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