Tag Archives: 49

Posted on 09/05/2017

By: Ken Hissner

Both Rocky “The Brockton Blockbuster” Marciano and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. retired after posting a 49-0 record. Mayweather would come back after a 23 month layoff to post his 50th win recently against amateur boxer and current MMA champion Conor McGregor 0-0.

Marciano was 42-0 before getting a world heavyweight title fight stopping “Jersey” Joe Walcott in the 13th round while behind on points. He defeated former world champions Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis prior to winning the title. He also defeated former world champion Ezzard Charles twice after winning the title. He defended his title six times before retiring in 1956 mostly due to a reported disc problem and being away from his family too much.

Marciano had a limited amateur career of about 13 fights winning the NE Heavyweight title. He was inducted into the IBHOF in 1990 and the World Boxing HOF in 2010. His SD win over Roland LaStarza in 1950 was his only controversial win but in 1953 he stopped LaStarza in a title defense.

“I have always adhered to two principles. The first was to train hard and get in the best possible physical condition. The second is to forget about the other fellow until you face him in the ring and the bell sounds for the fight”. The end of his life came in an airplane crash in a corn field in IA in August of 1969 at the age of 45.

Marciano had his own TV show and did commercials something as far as this writer knows Mayweather hasn’t been asked to do. His arrogance may have something to do to it. Marciano was very well liked and never had a cocky attitude and reported he cried after defeating his boyhood hero Joe Louis.

Mayweather, Jr. won numerous amateur titles posting an 84-6 record. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA, he lost a controversial decision in the semi-finals receiving a Bronze medal. He would go onto win world titles starting with the WBC World Super featherweight, WBC Lightweight, Super lightweight, IBF Welterweight, and WBA/WBC Super welterweight titles. He won his first title in his eighteenth fight.

Mayweather’s only controversial win was in his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo in April of 2002. In his next fight in December he defeated Castillo. In May of 2014 he fought the style that Marcos Maidana had and this writer felt it was a draw. In their return match five months later he returned to his normal style and won. He would post 21 title defenses overall.

Upon retiring 13 months before coming back Mayweather seemed to finally do something out of respect to Marciano after equaling his record without going past it. The same may have gone for Welsh Italian Joe Calzaghe retiring at 46-0. Mayweather’s latest promotion for his most recent bout caused quite a stir which was probably more theatrical than on the up and up.

Rumors are Mayweather may be dealing with the IRS now. His ownership of 100 automobiles worth over 15 million dollars that sit in his Las Vegas garage never driven is a big investment. He pays cash and is known to deal with one dealer in particular. He recently put up for auction the highest price automobile in the world valued at approximately 4.6 million. He is known to fly out of the country to one of the richest islands in the world and spend a bundle on jewelry. One highlight is he has sponsored Golden Glove tournaments in his former home state of MI.

The comparison of Marciano to Mayweather is like night and day. Marciano’s career earnings were about $50 thousand which is what Mayweather probably uses for training expenses today. His overall assets are probably more like $600 million.

Posted on 08/14/2017

By: Kirk Jackson

Floyd Mayweather 49-0 (26 KO’s) aims to join the 50-win club, as he takes on MMA star Conor McGregor 21- 3 (MMA) 0-0 (Boxing) in the biggest combat sports-related event of the year as we approach the date Aug 26.

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few months, you may be familiar with all of the commentary and criticism leading up to this event.

Some of the boxing purists, mma and UFC supporters, perennial Floyd Mayweather detractors – appearing in all forms whether it’s a fan, fighter, trainer, promoter or whomever, voiced their displeasure of the match-up and the notion of Mayweather adding another win to his record if he can defeat McGregor in their showdown.

“He doesn’t deserve (the 50-0) record, because he’s not fighting a fighter,” Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum told TMZ Sports about the 49-0 Mayweather.

“He’s not fighting a real boxer. McGregor is a good MMA guy, but it’s a different sport. It’s not a fight, for Christ’s sake. And three weeks later, De La Hoya’s doing a hell of a fight, (Gennady) Golovkin and (Canelo) Alvarez. That’s a good fight.”

Golden Boy Promoter De La Hoya echoed similar sentiments, but don’t be fooled by these two. If afforded the opportunity, they would jump at the chance to pit any of their fighters against McGregor. Only issue is the demand for whatever match-up they can conjure up isn’t there.

Mayweather link.

Win No. 50 holds significance because it breaks the tie Mayweather has with legendary heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano.

Although Mexican Great Julio Caser Chavez Sr. long surpassed the mark during his career, the 49-0 record holds great significance for whatever reason.

For the critics believing a Mayweather victory would be hollow the record/achievement or should warrant an asterisk due to McGregor’s lack of experience, the question to ask is how do you feel about Roberto Duran?

What are your thoughts about Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Louis?

This question is posed because if we analyze their careers, we will find instances when these legendary fighters faced opponents with either zero experience or zero chances of winning.

Leonard defended his welterweight title against a fighter (with experience) but was a garbage man.

45 fights into his career, Duran fought Jose Vasquez 4-0 and right after next faced Adalberto Vanegas 2-0-1. For Duran’s 48th fight he faced 1-4 Andres Salgado.

Duran would then go on to fight guys like Ezequiel Obando, Pepe El Toro, Bernando Diaz, Alirio Acuna and they all had less than six fights each. Some of these fighters were winless.

Keep in mind this is a prime Roberto Duran. I understand the concept of tune-up fights and fights to keep busy but if the criteria applies…
The “Brown Bomber” Joe Louis had the “Bum of the month.” In the span of 29 months beginning January 1939 through May 1941, Louis defended his title thirteen times.

Despite its disparaging nickname, most of the “Bum of the month” club were top-ten heavyweights. Of the 12 fighters Louis faced during this period, five were rated by The Ring as top-10 heavyweights in the year they fought Louis.

Some of the fighters not rated in the top ten by The Ring, we could argue did not belong in the ring with the heavyweight champion.

There was controversy surrounding many of Marciano’s fights with rumors of Mafioso influences, crooked judges and fighters taking dives or purposely forfeiting fights.

Many of the opponents Chavez Sr. faced possessed abysmal records with worse skills to match.

Should Scott Walker have shared the ring with Chavez? Another question is at which point can we discredit a win on someone’s record?

Across many sports, combat sports included, the team or singular athlete (in this instance) has a soft touch every now and then.

This may not necessarily be a walk in the park for Mayweather. There’s a certain demographic believing McGregor is the better fighter, or that mma fighters are vastly superior to boxers even if they face a boxer in their sport.

Remember former mma star Ronda Rousey has the ability to defeat Mayweather in the boxing ring too.

At the very least, McGregor is in his physical prime at the age of 29-years-old, as Mayweather is coming off a two-year retirement and he is the older athlete as he is well into his forties.

Posted on 06/06/2017

Chayaphon Moonsri goes to 47-0 defeating Omari Kimweri!
By: Ken Hissner

WBC Minimumweight champion Chayaphon Moonsri, of Thailand, improved his record to 47-0 (17), defeating No. 4 contender Omari “Lion Boy” Kimweri, 16-4 (6), from Tanzania fighting out of Australia over 12 rounds.

Moonsri received a cut on his left eye lid in the first round which referee Bruce McTavish deducted a point from Kimweri. It was the seventh title defense for the champion and the second in 2017 along with a non-title win. 17 of his 47 wins were against opponents without winning records.

Scores were 117-110 and 118-109 twice. The bout was on June 3rd at the Provincial Stadium, Rayong, Thailand.
Moonsri continues to approach the 49-0 record held by Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Posted on 04/09/2017

WBC Minimumweight Champion Chayaphon Moosri goes 46-0!
By: Ken Hissner

Too many times the Thailand boxers have built up records and WBC Minimumweight champion Chayaphon Moosri at 46-0 (17), is no exception.

In Moosri’s third bout he won the vacant WBC Youth title fighting an opponent who was 0-1 in March of 2007. He defended it 8 times. Several of his opponents had records of 0-0, 0-1 and 1-2. In December of 2009 he won the interim WBC International title and made 2 defenses. Then on January 2011 he won the vacant WBC International Silver title over a 7-5-2 opponent and made 3 defenses beforere-winning the vacant International title in November of 2011 making it 5 defenses.

In November of 2014 Moosri wins the WBC World title from a 14-4-1 boxer from Mexico and made 6 defenses. In his 46 fights he has defeated 29 opponents with winning records and 14 with losing records along with 2 debuting opponents and a 15-15-2 opponent.

Moosri is 31 and has been fighting for 10 years. His bio shows no amateur credentials. All 46 of his fights have been fought in Thailand. The WBA champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong, 15-0 (7), is also from Thailand. It would make sense for the two to meet in a unification bout. Mexico’s Jose Argumedo, 19-3-1 (11), holds the IBF titleand Japan’s Katsunari Takayama won the WBO title after losing his IBF title to Argumedo.

In December of 2016 and March of 2017 (his last bout) Moosri has won 6 round decisions in order to build up his record. A world champion shouldn’t be fighting 6 round bouts. It seems he is aiming to overtake both Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather’s 49-0 record.

Another Thai boxer named Samson Dutch Boy Gym was 43-0 (36) when he retired. He won the World Boxing Federation super fly title in his fourth fight and defended it 38 times. Only thing is he defended against opponents with the following records:

1-7, 1-7-1, 8-16-2, 0-7 and 1-6. He never fought outside of Thailand.

Posted on 02/24/2017

Boxers Fighting Past 49 Years Old in the Modern Era of Boxing!
By: Ken Hissner

We all know about people like Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore, 186-23-10, finishing up in March of 1963, fighting past 45 and who knows how old he and Sonny Liston were when they stopped fighting. The record book claims Moore was only 46 which sounds too young. Today there are some successful boxers in the past that seemed to think when George Foreman, 76-4, re-won the title at 45 they could do it too. They look at what’s around today and still think they are in the prime of their careers. Foreman was 48 retiring after his November 1997 fight.

Today we have 48 year-old Roy Jones, Jr. who just defeating Bobby Gunn in Wilmington, DE, in February. Then there is 51 year-old Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins who split in two bouts with Jones. A rubber match in the making?

Possibly the oldest in modern times was SaoulMamby, PR, at age 60 finishing up in March of 2008.

Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, of Canada thought he still had what it takes at 53 in September of 2015.

Billy “Bronco” Wright,of Las Vegas at age 51 last fought in January of 2016 and might not be retired. Larry“The Easton Assassin” Holmes,was 52 finishing up in July of 2002 with “Butterbean”. Ron Lyle, was 54 finishing up in August 1995.Sal “Rocky” Cenicola, 19-2, was 52 returning to the ring after a 25 year lay-off. Dewey Bozella, on October in 2011 had his debut and only fight after serving 26 years in Sing-Sing Prison was released after being falsely imprisoned. Earnie Shavers, was 50 finishing up in November of 1995.

Others still fighting and over 50 are Andre Sidon, 45-11, of Germany who is 54 last fighting in November of 2016. Zoltan “Csepi” Petranyi, 53-22, of Hungary is 50 and recently fought in January of 2017. Summarizing this the oldest was SaoulMamby fighting at 60. Others over 50 are Levi Forte, 58, ZoranSekularac, 57, Andreas Sidon, 54, Ron Lyle, 54, Bob Adkisson, 54,Hairton Campos, 54,GoranDinic, 54, Donovan “Razor” Ruddock 53, Kenny Lane, 53, Sal Cenicola, 52, Larry “The Easton Assassin” Holmes, 52, Brian Durham, 52, Ronald Garr, 52, Johnny Reiffenstein, 52, Jose Carlos Amaral, 52,Jean-Pierre Coopman, 52, Billy “Bronco” Wright, 51, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins 51, AlbertinoMotaPinheiro, 51, Anthony Cooks, 51,Raynard Darden, 51, Mark Weinman, 51, Alexander Nuri, 51, David Combs, 51, Adnan Oezcoban, 51,Earnie Shavers, 50, Bob Mirovic, 50,Jerry Evans, 50, Attila Huszka, 50, Terry Scott, 50,Herbert Odom, 50, Ron Wilson, 50, Chuck Shearns, 50, and Zoltan “Csepti” Petranyi is 50.

With the help of Historian Henry Hascup who is head of the NJ BHOF.