“Fighting Words” – A Few Causes for Celebration (And A Couple for Concern)

by David P. Greisman

The latest bunch of boxing news brings a mixed batch:

- A pair of upsides despite the economic downturn.

- Six fighters without a four-sided ring in which they may ply their trade.

- An already loquacious Executioner getting on-the-job training in elocution.

- The splitting of a dynamic duo.

- A third man in the ring following his number-one obligation.

Three causes for celebration, two for concern. Let’s take a look at the latest.

Celebrate: Promoters who make wise choices

Location, location, location.

One of Teddy Atlas’ favorite metaphors in his job as analyst for ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” concerns real estate. One lesson from the last week is that fights sell well when they’re put in a good home.

The Jan. 24 bout between Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley is doing well enough at the box office that the upper concourse of the Staples Center has been opened up. And that news should come as little surprise.

Though Sugar Shane at 37 is no longer as sweet as he once was, he’s still shown an ability to contend with the upper tier of welterweights. That’s precisely what he’ll get in Margarito, a 147-pound titlist who holds a strong claim to his division’s top spot.

Margarito long toiled on the fringes of stardom. But with a 2008 run that included big wins over Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto, it’s safe to say the Tijuana Tornado has landed.

Both boxers have ties to Southern California. Putting the fight in Los Angeles was a no-brainer. Keeping the tickets cheap (as high as $300, as low as $25) also helps.

Kelly Pavlik, meanwhile, is scheduled to fight in his native Youngstown, Ohio, for the first time since he won the middleweight championship. In an economically depressed area, some 5,000 tickets were sold within 12 minutes. That number alone leaves only 2,000 tickets to be sold before his Feb. 21 defense against Marco Antonio Rubio.

Too many fights in recent years ended up in Vegas casinos, alienating the fans that could not afford the travel and the tickets, and draining the bank accounts of those that could. These two promotional successes are steps in the right direction.

Concern: Don King – Only in America, yes, but where?

What three rules did we just learn? Location, location, location. In this case, we know what the fights will be but not where the lights will shine.

The Feb. 14 “World Championship Boxing” card on HBO is expected to be a tripleheader featuring top lightweight Nate Campbell against mandatory challenger Ali Funeka, junior-middleweight titlist Daniel Santos against the impressive Sergio Martinez, and 154-pound prospect Alfredo Angulo against Ricardo Mayorga in his toughest test yet.

It’s a Don King card. But the eccentric promoter seems to be spending too much time on his throne.

No location has been announced. No tickets have been sold. This is a good card – if, when and where it ever comes off.

Celebrate: BK joined by B-Hop

Do you watch football? Basketball? Baseball? Do you watch the talking heads on the pre-game shows and listen to the color commentators in the background of the broadcasts? More often than not, they’re former players.

Boxers are already limited by the number of networks that air the Sweet Science. HBO has had George Foreman, Roy Jones and Lennox Lewis, to varying degrees of success. HBO and ESPN2 use, respectively, trainers Emanuel Steward and Teddy Atlas. But when fighters hang up the gloves, there are few outlets for them to remain in both the sport and, in a way, the spotlight.

With last week’s season premiere of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” Bernard Hopkins joined Brian Kenny in the studio as an analyst. So far, he’s a glorified guest, but it’s still a cause for celebration.

Hopkins will appear occasionally rather than every week, and in his first episode he didn’t so much preside over the presentation as answer questions from a veteran host in Kenny. But Hopkins has the experience and the wisdom to break down what he sees, and the determination to improve should he see broadcasting as a path he’d like to follow.

Hopkins, in name and accomplishments, lends credibility to the show and will bring far more than the dead air seen in recent years with fighter guests for whom English was not their first language. Yes, Hopkins is a promoter via his affiliation with Golden Boy Promotions. But it will be up to the network to get honest answers and to be sure it is getting its money’s worth.

Concern: Albert/Bernstein and the theory of on-air chemistry

Change is an enemy of the comfortable.

For many, Jim Ross will always be the voice of wrestling; Jim Lampley, the voice of boxing on HBO.

For 21 years, the voice heard on Showtime belonged to Steve Albert.

Beginning this year, those tuning into “Showtime Championship Boxing” will hear Gus Johnson, a longtime broadcaster who’s done play-by-play for various sports, including college basketball, pro football and mixed martial arts. Johnson has donned the headsets for boxing, including the New York City Golden Gloves and the Broadway Boxing shows.

Albert, meanwhile, will fill in when Johnson cannot be there due to his other duties.

“I never imagined that when I called my first fight on Showtime back in 1987 that I’d still be announcing boxing today,” Albert was quoted as saying in a press release. “But after 21 years at Showtime, 25 years all told in the sport, I thought it was finally time to pull back.”

Albert and Bernstein had the kind of chemistry that made for enjoyable, enlightening shows. One wonders whether Johnson and Bernstein will be able to find the same spark. Though people tune in for the fights, the blow-by-blow can make or break a broadcast.

Fortunately, both Johnson and Bernstein are consummate professionals. Their first night together on Showtime will be the Feb. 7 bout between Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce. Here’s hoping those two little warriors give the commentators something to talk about.

Celebrate: A ref at his best

This celebration is but a quick commendation for Nevada referee Jay Nady and his work on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights.”

Nady officiated last week’s bout between heavyweight prospects Odlanier Solis and Kevin Burnett. The fight ended in the middle of the ring with Burnett still on his feet.

Solis, who had dominated nearly all of the previous seven rounds, had hurt Burnett in the eighth with a hook and then followed up with more hard shots. Burnett was wobbling terribly and not throwing back, but he had not yet gone down.

Many referees may have let Solis finish, let Burnett hit the canvas. But Nady saw the danger, saw that the fight was over, and made what, in other circumstances, could have been an unpopular decision.

The proceeding moments in which Burnett was able to recover and regain his bearings will, in the long run, mean far more to him than the loss on his ledger. He took no unnecessary shots. Solis didn’t get his highlight reel knockout, but, in the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t matter. Solis moves to 13-0. And Burnett was able to walk out of the ring.

The 10 Count

1.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: In one of the more gruesome crimes ever chronicled in this space, former Australian cruiserweight Ken Pae Seiuli has been charged with biting off his girlfriend’s lip – the second woman he has allegedly done that to, according to Queensland newspaper The Courier-Mail (with additional thanks to reporter Robyn Ironside).

Seiuli, 46, had a wholly unsuccessful career under the name Ken Suavine, fighting 17 times, suffering 13 defeats, winning once and coming out even once.

Seiuli has been charged with assault for the alleged attack on his girlfriend, who had to be hospitalized. He was already on parole for an attack dating back to a past relationship, when, “in a drunken rage,” he “dragged the woman along the ground, punched her and bit her face,” according to the newspaper.

Amazingly, Seiuli is out on bail, due to appear in court Feb. 19.

2.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Dickie Eklund, a former boxer better known these days for working the corner of brother Micky Ward, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking his longtime girlfriend, according to the Lowell (Mass.) Sun.

Eklund, 51, has been charged with “assault with intent to murder, intimidation of a witness and domestic assault and battery,” the newspaper said. Eklund allegedly choked her and bit her nose.

Eklund is out on $1,000 bail, due to appear in court Feb. 24 for a hearing. His girlfriend of 10 years has reportedly recanted her allegations.

Eklund’s decade-long career lasted from 1975 to 1985 and included a decision loss against a young Sugar Ray Leonard. He fought at junior welterweight and welterweight, leaving the ring with a record of 19 wins, four of which came by knockout, and 10 losses.

3.  What’s with all the face biting? Hannibal Lecter would be proud…

4.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Aussie 140-pound prospect Justin Kane is facing trial on assault charges after a July incident in which he allegedly struck a man at a Target store in the coastal town of Maroochydore, according to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Daily.

Kane, 27, has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm. And the alleged victim is a man who apparently stole Kane’s wife.

“He actually was one of my good friends, and him and my wife actually took off together,” Kane was quoted as saying. “I think he’s a little dirty on me now. My ex-wife’s new fiancé is claiming that I’ve actually clipped him, so they’re trying to charge me for that now.”

Kane competed as a bantamweight in the 2000 Olympics, losing in the quarterfinals. He won gold in the 2002 Commonwealth Games but then disappeared for some six years, turning pro in September 2008. He’s fought twice, winning both times by technical knockout.

5.  Boxers Behaving Badly update, part one: Heavyweight prospect Travis Kauffman will spend 23 months on parole and three years on probation after pleading guilty to selling marijuana to undercover police officers on three separate occasions in March 2004, according to the Reading (Pa.) Eagle.

Kauffman, 23, had already served three days behind bars for the crime.

Last year, a jury found Kauffman not guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl in January 2005. Kauffman had previously pleaded guilty to those charges before rescinding his plea and opting to face trial, represented by a new lawyer in place of his former attorney.

“He was led to believe that the evidence against him was overwhelming and that a plea deal was his only viable option,” Jack McMahon, Kauffman’s replacement lawyer, was quoted as saying at the time.

Kauffman turned pro in January 2006, compiling a 14-0 record, with 11 of those victories coming by way of knockout. He last fought in December, winning by third-round stoppage over Malachy Farrell, and is scheduled to fight Friday in Oklahoma.

6.  Boxers Behaving Badly update, part two: Former super-middleweight titlist Davey Hilton Jr., convicted in 2001 of sexually abusing two teenage girls, is now free after serving close to eight years in prison, according to the Canadian Press.

Hilton, 45, was nearly arrested again while in jail for refusing to sign a document agreeing to stay away from youths under 16 for the next year. He ultimately signed.

Hilton’s victims, his daughters, had been abused between 1995 and 1998. After their father was incarcerated, they revealed their identities.

Hilton was also acquitted last week on charged of assaulting and sexually assaulting a 48-year-old woman, who apparently no longer wanted to press charges. A judge ruled that there was no evidence in this most recent case.

Hilton was released on parole in 2006. His last bout before then had come in 2000, the title-winning split-decision over Dingaan Thobela. But Hilton, who had turned pro in 1981, returned to the ring in 2007 and went 10 rounds in a victory against some dude named Adam Green. That raised his record to 41-2-2 (26 knockouts).

Hilton had been staying in a halfway house during his comeback. He was sent back behind bars, however, after violating his parole by assaulting and threatening his girlfriend.

7.  Boxers Behaving Badly update, part three: Retired heavyweight measuring-stick Julius Francis has pleaded guilty to a pair of charges relating to a December motor-vehicle crash that injured another driver, according to British newspaper The Croydon Advertiser.

Francis, 44, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and common assault, charges that came from the collision, which shattered the other driver’s side-mirror and sent glass flying into his face. He has not yet pleaded to two other charges: driving without a license and driving without insurance.

Francis held a pair of British heavyweight titles about a decade ago. The rest of his ledger is a list of many of those who have come and gone through boxing’s marquee division over the years: losses to Audley Harrison, Vitali Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, John Ruiz, Axel Schulz, Mike Tyson and Danny Williams, just to name some.

Francis last fought in May 2006, a four-round points loss against some dude named Scott Lansdowne. That defeat would cap off a three-year, 14-fight losing streak. His final record: 23-24-1 (12 knockouts).

8.  Boxing Promoters Behaving Badly: Barry Hughes, who once was manager to troubled featherweight Scott Harrison, has been charged with attempted murder after an alleged nightclub incident in December in which a man was slashed and stabbed, according to Scotland’s Glasgow Daily Record.

Hughes, 30, was one of three men arrested. He remains in police custody, and is expected to appear in court this week.

9.  After licking his wounds from his knockout loss to a former NFL kick returner, Jose Canseco will be returning to the ring for another exhibition bout – this time against C-lister Danny Bonaduce, according to The Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times.

The bout, scheduled for Jan. 24 at a Pennsylvania skating arena, will raise money for charity. Each ticket sold will put $1 toward a fund for the families of slain police officers.

Canseco’s first try at celebrity boxing came in July against Vai Sikahema. Though Canseco had a distinct size advantage, Sikahema had an amateur boxing background. Sikahema sent Canseco to the canvas in the first round off of a left hook, and then scored another knockdown following a barrage of punches. As Canseco went down that final time, his corner threw a towel into the ring.

10.  Who’d have thunk it? A week in which, of all the people referenced in The 10 Count, Jose Canseco was the normal one…

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com