Lennox Lewis to be Inducted Into Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Aug. 8th

August 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

LAS VEGAS, NV. — Superstar heavyweight LENNOX LEWIS, the last undisputed heavyweight champion and who won an Olympic gold medal with a victory over Riddick Bowe and scored professional victories over boxing legends such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko, confirmed Wednesday that he will return to Las Vegas this weekend to attend the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame’s third annual induction gala at Caesars Palace on Saturday, August 8.
 
Lewis is the latest in a gaggle of stars who have announced they’ll attend the popular gala induction ceremony.  In addition to Lewis the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame has confirmed that Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Felix Trinidad, Marco Antonio Barrera, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Roger Mayweather will also attend the high-profile event as the newest members of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
 
Lewis, who was 41-2-1 with 32 knockouts and had a win over every man he ever faced in the ring, is one of the headliners of the NVBHOF’s 2015 class of inductees, chosen in the non-Nevada boxer category.
 
Lewis avenged the only two losses of his career, stopping both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman after losing to them earlier.
 
Lewis was a classic boxer with a powerful punch.  He’s probably best known for his 2002 win over Tyson, where he won every round before stopping him in the eighth round.
 
He held all, or a version of, the heavyweight title from 1993 until 1994 and then again from 1997 through the end of his career in 2003
 
Lewis had great success in Nevada and avenged both of his losses in Las Vegas. He was 8-0 in his Nevada career and won fights at both Caesars Palace and Caesars Tahoe.
 
In the latter part of his fighting career, Lewis joined HBO Sports as an expert analyst and was a familiar figure at ringside for many of the biggest bouts of the late 20th and early 21st century in Las Vegas.
 
The Hall was founded by noted boxing broadcaster Rich Marotta. Its chief operating officer is Michelle Corrales-Lewis, whose late husband, Diego Corrales, was an inaugural inductee into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. For more information, phone 702-3-NVBHOF, or 702-368-2463.
 
Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM), in association with Global Legacy Boxing (GLB) and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), made an official announcement this week, along with Lennox Lewis, that Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson will defend his titles against Tommy “Kryptonite” Karpency on Sept. 11 at Toronto’ Ricoh Coliseum in “The Revival: “KO in TO”.
 
The upcoming World Championship title fight card will also see Canadian Heavyweight Champ Dillon “Big Country” Carman defend his title against legendary Donovan “Razor” Ruddock.
 
Global Legacy President Les Woods s, :”I am so pleased to see The Champ, Lennox Lewis, recognized by the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. It’s a privilege and honor to call him my friend and to be a partner teamed with him in Toronto to promote Boxing in Canada.”

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Forgotten Legends: Vassily Jirov

July 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

By: Steve Gallegos

For many in boxing, the Cruiserweight division is known as the waste land before the promise land which is the Heavyweight division; however there was one fighter who put the division on the radar in the early 2000’s. That fighter was Vassiliy “The Russian Tiger” Jirov.

Jirov was an exciting, aggressive power puncher with knockout power in either hand. Jirov was born and raised in Balkhash, Kazakhstan and was a decorated amateur who took the gold in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as well as winning the award for the most outstanding boxer at the olympics. He would turn pro in early 1997 and would go 20-0 with 18 KO’s over the next 2 1/2 years.

He would get his first shot at a world title in 1999 when he met Cruiserweight champion “King” Arthur Williams. They met on 06/05/99 in Biloxi, MS and it was for the IBF Cruiserweight Championship. It was also the first Cruiserweight bout to ever be shown on HBO. Jirov was impressive as he broke Williams down, particularly to the body en route to a seventh round TKO. Vassiliy Jirov was now a world champion.

He would close out the millenium on the undercard of the “Fight Of The Millenium” between Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya and he would score an impressive 10th round KO over “Cowboy” Dale Brown. Jirov would go 9-0 with seven KO’s over the next two years and would successfully defend his title five times, which included a big KO win over the very tough and durable Julian Letterlough.

Jirov would then face the toughest challenge of his career when he faced James “Lights Out” Toney. They met on 04/26/03 at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, CT and it was one of the most anticipated bouts of 2003. Unfortunately for Jirov, Toney’s experience and technique would be the story of the fight as Jirov was dropped in the 12th round and would lose a lopsided unanimous decision.

Jirov would bounce back with two KO wins to close out the year and would move up to Heavyweight. His first bout at Heavyweight was against unbeaten top prospect “Baby” Joe Mesi, who at the time was considered the future of the division. They met on 03/13/04 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Mesi was dominant throughout the bout and appeared to be on his way to an easy decision, however Jirov showed he had Heavyweight power as he dropped Mesi once in the ninth and twice in the 10th. It was a great way for Jirov to close the show and he would come up just a hair short on the judges scorecards as all three judges had the fight scored 94-93 for Mesi.

The shots from Jirov in that fight did further damage to Joe Mesi as he suffered two hematomas on his brain which sidelined him for two years. After proving he had pop at the Heavyweight level, Jirov elected to stay in the division and he would challenge former two-time Heavyweight Champion Michael Moorer. They met on 12/09/04 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA.

Jirov boxed well and dominated Moorer for 8 1/2 rounds, however Moorer learned 10 years earlier against George Foreman, that any fight can be changed with one punch. In the ninth round, Moorer landed a big left hand that put Jirov down. He was able to get up, however he was on wobbily legs and referee Pat Russell would stop the bout. It was a crushing defeat for Jirov and his hopes for potentially fighting for a Heavyweight Championship were crushed.

Jirov would go 5-0-1 with three KO’s from 2005-2009, however he would not challenge for another world title. His record as a professional stands at 38-3-1 with 32 KO’s. His all action style and power brought luster to a very lackluster division in the Cruiserweights. Did his first loss affect him negatively? Did his move to Heavyweight hurt his career. In the end it was a career that had high expectations, only to come up just a tad bit short of meeting or exceeding those expectations.

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Forgotten Legends: Jose Luis Lopez

June 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment

By: Steve Gallegos

During the mid to late 1990’s, Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez’ star was beginning to decline. Many up and coming Mexican fighters were eager to fill that void as Mexico’s next great champion. Fighters like Marco Antonio Barerra, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez were among the fighters of this class, however there was another fighter from Mexico who made a name for himself in his own right and set himself apart from the others. His name was Jose Luis “Maestrito” Lopez.

Lopez wasn’t your typical Mexican fighter. Outside the ring, he was a surfer and motorcycle enthusiast who even rode his motorcycle across Europe. Inside the ring he was an attacker. A straight forward puncher who had the power to turn things around at anytime in any fight. Jose Luis Lopez was born and raised in Durango, Mexico and began boxing at a very young age. His father, Jose Luis Lopez Sr was a former fighter himself and his son followed in his footsteps, turning professional at age 15.

He would go 36-3-1 with 27 KO’s from 1989-1996. He was facing relatively obscure opposition, mostly in his native Mexico. His resume was good enough to land him a world title shot against Irishman Eamonn Loughran. They met on 04/13/96 in Liverpool in the United Kingdom and it was for the WBO Welterweight Championship.

The champion Loughran, hand picked Lopez as an opponent, thinking it would be an easy title defense. He would then find out that Lopez was far being an easy opponent. Lopez showed his tremendous punching power, dropping Loughran three times en route to a first round KO. Jose Luis Lopez was now a world champion and the boxing world began to take notice.

Lopez would make the first defense of his title six months later against hard hitting and future world champion Yory Boy Campas. Campas had only lost one fight in 65 bouts and many thought he would be too stiff of a challenge for Lopez. “Maestrito” broke Campas down with his hard body punching and would score a huge fifth round TKO. Although he had successfully defended his title, Lopez would be stripped of his title after testing positive for Marijuana.

Being stripped of his title didn’t have any negative effect on his career and he was starting to gain some national exposure. 1997 was a big year for Lopez as he started off the year in impressive fashion, making his USA Tuesday Night Fight’s debut with a sixth round TKO over former world champion Jorge Vaca. Three months later he would make his HBO debut, winning a 10 round majority decision over former world champion Aaron Davis, which was an exciting, entertaining bout. These two big wins put Lopez back into another contention for another world title, this time against Ike Quartey.

They met on 10/17/97 at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, CT and it was for the WBA Welterweight Championship. The “Bazooka” Quartey came out using his piston like jab to keep Lopez at bay. In the second round, Lopez landed a big right hand that shook Quartey up and caused his gloves to touch the canvas which was ruled a knockdown. Quartey recoverd and continued to stay on the outside, using his jab to keep Lopez at bay. Lopez had a difficult time throughout the bout as he wasn’t able to get inside on Quartey and his punch output was very low as well.

Lopez, however showed why he should never be counted out as he dropped Quartey again in the 11th round. Quartey was able to get up, however he was hurt and Lopez turned up the pressure, closing the fight in impressive fashion. When the judges scorecards were read, Quartey was awarded a majority decision, however one of the scorecards were added up incorrectly; therefore the decision was changed to a draw.

Jose Luis Lopez‘ stock was at an all time high and he was one of three fighters in line to challenge welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya for a huge payday. Lopez would win his next three bouts, all by KO and it would setup another crack at the WBA Welterweight Championship, this time against James Page.

They met on 12/05/98 at Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ. Page like Lopez was a huge power puncher and he predicted prior to the bout that he would stop Lopez within four rounds. As was the case with many other fighters, Lopez once again proved he was no pushover as he fought a spirited fight for 12 rounds in which he knocked Page down twice and hurt him during many exchanges.

As was the case with Quartey, Lopez wasn’t able to finish his man off when he had him hurt and the end result would be a 12 round unanimous decision win for James Page. It was pretty much the end of the road for Jose Luis Lopez as a serious contender. He wouldn’t fight again for two years and he would go 8-1 with five KO’s as he fought off and on from 2000-2010.

His record as a professional stands at 51-5-2 with 39 KO’s. He was a unique and special kind of fighter that was dangerous the entire time he was in the ring. What would have happened had he been able to finish off his opponents in his two biggest fights? Would he have been able to challenge the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Instead, he was a good fighter who was just a punch or two shy of become great.

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