SEPTEMBER
2006
01 | Rinsing Off the
Mouthpiece By GorDoom
02 | Poem of the Month
By Tom Smario
03 | Pollack's Picks
By Adam Pollack
04 |
Top Women Worth Watching
and Televising By Adam Pollack
05 | Tournament
of Champions: Boxing's Lineal Mathematics
By Cliff Rold
06 | Roberto Duran, Unplugged
By Juan C. Ayllon
07 | Appreciating Chuck By Thomas
Gerbasi
08 | Thistle in the Rose
By James Glen
09 | Anton "The Sheik" Greek
By Jerry Fitch
10 | Interview with Don Fraser
By Juan C. Ayllon
11 | Boxing's Good Book [PDF]
By Don Cogswell
12 | "John L. Sullivan: The Career
of the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion" [PDF] By Adam Pollack
13 | Three Book Reviews By Katherine
Dunn
14 | What's in a Name?
By Ted Sares
15 | Audio
From the Archives [mp3] The CBZ presents another classic boxing-themed radio
show. This month we bring you an episode of Duffy's Tavern ("Where the elite meet to eat"), from
April 13, 1951, starring Maxie Rosenbloom.
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What's in a Name?
by TED SARES
Here we go again. Two undefeated, free-swinging heavyweights with
several fights under their belts ready to rumble in Convention Center
in Atlantic City on December 14, 1996, and I was there. A month prior
to this fight, Courage "No Limit" Tshabalala fought Jessie Henry
(5-12) and Brian "Bam Bam" Scott fought Brian Yates (13-86-3). Not
what one might call the best competition out there.
"Bam Bam" Scott started out with an unbeaten streak of 15 before
stepping up in March 1994 and getting iced by Tommy Morrison in the
second round. Leading up to that fight, Scott's opponents included the
immortal Andre Smiley, (0-25-1) whom he beat twice, and John Basil
Jackson (4-75-2), whom he also beat twice. He then went on a
seven-fight unbeaten streak before losing to limited Derrick Roddy and
a streaking (at least then) Jorge Luis Gonzalez, both by second round
KO. One of Bam Bam's other opponents was Alan Jamison (0-20). He also
fought Mike Smith (4-14-1) twice. Most of his opponents had losing
records, and many had never won a professional fight. But this was
about hype, and the South African, Tshabalala, had far more than the
overweight (278 pounds) heavyweight out of the unlikely boxing state
of Kansas.
On the other side of the ledger, this man named Courage was a shooting
star from 1993 to 1996, winning 19 in a row with 12 first-round KOs
and three second-round KOs. Only three fights went the distance. But
there were warning signs, albeit subtle at first. He claimed to have
had something like a 70-1 amateur record, but to my knowledge it has
never been verified. Then commentator Larry Merchant termed Tshabalala
one of the saviors of boxing and "the best heavyweight since Mike
Tyson." Merchant, who in my opinion isn't the greatest researcher,
forgot to mention that many of his opponents leading up to the Scott
fight had atrocious if not unverifiable records. Indeed, after this
and a few other fights, Tshabalala would even take on legendary Danny
Wofford (17-101-2).
But back to December 14, 1996. The highly touted Tshabalala was a huge
favorite and we all anticipated an early knockout, a la Tommy
Morrison. We were not disappointed. Only one problem. It was
Tshabalala who got blown away by a sneaky, sharp and surprisingly fast
Scott in the second round. As we left the venue in semi-amazement, we
wondered out loud whether this was just a fluke and whether Tshabalala
would bounce back. Was Scott that good or was Tshabalala that bad? The
consensus was that he would come back.
He next fought Stanley Hughey (7-16) in January 1997 and won by
first-round KO. His next big fight was scheduled for June 3, 1997, at
the legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia against Darroll "Doin'
Damage" Wilson. After being down in the first and engaging in an
ebb-and-flow second, Wilson used his superior skills to out-box
Tshabalala in the third. Suddenly, however, he was caught by a big
winging right hook. Wilson went down like he was shot and just barely
got up and then fell down again, but he made it up just before the
referee got to 10. Lou Duva (Tshabalala's manager and trainer)
protested the referee's call in his usual hyper fashion but to no
avail. Wilson held off the South African in the fourth when Tshabalala
came in for the kill. Wilson then fought back (like he did against
Shannon Briggs) and began to take the heart out of Courage. He soon
drew Tshabalala into fierce exchanges, and Tshabalala, exposing a
stamina problem, tired badly. Finally, Wilson used combinations and
put Tshabalala down. Tshabalala spit out his mouthpiece and stayed
down as referee Rudy Battle stopped the fight. The battle was hailed
as one of the most exciting heavyweight fights of the year. In just
two years, Tshabalala had participated in one of the upsets of the
year and one of the most exciting fights of the year. If nothing else,
he was on everyone's radar.
Tshabalala then stopped three inferior opponents, including the
aforementioned Danny Wofford and journeyman Tony LaRosa. The Chicagoan
had lost seven in a row coming into the fight but actually hurt "No
Limit," perhaps revealing still another warning sign. He was then
booked to fight Oleg Maskaev in June 1998. Besides moving up
significantly in class, the fight would be in Maskaev's hometown of
Moscow. Tshabalala, a big underdog, was given a puncher's chance and
nothing else. He did not disappoint; he was KO'd in the ninth.
A discouraged Courage would then take five years off to ponder his
future. He returned to fight Lenzie Morgan (14-29-3) winning by spilt
decision in a six-rounder in Cape Cod in July 2003. His next two
fights were won by early stoppage and he seemed to be getting a bit of
grounding.
Stepping up once again, he signed to fight mediocre but sometimes
dangerous Robert Wiggins on July 1, 2005, in Plymouth, Massachusettes.
It would be his fourth fight of his comeback and his first
semi-serious test as a force in the division. At only 34, he could
conceivably line himself up for bigger paydays with a strong showing.
To his credit, he weighed under 235 pounds, the lowest weight of his
comeback efforts thus far. He seem ready to make a statement.
Wiggins (19-4-1, 11 KOs), out of Providence, Rhode Island, was a
hot-and-cold fighter who had fought decent competition and could make
the fight a slugfest or a snoozefest depending on which Robert Wiggins
showed up. At any rate, the bout sized up to be a classic crossroads
fight -- and also a toss-up. But this time, I thought the likable
Courage just might pull it off, since Wiggins had lost three of his
last five fights.
The two heavyweights went to war on the co-feature of ESPN2's
Friday Night Fights. And one again, Tshabalala failed to live
up to his first name as Wiggins scored a TKO in the fifth when
Tshabalala could not come out of his corner. Both fighters were
throwing heavy punches early, but Wiggins was landing the cleaner
shots. Incredibly, Tshabalala landed three low blows on Wiggins and
was deducted two points for them. After the fight, Tshabalala's
handlers stated that he'd broken his hand in the first round thus
causing him to quit on his stool, but those of us watching this fight
felt that his suspicious stamina once again played a bigger part in
the stoppage. I also wondered why he would throw three low blows, and
visions of Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield quickly passed by.
I don't mean to be harsh, but anyone named Courage should not have let
a fighter off the hook when he had him down twice and almost out;
anyone named Courage should not be knocked out by an overweight
fighter out of Kansas; anyone named Courage should train so stamina
never becomes an issue in a five-round fight. And above all, anyone
named Courage should never, ever concede a fight by retiring on his
stool.
Courage Tshabalala has not fought since this debacle in Plymouth, and
I suspect the career of this former prospect is now over. Despite his
so-called great amateur record and quick professional start of 19
straight wins, most by early stoppage, Courage simply never lived up
to his name.
"Sammy Peter has loads of raw talent and potential. But he has fought
such low-level opposition it's hard to know where he's going. It's a
crapshoot. Maybe he'll be champ. Maybe he'll be the next Courage
Tshabalala." --Dan Rafael (April 9, 2004)
Ted Sares is a syndicated writer, a boxing historian, and a new member
of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at
tedsares@adelphia.net.
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