BRITISH boxing’s top two heavyweight prospects David Price and Tom Dallas will meet in a British heavyweight title eliminator at Liverpool Olympia on Saturday night (June 11).
Chatham’s Dallas (15-0) has stepped in at four days’ notice after John McDermott was forced to withdraw from his contest against Liverpool’s Price (10-0) because of a throat infection.
It is rare for such match ups to be made so early in careers and promoter Frank Maloney said: “Tom deserves all the credit in the world for stepping in and David gets praise for taking it having prepared for weeks to face John.
“It is matches like this what will get British boxing back in the national newspapers. If there sparring sessions I have witnessed are anything to go by, fans and TV viewers will see plenty of action on Saturday night.
“Someone will lose their unbeaten record, but it won’t mean the end of a career. David and Tom are true professionals.”
The fight is a repeat if the 2006 ABA final when Olympic bronze medallist Price won a points decision over Dallas.
The winner must face McDermott by the end of October in what will become a final eliminator for Dereck Chisora’s title.
Maloney added: “There will be people doubting John, but he is not in a habit of pulling out of fights.
“I remember he was going through some personal worries before he boxed Matt Skelton and never cried off.
“His team told me on Monday there was a problem and that he may not be fit enough, but wanted to wait until Tuesday before deciding, but he isn’t well enough.
“It is a shame for him because he had put in a lot of work under new trainer Jason Rowland.”
In the co-main event Paul Edwards (8-0) makes the first defence of his British flyweight title against Commonwealth champ Chris Edwards (15-14-3)
Other fighters on the talent stacked card include Derry Mathews (27-5) who boxes George Watson (8-4-2), Karl Place (13-0) who comes up against Chad Gaynor (5-0), Rick Godding (13-0), John Quigley (2-0), Liam Vaughan (2-0), Ryan Farrag (3-0) and Anthony Smith.
The show will be televised live by Sky Sports.
Tickets priced £35 and £65 are available0871 226 1508 or www.frankmaloney.com
Boxing Book Released About First Black Champions
Premier sport broadcaster Al Bernstein introduces and pens the Foreward for a new book on the history of boxing. The First Black Boxing Champions: Essays on Fighters of the 1800s to the 1920s, recently released by McFarland & Company, Inc., is a compilation of newly written, meticulously documented, biographical essays on some of the most intriguing fighters ever known, with over 100 photos and illustrations. The book commemorates Bernstein’s 30th anniversary as a boxing analyst and broadcaster, and is edited by Colleen Aycock and Mark Scott. Al Bernstein, the editors, and many of the contributors will be appearing at the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend at the IBHOF in June at Canastota, New York.
Many of the essayists have spent years researching the boxers, and the collection is the result of their finely tuned analyses and additions to their research. The book follows the lineage of the “Colored” titles that were inevitably invented when white champions refused to battle any of the black men of exceptional talent, the men who threatened their prominence. The essays dispel many of the myths surrounding the black battlers, and chronicle the success as well as the often tragic demise of the stars of the early professional sport.
In the essay on Tom Molineaux, Billy Calogero explains how the early American bare-knuckle battler was cheated out of his claim of being America’s first heavyweight champion In his battle against Tom Cribb in 1810, where malicious audience participation determined as much of the outcome as the fighters’ bloody battle. In lieu of the title, however, Molineaux won the hearts of the British ladies who lustfully sought after the pugilist in ways which would have caused him to be lynched back in America.
Tony Triem tells how George Godfrey, a man called Old Chocolate, lived and fought in the shadows of John L. Sullivan and Peter Jackson (who eventually won Godfrey’s title in a most anticipated match for the “colored” heavyweight championship.) Triem includes in its entirety, the round-by -round description of Godfrey’s incredible battle with the “Great” Peter Jackson. Bob Petersen’s scholarly and detailed essay on Peter Jackson sheds light on several controversies surrounding his tempestuous life. Petersen shows how Jackson was much more complex than history has previously depicted. The book includes a reprint of the newspaper and the actual photo of Jackson posed nude on a slab of marble, which artists and academics at the time hailed as the best example of the “perfect man.”
Former NBA star, Mike Glen shows how George Dixon won three weight classes and dominated in two for two decades. He also dispels the common misconception of Dixon’s drug addiction. Kevin Smith, scribe of the early black battlers, tells how Bobby Dobbs became the ultimate boxing professor and father of the sport in France and Germany, even going so far as to attempt to create a new sport—boxing on horseback. Like many of the battlers, Dobbs maintained a boxing paycheck late in life in the carnivals and circuses, appearing as the “masked marvel.”
Colleen Aycock adds to the Joe Gans research by describing the Old Master’s early roots in Baltimore’s “Bottom”– in local fights, on steamships, and in William Muldoon’s Boxing and Variety show. She includes a synopsis of the fighters who gave Gans a difficult run for title—including a photograph of “Elbows McFadden’s wicked tactics.
Dave Holly had the distinction of having outfought four of history’ s greatest fighters and yet never won a title. Writer Doug Cavanaugh explains how Holly, a magnet for bad luck, had his career cut short by a bizarre accident that caused his death. Barbados Joe Walcott, though only five foot two and one-hundred forty-five pounds, hit hard enough to knock out some of history’s greatest heavyweights. Mike Schmidt’s essay provides new insight into Walcott’s rise to the welterweight championship and his final years at Madison Square Garden.
Cathy van Ingen writes the first documented biography of the “trickster” Dixie Kidd–boxing’s little-known, early version of Muhammad Ali. Joe Bourelly tells how Jack Blackburn, the future teacher of Joe Luis, became one of the greatest fighters and one of the most feared men on the street, in his or any other generation. Blackburn wore two deep slashes on his face, souvenirs of a saloon knife fight. His boxing career was cut short when he was convicted of murder, and yet his greatest deeds were still ahead of him.
Clay Moyle, the recognized authority on Sam Langford, provides yet more insight into the life of the globe-trotting champion of Australia, Canada, and England. Alex Pierpaoli’s essay on Sam McVey and Joe Jennette includes (for the first time in English) a complete blow-by-blow description of their legendary 49-round slugfest in Paris. The author dispels much of the false information that has previously been recorded by boxing historians and gives the reader a look at the some of the earliest recorded uses of oxygen and drugs at ringside. Mark Scott analyzes Jack Johnson’s most controversial fights from a former boxer’s point of view. Frame-by-frame analysis of the Galveston Giant’s bouts separates fact from fiction.
Few historians have tapped into the wealth of information on the U.S. military’s traditions of boxing. Chris Cozzone shows how Speedball Hayden won his Army Middleweight championship as a part of General Pershings’s pursuit of Poncho Villa. Battling Siki’s saga is perhaps the most tragic of all of the fighters included in the book. Peter Benson crosses three continents to explain boxing’s most enigmatic champion, and to solve the mystery behind the murder of the short-lived Senegalese who won the light-heavyweight championship.
The book has been hailed as a remarkable piece of scholarship, deserving of a permanent spot in boxing libraries.
Del Valle Takes On Nguyen and Gonzalez Battles Gutierrez Saturday, June 11, Roseland Ballroom, New York City Live at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME
NEW YORK (June 7, 2011) – On a second consecutive night of fights on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME®, two Puerto Rican fighters will climb in the ring against their toughest opponents to date on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. All the action takes place on a special Saturday edition of ShoBox on June 11 at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The originally scheduled co-feature bout between Hector Sanchez and Vincent Arroyo is off due to an injury Arroyo sustained during training.
In the featured attraction, promising Luis Orlando “Orlandito” Del Valle (12-0,10 KOs), of Bayamon, P.R., and his toughest foe to date, Dat “Be Dat’’ Nguyen (17-1, 6 KOs) of Vietnam, collide in a 10-round featherweight fight at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The card co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Gary Shaw Productions will include a 10-rounder that pits 2008 Puerto Rican Olympian, power-punching Jonathan Gonzalez (13-0, 13 KOs), of Rio Piedras, against Colombian Richard Gutierrez (26-6-1, 16 KOs), of Miami, in a junior middleweight match.
The 24-year-old Del Valle has won five in a row by knockout, including a sixth-round TKO over Irving Hernandez in his last outing Feb. 18 in Puerto Rico. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to fight as a star on SHOWTIME. I am preparing to make the best fight of my life,’’ said Del Valle, who knocked out Pasqual Rouse in the fourth round to capture the New York State featherweight title on July 10, 2010, in Poughkeepsie. Del Valle was an outstanding amateur for the U.S. before turning pro in April 2008.
Nguyen – not to be confused with the former NFL player with the same name — has competed exclusively in the United States since turning pro in May 2004. As an amateur in 2003, he became the first Vietnamese-American to earn a spot in the U.S. Championships, where he lost to eventual Olympic gold medalist Mickey Bey. The 28-year-old Nguyen, a resident of Vero Beach, Fla., has won his last six starts, all by decision, including an eight-round decision over Andres Ledesma in his last fight on Oct. 10, 2009. Nguyen suffered his lone loss on a six-round split decision to Gregorio Torres in August 2007.
Gonzalez, 21, possesses good movement and boxing ability – he’s not merely a brawler – yet has fought into the seventh round only once, and that came in his last outing against Rudy Cisneros at Chumash this past May 13. Eleven of his KO wins have come within three rounds. “I’m in the prime of my career but I’m training like never before to show my quality to the world,’’ said Gonzalez, the No. 11 contender in the World Boxing Association (WBA) who’s fought 10 of his 13 fights in the U.S. “This is a quick turnaround for me, but I’ll be ready for it.’’
Gutierrez, 32, is a physically strong, well-conditioned veteran who is experienced against capable competition. “I’m a complete boxer,’’ said Gutierrez, who is moving up in weight for this. “I’ll adjust, depending on how the fight is going. I’ll work the body, the corners, the ropes, or the middle.’’ A winner of 21 in a row after turning pro in January 2001, Gutierrez dropped a decision to then-undefeated Carlos Abregu on Feb. 6, 2006, on SHOWTIME.
“I’ve called about three of Del Valle’s fights in the past. From the beginning, I saw a technically sound fighter whose extensive amateur experience is obvious. In a sense, he fights more like a Mexican than a Puerto Rican because he loves to shoot the left hook to the body. He’s a prospect I look forward to seeing on ShoBox,” said veteran SHOWTIME commentator Steve Farhood. “Gonzalez is a very young fighter with a perfect KO record so as he moves up we’ll see how legit his KO record is.’’
The telecast’s bow-by-blow announcer will be Curt Menefee with Farhood handling the expert analysis.