Sometimes a fighter grows old overnight notwithstanding his chronological age. The odometer may have run up too many miles or the reflexes have disappeared (as in the case of Roy Jones, Jr.) or a fighter’s lighting speed vanishes, or perhaps worse of all, the chin is no longer reliable. Yuriorkis Gamboa aka El Ciclon de Guantánamo (26-2) is 35 but he now seems to meet all … [Read more...]
Is the Shine coming off Ortiz?
Luis Ortiz (27-0) was fined and suspended for eight months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2014, after a urine sample taken after a KO over Lateef Kayode in Las Vegas tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone Ortiz never offered the usual; denial and in effect fessed up to the violation. He then scored two quick KOs setting up a fight with tough … [Read more...]
No Country for Old Men: Part Seven
This past Saturday, April 22, in Legionowo, Poland, Krzysztof Zimnoch improved to 22-1-1 with a second round KO of 6’7” Michael “Big” Grant who is now 44 years-old. Grant (48-7) suffered his third straight loss -- all on European soil and all inside the distance Yes, this is the same Michael Grant who fought unified heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis 17 years ago at Madison … [Read more...]
No Country for Old Men: Part Six
Bobby Gunn, 43, makes another appearance in this series as he met and KOd hapless 41-year-old James “Jammin”'” Morrow (12-21-3) in a 12-rounder at Charlie’s Harley-Davidson Dealership and Diner in Huntington, West Virginia. This was a rematch as Gunn (now 22-7-1) and Morrow fought in July 2008. Gunn won by TKO 5 in a scrap for something called the vacant International Boxing … [Read more...]
No Country for Old Men: Part Four
The once great and future Hall of Famer James Toney (76-10-3) will be 49 in august and is now reportedly scheduled to fight 41-year-old Mike Sheppard for something called the “vacant WBF heavyweight title on May 13 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It will be a 12-rounder. In his last outing almost two years ago, “Lights Out” was beaten by journeyman Charles Ellis (9-3-1) in St. … [Read more...]