Boxing

Posted by Bill Scherer

Some time ago I told described the first time I met Alex Suarez at The Lincoln Gym in Riverside California. I had gone in simply to work out, not as a journalist. In fact, I really didn't want anyone there to know that I was a writer. Then Alex, a trainer, walked up and asked, "So what's your story?"

Since then, it seems, Alex decided that I'm not "just" a boxing writer, but I actually know something about the sport and has asked me to help him train some of his fighters, which I've been doing on a very limited basis. In doing so, I've watched one of Alex's dreams come true.

The ratty old Lincoln Gym was where Alex and his brothers learned to box under the careful guidance of their father, and beloved local trainer, Andy Suarez. Andy died a few years back, in a small office built behind Alex's house, leaving his family in grief and disarray. For Alex, though, the memory of his father eventually sent him back to the gym to train boxers.

Now Alex has a stable of young fighters: Kahn, Travis, Felix, David, Angelica, and others, along with a new home: The Bryant Park Fitness Center.

The Center, located in the Arlanza community of Riverside, has a state-of -the-art weight room, a beautiful gymnasium as well as rooms for aerobics, martial arts and more, but it's centerpiece is it's boxing gym.

A brand new ring, new punching bags, and even an overhead camera for filming sparring sessions make this gym a dream come true for it's new head trainer--Alex Suarez.

Posted by Bill Scherer

A couple weeks ago I was in the ring with a young welterweight, Travis Samuel, working on his defense. Travis has a brawler's mentality and his trainer, Alex, wanted him to be more mindful of his defense. We weren't sparring, really, I just put on the gloves and threw a lot of jabs along with a few rights and three-punch combinations, all so Travis could work on blocking and slipping punches. He wasn't throwing back, it was a purely defensive drill.

While working with him, I noticed that when I threw a double jab and a right, Travis would block the jabs with his right hand and slip to the left. Just as he should. But...

He always responded the same way to that particular combination, so I began looking for a weakness in his response and it didn't take long to find it--after throwing that combination several times I realized that Travis dropped his right glove when he slipped my right, leaving his chin exposed. All I would have to do is feint the jab and throw my right where his head was going. I didn't, though.

What I did do was take a step back and explain to him what I saw. He seemed genuinely shocked that one could actually throw a punch where his opponent's head was going to be.

All the drilling on proper form, necessary as it was, and is, kept Travis from improvisation. Learning to throw straight punches is absolutely vital, but in the ring one's target isn't always straight ahead.

Boxing, for all of its technical complexities, is still a simple matter of landing more clean punches than one's opponent--wherever he happens to be.

Posted by Bill Scherer

It dawned on me (it's about time that something did), while dissassembling the lockwork of my 1895 Nagant revolver, that most of my pursuits, recreational or otherwise, are, by and large, solitary. My modest gun collection, of which the Nagant is a part, requires virtually no help from anyone else for me to enjoy.

Of course, in competition, firearms requires more than one shooter, but it can be practiced, and thoroughly enjoyed, all by my lonesome. This is also true of being a musician, a motorcyclist, a writer, or a boxer.

At 43, I'm too old to box competitively anymore, but I still feel weird, even a little guilty, if I haven't worked out for a couple of days. Being in the gym is addictive and while slinging leather with guys 20 years younger than me might not be too smart, I enjoy setting up next to them on a heavybag to test myself, to see if I can still keep up. Once in a while I do.

It seems to me that boxers, like musicians, writers, and shootists (think cowboy here) are all derived from similar temperment, and very likely, environs. Something makes us individuals in the extreme.

Miles Davis, the most influential jazz trumpeter of all time, loved to box. Ernest Hemingway, the most influential American writer of the last century, loved to box and was an accomplished hunter. Many prominent boxers, including Oscar De La Hoya, and Roy Jones Jr., have successfully dabbled in music.

I could play amateur shrinkologist and try to give you reasons for all this, but sometimes too much analysis ruins the romance.

Posted by Bill Scherer

Vernon Forrest vs. Sergio Mora could be interesting. What we have here are two men who feel they haven't reached their full potential and see one another as a springboard to big money. Granted, Forrest is the current WBC junior middleweight champ, but he won the vacant title with a unanimous decision over Carlos Baldomir. Baldomir's a tough guy, but didn't have enough firepower at 154 to threaten Forrest.

At 37, Forrest needs to show some pyrotechnics against Mora if he wants a seriously lucrative fight before hanging the gloves up for good.

Mora, on the other hand, needs to light up the ring with Forrest's hide or he can plunk his career in a jar of formaldehyde and forget it. I know that sounds crazy since the former Contender star hasn't lost a pro bout, but his stale performances against mediocre opposition didn't win him any fans. The 27-year-old Mora is a decade younger than Forrest. He needs to look like it.

I recieved a note from BZA Public Relations asking for a prediction on the Carlos Quintana/Paul Williams II fight and had a hard time coming up with an answer. Although Quintana took William's WBO welterweight title rather convincingly in their first fight, I thought Williams looked flat and Quintana fought the fight of his life.

Williams is, depending on who you believe, somewhere between 6'2" and 6'4" which is freakishly tall for a welterweight ; he may simply be dead at the weight. If so, Quintana wins. But if Williams found a sensible way to manage cutting weight just one more time, he'll be better able to deal with Quintana's lateral movement and corner the Puerto Rican with the usual Williams' 100-punch-per-round assault. Williams by unanimous decision.

Posted by Bill Scherer

Witter vs Bradley

Did you see the Junior Witter/Timothy Bradley fight this past Saturday? Congrats to Bradley for hanging in there with a very awkward fighter, not getting frustrated, and coming away with a belt. Bradley even looked sharper as the rounds went on. Nice job.

As for Witter, he can be a little dull to watch and at 35 the sun is probably setting on his career. I won't miss watching him.



Zab Judah Finds Yet Another Way to Make the News

By now you've probably heard that the May 31 Shane Mosley/Zab Judah fight has been cancelled due to Judah accidentally filleting his right forearm. Fifty stitches worth. How, exactly, did it happen? This is Zab Judah we're talking about, so I'm not sure I even want to know.

Chris Byrd at Light Heavyweight

This Friday night on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Chris Byrd step in the ring against Shaun George (16-2-2, 7 KOs) at 175 lbs. Byrd's first pro fight was at middleweight, but that was back in 1993. Still, even as a heavyweight he walked around in the 190s and had to put on weight for his fights. He's 37, but i think he can do damage in that division, he may even show a little more power--something that he just couldn't muster with the big boys.

There has been some talk of Byrd vs. Jones Jr. in the future, but those guys are pretty good friends and if it did happen, you can expect a chess match at best.

Posted by Bill Scherer

Alex Suarez dropped me off at my house a little before 1:00 am this past Sunday. Alex and I had just been to the Pala Community Center (Pala Indian Reservation, CA), along with Joe and Tony Salazar, where Travis Samuel (18), Felix Soria (7), and Justin Salazar (Joe's grandson) had their first organized amateur bouts.

As noted in a previous blog, these boys have just recently begun training in earnest at the Lincoln Boxing Club (Riverside, CA), and all of us who watched them perform, including Felix's father, Ray, couldn't be more proud.

I'll post a more in-depth account of the evening on FightTube.tv, where I'm working on a series of stories about Travis and his foray into the world of boxing, but I'll give you a snippet here.

Felix's fight was with a more experienced kid with a frustrating style, i.e., constant lateral movement and quick counters when Felix got close. To his credit, Felix pressed the kid for three rounds and delivered punishment on the inside. One could tell that Ali Jr. wanted no part of our boy in close quarters.

Travis' opponent had, like Travis, no amateur experience, so they were on fairly equal terms, technically. Although Travis' better jab and solid uppercut, coupled with superior power, made for a short fight as the referee stopped the contest half way through the first round.

We were a little surprised at the stoppage, but, frankly, the outcome would've been the same no matter how long it went. Travis was just too strong for him.

Nine-year-old Justin (Joe's grandson) started a little rough, but had his man walking into a stiff left jab by round three.

Posted by Bill Scherer

If you want to know how something works, and how you can improve it, take it apart. That includes boxers as well as machines.

On May 1, the conclusion of a mandatory 10 day waiting period, I'll pick up a 1942 Mosin Nagant M91/30 Russian surplus rifle. Once home with it, I'll completely disassemble it, painstakingly clean it, reassemble it, and take it to the rifle range. I'm giddy.

It seems that everything I acquire gets stripped to it's bones and rebuilt. My wife says that's because I buy junk that needs fixing, but there's more to it than that, though I'd be lying if I said she was completely wrong.

Among the things I've torn apart and managed to piece back together: several 1970's era Japanese motorcycles, including the 1978 XS750 I currently have; a few tube-driven guitar amps; at least a dozen electric guitars; a handful of electric basses; and an el cheapo upright bass that I bought new for $400.00 then stripped and refinished to look, and play, more like a European antique. I'm proud of that one.

Taking these things apart uncovers any inherent flaws, reveals how they work, and presents opportunities for improvement.

Good trainers do the same thing with boxers. These trainers watch everything: hands, head, eyes, feet, legs, shoulders, hips, etc., looking for strengths and weaknesses. Then the trainer becomes an engineer and devises the best way to reassemble his fighter so that his strengths are maximized, weaknesses minimized, and proper amendments given to best suit the young man.

Not every boxer will look, or work, the same as others once reassembled. My two Fender Stratocasters don't sound or play alike either. That's the point.

Posted by Bill Scherer

If, after the Antonio Margarito vs. Carlos Cintron welterweight fight, boxing writers and fans everywhere are complaining that this turned out to be a dull affair, then Cintron did his job and probably won. Exciting, action-packed fights are fun to watch and are undoubtedly good for boxing, but they aren't always what's best for the fighters.

In their first fight, Cintron stood in front of the heavy handed Margarito and got blitzed. This time around, I expect Cintron's trainer, Manny Steward, to have him using his jab and lateral movement as Tommy Hearns did so successfully against Sugar Ray Leonard in the middle rounds of their first fight. Of course, Leonard eventually caught up to Hearns and knocked him out. There's a good chance Margarito could do the same thing in this fight.

Margarito is the typical old-school Mexican fighter--tough, well conditioned and strong with good in-fighting skills, but lateral movement can give him problems. Expect Cintron to win a nervous first half of the fight by boxing on the outside. Late in the fight Margarito, well behind on the cards, lets it all hang out and catches Cintron with a left hook counter when Cintron leaves his chin on a tee after throwing a long right. Once Cintron is hurt, Margarito will swarm him until there is nothing left but bones.

Margarito by late TKO.

Posted by Bill Scherer

Alfonso Gomez is going to beat Miguel Cotto. There, I said it. I know my boxing writer brethren are going to think I'm nuts, but I just can't shake the idea that Gomez is going to pull off an upset. There is some substance to my prediction too.

Gomez is a natural welterweight, where Cotto moved up to 147; he is well grounded, technically; and he is mentally tough and won't allow Cotto to own the ring. It's the mental toughness that will make the most difference.

When Cotto fought Shane Mosley, it was Cotto who ended up giving ground as the fighters marched into the last rounds. Gomez noticed. I'm sure the entire welterweight division noticed. From that point forward, Cotto's future in the division got a lot tougher, as potential opponents caught a glimpse of weakness.

That's a little unfair, I know. After all, it was Shane Mosley standing across from Cotto, and Shane flat brings it. But the image of Cotto as an immovable force, which no man is capable of maintaining, has been broken.

To Gomez, Cotto is just another man.

Yes, other writers will think I'm nuts, until Cotto and Gomez face each other in the ring for pre-fight instructions, then they will size the fighters up and begin to doubt.

Gomez by TKO in the championship rounds.

Posted by Bill Scherer

After a good, hard rain this morning, a gentle northern breeze has moved the heavy, leaden clouds to the south, leaving mostly clear skies and a kind of hyper-oxygenated energy to the air. It's a Missouri Spring.

I traveled out here for the Cory Spinks vs. Verno Phillips fight in St. Louis, but scheduled a two week stay with family down the Mississippi river in Ste. Genevieve. OK, my wife, Shelly, arranged for me to stay with family. She seemed rather adamant about it too.

Whatever, I'm enjoying the slower pace and post card scenery of country life while I'm here. The boxing world has moved at such a torrid pace lately, it's been difficult to track the reprecussions of it beyond simple fight reporting. The current lull in the actions gives me a chance to mull over Hopkins vs. Calzaghe on April 19, and Miguel Cotto vs. Alfonso Gomez on April 12.

Frankly, Hopkins/Calzaghe doesn't interest me much. Cazaghe, while talented and busy enough in the ring, is a bit of a slapper, and Hopkins is so good at controlling the pace of his fights the become a bit dull, even for a boxing junkie like me. Oh, and the undercard is a liitle thin too. I'll just catch the free replay on HBO the following week.

Cotto/Gomez, however, will be a good fight. Anyone who thinks Gomez is going to lay down for Cotto is very much mistaken. Gomez is strong at 147 and, more importantly, is technically sound and mentally tough. Cotto has been given too much credit for a virtual draw with a faded Shane Mosley.

Forget spending 50 bucks on the 19th, and instead, enjoy beer, pizza, and a good fight with your buddies on the 12th.