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REDEMPTION...
Last weekend I was pleased to see two men prove my instincts wrong, Andrew
Golota for turning in a great performance without fouling up or quitting when
the going got tough, and proving that he was evidently worthy of a shot at the
IBF title; secondly I have to give great praise to Chris Byrd for proving that
it isn't all about the winning or the losing but it's all about the taking part
in an exciting championship fight . Chris could have made the battle much more
in his favour if he would have ran more and evaded his way through the 12, but
to the viewers pleasure he stood fast and made the fight a little more pleasing
on the eye.
The more exciting the fight the better the Pay Per View numbers (Gatti and Ward
theory)... It's all about the dollars Chris, you know it makes sense.
~~~~~~
AUSTRALIAN PROMOTER BILL MORDEY PASSES...
The very respected and loved Australian Boxing promoter Bill Mordey passed away
this last week due to a negative reaction to Chemotherapy he was receiving for
recently diagnosed cancer.
Bill was a wonderful man who will best be remembered
as the promoter who brought us the fabulous three time world champion Jeff Fenech.
Mordey began promoting in 1983 and was also a very instrumental player in
the promotion of former WBC light heavyweight champion Jeff Harding and current
triple belt 140 lb title holder Kostya Tszyu.
Bill signed Tszyu on the wise
advice of veteran Aussie trainer Johnny Lewis who saw the Russian import win the
jr Welterweight amateur world title in Sydney in 1991. Bill would promote Kostya
until 1995 when Tszyu would receive a $7 Million Australian Dollars settlement for
change of promoter.
Bill would see out his days as the proud owner of a
racehorse stud farm in his beloved Australia.
Bill was survived by his lovely wife Gwenda, and loving son Craig. He was 67 years old.
God Bless Bill, you definitely will be badly missed by many.
~~~~~~
ROONEY BEHIND BARS...
Former Mike Tyson trainer Kevin Rooney was recently sentenced to 8 months in an
upstate New York jail for public drunkenness and probation violation offences.
The 47-year-old Rooney of Catskill, NY was previously charged with DWI and
ordered to seek counseling as part of his probation. The once promising Golden
Gloves champion and welterweight contender with the respectable record of 21-4-1 (7
KOs) having faced both Davey Moore and Alexis Arguello has to serve at
least five months before he is eligible for parole.
Kevin is best remembered as
the man who trained the fearsome young Mike Tyson who demolished a whole
heavyweight division before unifying the championship in the mid-eighties. It is
a sad chain of events for Kevin because he had an amazing rapport with Tyson
throughout the early part of his reign of terror as champion.
Kevin still works
in the same Catskills Gym and was until recently working with former IBF
lightweight and WBA jr. middleweight champ Vinny Pazienza, who he has
trained for many years. Kevin also trained the very capable super middleweight
Omar Sheika.
I have met Kevin Rooney on many occasions and he isn't a man with
bad character. It's just an unfortunate set of circumstances that has amassed to
this sad, sorry position he is in now. I just hope he can get himself back on
track because he is really a great positive asset to many facets of boxing.
~~~~~~
CONGRATULATIONS TO VITALI KLITSCHKO...
The New WBC Heavyweight champion of the world.
I have to give a shout to the newly crowned WBC heavyweight champion of the
world Vitali Klitschko for showing us how to behave correctly in public
regardless of the circumstances. Only last year Vitali sat and watched Corrie
Sanders humiliate his younger brother Vladimir whilst taking away his WBO belt
and his personal pride as a championship performer. But throughout the weeks
leading to his own meeting with his brother's demolisher not once did Vitali
engage in any phony ballyhoo or utter so much as a derogatory comment towards
his very dangerous opponent.
Vitali shares the same kind of high moral standards his predecessor Lennox
Lewis did, and was extra respectful toward almost everyone involved in last
weekend's bout.
This is a refreshing change from what could have been considered the norm
from most champion fighters of the past, who for one reason or another took it
upon themselves to provide everyone with an eyeful of expletive deletes ala
James Toney and Mike Tyson.
I have been embarrassed to hear many nameless
champions and challengers alike have a public outburst of "Yo mamma this, Yo
mamma that," in a cheap attempt to self promote their public bad boy images.
Vitali, you are a credit to Boxing and it was a privilege to see you
deservedly take your well earned prize away in convincing fashion on Saturday
night; there is no substitute for class.... Let me remind you ... In 1999 Herbie Hide went berserk at a press conference regarding a fight with Dr.
Iron Fist and made a few choice comments against Vitali Klitschko's
character... Vitali
is professional and says nothing.......
In 2003 Lennox Lewis would almost tear Vladimir's face off in a closely contested
war that was stopped due to the severe nature of the facial injuries Vitali
suffered whilst leading on points, many men would lose their cool...
Vitali maintains his composure and once again says nothing.
Corrie Sanders KO's younger brother Vlad against all the odds and takes
away his belt/myth... strolls coolly across the ring and goads Vitali by
slapping his face, in a cheap show of bravado. Did Vitali rise to the
act? You guessed it, he remained unmoved and unruffled. Vitali you are
a better man than I... You are indeed a very patient man,
and most impressively of all you are now the man who beat the man who beat the
man who... and so on...
Vitali, a very welcomed Champion, and most of all you are a non-ear biting,
non-child eating, non-wife beating, non-drunk driving, non-police bashing, non-gun toting, non-probation violating, non-curb crawling heavyweight
champion, and THAT... Mister Klitschko is Rare indeed.
~~~~~~
17,320 WITNESS VK VICTORY...
17,320 satisfied fans paid up good money on Saturday evening in Los Angeles to
watch Vitali Klitschko claim a hard earned victory over stubborn challenger and
ex-WBO champion Corrie Sanders in a very watchable scheduled twelve rounder for
Lennox Lewis' old WBC Heavyweight Championship belt.
Sanders made good his
threats of a tough night's work for the Russian who did admit he overlooked
some of Sanders strengths, most noticeably his speed. Rattled early, Vitali
chose to be cautious and respect the power of the highly charged South African,
and more sensibly boxed a very intelligent fight at long range drawing the
southpaw's lead throughout most of the opening period.
But once it became evident that Sanders could not fully penetrate
Klitschko's force field the gallant Transvaal fighter began to show signs of
discouragement.
Vitali would chance his luck at close range and began to pierce Corrie's resistance with some extremely accurate head shots as the rounds wore on
and it wasn't until the 8th round of a very exciting and entertaining
championship battle that Klitschko did take complete control of the power stakes
and rammed home strings of meaty combinations that would ultimately see the very
game and rugged Sanders saved from his own brave self at 2.46 of that session.
Only on several occasions have I seen displays of bravery to match that of
Sanders on Saturday. It was above and beyond the call of duty. (Bruce Seldon need not apply)...
Remember Francois Botha v Mike Moorer 1996 IBF title fight?
Corrie
Sanders you gave a great account of yourself and made an ordinary match into a
great one.
~~~~~~
FELIX TRINIDAD DATE...
October 2nd, mark it in your calendar...
Felix 'Tito' Trinidad is scheduled to meet Ricardo Mayorga at 160lbs. This bout is
a naturally well matched fight and should contain some high octane explosive
action while it lasts.
Trinidad is supposed to have agreed to $10 million and a
60% of PPV TV revenue.
Welcome back Felix, I for one have definitely missed
you.
~~~~~~
BIRTHDAY SHOUT...
Last Tuesday 21st April , former IBF Cruiserweight champion and current Spring
Valley, New York heavyweight Alfred 'Ice' Cole turned 40 years young. Alfred has boxed in
a very respectful 12 championship fights and has held his own at the highest
level at both Cruiserweight and Heavyweight.
~~~~~~
Once again the last word...
WHO IS THIS MAN? (The fighter, not the trainer)...
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you once again for tuning in to the Mouthpiece. I am ever grateful for the
messages you send, be it questions or feedback from the
episodes contents, or just a quick guess at the "Who Is This Man?" photo. You
make the writing worthwhile...
My address once again is
themouthpiece1@aol.com
Until the next Episode...
Good luck, Good health and God Bless.
Stephen Jones
AKA The Mouthpiece.
9-17-2004
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