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.”

Filed Under: Boxing News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Forgotten Legends: Jesus Chavez

May 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment

By: Steve Gallegos

The life of a prize fighter has many up’s and downs. There is the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, as well as the chance that they may not come out of the ring the same as they came in. One fighter who can say they have experienced all of these was former Jr. Lightweight and Lightweight champion Jesus “El Matador” Chavez.

Chavez was an all action, come forward, aggressive fighter who most of the time was never in a bad fight as he mixed it up with some of the best in his division during the late 90’s and 2000’s. Chavez was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and was later raised in Chicago, IL. At age 16, Chavez decided to take part in an armed robbery and by doing so, he spent four years in prison and was deported back to Mexico. He would then come back to the United States illegally and resided in Austin, TX where he would begin his boxing career.

Chavez turned pro in August of 1994 and would go 22-1 over the next four years and would claim the NABF Jr. Lightweight title in the process. 1997 would be a big year for Chavez as he began to get some national exposure. In August of 1997, He scored an impressive fifth round TKO over Wilfredo Negron on USA’s Tuesday Night Fights and he would follow it up three months later with another impressive TKO win over former world champion Troy Dorsey, on the Lennox Lewis vs Andrew Golota Pay Per View undercard.

He was being handled by Main Events and the future couldn’t have looked more brighter; however he would suffer a huge setback. In late 1997, Chavez was once again deported back to Mexico and it would have a huge effect on his boxing career over the next three years. While living in Mexico, Chavez would continue to fight as he would go 10-0 from 1998-2000. His story and popularity as a fighter encouraged many sports writers and politicians to lobby for Chavez to receive a Visa. One of those politiicans who backed Chavez was then Texas Govenor and future U.S. President George W. Bush.

Finally after being away from the U.S. for three years, Chavez was granted a Visa to work and live in the United States. Upon his return to the U.S., he would go 3-0 and would earn a shot at a world title against super featherweight champion Floyd Mayweather. They met on 11/10/01 in San Francisco for the WBC super featherweight title. Chavez fought a spirited effort and took it to Mayweather for 9 rounds until his corner threw in the towel after the 9th. Despite the disappointing loss, Chavez continued to fight on and after winning his next four bouts, he was back in line for another title shot as he faced the very tough Sirimongkol Singwancha of Thailand.

They met on 08/15/03 at the Convention Center in Austin, TX and it was for the WBC super featherweight title. Chavez didn’t disappoint his hometown fans as he won a convincing 12 round unanimous decision. He was now a world champion. His reign however was a short one as he would lose his title six months later to Mexican legend Erik Morales.

As he did against Mayweather, Chavez fought a spirited fight as he rocked Morales early and looked very close to taking him out. He also showed a lot of heart and guts in this fight as he was dropped twice in the second round and rose to his feet and fought hard. He also suffered both shoulder and knee injuries during the bout and fought most of the bout while injured.

The injuries would sideline Chavez for 15 months and he returned to the ring on 05/28/05 as he fought an entertaining brawl with former champion Carlos Hernandez on the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez’s farewell bout in Los Angeles, CA. This win would put Chavez back in line for another title shot against lightweight champion Leavander Johnson. They met on 09/17/05 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas for the IBF lightweight title.

The bout was one of three bouts on a big HBO Pay Per View co headlined by Marco Antonio Barerra and Shane Mosley. Chavez came out throwing bombs from the opening bell. Johnson, who was a slick boxer puncher, wasn’t able to weather the onslaught brought by Chavez. “El Matador” pummelled Johnson for 11 rounds before referee Tony Weeks stopped the bout. Many observers at ringside felt that the bout should have been stopped sooner. In either case, Jesus Chavez was once again a world champion, however there was very little to celebrate.

After Leavander Johnson went back to his dressing room, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where he had emergency surgery for swelling and bleeding on the brain. After being placed in a coma, Johnson died 5 days later. When a fighter dies inside the ring, it can also leave a huge crushing burden on the other fighter and most times that fighter doesn’t recover mentally. Despite the tragedy, the family of Leavander Johnson encouraged Jesus Chavez to continue fighting.

The tragedy would sideline Chavez for 17 months. He returned to the ring on 02/03/07 when he made his first defense of his title against Julio Diaz. Chavez would go down in the third round from the result of a knee injury and was counted out. He clearly was not the same fighter that he was before. It was pretty much the end of the road at the top for Jesus Chavez. He would go 2-4 from 2008-2010 as he became more of a gatekeeper in the lightweight division.

His record as a professional stands at 44-8 with 30 KO’s. He faced tremendous obstacles in and out of the ring and he was able to overcome most of those obstacles, except for the tragedy of the Leavander Johnson fight. Would his already stellar career have been longer and more successful had that tragedy in Las Vegas not have happened? Like many fighters in the “Forgotten Legends” series, we are left with the recurring question “What If?”

image

Filed Under: Boxing News, Forgotten Legends Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Prince” Naseem Hamed – Hall of Fame Worthy?

December 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

naseem-carpet1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Steve Gallegos

This past weekend in London, over 18,000 fans packed the ExCel Arena to watch Tyson Fury take on Dereck Chisora. One of those fans on hand to watch the event was former featherweight kingpin “Prince” Naseem Hamed. In between rounds of one of the bouts, we caught an glimpse of Hamed via the TV cameras. “Naz” looked to be a shell of his former self as he has put on a significant amount of weight over the years; however he still sported that same smile he had when he ruled the 126 lb division for the latter half of the 1990’s.

Every couple of years the discussion arises about whether Hamed should be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. “Naz” left behind a legacy of dominance and showmanship and many believe it was a legacy uncompleted. Many fans remember Hamed for his arrogance and felt he was a fraud instead of a legitimate champion. We are going to focus why “Naz” is Hall of Fame worthy and as well as giving this man some shine that he deserves.

Hamed set the standard for flashy ring entrances as his entrances were a mix of smoke, lights, music and dancing. He always had a new trick up his sleeve, whether it was being brought out on a magic carpet or coming into the ring in a Chevy Impala Convertible. His entrances were lengthy and most times it would frustrate his opponent, allowing “Naz” to get inside of their head. Almost each and every ring entrance was topped off by a front sommersault over the top rope into the ring. He was also great at hyping up a fight and he knew how to get inside of his opponent’s head by belittling them during press conferences and telling them that he was going to knock them out, most of the time making good on his promises.

Inside the ring, he was a master showman. He was a very unorthodox southpaw who held his hands low and threw punches from the most akward angles. He had tremendous power in either hand as he scored sensational knockouts. Hamed was never in a bad fight and even though he tasted the canvas on many occasions, he would always rise to his feet and knock his opponent out. (Ie; his sensational knockout win over Kevin Kelley in which both fighters scored three knockdowns each.) He was a major draw no matter where he fought and he would pack huge arenas in the UK as well as the U.S.

He also helped put the featherweight division on the map in the 90’s and would win three world titles en-route to earning million dollar paydays, which were unheard of for a featherweight. He won and defended his WBO featherweight title 16 times and was one of the sport’s first “Super” champions. Many believe he didn’t fight anybody good, however his resume of opponents is not bad. He beat top notch world champions such as Manuel Medina, Tom Johnson, Kevin Kelley, Wilfredo Vazquez, Wayne McCullough, Paul Ingle, Cesar Soto and Vuyani Bungu.

His record as a professional was 36-1 with 31 KO’s and his only loss came against the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera. So the question remains. Is “Prince” Naseem Hamed Hall of Fame worthy? Based on his accomplishments and the legacy he created, the answer is “Yes”. Love him or hate him, you have to respect what he has accomplished and the good he did for the sport of boxing. There wasn’t another fighter like him and he is a fighter that many of us wish was still around.

Filed Under: Boxing News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Next Page»