Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

Paul Spadafora working off two years of ring rust

Former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora has returned to the gym after a two-year layoff.

Known as “The Pittsburgh Kid,� the undefeated Spadafora (38-0-1, 15 KOs), who won the crown from Israel Cardona in 1999 and defended eight times, began sparring this week, trying to work off the ring rust from his recent incarceration.

“Paul has looked spectacular in the gym. I know there has been a lot of speculation that Paul will be returning to the ring in October on the Mike Tyson card, but that is not accurate,� Spadafora’s promoter Michael Acri said. “The truth is we have not established a timetable for Paul’s return to the ring yet. The whole team is in complete agreement that we will let Paul’s progress in the gym dictate when he fights next.�

Whenever that is, we’ll be ready. It will be good to see Spadafora in action again.

Aussie boxing kangaroos a big hit in Shanghai

For the fourth year in a row, the “Animal Olympicsâ€? were held at Shanghai’s Wild Animal Park in Shanghai, China. In the Animal Olympics the animals don’t only challenge their likeminded furry and feathered friends; no, in these Olympics the beasts also compete against man.

The event is held in a large arena packed with fans. The ceremonies are initiated by an elephant carrying the Animal Olympics’ torch, and a menagerie of contestants, including but not limited to bears, chimpanzees, goats and zebras, put their training and natural talent through a series of competitions, including but not limited to hurdles, and hoof, paw and foot races.

The Olympics also feature one of the crowd’s favorite pastimes, horse fighting.

Among the 300 “athletes� participating in the Olympics, one knockout of a creature among many caught our eye. Long and lean, built for speed rather than comfort, wearing red gloves and dressed in brown with white trim, it was a boxing kangaroo fighting out of Australia… battling a man dressed like a clown.

Described in the Daily Mail as a ‘bizarre marsupial-versus-human’ rite, animal rights campaigners have seen the photos of the 2006 Animal Olympics and are pointing fingers every which way, but especially at the Chinese, for their savagery, for their cruelty to animals, for blurring the line between abuse and entertainment, for being, well, Chinese.

Photographs of the bout show the kangaroo getting nailed by the clown. The kangaroo takes the blow and counters, knocking the clown into the ropes.

The comments on the Daily Mail website give a good indication where most citizens of the civilized world stand on the matter of men fighting kangaroos.

“Absolutely disgraceful!� said Helen from Bristol.

Mike “Spudgun� Hardy from Romney Marsh declared, “This is awful.�

“This kind of torture needs to be stopped!� insisted Rocky from Philly.

“Deplorable,� wrote Sara from Leicester, before advising, “Put this clown in a match against a hungry adult grizzly.�

A misanthrope named Anon from the UK wrote, “I hope the kangaroo won!�

The Walrus from Melbourne confessed, “I love animals.�

“I feel more sorry for the clown,� Tom from St Louis wrote. “Kangaroos are not weak animals and this guy probably took one hell of a beating! I mean look at that right cross that kangaroo threw in the second picture.�

And good old Matt from Worcester weighed in on this pressing subject when he reminded readers, “That’s why you should always tie your kangaroo down, sport.â€?

Kevin Kelley decisions Famoso Hernandez in Texas

Ageless Kevin Kelley (59-7-2, 39 KOs) won a unanimous decision over LA-born Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez (42-7-1, 24 KOs) at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas, by scores of 95-94, 97-92, 96-93. Famoso retired after the bout.

In what ringside observers are describing as his best performance in years, the Flushing Flash dropped Famoso with a solid right hook in round four, and cut Hernandez with an accidental clash of heads in the seventh. Kelley picked apart his younger opponent over the remaining rounds.

“If I’m going to get knocked down back-to-back it’s time to call it a career,” said Hernandez after losing the decision. “I don’t want to get hurt in this business; I have beautiful children… I feel bad that I couldn’t win, but you know, I think that everyone who saw me knows I won’t get knocked out or I won’t go down, I’ll keep coming, I’m relentless, I persevere. That’s my motto, ‘perseverance pays off.’ I think I’ll just persevere in another career.”

Boxing’s bad boy Mike Tyson hits the road

“You know what a geek is? You throw a geek a raw chicken and he’ll eat it, feathers and all, and everyone outside the cage will laugh and applaud. Was I a champ or a geek? Only God knows what I was.� – Former middleweight champion Jake LaMotta

Mike Tyson, fresh off his recently closed boxing exhibition by the buffet at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, is making a belated and less than half-serious return to the ring in what is being billed as “Mike Tyson’s World Tour.�

Tyson will face longtime sparring partner Corey Sanders on Oct. 20 in a 12-round exhibition, the first of many 12-round exhibitions if all goes according to plan.

For the pleasure of watching Tyson fight an exhibition with a sparring partner, the cost will only be $29.95 pay-per-view. (That’s no typo or joke.)

The promoter of this extravaganza, Sterling McPherson, told Dan Rafael at ESPN.com that he thinks the “greatest thing Tyson can do for himself is to do this, go around the world and meet people who have never met a star or an icon like Tyson. And the prices will be right. Here in Youngstown,â€? that’s Youngstown, Ohio, about as far from Las Vegas as the earth is from the moon, “the top ticket is $200. That used to be the cheapest ticket for a Tyson fight. Here, you’re talking about tickets for $25. Where can you see Tyson in the ring for $25?”

Hubert’s Flea Circus on 42nd Street in Times Square can’t be far behind.