Archive for the ‘Boxing’ Category

Browns/Steelers: A Perspective

Thursday, November 21st, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

myles-garrett-helmet-fight

On August 22, 1965 the hated Los Angeles Dodgers were in San Francisco to play my Giants. As was often the case during this era, these were the two best teams in the National League. At that time, there was no wild card or even division winners to qualify for the playoffs. In fact, there were no playoffs. A team had to finish first in the league to advance to the World Series. It is against this backdrop and within the context of the heated rivalry between the two teams when it happened. According to the great Giants Hall of Fame pitcher, Juan Marichal, the Dodgers catcher John Roseboro was throwing close to his head when returning pitches, while Marichal was at bat.

JMHis reaction: he hit Roseboro in the head with his bat and thus what many consider the ugliest brawl in baseball history was ignited!

Marichal was suspended for 8 games, which in that era, meant he would miss 2 starts. My Giants would win 95 games that year, largely on the power of Marichal’s 22 wins and a league leading 10 complete game shutouts, and Willie May’s league-leading 52 homers and 2nd MVP season. And yet, a team with 6 future Hall of Famers would finish 2 games behind the Dodgers, in second place. The Dodgers would go on to win the World Series.

Juan Marichal was arguably the most stylish pitcher of all time. His elegant high-leg kick, reminiscent of a matador, and pinpoint control was legendary. He, not Bob Gibson and not Sandy Koufax, won the most games in baseball during the 1960s. I am a die-hard Giants fan and consider Marichal to be the most underappreciated Hall of Fame pitcher.

And yet he was dead wrong!

On June 28, 1997, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson had a rematch for the heavyweight championship of the world. Less than a year earlier, in the first match, Holyfield upset Tyson, whom manyMT considered to be “the baddest man on the planet”. Holyfield also had a boxing-wide reputation for using head butts as a deliberate tactic. Intentional or not, he certainly used this against the shorter Tyson in the rematch.

Most of you know how Tyson reacted: he bit Holyfield’s ear to the point of drawing blood.

Tyson was banned from boxing for 15 months and was never the same as a fighter.

I always liked Mike Tyson.

And yet he was dead wrong!

Fast forward to last week, November 14, 2019. Everyone reading this knows by now what happened in the Browns/Steelers game and thus repeating it here is not necessary.  I do believe the backdrop of this “rivalry” can be useful for understanding. I say rivalry in quotations because to call it that over the past 30 years from a competitive standpoint is beyond a stretch. I could not remember the last time that the Browns were actually favored to beat the Steelers, as was the case last week. You literally may have to go back to the Bernie Kosar era, which is 30 years ago. The Browns had lost 8 straight to my Steelers since 2014.

Think of the Browns like the weak kid who has been bullied year after year. He finally goes into the gym to bulk up in the way of getting Odell Beckham Jr, Baker Mayfield, and of course, Myles Garrett.

Think of my Steelers like the bully who has been smacking the Browns around whenever bored and takes their lunch money.

Last week, the Browns had finally had enough. They became the bully, opening a can of whoop-ass on my Steelers.

But apparently that gym work the Brown’s engaged in included something that drove them over the edge.

What is interesting to me are those who are equating the provocation with the retaliation.

In all three of these incidents, one can cite and validate the provocation. Roseboro later in life in his biography admitted to intentionally throwing near Marichal’s head, which surprised no one. That is how the Giants and Dodgers roll.

But all provocation and retaliation is not created equal.

MGOnce Garrett had Steelers QB Mason Rudolph’s helmet, dispatching it and a simple Floyd Mayweather combination would have been sufficient to put the unwise charging QB down.

Garrett chose the nuclear option! As a result, an outstanding player drafted 1st overall in 2017, who had 10 sacks through 10 games, and was going to be a viable Defensive Player of the Year candidate is gone for the season, without pay.

There has been a significant focus on the fact that all of the players suspended from the Browns/Steelers brawl were Black, and Rudolph, who is white, was not suspended.

He too should have been suspended. But some want to point to this as an example to prove that there are racial disparities in how the NFL and America meets out discipline.

To them I say that water is wet and there are so many more relevant samples that have already confirmed this reality.

In addition, this assessment fosters a selective analysis of what actually happened. To say that Rudolph initiated the whole thing is subjective and assumes knowing what Garrett was thinking when he took Rudolph down. No one, including myself, has a clue what Garrett was thinking at any point in the melee. What we do know is that Rudolph escalated the situation beyond what he could handle.

But some are sounding too much like the child on the playground after the fight, declaring, “He started it”.

If one demands proportionate discipline, I’m with you.

If your demand in this situation is for equal discipline, I can only say to you: don’t be that guy.

That guy who defends the road-rager who runs a motorist off the highway in retaliation for getting the middle finger.

Don’t be that guy who defends an occupying military force that levels an entire city because a few teenagers, who actually have a right to be there, threw rocks at the soldiers.

And don’t be that guy who says “when you play with fire you get burned”. Fire does not have the capacity for self-constraint. People do…and the more we rationalize the failure to exercise that constraint, the more we invite others to bypass the capacity altogether.

Having said all of that, I can’t wait until December 1st when the Browns come to Pittsburgh!

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

WRS Book Review – Sugar Ray Leonard: The Big Fight

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

by Jimmy Williams

JW Blog

 

 

 

 

SRL

I always find it amusing when people judge an athlete’s performance based on how they feel about them as a person.  I mean I get it, but it still makes no sense.   You can be a horrible human being and allegedly kill your ex-wife and her friend, get acquitted, and later be sent to prison for robbing someone of your own belongings.  That does not mean you were not one hell of a running back.  What does that have to do with Sugar Ray Leonard and his book you ask?  Well before reading this book I had a picture of Sugar Ray that has completely changed. Before starting this book I always looked at Ray Leonard (I’m not going to keep calling that man Sugar, Yo!) as a member of the Abnegation faction but now I see him as a member of the Dauntless faction.  If you’ve never read the Divergent books or seen the movie, that last sentence will make no sense to you; but if you have, you will recognize my genius.

I’ve read a lot of athletes’ memoirs and boxers seem to be the most transparent and have the most interesting stories.  Then again, someone who makes a living trying to hurt another human being while also taking punishment from said human being has got to be off their rocker to begin with.  Mike Tyson has set the bar in terms of being transparent and having an amazing story, so Ray Leonard’s book had a lot to live up to.  Although Ray Leonard’s book was released first, I read the Tyson book first.  This is no Tyson story but it is interesting in its own way (S/O to Todd Bridges for inspiring Ray Leonard to tell his story).  I grew up in the Tyson era so I knew of many of his hardships and troubles.  My opinion of Ray Leonard before this book was of someone who was articulate, athletic, marketable, a nice guy who happened to be a pugilist specialist (No Bosh).  My brother B. Austin believes that Ray Leonard is overrated in terms of his boxing ability and I’ve always disagreed.  One thing we’ve always agreed on is his image.  That image has been shattered by his honesty in this book where he speaks about faking blackouts to make weight, sexual assault, drug abuse, and his obsession with finding “talent” in various cities for the purpose of fornication.  A lot of time is spent discussing how he disrespected his first wife and how he was addicted to intercourse with all types of women.  Don’t get me wrong, all men love yoni (unless you live an alternative lifestyle, and if you do, God bless you) but boxers seem to be bigger addicts then most of us.

There are also parts of this book that make you appreciate Ray Leonard as a pugilist.  It’s obvious how serious he took his sport and how he strategized before fights.  It’s also great to hear the respect he has for his fellow boxers, especially the men with whom he had his classic bouts.  Another part of the book that made me appreciate Ray Leonard the athlete was how serious he took self-improvement and wanting to be a well-rounded person.  He worked on his speech and image.  He also talked about how many Blacks considered him a “sell-out” because he was well spoken.  I can relate to that.  Many of us have self-hatred that goes back to slavery and how systematically we were made to see ourselves as inferior (I won’t get into that now).  I remember I was once called spoiled because I knew who both of my parents were (WTF?).

After reading this, I have a completely different idea of who Ray Leonard is/was. I respect him for being open and honest about his life even though he doesn’t come off as the good guy at all.  We live in a world where everyone is judgmental and wants to hold people to higher moral standards than we do ourselves.  I’ve also read athletes’ biographies where they talk about their life as if they did no wrong and they are the perfect person (S/O to Shaq), and we all know that’s unrealistic and a bunch of cow dung.  I would recommend this book to all sports fans, especially people who are fans of the “sweet science”.   Ray Leonard may not be the man he was marketed to be but he is brutally honest and maybe someone can learn something from his story.  I doubt it though, because “The Nookie” has been making men do stupid things since the beginning of time, and some things never change.

 

Jimmy “The Blueprint” Williams of War Room Sports

What Happens After Floyd Mayweather?

Monday, July 21st, 2014

by K Doz

KDoz

 

 

 

(Photo courtesy of thisissportszone.com)

(Photo courtesy of thisissportszone.com)

Floyd “Money” Mayweather is one of the most polarizing people, not only in the sport of boxing, but in sports period. He, in my opinion, has single handedly allowed the sport of boxing to remain relevant. Since Mike Tyson, no other fighter has accumulated as much money, notoriety, and casual fan attention besides Mayweather. With that being said, “What Happens After Floyd Mayweather”?

There are hundreds of boxers all over the world but are there any up and coming fighters that possess the skill and theatre quality that Mayweather brings to each fight/show? Besides Ali, no one in the fight business can promote a fight like “Money” Mayweather, which is why he makes more cash than any athlete in the world. Mayweather has a unique relationship with fans, many hate him and many love him. I’m pretty sure there are fight fans who order Mayweather fights to see if some fighter will finally shut him up. Which again I ask, What Happens After Mayweather? There were so many candidates who were supposed to be ready to take the place of Mayweather but have not succeeded to keep their star or win loss record in a positive state. Though undefeated is hard to go against, none of the present fighters have the charisma that Mayweather has, nor his work ethic. Prime example, Adrien Broner, who was almost anointed next to take Mayweather’s throne as pound for pound king, until he was embarrassed by Marcos Maidana. Andre Ward, to many, has been pinpointed to match Mayweather in skill and an undefeated record, but lacks the crossover appeal that Mayweather has to sell pay-per-view. Saul Alvarez had a shot but Mayweather out-classed him in their bout on 9/14/2013.  Gernady Golovkin has a shot to be a special figure in boxing but he needs to have more meaningful fights to get anywhere near where Mayweather is ranked. “What Happens After Mayweather”? Even if he loses his next bout vs Marcos Maidana scheduled for 9/14/2014, is it safe to say that “Money” Mayweather has been boxing’s “savior” for the last decade?

So who will be the next money-making fighter to bring about paydays as Mayweather did? Andre Ward and Gernady Golovkin have the chance to really do numbers but neither will have formidable foes to make their careers have more relevancy. Who is out there that these two can really face to pose any threat to their undefeated records? Will Ward ever show a more promotional side or will he remain the clean-cut, boring nice guy we like but not love or love to hate? Not saying it’s bad to be clean-cut but boring is not good for business. Mayweather’s fights are not the most exciting, usually because he has already won the fight mentally before the event begins. Floyd “Money” Mayweather may be the last of his kind. “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Ali, Roy Jones Jr, Mike Tyson, Oscar De la Hoya, etc. Boxers should see these next 2-3 years as an opportunity to make their own case for “What Happens after Floyd Mayweather”. Will the sport stay afloat or will it decline even more?

 

KDoz of KDOZMEDIA, for War Room Sports

WRS Book Review: Mike Tyson – Undisputed Truth

Friday, December 6th, 2013

by Jimmy Williams

I have read many books this year.  In fact this is the 37th book I’ve read.  I know people who have read more but most people I know haven’t read nearly as many.  And yes I’m bragging because I take pride in my reading, because Jadakiss was right about you Libyans. At any rate I bring up the fact that I’ve read so many books just to say this was the most entertaining book I have read this year, BAR NONE.

I could not stop reading once I started.  This book was depressing, inspirational, hilarious, insightful, and tragic.  I’ve read many biographies and none have been this honest and transparent.  The stories of his upbringing and his relationship with his mother were hard to read, but also makes his journey more understandable.

My friends and I grew up during the “Tyson Era” and he was damn near a super hero to us, whose story had a tragic ending, until recently.  One of the reasons we love YouTube so much is because it was a place where we could watch and relive the old Tyson interviews and press conferences, and damn near die from laughter when he seemed out of his mind and would say the most random things.  Now I have more insight into why he said some of the things he did (even though there is no excuse for some of the craziness he’s spoken).  His knowledge on the history of boxing is impressive, and his ability to be completely out of control but also be self-aware is very interesting as well. Even the epilogue was entertaining, although it read like the ramblings of a bi-polar man having an episode of hypomania.

I could go on and on about specific stories from the book but I don’t want to give anything away.  Just know that regardless of your opinion about Mike Tyson, you will find his story entertaining.

Jimmy “The Blueprint” Williams of The War Room, for War Room Sports

Boxing, Money, and Health: The Floyd Mayweather Case Study

Thursday, October 31st, 2013

by Zelda Robbins

 

boxing-health infographic

 

Of the thousands of boxers who’ve competed in the sport of boxing over the last couple of centuries, none seem to have earned as much as Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr., once known as “Pretty Boy”. To say that his per-fight and yearly winnings have been climbing in the seventeen years since he went professional is an understatement. In September 2013, he beat Saul “Canelo/ The One” Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and took a record-breaking minimum of $41.5M. That’s not even including his pending share of Pay Per View revenues, which is expected to bump up his total earnings for the Alvarez fight to over $100M. Here’s a breakdown of Mayweather’s career as well some general stats on boxing.

Top-Paid Athletes

Floyd Mayweather, aka Floyd Joy Sinclair, has been on Forbes’ yearly “100 Top-Paid Athletes” list in the top 15 two years in a row now, with a #1 position in 2012 and #14  in 2013 — tied in the latter year with Manny Pacquiao, whom some expect will be Mayweather’s 2014 fight opponent. (Golfer Tiger Woods was #1 from 2001 through 2011, and is back at #1 for 2013.) On the Sports Illustrated “Fortunate 50″ list of highest-paid athletes, Mayweather has been #1 two years in a row (2012 and 2013).

Breaking Down the Mayweather Timeline: From “Pretty Boy”  to “Money May”

To match Mayweather’s being #1 or #2 in various recent “top-paid athletes” lists is his interests in big houses, fast cars, shopping sprees and rumored 6-figure betting on sports events. All that money seemingly earned in a single fight takes months of training and there are trainers and entourage to pay as well. Of course, he didn’t always have the entourage.

Mayweather General Career Stats
Mayweather’s career information listed here and further below includes his fight with Saul Alvareze, unless otherwise noted.

  • 5 — Number of divisions Mayweather has been a champion in.
  • 26/45 — Mayweather wins by KO/Total.
  • 0 — Number of losses.
  • 130 — Mayweather’s lowest weight while winning a world championship.
  • 154 — Mayweather’s highest weight while winning a world championship.
  • 36 — Mayweather’s age.
  • 3 — Time in the AM that he wakes up to work out. This also happens to be a time he’ll grab a Fatburger burger.

“The Wealthiest” vs “The Greatest”: Floyd Mayweather vs Muhammad Ali
Floyd Mayweather isn’t facing off against “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, in this lifetime, but in terms of career stats, Ali has a slight edge on him in several categories.

Floyd Mayweather Muhammad Ali
Nicknames 2 – “Pretty Boy” and “Money” 3 – “The Greatest,” “The People’s Champion” and “The Louisville Lip”
Height 5’8″ 6’3″
Height difference in inches -7 +7
Total fights to date 45 61
Wins 45 56
% wins/fights 100 92
Wins by KO 26 37
Number of Olympics competed in 1 — 1996 Atlanta 1 — 1960 Rome
Medals 1 — Bronze 1 — Gold
# broken jaws 0 1 — At the hands of Ken Norton, Sr. (RIP)
Birthdate Feb 24, 1977 Jan 17, 1942
Spread in age -35 +35
Age when Ali retired 4 39 — He announced retirement in Jul 1979 but fought 2 more times — against Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick on Dec 21, 1981. The Berbick fight — Ali’s last — was nearly a month short of his 40th birthday.

What will be interesting to see is how many more matches Mayweather will fight, beyond the remaining four of six in his Showtime deal. He’s already hinted at retiring rich. Ali, on the other hand, managed 61 fights in his career despite losing four years while fighting draft-evasion charges.

Mayweather’s Transitional Period

Mayweather’s career took a few years to reach the big paydays. Here’s what happened along the way.

Milestone year Miletones from then to the next milestone year
1996 — The year after which Mayweather turned pro (after winning a bronze medal in Altanta’s 1996 Summer Olympics). 17 — Number of victories Mayweather earned before a title chance against Genaro Hernandez
1998 — Year of Mayweather’s first title chance. 150,000 — The number of $ he got paid for beating Hernandez by TKO.7 — The additional number of fights Mayweather had before hitting the 7-figure mark for a single fight.
2001 — The pivotal year for that 7-figure fee first, when he defeated Diego Corrales. 9 — The additional number of fights for which Mayweather’s fee earned him $2M+per fight.2-3 — Mayweather’s average take, in millions of dollars, for those 9 fights.
2006 — The year Mayweather hit the 8-figure mark for yearly earnings, going up against Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir. 13 — Number of millions of dollars that he earned in 2006, including PPV share.37 — Number of bouts won by Mayweather by the end of 2006.0 — Number of bouts lost at that point.
2007 — The year Mayweather’s single-bout take hit 8 figures. 2.44 — The number of millions of PPV viewers of Mayweather’s 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya.132 — The millions of dollars in total PPV revenue from that fight.52 — Number of millions of dollars De La Hoya took in for that event.25 — Number of millions of dollars Mayweather received for that event, including PPV share.25+ — Minimum number of millions of dollars Mayweather received for each of his next seven fights, including Saul Alvarez.
2013 7 — The number of those 8 fights in which Mayweather’s opponent earned as much or more than he did (see additional lists below).

[NOTE TO EDITOR: DATA IN THE IMMEDIATE LIST BELOW IS A DUPLICATE OF THE ABOVE TABLE — FOR CONVENIENCE: USE MOST SUITABLE FORMAT]

  • 1996 — The year after which Mayweather turned pro (after winning a bronze medal in Altanta’s 1996 Summer Olympics).
  • 17 — Number of victories Mayweather earned before a title chance against Genaro Hernandez.
  • 1998 — Year of Mayweather’s first title chance.
  • 150,000 — The number of $ he got paid for beating Hernandez by TKO.
  • 7 — The additional number of fights Mayweather had before hitting the 7-figure mark for a fight.
  • 2001 — The pivotal year for that 7-figure fee first, when he defeated Diego Corrales.
  • 9 — The additional number of fights that Mayweather’s fight fee earned him $2M+.
  • 2-3 — Mayweather’s average take, in millions of dollars, for those 9 fights.
  • 2006 — The year Mayweather hit the 8-figure mark for his yearly take, going up against Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir.
  • 13 — Number of millions of dollars that he earned in 2006, including PPV share.
  • 37 — Number of bouts won by Mayweather by the end of 2006.
  • 0 — Number of bouts lost at the point.
  • 2007 — The year Mayweather’s single-bout take hit 8 figures.
  • 2.44 — The number of millions of PPV viewers of Mayweather’s 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
  • 132 — The millions of dollars in total PPV revenue from that fight.
  • 52 — Number of millions of dollars De La Hoya took in for that event.
  • 25 — Number of millions of dollars Mayweather received for that event, including PPV share.
  • 25+ — Minimum number of millions of dollars Mayweather received for each of his next seven fights, including Saul Alvarez.
  • 7 — The number of those 8 fights in which Mayweather’s opponent earned as much or more than he did (see additional lists below).

 

Mayweather vs Alvarez Fight Stats
How does Saul Alvarez compare to Mayweather? Here are the stats.

  • 3 — Number of titles that were on the line:  2 — Alvarex WBC (World Boxing Council ) and WBA (World Boxing Association) super welterweight titles; 1 — Mayweather WBA Super title.
  • 2.5 — The odds (to 1) that Mayweather was favored over Alvarez.
  • 4 — Number of estimated dozens of celebs in attendance.
  • 12 — Number of rounds it took Mayweather to defeat Alvarez.
  • 1 — Number of judges that called the Mayweather-Alvarez fight a draw at 114-114.
  • 45 — Mayweather’s undefeated streak after beating Alvarez.
  • 23 — Alvarez’s age at the time of the fight
  • 36 — Mayweather’s age
  • 13 — Years older than Alvarez that Mayweather is.
  • 6 — Alvarez’s age when Mayweather went pro 17 years ago.
  • 150.5 — Mayweather’s weight at official weigh in.
  • 152 — Alvarez’s weight.
  • 0 — Weight difference in pounds (as per official weigh-in).
  • 1 — The approximate number of Fatburger “XXXL” (24oz) burgers without bread that Mayweather would have had to eat to match Alvarez’s fight weight. (Fatburger being one of Mayweather’s faves.)
  • 1 — Number of inches height advantage for Alvarez.
  • 72 — Number of inches of reach for Mayweather.
  • 70.5 — Number of inches of reach for Alvarez.
  • 1.5 — Inches difference in reach.
  • 30/42 — Alvarez wins by KO/Total
  • 1 — Number of Alvarez draws
  • 1 — Number of Alvarez losses (post-fight)

 

Money Money Money
According to Vice.com, the highest paid athletes have always been American boxers. That’s not strictly true, given golfer Tiger Woods was #1 on Forbes Top 100 highest-paid athletes list from 2001-2011, and again in 2013. However,  Floyd Mayweather is definitely #1 on several lists, including the 2012 Forbes list and the 2013 Sports Illustrated “Fortunate 50″ list. Of course, his recent fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez hasn’t hurt in terms of top paydays and records broken. Is it any wonder Mayweather has a few quirks of “conspicuous consumerism,” including carrying around resealable plastic bags of stacks of $100s to go on shopping sprees with? At least he shares some of that with friends, employees and sometimes total strangers.

  • 100 — Number of millions dollars ($M) that Mayweather could take in for the fight, including the guaranteed $41.5M plus PPV share.
  • 65 — Approximate cost in dollars of a PPV ticket for the fight.
  • 10 — Additional cost in dollars for HD viewing.
  • 547 — Number of movie theaters in the U.S. who showed the Mayweather/ Alvarez fight (in HD).
  • 5 —  Alvarez’s minimum base pay in $M for the match.
  • 100 — Percentage of Alvarez’ base pay that will actually come from Mayweather’s pocket as a business expense.
  • 7 — $M expected take for Alvarez’s PPV share.
  • 12 — Number of $M Alvarez is to make in the fight in total.
  • 41.5 — The record-breaking minimum amount in $M Mayweather will get for the fight.
  • 58.5 — $M expected additional take for Mayweather’s PPV share.
  • 70-100 — Overall estimated amount in $M to Mayweather (base plus PPV share).
  • 45 — Number of $M Mayweather made (base and PPV share) for his 2012 fight with Miguel Cotto.
  • 350 — Estimated $M his career earnings will be at if he earns $70M (including PPV share) for the Alvarez fight.
  • 10.5 — Number of millions of PPV buys that Mayweather’s previous 10 PPV fights generated (pre-Alvarez fight).
  • 600 — Number of $M in PPV revenue generated in those 10 fights.
  • 200 — Number of millions of dollars in PPV revenue the event is expected to produce.
  • 200-350 — The range in $M that different estimates of the six-fight Showtime Sports deal is worth to Mayweather.
  • 2 — Number of additional years Mayweather says he’ll fight, presumably to cover his Showtime contract deal.
  • 4  – Number of fights remaining of his 6-fight deal with Showtime.
  • 150 — Minimum number of $M, total, that these remaining four fights will bring Mayweather.
  • 500 — Number of $M Mayweather’s professional boxing career will likely have pulled in at the end of his Showtime deal.
  • 0 — Number of current endorsements — though he has had endorsement deals in the past, with Reebok. He also has his own apparel company and even takes a margin on food and drink sold during his fights.
  • 123 — $M in cash he has all in a single bank account.
  • 200,000 — Number of dollars he’s been known to spend in a shopping spree on handbags for female friends.
  • 7 — Number of figures his sports bets sometimes reach.
  • 5.9 — Number of $M he’s rumored to have bet on the Miami Heat in the playoffs.
  • 1.5 — Number of $M that a Maserati MC12 coupe goes for on the high-end duPont Registry web site — a site Mayweather enjoys.
  • 7 — Number of $M in jewelry he once had stolen from one of his homes.
  • 100,000 — Amount of reward money offered for information leading to the return of the stolen jewelry.
  • 3 — Minimum number of homes Mayweather owns (Miami, Vegas, Los Angeles).
  • White — The color of all his cars at his Miami house.
  • Black — The color of all his cars at his Las Vegas house.
  • 1 — Number of times he wears any pair of shoes.
  • 1 — Number of times he wears any pair of boxer shorts.
  • 6500 — Number of dollars he spends per year on boxer shorts.
  • 2 — Number of jets his entourage flies on, with bodyguards being on the one he’s not on, due to fears of overloading the cabin.

It’s possible Mayweather’s earnings could be even higher had he not spent two months of an 87-day sentence for domestic abuse in a Las Vegas jail starting mid-2012.

20 Common Boxing Injuries
Of course, boxing isn’t all big paydays. There are the injuries. Mayweather has been fairly lucky in that regard, but other boxers have not. While a 1996 National Safety Council report ranked amateur boxing as one of the safest contact sports, there are over 4 dozen common injuries associated with boxing – professional or amateur. Here are some of them, in alphabetical order.

  1. Back and rib injuries – muscle pain, bulging disc, fractures
  2. Boxer’s fracture
  3. Brain damage — Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons. Ex-boxers are thought to be more susceptible to these diseases.
  4. Carpal bossing
  5. Concussion
  6. Confusion
  7. Coordination, loss of
  8. Cuts, bruises and lacerations
  9. Face injuries — cuts, broken nose, eye injuries (detached retina, retinal tears), jaw (TMD/ TMJ dysfunction, or clicking jaw)
  10. Fractures — bone, various
  11. Hand and wrist injuries – cuts, sprains, fractures
  12. Headache
  13. Internal bleeding
  14. Kidney damage
  15. Leg, ankle and knee injuries – achilles tendon rupture, stress fractures, tendonitis, sprains, adductor tendinopathy, calf muscle tears, chondromalacia patella, acl tear
  16. Memory loss, short-term memory
  17. Nausea
  18. Neck injuries
  19. Shoulder injuries — rotator cuff and dislocation, acl tear
  20. Teeth, broken

 

4 Severe But Uncommon Boxing Injuries and Associated Repercussions
Then there are the really severe injuries that, while uncommon, do happen.

1. Death due to brain injury and coma, depression — Duk-Koo Kim’s fight with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini in Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace resulted in the former’s death four days later, after a 14-round fight. As a result, the referee and Kim’s mother both committed suicide. Mancini suffered from depression as a result.

Other boxers have died in the ring or after a fight, including Becky Zerlentes, who was the first woman, in 2005. In arguably one of the more unusual deaths, Francisco Camilli (aka Frankie Campbell) died the day after Max Baer (see the film Cinderella Man) hit Camilli so hard that the latter’s brain was knocked loose in his skull.

According to the Journal of Combative Sports, the number of documented deaths worldwide as of Oct 2011, due to injuries from boxing matches, is just over 1600 from the years 1890 to 2011, with additional documented as far back as 1720.

2. Blindness followed by death, jail terms — In a 1983 fight against Luis Resto, Billy Collins Jr. lost his vision, thanks to Resto’s cheating manager removing some of the latter fighter’s glove padding, resulting in Collins getting hit harder than normal. Resto and his manager spent time in jail, but the resulting permanent blurred vision ended Collins career and he committed suicide two years later.

3. Fractured jaw and severe beatdown, loss of career, jail terms — In 1919, Jack Dempsey, aka the Manassa Mauler, laid a severe smackdown on the then champion Jess Willard, despite the latter’s 5.5 inches height advantage. In 2001, boxer Richard “The Alien” Grant also had his jaw broken, by a fighter with no gloves, in a charity fight — James “Harlem Hammer” Butler. Apparently, Butler misinterpreted a gesture of embrace from Grant and overreacted by breaking Grant’s jaw, after he had already defeated Grant in the fight and had taken his gloves off.  Grant also suffered a lacerated tongue and had several stitches. Butler was arrested  and served time, and a few years later in 2006 was convicted of the 2004 killing of Sam Kellerman, the brother of Max Kellerman, an HBO Boxing analyst. Butler is serving 29 years as a result.

4. Ear loss, career loss – In the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 1997, Evander Holyfield lost a piece of his ear lobe thanks to Mike Tyson chowing down. This act probably hurt Tyson more overall as he was suspended from boxing and lost his purse for the fight.

References

 

Zelda Robbins of SportsManagementDegreeHub.com, for War RoomSports

 

Floyd Case Study Photo

Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs Saul “Canelo” Alvarez: A War Room Sports Prediction

Thursday, September 12th, 2013

by John Rhynes

John Blog

 

 

 

 

 

Floyd-Canelo

 

Bold – showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.

This is the theme of my prediction piece.  Boldly, my title speaks for all of the staff here at War Room Sports because if they don’t agree then they are in denial or haters (smile guys, lol). Bold is what Mayweather would have to be if Alvarez stays true to the one and only game plan that could finally defeat Mayweather.

For years there has been a silly notion that to defeat Mayweather you simply have to trap him on the ropes and pound away.

Mayweather is not a “real man”, says his opposers.  He is simply a spoiled brat that knows how to run away.

For my people who love to bet money, we know to never bet with our emotions.  Emotions attempt to turn real life into a movie.  In movies the bad guy never wins.  He gets all the luxuries in life and in the end he is derailed by the true hero.  In real life, Floyd isn’t going to lose unless a fighter with better skills and a better gameplan wins, at minimum, seven rounds out of twelve, or knocks him out.

Can Alvarez knock out Floyd? Yes, but not likely.

The “trap-him-in-a-corner” strategy often leaves Mayweather’s opponents looking left as he bobs right and exits the corner or Mayweather winning the fight on the inside. Contrary to popular belief, he’s an excellent inside fighter; almost as good as he is on the outside.  Floyd is perfect everywhere in the fight, but we all have weaknesses.

I know Mayweather’s one true weakness and if “Cinnamon” can exploit this for a minimum seven rounds then we may see history made Saturday.

Mayweather’s one weakness is his difficulty with opponents that move backwards and circle while popping a quick jab.  It gave De La Hoya rounds in the bag during their “changing-of-the-guard” fight and it also helped Miguel Cotto.  He almost seems to make very few adjustments to having the jab popped in his face, but his opponents abandon the strategy.

I’ve always thought that if Mayweather fought a Tommy Hearns, Hearns would win nine times out of ten. Styles make fights and it’s a very bad stylistic matchup for the Pretty Boy.

Tommy peppered Leonard with that jab, almost winning their first epic matchup, but Leonard dug deep and listened to his corner tell him he needs the knockout, and did just that. He was BOLD!

We’ve never really seen Floyd become bold because he’s never really had to, but I don’t think he has that hunger to “go-for-broke” like Leonard had, and would have lost the Hearns fight if he was in the same position and down on the cards.

Does Alvarez possess what it takes to pull off a disciplined win using this strategy?  Yes and no. He is a very young champion and has the kind of speed that Mayweather hasn’t seen in quite some time.  He also has a fast jab. Like most of Floyd’s opponents, he’s had Oscar De La Hoya in his ear telling him about Mayweather’s problems with the jab.  This all looks good for Alvarez, but he’s had some issues with stamina to say the least.  Can a kid who tires mid-fight actually win seven rounds over one of the most defensive fighters of all time? He also abandons the advice of his corner and likes to brawl at times.  Any fleeing of this strategy is an easy round for Mayweather.

I see Alvarez winning most of the beginning rounds as he attempts to circle and stay on plan. Around the third to fourth round I see the confidence of a young man forgetting the plan and moving forward just the way Mayweather likes it, giving Mayweather those rounds. As the fight progresses, Mayweather wins the later rounds more decisively to another decision.

This is Mayweather’s biggest test to end his career.  No one else has the talent or fighting style to pull off the one way to beat the Picasso of Boxing.  This should lead him to his 49-0 record, tying Rocky Marciano.

How history treats him afterwards, we don’t know.  Do we realize we were harder on him after retirement? Do we argue forever that he ran from Pacquiao? Are we being too BOLD and Alvarez will shock the world? Only time will answer those questions, but I look forward to Saturday night.

 

John Rhynes of Reel Battle Reviews, for War Room Sports

Is Demetrious Johnson the Floyd Mayweather of MMA?

Friday, August 2nd, 2013

by John Rhynes

John Blog

 

 

 

 

 

demetrious johnson

 

Watching Demetrious Johnson’s movement last Saturday against John Moraga reminded me of another fighter. No, the super-fast footwork and in-and-out movement didn’t remind me of the last person to defeat him. No, the wrestling didn’t remind me of Georges St. Pierre. As a matter of fact, he didn’t remind me of anyone in the UFC or mixed martial arts period. My mind wondered to another sport. This sport also tests your skill level of combat as well, but with your hands only. I started to think of a smaller guy with enough superior speed to have his way with his opponents. This boxer always comes with the proper game plan to take his opponent’s game plans away and make them look two classes below. This fighter is Floyd Mayweather Jr.

A lot of people assume that Mayweather would have never made it in mixed martial arts. I believe they aren’t looking at it objectively and assume his “Philly Shell” defense is horrible for a sport where you can get taken down. The proper way to analyze “Money” Mayweather in mixed martial arts is to look at his dedication to his craft from the age of three-years old to the multiple weight class champion that he is today. Floyd never drinks; trains year-round and has mastered a defensive style that is the hardest to master in boxing. Because of this, I think if he would have studied mixed martial arts from the same age and he would have been almost impossible to take down (watch his footwork in the fights with Carlos Baldomir and Robert Guerrero). He also would have had deceptive takedown skills. All one has to do is look at the false assumption of trapping him on the ropes and what he actually does to his opponents when in close quarters on the ropes. Mayweather is almost as good fighting inside; see Ricky Hatton fight, as he is on the outside. It is only through the assumed, but never proven, idea that trapping him can get you the victory when it isn’t that simple. If Floyd Mayweather were an MMA fighter, he would literally be Demetrious Johnson.

The difference between them are the two losses that “Mighty Mouse” has on his record. Both losses to Brad Pickett and Dominick Cruz were a result of Johnson being in too high of a weight class. This was due to not enough fighters being available to create the flyweight division. As soon as this division was created, Johnson has looked Mayweather-esque in his speed, ability to dictate the fight and pick his opponents apart. I truly do not see anyone taking that belt away from him. Same for Mayweather. He gets flack from crowds on having boring fights and like Mayweather, it is mostly the inability of his opponents to form a game plan to counter his effective style. It is never running when you are punching your opponents and moving in when the time calls for it, and this is in both Johnson and Mayweather’s case.

Outside of John Dodson putting a tad more “umpf” in his punch than Shane Mosley in round two of his Mayweather fight, the belt will stay around Johnson’s waist for years to come. “Uncle Creepy” and Benevitez are excellent fighters, but against Johnson they don’t have the speed to cut him off. The only question left is can “Mighty Mouse” Johnson become Mighty “Money” Johnson with their personalities being polar opposites? We all want the good guy to win in the end, but do our wallets agree with us?

 

John Rhynes of Reel Battle Reviews, for War Room Sports

The Lighter Side of Black

Friday, September 14th, 2012

By Maggie Mangiel

 

 

 

One of the most prevalent but unspoken of issues in the black community, in any part of the world, is colorsim.  Even in a day-to-day conversation, we seem unable to escape color references such as, “I’m sure you know Nikki, the tall light-skinned girl”, or, “look at that boy; he’s so dark, he is midnight blue”.  We have been demanding for years that the white community acknowledge, address, and terminate racism, but if we continue to point out the differences in our shades of blackness, how do we expect them to overlook it?  To make matters worse, some of us commit a truly horrific act.  So called “lightening creams” have created one of the most atrocious epidemics encountered by the black community since slavery; bleaching our skin in an unsuccessful attempt to conform to the “norm”.  Whose norm exactly?  In a recent article written  by a New York Times journalist on the issue; he quoted one of the men interviewed, “you have to change yourself, dilute yourself in order to fit into the Western norm and live in White America”.  So in order to succeed, one has to look the part.  This is the message some black celebrities seem to be projecting.  In 1999, North America was mesmerized and captivated as we all watched the home-run record race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire play out.  I was on team Sosa and even got the jersey to prove it.  There was immense support for Sosa, not only from Chicago Cubs fans, but also from African Americans who didn’t even follow baseball.  An athletic brother with a Latin spice, can’t go wrong with that.  Then two years ago, pictures of a lighter skinned Sosa surfaced and I was wondering many things, but first was “how?”  Apparently, Sosa has undergone a skin-lighting treatment.  Well I was flabbergasted.  What would compel a successful role model to do such a thing?  He is in the spotlight; hell, he is in the record books.  His name has been immortalized.  I felt so ashamed and let down by someone I once idolized.  However, Sosa is not the first black person to do so.  Many other black celebrities, Michael Jackson not included, have been accused of doing it, from Roberta Flack, the Jacksons (Latoya and Janet), to Rihanna and Beyonce.  Many celebrities do it so they can be more acceptable to White America, therefore having more marketability, resulting in an increase in income. 

During the pre-Olympics campaign, US hurdler Lolo Jones was front and center as the face of the US Track and Field team, even though Dawn Harper, the reigning world champion in that discipline, is also an American.  But why was Harper commercially neglected in favor of a less accomplished athlete?  Was it for Ms. Jones’ closer to European features and olive skin color?  We can blame the media for favoring the lighter over the dark all we want, but the ugly truth is; it is not just White America who like it “light”.  The Black community is more than culpable.  Not long ago, HBO released a documentary about the Ali-Frazier saga.  Some of the people interviewed have admitted that one of the reasons Black America was on Ali’s side was the fact that he was the lighter complexioned fighter.  “He was prettier,” they said, and Ali himself, kept re-enforcing that notion by referring to Frazier as a “gorilla”, a “big ugly bear”, and saying things such as; “we can’t let the Asians think that brothers look like that”, even though Frazier’s physical attributes had no merit nor bearing on the sport of boxing.  I do not have to go as far back as the 1970’s to cement this fact.  In the recent history of Hollywood, Pop, and Hip-Hop cultures, the lack of women of darker complexion has been noticeable in those arenas and we would only see them in roles such  as slaves, overweight maids, prison inmates, “crack-whores”, and so on.  None of the women of darker complexion are given a chance at the glamorous roles which portray beauty.  Many rappers for example, including Kanye West, have declared that they prefer women of mixed races, hence lighter complexion as models in their videos.  Since the targeted demographic for Hip-Hop music is predominately African American, it leaves us with one conclusion; we like it “diluted”. 

Last year, a close relative of mine was gazing through my modelling portfolio and said, and I quote verbatim, “why don’t you use some lightening creams like ‘Fair and Lovely’?  Your pictures would look so much better and that would help your career.  You know magazines don’t like dark women.”  So hearing that I was wondering, were the likes of Rihanna right in choosing magazine covers and higher record sales over their own skin color?  Is bleaching the route to follow in one’s journey toward success?  Or am I being too self-righteous for thinking that what they did cannot be justified?  Should the Black youth listen to the lyrics of Vybz Kartel urging them to use the “Cake Soap”?  Is “fair” really “lovely” and should my sisters shed their skin to be considered attractive and marketable?  My answer to all of these question is a resounding N-O!.  It is time we faced this problem head on, shed the self-hatred, and say enough is enough.  I will stand up and may my sisters and brothers help me shout it to the heavens, “I’m black, I’m dark, and I’m beautiful”!

 

Maggie Mangiel, Fitness Model & Personal Trainer, for War Room Sports

Ty Barnett Stops By The War Room

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Boxer Ty Barnett will be in The War Room this Thursday, May 10th to discuss his upcoming May 12th bout in the Lightweight division in his hometown of Washington DC and the launch of his new website www.TyBarnettKO.com!

Tune in Thursday, May 10th at 6pm ET to hear our conversation with Ty!  To tune in, go to www.WarRoomSports.com and click the “Listen Live” button…or dial 323-410-0012 to listen LIVE by phone.

In the meantime, join the War Room Sports Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/WarRoomSports and follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/WarRoomSports (@WarRoomSports)!

If you are in the Washington, DC area and are interested in attending the Keystone Boxing event on Saturday, May 12th, to see Ty and others at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, click HERE for details and tickets.

Finally, if you own an Android phone or tablet…an I-Phone, I-Pad, or I-Pod, please go to your Google Play Store and/or Apple App Store and download the FREE War Room Sports mobile app!  It’s the VERY BEST way to stay up on all of our media content!

Who Wants to Fight?

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

By Brandon McConnell

Where are our boxing stars?  I grew up in the era of Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Roy Jones Jr, and my all-time favorite Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield.  You ask me why do I like Evander so much?  Evander fought everyone they put in front of him.  No one ever asked Evander at the end of a fight, “who is next for you?”.  They already knew that he was going to fight whoever the #1 contender was at that time.  Evander fought George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moore and every other contender you can think of that fought in his era.

So, what is up with today’s boxers?  The public has been wanting to see Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight for over two years.  These guys have been getting paid $30 milllion + to fight people I’ve never heard of.  The funny thing about it, the public is dumb enough to keep paying to watch their product.  That is ridiculous!  I bet if we stopped watching their fights, they would finally fight each other.  At first Manny wanted to fight Floyd, but Floyd wouldn’t fight him without a blood test because of the allegations of Manny being on performance enhancement drugs.  Now Floyd is calling Manny out every week trying to get him to fight, and now Manny doesn’t want to fight Floyd.

I got one comment for both of them….In the words of MC Eiht in the movie Menace II Society; “Both of y’all acting like a bunch of BITCHES!”.  Sorry, but I couldn’t think of any other way to say it.  Feels good to get that off my chest.

Brandon McConnell of Respect Da Game, for War Room Sports