TALK TOUGH with Shawn Darling
6-8-04

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.

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, signed with Buddy McGirt to train him in his return to the ring, according to a press release. Bowe, who is scheduled to finish his home detention next Tuesday, has also hired pain specialist Winston Griner, M.D. from Nashville , to provide all his medical tests to all commissions for approval to attain his boxing license once again.

Undisputed welterweight champ, Cory Spinks’ next title defense could come against former world lightweight champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez on the October 2 Felix Trinidad-Ricardo Mayorga pay-per-card in Las Vegas . Spinks won the title from Mayorga last December and defended it in April with a close points win over Zab Judah. Gonzalez, has won five fights in a row – all by knockout, is 50-3-1 (40).

The IBF has sanctioned a fight between #1 contender, Syd Vanderpool and #4 Jeff Lacy for the vacant super middleweight belt. Lacy fought Vitali Tsypko on June 5 for the vacant #2 spot but the bout was stopped because of a cut to Tsypko’s eye and declared a no-contest. The winner of the upcoming Vanderpool vs Lacy bout is mandated to fight Tsypko in their first defense.

Ray Joval (32-2) squares off against Sam Soliman (26-7), July 11 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA. The bout is an IBF eliminator for the winner to face Bernard Hopkins. Joval is training at the world famous Gleason’s Gym in NYC.