)Even if the Jets don't win another game this season, Mark Sanchez has much to be proud off...Yes, VIVA SANCHEZ....Rick Farris wrote:Viva Mark Sanchez! (See how we L.A. fans blow with the wind
USC may have a tough road in the future, but NFL rookie QB Mark Sanchez, a USC alum, has led the NY Jets to an AFC Championship game.
As USC fans, Charlie and I might not have much to get excited about in the near future, but our alums are in the NFL mix.
Bush for New Orleans and rookie Sanchez with the Jets.
Great post (and portrait), Rog. Ali has to be included in everybody's all-time top 10.Randyman wrote:Happy Birthday Champ
Muhammad Ali
What can I or anyone else say about Muhammad Ali that hasn’t already been said countless times in every language, in every country and medium imaginable. Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) was the 1962 gold medalist at Rome. Muhammad Ali, three time Heavyweight Champion of the world, defeating Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Leon Spinks to win the heavyweight titles. Muhammad Ali, a Muslim, a member of The Nation of Islam and a civil rights activist, who was thrust into the turbulent political battlefield of the 1960’s when he refused to be inducted into the U.S. military. Muhammad Ali, one half of the greatest rivalry in boxing’s rich history, the other half of course, being “Smoking” Joe Frazier. Their trilogy may be the greatest rivalry in sports, period.
I was just a kid but I knew who Muhammad Ali was early on, he was still Cassius Clay then. My father a former boxer in the U.S. Army was still a fan of the sport so I always picked up bits and pieces of the sport just by listening to him. I knew Ali was big when I saw a photo spoof of him and Sonny Liston on the back of a Mad Magazine. I mean, if you’re in Mad Magazine you have to be somebody, right? I thought so.
I don’t know if my father actually hated Ali but he sure as hell didn’t like him. Not too many did back then. Ali, the master of bombastic verbal assault, could infuriate anyone within earshot. My father was old school and Ali was definitely something new. Ali was not afraid to say what was on his mind, whether it was about himself, boxing or race in America.
In the ring Ali was something else. He was 6’ 4” and averaged around 220 pounds but he moved like a middleweight. His type of speed had never been seen before. If the truth be known, Ali never learned to box correctly, or as his long time trainer Angelo Dundee once said “Ali does everything wrong, he just does it better than anyone else”. The guy fought with his hands down, brought his feet together, pulled back from a hook and rarely slipped a punch, preferring to throw his head back to avoid them. Yet, he kept winning and he kept talking.
At the time, 1962, I really didn’t understand the significance of Ali’s fight with Archie Moore. I didn’t know who Moore was other than another boxer, nor did I know that Moore was an old man when Ali fought him. Looking back, it was not one of Ali’s finest moments, I think he realizes that now. I know he has expressed some deep regret over much of his behavior during his career. He predicted he would stop “Moore in four” and he did.
Ali had a much stiffer test the following year in a tough fight with Henry Cooper, when Coop knocked him down in the fourth round before he was stopped on cuts in the next round. They would fight again a few yews later, this time Ali would stop him in the sixth round, again on cuts.
I don’t think anyone gave Ali a chance against Sonny Liston. Despite his gold medal and a string of victories leading up to his challenge, no one took him serious. This fight would change everything. The fight was stopped in the seventh round when Liston remained on his stool. Ali displayed skills and a maturity in the ring that no one, especially Sonny Liston, expected. Ali stopped Liston in the first round of their rematch.
Ali ran up a string of victories over Floyd Patterson, the always tough Canadian, George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Karl Mildenberger, and “The Big cat” Cleveland Williams before fighting Ernie Terrell in February of 1967, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Again Ali showed his penchant for cruelty to an opponent when he punished Terrell over 15 rounds, for refusing to recognize him as Muhammad Ali. For some reason, Terrell refused to recognize him as Ali, instead he referred to him as Cassius Clay. I listened to the fight that night on the radio with my father.
In 1967, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces and was subsequently arrested, tried and found guilty of draft evasion. He was stripped of his title and his boxing license was revoked. Ali did not fight again until 1970 when he defeated “Irish” Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, setting up “The Fight of the Century” with Smoking Joe Frazier, who had become heavyweight champion by beating everyone that mattered in the heavyweight division. Frazier was no mere token champion waiting for Ali to return. He was the real deal, a legitimate champion and he was eager to prove it to Ali, the world and to anyone who doubted him.
Frazier got his chance on March 8, 1971 when he won a hard fought decision against Muhammad Ali at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was the pinnacle of Joe Frazier’s career, his finest moment. The fight is one of the greatest in the heavyweight division and one of my personal favorites.
Ali was far from through though, he would fight Ken Norton twice, splitting a pair of split decisions, the first a loss, in which Ali suffered a broken jaw, the second ended in a controversial win for Ali. He had one more tune-up fight with Rudi Lubbers, winning a 12 round decision, before fighting Joe Frazier for the second time.
Ali vs. Frazier II seemed to lack the excitement of the first fight, neither fighter was undefeated now, and no title was on the line, with Frazier having lost his title to George Foreman and much of his invincibility with it. Still, whenever the two met there was magic in the air, even if it was just in anticipation. Ali got the nod and a shot at George Foreman’s title. The fight which was to take place in Kinshasha, Zaire in Africa was billed as “The Rumble in the Jungle” As with his first fight with Sonny Liston, no one gave Ali a chance. Who could blame them? George Foreman was knocking everyone out and had won the Heavyweight title in a devastating fashion by knocking Frazier down six times before the referee stopped the fight.
Ali won the title from George Foreman by knocking him out in the eighth round, using his now famed rope a dope tactic to wear down the hard punching Foreman. Foreman never left room for a plan B, in the event he did not knock out Ali early and it cost him his title. Ali again shocked the world. Foreman would shock the world himself when he won the championship from Michael Moorer on November 5, 1994, twenty one years after losing his title to Ali. The heavyweights of that era were exceptional!
Ali KO’ed Jean Pierre Coopman in five and remained undefeated in his next five fights, posting victories over the likes of Jimmy Young (a controversial win), Richard Dunn, a third win over Ken Norton, Alfredo Evangelista and Ernie Shavers before facing the lightly regarded Leon Spinks in defense of his title on February 15, 1978.
This one caught everyone off guard. Spinks, a member of the 1976 Olympic team and a gold medal winner had only seven fights prior to his challenging Ali, none of them against quality opponents, yet, due to circumstances and Ali’s declining physical condition, Spinks won this fight. Ali would regain the title the following September winning a 15 round decision. Ali never won another fight. His next two fights were losses against Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick, two fights that never should have happened.
The night that Ali lost to Spinks, on February 15, 1978, my wife Jeri and I were busy moving into our house in Whittier, my friends, Ken Robledo, Mike Teran and Sergio Billings came by after the fight to help. When they told me that Ali had lost to Spinks, I was in complete disbelief. We all were. With the exception of the period when Ali was stripped of his title and came back to defeat George Foreman to regain the heavyweight title, Ali had been the heavyweight Champion for most of my childhood, my teen years and all my adult years up to that time. It seemed that Ali would be champion forever. It was tough finding out that he was human, just like the rest of us. Well, maybe not exactly like the rest of us, Ali was an extraordinary human being but he was human nonetheless. I still miss those days.
In 1991 I met Ali. He signed his book Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times and we had a chance to speak with him. He was decent to my family, hugging my wife and kids and planting a (soft) right hand on my chin. I consider it an extraordinary day in my life and my family has never forgotten it.
There was a time when Muhammad Ali roared like a lion, a king of his domain. Muhammad Ali is quiet now. Silenced by Parkinson’s disease. He talked a lot of smack and he backed up everything he ever said. He ducked no one in his career. Love him or hate him, Ali was unlike any heavyweight champion before him.
Khan's defection permanently to the States is causing a lot of fallout here. Freddie Roach has persuaded Khan to drop his WBA light-welterweight title rather than take on an Argentine puncher next, who is the mandatory. Roach wants the fragile Khan to fight a soft puncher in Malignaggi and then to cash in against the faded Hatton. Has Roach overstepped the mark? He is Khan's trainer, not his manager.dagosd2000 wrote:bennie wrote:Amir Khan takes on New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi in New York in the Spring.
Bolton man Khan hammered another New Yorker, Brooklyn’s Dmitriy Salita, in just 76 seconds in December, but the quick, flashy Malignaggi poses more of a threat, coming off a big win over Houston’s Juan Diaz as he does, although Paulie is not a puncher and suffers from brittle hands.
This is crucial because Khan looks a bit ‘chinny’, as they say in the trade, and has the talent to beat non-punchers every night of the week. Malignaggi’s lack of power really showed - and really let him down - against Khan’s big Lancashire rival Ricky Hatton, with whom Khan is now inevitably linked, when he was pounded in 11 unpleasant rounds in 2008. Malignaggi just couldn’t keep the Manchester Hitman away.
It should be said he was never off his feet against Hatton and has rebounded exceptionally well, culminating in that impressive decision over “Baby Bull” Diaz in Chicago last month on a unanimous 12-round decision. He possesses plenty of skill, guts and confidence (and chat) but really trades on his speed and Khan is one of the fastest fighters in the world today.
This match, Khan’s long-awaited American debut, will give him real exposure in the States, where he is now trained and apparently managed, promoted and spoon-fed by Freddie Roach out of California. Even in the other man’s hometown, Khan looks the hot favourite.
Bennie
You're in fine form with the reporting. Good to have you back.
BTW. I follow the Premier League over here. I like Manchester United with Hatton's pal Wayne Rooney. Which team do you lean towards? Rog
Who has Montoya trained outside Meza?kikibalt wrote:Yeah, Dan, he is the new trainer, don't think it is gonig to make a difference in Kessler..scartissue wrote:Thanks Frank I saw it on utube already but a fight loses something when you know the result already,would have liked to have seen the fight
when it happened btw Frank was just reading page 25 got to see Jimmy Montoya with kid meza as you and I had talked about Jimmy a couple of weeks ago I loved Jimmy in the corner man was he emotional he could really light a fire under a fighter when he wasnt being busy enough .
Did I hear recently that Jimmy Montoya was taking over as trainer for Mikkel Kessler?
Scartissue
Bennie...Jimmy has worked with many, many fighters, some champions, other not, some he trained other he did not, he would be brought in to work the corner as he did with my boys in some, not all of their fights, Jimmy was a good motivator, but he couldn't tell a fighter what he was doing right/wrong during a fight.bennie wrote:Who has Montoya trained outside Meza?kikibalt wrote:Yeah, Dan, he is the new trainer, don't think it is gonig to make a difference in Kessler..scartissue wrote:Thanks Frank I saw it on utube already but a fight loses something when you know the result already,would have liked to have seen the fight
when it happened btw Frank was just reading page 25 got to see Jimmy Montoya with kid meza as you and I had talked about Jimmy a couple of weeks ago I loved Jimmy in the corner man was he emotional he could really light a fire under a fighter when he wasnt being busy enough .
Did I hear recently that Jimmy Montoya was taking over as trainer for Mikkel Kessler?
Scartissue
“I’ve decided what I’m going to do. I ain’t going to kill nobody in Mississippi … [and] in Vietnam. I ain’t going to study war no more. And you know what? I don’t care who doesn’t like what I say about it. I don’t care who criticizes me in an editorial. I don’t care what white person or Negro criticizes me. I’m going to stick with the best. On some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘is it right?’ And there comes a time when a true follower of Jesus Christ must take a stand that’s neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take that stand because it is right. Every now and then we sing about it, ‘if you are right, God will fight your battle.’ I’m going to stick by the best during these evil times.” ....dagosd2000 wrote:
Martin Luther King JR.
Can you name one or two champs he trained, Frankie, just for me to pad out a preview on Froch-Kessler.kikibalt wrote:Bennie...Jimmy has worked with many, many fighters, some champions, other not, some he trained other he did not, he would be brought in to work the corner as he did with my boys in some, not all of their fights, Jimmy was a good motivator, but he couldn't tell a fighter what he was doing right/wrong during a fight.bennie wrote:Who has Montoya trained outside Meza?kikibalt wrote: Yeah, Dan, he is the new trainer, don't think it is gonig to make a difference in Kessler..
Bennie....Jimmy trained Hector Comacho for his title wining fight against Jose Luis Ramirez, we were in camp with Jimmy and Hector in Las Vegas for that fight, he co-trained with Tony Cerda Richie Sandoval when he won the title from Jeff Chandler, just two that come to my head right now.bennie wrote:Can you name one or two champs he trained, Frankie, just for me to pad out a preview on Froch-Kessler.kikibalt wrote:Bennie...Jimmy has worked with many, many fighters, some champions, other not, some he trained other he did not, he would be brought in to work the corner as he did with my boys in some, not all of their fights, Jimmy was a good motivator, but he couldn't tell a fighter what he was doing right/wrong during a fight.bennie wrote: Who has Montoya trained outside Meza?
Hammer...Tony Cerda Sr. is in the CBHOF, was inducted in 2009, Jr. will be inducted this year, he is the same one that fought the draw with Ramos.THEHAMMER321 wrote:Hi good am morning guys, I have a question for you Frank regarding Tony Cerda,is he in the CBHOF or is that his son who is in I am assuming Tony Cerda jr who fought Alex Ramos to a draw is his son.
dagosd2000 wrote:
Scrap Iron Johnson
We are having the same kind of weather out here in Vegaskikibalt wrote:I'm really enjoying this wet and windy weather we're having...
Do you like it?THEHAMMER321 wrote:We are having the same kind of weather out here in Vegaskikibalt wrote:I'm really enjoying this wet and windy weather we're having...
No I am used to hot like it is in the summer here only Arizona is hotter I thinkkikibalt wrote:Do you like it?THEHAMMER321 wrote:We are having the same kind of weather out here in Vegaskikibalt wrote:I'm really enjoying this wet and windy weather we're having...
kikibalt wrote:I'm really enjoying this wet and windy weather we're having...
. 
DD Rick Farris wrote:kikibalt wrote:I'm really enjoying this wet and windy weather we're having...
Frank . . . We were scheduled to film outside today, on a hillside of the Universal Studios back lot.
It was pouring buckets when I pulled into my parking space. I braced myself for a nasty day.
I was ready to "gear up", put on the boots, rain gear, etc. when a little angel of an assitant director approached me.
The cute little thing brought with her good news: "We've changed locations, we'll be on stage all this week."
Stage= Inside, warm, no rain, no mud, no fighting the elements, no tempers, no wishing I'd have studied harder and had a better career.
Yeah Frank, now I can enjoy the rain too, from inside!
