By Cliff Rold
Photo © Mary Ann Owen/FightWireImages.com
A four-part, two hour HBO commercial; a feature article in Vibe magazine…we are only at the beginning of the hype machine towards Oscar de la Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather. It’s boxing’s biggest star versus arguably its best fighter. While some use this moment to wax poetic about days gone by, about the lost days of regular superfights, about the times when boxing truly was still king, still others celebrate it as a chance to breathe new life into a game that needs it. In that sense, it is like so many ‘last great superfights’ that boxing has had or will have; the heir of a great tradition.
An overlooked feature of this ‘superfight’ is its link to boxing’s foundation. When Oscar (38-4, 30 KO) and Floyd (37-0, 24 KO) touch gloves at center ring, it will be only the 34th battle between former U.S. Olympic medalists. Oscar’s Olympic moment is the more celebrated, his 1992 Gold Medal at the Barcelona Games a tribute to his recently deceased mother. Floyd settled for a Bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games, a victim of the notorious amateur scoring system. Still, it was a medal and with it Floyd, like Oscar before him, joined a select fraternity.
This bout will be Mayweather’s first against a fellow medalist. It is Ocsar’s second. His first came on April 12, 1997, the night he captured the lineal World Welterweight Championship from 1984 Gold Medalist Pernell Whitaker. In a tactical battle, de la Hoya’s power met Whitaker’s style and produced a scoring controversy that purists still argue about to this day. Many, myself included, felt Whitaker had narrowly retained his title but it was Oscar who would walk away with a questionably wide unanimous decision. It was the sort of fight many are expecting, but hoping against, on Cinco de Mayo 2007.
So how grand is the U.S. Olympic tradition that has given us the “Golden Boy” and the “Pretty Boy?” Since being introduced as an Olympic sport in 1904, 105 medals have been awarded to U.S. amateurs. 19 came at those initial ‘04 Olympics in St. Louis, MO at a time when the Olympics were far from truly international and several fighters medaled in multiple divisions. Few of the fighters at those first games turned pro and those that did were not facing each other.
It was not until 1920 that the Olympiad truly became the birthplace of great American future professionals. On an otherwise non-descript team, New York’s Frankie Genaro would capture the Gold in the flyweight class before beginning a Hall of Fame professional career. After the 1924 Games, he would be joined by joined in the professional ranks by another flyweight Gold medalist (Fidel LaBarba) and two featherweights (Jackie Fields – Gold; Joe Salas – Silver…amateur rules of the day did not preclude two countrymen from facing off). These four would give boxing the first of some classic All-American fistic lore.
It was only fitting after their Olympic finals showdown that Fields and Salas be the first former Olympic medalists of consequence to face off in the paid ranks. Both based out of Los Angeles, the two packed all 8,000 seats at the old Hollywood Legion Stadium on May 8, 1925. Salas, entering the ring at 3-0, would prove the lesser of Fields again, this time over the ten-round limit. Fields, whose win over Salas improved his mark to 3-0 (can you imagine two medalists facing off under similar circumstances today?), would go on to capture the Welterweight title in 1932 and ultimately end up in the Hall of Fame; Salas fought on with moderate success but never earned a title shot and retired in 1931. While this battle of then relative prospects might have been first, it wasn’t even the best of its kind that year.
That slot was reserved for a moment as rare in the 1925 as it is today: a flyweight superfight. Genaro, by then a 54 fight veteran, made the trek from his familiar east coast stomping grounds to face the hometown hero LaBarba in front of 25,000 at Ascot Park in Los Angeles on August 22. LaBarba, in only his eleventh pro bout, would dazzle the more experienced Genaro for a decided ten round decision and the vacant American version of the World championship. LaBarba would later go on to unify the crown and both men’s busts can be found in Canastota today.
If battles of this magnitude featuring men of so little professional experience surprise you, then the name Pete Rademacher should astonish. Unknown to many younger fans, Rademacher of Washington state captured the 1956 Heavyweight Gold Medal in Melbourne, Australia. His reward was a home state date with the professional Heavyweight Champion of the World on August 22, 1957.
More publicity stunt than great pugilism, Rademacher indeed made his pro debut against Floyd Patterson, the 1952 Middleweight Gold Medalist. Rademacher, to the shock of ringsiders and millions of television viewers, almost made the farce a fight when he dropped Patterson in the second round; the moment would quickly pass. Over the next four rounds, Patterson would send Rademacher crashing to the deck six times before leaving him there for the required ten seconds in the sixth.
Former U.S. medalists have given the sport than just these sorts of one-off events. The defining rivalries of both Muhammad Ali (1960 Olympic Gold at light heavyweight) and Evander Holyfield (Bronze in 1984 at the same weight) came against fellow medalists. Ali, following his three-year political exile from the sport and his heavyweight title reign, attempted in 1971 to unseat the man who had filled the void in his stead. You may have heard of one Joe Frazier, the 1964 Olympic God Medal winner among the biggest men.
Ali-Frazier was not just a fight or a rivalry. Over the 41 rounds these two men shared together, they would become a colloquial noun, verb and adjective. Their first and third bouts may well be the two greatest fights ever, regardless of weight division. If we get half of that from Oscar and Floyd, we’ll be in good shape.
Heck, I’d be happy to take half of what Holyfield and Riddick Bowe (1988 Silver Medalist at super heavyweight) left in the ring during their own epic trilogy. A rivalry that saw the World title change hands twice, Holyfield and Bowe would prove the measure of one another in courage and character over 32 rounds.
Beyond these defining rivalries, Ali and Holyfield are both remarkable for having spent the most time in the ring against fellow American medalists. Along with their tilts against Frazier and Bowe, both men would also fight an epic battle against “Big” George Foreman (1968 Olympic Gold). Ali’s conquest in 1974 is, of course, more revered; an eight round masterpiece in the jungles of Zaire to capture the World title for the second time. Holyfield, at the time, was held somewhat in scorn for the distance war he and Foreman waged in 1991. Ali also would twice defeat Patterson and split two bouts at the end of his career with 1976 light heavyweight Gold medalist Leon Spinks.
Holyfield’s first Olympic scalp was captured in a 1987 cruiserweight title affair versus 1984 teammate (and heavyweight Gold medalist) Henry Tillman; he also defeated the 1988 Gold medalist at heavyweight (Ray Mercer) and lost a 2003 decision to 1992 middleweight Silver Medalist Chris Byrd.
The phrase “Down Goes Frazier”…two Gold Medalists (Foreman v. Frazier) gave us that. Want some light heavyweight thunder? Try Michael Spinks (1976 Gold at middleweight) four round 1981 destruction of bad ass Marvin Johnson (1972 bronze at the same weight). Looking for a pleasant afternoon nap? Virgil Hill (1984 Silver at middleweight) and Frank Tate (1984 Gold at light middleweight) were happy to oblige twice.
Hill of course was also part of one of the most memorable patriotic punch-outs. One fight removed from losing the World light heavyweight championship, Hill stepped in with 1988 light-middleweight Silver Medalist Roy Jones Jr. on April 25, 1998. For three rounds, the two men traded feints and hard jabs, showing the beginnings of a tactical war. In the fourth that war was abbreviated as Jones landed one of the great shots in the history of boxing. Biting a feint up top, Hill raised his elbows just a few inches; Jones let loose a shotgun blast with his right hand onto the ribs left exposed. Game over.
A similar highlight reel knockout also involved Jones, this time on the receiving end. In the second bout of the defining light heavyweight trilogy of this decade, Jones was attempting to avenge a controversial victory over 1996 light heavyweight bronze medalist Antonio Tarver. After a decade of seeming invincibility (and astute matchmaking), Jones would suffer a single left hook in the second round of their May 2004 bout that would leave his chin, and pieces of his legacy, in tatters.
So what can we expect in the bout between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather? A tactical affair or a knockout for the ages? A scoring controversy or the beginning of the next great trilogy? Given the history that has preceded them, it could be all of the above. As the world awaits (pun intended), the history of battles between men who once represented their nation as kids on the Olympic podium promises the best thing anyone can ask for from boxing. On May 5, anything can happen. The superfight of 2007 is little more than two weeks away.
The Russian Messiah: Okay, messiah might be a bit much but heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev’s (23-0-1, 17 KO, Ring Magazine #4) win over Nikolai Valuev (46-1, 34 KO, #6) certainly was a saving moment for the game. I don’t care if some heavyweight some day retires undefeated having won more fights than Rocky Marciano…unless that fighter is not the true heavyweight champion. Valuev was not (regardless of WBA sanction) and he was not going to be by the time the hype machine hit full volume had he risen to 48-0.
That said, not enough praise has been heaped on Chagaev for his performance. He looked fabulous, using the jab to lure Valuev into the left hand all night and slipping shots like a love-handled Pernell Whitaker. If Chagaev does nothing else in his career, stopping the Valuev/Marciano nonsense and allegedly retiring the ever-dull John Ruiz last November would be enough for everyone who truly loves boxing to remember him fondly.
Personally, I think Chagaev can, and will, do better than that. At 29, Chagaev is a fighter just hitting his prime. He’s already beaten one more legitimate top ten foe (he’s beaten two) than #3 Oleg Maskaev (34-5, 26) ever has and can make a strong case, based on his last two wins, for being no less than second in class to #1 Wladimir Klitschko (48-3, 40 KO). If we can get the right fights, the long vacancy of the World heavyweight title may soon be over.
Undercards: Kudos to both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. The two big pay-per-view shows of 2007 (Juan Manuel Marquez-Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao-Jorge Solis) have both had excellent undercards. I don’t care how good a main event is on paper or how big the draws up top are. Undercards are insurance against bad fights. If casual fans could expect three hours of entertainment instead of just the hope of a good feature bout, boxing would be in better shape. If the main event costs so much money that real fights can’t be afforded beneath it, then the main event cost too much. The superfight of 2007 is little more than two weeks away.
The Ten Second Bell: Who would ever have thought that the cancellation of Antonio Tarver-Elvir Muriqui would be such a disappointment? I was really excited to think boxing was back on ABC. I miss Alex Wallau and Dan Dierdorf…We still have one great bout coming on Friday night. ShoBox has a scorcher in Mike Arnaoutis-Kendall Holt…If 115 lb. brawlers Cristian Mijares and Nobuo Nashiro weighed only 20 pounds more, the winner of a bout between the two might be headed towards the top of the pound-for-pound charts one day. If that bout ever happens, they might be anyways…The main column this week doesn’t mention every U.S. medalist, nor does it honor all of their bouts against each other. If you’d like a complete list, feel free to email me.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com