Ghosts of Boxing Past – Who Do You Miss?
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By Marc “Kid Huevos” Livitz
As many of us are still working from home, schooling from home and perhaps becoming more than just one with home, the recent news of boxing stars from the previous decade making comebacks has made its way into a few talking circles. The anticipation, if there is much at all for the upcoming charitable showdown between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones, Jr. has found company with last week’s bombshell concerning former pound-for-pound greats Oscar De La Hoya and Sergio Martinez. One announced his intentions to return to the ring at the age of 47 alongside a twelve year absence, while the other was last seen six years ago as a shell of his former self. As recalled in an article I penned last week, Oscar’s last outing in the ring was an abysmal night and a one-sided beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. “Maravilla” Martinez, on the other hand, was another story.
Until convinced otherwise, I’ll go to the ground for good with the memory of the two most electrifying fight night crowds I’ve ever seen. Nothing will outdo the atmosphere inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 8, 2007 when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. squared off against Ricky Hatton, while the insane nationalistic fervor inside the Thomas and Mack Center on September 15, 2012 when Sergio Martinez narrowly dodged a last-round defeat to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is a close second. The former was a case of 90% rabid fans from England rooting for their man from Manchester, while the latter seemed split down the middle between raucous fight goers pulling for Argentina and Mexico, respectively. In that particular contest between Martinez and Chavez, JR., “Maravilla” survived a twelfth round knockdown after having thoroughly embarrassed the son of Mexico’s all-time greatest for the preceding eleven. As he went unexpectedly to the canvas, the middleweight king awkwardly twisted his right knee. He was never the same after that evening in Sin City and fought only twice more before calling it quits.
The first was a less than stellar and somewhat gifted hometown decision over Martin Murray in Buenos Aires, yet it was the last outing that saddened so many of us. In another time or place and certainly without the hindrance of his injury, Sergio Martinez puts Miguel Cotto out cold. Instead, we witnessed the normally cool and collected champion from Quilmes retire on his stool at the end of round ten at the age of 38. This man was the lineal middleweight king from 2010 to 2014 and try your darndest to find a sweeter knockout than the one he delivered to Paul Williams in the second round of their championship rematch in November of 2010. Martinez’s comeback started last Friday night in Spain with a seventh round stoppage win over Jose Miguel Fandino.
Now that the introductions are out of the way, I’ll add that I miss seeing the Sergio Martinez of old. The one who held his guard low and used masterful technique to get past such names as the aforementioned Williams, Kelly Pavlik and Sergiy Dzinziruk. His knockout of Williams avenged what was one of his two career losses at the time and it’s a crying shame that we didn’t get to see him draw even with a savage pummeling of the other chap who bested him, Antonio Margarito. Let’s not get started with the plaster master in this conversation. Do you miss particular fighters more than having not seen two of whomever were among the best at the time ever facing off? How often do you bite the index knuckle of a clenched fist when you think of what could have been had Riddick Bowe fought either Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson or both? While some are so hung up on mythical matchups such as Tyson against say, Joe Louis or Muhammad Ali, what about the ones that should have happened?
While Bowe never took to the ring against Tyson or Lewis, Evander Holyfield fought all three of them. Personally, I miss the late, great Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. He was special and most of us would have loved to have seen him get a second shot at Julio Cesar Chavez, although not as much as the thought of the true justice of seeing his hand raised that Fall 1993 evening in San Antonio, Texas. That’s not exactly neutral ground, is it? I miss the Mike Tyson of old, even though we knew his walk to the ring could easily take up more time than the actual fighting within it. Do you miss such colorful characters as Hector “Macho” Camacho, “Prince” Naseem Hamed or whomever was one of your fighters of choice?
Personally, I miss them all. In terms of recent departures, how about the trinity of Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales? And yes, Oscar De La Hoya’s fight nights made for a fun evening as well. Barbecue, chips and queso and lots of cold beer. Were those “the days” or will we get them back? What a letdown it was to see a heavyweight as talented as Andy Ruiz, Jr. shock the world with his knockout of then-undefeated Anthony Joshua in the Summer of 2019 only to clearly blow off the commitment it took to remain a champion? I refused to watch the rematch last December because of where it was staged, but in any case, Andy let the idea of big money go to his head and became a whale of a different kind. There’s too many to mention, but think about it for a moment.
What would you have loved to see fight? The floor is open…
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