Davey Pearl.. A small man, with huge presence.

Despite his 5 foot 4 inch size, David 'Davey' Pearl commanded great respect and affection from those who knew him in boxing..
Not only was he a terrific referee, he was a man of solid principles, hard nosed but a lovely guy as well, you'll rarely hear a harsh word spoken of Pearl, he was as straight as they come.. Pearl was truly dedicated to boxing, first as a judge then as a referee.
"I know he either lied about his age so he could continue working, or Nevada knew and decided it just didn’t matter," Mike Katz said. "Even at 80, and as small as he was, he still had the command necessary in the ring."
Before his celebrated career as a referee of more than 70 championship fights, Pearl took up boxing as part of a self-defense program.
After five years in the armed services, Pearl got a job judging professional fights. That led to referring, although it was several years before he landed a title fight.
"I was doing mostly club fights in Vegas, and they were always telling me I was too small to do a title fight," Pearl said in an earlier interview.
He finally got his chance to do a title bout, a junior middleweight world championship bout yet It wasn’t long after that fight that Pearl was asked to referee the biggest fight of his life the Ali-Spinks fight in 1978. That one elevated Pearls refereeing profile.
To Pearl refereeing wasn't about the money, it was his passion  (Pearl said the most he ever received as a referee was $1,500 for a fight, and when he received $1,000 for officiating Ali-Spinks, it was the first four-figure check ever paid to a Nevada referee), he’s had to rely on other sources of income. Despite his size, Davey refereed many more huge events, involving men who would dwarf him in physical stature, Larry Holmes v James Smith, and Shavers.. Mike Dokes v Lynn Ball, Dwight Muhammad Qawi v Jerry Martin and the huge first fight between Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns..  Yet years before all of these fights Davey was involved at the highest level in a different capacity..  In 1968 Pearl refereed the Sonny Liston v Bill McMurray fight in Reno, little did he know then that a year later Davey would become Sonnys official manager and friend...  Pearl was with Sonny for the final two fights of his career ending with a victory over Chuck Wepner in 1970..  Davey spoke openly about Liston,  proclaiming that Sonny sure as hell never killed himself with an overdose, Pearl was adamant that Liston was murdered, and that Sonny was portrayed by Ali as a monster and typecast in public as such..  Sonny was a great guy, a family guy, very caring, a complete contrast to what you've been fed..
Pearl had worked in casino bingo halls and had operated bars in Las Vegas, including the popular Davey’s Locker on East Desert Inn Road, which became synonymous with boxing characters..   During his final years, Davey was suffering from Alzheimer's, boxing friend and fellow referee Toby Gibson took the time to care for the ailing Pearl until his passing in 2006 aged 88..
Sadly two years later in an unrelated incident Toby Gibson would take his own life..
Davey Pearl was survived by his wife, Janet but was preceded in death by his twin brother, Lou, in 2004.

Daveys passing catchphrase that is so often used by referees today is "I've explained the rules to you both in the dressing room!"  That was a Davey Pearl original..

Motivated Malik Scott springs the upset over Thompson.

In a mini upset, 35-year-old Malik Scott (38-2-1, 13 KOs) was forced to get up off the deck to defeat 44-year-old #9 WBC heavyweight Tony Thompson (40-6, 27 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Friday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Bounce TV at The Venue at UCF in Orlando, Florida.
Scott used good movement to out maneuver the older man throughout the majority of the bout which did prove entertaining viewing. Scott's mobility paired with fast hands was the undoing of the largely pedestrian Thompson who was looking to secure a third world title shot, this time against WBC King Deontay Wilder who sat ringside. Malik was by far the sharper of the two, but by his own admission needs more activity having only fought once in a full year, another solid win over former title challenger Alex Lepai in Australia..  Scott was hurt by a single right hand in the ninth round but was experienced enough to regroup from the knockdown and stick to the game plan..  Scotts win could throw him into a position where he could be considered for a title in the near future if he is moved right, but considering that he lost to a current champion, Wilder in  a single round it's not a rematch many would be queuing up to see..   But it does seem for the minute that in his 15th year as a pro Malik Scott has found his finest hour..  

Warriors boxing tonight.. Thompson v Scott..

The Venue, University of Central Florida, Warriors boxing presents, a heavyweight eliminating between Malik King Scott and Tony Thompson..  Thompson looking for a third heavyweight title shot while long time contender Scott is looking for his first..  PBC..      Friday Oct 30th..

Eddie Futch.... The Master..

Eddie Futch was born in Hillsboro Mississippi in 1911 but moved with his family to Detroit when he was five years old. The Futch family lived in the Black Bottom section of the City..   Futch played semi-professional basketball with the Moreland YMCA Flashes and planned to attended the YMCA College School at the University of Chicago, but the Great Depression changed his plans and forced him to work shifts at The Wolverine hotel to bring much needed funds into the family home...  Here Eddie would meet friend and trainer / Promoter Don Arnott..  In 1932, Futch won the Detroit Athletic Association Lightweight Championship, and in 1933, he won the Detroit Golden Gloves Championship. Eddie trained at the Brewster Recreation Center Gym, and often sparred with the future champion Joe Louis. However health issues and a potential heart murmur prevented Futch from turning professional, and he began training boxers. Eddie Futch was a phenomenal trainer, perhaps the greatest strategist who ever lived. He prepared fighters to perform their best at the highest levels of the sport for several decades.  The list of Champions who worked under Futch's tutelage include Don Jordan, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe, Michael Spinks, Alexis Arguello, Marlon Starling, Wayne McCullough and Montell Griffin ...  Jordan however was Futch's first world champion, crowned in 1958.
Eddie Futch was noted for his work with heavyweights, he was first hired by Joe Frazier, and his chief cornerman and manager Yank Durham to help him prepare for a fight in 1967, with Scrap Iron Johnson..  He trained Frazier to stay low and create a sense of perpetual motion and pressure Johnson consistently ..  Futch was using Fraziers height as an advantage, making the opponent continually punch down, making Joe a tough target to hit without taking as much punishment as a boxer with a more conventional fighting style would.
The tactic proved to be highly effective, and Frazier remained undefeated, winning the New York title from Buster Mathis, the man he had replaced in the Tokyo Olympics and WBA crown from Jimmy Ellis with solid knockouts. All of which led to the inevitable victorious showdown with Muhammad in March 1971 at New York's Madison square Garden.. Futch would be by Joes side for all three historic bouts with Ali..  Eddie would train four of the five men who would beat Ali..
For Kenny Norton Futch's master plan for his first Ali fight was for Ken to try and out-jab Ali. Although a pressure fighter, Norton had a good jab. Futch reckoned this would play mind games with Ali, who was so proud of his own jab. The plan seemed effective..    For Frazier v Ali 1, Futch told Frazier to wear down Ali with persistent body punches,  Futch also believed that Frazier's constant bobbing and weaving would make Ali uncomfortable because he would often have to punch down , which was something he was not used to doing. Finally, Futch noticed that Ali's uppercuts were thrown sloppily and technically incorrectly, he instructed Frazier to throw a left hook over the top of Ali's right uppercuts, and told his fighter to beat Ali to the punch when doing so, something that worked perfectly in the 15th round when an exhausted Ali threw a half-hearted uppercut, Frazier feinted a left and then unleashed a huge sweeping left hook at Ali's head, which floored him and created an famous moment in boxing history.
Frazier won the fight by a unanimous decision and was recognized as the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
Four and a half years after the Fight of the Century, Frazier and Ali met for a third and final time in a fight known as the "Thrilla in Manila" in September 1975. Futch served as Frazier's manager and chief second for the fight, having inherited those duties from Durham who died from a stroke shortly after Frazier's defeat by Foreman in 1973.
Futch's would ultimately save Joe from himself in the 14th round of one of the most brutal heavyweight fights ever witnessed..  A decision Frazier held bitter against Futch for years..  Eddie would stand alongside dominant heavyweight champion Larry Holmes another of the elite club to beat Ali, then prepare another Ali tamer in Jamaican Trevor Berbick, albeit against a much faded Ali..
Eddie would then work with his fighter Holmes nemesis,  Michael Spinks, who would become the only light heavyweight in history to arrest the heavyweight title..
Following Michael Spinks defeat at the hands of Mike Tyson, Eddie had no invested interest in a ranked heavyweight, until he met Riddick Bowe..  Everyone labeled Bowe a quitter, an underachiever who wouldn't rise when the going got tough, but Futch had faith..  Eddie said "he'd judge Bowe as he found him" and after brief introductions Futch set Bowe a strict training regime while he was supposedly out of town..  This was the acid test..  On a cold winters morning unsupervised would this underachieving quitter set out on his 5 mile runs at 5am..  Futch watched from a vantage point unbeknown to Bowe and to the young mans credit, he never missed a beat..  Futch proclaimed that he would make Riddick Bowe a champion.  31 fights later he would fulfill his promise to Futch and outpoint Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas to claim his crown..  Unfortunately after Bowes defense against Britains Herbie Hide Futch left understudy Thell Torrence in charge, washing his hands of his young charge who had began to lack discipline, at 84 years of age Futch didn't have time for bullshit..    Eddie still had the magic to steer Montell Griffin towards becoming the first man to beat Roy Jones Jr. and Wayne McCullough one of the most exciting champions in his division..    October 10th 2001 , Eddie Futch passed away in Las Vegas...  I was in town the week of his life celebration at Caesars Palace, it was the final farewell of one of boxings leading lights..   An extraordinary man..

Evander Holyfield... Size meant nothing.

Undisputed Cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield made it public that he would move up into the heavyweight division in 1988..  Bulking up to 200 pounds was something that many boxing connoisseurs frowned upon.. Slowly but surely over 18 months Diet regime, weight training and balance coaching turned Evander into a heavyweight on paper..  Still the jury was out on how the new bulked Holyfield would fare with the bigger heavyweights...   Lou Duva didn't cherry pick opponents for Evander, over the next year he would face durable on form contenders..  Pitting Evander in against James Tillis like a lab experiment, successfully, then ex champion Pinklon Thomas and later Alex Stewart but most notably the former WBA champion Mike Dokes..  It was one of the best heavyweight brawls of the 80's..  It looked inevitable that Evander would cross paths with a current champion at some point had he remained unbeaten and it would again be another huge challenge but Evander would succeed as World Champion over the Huge Buster Douglas, Mike Tyson's unlikely conqueror..  In the years following Evander beat men who technically should have been far to massive for the former cruiserweight but in Holyfields case, size meant nothing..

Jack Blackburn.. A modern day boxing genius..

Jack Blackburn had an extensive career as a fighter but is honored in the Hall of Fame for his achievements as a trainer, most notably of Joe Louis. Charles Blackburn was Born in Versailles, Kentucky in 1883, the son of a minister.  Blackburn would later settle in Indiana where he first began boxing. Jack would soon move to Pennsylvania first to Pittsburgh and then Philadelphia to further his boxing career. Blackburn had a great Jab, quick reflexes and a powerful left hook, and weighed only 135 pounds, but would often fight much larger opposition.  Jack was competitive against greats like Joe Gans and Sam Langford (who considerably outweighed him ), and gave Philadelphia Jack O'Brien no end of trouble before settling for a no-decision in 1908.

In January 1909, Blackburn's career was halted when out of character he would set off on a furious rampage with a gun in Philly following a dispute...  Blackburn would kill three people, one being his wife..   He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to ten to fifteen years in the penetentiary. Blackburn proved a model prisoner, gave boxing instructions to the warden and his children and was released on good behavior after four and a half years.

Blackburn returned to the ring, boxing both Ed ("Gunboat") Smith and Harry Greb before retiring from prize fighting in 1923 after losing by knockout to Panama Joe Gans and Ray Pelkey. Blackburn's career record was a stellar 38-3-12 with nearly 50 no-decisions, although claimed to have fought 385 times.

Blackburn would then become a trainer and guide Sammy Mandell to the lightweight title in 1926. Blackburn also trained Bud Taylor, who won the bantamweight title in 1927. Blackburn worked closely for a short time with the great Jersey Joe Walcott.

Blackburn then met Joseph Louis Barrow..  at first Jack was apprehensive about Louis, predicting that a black heavyweight would have limited opportunities. Nevertheless, Blackburn worked tirelessly with Louis, schooling him every step of the way in every aspect of fighting, focus on balance and accuracy. According to Eddie Futch, Blackburn changed Louis from a "box and move" type to a more aggressive fighter. Though Blackburn was tough on Louis, the two grew close and called each other "Chappie." Louis later said, "Chappie made a fighter out of me. He was my closest friend."  Blackburn was a huge disciplinarian, one specific time during a public workout, Blackburn would scowl at the onlooking press and direct Joe to continue with what he'd call "The real pain" behind locked doors, in private..

Blackburn later had issues with drink, along with bouts of arthritis during the time he trained Louis. In 1935, he was indicted for perjury and manslaughter in a case that was later dropped. Soon Blackburn's health would catch up with him and in 1942, he died of a heart attack...  One of the modern day greats...

Troublesome.. The life of Heavyweight Jeff Simms..

Jeff Simms was dangerous, he spent seven years in Sumter county correctional and later Belle Glade correctional facility on a manslaughter charge from when he was 17.. He gained notoriety after splitting Muhammad Ali's lip badly in a sparring session.. Simms moved to Yonkers to train from his home in Florida.. In 1982 Simms got himself ranked number 10 by the WBC.. But was unable to box.. Because he had three bullets lodged in him, one in his neck, one in his upper back and one in his buttock.. It wasn't the first time.. Several years earlier Simms got into an altercation with a roommate who left the apartment only to return through a fire escape window to shoot Simms numerous times,, but as Simms said it "Those bullets didn't stick." His friend Renaldo Snipes tells it straight, I never walk out with Jeff... He attracts lead.. Lol. He can't fly by airplane because of the metal detectors.. Jeff laughed.. Jeff flirted with trouble.. Simms had lost to Earnie Shavers after knocking him over... and beaten Floyd Cummings to get himself into contention.. Jeff Simms gave rising heavyweight Tyrell Biggs a nightmare in 1987, breaking Biggs collarbone in the second round before dropping a close decision..  Jeff would lose badly to twice heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon in the legendary Blue Horizon in philly in 1990, but in a strange twist contributed to Mike Tyson's shock loss to Buster Douglas less than a year later..  Jeff dropped and hurt Tyson's original opponent choice Jose Ribalta on the Tyson v Williams undercard, causing Don King to scratch Ribalta as a convincing foe and drafting in Douglas...  The rest is history..  Jeff Simms would box three more times after 1990, losing each, to Bonecrusher Smith, Trevor Berbick and Phil Jackson, all credible opponents in truth, before retiring from the game..  Sadly in 1993, Jeffs wild ways would catch up with him when he was shot and killed in Florida, not far from his home..   A very dangerous heavyweight, but always troublesome...