On This Day: Charlie Allum: A Warrior Remembered

By Peter Silkov

Charlie Allum was a hero inside, and out of the ring, losing his life in the terrible WW1.  Born on April 23, 1876, in Notting Hill. Charlie started boxing as an amateur in 1896, and with such success that some of his opponents accused him of being a professional.  In 1899, after the outbreak of The Boar War, he joined the 2nd Battalion of Royal Fusiliers, and in 1900 went to South Africa, where he distinguished himself, fighting at the front, especially during the Siege of Ladysmith. 

On his return from South Africa, in 1903, after serving three years, Allum turned professional, and quickly became a popular performer. 

Charlie would face some of the top welterweights and middleweights who were operating in England during the 1900s.  Men like, Peter Brown, Charlie Knock, Pat O’Keefe,  Frank Craig, Jack Scales, Jewey Smith, Jim Sullivan, and Ted Nelson.

On November 16, 1903, in his 16th contest, he won the English welterweight title, when he knocked out Charlie Knock in the 9th round.  On February 27, 1905, Allum won the British and English middleweight title’s (150 pounds) when he stopped Jack Kingsland in the 10th round.

Allum lost his titles to Pat O’Keefe on April 23, 1906, when he was knocked out in the 6th round.  In his next contest, three months later, on September 8, 1906, the big punching Frank Craig knocked out Allum in the 5th round.  After this Allum’s career faded somewhat, with him going 9-10-3 in his last 22 contests, but he still was fighting at a good level, against quality opponents.  However Allum won his last 4 fights, retiring after he beat Louis Verger on a 7th round disqualification on October 21, 1911.

With the outbreak of WW1, Allum went to France with the Royal Fusiliers, where he had the rank of Sergeant.  Allum died in action in France on July 21, 1918.  He was 42 years old.  It is said that Charlie battled Germans bare-fisted when he mistakenly ended up at the German front, after thinking it was his own lines. He is memorialized on the World War I memorial in the cemetery at Ploegsteert in Belgium. His son,

Charlie Allum’s final record 22(12koes)-19-8.

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Big Fight Preview: Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol: Can The Hunter Melt The Ice Man

By Peter Silkov

When Terence ‘The Hunter’ Crawford (28-0, 20 koes), takes on Viktor ‘The Ice Man’ Postol (28-0, 12koes) this Saturday, July 23, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, there will be much more on the line than simply both men’s world title belts. This fight is a little bit special, as it pits two of today’s most promising young champions against each other, this Saturday.

Crawford will be putting his WBO world light-welterweight title on the line, while Postol seeks to defend his WBC world light-welterweight championship.

At a time when so many world champions are doing everything they can to avoid fighting each other, this fight comes as a breath of fresh air.

Photo: Getty Images

Out of the two men, Terence Crawford is already a star in the making. He has made steady progress over the last few years, winning the WBO world lightweight title from Ricky Burns in 2014, defending it twice, before moving up and adding the WBO world light-welterweight title to his collection in April of last year.

It is a sad fact that, in the modern era, fighters collect world titles from different weight division in a blink of an eye, and often without facing any matches of substance along the way. That said, Crawford vs. Postol is a match of substance, which should tell us quite a bit about both men.

Postol’s main problem during his professional career so far has been finding boxers willing to fight him. The Ukrainian finally achieved his ‘breakout’ fight in his last outing nine months ago, when he stopped Lucas Matthysse in 10 rounds, to win the vacant WBC world light-welterweight championship.

Photo; http://thesportsfanjournal.com

Now Postol has a real chance of becoming another one of boxing’s growing Eastern European stars, if he can upset ‘The Hunter’ Terence Crawford.

This has all of the hallmarks of a  well-matched fight. Both boxers are sound technicians, with good punches.  Crawford however, looks to be the one with that little bit extra. He is more flexible technically than the slightly robotic Postol, with superior speed, and it would seem, a sharper punch.  Yet in Postol, Crawford is facing an opponent who is actually bigger than him. One of the biggest questions in this fight is just how good is Viktor Postol. The beauty of this fight is that we have two world class boxers who are both undefeated, both matching each other in size, age, and both coming into their athletic primes, and the result will be that they should produce the best from each other. This is what world class boxing should be about, and we should be seeing matches like this and upcoming (we hope) Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev showdown, far more often. 

The winner of this contest will emerge with a good argument for being the true number one boxer at 140 pounds, and will be a step closer to achieving that tantalizing ’stardom’ that so many fighters are now chasing since the retirement of Floyd Mayweather. The pity for boxing is that too few of today’s ’world champions’ are chasing stardom the right way, that is, by fighting their most dangerous rivals.

This particular showdown between Crawford and Postal looks set to be a tantalizing technical war, rather than a gung-ho, all-guns blazing, shoot out.  It could very well be a battle of the jabs for much of the fight, as both men look for chins in the others armour. As the fight progresses, Crawford’s extra speed and power will give him those crucial edges that will lead to him making a breakthrough by the later rounds, by which time he should have gained control of the fight.

Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

This will be Crawford’s biggest challenge so far in his professional career, but it is one that he should be able to pass impressively in the end, with either a late stoppage or a clear point’s decision. Good though he is, Postol will find that Terence Crawford just has that extra something, which can make the difference between a boxer being a good fighter and a genuine champion with star potential.
 
In this fight, Crawford will be stepping into Mayweather’s old haunt, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, for the first time.  He will be hoping that this is the first step to him taking over from Mayweather, as boxing’s number one, pound-for-pound, superstar.

HBO Documentary "My Fight":

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

On This Day; Jack Slack: The Norfolk Butcher Remembered

By Peter Silkov

Jack Slack was a Bareknuckle prizefighter who won the Heavyweight championship of England.  Though standing just 5’ feet 8” inches tall, he was a powerfully built man, weighting round 200 pounds, and although he was not skilful or fast, he was very strong with a heavy punch.

Nick named ‘The Norfolk Butcher’ Slack was born on 1721 (month unknown) in Thorpe, Norfolk, England. 

Slack had his first serious fights in 1743, when he won the Heavyweight Championship of Norfolk.  In 1748, Slack sold a butchers shop that he owned and moved to London, and opened a school of boxing in Bristol.

On April 11, 1750, Slack won the Heavyweight championship of England, when he beat long time champion Jack Broughton in 14 minutes.

Slack defended his title 4 times over the next 10 years, losing his title in his 4th defence on June 17, 1760, when William Stevens beat him in 27 minutes.

Following the loss of his title, Slack retired from the prize ring, and opened a shop in Chandos Street, London. 

Jack Slack died on July 17, 1768 (though some reports have Slack dying in 1778.)

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

On This Day: John McCluskey: British Flyweight Champion Remembered

By Peter Silkov

 

John McCluskey was a quick and skilful flyweight, who could also mix it up when he needed to do so.  During a ten year career, McCluskey was one of the best flyweights in Europe from the late 60s to the mid 70s, but never managed to secure a world title shot.

Born on January 23, 1944, in Hamilton, Scotland, McCluskey began his professional career in 1965, at the age of 21.  Throughout his career McCluskey was well traveled, fighting in England, Sweden, Italy, South Africa, America, Switzerland, Australia, Zambia, Wales and his native Scotland.

In just his 8th professional fight, on January 16, 1967, McCluskey won the vacant British Flyweight title, when he knocked out Tony Barlow in the 8th round.  McCluskey would hold the British title until his retirement in 1976.

McCluskey tried 4 times to win the Europeon flyweight championship, but was beaten each time.  Fernando Atzori knocked him out in the 4th round on June 26, 1968, then out-pointed over 15 rounds by Franco Zurlo on April 4, 1970.  In his third try for the European title on March 19, 1971, McCluskey was out-pointed by Fernando Atzori, after a hard fought battle, which many thought he had won. In a 4th and last bit to win this title, McCluskey fought Fritz Chervet on December 26, 1972, and was beaten on points.

McCluskey did win the Commonwealth Flyweight title, out-pointing Harry Hayes In Melbourne, Australia, on June 16, 1970.  McCluskey held the Commonwealth title till August 5, 1971, when Henry Nissen stopped him on cuts in the 8th round.  

John McCluskey had his final fight on December 4, 1975, when Wayne Evans surprisingly stopped him in the 1st round.  He retired with a final record of 23(10koes)-15. 

John McCluskey died on July 17, 2015, at the age of 71.

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Big Fight Report: Rumble at the River in Pittsburgh

 

Photo: Christopher Nolan

By Stephen Donatelli


The bright lights of the ‘Rivers Casino’ were in full effect, and the river was calm, as a mild breeze brought about a near perfect atmosphere for the Friday night boxing show (July 15th) at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Many boxing fans were proudly wearing their ‘Made Men’ T-shirts, as they got ready for the boxing matches, which entertained the full crowd in the heart of Pittsburgh, PA.  First off, cruiserweight Lawrence Blakey (4-4, 3koes) from Homewood, Pennsylvania, used his superior body punching to overcome the previously unbeaten Mike Stull(1-1.)  The first two rounds were pretty academic, as Lawrence used effective aggression to stay on top of Stull, until a pair of blistering body shots in the 3rd round, froze Stull onto one knee, and he was unable to rise before the count of 10.

The next bout showcased undefeated ’Appalachian State Champion’ light-welterweight, Matt ’Sweet Child’ Conway (6-0-1, 3koes) going in against Chris Alexander (4-2-1, 3koes), and representing Norfolk, Virginia.  My good friend Skeets Levandosky is a second in the corner of Conway, as his head trainer is Conway’s Father.

Conway started this scheduled 6-round bout by using a decent double jab, and at every opportunity, was digging to the body of the sturdy Alexander. After the fight was over, it seemed that ’Sweet Child’ Conway got pushed a bit during the 6 rounds, yet handled it really well. However, the scorecards told a very different story. The judge’s cards read as follows, 57-57, a draw, 59-55 Conway and an incredible 59-55 for Alexander, making the fight a very disputed draw. I was baffled, bewildered, and sort of wondered if I had made my last eye appointment.  The Father of Conway was visibly and verbally irate,and for good reason.  Don’t get me wrong, Chris Alexander had his moments, but they were few and far between and that’s what left me, and the majority of the crowd baffled.  Hopefully this doesn’t discourage a great young kid like Conway, who has loads of potential.


Following the Conway fight, Dustin Echard (13-4, 10koes) ran through cruiserweight, ’The Handsome Hitman’ Josh Himes (9-1, 5koes), as it was evident from the start who was the better boxer. As much as Himes tried to move and stay game, he felt the thudding power of Echard, and was steadily worn down before being knocked out in the 4th round.
 
The main event of ’The Rumble at The River’ pitted heavyweights Ed ’Black Magic’ Larimore (13-0, 7koes) against Juan Goode.  Latimore fights out of the ’Dog House’ Boxing Gym in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while Juan Goode (6-4, 5koes) is from the Motor City, Detroit, Michigan.  This fight started out a bit tactical, with a lot of posturing.  As the fight progressed Latimore concentrated mainly on the body, while Goode basically went into a defensive shell for most of the contest.  Black Magic tried casting that potion or spell which would bring the fight to an end before the need of any scorecards, but it was not to be, and the fight went the full 6 rounds.  Here is where the judge’s scorecards seemed to go a bit crazy once again!  The scores read 59-55 Goode, 58-56 Latimore, and 58-56 Latimore.  Giving Latimore the victory, but only by a split decision.  I can’t speak on behalf of everybody, but the judge that voted 59-55 for Goode, left me scratching my head!. 

In any case, aside form some unexpected judge’s scores, it was an thoroughly entertaining night of boxing at The Rivers Casino.  Hopefully there will be many more fight cards like this in the future, promoted by ‘Made Men’ promotions.  Pittsburgh boxing is slowly but surely making a resurgence, which makes everybody happy.  

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Big Fight Report: Deontay Wilder vs. Chris Arreola: The Bronze Bomber Picks Apart the Nightmare

 

photo: www.commdiginews.com

 

By Peter Silkov

Photo; boxingjunkie.usatoday.com

Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36koes) retained his WBC world heavyweight championship against Chris Arreola (36-5-1, 31koes) last night, July 16th. It was a clinical and at times brutal display, which showed that Wilder is maturing and improving as a boxer.

Fighting at the aptly named Legacy Arena, in Birmingham, Alabama, in front of his home fans, Wilder never let Arreola get into the fight. Wilder weighed 226 and a quarter pounds, to Arreola’s 246 and a quarter pounds. From the start, ’The Bronze Bomber’ used his snakelike jab to slowly pick his challenger apart, and constantly frustrate ’The Nightmare’s’ attempts to get on the inside, and turn the fight into a brawl.

Arreola started slowly, visibly conscious of running into the champion’s big bombs, but as the rounds went by, it became clear that either on the inside or the outside, ’The Nightmare’ had no answer to the champion’s speed and power.  The few time that Arreola did manage to get off any punches, they seemed to lack any sharpness, and bounced off Wilder harmlessly.  Wilder’s punches however, seemed to sting and shake Arreola every time he landed.

photo: www.mirror.co.uk

Arreola was floored heavily in the 4th round by a cluster of shots, and did well to last the round, as Wilder seemed to be going for the finish. At the end of the round, Arreola staggered back to his corner, and the fight could easily have been stopped at this point.  However no one has ever questioned Arreola’s heart, and he bravely carried on, although now Wilder was using him for target practice with the left hand.  After the fight it would be revealed that Wilder had broken his right hand in the 4th round, and torn his right bicep during his 4th round assault upon Arreola.  From the 5th to the 8th round Wilder relied almost exclusively on his left hand, pounding it repeatedly into the brave Arreola’s increasingly battered face. By the end of the 8th round Arreola was becoming a gruesome sight, with his face bloody and swollen, and his left eye almost closed. Even Wilder himself seemed hesitant to inflict much more damage upon his challenger, and it was a relief to all when Arreola’s corner pulled him out of the fight after the conclusion of the 8th round.

It was a impressive and dominating display from Wilder.  While there are those who questioned Arreola’s credentials for gaining a world title shot at this point in his career, his experience and toughness over the years is unquestioned.  This was one of those fights where Wilder was expected to win, and needed to win well to impress and over all he did just that.  While the fight went longer than most people had predicted, Arreola has never been the kind of fighter who is blown out early.  Wilder took his time in this fight and would most likely have ended things earlier if he hadn’t injured his right hand and arm in the 4th round.

photo: http://cdn.newsapi.com.au

The Bronze Bomber won every round against a challenger who was outclassed, but showed his usual heart and toughness, before he was stopped.  Unfortunately Arreola looks like a fighter who at 35 years of age, and many blood and guts ring wars, has reached the end of the road as far as being a viable world title contender is concerned.  That said, with his recognizable name and big-hearted brawling style, it is unlikely we have seen the end of ’The Nightmare,’ even though he should probably walk away right now. 

What was most impressive about this performance was the technical improvements by Wilder.  He has an unorthodox style and does a lot of things ’wrong’, but at the same time, he has showed that he is learning how to use his height and reach to its full potential. Many of his previous crudeness has disappeared, and has been replaced by a much smoother more educated boxer, whose mixture of size, speed and power, will make him a tough match for any of the other top heavyweights. At this point Wilder does seem to be the 2nd best Heavyweight in the world behind Tyson Fury, and a unification fight between those two next year, is something that the Heavyweight division really needs.

photo: http://www.boxingnews24.com

Fight of the night was the bruising battle between two welterweight southpaws, Sammy Vasquez (21-1, 15koes) and Felix Diaz (18-1, 8koes). This match was a good mix of styles, with the bull like aggression of Diaz, pitted against the more refined style of Vasquez.  The fight ebbed and flowed though out the 10 rounds, with frequent meaty exchanges.  Despite coming in as the favourite, Vasquez showed some serious defensive flaws as the match progressed, and Diaz slowly emerged as the stronger and more ring wise fighter of the two. Vasquez showed a lot of heart to keep coming back every time Diaz looked to be on the point of overpowering him, and he also had to deal with a nasty looking cut mouth.  Diaz looked to be unlucky not to have come away with a win after 10 rounds, with the scores of 96-94 (Diaz), and two 95-95s rendering the bout a draw.  However bearing in mind that Vasquez had two points, rather harshly deducted, due to his mouth piece coming out of his mouth twice, because of severely his cut lip, a draw was perhaps the fairest result after what had been a close fight.  Cue perhaps a rematch, which would be no bad thing, at least for the fans.

One fighter who definitely needs to walk away from the ring is Vic Darchinyan (42-9-1, 31koes.)  The former flyweight, and super-flyweight world champion is now 40 years old, which is ancient for a little guy, and has been knocked out in 3 of his last 6 fights.  Now fighting at super-bantamweight Darchinyan faced Sergio ‘Finito’ Frias (18-6-2, 9koes) and after a quiet 1st round, Frias landed a tremendous right hand in the 2nd round, which put Darchinyan down and out.  Hopefully Darchinyan will not be yet another boxer who continues to fight long after the lights have gone out for him.

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Big Fight Report: The Jackal Ends Dickens' Dream With One Punch

By Peter Silkov

It took just one punch for Guillermo Rigondeaux to show tonight, July 16th, why he is boxing’s most avoided champion. ‘The Jackal’ successfully defended his WBA world super-bantamweight title at the Ice Arena, in Cardiff, Wales, when challenger, Jazza Dickens, was pulled out by his corner after the 2nd round with a broken jaw. The injury was caused in the 2nd round, when Rigondeaux landed the punch of the fight, a left hand to the side of Dickens face, which the challenger did well to take without going down.  However when Dickens returned to his corner a few minutes later, it was found that his jaw was broken and despite his protests, he was pulled out of the fight.

It’s hard to think of a more heartbreaking result for Dickens, who was holding his own, aside from that one big punch from the champion. The brief fight had been uneventful up to the point of impact, with Rigondeaux making his usual slow start in the 1st round as he studied his challenger and Dickens himself trying not to give anything away.  What few punches did connect cleanly in the 1st round came from Rigondeaux. 

The second round followed a similar pattern as the 1st, with both champion and challenger boxing cautiously, but even at this cautious pace, it was easy to see the class in Rigondeaux work. What punches Dickens did throw were missing by mere fractions of inches, as the champion moved his head and upper body to slip the punches almost imperceptibly.  This is where Rigondeaux’s genius lays, he is a master counter-puncher, almost a lost art in this ancient sport, and an art which is certainly undervalued by many of today’s so called experts and certain promoters.

The Jackal waits for one chance, one opening, then he strikes.  This is what happened when he landed with that one punch on Dickens’ face.  The challenger had been fighting an intelligent fight, trying not to give anything away, yet also attempting at times to land some punches of his own, while remaining cagey.  In the end, Rigo landed that one, dynamite left hand, and that was all he needed.

It was a bittersweet victory for The Jackal, whose appearance in front of the Welsh fans was disappointingly brief.  On one hand the champion had showed that his reflexes look to have remained sharp, despite his age and recent inactivity, he also showed the potency of his punching power, which is a big clue as to why his opponents are so often unwilling to come forwards against him.

Photo:Sky sports

Unfortunately for Rigo, he was unable to gain many rounds, which he probably regrets.   

Rigondeaux now seems to be set for a return to Wales on September 17, 2016,  with his opponent unknown.  Once again it is unlikely that ’The Jackal’ will find too many fighters that are eager to face him, and we all know why.

Watch the fight:

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com