The Undisputed

Southpaws leave their mark

by Ron Jackson.

The number of top-class left-handed boxers seems to have increased notably in recent years.

Spectators and television viewers are often astounded when they see how many southpaws are fighting in tournaments; sometimes four, five or more.

No comparative statistics are available, but long-time observers agree that there are now more really good “lefties” than ever before. This may, incidentally, also be the case in cricket, tennis and other sports.

Three of the top ten boxers on Ring Magazine’s latest list of the best boxers in the world, pound for pound, are southpaws: Oleksandr Usyk, their heavyweight champion, four-weight champion Terence Crawford currently at junior-middleweight and, Junto Nakatani at bantamweight.

This, plus still ranked, “living legend” and former eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao.

The word “southpaw”, according to one popular theory, comes from baseball. It is said that “ball parks” were designed so that the batters faced east so that they did not have to look into the late-afternoon sun.

With the pitchers operating from east to west, the left-handers used the “paw” on the south side of their body. Their right hand and right foot were, therefore, in front of their body, similar to the stance of southpaw boxers.

However, etymologists say the word “southpaw” was used years before baseball was first played.

One of the earliest southpaws of note was Ned Turner, a prize-fighter in the era of bare-knuckled boxers. He weighed about 65 kg and boxed from 1810 to 1824; often against much heavier opponents.

Turner was born in London in 1791 but because his parents were from Wales he was often referred to as a Welshman. He died in 1826.

LEFT-HANDED PIONEER

William Thompson, known as “Bendigo” and born in Nottingham on October 11 1811, was one of the earliest southpaw champions. He won the England championship twice – on February 12 1839 when he beat James “Deaf” Burke and on September 9 1845 when he defeated Ben Caunt.

Thompson retired because of a knee injury after winning the title for the first time. He was 34 when he fought Caunt, who went down without being hit and was disqualified in the 93rd round.

After bare-knuckle boxing made way for the “gloved” era, Tiger Flowers became one of the best-known southpaws of his time. The “Georgia Deacon” became the first black to win the world middleweight title when he beat Harry Greb on points over 15 rounds in February 1926.

He lost the title to Mickey Walker and died in New York on November 16 1927 after an eye operation.

Freddie Miller, who fought from 1927 to 1940 and compiled a record of 212-27, with six draws, one no-contest and 44 wins inside the distance, was an outstanding left-hander.

He won the National Boxing Association’s version of the world featherweight title by beating Tommy Paul on points in January 1933. He made three defences before beating Britain’s Nel Tarleton to gain full recognition as world champion in June 1935.

Miller defended the title five times before losing it to Petey Sarron in May 1936.

OTHER CLASSY SOUTHPAWS

Kayo Morgan – born Andre Ettore Esposito on May 12 1909 – was the son of Italian parents who lived in Connecticut. A classy southpaw, he made his debut at the age of sixteen. He never won a world title but fought champions such as Panama Al Brown, Sixto Escobar and Benny Lynch in a 142-fight career.

Lew Tendler also never won a world title but was one of the best southpaws of his time, competing in 171 fights between 1913 and 1928. He took world lightweight champion Benny Lenard to close decisions in two fights.

Al McCoy won the world middleweight title in April 1914 when he knocked out George Chip in the first round. Also a southpaw, he remained the champion until he was knocked out in the sixth round in a fight against Mike O’Dowd in November 1917.

Harry Greb, who had 299 fights, according to the Ring Record Book, won and lost the world middleweight title to southpaws. He beat Johnny Wilson on points in August 1923 and lost, also over 15 rounds, to Tiger Flowers in February 1926.

Among the southpaws who won world titles after Greb were welterweight Lou Brouillard (1931 to 1932), lightweight Juan Zurita (1944 to 1945), bantamweight Jimmy Carruthers (1953 to 1954) and junior lightweight Flash Elorde (1960 to 1964).

Then came junior welterweight Duilio Loi (1960 to 1963) who finished with a record of 115-3, including only eight knockouts, flyweight Hiroyuki Eibihara (1963 to 1964), featherweight Vincente Saldivar (1964 to 1970) and junior welterweight Sandro Lopopolo (1966 to 1967).

Another excellent southpaw was three-time light-heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson who fought from 1973 to 1986 and beat Mate Parlov for the WBC title, Victor Galindez for the WBA title and Lesley Stewart for the vacant WBA title.

HAGLER, CALZAGHE AND CAMACHO

Two of the best left-hand champions were undisputed world middleweight king ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler (1980 to 1987) and elite lightweight champ Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker (1989 to 1991).

Add to this American Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright who held the WBO and WBC middleweight belts and Wales’ Joe Calzaghe who was another fine “lefty”.

The Welshman fought from 1993 to 2008 and finished with a record of 46-0 after winning 21 title fights as WBO super-middleweight and IBF, WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion.

British-Yemeni, ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed, who held various titles between 1995 and 2000, was regarded for a while as the No 1 featherweight in the world, His only loss in 37 fights was to Marco Antonio Barrera. Hamed made 15 successful defences of his titles.

Hector Camacho, also a highly rated southpaw, lost six times in 88 fights but won titles in the super-featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight classes.

Antonio Tarver, who is still active as a cruiserweight, won the light-heavyweight crown four times. And Argentina’s Sergio Martinez, who retired recently, won a version of the middleweight title.

INCOMPARABLE PACQUIAO

But none of them achieved what Manny Pacquiao did. The Filipino, a future Hall of Fame hero, has won ten versions of ‘world’ titles in eight divisions. He will be remembered as one of the best southpaw champions in history.

Orthodox boxers often try to avoid southpaws because of their “abnormal” stance. They have good reason to do so, as shown when South African Corrie Sanders knocked out Wladimir Klitschko to claim the WBO heavyweight belt in the second round in March 2003.

In years gone by, when there were not as many southpaw boxers as there are now, some trainers even tried to convert “lefties” to the orthodox stance, saying theirs was an incorrect way of boxing.

Among the world champions who converted from southpaw to the orthodox stance were James J Corbett, Carmen Basilio and Oscar De La Hoya.

And, even in the movies, Rocky Balboa was one of the most famous southpaws of all-time ! With his trainer Mickey famously saying to him they “Shoulda’ been drown at birth !”.

Harsh, but southpaws or “lefties” have been a much welcome addition throughout boxing history.

Today, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Ron Jackson, the esteemed and talented South African boxing writer, to The Undisputed website.

Ron is a personal friend and has a wealth of experience having written over the many years of boxing history both as a fight fan and aficionado. He regularly contributed to The Ring magazine as an overseas correspondent, wrote for South African Boxing World and has contributed to SuperSport television station and fightnews.com website in recent years.

Ron is a boxing historian with an extensive personal collection and has kindly offered to occasionally share some of his articles and knowledge with The Undisputed readers. His first follows:

Title bout declared a non-fight

 by Ron Jackson 

Most critics and fans who complain about boring bouts probably don’t know about the night a champion retained his title in a non-fight.

The champion failed to beat the challenger and neither did they draw in a tournament that was held abroad because they were not allowed to fight in their own country.

The result was one of the strangest in the long history of Commonwealth boxing. The referee was so frustrated by the lack of action that he sent both boxers to their corners and declared their “fight” a no-contest.

It happened in 1961 in what is now Zambia, where two South Africans, Dennis Adams and John Mthimkulu, were supposed to fight for the Commonwealth flyweight title.

Adams, known as a devastating puncher, was from Johannesburg. The challenger, who held the “non-white” version of the SA flyweight title, was from Vereeniging. But because of the SA government’s laws at the time the fight was held at the Luanshya Welfare Grounds in what was then Northern Rhodesia.

The irrepressible Adams had travelled to Scotland in 1957 to challenge the British and Empire flyweight champion, Frankie Jones, in the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow on October 23.

Adams went after the champion from the start, swinging wildly until one of his punches landed, knocking the Scot out in the third round.

The new champion retained the title against Warner Batchelor and Les Smith before a defence was arranged against Mthimkulu. Most boxing enthusiasts expected an exciting clash and the spectators were waiting for fireworks.

Adams had his right hand cocked from the start, waiting to trigger the punch that had brought him 14 knockouts in his previous fights. But Mthimkulu, well aware of the danger, kept back-pedalling and tied Adams up in clinches.

As the fight progressed, the clearly unfit Adams had to resort to holding to prevent his opponent from landing scoring punches.

‘STEP BACK AND FIGHT; STOP HOLDING’

Referee Duggie Miller, a former leading SA middleweight, kept asking the boxers to break out of the clinches, to step back and fight. Time and again he told them to stop holding on to each other.

By the sixth round, Miller had had enough. He sent both fighters back to their corners and signalled that he had called off the “fight”. However, with just about everyone pleading with him to let the boxers carry go on, Miller reversed his decision.

The bout resumed, and so did the holding and clinching. It turned into a farce and in the ninth round Miller stepped in again and declared it a “no-contest”.

The partisan crowd accepted Miller’s decision although many felt Mthimkulu would have won had the fight gone the distance.

According to newspaper reports, Miller explained: “I warned both boys for repeated clutching, holding and pushing in the clinches. I tried to keep them apart, as the public came to see boxing, not wrestling.”

Two undercard fights produced interesting results. Levi Madi was reported to have been extremely unlucky not to come away with a draw against SA lightweight champion Charlie Els and Young Sebela stopped former SA welterweight champion Benny Nieuwenhuizen in the fifth round.

In the last bout, Spider Kelly, who later held the SA welterweight title, beat Katanga lightweight Marcel Tumba. It was Kelly’s third professional fight.

Only days later, on May 31 1961, South Africa became a republic and SA boxers were no longer eligible to hold or fight for Empire titles.

Adams, a real character, delivered a memorable response to questions about losing his title as a result of political changes. “Yes, it took a heavyweight called Hendrik Verwoerd to do it,” he said, referring to the SA prime minister who led South Africa out of the Commonwealth.

We should savour multi-weight world champion Terence Crawford whilst we can. For many, he is the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world.

Despite the proven quality and achievements of Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk and Japan’s Naoya Inoue, it’s hard to argue against Omaha, Nebraska’s ‘Bud’ Crawford being P4P king, to most observers.

Tomorrow night in Los Angeles, at age 36, he has his 41st fight, having compiled a flawless 40-0 (31 KOs) record as a pro, and never looking close to being beaten.

It is though only his first outing in just over a year. His last appearance being a historic seventh round stoppage victory over previously undefeated WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in a much anticipated ‘superfight’. That to unify the 10st, 7lbs (147lbs) title and win a world title in a third weight class.

Tomorrow he goes for his fourth and to secure his name further in boxing history.

Victory though is no ‘given’. He will face Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) for his WBA ‘world’ title at 11st (154lbs). At 29 years old, the Uzbek is a strong champion and should provide a stern test.

It’s hard though to see past a Crawford victory and a further enhancing of his achievements and reputation. Madrimov is a ‘live’ opponent and although has been relatively inactive himself, has youth and size on his side. He’s campaigned exclusively at 11st and has a good amateur background.

He could shock the boxing world, but the odds are on a Crawford late stoppage or clear points victory.

The fight and supporting card is being bankrolled by The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, forming part of their Riyadh Season (albeit an overseas promotion) and is available on the DAZN streaming site as a pay-per-view event (Box Office in the UK).

The main event is interesting enough, but it has a strong undercard with some heavyweight meetings of world significance, including Andy Ruiz v Jarrell Miller and Martin Bakole v Jared Anderson, among others. Crawford though is the main draw and your outlay should not disappoint.

Heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) further ‘arrived’ in the O2 Arena, North Greenwich, London on Saturday night (July 27).

The nineteen year old southpaw scored an impressive 2nd round knockout of Poland’s aging double ‘world’ title contender Mariusz Wach on the big Joe Joyce-Derek Chisora heavyweight show.

Despite Wach’s questionable condition and desire it was an emphatic victory over a seasoned campaigner who’s fought in good company. The double right-hook finish was impressive.

Itauma, a Slovakian-born Brit who fights out of Chatham, Kent has already fought and recently won impressively in Saudi Arabia and is being groomed for a tilt at the British heavyweight title, and likely far beyond. He has a lofty ambition to beat Mike Tyson’s record as the youngest world heavyweight champion, when ‘Iron Mike’ famously “Showed plenty at 20”. Itauma will be 20 at the end of 2024, so will need to get ‘his skates on’ !

The promising heavyweight is a key component of a triumvirate of boxers from London’s nearby county of Kent making a splash in worldly waters. He is joined by new European super-bantamweight champion Dennis ‘The Menace’ McCann (16-0-1, 8 KOs) and British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Sam ‘Midge’ Noakes (14-0, 13 KOs).

McCann delivered a career best performance by emphatically reversing last year’s draw with British-based Romanian Ionut Baluta. He dominated him throughout and clearly won on points.

All three Kent-based boxers are promoted by Queensberry led by hall-of-fame promoter Frank Warren and his immediate family.

Noakes may not have the earning potential of a heavyweight but he could be the pick of the crop. He is a two-time British Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) champion, turning professional between Olympic cycles. Since then, he’s compiled an impressive record and seamlessly gained British, European and Commonwealth lightweight titles. Big fights await, possibly first against co-British unbeaten prospect Mark Chamberlain.

Charismatic ‘cheeky boy’ McCann, similarly comes from the Kent county town of Maidstone. He’s also compiled his undefeated record  on Queensberry shows and has all the skills to achieve much moving forward. Saturday was a standout performance for him clearly outpointing a seasoned opponent.

The main event saw perennial contender and entertainer Derek Chisora surprisingly outpoint Joe Joyce in a ‘slugfest’ ending in a clear points decision. It was Chisora’s 49th pro fight and he promises a 50th. Joyce in his third recent defeat must now re-group and at 38 his hopes of winning a ‘world’ title now look limited.

On Friday night (July 26) the flame will be lit in Paris for the 33^rd Olympic Games. This, the second time in the last 100 years that the ‘City of Light’ will host the modern Games.

It also held them in 1900.

Amongst the plethora of sports (some new), boxing can hold its own. Despite the repeated attempts to demonise it and remove from the Olympic programme, on the excuse of mismanagement and corruption, it has prevailed for this latest edition. Quite simply, many aspects of the sport in today’s modern “pillow” society are deemed unacceptable. Professional boxing does, at times, little to help its own cause.

Olympic exposure of boxing and success is critical to the sport to keep it relevant. It has provided many of the iconic moments and helped define some of the Games held in the last hundred years. Sportsman and personalities have emerged who are unequalled in other sports.

‘The Greatest’, Muhammad Ali, immediately springs to mind. A man who was front stage in the US civil rights movement of the mid/late 1960’s and refused to bow to his inclusion in his countries involvement in Vietnam at the time.

Back in Rome 1960, Ali, (then Cassius Marcellus Clay), won heavyweight gold in the Olympic Games.  He was quickly followed in successive Games by Joe Frazier and George Foreman, who later became boxing and sporting legends.

Fast forward to 1972 and Cuban hero Teofilo Stevenson won the first of his three successive Olympic heavyweight golds in Munich. Quickly followed by Montreal success in 1976, when Stevenson was arguably at his peak. The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games by the USA over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan only served to confirm the inevitable third gold medal result. Stevenson was that good !

Other Olympic champions who have become hall-of-fame fighters include ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard (Montreal 1976 light-welterweight champion), ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya (Barcelona 1992 lightweight champion), Vasily Lomachenko (double champion in 2008 & 2012), Lennox Lewis (super-heavyweight champion in Seoul 1988) and Oleksandr Usyk (heavyweight gold in London 2012).

Noted medallists include Floyd Mayweather (bronze in Atlanta 1996), Evander Holyfield (bronze in Los Angeles 1984), Roy Jones Jnr. (controversially only silver in Seoul) and a young Amir Khan (silver in Athens 2004).

The Olympic boxing relationship goes back as far as Lazlo Papp; a Hungarian and the first boxer to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals culminating in Melbourne 1956. Also former professional heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson (middleweight gold in Helsinki 1952), right up to Wladimir Klitschko (super-heavyweight gold in Atlanta 1996) and so on.

Britain’s Anthony Joshua triumphed in London 2012 as a super-heavyweight and, is now potentially a professional three-time world heavyweight champion and soon to possibly take part in the biggest grossing fight in heavyweight history, if, and when, he finally meets Tyson Fury.

The Olympics, though not a guarantee of future success, has provided the grounding for much professional boxing achievement, its personalities, and, in a way on the flip side, been an iconic element of the modern Games. Think of George Foreman waving the US ‘stars and stripes’ in Mexico City 1968 at the height of the civil rights movement and Vietnam War, and, Muhammad Ali memorably lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta 1996.

The threat of its omission from future Games is a concern, but let us cherish the competition over the sixteen days of competition for those coveted Olympic medals.

Team GB take six boxers across both sexes to the Paris Games, including Birmingham’s Commonwealth champion, Delicious Orie, who aims to strike Olympic gold in the super-heavyweight division. We wish them all success.

For us observers, enjoy the show.

The art world, at times, can be a selective and fickle thing.

I hesitate to use the word ‘snobbish’, but there it is.  Boxing is not one of its friends or normal go-to’s. This, despite us fondly referring to our sport as the ‘Noble Art’.  

However, as they say “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.

For this reason, the amazing art collection of German lawyer Ingo Wegerich is not the typical art collection. All Ingo wishes to do is to share the viewing joy of his collection with other boxing aficionados and fans alike. Ingo is a true boxing and art lover and I was lucky to view some of his amazing collection last week.

What drew me to it was the excellent feature article by Tom Gray in the Nov/Dec 2022 edition of The Ring magazine and knowing I was somewhere in the vicinity of Ingo’s collection. I won’t attempt a re-write of Tom’s article, but aptly titled ‘Champions on the Canvas’, it’s worth checking out. Go to their website www.ringtv.com to view the digital or order a printed copy.

It’s fair to say that Ingo has spent a bit of money on compiling the definitive collection of boxing art which includes originals shown on the covers of The Ring magazine from the 1930’s through to the present day. Legendary champions such as Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are featured. One of Ingo’s personal favourites, given his nationality, is German great Max Schmeling featured on the October 1936 cover of The Ring.

His collection goes right up to today and includes some originals painted by renowned British fight artist Richard T. Slone. Richard’s works are in high demand and often associated with high profile events, including big boxing matches. Visit his website www.sloneart.com .

His paintings are also exhibited at the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHoF) and adorn the cover of their programme for induction weekends in early June each year.

Ingo also has in his collection some originals from famous artist LeRoy Neiman, who in his own unique style did artworks on the most iconic Muhammad Ali fights and many from his training camps in quieter moments. Neiman was the doyen of boxing art in the late 1960’s through to 1980’s.

To further publicise and connect with fans alike, Ingo plans to launch a newsletter to share the joy.

Here you can subscribe to the newsletter:

Newsletter

After a quality few hours chatting boxing with Ingo I was then privileged to view some of his collection which was staggering. Me, as a long time reader and subscriber to The Ring , and self-confessed boxing ‘nut’, it was amazing to look at the inspiration and original material to boxing covers and posters I came to love over the years.

We parted with my asking the origin of Ingo’s forename, as him being a boxing fan, and my making a mimic ‘Bingo’ punch known of former 1960’s world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johannson. It drew his smile.

Check out Ingo Wegerich’s collection when you can. It’s a must-see:

Welcome

Or become a follower with 80,000 others on Instagram… @wegerichfineart

Bournemouth, England’s Chris Billam-Smith even exceeded our expectations with a comfortable unanimous points victory against London’s Richard Riakporhe at Crystal Palace association football stadium on Saturday (June 15).

Through an excellent display of ring generalship, pressure and shot selection he kept the previously undefeated puncher Riakporhe from detonating his heavy shots, which in recent contests had blown away most of his opponents. He was never able to land with full impact on the champion’s chin.

In a fairly even contest in the opening rounds, by round eight the die had been cast and future fight pattern established. The more compact Billam-Smith had narrowly gained most of the early rounds by systematic pressure and landing the more solid shots. Carefully being close enough to the tall and rangy Riakporhe and not allowing him the distance he needed to get maximum leverage and impact on his punches. If ever there was a way to fight a man with a longer reach and good jab this was exhibited on the night.

Most surprising was the difference in engine of the two fighters; with the challenger visibly blowing and gulping between rounds compared to the apparently fresher champion, who although with the more facial damage, was the more comfortable with the fight pace and, clearly the way it was going.

The final scores were inevitable with 116-111, 115-112, 115-112 in favour of the Bournemouth man. There was a view that they could have been even wider.

Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) made the second successful defence of his WBO middleweight title and is now vying for unification fights to cement his status as the 14st, 4lbs/200lbs world supremo. Lucrative chances await against Australia’s Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs), The Ring magazine champion and thus rightly considered the dominant cruiserweight. Also possibly for Billam-Smith an outing stateside against Gilberto Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs). In the post-fight interview on Saturday it would seem Las Vegas is his preferred destination. Any why not ? He would certainly take a fanbase of Brits and he enhanced his ringside persona as ‘The Gentleman’.

‘The Midnight Train’ Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KOs) is now licking his wounds after taking a reversal from his previous victory over Billam-Smith five years ago. This is an undoubted setback but his record and quality is such that he can come again. The aura of invincibility is though no more.

Chief support on the undercard saw Ben Whittaker (7-0, 5 KOs) show his usual quality and showboating, but had to tough out a unanimous points, albeit shutout victory, against previously undefeated Nigerian Ezra Arenyeka (12-1, 10 KOs). ‘The Surgeon’ Whittaker will go onto bigger things and paydays for sure. As he improves his opposition he will likely be forced to eliminate a lot of the showboating, but that makes him box office for now.

British boxing is hoping for a continued bright future for the Wolverhampton man as he steps up in class. Saturday night though in SW London was Billam-Smith’s night.

Crystal Palace’s association football stadium in south west London is the scene for this weekend’s big ‘world’ title fight on Saturday night (15 June).

It pits Britain’s WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith against top 14st, 4lb/200lbs contender Richard Riakporhe, who’s effectively the ‘home fighter’ as a proclaimed Crystal Palace FC supporter.

Billam-Smith conversely, is a self confessed football fanatic and follower of Bournemouth FC, who also currently reside in the English Premier League.

As a result, a sell-out is assured, held in the open air, and will have the rabid atmosphere of a top football match. The BOXXER promoted event will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and the NBC Peacock channel in the USA. It’s also available on TalkSport radio in the UK.

This is a rematch of a July 2019 encounter which Riakporhe narrowly won by split decision on points. The defining moment in their first fight was Billam-Smith being knocked down in the seventh and a 10-8 round being registered in Riakporhe’s favour. That proved the difference.

Billam-Smith, now age 33, subsequently recovered his career and went onto win the WBO title by defeating another Briton Lawrence Okolie in Bournemouth last summer. Okolie has gone on to win a ‘world’ title in a higher weight class, so that gives Billam-Smith’s win even more credibility.

Billam-Smith (19-1, 13 KOs), known as ‘The Gentlemen’, is a model professional with charisma and a strong fanbase. His combative style and reckless abandonment of any defensive tendencies is a good watch, making him box office. This style does though lead to him being prone to cuts.

The 34 year old, more rangy Riakporhe (17-0, 13 KOs), is a big puncher who works off a good strong jab. With the moniker of ‘Midnight Train’ he’s improved with every fight as he’s stepped up in class since the two Brits first met.

We expect a toe-to-toe contest, mainly because the champion doesn’t know any other way to fight. Despite being trained by respected Shane McGuigan, the Bournemouth man is never elusive. He should know from the first contest that Riakporhe can punch, but will be buoyed by a new found ‘champions’ confidence and with his passionate vocal support he won’t resist a ‘tear up’. That may be his downfall.

Riakporhe will be equally backed by his Crystal Palace FC faithful. Despite his knockout record he does have flaws and, his waiting in line for a ‘world’ title shot, may have had one of two effects; either frustration or a complacency.

Both fighters are always in top shape so we expect a war of attrition and both to compete well into the championship rounds. Knockdowns and possibly cuts are expected.

It’s unlikely that Billam-Smith has the power to stop his challenger but he could outwork him down the stretch, as he did against Okolie in winning the title.

Riakporhe will start strongly looking for the KO blow, but the longer the fight goes on the more he will be frustrated. The smart money is on a Riakporhe victory by knockout, but we expect the champion to find a way to retain his title, likely on points.

The event will also feature Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Ben Whittaker (7-0, 5 KOs) who is rising fast in the light-heavyweight (12st, 7lb/175 lbs) division. His potential is unlimited and we expect him to come through in style Saturday night. He’s unlikely to steal the show but will again be a good watch. Enjoy !

On an unforgettable day like today when thoughts across Europe and in Allied countries are on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on the Normandy coast of France, starting the “beginning of the end” of World War II, let us consider boxing’s role in the bigger conflict. In particular that of the boxers who served and the many who sadly lost their lives.

The images above, courtesy of The Ring magazine, show how World War II (WWII) influenced its participants and its readers’ state of mind over the six years of conflict (1939-45) in Europe. Ultimately solidified with the 1941-45 US involvement after the surprise Imperial Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941. Immediately fighters and the world united in opposition to the Nazi brutality occurring across Europe and by their Japanese counterparts in the Far East.

The images above are from the May 1941 edition (after Pearl Harbor). The former, then-retired, heavyweight champion of the world Gene Tunney was centre stage after his enrolment in the US Naval Defence Force, previously serving in their Marines, which he cited for his earlier boxing education. Among boxers, he was not unique at those times.

He was joined by such notables as the reigning heavyweight champion of the world Joe Louis who combined his ring career of title defences by performing boxing exhibitions across the US to servicemen. It was only as the war effort and hostilities deepened in 1943 that he failed to make a boxing world title defence.

He was much loved for his patriotism through life and, on death, one of his lasting epitaphs was that “He was a credit to his race, the human race”.

In 1942 alone, the ‘Brown Bomber’ is on record as donating $65,200 and $45,882 of his purse for two separate title defences to the Naval and Army Relief Fund respectively. No truer is his patriotism exhibited and, in many American eyes, this contrasts sharply with Muhammad Ali’s refusal to step forward on being drafted to Vietnam in the late 1960’s.

Louis was undeniably an American hero throughout life and remains so in death. Whenever this writer goes to Caesar’s Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas, a photograph alongside the larger than life marble statue of the ‘Brown Bomber’ is a must do.

Other legendary boxers who put their careers on hold during WWII and entered the armed services whilst in their heyday included future world lightweight hall-of-famers Barney Ross and Beau Jack, along with light-heavyweight Billy Conn. All were featured on the cover of The Ring in the war years wearing military uniform, along with senior military personnel. The Allied Forces Supreme Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared on the cover in February 1944.

The previously stated fighters were joined by reigning world lightweight champion Lew Jenkins who re-joined the US cavalry and, in Britain, light-heavyweight champion Len Harvey who re-entered the Royal Navy. There were many other examples across all weight classes and with varying fistic abilities. It was all hands to the pump literally.

The sport in Britain was effectively put on hold for four years with other matters of national security and understandably the saving of lives taking priority.

Another notable military participant was the, then recently retired, three-weight world champion, Henry Armstrong who represented the US Army. ‘Homicide Hank’s’ face adorned many covers of The Ring at that time and was held in even higher esteem.

On the German side former world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling was considered the oppressor supreme. This despite him never notably defending or supporting the action of the Nazi’s. His defeat to Joe Louis in the June 1938 rematch was widely considered a victory for the ‘freeworld’ and for all that was deemed ‘right’. At the time with war on the horizon Louis dared not lose, and he delivered emphatically KO’ing his rival.

Over the WWII years the covers of the esteemed Ring magazine would show images and sketches of fighters monthly in military uniform and adverts for Defence & War Bonds/Stamps would be a common feature. Inside, as in the right hand image above, there was an invitation for readers to subscribe on behalf and in the name of a serving soldier or sailor. Definitely it was an unprecedented time, in a thankfully to date not replicated era.

This went on for the whole four years that the US was involved and it was the D-Day landings that started the snowballing effect that eventually ended hostilities.

Only on the German and Japanese surrender in 1945 did military hostilities start to cease and those boxers return to the ring. The aforementioned fighters were revered for evermore for their patriotism and participation. The boxers who sadly lost their lives during the six years of conflict can never be listed in full, but their bravery, as previously exhibited within the ring, can never be doubted.

Boxing ultimately played a large part in the war effort and Allied victory by virtue of the bravery, high profile and morale raising potential of the individuals concerned. Also, by the values of discipline, fitness and dedication installed in fighters from an early age, which easily transferred across to military conflict, in the hours and years of need.

As followers of the sport of boxing and, especially today after 80 years, we should all be proud of that.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosted another fantastic night of boxing from Riyadh on Saturday.

There were potential fights of the year, heavy knockdowns, new world champions and young stars in the making. In the much hyped and promoted 5 versus 5 between rival British promoters Queensberry and Matchroom Boxing, the victory of the former was an emphatic 10-0.

Frank Warren who heads up Queensberry was jubilant and if the wager was for the loser to serve tea in their rival promoter’s office for a day, then Matchroom staff will enjoy that (not) !

The big boxing attraction though was headed by quality fights throughout. Sadly, only available on TNT Sports and DAZN pay-per-view (or Box Office if you prefer), it was bankrolled and hosted by the KSA for the significant riches on offer. Good for the boxers, but yet another hit to subscribers pockets. That’s the price of boxing now unfortunately !

In the ring, biggest achievement and headline goes to Liverpool, England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) who won the WBA ‘world’ featherweight title via split decision against talented and game American Raymond Ford (15-1-1, 8 KO’s). It was an absolutely quality contest, with both fighters giving their all, and sits well with any world title meetings in the 9st/126lbs division of yesteryear.

In an action packed contest Ball’s aggression and relentless industry won him the fight by scores of 115-113 on all three scorecards. The Liverpudlian was was unlucky to receive only a draw against Mexican WBC champion Rey Vargas in March 2024 and on Saturday took his second ‘world’ title chance with both hands. He will now look to unify some of the titles.

Southpaw Ford was coming off a last minute knockout victory in March to retain his WBA title but couldn’t cope with Ball’s workrate and accuracy.

Most high profile on the card was Chinese giant Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) who destroyed former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) inside five rounds, likely sending the American into retirement. Zhang who is enormous, weighing in around 5 stones (70lbs) heavier than his opponent, but is highly skilled and heavy handed, can now look forward to a shot at the world heavyweight title. He may have to join the queue though with a Usyk-Fury rematch scheduled for December.

Young Briton, Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), spectacularly halted previously undefeated Croatian Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) after 0:57 of round eight, with the referee waving it off with Hrgovic rocked and badly cut around both eyes. This was a ding-dong contest throughout with both fighters having success through the completed rounds. Dubois’ youth and industry ultimately prevailed.

In victory Dubois took Hrgovic’s mandatory IBF status and the so called IBF ‘interim’ title to current undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Russian Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs), scored his first knockout in six years stopping Libya’s Malik Zinad (22-1, 16 KOs) for the former’s WBA light-heavyweight (12st, 7lbs/175lbs) title. The end came at 2:06 of round six.

Bivol is holding out for a ‘mega’ unification fight with his compatriot Artur Beterbiev, which has been postponed due to Beterbiev sustaining an injury during camp. Bivol, a victor over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is looking the ‘real deal’.

At middleweight (11st, 6lbs/160lbs) bright British prospect Hamzah Sheeraz (20-0, 16 KOs) dominated and stopped world rated American Austin Williams (16-1, 11 KOs) in the eleventh round. Sheeraz, physically and stylistically a Tommy Hearns lookalike further improved his stock and looks a certainty for a world title shot.

Final mention goes to Scotland’s fast improving Willy Hutchinson who beat England’s multiple ‘world’ title challenger Craig Richards in a clear points victory. All in all, an another excellent and entertaining night of boxing as part of RSA’s Riyadh Season.