LOS ANGELES-Swilled in gentlemanly conduct Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz was stymied by Luis “King Kong” Ortiz’s manners more than his blows but used his early knockdowns to build a lead and win by close decision on Sunday.
It was a gentleman’s war that saw Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) show off his power early against Cuba’s Ortiz (33-3, 28 KOs) before an audience of more than 8,000 fans at the Crypto.com Arena on the TGB Promotions card.
Former unified heavyweight world titlist Ruiz displayed the hand speed and power with several knockdowns early in the fight. Since losing the title back to Anthony Joshua, the Southern Californian had only fought once. He was ready for this encounter in a WBC heavyweight elimination fight.
The much taller Ortiz walked into the arena with most of his wins by knockout. Ruiz was aware of that power and used the opening round to feel some of that force. A tentative first round showed very little.
In the second round Ruiz displayed that surprising hand speed and stunned Ortiz with a rocket right through the guard. Then after a pause the roundish Ruiz fired an overhand right and down went Ortiz. It looked to be a finishing blow but Ortiz beat the count and got up. The round continued with both firing blows and Ortiz going down again. The referee counted and Ortiz got up again. If it looked like he was done, but Ortiz reminded Ruiz with a rocket left that he still had power. The round ended.
Ruiz was in control from the third round on and kept the pressure on the taller Cuban veteran. But it was obvious that he had respect for the power. Both fighters began touching gloves at the beginning of each round.
The Marquess of Queensberry would have been proud.
Ortiz used his craftiness to remain dangerous and it kept Ruiz from overwhelming him with his speed. Though Ruiz absorbed many shots his chin was sturdier than Ortiz, but he did not want to risk getting knocked out.
“He’s a warrior, he hits hard,” said Ruiz.
Ortiz began gaining confidence in the seventh round and moving forward. Ruiz faked a right and then fired a right that dropped Ortiz for the third time in the fight. Again, the Cuban heavyweight got up.
From the eighth round on neither fighter was willing to open up. Both had felt each other’s power and did not want to risk running into a big blow. Throughout the remaining rounds it was a chess match and neither was gambling on a lucky shot.
After 12 rounds all three judges scored in favor of Ruiz 113-112, 114-11 twice.
“Everybody was doubting me,” said Ruiz. “It was very difficult. Me countering him and him waiting to load up.”
Till the end both fighters were respectful toward each other.
“It was a war,” said Ortiz. “Boxing is always a little surprise.”
Former WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder was in the audience. He was also respectful to his former foe Ortiz and to the winner Ruiz.
“It was a great fight, a hell of a fight,” Wilder said. “Much love to him.”
Ruiz and Wilder shook hands. The winner on Sunday night hopes they meet soon.
“I do not want to be waiting so long. I’m ready man,” said Ruiz. “I want to be champion again and bring back the championship to Mexico.”
Mexico City’s Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) needed less than two rounds to catch fellow Mexican Eduardo Ramirez (27-3-3, 12 KOs) with one of his big left hooks to end the fight by knockout. The crowd cheered deliriously with Gervonta “Tank” Davis sitting ringside.
Cruz floored a fast-moving Ramirez with a left hook who somehow was able to get up. The fight resumed with Cruz in fast pursuit and Ramirez still dazed. Cruz connected with a left hook and right and down went the southpaw Mexican for good. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight at 2:27 of the second round.
Davis watched the end and the crowd booed as his image was shown on the giant screen. The crowd chanted “We want tank.!”
“If the people want another fight with the champion, lets go,” said Cruz who picked up a WBC Continental Americas belt with the win.
Former champion Abner Mares’ return to the prize ring was stymied by Miguel Flores whose youth and energy allowed him to wear down the three-time division world titlist who returned after a four-year absence and fight to a majority draw.
Mares shook off the rust but an action-packed second round seemed to deflate Mares who had not fought since June 2018 when he fought Leo Santa Cruz in the same arena. This time Mares managed a majority draw instead of a loss that he suffered to Santa Cruz.
One judge scored it 96-94 but two others saw it 95-95.
Lefty versus lefty is always dangerous for either fighter as Edwin De Los Santos (15-1, 14 KOs) exchanged knockdowns with Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (12-1, 8 KOs) before finally ending the fight by stoppage in the lightweight clash.
Dominican Republic’s De Los Santos hurt Mexico’s Valenzuela early with right hooks, the usual potent weapon against a southpaw. It worked in hurting Valenzuela early in the first round. In the second round De Los Santos hurt Valenzuela again but was caught with a short left and down he went. He got up and connected with a combination that sent Valenzuela down. But he continued punching as his foe was down and was deducted a point for the infraction.
Valenzuela sought to regain the momentum but was caught by a counter left and down he went. The tall lightweight beat the count, but on unsteady legs and was met with a left cross and right hook. Referee Ray Corona stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:08 of the third round. De Los Santos becomes the WBC Continental Americas titlist.
A super welterweight match between undefeated fighters saw Joey Spencer (16-0, 10 KOs) emerge with a unanimous decision after 10 rounds against Mexico’s Kevin Salgado (14-1-1, 9 KOs). Neither fighter offered much offensive display in a lackluster fight that fans booed sporadically.
Though it seemed Salgado was the more aggressive, neither fighter seemed inclined to take a chance. Spencer was especially defensive with his shoulder roll and counter-punching style. Two judges scored it 99-91 and another 100-90.
Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs) proved too quick and agile for Philippine’s Mike Plania (26-2, 13 KOs) and walked away with a dominant unanimous decision victory after 10 rounds in a super bantamweight contest.
“The fight was everything that I expected. He’s a very tough fighter and a great competitor. I just wanted to fight a smart fight, because we know he’s dangerous. Although I didn’t feel his power, I know that he can hit. I just wanted to take my time and let everything fall into place,” said Aleem.
Aleem floored Plania in the second round with a quick burst combination that sent Plania reeling back where the ropes held him up. Referee Ray Corona correctly ruled it a knockdown. After that knockdown, Plania never could step on the gas nor figure out the jitterbug style of Aleem.
Though it seemed Aleem was the quicker athlete, he was satisfied with a hit and move style in simply out-pointing the Filipino fighter over 10 rounds. All three judges scored the same 100-89 for Aleem.
Is Aleem ready for champion Stephen Fulton?
“It’s time for ‘scared boy’ Stephen Fulton Jr. to come out of hiding and sign the contract. Let’s get in there so I can give him his first loss. It would be a closer fight than tonight, but I still expect to dominate and get the win,” said Aleem.
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Liam Smith Scores a Quirky KO in Liverpool; Natasha Jonas Wins Too
Avila Perspective, Chap. 203: Canelo-GGG 3 and More
Prizefighting in the middleweight division is best described as ferocious throughout boxing history from Bob Fitzsimmons to Harry Greb to Sugar Ray Robinson to James Toney.
Middleweights long have been boxing’s fiercest warriors and capable of ending a fight with a single blow, even against heavyweights.
On Saturday we see yet another example with Mexico’s redhead warrior Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) defending the super middleweight world championship against Kazakhstan’s Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. DAZN pay-per-view will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
Over the past 10 years the two middleweights have bludgeoned foes in their own differing methods until they finally met each other in the prize ring back in September 2017. They did it again a year later, but it’s taken four years to resume the battle and this time at super middleweight.
They seem to disdain each other.
“He is not a nice guy,” said Alvarez when asked his opinion on Golovkin. “He fools you.”
Over the years Golovkin has taken indirect jabs at Canelo with accusations of PED use and lack of popularity among Mexicans. It’s a primary reason that it took four years to get them back in the ring.
Mexico’s Alvarez has always taken the road of accepting stout challenges that others refused. Despite being only 5’8” in height, the redhead eagerly met many of the best fighters of the last 20 years. He began fighting professionally at age 15 and in his third pro bout defeated future lightweight world champion Miguel “Titere” Vazquez by split decision.
Triple G took the amateur route and won middleweight silver in the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece the same year America’s Andre Ward won gold. Then he signed with a European promoter and was shoved to the back of the room in favor of German fighters. K-2 Promotions saw him perform, signed him, and he was brought to America.
Golovkin has always fought at middleweight even in the amateurs. As a pro he bludgeoned his way to victory under the guidance of Abel Sanchez and his Mexican style boxing.
Mexican-born Canelo Alvarez thrived under his pressure style fighting until he met Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. That forced the Guadalajara team to evolve to a boxer-puncher style that led him to world titles in the super welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and super middleweight divisions. No other Mexican fighter can claim to be a four-division world champion. Not even the great Julio Cesar Chavez.
That irks fans about Canelo.
Chavez is adored and revered by Mexicans, many who never actually saw him fight. Canelo is strangely seen as someone who fought easy fights despite clashing with Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev.
When Golovkin mentioned Canelo’s lack of popularity among his own people it seemed to spark intense bitterness in the Mexican redhead.
Back in 2017, their first fight ended in a draw with Golovkin on attack mode and Canelo in a hit and move style. Their second fight saw Canelo stand toe-to-toe with Golovkin and emerge the winner. That was four years ago when Alvarez was 28 and Golovkin 36. Age is now a factor.
Golovkin no longer trains under Abel Sanchez’s guidance and Alvarez is coming off a loss. But still, these are the two most ferocious middleweights of their era and a world awaits the outcome once again. This time at super middleweight. That’s Canelo’s territory and he owns all the belts at the moment.
“I feel it’s the biggest fight for boxing right now. I feel strong, I feel ready,” said Golovkin. “We’re both professional athletes. In the ring we shall show who is better.”
Its one thing Alvarez agrees on.
“I’m happy to be back in the ring. I lost my last fight but we’re men and we’re back,” said Alvarez talking about his lost to Dmitry Bivol last May. “I have a strong opponent in front, an intelligent foe and nothing in life is easy. It’s going to be difficult but it’s what I want.”
One meteoric star featured on a Matchroom card yet again is WBC super flyweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (16-0) who quickly returns again and this time faces Mexico’s Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1) in a title defense on Saturday in Las Vegas. It’s Rodriguez’s third fight in seven months.
“I want to solidify that I’m Fighter of the Year,” said Rodriguez, 22, at the Thursday press conference. “This fight is going to turn me from a star to a super star. They’re going to remember this fight forever.”
Rodriguez wowed fans when he stopped Thailand’s feared Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round of their title clash last June. It’s only been three months and Bam is back in the ring. He’s a hungry fighter.
Bam and his brother Joshua Franco hold two of the four major super flyweight world titles. Franco has the WBA version.
Jake Paul officially announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday that he will fight MMA legend Anderson “Spyder” Silva on Oct. 29, in Phoenix, Arizona. The cruiserweight boxing contest will take place at Gila Arena and be shown on Showtime pay-per-view.
It could be the biggest “social influencer fight” so far.
“It’s my toughest fight,” admits Paul.
One thing Paul has in his favor is his solid chin and big punch ability.
Silva, a former MMA great, also boxed and showed off his pugilistic skills with a solid victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He’s an experienced pro fighter with knockout power and experience in pacing himself in a fight. His one drawback is a weak chin. It’s a solid and interesting match up sure to entice fans to attend the eight-round match or watch in on television.
Another advantage Paul possesses is an innate ability to promote a fight with fiery talk or hype. It’s a rare quality not often found in the boxing world.
“I respect the man, but I’m still going to knock him out,” said Paul.
Last week another influencer fight card took place at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles and no one showed up.
Despite multiple participants possessing millions of social media followers, that alone does not guarantee large attendance or viewers.
Promoters think millions of followers mean lots of business. It doesn’t. Many of these influencers buy their followers and many others have worldwide followers who like their content but do not like boxing.
Another example was prize contender Ryan Garcia who has millions of followers on social media and his promoter counted on those resulting in ticket buys. They did little promoting and ignored the usual methods of newspaper and web site coverage and sadly discovered social media numbers do not translate to ticket buyers. Only 7,000 fans showed up at Crypto.com Arena this past July. They expected something near 18,000.
Fri. ESPN+ 4 p.m. Arslanbek Makhmudov (14-0) vs Carlos Takam (39-6-1)
Sat. DAZN ppv 5 p.m. Saul Alvarez (57-2-2) vs Gennady Golovkin (42-1-1); Jesse Rodriguez (16-0) vs Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1); Ali Akhmedov (18-1) vs Gabe Rosado (26-15-1); Ammo Williams (11-0) vs Kieron Conway (18-2-1).
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Tomorrow, Sept. 15, marks the 117th anniversary of the first big fight in Goldfield, Nevada. No, we’re not talking about the first fight between Joe Gans and Battling Nelson, one of the most ballyhooed and hashed-over battles in the history of the ring. Before Gans-Nelson, there was Attell vs. Tenny, a fight-to-the-finish promoted as a flyweight championship tilt.
This was Monte Attell who would become less famous than Abe, his older sibling. But Monte was an outstanding fighter in his own right and his opponent, Harry Tenny, a fellow San Francisco Jew, was among the top fighters in his weight class.
Attell vs. Tenny was a classic “festival fight,” a match designed to add more sparkle to an event with many tendrils. Sept. 15, 1905 was Railroad Day in Goldfield, and the locals built a four-day festival around it. There were trunk lines for moving freight between Goldfield and nearby mining camps, but before 1905 a person visiting Goldfield from a “metropolis” such as Reno or Salt Lake City could not reach his destination without taking a stagecoach for the final leg of his journey. The arrival of passenger trains was seen as a signal to the outside world that a town was major league and the occasion became an informal holiday in many western mining towns.
It’s fun to read about the festival in the old Goldfield News. Marching bands came from as far away as Virginia City. The city was ablaze in decorative bunting. Rock drilling contests, tug-of-wars, pie eating contests, and burro races spiced up the festivities. All contests came with cash prizes and these weren’t penny-ante. Goldfield was awash with money, albeit on the precipice of a deep recession. The gold mines would shortly peter out, causing a massive exodus. At its peak moment, Goldfield may have harbored as many as 25,000 people. Today the town in sun-parched, desolate Esmeralda County is home to fewer than 300 permanent residents.
By all accounts, Attell vs. Tenny was a fierce battle. According to a report in the San Francisco Examiner, Tenny’s nose was broken in two places and both of his eyes were nearly shut when he drew down the curtain, knocking Attell down for the count in the twenty-fifth round. The dispatch said “at least” 400 women were in attendance which would have caused a scandal in an Eastern precinct.
The bout had a sad postscript. Five months after meeting Attell, Tenny fought Frankie Neil in San Francisco. This was a rematch. Neil was given the decision over Tenny in their first encounter, a lusty 25-round affair.
Neil knocked Tenny out in the fourteenth round and Tenny died from his injuries the next morning. Born Harry Tennebaum, he was only 20 years old.
Among boxing historians, there is an understandable prejudice against top Argentine boxers who rarely fight outside Argentina. Their records tend to vastly overstate their aptitude.
Horacio Accavallo, who was the reigning WBA world flyweight champion when he left the sport in 1967, retiring with a record of 75-2-6 (34), was an exception. Accavallo, who passed away yesterday (Sept. 13), one month shy of his 88th birthday, was really, really good. The noted boxing historian Matt McGrain considers him the most underrated flyweight of all time. “His absence from the IBHOF makes a mockery of that institution,” wrote McGrain in a story that appeared on these pages.
Accavallo, who was a shade over 5-feet tall, was a trapeze artist and tightrope walker for a circus before finding his calling in the prize ring. His first defeat came at the hands of Salvatore Burruni in their second of three meetings. His other defeat came in his final year as a pro in a non-title fight in Tokyo with ex-Olympian Kiyoshi Tanabe, a boxer who would leave the sport undefeated, his career cut short by eye problems.
Between those two setbacks, Accavallo was unbeaten in 49 fights, going 48-0-1.
In Accavallo’s final fight, he successfully defended his flyweight title with 15-round majority decision over Hiroyuki Ebihara who was 55-3-1 heading in. Accavallo had a terrible time making weight for that fight and rather than move up into a higher division, he simply quit. “If I lose I will stop being a champion,” he reportedly said. “If I retire, I will be a champion forever.”
Born in one of the worst slums in Buenos Aires, Accavallo was the son of an Italian father and a Spanish mother, both reportedly illiterate. Historically, most fighters who grow up in poverty squander their ring earnings, but Accavallo was an exception. As noted by the noted Argentine boxing writer Diego Morilla, he used his earnings to build a chain of successful sporting goods stores.
Accavallo, who answered the bell as a pro for 732 rounds, developed Alzheimer’s and spent most of the last decade of his life in nursing homes. May he rest in peace.
There’s good news for old-school boxing fans who are distressed to find social media influencers clogging up the fight calendar. By all indications, last Saturday’s show at LA’s Bank of America Stadium headlined by the exhibition between YouTube stars Austin McBroom and AnEsonGib was a big money-loser.
There were nine bouts in all, five on the pay-per-view card. According to various sources, the total purse money for the 18 participants amounted to about $600,000. Yes, that’s chump change considering what Eddie Hearn will pay Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin, but it’s a big nut for a promoter when factoring in other expenses – e.g., arena rental, ring rental and set-up, travel and lodging, ring officials (referees, judges, inspectors), and a laundry list of incidentals.
The event was available on multiple pay-per-view platforms for $40 ($39.99 for you nitpickers). Ticket prices for those attending the show ranged from $35 to $2,200.
Granted, sponsorship deals may compensate for disappointing returns from PPV and on-site sales, but yet it says something that there weren’t more than a few thousand people in the arena, many of whom were undoubtedly comped.
“Like it or not, the era of YouTuber’s boxing is not going away anytime soon,” says Daniel Yanofsky, the Combat Sports editor for The Sporting News. Perhaps not, but perhaps the light I see at the end of the tunnel isn’t merely wishful thinking.
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Arne K. Lang’s latest book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” has rolled off the press. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/clash-of-the-little-giants) or via Amazon.
Elite Trainer Jesse Reid Has Schooled Some of Boxing’s Most Mercurial Champions
In olden days, the boxing coach of an athletic club was invariably called a professor. To take but one example, the man that taught James J. Corbett the rudiments of boxing at San Francisco’s Olympic Athletic Club, Walter Watson, was almost always referenced as Professor Walter Watson.
At Tru Nevins’ DLX boxing gym in Las Vegas, there are two professors in residence. Drop in any afternoon and you will most likely find Kenny Adams and Jesse Reid on the premises, each there to pass on his knowledge to the young men (and young women) that walk in the door, many of whom are too young to drive. Adams and Reid are both now in their early eighties and each can boast of having trained more than two dozen world title-holders.
Jesse Reid, the subject of this story, was born in 1942 in East Los Angeles when that densely populated census tract wasn’t yet thoroughly Hispanic. Sicilian on his mother’s side, Reid played football in high school and at Cal State LA (then called Los Angeles State) before joining the Navy where he first laced on a pair of boxing gloves. In 1968, he was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic boxing team representing the Alameda (CA) Naval Base. In those days, the bulk of America’s top amateur boxers were members of the Armed Forces.
Reid had a brief pro career, finishing 5-1-2. His final bout with fellow unbeaten Rudy Robles was the headline attraction of a 1971 show at the Olympic Auditorium. Robles, a future world title challenger who lasted 15 rounds with Rodrigo Valdez, won a lopsided decision.
Reid’s manager Jackie McCoy who hung his hat at LA’s Hoover Street Gym could see that Reid had a dim future as a pro boxer but saw something in Reid that suggested to him that Reid would make a fine trainer. McCoy had recently acquired the contract of Guadalajara lightweight Rodolfo Gonzalez and Reid started working with him.
On Nov. 10, 1972, Gonzalez challenged WBC 135-pound champion Chango Carmona at the LA Sports Arena. Carmona had won the belt from another Jackie McCoy fighter, Mando Ramos, and would enter the ring a 3/1 favorite. In a major surprise, Gonzalez not only de-throned Carmona but in a dominant fashion, winning virtually every round until Carmona was pulled out after the 12th frame.
Jesse Reid had his first champion.
Reid’s work caught the attention of Billy Baxter, a high-stakes gambler who had become smitten with boxing after acquiring the contract of Las Vegas super welterweight Rocky Mosley Jr, a parcel he purportedly won in a poker game. Baxter subsequently purchased the contract of Bruce Curry from Fort Worth, Texas promoter Dave Gorman.
With Reid in his corner, Curry, the half-brother of the brilliant Donald Curry, won the WBC world super lightweight title in 1983 and made two successful defenses before losing the belt to Billy Costello. But what seemed like a healthy relationship turned toxic in a hurry.
Curry was showing signs of paranoia before his match with Costello and the defeat preyed on his mind. On the afternoon of Feb. 3, 1984, five days after losing his title to Costello, Curry confronted Reid at the old Golden Gloves gym in downtown Las Vegas and started punching him. Reid retaliated and opened an old cut between Curry’s eyes. The boxer then ran to his car and returned with a handgun, firing a bullet through the front door of the gym. Reid had the presence of mind to have locked it and was out of harm’s way.
At Reid’s recommendation, Curry was released without bail with the proviso that he return to Fort Worth and seek psychological help. “Bruce went through a lot growing up,” says Reid, looking back. “I didn’t want him to go to prison, because I knew that someone would kill him in there.”
Reid was then involved with Roger Mayweather who had signed with Baxter coming out of the amateur ranks. A multi-belt champion, Mayweather won his first world title in his fifteenth pro bout, unseating Puerto Rican veteran Samuel Serrano in San Juan. Roger would go on to train his famous nephew, applying some of the principles that Jesse Reid had taught him.
The next future champions that Reid helped develop – middleweight Frank Tate, featherweight Calvin Grove, and the Canizales brothers, Gaby and Orlando – represented the fertile but short-lived Houston Boxing Association, an entity founded by Josephine Abercrombie, the heiress to a Texas oil fortune.
“Josephine was a wonderful lady,” says Reid, who notes that she sponsored the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that prepared for the LA Games at her 5,000-acre Texas cattle ranch. (Abercrombie, a noted philanthropist, died earlier this year at age 95.)
The under-appreciated Frank Tate won the vacant IBF middleweight title at Caesars Palace in 1987 with a one-sided decision over Michael Olajide. It was a battle between former Olympic gold medalists, both undefeated, and was a particularly gratifying night for Reid as he had worked with Tate from the very onset of Tate’s pro career, not to mention the fact that his guy was a 2/1 underdog. “Winning a world title is always sweeter when your guy upsets the odds,” says Reid.
The younger Canizales brother, Orlando, and Jesse Reid had one of the most successful runs of any boxer-trainer tandem in boxing history. Canizales, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009, holds the bantamweight record for successful title defenses with 15.
“We never had a formal contract,” says Reid. “Orlando was a great guy to work with. A guy with a very high ring IQ and very loyal.”
Reid wasn’t with Lamon Brewster when Brewster won the WBO version of the world heavyweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko. But Brewster’s performance was lacking in his first title defense – he was lucky to escape with a split decision over unheralded Kali Meehan – and that led him to reach out to Reid who had worked with him in his amateur days.
Brewster brought to Reid what is every boxing trainer’s dream, the opportunity to work with a world heavyweight champion. He made two successful title defenses with Reid in his corner, the first a 52-second blowout of Andrew Golota in Chicago.
The late Erie, Pennsylvania promoter Mike Acri would figure prominently in Reid’s life. Acri was best known as a re-furbisher; as someone adept at taking a high-profile fighter whose best years were behind him and orchestrating a late-career surge.
Hector Camacho had fallen out of favor after one-sided defeats to Julio Cesar Chavez and Felix Trinidad. Acri picked up his contract for peanuts and navigated him into good paying matches with 45-year-old Roberto Duran and 40-year-old Sugar Ray Leonard, preludes to a more lucrative match with Oscar De La Hoya.
The De La Hoya fight didn’t go well (the Macho Man fought a survivor’s fight and lost every round) but with Reid on board, Camacho toppled Duran and Leonard, sending Sugar Ray off into a final retirement with a fifth-round stoppage.
Camacho had the reputation of someone who was difficult to handle. That went double for Johnny Tapia who had Reid and the great Eddie Futch in his corner for what was arguably his biggest fight, a match in Las Vegas with Albuquerque rival Danny Romero with two world title belts at stake. Romero, considered the bigger puncher, went to post the favorite. Tapia outclassed him.
Dealing with Tapia meant dealing with Theresa Tapia, Johnny’s over-protective wife and manager. “One time I showed up at the gym wearing a Roberto Duran tee shirt,” recalls Reid, laughing at the memory. “Theresa didn’t appreciate that and made me buy 25 of her Johnny Tapia tee shirts.”
Mike Acri, the re-furbisher, proved that he could also “move” a good prospect when he took Paul Spadafora under his wing. Spadafora, who was from McKees Rocks, a rough-and-tumble former iron works town on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, went from being the house fighter at the Mountaineer Racetrack and Casino in West Virginia to the IBF world lightweight champion.
Spadafora was two fights into his title reign when Acri hired Jesse Reid to assist Paul’s longtime trainer Tom Yankello. Five more successful title defenses would follow preceding a 12-round draw with rugged Romanian-Canadian battler Leonard Dorin, the first blemish on Spadafora’s record.
Spadafora, dubbed the “Pittsburgh Kid,” had his demons. Before turning pro, he was shot in the leg by a policeman while riding in a car that was the subject of a police chase. In his most infamous incident, he shot his girlfriend Nadine Russo in the chest at a McKees Rocks gas station. After that alcohol-infused incident, which he doesn’t remember, he was out of the ring for 27 months while serving time in various correctional institutions.
Spadafora reeled off 10 straight wins after returning to the ring, bumping him into a bout with Venezuela’s Johan Perez, a match sanctioned for the interim WBA 140-pound title. Perez won the decision, becoming the first and last man to defeat Paul Spadafora who had one more fight before leaving the ring with a 49-1-1 (19) record.
Spadafora would be arrested twice more after his final fight. The catalysts were disturbances at the home of his mother and at a Pittsburgh-area tavern.
Before his next-to-last fight, there had been talk of Spadafora moving up in weight to challenge Floyd Mayweather. They had shared the ring once previously, a 6-round sparring session at Richard Steele’s North Las Vegas gym.
Jesse Reid remembers how that came about. “Floyd’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr, came up to me and said, ‘Why don’t you let that paisan of yours spar somebody good for a change?’ Paul felt disrespected and asked me to make it happen.”
Ask Jesse Reid and he will tell you that Spadafora had all the best of it. “I told him to get in Floyd’s grill and concentrate on the body and he brought out the puppy dog in Mayweather.”
Floyd and his dad, needless to say, likely remember things differently. Regardless, talk of a possible fight between Spadafora and Mayweather ceased when Spadafora was upset by Johan Perez.
Jesse Reid has stayed loyal to Spadafora, as has Nadine (a story for another day). Nowadays, you can find Paul and Nadine and their 17-year-old son Geno Spadafora, an amateur boxer, most afternoons at DLX. The erstwhile Pittsburgh Kid, now 46 years old, isn’t merely an observer. He works out ferociously, setting an example for Geno and the other young boxers going through their paces.
“He’s doing great,” says Jesse Reid, the professor of pugilism who may not be done manufacturing champions.
Arne K. Lang’s latest book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” has rolled off the press. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/clash-of-the-little-giants) or via Amazon.
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