THE JACK JOHNSON EXHIBIT IS TRAVELING TO RING 8

THE JACK JOHNSON EXHIBIT IS TRAVELING TO RING 8

33rd annual Ring 8

Holiday Event & Awards Ceremony

Dec. 8 in New York

Amanda Serrano, Adam Kownacki, Iran Barkley, Junior Jones and Tim Witherspoon among 2019 major award winners

NEW YORK (November 11, 2019) – The 33rd annual Ring 8 Holiday Event and Awards Ceremony will be held Sunday afternoon (12:30-5:30 p.m. ET), December 8, at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York.

Ring 8 has announced its 2019 award winners (see complete list below), headlined by Fighter of the Decade Amanda “Real Deal” Serrano (37-1-1, 27 KOs), of Brooklyn by way of Puerto Rico; undefeated heavyweight contender (Fighter of the Year) Adam “Babyface” Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs), of Brooklyn by way of Poland; Legend Award winners three-time, three-division world champion Iran “The Blade” Barkley (43-19,1 27 KOs), of Bronx, and two-time, two-division world champion Junior “Poison” Jones (50-6, 28 KOs), of Brooklyn; and two-time world heavyweight champion “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon (55-13-1, 28 KOs), of Philadelphia, the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award winner.

 

2019 RING 8 Award Winners

Fighter of the Decade: Amanda Serrano

Fighter of the Year: Adam Kownacki

Legends Award: Iran Barkley & Junior Jones,

Muhammad Ali Humanitarian: Tim Witherspoon

Sam Kellerman Media Award: Gerry Cooney & Randy Gordon

Long & Meritorious Service: Daryl Peoples

Uncrowned Champion: John Capobianco

Prospect of the Year: Left “2 Gunz” Gonzalez

Member of the Year: James Monteverde

NYS Official of the Year: Waleska Roldan

Trainer of the Year: Scott Lopeck

Manager of the Year: Keith Connolly

Community Service Award: Michael Corleone

Amateur of the Year: Nisa Rodriguez

Amateur Official of the Year: Michael “Biggie” O’Conner

Good Guy Award: Peter Frutkoff

The famous Jack Johnson Exhibit will be on display with Aaron Snowell Hall Of Fame Trainer Of Champions, Will Williams, Yusuf Hilliman :Gerry Cooney will conducted a book signing and special guests will also be on hand.

 

David Diamante will once again serve as the event’s Master of Ceremonies.

Tickets are $125.00 include a complete brunch with cocktail hour upon entry, followed by seating at the awards ceremony, dinner and dessert, and top-shelf open bar throughout the afternoon. There will also be a silent auction of boxing memorabilia. This event is expected to sell-out and everybody is urged to purchase tickets as soon as possible to secure favorable seating. Donations of any denomination are welcome for those unable to attend the festivities.

Program ads are available for Back Cover ($500.00), Inside Front or Back Cover ($400.00), Full Page ($200.00), Half-Page ($100.00), and Quarter-Page ($60.00). The deadline for all ads is November 24, 2019. All checks for tickets or journal ads should be payable to Ring 8 (credit cards are acceptable). Checks and journal ads should be mailed to Ring 8, P.O. Box 89, Massapequa Park, NY 11762

For additional information about Ring 8 or its annual Holiday Events and Awards Ceremony, contact Ring 8 president Charflie Norkus (516.781.3065 or Bob Duffy (516.313.2304), or go online to www.Ring8ny.com for more information.

Russo’s On The Bay is located at 162-45 Crossbay Blvd. in Howard Beach (718.843.5055).

The World Boxing Review Review Radio Show

Attention Boxing Fans
April 18, 2019
The World Boxing Review Radio Show. ...Come listen to the boxing news,interviews,legend tales,boxing history, as we travel the world for past,present, and future stars with. Host Bob Murray, and CoHost Aaron Snowell (Hall Of Famer Trainer Of Champions), with. Hall Of Fame Boxing Historians TONY Triem and Henry Hascup

History REVIEW, Jill and Linda Dempsey Young President National Boxing Hall Of Fame
This week quest is: TONY Tubbs Former WBA HEAVYWEIGHT CHampion
                                  
                                                        
                        The radio show will be Live Saturdays.      
                        11:00am to 12:00noon
Email: theworldboxingreview@gmail.com
www.worldboxingreviewradioshow.com

National Boxing Hall Of Fame Class of 2019

National Boxing Hall Of Fame
The goal of the National Boxing Hall of Fame is to shine a light on the legacy of the great pugilists and participants from the past so they may be remembered and honored.

JoJohnson was the first African American to capture the heavyweight title in 1908. He defended it two years later against James J. Jeffries in Reno, NV. in what was called the first “Fight of the Century”hnson was the first African American to capture the heavyweight title in 1908. He defended it two years later against James J. Jeffries in Reno, NV. in what was called the first “Fight of the Century”

The event, is hosted by Bill and Linda Dempsey Young, takes place April 28th at the Quiet Cannon Crystal Grand Ballroom, Montebello, CA.

Scheduled to be inducted into the fighter’s category are: Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Michael “Little Hands of Stone” Carbajal, “Dangerous” David Diaz, Montell “Ice” Griffin, Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, Lucia “Dutch Destroyer” Riker, Raul “Jibaro” Perez, Mike “Hercules” Weaver, and Jack “Galveston Giant” Johnson (posthumously).

Also honored will be “Book of the Year” winner Gene Aguilera, “Lady of the Ring” Amy Hayes, manager Carl King, trainers Abel Sanchez and Jim Strickland, writer/author Alan Santana, and boxing judge Don Jose Manzur. Jim Amato will receive the Bobby Chacon “Gift of Love Award,” former world champion Sean Grady, the “Howie Steindler Award, and legendary publicist Bill Caplan will receive the Don Jose Sulaiman lifetime achievement award. Elizabeth Reyes will be the first to recieve the Albereto Reyes humanitian award, named for her late father.

Chavez Sr. is acknowledged by many as the greatest Mexican fighter ever. The six-time world champion amassed an amazing record of 107 wins and six losses over his 17-year career.

Carbajal captured a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. He parlayed that success into a fantastic professional career, winning six world titles before retiring at the age of 31.

Diaz was all about guts and determination. The Chicago, ILL. native captured the WBC lightweight title in 2007-losing it in a courageous fight against Manny Pacquiao.

The clever Griffin captured the WBC light heavyweight title in 1997 against the great Roy Jones. He fought anyone who was everyone in the light heavyweight division.

Gonzalez and Carbajal will forever be joined at the hip due to their furious three-fight series. Gonzalez lost only three times in 43 bouts.

Riker is one of the most dominant female fighters in history. The former IBO champion finished her career undefeated in 17 professional fights.

Perez, a two-division world champion, knocked out 42 opponents in 61 career victories.

Weaver, behind on the scorecards, won the world’s heavyweight title by knocking out John Tate with 45 seconds left in the contest. He held the title for two years.

Carl King, President of Monarch Boxing with his sister Deborah King vice president manage many WORLD BOXING champions.

Weigh In Shields vs Hammer

The excitement is building! Just got the weights for tomorrow night's Unification Championship Match with Claressa Shields coming in at 159 1/4 and Hammer checking in at 159 even. This is the final installment of the pre-fight blog and I want to write about the afternoon in Atlantic City yesterday. The two combatants met with youngsters from the New Jersey Give A Kid A Dream and the Girls In Gloves community organizations and delivered a boxing program for these kids to remember always. The event took place at the Atlantic City Police Athletic League (PAL) building in town.

Here's a quote from each fighter:

Shields: "Seeing the kids reminded me so much of the way I grew up. I grew up in a place just like this. It made me a little emotional."

Hammer: " I hope I can inspire them to keep going in this sport. It is a great way to lift your life up and you learn a lot from a sport like this."

Before closing, I do want to mention briefly the promoter for this historic event: Mr. Dmitriy Salita. Dmitriy was born in Ukraine (The World Boxing Review's "Country of the Year" for 2018) and now resides and operates Salita Promotions in Brooklyn, NYC. A former welterweight known as the "Star of David" finished a stellar career with a 35-2-1 record, scoring 18 knockouts. He lost to Amir Khan back on December 5, 2009 but won the open IBF International Super Lightweight title with a UD over Derrick Campos. He defeated James Wayka for the vacant USA-New York State Welterweight belt back in 2010. Salita Promotions debuted on December 16, 2015 at Webster Hall in NYC, headlined by Junior Anthony Wright, a cruiserweight he still represents. He also represents fellow Brooklynite Jerrell "Big Baby" Miller, who will be fighting Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden on June 1st. But that's for a later date.

I'll be en route to AC tomorrow morning and will be broadcasting live from the beach. It says rain until 10am so I should be good! We will be active from 6pm as the fights begin so please keep checking us out throughout the night tomorrow. Also tune into our show at 11am (blogtalkradio.com/theworldboxingreview) with featured guest Pinklon Thomas, who once fought at the famed Boardwalk Hall.

Talk to you soon...

Bob Murray

TheWBR

Shields vs Hammer

Well, she has a movie being done on her life and I'm not talking about the 2015 documentary! She's Claressa Shields, 2x US Olympic Gold Medalist and holder of three belts and she's ready to take on Christina Hammer Saturday night at the famous Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, live on Showtime.

Shields (8-0, 2 KO's), 24 years old, 5'8" with a 68" reach, made her pro debut as a middleweight on November 19, 2016 with a UD over the also debuting Franchon Crews Dezurn and it has been the only pro fight in which she did not fight for a title. She won the NABF crown in her second bout, March 10, '17, with a TKO over Szilvia Szabados and in June of that year, she grabbed the WBC Silver Super Middleweight belt with a UD over Sydney LeBlanc. Then came the current run of accumulating World Titles. The vacant IBF and WBC Super Middleweight belts were hers after dispatching Nikki Adler via TKO and she defended against Tori Nelson. Dropping down to middleweight, she garnered the IBF and WBA crowns with her win over Hanna Gabriels. She then dispatched Hannah Rankin and won the WBC belt with a victory over Femke Hermans last December 8th, which Hammer had held and was going to defend had this bout gone off at its original date. 

Shields held a 77-1 record as an amateur, her only loss coming back in 2012 when Savannah Marshall of England beat her 14-8 in the World Amateur Championships in China. She won her first Olympic Gold at the age of 17 in 2012 at the London Games, the first time Women's Boxing was represented. She followed up on that at the 2016 Rio Games by acquiring her second Gold Medal. The 2015 documentary film "T-Rex - Her Fight for Gold" followed her during her quest for the amateur crown.

There's no questioning her goal Saturday night: She wants all the belts! At the Media Luncheon held yesterday in NYC, Shields said it's the "hardest I've ever trained...because of the spotlight. I don't want to let my fans down. I don't want to let the women who came before me down." As for the busy social media activity surrounding this fight and the back-and-forths, she said, "I love trash talking, that comes natural." At Monday's international presser, she pointed out that it's not quite like the way some men trash talk. "We're not talking about anyone's mama!"

Regarding the upcoming film, acclaimed award-winning director Barry Jenkins and Universal Pictures have teamed up to produce a feature film on her life, with Jenkins penning the screenplay. 

Tomorrow I wrap up this 10-part series with some final thoughts as I prepare to head to the Shore to experience this historic matchup.

Bob Murray

TheWBR 

The Champion Model

She's a model too! Featuring Christina Hammer today, who's fighting Claressa Shields this Saturday night in Atlantic City, NJ. Welcome to the 8th of a series of 10 blogs leading up to this historic night. 

Christina Hammer (24-0, 11 KO's) was born in Novodolinsky, Kazakhstan in 1990 and took up boxing when she was 13. As a youth, she also played soccer and swam, which she attributes to her "sporty family" life. Though undefeated as a pro, she did lose back as an amateur in 2008 in the finals of the German National Championships, garnering the Silver medal after her 14-13 loss to Nikolina Orlovic. Turning pro and relocating to Germany, she beat fellow debutante Molisa Koktar by TKO on September 12, 2009. She became the youngest boxer to win a WBO World Title when she decisioned Teresa Perozzi in 2010. The WBF belt came along next when Diana Kiss retired in their Championship bout in 2011. The WBC belt was added when she scored a UD over Kali Reis in '16. Lady Hammer has a 14-0 record in World Title fights with successful WBO and WBC defenses against Maria Lindberg, Gifty Amanua Ankrah and Tori Nelson. She also won the WBF and WBO World Super Middleweight crowns with her win over Zita Zatyko in 2013.

Anyone who is paying any attention to this fight knows that there's been a lot of yapping between the combatants; most of us know also that this is only the normal playful banter. The hype for this fight probably started when Hammer signed with Dimitriy Salita and Salita Promotions back in 2017, who also promotes Shields. It notched up quite a bit last August when both appeared on the same bill in Detroit; Shields fighting Hanna Gabriels and Hammer tangling with Nelson. Hammer jumped in to the ring when Shields was addressing the crowd post-fight, yelling and pointing her finger, and culminated in Shields giving Hammer a shove, shouting "I can't be beat!". 

At the international press conference that was held this past Monday, Christina said the trash talk "make this fight on fire!". She also answered questions about her health ("I'm stronger now"), saying that for this fight "I focus 100%, 110%". She also mentioned again what a big step this fight is for Women's Boxing and said that Atlantic City "is a very talked about city". "It feels very good (to be) in the US....It's time that these fights are coming for the whole world." When asked to describe herself in one word, the obvious answer was "Hammer!".

Oh yeah, about the model stuff. She is a long time model for Anita, a lingerie, sports bra and swimwear brand. She has her own inspired sports bra that she fights in.

Tomorrow: Two-time US Olympic Champion and World Champion Claressa Shields.

Bob Murray

TheWBR

The Famous Boxing In Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City NJ

The famous Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, formerly the Convention Center, is a US National Historic Landmark. Since boxing debuted there on February 2, 1887, the sport has gone through many unique eras. This seventh in a ten-part series will focus on the days since the name change as I write in advance of Saturday night's Women's World Unification fight between two undefeated champions: Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer.

Of the many great fighters to have boxed at the Boardwalk Hall, it is the name of Mike Tyson that probably stirs the most memories. Iron Mike defended his Undisputed title four times at the venue.  One of those was his 91 second knockout of Michael Spinks back in '88. His other wins were over Tyrell Biggs, Larry Holmes and Carl "The Truth" Williams. In 1991, Evander Holyfield scored a win over George Foreman, one of his many victories in the building. In 1987, he successfully defended his IBF and WBA World Cruiserweight crowns with a KO of Dwight Muhammad Qawi. He also recorded a win over Pinklon Thomas, who will be a special guest on our radio show atblogtalkradio.com/theworldboxingreview this Saturday morning at 11am EDT. Other victims were Ray Mercer, Alex Stewart, Seamus McDonagh and Hasim Rahman. On December 14, 2002, he suffered his only loss in the place, a UD by Chris Byrd for the IBF World Heavyweight belt. To just name a few more who have been there, I would mention Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones, Jr., Floyd "The Money Man" Mayweather, Jr., Riddick Bowe, Julio Cesar Chavez, Hector "Macho" Camacho and Arturo Gatti. 2019 Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame Inductees Roberto Duran, Micky Ward, Iran Barkley and Bernard Hopkins also fought there. The 2003 Gatti vs. Ward fight was Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year. 

One more historic note about the venerable Boardwalk Hall/Convention Center: it houses the world's largest pipe organ with over 33,000 pipes! It deteriorated during the last century, but an extensive renovation is currently underway, scheduled to be completed in 2023. Well, a few more notes: the 1964 Liberty Bowl was held there, the first indoor college football game: The Beatles played there in 1964, one week after the National Democratic Convention: the Miss America Pageant is synonymous with it: the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will hold their men's and women's basketball tournament there beginning in 2020 through 2022.

Just a little more pre-fight hype before I go: The media luncheon is Wednesday at Gallagher's Steak House in NYC. Tomorrow I'll profile Christina Hammer; the next day, Claressa Shields.

Bob Murray

The WBR

Boxing Historic City

THE HISTORIC CITY. Atlantic City, NJ, the crowned king of the Jersey Shore. Incorporated on May 1, 1854, the city has a long and diverse history of which I will only skim the surface in this installment of The World Boxing Review's pre-fight blog, counting down to Saturday night when Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer fight for all the marbles in the Women's Middleweight division.

Anyone who has ever seen a Monopoly game board knows the streets of this city (build a hotel on Park Place!). The famous Boardwalk was first built in 1870 to keep the sand out of the lobbies of the many rooming houses along the beach. This was before the hotels came in the 30's. At one time, the boards stretched for seven miles from Longport and through to the neighboring towns of Ventnor and Margate. In 1944, the Great Atlantic Hurricane (before we named them) destroyed much of the structure. This period saw the rise of the first grand hotels, the largest one being the Marlborough-Blenheim, on the site of what is today Bally's. The Claridge, host of the annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame festivities, opened in 1930 and was known as the "Skyscraper by the Sea".

Another famous by-product of Atlantic City was the accidental discovery of salt water taffy. As legend tells it, taffy maker David Bradley, back in 1883, sold some taffy to a little girl that had been damaged in a flood and had been soaked in salt water. The girl loved the candy, the mom loved the name and a classic confection was born. Today's salt water taffy contains no salt water. 

Yet another aspect of the city's landscape are the numerous piers that jut out to the ocean. The Steel Pier, where the TV show American Bandstand debuted, was the most famous of them all. Things changed in AC back in 1976 when gambling became legal and last year, sports betting won approval. Two new casinos opened last year and boxing venues are happening all over town. 

I spent many a vacation day with my mom and brother at the resort. We stayed at a large, long gone hotel named The Shelburne and I still have the picture I took of the Diving Horse, falling into the sea from a great height at the Steel Pier. I also saw some great performers of the day. 

Tomorrow, I will continue this look at Atlantic City history, focusing on the Boardwalk Hall, site of Saturday's historic title fight. I will also look back at some of the great fights that this town has seen.

Bob Murray

The WBR

Less than a week to go before big historic fight in Atlantic City NJ

Less than a week to go before the historic event in Atlantic City! Shields/Hammer, Hammer/Shields, however you look at it, it's happening Saturday night! In this fifth of a series of ten pre-fight blogs, I will finish up with the undercard.

Jesse Angel Hernandez is a 5'8" southpaw super Bantamweight with a 12-2, 7 KO record who hails from Fort Worth, Texas. He fought on the Claressa Shields vs Nikki Adler undercard back on August 4, 2017 where he TKO'd previously unbeaten Vladimir Tikhonov. That event was where Shields won her first World crown, the WBC. Most recently on February 15, he lost by UD to the undefeated Thomas Patrick Ward (25-0) for the open NABA-USA Super Bantamweight title. In 14 fights, he has never fought at the same place twice and will be new to Atlantic City. He's been through Texas to Mexico to California and out to Long Island, NY. His only other loss came on January 10, 2015 by SD to Ray Ximenez. He made his debut on Valentine's Day, 2009 (February 14) at Eddie Deen's Ranch in Dallas, TX and scored a knockout over Alton Jaurigui.

His opponent will be 24 year old Marcus Bates out of Washington, DC, who steps in with a 8-1-1, 7 KO's slate. He has not fought since suffering his first loss, a UD to Raeese Aleem, at the 2300 Arena in Philly back on April 6 of last year. He made his debut on June 8, 2013 at the Echo Stage Lounge in DC and won via TKO over the also-debuting Joshua Hinnant. The only other blemish on his record is the draw he had with Stephen McIntyre back on January 17, 2014 at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland.

The first fight of the night will feature local product Isiah "Zoo" Seldon, a 30 year old middleweight with a record of 12-2-1, 4 KO's out of nearby Somers Point, NJ. Isiah made his debut on July 2, 2010 at Merighi's Savoy Inn in Vineland, NJ and won a UD over Damion Reed. He went 7-0 until stopped by Lekan Byfield on June 27, 2013. He just suffered his second career loss in his last fight back on November 16 in Oklahoma City when unbeaten Tyler Howard (15-0) knocked him out. His Atlantic City record is 8-0, having fought at the Trump Taj Mahal, Bally's, Resorts, Tropicana and the Claridge. In his first bout at the Claridge, he grabbed the vacant USA-NJ State Super Middleweight belt by way of a UD over Michael Mitchell. He also fought at the Claridge last June 1, as part of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, winning a UD over Lamar Harris.

Bryan Goldsby will be stepping in with Seldon on Saturday night. He is a 37 year old, 5'9" boxer with a 5-9 record and has been KO'd 7 times. He normally fights as a super welterweight but will be moving up to 160 for this fight. He made his debut on November 9, 2013 with a UD over Archie Weah at the Grand Ballroom Inn, Norcross, Georgia. Winning a UD over Brandon Berry back on December 1 of last year was his last win and his last fight saw him lose by KO to Anthony Velazquez on January 25. This is his Atlantic City debut.

Tomorrow I will look back at historic Atlantic City and then I'll get to the headlining ladies later in the week.

Bob Murray

TheWBR

THE NITEMARE IS BACK!

We Got The Headline! "The Nightmare is back! Last time in Atlantic City, it didn't go that well. I'm looking for Redemption!" Thus spoke former WBC World Heavyweight Champion Samuel Peters this morning on the radio show atblogtalkradio.com/theworldboxingreview. Aaron Snowell and I had the privilege to interview him and his trainer, Kofi Jontuah. Topics ranged from what it feels like to be the heavyweight champion of the world, what made you want to comeback after a two year plus layoff, what are your future plans and the big one: I asked Peters about the last time he was in Atlantic City, NJ when he was 24-0 and fought Wladimir Klitschko for the NABA and WBO-NABO titles. He lost by UD and is seeking redemption. That fight, back on September 25, 2005, was also held at the famous Boardwalk Hall where this Saturday night's Women's World Middleweight Unification bout between Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer will take place. Kofi talked about Peters' dedication to get into shape since he had surpassed 300 pounds and gave it to him straight when asked to train him: "Show me you're serious or get lost. I got young fighters here". It clicked and here we go! Samuel Peters, The Nigerian Nightmare,(37-6, 30 KO's) will be fighting Mario Heredia (15-6-1, 13 KO's) out of Mexico, as part of the undercard to this historic event.

The 38 year old Samuel Peters was born in Nigeria and is currently a resident of Las Vegas, NV. Career highlights include winning the WBC Youth World Heavyweight Title by TKO over Dale Crowe back on March 7, 2003 in Reno, NV. Before that in 2002, he fought up the road from our Pottsville, PA Studio in Scranton, PA at the old Catholic Youth Center, winning a UD over Marion Wilson. James Toney fought him twice, losing both times, back in 2006-7. The first fight was for the IBA World and defense of his NABF belts, the second was a successful defense of the NABF crown. He won the NABF title back on April 28, 2006 with a knockout of Julius Long. He had previously held the NABF crown back in 2004 after a KO win over Jeremy Williams. He won the interim WBC World belt with a UD over Jameel McCline on October 6, 2007 and defended against Oleg Maskaev, a bout which he won by TKO. The next fight was when he ran into Klitschko in AC. He fought Wladimir again on September 11, 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany, getting knocked out. Vasily Klitschko was also an opponenet of his, KO'ing Peters back in 2008. After battling Kubrat Pulev and losing back on December 3, 2016, he stepped away from the sport until he returned on February 22 down at Cheers Bar in Tijuana, Mexico. He scored a KO over journeyman Gerardo Escobar. Saturday night is the next step on the comeback trail.

I'll finish up the undercard participants tomorrow. Yet to come: Atlantic City and the feature fighters.

Bob Murray

TheWBR

Aaron Snowell Keeping Hope & Black History LIVE

APRIL 5, 2019

AARON SNOWELL: KEEPING HOPE & BLACK HISTORY ALIVE!

DC Youth Advocate Lawrence Brown joins Aaron Snowell at the Ridge Road Community Center on Ridge Road in SE DC during the exhibit.

Jack Johnson exhibit visit Charles Houston Community Center in Alexandria, Virginia. L-R Co-host Tony Suggs-HB & Hattie T-Gloria Ortiz and daughter-James Henson, Sr-Julius ‘Juice’ Gatling

Will Williams and Aaron Snowell meet SE Dream Center Director Ernest Clover

Dream Center Assistant Director Tina Henderson sharess WBC Community Service Award with center youth.

In the 80s and 90s I remember watching CBS on Sunday Mornings with host Charles Kuralt. He traveled the country interviewing people from all walks of life, it was not only entertaining television, but it was also enlightening and educational television. Meet Aaron Snowell without the television format during much the same thing with the Jack Johnson exhibit. He travels the country with his side-kick Will Williams and Johnson’s niece, Linda Haywood trying to educate the masses.

In February Aaron made a stop here in the Nation’s Capitol visiting community and recreation centers to spread the word about the first and greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time. I know the first name that comes to your mind is Muhammad Ali–meet Jack Johnson. In December 1908 Johnson knocked Tommy Burns out to become the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World.

There were similarities, when Johnson knocked out Burns in 1908 he stood close by yelling for him to get up. Muhammad Ali seen in a similar pose in 1964 after his first round knockout of Sonny Liston, yelling “Get up sucker!”

It took 97 years for Jack Johnson to be granted a pardon that he asked President Woodrow Wilson for while he was serving a 10-month stint at Leavenworth prison in 1921. On Thursday May 24, 2018 President Donald Trump finally answered that letter, granting Johnson a full and unconditional pardon for his 1913 conviction of a crime that amounted to traveling with a white woman. As Johnson sat in prison to serve a one-year sentence for violating the Mann Act. Even the attorney general serving under Wilson at the time had reservations about the case, since the Mann Act was intended to punish human trafficking — not consensual relationships.

By all accounts a model prisoner, Johnson sent his pardon application to President Wilson in February 1921, but by the time it got to the White House Warren G. Harding had been sworn in. And for a brief moment, it looked like the Harding administration might actually grant it.

Harding’s attorney general, Harry M. Daugherty, told reporters he “might consider” a pardon for Johnson. He changed his mind four days later. The mere suggestion of a pardon had provoked an angry reaction.

“Do you know his crimes against white women?” read one letter, discovered by The Associated Press in the National Archives in 2011. “Why pardon the negro Johnson who should have 50 years in prison for his crimes against white women?” read another. The file was then closed for another 83 years.

Many thought President George W. Bush would grant Johnson a pardon, but it never happen. President Barack Obama elected the first black President of the United States surely would be a slam dunk to pardon the first black heavyweight champion of the world. The only slam dunks President Obama cared about were the ones found in pick-up games with his boys on a basketball court. His boys, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

The pleas for a Presidential pardon evidently fell on deaf ears. The pleas came from biographers, boxing champions, senators (Senator John McCain was very vocal), journalists, historians, actors and musicians. Eight years later President Obama and never looked back as it related to a pardon for Jack Johnson, his next stop, “Show me the money!”

Ultimately it was actor Sylvester Stallone, his conversation with Trump about the Johnson case led to just the third posthumous pardon knowingly granted by a president.

President Trump shows signed pardon given to former Heavyweigh Champion Jack Johnson. Johnson great-niece Linda Haywood looks on with approval. WBC Heavyweight Champion Deotay Wilder, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, Actor Sylvester Stallone (facilitator) and former heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis are in attendance.

Aaron takes his show on the road again as he takes the Jack Johnson exhibit to Montebello, California for the National Boxing Hall of Fame Inductions. This year’s inductees include, former World Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko, 4th Division World champion, Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales and former Middleweight Champion Winky Wright.

He then makes a U turn and heads back to New Jersay for the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday June 23rd. The inductees will include an all-star line up, Bernard Hopkins, Roberto Duran Sr, Virgil Hill Sr, Mickey Ward, Iran Barkley, Tim Witherspoon Sr, Bouie Fisher, Butch Lewis, Jimmy Binns and a host of other honorees. Charles Kuralt would be proud of Aaron Snowell Road Show with Jack Johnson, the Greatest of All-Time.

Harold Bell–www.theoriginalinsidesports.blog

Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer Atlantic City

Thanks for checking out this third installment of The World Boxing Review Radio Show's pre-fight blog leading up to next Saturday night's World Female Middleweight Unification match between Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer in Atlantic City, NJ. Today I will continue writing about the undercard which will include the battle for the IBF World Female Featherweight crown between Elena Gradinar and Brenda Karen Carabajal. 

The 28 year old Gradinar hails from St. Petersburg, Russia and will be fighting professionally for the first time in the United States. She will carry a 9-0 with 2 KO's record into the bout. Carabajal, also 28, was born and still lives in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, a country well known for female champions (just ask Katie Taylor; she took two crowns away from Argentine women.). "La Pumita", as she is known, has a 15-4-1 with 9 KO's record. Though this fight is for the featherweight title, she lost by MD to Rose Volante on December 22, 2017 in her hometown in Argentina for the vacant WBO World Female Lightweight crown. Volante, from Sao Paulo, Brazil defended her title twice before losing it to...yes, Taylor, by TKO at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University, Philadelphia, PA back on March 15th. 

Super Flyweight Jarico O'Quinn is from Detroit and has previously fought on four of the undercards for Claressa Shields. The first time was back on March 10, 2017 when O'Quinn, fighting as a bantamweight, KO'd Szilveszter Kanalas. On June 16 of the same year, he won a UD over David Martino and fought for a third time with Shields (yea she was busy in '17; still is) on August 4 when he battled to a draw with Jose Elizondo. All three of those fights were in Detroit, MI as well as his June 22, 2018 TKO win over Yaqub Kareem. That fight saw Claressa Shields defeat Hanna Gabriels for the IBF and WBA world titles and Christina Hammer maintain her WBC and WBO world titles with the win over Tori Nelson, a common opponent whom Shields had also beaten.

I said yesterday that I would be writing about heavyweight Samuel Peter. We have been working to get him on the show tomorrow but either way, I will "blog" him next. We will all find out what happens Saturday at 11am . Tune in to hear the world famous "Trip Around The World", a fast paced look at the fight schedule for the world and join Aaron Snowell and myself as we discuss this fight and other fight news at blogtalkradio.com/theworldboxingreview.

Bob Murray

TheWBR

The World Boxng Review Radio Show

Hello and welcome to the premiere blog from The World Boxing Review Radio Show. This will be a ten episode report on who we are and what we do and serve as a countdown to the April 13th fight at the historic Boardwalk Hall on the beachfront in Atlantic City, NJ for the undisputed Women's World Middleweight Championship between the 8-0 Claressa Shields and the 24-0 Christina Hammer.

My name is Bob Murray and along with my partner, Hall of Fame Trainer of Champions Aaron Snowell, host a weekly show at blogtalkradio.com/theworldboxingreview where we interview old, current and rising stars of boxing. We were set to debut on September 9, 2017 but Hurricane Irma came along and destroyed. Our first scheduled guest, former WBC Middleweight champ Julian "The Hawk" Jackson was forced to cancel as his native St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands was devastated. We came on the following week (9/16/17) with undefeated former world champion James "Lights Out" Toney as our guest and it coincided with the first GGG/Alvarez bout. Past guests include Owen Beck, Nate Jones, Christy Martin, Tim Austin, Amy Hayes, Carl King, Gene Kilroy, Ira Glass, Debbie King and newly recognized World Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson's niece Linda Haywood. (More on Jack Johnson and the exhibit that Aaron has put together in a later blog).

On April 28, 2017, Aaron was inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame located in California and on June 2 he was then inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in Atlantic City.

We first mentioned our desire to see these two great combatants (Shields and Hammer) on our January 6, 2018 show with Shields fighting Tori Nelson and Hammer fighting Lisa Noel Garland. We said it again on June 23rd when Hammer was fighting Nelson and Shields was defending three belts against Hanna Gabriels. September 29 was the date we announced the first fight which was to be November 17 in Atlantic City. We also announced the postponement of that battle.

In the ensuing blogs, I will cover the headliners and undercard participants, some of whom we are actively seeking interviews and other exciting details of this truly historic event. I'll let you know as things progress and thanks for checking us out. 

Bob Murray

The World Boxing Review

World Women's Middleweight Title Unification

Welcome to the second installment of the World Boxing Review Radio Show's pre-fight blog of the upcoming World Women's Middleweight Title Unification bout between Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer. Yesterday I wrote about Aaron Snowell and myself and our involvement in the Radio Show. I want to mention today the other participants: Henry Hascup and Tony Triem. These two gentlemen are boxing historians at the top of the class. Henry will be off on a brief hiatus to attend to his Little League duties but for next week's show, where I will be broadcasting live from Atlantic City, Tony will return to discuss the historic significance of the fight. 

The undercard is outstanding. Two great heavyweight battles will also be a part of the Showtime televised slate, featuring two fighters from Michigan, Shields' home state. Jermaine Franklin is a 25 year old native of Saginaw who holds an impressive 17-0 record with 13 knockouts. The 6'1" fighter most recently fought Craig Lewis on July 13 last year in Detroit and won by UD. He also has recent wins over Ed Fountain by TKO and Corey Phelps by KO. He is looking to become the new face of the American Heavyweights and ultimately has a showdown with Deontay Wilder in his plans. His opponent is 38 year old 6'3" Rydell Booker out of Detroit who only last year returned to the ring after a fourteen year layoff. Unfortunately, there was a very good reason for his absence from the ring. Shortly after he lost to James Toney (may I correct his record to 77-10-3; I miswrote yesterday) in 2004 in a match for the IBA World and WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight titles by UD, he was busted for possession of cocaine over 1000 grams and was sentenced to 12-30 years in prison. He stayed in shape while incarcerated and upon leaving prison took up boxing again. He returned to the ring on February 2, 2018 and won a decision over Rodney Moore. He fought twice more last year; scoring UD's over Jamal Woods and Domonic Jenkins. Previously he was an amateur champion in the late 90's and then won the Michigan State, Mid-America, USA-Michigan State and USA Mid-West cruiserweight crowns when he defeated Ka-Dy King in only his 8th professional bout. He also won the WBC Youth World Cruiserweight belt. He made his professional debut on August 10, 2001, winning by TKO over Mike White.

The other televised heavyweight battle will have Sweden's Otto Wallin (20-0, 13 KO's) clashing with Baltimore's Nick "Slick" Kisner (21-4-1, 6 KO's). Wallin also has global plans, seeking to become the first Swedish heavyweight champion since Ingemar Johansson defeated Floyd Patterson back in 1959 in Yankee Stadium. He is rated #5 by both the IBF and WBA and won recent bouts against Adrian Granat by UD for the EBU-European Union crown and Gianluca Mandras by TKO for the WBA Continental belt. He has previously trained in the US but this will be his stateside debut. His 28 year old opponent Kisner won the NABA-USA Cruiserweight title on March 3rd of last year with a UD over Brian Holstein in a rematch. Kisner also won that first fight by MD for the then vacant crown. He lost the WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title fight when he was knocked out in the fourth round by the unbeaten Ryan Merhy. He's also fought in Atlantic City before back in '16 when he lost an 8 round SD to Lamont Capers at the Claridge Hotel and Casino, sight of the upcoming 2019 Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, where we will be present. 

I'll continue looking at the undercard tomorrow, writing about former WBC Heavyweight champ Samuel Peter and the battle for the vacant IBF World Female Featherweight crown between Elena Gradinar and Brenda Karen Carabajal. 

Bob Murray

The World Boxing Review

THE WORLD BOXING REVIEW RADIO SHOW

THE WORLD BOXING REVIEW RADIO SHOW

Jan, 26, 2019

The World Boxing Review Radio Show. ...Come listen to the boxing news,interviews,legend tales,boxing history, as we travel the world for past,present, and future stars with. Host Bob Murray, and CoHost Aaron Snowell (Hall Of Famer Trainer Of Champions), with. Hall Of Fame Boxing Historians TONY Triem and Henry Hascup

History REVIEW, Harold Bell, "Radio Legend," Host in Washington DC, VA, Black History Month, The Jack Johnson Exhibit

This week guest: Bill and Linda Dempsey Young, President National Boxing Hall Of Fame. "CLASS OF 2019 The radio show will be Live Saturdays. 11:00am to 12:00noon

Email: theworldboxingreview@gmail.com

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