Styles make fights.

Moments after beating Adrian Stone at Caesars in Las Vegas, Sugar Shane Mosley was trying to hype a more significant fight in the after fight presser in the garden behind Caesars...  Cedric Kushner produced an oversized cheque of $10 Million that he offered to Dela Hoya to make a huge fight happen after such an easy defence...  As this was taking place an unassuming onlooker grabbed to microphone.. Vernon Forrest asked .. Why not me??  Mosley laughed it off telling Vernon that the wouldn't be much interest in a Forrest v Mosley event...   Six months later Vernon Forrest schooled Shane and handed him his first loss.
Six months later the Viper proved that it wasn't a fluke by repeating the favour. Sometimes certain fighters have another guys number, styles make fights. Marco Antonio Barrera had met his match with Poison Junior Jones. Mike Tyson was outgunned in every department by Evander Holyfield.. Julio Cesar Chavez, on old version was no match for Oscar Dela Hoya.. Or Frankie Randall..

Nigel Benn and co.. G-Mex Manchester..

This great shot was from the front of the G-Mex centre in Manchester a couple of days before Nigel Benn's fight with Hector lescano.. Featured on here are Nigel Benn, heavyweight Michael Murray ,Tony Ekubia and Liverpools Sugar Gibilru.. Benn beat Lescano in 3, while Gibilru lost to Paul Harvey on points.. Heavyweight Murray knocked out Steve Gee in 7 rounds..  Ekubia however didn't even box on this night..  Michael Murray was a dark horse, he boxed Herbie Hide twice once for the British heavyweight title , beat highly ranked Markus Bott in his own back yard in Germany, lost in the fastest stoppage in British history when he got a dislocated shoulder in 9 seconds of the first round...  Michael fought John Fury twice, John is the father of Heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury..   Sadly Michael died in 2011.

Who's Who..? Heavyweight roll call.

This photo I took from the 1990s is of a training camp in California..  Featured in this are former world heavyweight title challenger to Larry Holmes, Scott Ledoux ..  Heavyweight contender and brother of former WBA heavyweight champion Tony, Nate Tubbs.. Contender Elijah Tillery, top rated heavyweight Mark Wills..  Featuring at the very back Olympic Superheavyweight Gold medalist from 1984, former Heavyweight title challenger to Mike Tyson, Tyrell Biggs..  Scott is sadly passed now, Elijah boxed two notorious fights with a young Riddick Bowe, Nate Tubbs was serving sparring partner to Mike Tyson and also handed future heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders his first loss by KO. Mark Wills was a dangerous heavyweight throughout the 80's boxing everyone, beating a peak Greg Page on national Tv. Who's son Damien Bolo Wills carries the Wills name into the ring today as a promising heavyweight. Tyrell Biggs fought a whole list of top heavyweights after turning pro.. James Tillis, Renaldo Snipes, David Bey, Lennox Lewis, Gary Mason, Francisco Damiani, Riddick Bowe and Jeff Simms...  Lennox is rarely seen in public but a documentary is being filmed called whatever happened to Tyrell Biggs featuring Biggs and his commitment to young aspiring fighters in his neighbourhood in Philly..   This photo has a bit of history attached..

New faces... Dorsett Barnwell. Heavyweight.

Dorsett the Bullet Barnwell is a new face on the block, this colourful New Yorker is 12/0 with (5 ko's) as a pro but was a hugely successful amateur winning the bronze medal in the world junior Championships in Morocco 2006.. Barnwell wasn't looking for boxing when he walked into Norfolk's Barraud Park Recreation Center, home of the city's amateur boxing program, he was a 265 pound guy built for football, but after enjoying new found success in the gym he never turned back, his next plans were to fight in the national Police Athletic League championships, the first of several qualifiers for the 2008 Olympic Trials. The Olympics is really something Dorsett dreamed of ever since lacing on gloves, being able to call yourself the best in the country at your game..  Boxing later at heavyweight rather than Super heavyweight served him well, being a more accessible division for opponents at amateur level.

 Barnwell has had his encounters with trouble outside of the ring almost losing his arm in a shooting incident involving a female.. Amateur trainer Gary Russell said Inside the ring Dorsett is ruthless he was 18 years old and with just 30 amateur bouts he was far advanced for his years, in his 4 year 12 fight winning streak he has been hardly tested, but in his more recent fights he is showing signs of improvment, taking his time, boxing more looking for openings and not looking for knockouts.. Dorsett would admit that he was more out for fighting in the early days, but now several years polished he is a capable boxer. Dorsett resides in Norfolk Virginia but these days he is broadening his horizons spending weeks away from home learning, in the Alps in camp with Wladimir Klitschko alongside another young gun Anthony Joshua, and most recently in Alabama helping prepare Deontay Wilder for his Jan 17th WBC date with Bermaine Stiverne in Las Vegas..  From what I hear from Joshua and people in the game in Vegas is that Barnwell is headed for a bright future...  He is only 27 and has time on his hands..  12 and 0 now..    Who knows what the next two years can bring..

Albert Williams.. We will never know..

Big Albert Williams 18/1 with a single draw (14 ko's) Albert was born in Newport News Virginia and served in the gulf for the US marine corps..  Al was chief sparring partner for Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis through most of his career. During that time Lennox class started to rub off on Al, he would rack up 11 straight wins before a single loss to Darren Hayden in Reno.. From 1994 through to 1998 Williams wouldn't lose a fight, only 2 draws to tough Jameel McCline on the Briggs v Wilson, night of the young heavyweights card in Atlantic City and a controversial draw with Ed Mahone in Las Vegas following a huge melee at the weigh in. Al was without direction at the beginning of his career but in Mike Tyson's absence in 93/4, team Tyson members Stacey McKinley and Steve Fitch would steer him towards a bright future along with father figure Gerald Landry as advisor Williams looked destined for Titles.. He was looking at a deal with powerpunch promotions and Cedric Kushner going into 1998. Alberts last victory came in May 1999 against Lorenzo Boyd.. One month later Albert Williams passed away from a heart defect at home..
On this particular day Al and his trainer Kenny Croom would leave Nevada Partners gym after a tough days sparring with David Defiagbon..  The pair would leave and head for a favourite casino for a catfish dinner.. Al wasn't  himself and went home to relax with his stepson and fiancée Lisa.. Al would sit on the bedroom floor watching cartoons with his boy.. Soon after the little man went to call his mom and said that daddy was cold..  Albert had passed peacefully..  Ironically Alberts father died of the same issue at the same age ..   We will never know how good he could have been.  NB..  Mike Tyson paid for Alberts funeral in Newport News Va.

Freddie Pendleton.. If at first you don't succeed..

Freddie Pendleton never got off to the best start as a pro fighter losing 5 of his first 12 outings, most notably to Hilmer Kenty and Anthony Fletcher..  In 1985 Pendleton would lose 3 fights in a row, first to world class Joe Manley, then later to tough Frankie Randall, whom he would later fight to a draw,  before picking up the USBA lightweight championship ...    In 1990 with 14 losses on his record Frankie would drop a unanimous points dec to Pernell Whitaker for the WBC and IBF lightweight titles, yet remain unbeaten for 2 more years, earning himself another shot at that IBF title only to have the fight with Tracy Spann declared a technical draw after 2 rounds,.  Finally in 1993 Freddie rematched Spann, again to challenge for the IBF belt, winning a hard fought, yet deserved Unanimous verdict in Atlantic City..  Pendleton made a sole defence of his title against the colourful Jorge Paez before losing the belt to Rafael Rueles.   Freddie would further lose to Felix Trinidad, Ricky Hatton, Vince Phillips, Terron Millett, Ben Tackie and James Page before hanging up his gloves with an extensive record of 47 wins, 26 losses and 5 draws in a career spanning 19 years...  Its safe to say, Freddie Pendleton came up the hard way..

Mercury Mike.. Hot property in 1986.

Mercury Mike Williams looked every inch the part as the next big thing in the heavyweight division in the 80's..  Boxing out of Houston Texas Mike would run up an impressive stack of victories over your usual record builders, James Tillis, Lorenzo Boyd and mike Tyson sparring partner Rufus hurricane Hadley before coming unstuck in his 14th outing losing a Split decision to Tim Witherspoon in 1987..  Unfortunately Mike would lose to every world class performer he would ever face... On the Tyson v Spinks undercard he faced Buster Douglas and was heavily favoured to emerge victorious.. Buster would knock mike down 3 times with jabs before knocking him out in his last significant fight..  Mike also spent time in camp with Mike Tyson giving the champ a black eye in a heated session that signalled his exit from camp..   Ironically Mike starred in Rocky 5 opposite Tommy Morrison..  But when the pair were due to fight for real in 1993 in Kansas Williams did a no show resulting in Morrison facing Tim Tomasheck from the audience in a farcical WBO title fight...  Mike retired in 2000 with a record of  22 wins and 6 losses with 14 knockouts..

Spinks Holmes revisited..

For many years now I have studied the two highly controversial fights between Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes and came to the same conclusion each time... I am satisfied that Spinks did a lot of very clever work in their first fight, out working the naturally bigger Holmes in spurts and finessing Larry who appeared subdued at times. Ring generalship earned Spinks that monumental verdict in 1985. However, in their rematch a year later Larry second guessed Michael and upped his game, closing down the distance to nullify Spinks' momentum, doing what he should have in the first fight. Spinks got the nod once again, but I feel deep down that Larry regained his IBF belt that night...  Mike was gallant, but fell short second time around..  Nevertheless ..    Great fights..

Never say never.. Bruce Seldon against the odds..

Whenever I see a young prospect I am never quick to make a solid prediction as to how good they...  In 1992 Bruce Seldon boxed a very lacklustre points win against trail horse Mike Dixon, the ESPN commentator boldly proclaimed that Seldon would never amount to anything more than a run of the mill heavyweight, and never get near a championship fight..    Three years later Bruce would beat Tony TNT Tucker in Las Vegas to arrest the Vacant WBA belt..  He would go on to defend it against Joe Hipp before losing it to a hungry Mike Tyson...      Never say never..

Looking back.. Toney v Holyfield..

James Toney on the scales for the Evander Holyfield fight..  I was completely convinced that Holyfield would have no trouble beating James in 2003. At the time he had never beaten a heavyweight before let alone a future Hall of famer..  In his previous fight he struggled in spells to beat Vassily jirov at Cruiserweight. I was staggered to witness James slick his way past Evander to a 9th round retirement win..

Thell Torrence, learning from past masters.

I love to sit and watch a great trainer at work..  Former fighter, trainer and now promoter Thell Torrence comes from a long line of boxing royalty. Disciplinarian Jack Blackburn trained the great Joe Louis, who would share the ring and spar with Detroit lightweight golden gloves champion Eddie Futch..  Eddie would never turn pro for health reasons but would carry his knowledge into training fighters..  Eddie trained numerous world champions an would pass his teachings onto his disciples, he would work at the helm of Joe Frazier along with Yancey Durham and George Benton... Turning out heavyweight champions one after the other..  Larry Holmes, Kenny Norton, Michael Spinks and more.. Top trainers Freddie Roach, Hedgemon Lewis would work under Futch but Thell Torrence would work as immediate apprentice to Eddie with several fighters Riddick Bowe and Montell Griffin notably..  Thell knows boxing, he learned it from the very best..
 Thell is now a promoter at Platinum Promotions..