With Shawn Darling
With Shawn Darling
Member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Darling's articles are printed in newspapers, magazines, and numerous web sites. A certified coach with USA Boxing and boxing instructor at the Atlantic County Police Academy. Darling, practiced what he preaches - a former Tough Man fighter, he is no stranger to the delivering and receiving leather. Trained by Hall of Fame Champ, Matthew Saad Muhammad. email FightingSDirish@aol.com
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Unfortunately I've been away from the column for a while. But I have a good reason. I've expanded my coaching at the police academy to starting my own gym. I have twelve members so far and expect a membership boom with the opening of my new facility August 1. Most of the members of "Team Gladiator" are preparing for amateur competition. Our first Gladiator to compete was 8yr old, Kevin Tranz. He won his bout Saturday night by unanimous decision over 9 yr old Kim Daniel from Ike’s Gym, Patterson, NJ. The card was sponsored by Goss and Goss Gym and was held at the Boy’s Club in Trenton, NJ. The two fought in the 55lb bantamweight class in the Junior Olympic division. Tranz was fortunate to have my old friend, Boxing Hall of Fame champion, Dwight Muhammad Qawi give him a pep talk before entering the ring. I was also fortunate to have up and coming amateur, Kyle Conroy assist me in Tranz's corner.Tranz and his brother, James have been members since February. Other aspiring pugilists at Gladiator Gym are: Lex and Steven Knapp, Rob and Mike Smith, David Paprota, Greg Carter and last but not least, my daughter Teaghan Darling. Most of them are training for the NJ State Silver Gloves Tournament in December. My new facility will be located at 719 Old Shore Rd, Forked River, NJ. For information on the gym you can call 609 971 3668. [End]
INSIDE BOXING (January 30, 2005) - It was another great boxing filled weekend for fight fans. Friday night I was fortunate enough to be invited to Roy Foreman's (George's brother) Boxing Bash 2 party at the Wave Night Club inside Trump Marina Casino in Atlantic City. It was held after the Gatti-Leija weigh-in as a pre-game party for the next night. There were many professional athletes and boxing dignitaries in attendance. From there I rushed over to the Tropicana Casino down the street. I got there right on time for the main event of the Duva Boxing promoted card. Undefeated, Shaun George improved his record to 10-0 with an unanimous decision victory over the more experienced Jermal Barnes (17-8). The judges had it 96-94, 97-93 twice. With this win George picked up the IBC Continental cruiserweight championship belt. Current USBA lightweight champ, Levander Johnson was in attendance and stated, “there is going to be a new world champ in two weeks when I knock out IBF lightweight champ Julio Diaz.” The bout is scheduled for February 11 at the Coors Amphitheater in Chula Vista, California. He also said, “the training went great and I am in the best shape of my life”. This bout will be televised live on Telefutura. (I just hope for his sake that was a Shirley Temple he was drinking.) Future hall of famer, Virgil Hill was also in attendance. He said he is getting ready to fight Valery Brudov for the regular WBA cruiserweight title in March or April. (Current champ, Jean Marc Mormeck is being elevated to “Super Champ” status.) More
INSIDE BOXING (January 13, 2005) - Floyd Mayweather Jr. (32-0) is in trouble with the law again. He is already on probation for assaulting two women last year and now he gets charged with kicking a bouncer after his friend hit him over the head with a bottle. Floyd really needs to clean up his act and grow up. He is one of the best in the world pound for pound and he behaves like a common thug. I hope his upcoming court date and legal problems don’t distract him from his training for his upcoming cake walk with Henry Bruseles (21-2-1) January 22 on HBO. If Mayweather beats Bruseles and Arturo Gatti beats Jesse James Leija the following week (also on HBO) the two are expected to meet up for a "Super Fight" this summer.
Speaking of the Gatti vs Leija fight, it is sure to be an explosive night! If you are not fortunate enough to see it live in the soon to be sold out Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City you better get a good seat in front of the big screen. This bout is sure to be another blood and guts war for Gatti. Leija (47-6) is no push over either, being a former WBC super featherweight champion. He has worked his way back to a title shot by getting off the deck in the second round to win a tough split decision victory over Francisco Bojado last July. This was the same night Gatti (38-6) stopped Leonard Dorin in the second round with a vicious body shot in the main event. Gatti’s WBC light welterweight belt will be up for grabs in this soon to be “fight of the year” candidate. More
INSIDE BOXING (December 15, 2004) - It’s that time of the year for the Boxing Writers Association Of America members to submit their nominations for the 2004 awards. I nominated the Trinidad vs. Mayorga bout as the “Fight of the Year”. It was an action packed battle that saw Mayorga hit the canvas for the first, second, and third time of his career. Trinidad also suffered a legitimate knockdown when his glove touched the canvas after getting rocked in the third round. He then came back to destroy the former WBC and WBA welterweight champ stopping him in the eighth round. After giving it a lot of consideration I chose Diego “Chico” Corrales (39-2) for the “Fighter of the Year” nomination. His explosive stoppage over previously unbeaten world champ, Acelino Freitas (35-1) and hard fought split decision victory over former world champ, Joel Cassamayor (31-3) were very impressive. I gave Corrales’ flamboyant trainer Joe Goosen the nod for “Trainer of the Year”. Gleason’s Gym owner, Bruce Silverglade gets my nomination for the “Good Guy Award”. More
INSIDE BOXING (November 20, 2004) - Don King’s “Rendezvous With Destiny: Battle for Supremacy” card turned out to be better than most people expected. The main event between WBA champ, John Ruiz and Andrew Golota was more brawling than boxing. Nevertheless it was the most entertaining bout of the night. Golota looked to have done enough to win with two knockdowns in the second round and a point deduction for Ruiz, but the judges had it 114- 111, 113-112, and 114-111 for Ruiz. Golota along with his raucous supporters were dismayed with the results. More
INSIDE BOXING (October 30, 2004) - I normally don’t like to make predictions but I figured I would switch things up this time out. First we have the Kosta Tszyu vs Sharmba Mitchell rematch November 6. I’ve been a Tszyu (30-1) fan for a long time but I think his inactivity might hurt him. Mitchell (55-3) has been busy ( 7 fights in the last two and half years) and is hungry to regain the number one status in the most talent filled division out there. Between only fighting twice in the last two and half years and the injuries that kept delaying this rematch, Tszyu will have a tough fight on his hands. You have to remember Mitchell was giving him a good fight before he injured his knee in their first bout February 3, 2001. I have always given Tszyu credit for being one of the greatest amateur boxers ever and a great jr. welterweight champ (13 title defenses in two championship reigns). But this time I’m going with Mitchell for a close decision. More
Tito Trinidad (42-1) looked incredible stopping (8th rd. TKO) former welterweight champ, Ricardo Mayorga (27-5-1) October 2 in Madison Square Garden. After shaking off the rust and losing the third round 10-8 for his glove touching the ground, (which was a correct call from referee Steve Smoger) Tito took control knocking Mayorga down three times in the eighth round. Fortunately for Mayorga, Smoger waved it off after the third trip to the canvas. With the win, Tito picked up the lightly regarded WBA North American and NABC middleweight belts. But more importantly he re-established himself as one of the top pound for pound boxers in the world. At the press conference, Tito called out Bernard Hopkins and Cory Spinks, stating he only wanted big fights. I thought Tito looked great, but I think Hopkins is just too much for the naturally smaller Trinidad. After being released from Bellevue Hospital in New York City, Mayorga said that he is done with boxing and is officially retired. He is now scheduled to return to his native Nicaragua to face rape allegations. More
INSIDE BOXING (September 27, 2004) - How about that Glen Johnson (41-9-2)? That was one impressive display of courage and determination that accumulated into a knockout of a ring legend. I can't wait to hear Roy Jones' (49-3) excuse for this one. With Tarver (22-2) it was ''just a lucky punch''. I know this will hurt Roy's place in history. His critics will bring up the fact that he was protected, and did not fight all the top guys in his divisions. They will bring up the well-known fact he was put in against policemen, schoolteachers, and garbage men who were mysteriously moved up the rankings waiting for RJ. Jones did beat Bernard Hopkins and James Toney by decision about ten years ago, but they will ask what has he done since. He passed up opportunities to fight cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov, former heavyweight champ Buster Douglas, light heavyweight champ Dariusz Michalczewski and the list goes on. Hopefully he will also be remembered for his impressive performance at the 1988 Olympics and for being a four-division champion. My opinion on his second knock out loss is that it must be hard for guys who are very wealthy like RJ, Lennox Lewis and Oscar DeLaHoya, who normally live a life of luxury, to go away to camp to train, spar, and run day in and day out. Now take a guy like Glen Johnson, {who I saw lose a close decision to Omar Sheika at the Blue Horizon back in 2000} he's accustomed to making $5-10,000 for a fight. Of course he's going to train hard and be focused. It's like Roy said last time ''everybody gets up to fight me. I can't get up to fight these nobodies.'' More
INSIDE BOXING (September 24, 2004) - First off I have to give Oscar De La Hoya (37-4) a lot of credit. He boxed a competitive 8 1/2 rounds against Bernard Hopkins (46-2) before being stopped by a viscous left hook to the body. Honestly I didn't think Oscar would last five rounds with a beast like Hopkins. Anyway, it's like Bert Sugar told me "They're both winners. Making $50 million between them is a win-win situation."
Yesterday, James Toney (68-4-2) coasted to an easy unanimous decision victory over his hand picked opponent, Rydell Booker (22-1). The judges had it 117-110, 118-108 and 120-107 all for Toney. He picked up the WBC Continental Americas and IBA heavyweight titles with the effortless payday. But more importantly he secured his number one ranked spot for the WBC title and should fight the winner of this December's Vitali Klitschko vs Danny Williams bout. After the fight Toney said he injured his left arm in the first round but still would like to fight again in December. More
INSIDE BOXING (September 16, 2004) - You won't believe the busy boxing filled week I had. Last Wednesday I had a teleconference with James ''Lights Out'' Toney. He informed me that he will stop his hand picked opponent, Rydell Booker September 23 and then mop up the heavyweight division. The bout will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Network.
Friday morning I was on ESPN 1180AM out of Knoxville, Tennessee as their guest analyst. We discussed Cory Spinks' impressive win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez last weekend and whom he might face next. We also discussed Oscar De La Hoya's new reality show and his upcoming bout against Bernard Hopkins. More
INSIDE BOXING (August 18, 2004) - Now my sources at the Atlantic City PAL tell me the on again off again rematch between Levander Johnson (33-4-2) and Mike Clark (34-2) is off again. Levander told me from the beginning that Clark did not want the rematch and it looks like he was right. Clark is claiming he was cut during sparring, but it looks like he was just looking for some kind of excuse. The bout was scheduled to be the main event this Friday on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Now Johnson is looking at a possible rematch in September against Javier Jauregui (48-11-2) for the number one spot in the IBF. Johnson was stopped in the 11th round last November when the two met for the vacant IBF lightweight bout. Jauregui went on to lose the belt to Julio Diaz in May on a majority decision. Johnson said he is training hard and looking forward to a possible rematch against Jauregui. More
INSIDE BOXING (August 13, 2004) - I told you not to miss the Acelino Freitas vs Diego Corrales fight last Saturday on Showtime. It didn’t end the way I hoped it would, but it was still a great fight. I told you not to bet against Corrales. Diego should prove to be a major player in the lightweight division. I would love to see him in a rematch with Floyd Mayweather down the road. I was glad to hear Freitas’ manager, Art Pellulo announce that Freitas was going to enforce the rematch clause in his contract and schedule the fight for next year.
In my June 26 column I asked how NJ governor, Jim McGreevey had the nerve to question Mike Tyson’s integrity and ban him from boxing in NJ. Yesterday he came out of the closet and admitted to cheating on his wife with a man. I’m glad he is resigning November 15. This now opens the doors for Tyson to bring some of that revenue back to my state.
I just witnessed former cruiserweight world champion and current heavyweight contender, Juan Carlos Gomez (37-1) get stopped in the first round by Yamplier Azcuy, (11-1) on the Telefutura channel while I was writing this. Gomez who was ranked #2 by the WBC and #9 by the IBF and WBA will probably fall out of the rankings after such a devastating loss. More
INSIDE BOXING (August 3, 2004) - I just wanted to start off by saying, OK I was wrong about Danny Williams. He surprised a lot of people. I thought he looked very good. He was hungry and in good shape. I really don’t think Tyson’s knee was a major factor. I think he became frustrated with his limited skill and failure to intimidate. I think it will be the same outcome if they have a rematch, which might be in the works.
Lawrence Clay Bey’s co-manager, James Gogue, just informed me Clay’s bout this Friday, August 6 in Boston fell through due to problems with the sponsors. They are looking at some of the top 20 contenders such as Dominic Guinn, Calvin Brock, Samuel Peters, and Oleg Maskaev as possible future opponents. Gogue informed me that Clay recently went back to his full time job as a Connecticut State correction officer to support his family. More
Star Boxing promoted an entertaining card Friday, July 23 at Trump’s Taj Mahal. During the co-feature I watched in amazement from ringside while former collegiate football player Brian Minto (18-0, 11KO) and former minor league baseball player Vinny Maddalone (21-2,15 KO) exchanged bombs for 10 rounds. The entire time I couldn’t stop thinking they were only getting paid around $5000 for such a tough action packed fight. Minto got off the deck in the first to bloody Maddalone’s face and eventually stop him in the 10th round while trailing on all 3 judges cards. The main event featured 2x Olympian David Defiagbon (21-1, 12 KO) against 2x PABA heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev (29-5, 23 KO). Maskaev dropped Defiagbon in the sixth and went on to win a split decision over the previously unbeaten Defiagbon. More
INSIDE BOXING (July 12, 2004) - The Retired Boxers Foundation led by NJ representative, Mike Indri held a fundraiser Saturday night at the Bananas Comedy Club in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. My wife and I attended with the guest of honor, Matthew Saad Muhammad and his guest Iris Quezergue. The champ signed gloves and posed for pictures afterwards. A good time was had by all.
Thanks to many people, Matthew Saad Muhammad received a new belt from the WBC. Contrary to other reports, Matthew told me his belts were stolen 15 years ago. Regardless of what really happened to them, I knew boxing meant the world to him and I wanted to try to get them back. I first contacted the person selling his one belt on EBAY and asked him to give it back to the rightful owner. Unfortunately he didn’t agree and auctioned it off. I then contacted the WBC about Matthew’s unfortunate situation. Mauricio Sauliman (the president’s son) informed me that they would make up a brand new belt for him. I was fortunate that my cousin Joe Carra works in Manhattan and was able to get it from them while they were in town for the bankruptcy hearings. Joe then gave it to me and I gave it to Matthew. Matthew was obviously thrilled and grateful to everyone that played a part in getting him the new belt. This belt is now the only piece of his championship past that he owns. [End]
INSIDE BOXING (July 10, 2004) - Former IBF lightweight champ, Paul Spadafora (37-0) will take on former Costa Rican lightweight champ, Francisco Campos (17-0), July 17 at the Chevrolet Amphitheater in Pittsburgh, PA. This will be Spadafora’s second attempt at the highly competitive junior welterweight division (all this while he has attempted murder charges hanging over his head).
Star Boxing Promotions will be promoting an entertaining heavyweight card July 23 at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. The main event will feature Nigeria’s undefeated David Defiagbon (21-0) vs Uzbekistan’s Oleg Maskaev (28-5) in a 10 round bout. In the co-feature, NY’s Vincent Maddalone (21-1) takes on Pennsylvania's Brian Minto (15-0) in another evenly matched 10 rounder. The card will be televised live on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights 9pm EST. More
INSIDE BOXING (June 26, 2004) - I have to take my hat off to Jose and Mauricio Sulaiman from the WBC. Despite filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year and going through Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation proceedings now, they found it in their hearts to give former WBC light heavyweight champ, Matthew Saad Muhammad a brand new belt. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Matthew winning the belt and a formal presentation is in the works. A New York court ordered the WBC to pay former champ, Graciano Rocchigiani $31 million after it was deemed that they illegally stripped him of his title. The WBC’s defense stated the misunderstanding was over a typographical error.
Heavyweight contender, James Toney was given clearance to resume training this week after finishing physical therapy for an Achilles tendon injury. He had been coming off two big wins against Evander Holyfield and Vasiliy Jirov when the injury occurred training for a fight against Jameel McCline. Toney is negotiating a fight against WBO champ, Lamon Brewster for the fall. More
INSIDE BOXING - Hall of Fame champ Matthew Saad Muhammad will be celebrating his 50th birthday both June 16 and August 5. If you are familiar with his story you would know his true identity was never discovered because he was abandoned as a child. He has assumed that he is Maxwell Antonio Loach since his late twenties after an investigation, but there was never enough evidence to be certain. You can call him Loach, Franklin (his given name from the nuns that took him in), or Muhammad; just don't call him late for dinner. Just kidding. Anyone that wants to wish him a happy birthday can do so through me at fightingsdirish@aol.com.
Undisputed middleweight champ, Bernard Hopkins cruised through an easy unanimous decision victory against Robert Allen Saturday night to set up his September bout against Oscar De La Hoya. De la Hoya on the other hand was awarded a gift victory in the main event to set up the mega fight. The three judges had it 115-113 for Oscar. HBO’s own sideline crew of Lampley, Merchant and Lederman all had Felix Sturm winning. I had Sturm winning 115-113. Go figure. More
INSIDE BOXING - With one week to go, "Merciless" Ray Mercer (33-5-1, 25KOs) has bailed out of his scheduled June 8 ESPN2 bout against Davarryl Williamson (20-2). It was scheduled for 12 rounds for the NABF heavyweight championship at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood Florida. The former Olympic gold medallist and WBO heavyweight champ has decided to retire. "Ray cannot just be a journeyman fighting for chump change,” stated Mercer spokesman Vinny Lamana.
The July 3 Showtime card will feature Joel Casamayor (30-2) against Daniel Seda (20-0-1) in the ten round main event. An interesting ten round match up between former heavyweight champ, Michael Moorer (46-3-1) and Eliecer Castillo (26-4-2) will open the show at the American Airlines Arena in Miami Florida.
Reading Pennsylvania's Kermit Cintron (23-0) will face NABF welterweight champ Teddy Reid (22-5-1) on the July 17 HBO "Boxing After Dark" card at the Reliant Arena in Houston Texas. Also appearing on the card are Rocky Juarez (20-0) and Zahir Raheem (25-0) fighting for the IBF featherweight eliminator. The winner will be named the mandatory challenger for the IBF champion, Juan Manuel Marquez. Also on the card, Juan Diaz (24-0) will be challenging WBA champ Lakva Sim (19-3-1) for his belt. [End]
INSIDE BOXING (May 23, 2004) - “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr. lived up to the hype and is now the new pound for pound king. Floyd turned in one of his most impressive victories Saturday night against former WBO jr. welterweight champ Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley. He overcame adversity being rocked a couple of times by Chop Chop to earn an unanimous decision victory. More
INSIDE BOXING (May 21, 2004) - 8-1 favorite, Floyd Mayweather Jr (31-0) takes on
DeMarcus Corley (28-2-1) May 22 in Atlantic City in a scheduled 12 round WBC
elimination bout. The winner would go on to face WBC light welterweight champ
Arturo Gatti (that's if he gets past former lightweight champ, Leonard Dorin
this July). Corley is the former WBO light welterweight champ who lost a split
decision to Zab Judah last July. Mayweather is trying to secure his new spot at
the top of the pound for pound list since Roy Jones Jr's shocking knock out loss
last week to Antonio Tarver. At the final press conference Wednesday, Mayweather
stated, "I'm not Roy and Corley ain't Tarver."
Delaware's Mike Stewart (35-2-2) will face Gustavo Corral (8-5-2) on June 18 in
a ten round bout at the New Alhambra in Philadelphia, PA. This will be Stewart's
first bout since his 12 round decision loss to current IBF interim super
lightweight champ, Sharmba Mitchell last April. The co-feature will be an eight
round bout between local favorite Chucky T (23-8) and Kevin Watts (18-5).
Former world heavyweight champion, Riddick Bowe (40-1) has been released from
federal prison and will now look to resume his boxing career. The 36-year-old
Bowe served seventeen months for kidnapping his first wife and five children in
1998. He will be under house arrest until June 8, when his sentence officially
ends. Bowe has not fought since his 1996 DQ9 win over Andrew Golota.
[End]
NABF super-middleweight champ, Scott Pemberton (27-3-1) returns June 12 to face
former world title challenger, James Crawford (38-7-2). The bout will be
televised live on CN8 8pm EST from the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
Mike Tyson (50-4) is training for his proposed July 31 bout against journeyman,
Kevin McBride (31-4-1). The location has not been determined as of yet but Tyson
was recently granted a license by Missouri.