Memorable Performances, 6-10...

6. I was at the Blue Horizon one night in Philadelphia back in 1993 when thirty year old Calvin Grove fought the non stop punching machine that was Troy Dorsey. Grove wasn't known as a puncher at all, this was still one fight before he KO'd Jeff Fenech with one shot, and Dorsey had that rep for keeping tremendous pressure on his opponents. The ring at the Blue Horizon is small and soft (they love those wars in Philly and a soft small ring makes it all the more possible that you will see one). So it is pretty obvious that Grove will need to "stick and move" to beat this guy and that was a very feasible thought when he was a champion but this fight was a good five years after his championship days and the legs couldn't keep him away from a buzz saw like this for ten full rounds. Could they? Dorsey was less than two years removed from his own championship days and while he was the same age as Grove he had far, far less fights and rounds of wear and tear under his belt. Well, Calvin Grove did what he does best and Dorsey did what he does best, too. It was like a race on the clock. Could Dorsey wear Calvin out before the tenth bell rang? Could Calvin's old legs keep him upright and mobile for thirty full minutes of action? I remember each round was very similar to the previous one. Calvin was on his toes, boxing and moving, letting his hands go in pretty, but soft, combinations on the head and body of the on rushing Dorsey. I remember thinking "He will just keep winning rounds until he runs out of gas and then he will be finished." It was a fast paced fight, even without the small ring with the soft canvas. People might only equate desire and heart with guys like Gatti and Holyfield that show time and time again that they can battle through brutal warfare and still win but I know that it takes a lot of heart and will power and discipline to box like Calvin did that night against an aggressive opponent under those circumstances. H must have felt like the ring was getting smaller and smaller as each round went on and probably thought a time or two about just stopping and letting Dorsey catch up to him but, nope, he stayed on his toes and boxed his behind off for ten full rounds!! He won a unanimous decision when it was over and it was a nice win for him, too, but it wasn't like the crowd at the blue that night was falling all over themselves in excitement because unless you can really appreciate the abilities and will it takes to box for ten rounds like that you might just dismiss the fight as a "regular" boxing match. I am not one of those people, though, and I respected Calvin even more when I went into his old and dingy dressing room in the back of the Blue Horizon (picture the dressing room that Rocky Balboa and Spider Rico shared in the original ROCKY) and watched him as he lay down on one of the rubbing tables in the middle of the room with just his shorts on as someone poured cold water all over him. He looked so totally spent and exhausted, like he was starving for air, food and water all at once but at the same time he was too tired to do anything but lay there and soak it all in. That showed me what he had just put himself through and as a fellow professional I was inspired in a way because I recognized what it took for him to do so. I tip my hat to that guy. 7. Vinny Pazienza-Gilbert Dele, WBA 154 pound title fight: In 1991 I sparred for the first time with Vinny Pazienza. I had a fight coming up against Randy Smith, a ten rounder at the "Big E" in Massachusetts in September and Paz had his WBA title try scheduled for a few days later with Gilbert Dele at the Providence Civic Center. Now, I believe that when many people think of Vinny as a boxer they think of a blood and guts brawler that gets cut a lot and usually has to fight through a lot of blood and punches to the head to win fights. Of course, Vinny is not above going that route if that's what it takes to get the best results but from sparring so many rounds with him, sometimes twelve at a time, I knew that when he decided to stick and move and be elusive he certainly had the ability to do that in good fashion. The man could BOX when he had to. His first two fights up to that point with Greg Haugen, though, were what most people remembered him for. All out wars! However, if you pop in a tape of his 1991 WBA title wining fight with Dele I think you will come away with a new respect for the guy and his boxing skills. I was there ringside and I remember at the time thinking how much his performance that night reminded me of the job Sugar Ray Leonard did against Marvin Hagler. It's usually the Mickey Ward-Arturo Gatti type wars that get the crowd deeply and loudly into fights but that night, with Vinny Paz showing off his elusive boxing skills (moving side to side with his hands low, shucking and jiving, shakin' and bakin'), the crowd was going crazy. Seeing Vinny make this guy miss three or four punches in a row brought as much cheering as Vinny landing three punches did and when it was stopped in the twelfth round Vinny was way ahead on the scorecards in a fight that I consider one of the best exhibitions of BOXING that I have ever seen. 8. Buster Douglas KO-10 Mike Tyson. Come on now. If you choose to remember Douglas only as the guy that went out easily against Holyfield and later against Lou Savarese and you just dismiss this victory as a fluke, well, you just don't know what you are looking at, son. Buster Douglas, on the night he beat Mike Tyson, was one of the greatest heavyweights ever. SUPREME confidence, fearlessness, power, BEAUTIFUL combination punching. THE JAB! Toughness, the ability to deal with adversity, recovery time, patience, exceptional technique (the way he stepped over on Tyson just before releasing the first punch of the final series of the fight), the ability to finish a man, conditioning, etceteras. Buster Douglas showed it ALL that night! That was one of the greatest all time performances, no two ways about it. Right up there with Frazier over Ali, Leonard over Duran in their first rematch, Ali over Foreman, Winky and Hopkins over Tito. He was AWESOME that night. 9. Sweet Pea vs. JCC, 1993. Julio Caesar Chavez was one of the top pound for pound fighting machines in the world back then and was well on his way towards one hundred victories without a defeat. But there are some boxing results that I just don't accept. Pernell Whitaker out boxed, out slicked and out fought Chavez that night with a beautiful, textbook, all-time great boxing display and I just don't care at all that the record books let us know that DK influenced judges scored it as a draw over twelve rounds. People hardly ever even talk about that fight anymore but it was a boxing masterpiece. Pea was so calm and in control and led Chavez in almost every direction he wanted him to go in. That was boxing science at its very best. 10. Paul Spadafora vs. Pito Cardona. When I first heard that local kid Cardona was matched up for the vacant IBF 135 pound title against Spadafora I have to admit that I thought it was going to be a blow out victory for my fellow Hartford based boxer. At the time they fought in 1999 Spadafora hadn't been in with many top notch opponents while Cardona had beaten, among others, good fighters like Ivan Robinson and Golden Johnson. I had seen Paul at the Ohio State Fair a few years earlier but didn't really pay that much attention to him and, as a matter of fact, the main thing that stood out about him to me was the unique tattoo he has on his upper body where it appears there is a thick chain of thorns around his neck with boxing gloves hanging from it. On the night he fought Cardona, though, it was very hard not to pay attention to him. People might forget it now, what with all his legal troubles and a few somewhat uninspiring performances mixed in since, but Paul Spadafora put on a slick exhibition of boxing that day over twelve rounds that rivaled performances of Whitaker in his prime. Some people might gasp at that statement but sit down and watch the tape sometime. That was a breakout fight for a kid that should have been a star in the making. His movement, combination punching, confidence, jab, defense and showmanship in a fight against a very solid opponent was something that you don't see all rolled into one single performance on a regular basis. Even his post fight interview was a home run on his behalf. What happened to him as a result in large part to similar demons that have plagued so many athletes, actors, entertainers, executives and average, everyday people is a crime of sorts because now, instead of being propped up as one of the slickest, smartest, most clever and entertaining champions in all of boxing, Paul "The Pittsburgh Kid" Spadafora has put himself in a place where he could very well be remembered, if at all, as just "a guy with some talent" who failed miserably at trying to reach his full potential. The performance he put on against Cardona -while obviously not taking in a fight of similar magnitude- is undoubtedly even more forgotten than Sweet Pea's against Chavez and Douglas' against Tyson and that's a true shame because the performance he came through with on that day, on a world wide stage, is still something to be admired as a true championship level exhibition of pure boxing. He may be forgotten one day but don't get it wrong. That kid Spadafora could BOX.