazier became well known in America because of his Gold Medal win the Olympics, but it should not have happend! Joe was allowed to participate in the Olympics because Buster Mathis who won the Olympic box offs broke his thumb in a fight and could not go. The ironic part is that it was Joe Frazier's head that he broke it on in the finals of that tourney. Talk about adding insult to injury!
Here is a odd fact, the great Carlos Monzon had 60 KO's in his career but never scored on in the first round. Talk about a slow starter.
When Rocky Marciano died he left behind no will, no insurance and little in assets. Rocky was known for his peny pinching and as much as 1 million dollars in cash is still missing. One time Rocky went to the movies with his daughter and stashed a brown bag under the seat while they watched the movie. Rocky forgot about the bag but his daughter remembered and handed the bag to her father. In it was $40,000 in cash! Rocky hated banks and always kept cash hidden.... perhaps it is buried somewhere in Brockton?
What heavyweight holds the record for most knockouts? George Godfrey with 76 (Archie Moore while he fought at heavyweight was never a full fleged heavy) Primo Carnera is the record holder for knockouts among heavyweight champions with 68.
Jack Dempsey's heaviest fighting weight was 194 1/2 pounds.
Joe Frazier when asked how he would fare against his son in a boxing match said "If I said 'Fall down', he's gonna fall down. I'm still his father."
In a case of taking it too far South African boxing fanatic Tony Wolf committed suicide after his favorite boxer Gerrie Coetzee was beaten by John Tate for the heavyweight title.
Light heavyweight great Billy Conn was payed $2.50 for his first pro fight..... his manager took $2.00 of it because "You lost the fight, and besides you got to eat!"
I think the quickest kayo in a pro bout for the history of Madison Square Garden was the 54 seconds it took Gerry Cooney to knock Ken Norten out.
What boxer refereed a heavyweight title fight 8 years before he participated in one? Geroges Carpentier refereed the Jack Johnson vs. Andre Spoul fight in 1913 and fought Jack Dempsey in 1921 for the heavyweight title.
Speaking of Carpentier, amazingly he scored a knockout in every weight division from flyweight to heavyweight.
In the fight to the finish days the most number of rounds fought was 276 rounds!! The bout was between Patsy Tunney and Jack Jones and took place in 1825 in Chesire, England.
Speaking of fights that went some 75 rounds or more, you must take this into account. Back in the pre-Queensberry rules a round was ended when one boxer fell or was wrestled to the ground, then they had 30 seconds to return to scratch and fight again.
What was the strangest way a bout was stopped? This might qualify. 1981 in Liberal Kansas a womens fight (yes it was around back then also) was stopped because Robin Haukaas bra broke!! Angie Lopez won by....... BKO
"I've got it made! I've got a wife and a TV set...... and they're both working." Willie Pep.
The last title fight to go past 15 rounds was the light heavyweight bout between Mike McTigue and Battling Siki, McTigue won the title on a 20 round decision.
Victor McGlaglen who won a Academy award for his role in the movie "The Informer" fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six round no decision.
Actors Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dean Martin were also boxers.
Al McCoy was the first left handed boxer to win a world title when he won the middleweight title in 1914.
Who is the only heavyweight champion to be knocked out in his pro debut? Mike Weaver (WBA heavyweight champ) who was knocked out in the third round by Howard Smith.
The Jack Dempsey vs. Bill Brennan heavyweight title fight was the first scheduled for 15 rounds.
In a bout between former heavyweight champ Jack Johnson and Jack Thompson in 1923 the referee (Villanmil is the only name mentioned) became so disgusted by the slowness of the bout that he walked out of the ring! The promotor had to finish refereeing the bout.
The record for most knockdowns in one non-title bout (or any bout probably) had to be when Battling Nelson (one of the toughest boxers ever) was knocked down 7 times..... oh yeah his opponent Christy Williams was knocked down 42 times!! And they thought Nelson was tough. The fight ended in the 17th round with Nelson declared the winner by knockout.
Did you know Willie Pep fought Sugar Ray Robinson! According to Pep he and Sugar Ray fought as amateurs in Norwich, Connecticut in 1938. Robinson supposedly won the decision and weighed in at 128 to Willie's 110.
Muhammad Ali was not only a great pro boxer he was also a great amateur. He lost only one bout in the amateurs to a boxer named Amos Johnson.
Did you know that Angelo Dunde the great trainer of Muhammad also worked the corner of Jimmy Ellis? That is not unusual..... but he worked the Ellis corner AGAINST Ali! Angelo Dundee worked with both boxers at the time but since he was only the "trainer" of Ali and the cornerman for Ellis he decided to work with the camp that needed him the most.
American president Gerald Ford used to be the boxing coach for Yale University.
WBA jr. middleweight champ Davey Moore was in the crowd at the Marvin Hagler knockout win over Caveman Lee and was asked if he would consider moving up in weight for a fight with Hagler. His reply "No, I'm gonna starve myself."
Here is proof that boxing and politics do not go together. In 1979 Venzuelan WBA lightweight champion Ernesto Espana was in Washington D.C for a title fight (that was cancelled) and tried to deliver a gift to president Carter. A pair of boxing gloves inscribed "To Jimmy Carter a true world champion of human rights." Espana was rebuffed by security guards and they also refused to take the gloves to give to the president at a later time. Espana left after being threatend with arrest.
After his loss to Muhammad Ali British champ Joe Bugner became angry with English reporters who claimed he did not try hard enough to beat Ali. Bugner screamed out "Get me Jesus Christ, I'll fight him tomorrow!". Hugh McIllvanney of the London Observer replied "Ah, Joe, you're only saying that 'cause you know he has bad hands."
Here a fact about former Middleweight champ Stanley Ketchel:
His father was murdered.
His mother was murdered.
He was murdered.
His murderer was murdered.
The woman that was associated with his murder was murdered.
members.tripod.com/~fivedogs/misc1.html
The Shockmaster botcht sein Debut als er hinfaellt….
Davey Boy Smith kommentiert das trocken im Fernsehen:“He fell flat on his fooking arse…”
Davey Boy Smith kommentiert das trocken im Fernsehen:“He fell flat on his fooking arse…”
