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Page 1 Amir Khan or A Mere Con? You Be The Judge...
by Chip Mitchell
The court summons reads as follows:
Mr. Khan/Con, you are hereby summoned to appear at the courthouse, Washington, DC Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, NW, District of Columbia 20001. Judgment may or may not be taken against you on the tenth day of December 2011 at 11:00pm. The judge presiding on that evening will be Lamont Peterson.
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Prelude to the Capital Showdown
by Paul Jones
Washington, DC — On Thursday, the posh W Hotel hosted the kick-off presser for the upcoming bout between Amir “King” Khan (26-1, 18 KOs) and Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KOs). About 200 attendees witnessed the event— ranging from casual fans and journalists to local politicians marking the return of a major HBO-televised boxing card to the Nation’s Capital after nearly two decades.
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"I was doing just fine and then there was a little slip up" - Victor Ortiz
by Chip Mitchell
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Is A Gamboa Loss Good for Business?
by Chip Mitchell
As early as 2008, a winner-takes-all showdown between undefeated featherweights Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa seemed inevitable. It was a 50/50 fight if there ever was one. Read More...
Exclusive Interview With Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
by Chip Mitchell
Read Interview here...
Antonio Margario: The Human Truth-Telling Machine by Chip Mitchell
Perseverance.... Redemption.... Emancipation! Many words can be chosen to describe the path that Antonio Margarito took en route to capturing the WBA title from previously unbeaten champion Miguel Cotto. More...
The Rebuttal: Leave "Money May" Alone!
by Chip Mitchell
One of the most difficult skills in life is for a human being to put himself in someone else’s shoes. We often laugh at personalities on television who, when confronted with a circumstance, make a decision that often defines them for eternity. Read More...
Interview with The Boxing Diva!by Chip Mitchell
Fans get ready! I recently had the pleasure of interviewing “THE DIVA!”, matchmaking and promoter extraordinaire Renee Aiken. Her Diva-Rize-N Promotions presents an event on Saturday October 8 at DC Star Nightclub in Washington, DC to support breast cancer awareness. Featured on the card are Thomas “KO” Snow and former cruiserweight Champion O’Neil “Supernova” Bell. Read more...
Interview with Manager Extraordinaire---James Hogan
by Chip Mitchell
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing boxing manager and trainer James Hogan. James is the manager of close to 20 boxers in the Mid-Atlantic region. He is a man who is trying to make big things happen in and around the Baltimore fight scene. We recently sat down at a press conference for the “Who’s The Man II” fight card that takes place on October 23, 2010 at Pikesville Armory in Maryland. One of his fighters, James “Keep’em Sleepin” Stevenson fights in the main event. Read More...
A Mere Con Amir Khan or A Mere Con? You Be The Judge by Chip Mitchell
The court summons reads as follows: Mr. Khan/Con, you are hereby summoned to appear at the courthouse, Washington, DC Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, NW, District of Columbia 20001. Judgment may or may not be taken against you on the tenth day of December 2011 at 11:00pm. The judge presiding on that evening will be Lamont Peterson. Until then, let'’s have a mock trial of our own….The JuryThe jury is boxing fans and media, the world over!Witnesses for the Defense Witnesses for the StateThe defense will call: The state will call: Paulie Malignaggi Paul MCloskey Zabdiel “Zab” Judah Marcos Rene Maidana Dmitriy Salita Marco Antonio BarreraStar Witness for the StateBreidis Prescott“"All rise. Court is now in session! The state will call its first witness”." The state calls...… Paul McCloskeyThe in-ring testimony shows that you had a few problems with McCloskey’s unorthodox style. Your speed was superior, as it is against most opponents. That is a fact that we cannot dispute. However, you weren’t able to hit McCloskey cleanly for most of the fight. You were a bit befuddled and some say that as Paul began to get stronger, you were beginning to breathe as if you were wearing down. McCloskey employed a middle of the ring rope-a-dope style to tire you out. It was beginning to work. History shows that you are a bit suspect in the later rounds (see 11th round vs. Kotelnik and 10th round vs. Maidana). The statement you were trying to make with your power never materialized. Your speed and busy pace gave you a lead on the cards, but evidence shows that fans were not happy based on boos heard throughout the M.E.N. Arena. The medical expert testimony given by the doctor about that night just doesn'’t fly. McCloskey'’s cut was no worse than any fight in recent memory that was allowed to continue. One can only wonder what would’ve happened in the later rounds. Marcos Rene MaidanaIn-ring testimony here says not only were you fortunate that the referee allowed you to finish the fight, but you were just as privileged to receive the victory. You were out on your feet. One big shot away from losing your WBA strap. At first, you talked about how solid your chin must have been to withstand Maidana’s devastating power. That’s good testimony on your part. However, the rebuttal you mustered up in the aftermath was that Maidana never hurt you. Which one is it? Is this Khan speaking or are you trying to Con us? Many felt Maidana deserved the win in this fight. The same Maidana who struggled against a dinosaur named Erik Morales and again in his hometown against a shot fighter named Chop Corley. The battle with Maidana was a chance for you to separate from the pack of contenders in your weight class. In Round 1, the body shot you landed almost put you to the top of that list. Unfortunately, this fight went into the late rounds. The question that remains is if you would’ve had Maidana in the same trouble as he had you, would the referee have stopped the bout. Hmm. The blueprint to beat you seems to be to take you into deep water and...… well you know the rest…...After a brief recess, the state puts its star witness on the stand.Breidis PrescottA confident Prescott takes the stand and begins to tell his story. He speaks about one of the “"easiest fights”" of his career. The fight took place in your backyard and within seconds, it was over. Gone is 54 seconds! Breidis Prescott aka The Khanqueror. A young man who has losses to Paul McCloskey (I hear Paul came on late in that one), and Miguel Vazquez (a Timothy Bradley victim who many feel blew Prescott out by much larger scores than announced). He beat you and he’s been calling you out for a rematch. It is the ultimate litmus test for you but you’ve failed to respond. Many observers feel he caught you cold with a lucky punch early on and that you’d outbox him or maybe stop him in a rematch. However, you act as if Breidis doesn’t deserve a rematch with ‘'King Khan’'. Prescott hasn’t helped himself recently with what turned out to be his fourth loss (Mike Alvarado). But then again, that makes your loss to him look even more suspect.The prosecution rests. Defense calls…...Paulie Malignaggi The in-ring evidence shows that you fought a magnificent fight. This was definitely a King Khan performance! Paulie’'s testimony? “"He is stronger, bigger, and faster"”. "“He was very busy; I couldn’t keep up with him"”. Hats off to you on this one, Amir. Strong testimony in support of ‘'Amir Khan'’!Dmitriy SalitaTo put it simple, in this battle you “"Prescotted"” Salita. You scored three knockdowns in the first round. Gone in 76 seconds! It was Salita’'s first and only loss up to this point. It was your first title defense and you were spectacular! Salita has gone on to win three straight, including a local championship (NY State welterweight title). More evidence in support of ‘'Amir Khan’'.Zabdiel “Zab” JudahAfter a war of words on Twitter, you agreed to fight Zab. You brought the jab out of your arsenal and it kept Judah at bay round after round after round. You landed a low blow (I say low based on the referee’'s pre-fight explanation of where the legal beltline was) and sent Judah to the canvas in pain. I considered the punch low. I was upset at the referee'’s call. I felt Zab’'s pain (not literally). I backed Zab, but I’'m not sure about his explanation that the punch was low and "“jammed the cup in my (testicles)"”. The consensus seems to be that you were up big against Zab and he found a way to quit. Although the punch seemed low, it didn'’t appear to be something that would keep a world-class fighter down. Up until then, you were dominating the rounds and it was a solid performance. This is good testimony for the defense.Marco Antonio Barrera Some say a win-is-a-win-is-a-win. In round one of your bout with this legend, a head-butt caused a deep gash on Barrera's forehead. Up until that point, you were ahead on all scorecards and in the eyes of the fans. You were quick, accurate and very confident. It was great to beat a Hall of Famer in light of your brutal loss to Prescott a few months earlier. Another win added to the résumé of ‘'Amir Khan'’. Jury Deliberation Both sides presented solid evidence. The Judah fight was stopped early. However, Mr. Khan/Con was up big. Mr. Khan/Con was up against Barrera, no doubt. However, the decision to check Barrera’'s cut was made too late. Instead of checking before the fourth round, (a no-contest), the doctor waited until after the round started (a Khan/Con victory). The McCloskey fight was anticlimactic, but Khan/Con was ahead in the fight. A solid win over Malignaggi. A shaky and controversial decision over Maidana, but still a win. Some highs and lows, but Khan/Con only has one loss on his ledger. We’'ve reached a verdict. The VerdictThe courtroom is packed and the decision is passed to the judge. The judge confirms with all jurors and the verdict is…... Hung Jury! The book is still out on Amir Khan. On December 10, will Lamont Peterson bring us closer to finding out if Amir Khan is A Mere Con? I'’m not sure. Fans stay tuned. I have a strange feeling that by this time next year, we will finally have our answer.Jury, this case is not over. However, you may discuss this case with anyone you feel like at anytime. Mr. Khan, you are free to go. For now…...
James Hogan Interview with Boxing Manager Extraordinaire--- James Hogan
By Chip Mitchell
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing boxing manager and trainer James Hogan. James is the manager of close to 20 boxers in the Mid-Atlantic region. He is a man who is trying to make big things happen in and around the Baltimore fight scene. We recently sat down at a press conference for the “Who’s The Man II” fight card that takes place at Pikesville Armory in Maryland. One of his fighters, James “Keep’em Sleepin” Stevenson fights in the main event.
Chip Mitchell: James thanks for granting us this opportunity to interview you before the big fight card coming up next week.
James Hogan: No problem at all.
Chip Mitchell: With over 20 fighters to manage, you have a busy schedule coming up as many of your fighters have dates to do battle. How do you juggle your time amongst so many fighters?
James Hogan: Well it’s a full time job. We train all day long, from the morning to the evening. So we just put all our time into boxing. A full time job!
Chip Mitchell: How did you get started in the fight game?
James Hogan: Actually, I moved to Maryland in ’99. My father was in the boxing business for a long time. I chose to go the martial arts route. Vincent Pettway was working for the cable company and I was a manager. We started talking and I wanted to get back into the fight business. When I came here (to Maryland), I didn’t really like the martial arts world here. I didn’t feel like I was at home. I’m from New Jersey and that’s where I started out with martial arts. So I decided to do the boxing thing and I kind of wanted to resurrect him because he was really away from boxing. I thought that his talent was in boxing and not cable. Not saying that he was a bad technician or nothing (chuckles), but his talent was in boxing. I thought he deserved a lot more, being a world champion and the very first one in probably over 50 years in Baltimore. I started training with him in the Mack Lewis gym in order to prepare for a boxing career myself. I started to travel with him and my shoulder was giving me problems, so I kind of shied away from boxing, actually doing it myself. But I started to make a lot of connections and friends in boxing. I actually had the intention to promote until I started training James Stevenson. He kind of forced me into management (chuckle) and he was like ‘if you don’t manage me I’m not fighting’, so I was like okay. So I kind of got into it and it just took off. It just took off.
Chip Mitchell: Who would you say is your most promising pro prospect at the moment?
James Hogan: All of them! Unfair for me to answer that question. I have faith in all of them. I think all of them have abilities and all different styles. Somebody will make it.
Chip Mitchell: For fight fans that don’t know, explain what your duties are as a manager.
James Hogan: I’m trying to figure out what my duties aren’t! (Laughs). It’s a very busy job. I mean you have to coordinate fights, negotiate contracts. There is some promoting you have to do- not promoting the fight, but promoting the fighter. Oh my goodness! I mean scheduling, training- it’s a very, very busy job. Let’s just say that.
Chip Mitchell: Okay, so we can call it many responsibilities for a lot of different types of personalities.
James Hogan: Oh absolutely! I mean you have all different walks of life. Everybody has good things going and bad things going. Oh my goodness, yeah, you deal with a lot of personalities and testosterone and men in the gym who want to fight each other so… yeah you go through a lot in this business.
Chip Mitchell: Are there certain qualities that you look for in a fighter before you decide to manage them?
James Hogan: Yeah. To me it’s dedication. I don’t care. You can be the worst fighter in the world. If you’re dedicated and you want to do this, you can be a fighter and you can do well. What pushes me away from a fighter… I don’t care how good you are, if you don’t train and you don’t put the work in and you’re not dedicated and committed to it, you won’t make it. Boxing is a lifestyle. It’s not just a sport you compete in. It’s a lifestyle. Because if you don’t eat right, and you don’t drink right, and you don’t rest right, and you don’t live your life right- you can’t cheat boxing. It’s the one sport where you can’t pass the ball to a teammate, or tap out, or get a substitute. You gotta do it on your own. I mean, I can tell you what to do, but YOU’VE got to do it.
Chip Mitchell: That’s deep, that’s deep. Okay, if you had a chance to manage any fighter in the history of the sport, who would it be and why? I’m talking outside of the young men you are working with now.
James Hogan: Wow! Aww man!! Don’t know how to answer that question. There are so many great fighters and I really, really appreciate the sport. There’s nobody that really jumps out or stands out to me. I mean, it’s just so many personalities. I could sit here naming guys off for different reasons, but I don’t think I could pick somebody in particular.
Chip Mitchell: Okay, well let me go this route then… who are your favorite fighters past or present?
James Hogan: I guess I’ll name some fighters off. Although I respect the sport tremendously, I don’t have a particular favorite fighter. I do like Shane Mosley, how he conducts himself. Always a professional, always speaks well, never ducks anybody and he fights everybody. I like the personality of Muhammad Ali. He was slick talking but he used tact and diplomacy. So it wasn’t like he was just running out there talking out the side of his neck. He actually knew what he was saying. An educated guy. I used to like Mike Tyson like everybody. I liked to watch him fight. Evander Holyfield. I mean, just a ton of guys. If I had to pick a guy I think Sugar Shane Mosley definitely conducts himself very well, never makes excuses, and is always humble. So I like that.
Chip Mitchell: Where do you want to be in the boxing game five years from now?
James Hogan: In the boxing game, this might sound crazy, but I actually want to make a difference here in Baltimore, Maryland. I want to change the culture. You know, a lot of these fighters fight here locally but they always have to go out of town to get a big fight on TV or anything like that. I’d like to see a change. I’d liked to see it come here. I think there are a lot of good fighters here and I feel that they deserve a chance. The only way they are gonna get a chance is if we can get the public eye on Baltimore and let them see there is talent here. Because if you keep going out of town it’s like you’re always going to that guy’s backyard and you’re always at a disadvantage. I just think that it would be great to actually get some big fights here and get some television in here. I want to make that difference. I want to SOMEHOW get that here. I think we will in the next few years and then from there everything else will fall into place. I don’t chase dreams. I don’t chase anything. I mean, absolutely I have goals. I strive for perfection so if I come up short, I’m going to be doing just fine.
Chip Mitchell: In closing, is there anything you would like to tell the millions of fans reading this interview transcript?
James Hogan: Yes. We have a tremendous amount of talent here in Baltimore, Maryland and we just want an opportunity to show everyone we have that. It’s coming soon and they will see it. They will see the talent here in the near future. UP--UP-- UPTON… WE’RE ON THE RIZE! Gotta Love Boxing!!!
Thanks to Matt “The Catalyst” Yano for facilitating this interview.
Holyfield Exclusive Interview With Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
by Chip Mitchell
Boxing fans, I recently had the opportunity to interview a legend. Folks, the ONLY boxer to win the World heavyweight title four times…. I give you Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield!
Chip Mitchell: Evander thanks for granting us this opportunity to interview you before your next fight.
Evander Holyfield: Okay.
Chip Mitchell: Evander, how has training been going for your upcoming fight?
Evander Holyfield: Oh, everything is swell. Everything is swell.
Chip Mitchell: Evander, you are 48 years old and….
Evander Holyfield: (cutting in) Yes I am!
Chip Mitchell: Okay, well you’ve heard fans and media alike suggest that you retire. Let’s set the record straight. What drives you to keep boxing?
Evander Holyfield: Well it’s my goal. My goal is to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. That’s my goal. That’s the reason I’m still fighting.
Chip Mitchell: Some feel you should already be champion again. You fought Nikolay Valuev for the WBA title and I have yet to speak to anyone who believed you lost. Your thoughts?
Evander Holyfield: Well of course, one way or another I felt that I did enough to win the fight and unfortunately, I didn’t get it. But that would’ve just been only one belt. I would’ve still been fighting. Like I said, my goal is to be undisputed and not just winning a belt. I want to win ALL the belts.
Chip Mitchell: Okay Evander, let’s get down to the business at hand. You are preparing to fight Sherman “Tank” Williams on January 22 at the Greenbrier Resort. The fight was postponed a few times, but it looks like a go this time. Williams says he’s going to punish you. How do you see the fight playing out?
Evander Holyfield: You know, I just know I should win. I don’t go by what nobody says. They say what they’re supposed to say.
Chip Mitchell: Let’s say that you beat Sherman. What’s the next step for you in your career?
Evander Holyfield: My goal is to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Chip Mitchell: Okay, the next few questions come from boxing fans who seek answers for historical reference. Michael Ferguson in Concord, VA asks who the hardest puncher you’ve faced is. In terms of consistent hard punches, not just a single shot.
…
Evander Holyfield: Well consistently getting hit hard, I would say Riddick Bowe. But then again, it’s because he caught me with them shots! When you are talking about how hard somebody hits, actually, you have to get hit by them. You can’t just go by what you see somebody do to somebody else. Like I say, I see Mike Tyson hit a lot of people hard. He just didn’t get me with them shots, I was able to have good defense. But it doesn’t mean he don’t hit hard. But Riddick Bowe on a consistent basis of being hit, I was hit more by him more than I guess any heavyweight. Hard shots.
Chip Mitchell: Zique in West Virginia asks if you have any regrets for not fighting Mike Tyson before he went to prison.
Evander Holyfield: No. Why would I have any regrets? We still fought. It’s not like something that I did wrong or anything like that. I think in that particular situation Mike had a chance to fight me in ’89. He chose not to fight me. Then he lost in ’90 to Buster Douglas. And so, then of course in ’91 he had a chance to fight me but he said he was doing sit-ups and he broke his rib. Then after that when it came to fight me again he went to jail. These are things that I don’t regret because the fact of the matter is I didn’t have anything to do with that. I think people tend to get it mixed up in some kind of way that I had a goal to fight Mike. I never had a goal to fight Mike, I had a goal to win the heavyweight championship. There’s not a fighter out there who I had a goal to fight them. You know, I’m a boxer. My goal has always been to be the champion. Whomever I have to go through then that’s who I go through. But I just never had a goal for individuals and say, ‘oh I want to fight this guy’. I don’t feel that makes who you are. Who you are is when you have a goal and there are the people who are standing between you and that goal. You go through them and this person allows you to have your first setback and you make some adjustments to come back. You become who you are by all the things you had to go through.
Chip Mitchell: Scotty C. from Abingdon, MD believes your plan in the first Bowe fight was to use your boxing skills. You came in at 205 so you’d be faster. In round two, Bowe hit you on the break and you got mad and hit him back. You then went toe-to-toe with Bowe and it seems as if your fight-plan was scrapped. You attempted to outslug him instead of outbox him. It appeared to become an ego thing because Bowe made you mad with his tactics. Scott wants to know if his opinion is correct.
Evander Holyfield: His opinion is correct! Because the fact of the matter is that was a really shortcoming. It means that I knew the way to beat him, but once I got upset he got me to change my attitude. The important thing about what he said, to let him know what allowed it to happen, was before the fight Riddick Bowe told me “If you don’t run I’ll knock you out.” That was more of an insult to me, because I have this saying… I don’t run from nobody! But the smart thing was to fight. My corner kept telling me “box him, box him, box him”. I boxed him the first two rounds, then all of sudden he start hitting me low and hitting me on the break. So all of a sudden, I just started going toe-to-toe to let him know that I’ll fight you all day. Plus I was counting on the fact that Bowe was my sparring partner. I was counting on the fact that you know what- I used to run him out of gas all the time when we used to fight. So what I did was I stayed in there and was gonna fight him because I knew he was gonna run out of gas. That’s the first fight that man has ever had where he didn’t run out of gas (laughing). When he didn’t run out of gas and my eyes were so swollen, I had to stay there. I couldn’t see him from a distance because he had the reach, he had good hand speed from the outside, and he fought good from the inside. He was the most complete big man that I’ve ever fought.
Chip Mitchell: How did you get your nickname “Real Deal”?
Evander Holyfield: Well I think it was an accident. When the ordeal first started off, the name Real Deal came with the people who used to talk on the CBs (radios). There was this guy named Poppa Charlie. He said ‘you got to get you a handle too’. Then I said ‘Holyfield… Real Deal’. Then out of that Holyfield Real Deal. Then all of a sudden when I got to Colorado, they were like “WHAT’S THE DEAL HOLYFIELD?” (Laughing) All of a sudden, I wanted to be Real Deal. Then when I fought in the Olympics and got disqualified, all these guys were my friends and they said “Aww man you got a raw deal”. So they started calling me “Raw Deal” and I said no, no, no, no- I’m the REAL DEAL man! You don’t go off on nothing negative. I told them that’s how I became the Real Deal. Everybody kind of liked that. You know, Real Deal actually means proven. So when somebody says something is the real deal, they say the person is proven to be what he says he is.
Chip Mitchell: Wow! Good story! Good story! Okay now, Evander, how did you get your start in boxing?
Evander Holyfield: Well I started at the Boys Clubs. At the age of eight years old, I wanted to hit the speed bag and this man said “YOU HAVE TO BE ON THE BOXING TEAM!” I told him I want to be on the boxing team and he said “NO!” So every day I would ask him. Eventually I wore him out! (Chuckles) So he let me come in and I wanted to hit that speed bag. He told me no and told me to hit the heavy bag. I hit the heavy bag and I knocked the skin off my knuckles, but I kept hitting it. He said, “You’re bleeding”. I said ‘I know it’ and I just kept on and he said “No, no, no, no. Come on, come, come on, and let me get this blood off your hands”. Then he said, “You tough ain’t you?” I told him ‘YES’! Then said “Don’t you know you can be heavyweight champion of the world?” I looked at him, you know, because he’s an older white guy and my mother always told me to respect my elders. I said ‘I’m eight years old’. He said, “You won’t always be eight”. And I believed him because I knew the next week I would be nine. So he asked me what did I think and I said I was only 65 pounds. He said, “You won’t always be 65 pounds”. So I looked at him and he said, “What’s next”. I asked him what the heavyweight champion is. I didn’t know nothing about no boxing. He said, “You don’t know what the heavyweight champion is?” He asked me if I ever heard of Muhammad Ali. I said yeah. He asked how I knew him and I told him they had Black History week and they talk about him. He told me that I could be just like him. That’s the first man, outside of my mother telling me, that I could be something worth being. And that’s how it started.
Chip Mitchell: Evander, how has spirituality played a part in your boxing career?
Evander Holyfield: That’s the only way I won. It’s when you don’t choose your parents, your skin color, or your size. Which is everybody. Because we were poor, my mother told us this is the way that you make it. You have to trust in God for everything because we didn’t have enough money, didn’t have enough of anything. But what we had, we made it with it. So I was brought up in a household and was the youngest of nine. I got so many whooping that my grandmamma used to pray on me telling God that He has to save me because my momma was gonna kill me (laughing). That’s how I know somebody was gonna get hit when I was a kid. My grandma used to pray for me all the time and always told me we had to keep God first. Anything that you want to be you have to have God and believe that God will allow you to be it. You know what, I believed that and I trust in what the Word of God says. That’s the reason that at 48 years old I can still do what I do. There ain’t nobody at 48 years old that ever did what I’ve done.
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Holyfield page 2 Exclusive Interview With Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
by Chip Mitchell
Interview continued:
Chip Mitchell: Who do you consider your favorite boxers, past or present?
Evander Holyfield: Well, I have quite a few because as a kid I had people who were in the gym that were my favorite because that’s all I see. But as a professional, I didn’t like real flashy because I had a coach that told me you don’t have to do all that. So I like a person like Marvin Hagler because he worked hard. He worked and he came in there in shape all the time and all that. I like Sugar Ray Leonard too because the fact of the matter is he is very skillful. I like the quick hands but I don’t get caught up in all the showboating, but he was very skillful. Same thing when you look at Floyd Mayweather. I like him. He outthinks people. He outthinks them. He has quick hands and all that. He fights a complete fight. Then again, another person I liked coming up is Tyson. Because you know what, regardless of what everybody ever said about Tyson, when he comes he comes to fight. He never said they were taller than me or they were bigger than me. When he first came in there, he was a small guy. He was 215. Everyone else, man them boys were 6’6, 6’5, 6’7. Nobody ever said they were too big for Tyson, but Tyson was like 5’10, 5’11. These guys were 6’4, 6’5, 6’6. I seen and read that he would hit these guys and he would jab these guys. This was before he became the superstar of the superstars. But in the 80’s, man he’d sit there and jab those guys. Jab ‘em and he did a lot of incredible things. I like Pacquiao too. He’s another guy that’s left handed and throws so many punches that eventually; if you’re not in shape you are not going to beat him. Because he takes a good shot too. These fighters that I mention, these are the people that whenever they do something I watch them. I see the things they do to stay there. They make the adjustments to make the opponent stop doing what they are doing.
Chip Mitchell: On November 15, 1984, you began your professional career. The Night of the Olympians card had You, Meldrick Taylor, Virgil Hill, Mark Breland, Tyrell Briggs, and Pernell Whitaker on it. What do you recall about your pro debut that night?
Evander Holyfield: Well it was big moment for me. I know the history of game in Madison Square Garden. Now who in the world would think you’d have an opportunity in your PROFESSIONAL debut to fight at Madison Square Garden? Not a sold out arena, but an arena that was full because they gave the tickets to all the people and they filled that place. I’m like you know what, who would’ve thought that so many people know they made it when they made it Madison Square Garden. And my first professional fight this is what happened to me. That was the good part, but the bad part was that I had to fight the toughest person. This guy Lionel Byarm. He was the Philadelphia State Champion. Now being 48 years old, to think about would I actually put my guy in a fight with the Philadelphia State Champion? Now, maybe another state that’s not known for boxing, but Philadelphia? I wouldn’t have done that. But I don’t know HOW they put me in a fight with that guy. And that guy fought me ALL night! That was a HARD six rounds. That’s hard six rounds, but that’s how my career jumped off. You know with me, I just thought I was supposed be better than anybody I fought. So it wouldn’t make no difference who the guy was. I was going to fight him because I wasn’t going to say I don’t think I could beat him because that’s not in me.
Chip Mitchell: Please finish this sentence: If I wasn’t a boxer I’d be ______________
Evander Holyfield: Well I’d like to think that I would’ve been a football player. I would’ve probably been one of those Falcons.
Chip Mitchell: In closing, is there anything you would like to tell the millions of fans reading this transcript online?
Evander Holyfield: I like to tell them that I’m going to be the next undisputed champion.
Thanks to Evander Holyfield Management, Mike Weaver, and Michael Ferguson for assistance with this interview.
Diva Interview with The Boxing Diva! by Chip Mitchell
Fans get ready! I recently had the pleasure of interviewing “THE DIVA!”, matchmaking and promoter extraordinaire Renee Aiken. Her Diva-Rize-N Promotions presents an event on Saturday October 8 at DC Star Nightclub in Washington, DC to support breast cancer awareness. Featured on the card are Thomas “KO” Snow and former cruiserweight Champion O’Neil “Supernova” Bell. The Diva talked about her career, spiritual fortitude, and the big event on Saturday night. Here’s what she had to say:
Chip Mitchell: DIVA!!!!
Renee Aiken: Yes sir!
Chip Mitchell: Thanks for granting us this interview today.
Renee Aiken: Okaaaaay, I’m happy to do it.
Chip Mitchell: That makes two of us. Okay Diva, let’s get right to it. Tell the millions of fans reading this interview online about your event coming up on Saturday night.
Renee Aiken: We have an action packed, sold out card at the DC Star in NE Washington, DC on Queens Chapel Road. We are featuring Thomas KO Snow and he will be fighting Rasool Shakoor. We have the Supernova O’Neil Bell, former cruiserweight champion. I have Jessie Nicklow who is fighting Frank Armstrong. We also have Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan on the card, as well as some up and coming up and coming fighters out of the New Jersey, DC, MD, and VA area.
Chip Mitchell: I think this is a solid event, not only with the quality of boxers involved but also because it brings about consciousness concerning a disease all too familiar to some of us. What motivated you to contribute to this cause?
Renee Aiken: Well what happened was Capital Punishment show was scheduled on August 27th. If you remember, the end of August the east coast experienced one day of earthquakes. We experience hurricanes. Then my show was pushed to a postponement. I decided to run a couple of weeks later into October. I am launching a line of gloves out of Fuel Gear. Fuel Gear is the parent company and I have a line called The Diva Line. We designed this line to get female fighters a little more action when it comes to gear and stuff like that. But I wanted to design a glove that not only females could wear, but the guys. So the color I chose was a black glove and in that black glove, the thumb and my logo were a plum color. When we got the prototype back, the glove was like a mild pink. They weren’t getting that metallic look I was looking for. So we talked about it and we were like okay let’s send it back and we’re gonna get it going and we’re trying to get this pink right. Then I was like God is telling me something here. Because the earthquakes happened then the hurricanes happened and then I went into October and from October my glove color didn’t come back right. So the pink was like kinda there and I was like you know what- I have a few girlfriends who have suffered from this disease and not only that- there are several fights as well who have had someone- I’d say two out of every four people have been hit by this disease. So my thing was The Diva needs to do something special for this show and we need to bring DC out to do a giveback to the Cancer Research Foundation or the Susan B. Coleman who does the race for the cure. I intend to raffle off some gloves and have a box for people to give a donation. I just really, really wanted to make it special. I mean I listened to the signs and God was telling me that I needed to do something. I played on it and that’s where it left me.
Chip Mitchell: You mentioned God sent you a message. How has your spirituality played a part in your career in the boxing arena?
Renee Aiken: I would say that it has kept me calm. You know this business is a real, real….. I don’t wanna be stereotypical and say that it’s a man’s world or a man’s line of work. I feel that anybody that sets there mind to do whatever can conquer. I feel that God has opened up many doors for me. Just because He’s opened up many doors for me it’s allowed me to not focus on the negative, so to speak, and try to do something positive. When I set out to do this, it was something positive. I wanted to make a difference as a female in this business. I wanted to be the one that people say “Wow, she never stops”. I believe I’m getting that accomplished.
Chip Mitchell: Speaking of never stopping, I went to boxrec.com which is kind of the official way to track boxer’s records and events. I typed your name in. I was shocked to see two pages of boxing data under your name. I mean boxing-card-after-boxing-card-after-boxing-card. How do you do it?
Renee Aiken: I think that in this business, your reputation means a lot. It follows you wherever you go whether you a fighter, trainer, manager, or whatever. So the idea of doing good business and the idea of respecting, you see a lot of people in general in this business it’s about the money for them. For me it’s about success. If I’m successful, the money will come. So I try to keep that vision and try to keep mentality. I have a son, Christian and everybody in this business pretty much knows him. He’s got a long way to go. I open every door that I possibly can but I’m a mother and a parent. When these kids come to fight- they are somebody’s child. You have to think that is someone taking the ultimate, ultimate chance with his life. You have to treat them in that manner. This is a business. Any of my fighters will tell you, when they go home they get phone calls. Did you get home safe? I want them to go back the same way that they came here. It’s the caring and understanding that we’re dealing with human beings and not pieces of meat that I try to project. I come to the table with a lot more as matchmaking. I didn’t start off in this business as a matchmaker; I started off in this business as Monet Barrett’s personal assistant. So when everybody was jumping on the ring trying to get on TV, I was networking with IBF. I was getting to know judges and referees. I was marketing myself and when you do that you build relationships. It’s about relationships and for me it was important to make a difference and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.
Chip Mitchell: Wow. That'’s deep. What would you consider a successful promotion?
Renee Aiken: In today’'s world so to speak, the norm is ticket-sellers and paid bouts. They didn’t do that years ago. A promoter saw a fighter, wanted to move him, he got a fan base and sales came from having a fan base. It’s NOT like that today! It’s a different world. To me a successful event- everybody wants to make money in this business make money in this business- which hopefully they will. I think a successful event is when you have a good card and you at least break even. You put on an event and you definitely want to make money. It doesn’t always happen because this is a different era now. Definitely a different era. A successful event to me is a great card. When it comes down the finances and all of that, it’s a little different. I did a show in DC and the media people looked at the card. A guy told me that he the cards and said they were gonna be some shit fights. That’s exactly what he said to me. He said ‘you have to know the fighters and YOU know these fighters. This was a great card’. That is success to me. Like these guys with a 2-10 record or 5-6. That doesn’t mean they can’t fight. The difference between me and most promoters is that you’ll see Renee in NC. You’ll see Renee in OH. I’ll go wherever it takes to learn the fighters and research them. Most matchmakers stay in their own territory. Not only is my database gonna be more, but I’ll have a bigger network and I’ll know the fighters. So when I take a 2-7 and put him in a 10-0 and they bang it out toe-to-toe, that’s because I know that fighter is 2-7 might have lost in a guy’s home town or he got bad decisions. It’s doesn’t necessarily me he doesn’t. You gotta know the fighter.
Chip Mitchell: You touched on my next question but I’ll ask it anyway. How difficult is it to be a matchmaker? Let me give you an example. I went to a card a few years back and every fight ended in a first round knockout. For some fans, it was a great night. From a matchmaking perspective however, you want fights to be more competitive. Is it hard to put a recipe for competitive fights that have plenty of action and aren’t too boring?
Renee Aiken: Yeah, it goes back to my previous answer. You HAVE to know the fighters in order for the matches to be competitive. It goes without question. That’s where all of that comes from. Knowing the fighters.
Chip Mitchell: For the fans out there reading this interview, please give us your website address and contact information for tickets for Saturday’s event.
Renee Aiken: Contact information, if they don’t want to go on website, they can surely call me. My cell is 302-543-3705. My website is Diva-Rize-N.com. You can go on to the website throughout Saturday. They can surely call me and we’ll make it happen.
Chip Mitchell: I did visit your site and I have to ask. Will the gloves be available for fans to purchase? They look good.
Renee Aiken: Not at the show, but we are taking orders. They will be able to purchase them this month. It will be on my website as well as Fuel Gear shortly as well.
Chip Mitchell: Diva, it’s been a pleasure talking to you. In closing is there anything you’d like to tell the multitude of fans out there reading this interview?
Renee Aiken: I’d just really want to say come out and see the show. I’m trying to keep boxing going in the DC area either monthly or every other month. I need the fans’ support. Like I said I’ve really been blessed and I want to make a difference. Without the support of the fans I can’t do that, so we need the fans to come out and support the show. I thank the ones who have been supportive and I thank everyone for that.
Ortiz "I was doing just fine and then there was a little slip up" - Victor Ortiz
by Chip Mitchell
Fans, he did it to us again. The 24 year old enigma that we know as "Vicious" found yet another way to breakdown mentally and cause the boxing world to scratch its collective head.
“Vicious” Victor Ortiz was knocked out on Saturday night by Floyd “Money” Mayweather at 2:59 of the fourth round. It was Mayweather’s first stoppage since 2007 and it didn’t come without controversy. Say what you want, but I think controversy is good for the sport. In this one, the opinions will run about as rampant as any fight in recent memory. If you dislike Floyd Mayweather, then you probably loathe him at this point. However, let’s put personal feelings aside and look at what I feel will be the bigger issue as we move forward.
Prior to the knockout, Floyd Mayweather was enjoying a 3-0 lead on most scorecards and seemed to be winning the fourth. However, there was plenty of action in the fight as both fighters took turns coming forward. Mayweather seemed to be getting stronger and in the fourth round, he decided to press the action a bit. Victor exploded with his own answer to Mayweather’s litmus test and tried to bully Floyd into the ropes. Once there, Ortiz followed with a flurry of punches (most of which were blocked), but pressed on.
Then the inexplicable…
I’ve seen accidental head butts. I’ve seen head butts that were intentional. However, I’m not sure that I’ve seen a boxer use an opponent’s shoulders to launch himself headfirst to commit a head-butting foul. After the head butt, the referee stepped in as Ortiz simultaneously followed with two shots that narrowly missed. Those two shots, as well as the head butt itself could’ve been cause for disqualification. The only reason I don’t think referee Joe Cortez disqualified Victor at that point was because it was a championship fight. One question I ask is if a fighter is down 3-0, why would he purposely foul to lose an additional point? Your answer may be that Ortiz was frustrated because he couldn’t connect with any significant punches on Mayweather. Nice theory. Popular theory. However, in my opinion, it’s the wrong theory.
Victor Ortiz had a Marcos Maidana flashback. He was facing an opponent who not only was getting stronger, but (unlike Maidana) was also a defensive wizard. In other words, Victor Ortiz simply quit. Don’t believe me?
Let’s take look at Victor’s history because I think there is a bigger problem that lies ahead. In 2005, Victor was disqualified for hitting Corey Alarcon after the referee called for a break. Then in 2009, we have the infamous fight with Maidana. I think the quote back then was “I’m young, but I don’t think I deserve to be getting beat up like this…” Huh? But your opponent does, right?
Then we come to Saturday’s main event in front of a packed MGM Grand crowd of 15,000 fans. Once again, Victor Ortiz found a way out. Again, I ask why a fighter would foul when down 3 rounds to none. Frustration played a part but this fight was about a mentally strong fighter defeating a young man with a mental deficiency.
This problem is not going to go away, fans. Victor Ortiz will do this again. Alarcon, Maidana, Mayweather. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three times….
You can bring Eddie Futch back from the dead and he wouldn’t be able to correct the flaw that Victor has mentally. He can’t control himself. It exists in some fighters and even the fighter himself can’t stop it. Some guys spend an entire career tripping over themselves and Victor seems to be headed that way.
Andrew Golota was winning both fights with Riddick Bowe but couldn’t control himself to keep punches above the belt. Mike Tyson tried to break an opponent’s arm or bite them when things didn’t go his way. Victor Ortiz is slowly working his way into this class. It’s a shame because the kid is such a likeable young man.