The following is a column written by Thom Loverro of the Washington Times. It talks about the state of boxing with the starting point of the column being a press conference concerning the Capitol Gloves Amateur Boxing Tournament this Saturday at the DC Armory. Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I was unable to attend the conference.
The column is not an indictment of boxing in this area, but I'm still just curious to see how Beltway Boxing fans feel about what Loverro says here. This is the column.
They stood in a room yesterday at RFK Stadium, these longtime keepers of the dying flame, still trying to fight the good fight.
Nat Williams, president of the Boxing Information Center, presided over a press conference to announce another effort to keep amateur boxing alive in Washington. Williams was promoting a new tournament, the Capitol Gloves Amateur Boxing Invitation Tournament, that will take place Saturday at the D.C. Armory.
"We're like farmers trying to plant the seeds for a new generation of boxing," Williams said.
But the famine may be too great to overcome. Boxing continues to fall further down the ladder of niche sports in America as a generation of youth turn to other sports and attractions.
"Yes, it's a hard sell today," Williams said. "But hopefully we can bring it back with more programs like the Capitol Gloves. That's the only way we can do it, and it's important. It can give kids something to work for."
To keep American kids interested enough to be competitive amateur boxers, the sport needs to stay on the radar screen. Oscar De La Hoya can put all the beatings he wants on the likes of Ricardo Mayorga, as he did Saturday night. But if he does it on pay-per-view, he might as well be fighting on Mars for all the interest it will register among younger sports fans today.
Mixed martial arts is a different story. Boxing has been taking a beating in the city in which it has been king from a form of mixed martial arts called Ultimate Fighting.
Ultimate Fighting Championship -- one company that features mixed martial arts -- is selling out shows at venues like Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, putting on lucrative pay-per-view events and producing one of the most popular shows on Spike TV.
The sport has been cleaned up since its brutal early days. A sign of that -- and it's one that shook the boxing industry -- is the departure of one of the most influential figures in boxing to the UFC.
Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission since 1992 and one of the most respected figures in the industry, is leaving his job Saturday to take a position with UFC, which is run by Lorenzo Fertitta, a former commission member.
Ratner said the opportunity was too good to pass up and that he was "amazed" at what has been happening with UFC.
Ratner looked at the future and saw an octagon -- the forum in which Ultimate Fighting takes place -- not a boxing ring.
"We know that the UFC is something that will have to be reckoned with," said Marubian Affinii, the national program director for the District-based Boxing Information Center, a nonprofit organization that helps promote amateur boxing. "But we are offering more than just sport. We are incorporating life skills courses and homework programs."
Again, it is a good fight, but you have to get them in the church to convert them.
That's hard to do when the force that drives boxing -- the heavyweight division -- is dominated by fighters from the former Soviet Union. That might create a lot of interest in Ukraine, but it means nothing on the streets of the District and other cities in America.
Three of the four generally recognized heavyweight title belts -- the fact that there are four different heavyweight title holders is itself a problem -- are held by former Soviet fighters: Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine, who just beat Chris Byrd for the International Boxing Federation title; Sergei Lyahkovich of Belarus, who holds the World Boxing Organization belt; and Nicolai Valuev of Russia, the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion.
The lone American heavyweight champion is World Boxing Council title holder Hasim Rahman. Tomorrow, it will be announced that Rahman will defend his title against Oleg Maskaev of Uzbekistan, who knocked Rahman out of the ring in Atlantic City in November 1999. "I'm the great black hope," Rahman says, joking.
But it's not joke. White or black, America needs a new heavyweight icon to capture the attention of the country.
Maybe one will emerge at the Armory on Saturday. Brenda Davis, the matchmaker for the tournament, who, along with her husband, trainer Adrian Davis, has been involved in boxing in the area for more than 30 years, knows that is the challenge.
"We have to produce some new heavyweights," she said.
They are facing the ultimate fight to do so.
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22 comments:
Have no fear Mrs. Bea and A.D., and Corleone,... here I come. 'Gunz a 'blazin, and chopping every bush in the way.
Anybody 'wit SMARTS comments, I'm open to 'all' work. George Foreman said it best, "All it's going to take is for a small heavyweight to come and clean up the division." All respect to 'Lights Out', but HERE I COME!
We just need more shows like "The Capital Gloves" more events for amatures to gain attention for the amatures.
Jake Smith is doing a good job of that in Baltimore, his amature shows are treated like professional shows. Which is more exciting for the amatures.
ESPN has a great year planned with WED and FRI night fights. There are some great fights for free.
Everyone knows the HeavyWeight Division is wide open it has been for a long long time. Dont criticize all boxing because of 1 division. It is the one with the most glory but great divisions come in era's. I think its the era of the lightweights and welterweights.
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE BOXING..........we need support, people to stop crying- step up and support boxing.
Bull
The UFC poses a major challenge to the sport of boxing. If I had to choose between boxing and UFC, I would choose The UFC.
People have been predicting boxing's death for many years, but the UFC could be a drain on available revenue paid to the fighters.
Make it exciting (KO's) and they will come.
We need more amature shows
Buddy and Juice and round 1 put on nice shows but we need more show more often
we have alot of great talent here but we don't get to see them to much.. Just look at The fighting Russell brothers they are very talented .
Pro
Gene and chris put on some nice shows but they don't put it on to ofton ball room boxing is a great place to fight .
we have a lot of great fights from dc that just need a chance to shine and they will be world champions The Peterson brothers are close to a major title shot
If sugar pooh stay active more ofton he will be a world champion
A major part of the problem is the marketing of the sport. The UFC does well because it is marketed beautifully. The UFC also recognized that it had to make changes in the way it operates. They did that and increased its popularity.
One of the problems with amateur shows in this area is that you don't know who is going to box there most of the time.
Bull is right. Jake is treating his show on May 24 like a pro show in the sense that he is letting people know who is on the card, so they will get a fan following early.
In the amateur shows I have covered, I hardly ever know who is going to be there before I get there. I know things change, but we really need to highlight some of the top amateurs that will appear on shows.
As far as pro, we have been as busy in this area this year as we have in the last 10. We have not had a month where we have not had at least one pro bout along the Beltway. That is good for us.
Interesting piece. I agree with the author that "the fact that there are four different heavyweight title holders is itself a problem."
What the hell are you guys talking about. There has been more boxing here in the Washington DC. / MD area than I can ever remember in the past. The Golden Gloves alone lasted 7 weekends in a row. Then the Old School Gloves had well over 50 bouts in one night. Boxers were from New York, Philly, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, VA DC, MD, Florida and many more states that I cannot remember. Each winner received belts that was sponsored by Don Kind Productions. The JO's this past saturday was a great show with the winners advancing to the regionals which will also be held here at Sugar Rays. Mark Johnson is throwing a show in June, July and August in the District. Someone on here mentioned that Round 1 throws good shows. Well, where the hell have you been? On mars! They have been closed now for well over a year and even when they were opened, they only had a show once a year. I wish I knew where you guys get all this bullshit about no shows from. The PVA is as strong as ever right now. In fact, it has never been run better. We do have plenty of talent and quite a few national champions. Dominic Wade, Shaborn Ryles, Marcus Moore, Kevin Rivers, Big Pimpin, Kevin Borders, Marquel Johns, Darious Moton, Tony Magruder, Drew Matzo, and the list goes on and on... I do hope this Capital Gloves does well, but for some reason it has always failed in the past. Let us hear what you have to say monday morning. I hear they are giving the winners T-shirts. Now, what kind of shit is that? Thophies do not cost that much. Who is in charge of the Capital Gloves? Whoever it is, you should get off your lazy ass and treat these kids better. It does make me quite angry to read in the paper today that the Capital Gloves in going to save amature boxing. I have never seen once seen Nat williams at a boxing show that was not his. He should not act like he cares about these kids and boxing. We all know the truth! Did he wact the kids at the Golden Gloves? NO! Did he watch the kids at The Old School Gloves? NO! Did he watch the kids at the JO's? NO! Will he ever watch or go see kids box that he is not part of the show? NO! I should sue the damn Washington Times for allowing that fool to tell all those lies in the paper. I am going to bed now, I refuse to waste anymore time on this bullshit.
Please tell me why the names you just ran off, are not listed in the flyers I see for these events.
I may want to see these folks and remember these names should they turn pro in the future.
That's one of the big problems with the amateur program in the DC part of the Beltway, the names are not well known enough.
Way to go Mr. Truth!!! You tell them. They don't know what the Hell they are talking about!!! There has been amateur boxing in the area every weekend since January 1st.
Gary, you may be the only one around here who does not know these guys. They are not only know locally very well, but are also know all over the USA.
The difference between the pros and amateurs is there is a contract with the boxers to appear and get paid. The amateurs do not have that luxury. Also it's hard to get fights for these guys locally because people will pull out at the last minute! Search their names on the internet. Try the Silver Gloves. It has all of the nationally ranked boxers from ages 10-15. This is the beginning of the road for the up and coming champions. I call for all the real supporters of amateur boxing to STAND UP!!!!!
Actually, I do know some of the names that are listed.
But my question still stands..Are they well known enough to draw crowds outside of families to these bouts?
I'll admit, I am in the pro circle here more so than the amateur circle. The focus of this blog is primarily the pro scene along the Beltway.
But I would like to know who would be the next folks that might become good pros. I shouldn't have to walk into an amateur event and not know who the top boxers are before I get there.
That was one of the big problems when I worked the Mayor's Cup last year. I didn't know until I got there who was on the program, so I couldn't do any research on them.
Mr. Biggs,
I took your advice and went on the Silver Gloves Website. It underscored one of my points about this situation.
The site listed a whole bunch of names..and NO HOMETOWNS!! You have to be a real insider and follower of the amateur game to know who these boxers are.
It shouldn't have to be that difficult. This is what I mean by marketing. You want to get these names out to the people who maybe want to follow the sport,but don't know who the top people are so they can follow their careers.
Or at the very least, they may want to see who is from their hometown so they can keep an eye on them. This is not a difficult concept.
The Mayor's Cup is an Invitational event. It's hard to predict who will participate since you have to register to participate which can be done up until the weigh in on that day. In amateur boxing a weigh in has to be done on the day boxing will happen. Not the day before like the pros. It would be nice to market a show around one or two particular boxers or even a club but you may not know until right before the bell rings who will be there. There would be lots of unhappy fans to come to an event to find out their guy is not boxing or his opponent pulled out. You could match two guys prior to the event but after weigh in the match could be deemed illegal. Amateur boxing should to go to support amateur boxing. These guys are good to pull supporters other than families because most of them have not boxed in front of a home town crowd in so long. Dominic Wade in particular - no one will fight him. He is a man/child.
Gary you are right about the marketing of the hometowns on the Silver Gloves website. I should have said usaboxing.org or search silver gloves washington, dc. There is a huge list of all boxers from the area along with their hometowns.
Mr. Gary....
Since you have all of these bright ideas to enhance amateur boxing why don't you come out and assist these boxers from the DC area to get their name well known. You obviously have the attention of local boxing fans. This could give the amateur program a slight boost.
Nat Williams, Round 1 who in the hell are they. Where have they been. I have never heard of a Nat Williams and I do go attend a lot of the amateur shows here in the metropolitan area.
Round 1??? Round 1??? Where are they located today. Bowie? Not., Cheverly? Not. Capitol Heights on Ritchie Road? Not. They can not even keep a damn building. Going around begging for damn money from anyone who will listen. That is a damn shame. You right they have been around for a long and not doing a damn thing.
Nat Williams and Round 1 what a hell of a combination!!! Please provide info Monday morning.
Although my involvement with the amateur program has increased over the last year, my time has been taken with the pros.
I served as ring announcer for the Mayor's Cup last year. I will be at the Capitol Gloves this Saturday (possibly serving as ring announcer) and I will be at the Baltimore Boxing amateur event on May 24.
Later this week, I will be interviewing Nat Williams (no relation) of the Boxing Information Center via audio. The BIC is very much involved in the organization of the Capitol Games.
Nat has been involved in boxing here in this area for many years. Those of you who say they have not seen Nat at a card that isn't his are just plain wrong!! He has been a long time supporter and promoter of both amateur and pro shows in this area.
Next week, Jake Smith will be a guest to talk about his amateur show on the 24th. He has already told me that Dalemanik Roberson-El of Baltimore is slated to be there and they are working on Gary Russell, Jr. if he is in town. He is also having three guys who will be making their amateur swan songs on the show. One of them "The Golden Greek" is a frequent and very valued contributor to this blog with his comments (Thanks, Bull!)
Roberson-El is someone who I have been following because his name has popped up on flyers for other amateur cards.
The fact that I've seen the name and since he is from the Beltway region, should help boost the crowd at the show.
No problem Digital, like i said before this is the best site in boxing! I totally agree with you, its not a hard concept, marketing marketing marketing. If people know who is on these cards, they can get more familiar with them, and become fans and follow the fighters. THis is why like we said Jake Smith has that concept. Maybe DC will get it soon, because there is a whole lot of talent their. They should really promote the hell out of Gary Russel, that boy is a future star, and if people from DC new he was fighting they would probally come see him. They only crowd they are getting is like you said the fighters friends and family. You need more than that for a good turn out.
Digital your the man, and I will see you on the 24th at Martin's West.
Bull
Gary!!
This is one hot topic. Keep it up. Is it possible to do a poll on your blog?
The UFC 59 was a SOLD OUT SHOW!
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