Tag Archives: booker

Posted on 03/23/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Ever Hear the Name of Uncrowned Champion Eddie Booker?

This writer recently asked my two favorite Historians Henry Hascup and Chuck Hasson. Hasson brought up the name of Eddie “Black Dynamite” Booker in his P4P all-time greats. I never heard of him and then went to www.boxrec.com and was I in for a shock! He beat Archie Moore, Lloyd Marshall (beat Sonny Liston) and Holman Williams to name a few.

Marshall and Williams were two of the most avoided boxers in the history of boxing. Booker fought from 1935 to 1944. He said when a fight with Charley Burley never materialized that Burley was “Just the best there is out there!”

Booker was from San Jose, CA, and was the San Francisco Golden Gloves champion in 1934 at lightweight. He fought as a middleweight as a professional.

Booker turned professional on January 15th 1935 winning his first twenty-one fights until a draw with Jimmy Wakefield, 21-7-6, on August of 1936. Then eight more wins including two fights after the Wakefield fight he defeated Wakefield.

Then, a pair of draws against Jackie Burke 68-13-17, in October of 1937, and Mickey Duris, 41-4-6, in January of 1938. This was followed with another eight wins.

In January of 1939 Booker met up with Holman Williams, 55-7-3, at Madison Square Garden fighting to a draw. Booker was 37-0-4, when he tasted defeat for the first time to future welterweight champion Fritzie Zivic, 79-19-5, at Madison Square Garden, in his next fight. Then, another loss to Cocoa Kid, 104-28-5, at the Arena in New Haven, CT. Seven straight wins would follow the back to back defeats.

Then came future light heavyweight champion Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore, 47-5-3, in February of 1941, at the San Diego Coliseum, in Moore’s hometown.

Three weeks later it would be another draw, this time with Shorty Hogue, 43-2-1, at the same facility. Two months after this he defeated Hogue. It would be a nine fight winning streak when he met Hogue for the third time and lost his State California Middleweight title.
Two fights later and Booker drew with Johnny “Bandit” Romero, 137-43-7, in May of 1942. Two fights later he stopped Hogue in eight to regain his state title. His six straight win streak ended defeating the ever dangerous Lloyd Marshall, 33-6-2, and a rematch with Moore ending in a draw. Then in the first fifteen round fight in the state since 1914, when he lost to Jack Chase, 49-5-4, and his title in January of 1943.

In Booker’s next fight he defeated Harry “Kid” Matthews, 30-2-4, but two fights later lost to Holman Williams, 107-17-6, in November of 1943. Two fights later he defeated Archie Moore, 59-7-5, in their third bout after drawing twice in January of 1944. The next month he defeated Frankie Nelson, 31-8-1. Then his final bout of his career against no other than Holman Williams, 113-17-6, in March at the Civic Auditorium, in San Francisco. It was their third meeting with a draw and a Holman victory. Booker would defeat Holman over ten rounds. He would retire due to an eye trouble.

What a sensational career for Eddie Booker. Twenty years and eleven days later he would pass away at the age of 57. He had a 66-5-8 record with 34 knockouts. He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and in 2017 the IBHOF.

Posted on 01/21/2017

Roman, Ellis and Sims Win at Bally’s in Atlantic City Friday!
By:Ken Hissner

GH3 and Kings Promotions and SHO BOX promoted nine competitive bouts at Bally’s in Atlantic City, NJ, Friday night!

In the main event super bantamweight Adam “Mantequilla” Lopez, 16-1-1 (8), of San Antonio, TX, suffered his first loss not coming out for the tenth round losing to Danny “Baby Face Assassin” Roman, 22-2-1 (8), of Golden Grove, CA, in a WBA eliminator bout.

In the first round there was little to choose from the fighters but Lopez seemed to have an edge. In the second round Lopez landed a hard right to the chin of Roman getting his attention. In the second round Lopez looked the sharper of the two. In the third round Roman dropped Lopez with a left hook to the chin. He went after Lopez and dropped him again with a pair of lefts and a right. Lopez had a bloody nose and staggered back to his corner at the end of the round after taking a beating on the ropes. In the fourth round Roman let Lopez back into the fight and he came back and seemed to edge out the round.

In the fifth and sixth rounds were close in a back and forth fight as Roman kept his cool while Lopez is showing the wear and tare with his nose bleeding again. In the eighth round Roman was landing power punches hurting Lopez who is bothered by his nose injury.

In the ninth round Roman continued with hard left hooks to the body and right uppercuts to the chin of Lopez who had a mouse under his left eye. The corner of Lopez stopped the fight at the end of the ninth.

Super middleweight Ronald “Flatline” Ellis, 14-0-1 (10), of Lynn, MASS, defeated Christopher “Ice Cold” Brooker, 11-3 (5), of Philly, by a close decision.

In the opening round Ellis came right out and nailed Brooker with a right to the chin. He followed up with another right to the chin of Brooker. Halfway through the round Brooker landed three straight short right hands to the head of Ellis. It was a big round for Ellis. In the second round Brooker had a better round but not good enough to outscore Ellis. In the third round Brooker turned the fight around pinning Ellis against the ropes landing heavy punches especially to the body and short rights inside to the chin of Ellis. In the fourth round Brooker continued to get the better of Ellis inside.

In the fifth round it continued an inside fight with Brooker keeping it a brawl to his advantage. Ellis is allowing his early start to play into the hands of Brooker’s inside fighting. In the sixth round Ellis landed a flurry of punches getting Brooker’s attention. Brooker has slowed down. In the seventh round it was another close one with Brooker having a slight edge. In the eighth and final round again it was close with Brooker continuing to keep it inside. Ellis had his moments.

Judges Barnes and Grant had it 79-73 with Hill and this writer at 77-75 except this writer had it for Brooker. Referee was David Fields. “I thought I won the fight keeping him on the ropes most of the fight,” said Brooker.

Super bantamweight southpaw Stephon “Showstopper” Young, 16-0-3 (6), of Chicago, IL, defeated Olimson Nazarov, 14-4 (8), UZB, over eight tough rounds of boxing.

In the first round southpaw Young boxed well outworking Nazarov. In the second round Nazarov opened up landing a lead overhand right to the head of Young and followed up with a combination. Young continued to use his jab. In the third round Young was landing with lead left hands to the head of Nazarov. Nazarov only fought in spurts but landed well when he did. In the fourth round Nazarov was landing three punch combinations to the head and body of Young having his best round.

In the fifth round Young used his hand speed while Nazarov was landing with combinations in a close round. In the sixth round the action was going back and forth with the last ten seconds the best part of the fight with both landing well. In the seventh round things slowed down a bit with Young outworking Nazarov. In the eighth and final round in was action packed with Young rocking Nazarov with a left uppercut to the chin. Nazarov always bounces back with combinations.

Judges George Hill and Eugene Grant had it 78-74 as did this writer while Debra Barnes had it 77-75 all for the winner. David Fields was the referee.

Welterweight southpaw Kenneth “Bossman” Sims, Jr., 11-0 (3), of St. Diego, CA, defeated southpaw Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles, 15-2-1 (5), of San Diego, CA, in a hard fought eight rounds of action.

In the first round of action Sims hurt Robles with a fight uppercut to the chin that had Robles hurt, but he came firing back. In the second round the action continued with both boxers getting control throughout the round. In the third round the inside fighting continued with Sims getting the best shots in on Robles. In the fourth round the action continued with Sims landing the better inside. This fight could have been taken in a phone booth.

In the fifth round Robles landed a solid left to the head of Sims. Shortly later it was Sims landing a sold lead right to the head of Robles. In the sixth round the action continued in a hard fight for both taking turns mostly punching to the head. In the seventh round the action slowed down in a close round. In the eighth and final round both fighters had their moments. Robles controlled the first half and Sims controlled the second half of the round.

Bantamweight southpaw Leroy “Lucious” Davila, 6-0 (4), of New Brunswick, NJ, impressed with a stoppage at 0:53 of the third round over southpaw Anthony “Tiger” Taylor, 4-1 (1), of Warren, OH.

In the first round Davila was dominating and dropped Taylor with a left to the chin with about 15 seconds left in the round. Taylor beat the count of referee Esteves as the bell sounded. In the second round a left and right combination drove Taylor into the corner of the ring. Davila has Taylor missing quite a few punches. In the third round a straight lead left to the chin by Davila dropped Taylor who bounced up instantly. A solid combination knocked Taylor’s head back with referee Esteves wisely stopping the fight. This a six shortened to a four. “I saw tapes of him knowing he will land a punch and back up so I was just taking my time knowing I would eventually get to him,” said Davila.

Judges Barnes and Grant had it 79-72 while Hill scored it 78-73. This writer had it 78-74. The scoring did not reflect on the closeness of the rounds. Referee was Esteves, Jr.

Super lightweight southpaw “Killer” Keenan Smith, 10-0 (4), of Philly, stopped Marquix “Hawk” Hawthorne, 4-6 (1), of Waco, TX, who didn’t come out for the sixth and final round.

In the first round it was all Smith outworking Hawthorne. In the second round a lead left by Smith to the head of Hawthorne froze Hawthorne. Smith didn’t seem to know how he hurt his opponent and was too slow to follow up. In the third round a lead left by Smith to the head had Hawthorne holding on. In the fourth and fifth rounds Smith dominated. Hawthorne’s corner stopped the fight before the sixth round.

Super welterweight Anthony “Juice” Young, 15-2 (6), of Atlantic City, NJ, came won a decision over James Robinson, 4-6-4 (1), of York, PA, to the displeasure of the fans. Young was saved by the bell in the last round.

In the first round Young drove Robinson into the ropes with a solid right hand to the chin. He dominated the round with Robinson clinching too much. In the second round Young landed well to the body forcing Robinson to hold. In the third round it was more of the same with Young forcing the action.

In the fourth round referee Esteves rightfully took away a point from Robinson for holding. It was a big round for Young. In the fifth round after losing his mouthpiece Robinson landed his best punch of the fight a left hook to the head of Young. Young rocked Robinson with a right to the head forcing him to clinch. In the sixth and final round Robinson hurt Young with a solid right hand to the head having Young out on his feet. Then Robinson followed up and dropped Young with another right hand at the bell. Referee Esteves looked like he was waving the fight off when the bell rang with Young barely beating the count.

Judges Barnes and Grant had it 58-55 with Hill 57-55 and this writer 58-54. Referee was Esteves, Jr.

Heavyweight Darmani “Rock Solid” Rock, 7-0 (5), of Philly, knocked out Solomon “Solo” Maye, 3-8-2 (3), of New Haven, CT, at 0:34 of the fifth round in a scheduled six rounder.

In the first round both boxers were feeling each other out. Rock landed some good jabs and controlled what little action there was. In second round Rock hit Maye the with a right to the head getting his attention. In the third round Rock continued to set Maye up with his jab but didn’t pull the trigger enough but enough to take the round. In the fourth round Rock switches to southpaw several times and continued to win with a jab and good right hand body shots hurting Maye on occasions. In the fifth round Rock landed a right hook and left hand knocking Maye out to the delight of the fans. Referee Fields immediately waved it off.

In the opening bout super bantamweight Malik “Action” Jackson, 2-0 (2), of DC, scored a pair of knockdowns stopping Christian Foster, 0-3 (0), of Alexanderia, VA., at 2:20 of the first round.

A pair of body shots dropped Foster twice before referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. called a halt.

All in all it was a good if not late of boxing at Bally’s in A.C.