On your mark, get set, go to town… for the Welsh Invasion
You’ve got to hand it to the folks at HBO. For the hardworking boxing journalists who are either too busy, too harried or too poor to eat, Mssrs. Ross Greenberg, Kery Davis et al treat the members of the press with the kind of dignity they deserve but to which they’re still unaccostomed.
The latest excuse for generosity from HBO to the ink-stained wretches who cover the noble art was to introduce Joe Calzaghe and Enzo Maccarinelli to those of us in New York, at an appropriately exclusive luncheon/presser/get together on Tuesday afternoon at a fancy restaurant on 57th Street.
The two Welsh fighters, who grew up within blocks of one another, WBO/IBF super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (42-0, 31 KOs) and WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (25-1, 18 KOs) flew to the U.S., Florida to be exact, to attend the WBO convention and meet Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De la Hoya on Saturday, and finally got around to hitting, and taking a big bite out of, the Big Apple this afternoon.
“This is an excellent chance to build their profile further in the US,â€? their promoter Frank Warren said. “I think these two guys can definitely crack America, because their exciting styles,â€? one (Calzaghe) is a master boxer, whereas the other (Big Macc) has power to spare, “will make them friends wherever they go.”
Warren is right. The gracious Calzaghe and energetic Maccarinelli are likely to make friends whenever and wherever they go, and while they haven’t taken the United States by storm, at least not yet, it won’t be long before one or both of them makes his mark on this side of the pond. (There’s a tentative HBO date for the two of them to fight on the same card in February. There’s also a big possible show at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.)
“I’d love to fight over here next year,â€? said Calzaghe, “and appearing at Madison Square Garden would be fantastic with my Italian-Celtic heritage. I’ve had a few people coming up to me in the street asking for my autograph, and that’s a bit crazy, but it shows they have been watching my fights.”
With thoughts of unification in mind, Maccaranelli said he’d “love to fight O’Neil Bell over here in February. Winning the WBO world title has opened a lot of doors for me, but it’s important to keep my feet on the ground and not get too carried away.”
Neither Calzaghe nor Maccarinelli is likely to be carried away by the hoopla they generated in New York this afternoon, but for fight fans impressed by the men and their actions in and out of the ring, it might just be another story.
Canzoneri was less than two years old when Dundee fought his first professional bout. By the time the two faced each other, Dundee had held the junior lightweight title twice and the featherweight title once. Canzoneri had only been a pro for a little more than two years. However, Dundee was way past his prime and had not fought for more than a year. He had also weighed 140 pounds a month before the fight and had struggled to make weight.
Fullmer had won the belt for the second time with a 14th round stoppage of Carmen Basilio in August of 1959. Tiger would be his eighth title defense. Of his previous seven, three were rematches with Basilio and Sugar Ray Robinson, and one was a 10th round knockout of Benny Paret.
Mtagwa, 22-10-2 (16 KO’s), won the USBA Title by knocking out Art Simonyan on June 16th of this year. In his last bout, Mtagwa defended the title by knocking out Alvin Brown in the fourth round on August 2, 2006 at South Philly’s New Alhambra Theater. He holds wins over Joe Morales and Fernando Trejo and is currently rated #8 by the IBF. 
Hopkins has had his eye on Oleg Maskaev ever since he won the WBC heavyweight crown by crashing Hasim Rahman’s (and the USA’s) party with his patience, will and fists, and has said as much on many occasions. Still, as though Calzaghe was hard of hearing or something, Ex was the main man in his sights, the guy Calzaghe wanted next.
The “Human Windmill’s� brutal, relentless attack left more than 200 opponents in its wake. Writer W.O. McGeehan called the style, “The Manly Art of Modified Murder.� All in all, Greb fought 299 bouts in his pro career.
Tyson described the exhibition as “fun, that’s my first time boxing since my last fight. I didn’t know how tough it would be,” whereas those in the two-thirds full Chevrolet Centre (4000 of 6000 seats were sold) in Youngstown, Ohio and the folks at home who forked over $29.95 didn’t feel or act as though they got their money’s worth of snake oil.
On this day in 1973, Eder Jofre fought his last title bout, knocking out Vicente Saldivar in Salvador, Brazil, to retain his WBC Featherweight title.
“You know what, though. He’s still a great show,” former lightweight champion Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini said to the AP, right before Tyson arrived at the 6,000-seat Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, which is home to a minor league ice hockey, the SteelHounds. “He’s still the biggest name in boxing.”
Branco had won the belt last July 27 in Milan, at the famed Velodromo Vigorelli, dominating Manny Siaca. The win made Branco’s stock rise a lot outside of Italy because Siaca had showed great skills winning a split decision against Anthony Mundine in Australia. Mundine is tough, and on his home turf he is even more difficult to beat.