FUNDAMENTALS By Tom Gray
sombrero his trademark. An all-hours party lifestyle had hindered his professional ascent, but he brought a 28-5 (20 KOs) record into the ring and a new trainer who believed in him, Billy Graham. Amid a cauldron-like atmosphere, Gomez stunned the home crowd by hurting Arthur with a jolting left hook to the head in the opening 20 seconds. Arthur recovered quickly and got behind an accurate jab and some excellent combination work to keep his rival at bay through the first two sessions. The laser-focused Gomez stayed in hot pursuit, however, waiting for another opportunity. In Round 3, another
MUST WATCH Tapia (2013)
LOST FIGHT Charley Burley vs. Ezzard Charles I May 25, 1942, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Two all-time greats collided on the undercard of a legendary matchup between Fritzie Zivic and Lew Jenkins. Charles, 20, would make his bones as a light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. However, entering this bout, “The Cincinnati Cobra” was The Ring’s No. 6-rated middleweight and was coming off a close decision loss to Cuban technician Kid Tunero 12 days earlier. Charles was already highly regarded by boxing insiders and entered the ring with a record of 22-2-1. The 24-year-old Burley (51-5-1) was The Ring’s No. 3-rated welterweight, but moving up and down the weights had become standard, and he feared nothing. Just two months earlier, Burley had battered a 219-pound journeyman into submission. The oft-avoided Bessemer, Pennsylvania, boxer-puncher was originally to have faced Ken Overlin, who had beaten Charles and held him to a draw over the past year. Overlin was injured and withdrew. Not surprisingly, this was a great fight. Charles dictated things over the first two rounds but was on the receiving end in Round 3. The fourth was wild, as Burley came perilously close to being stopped by a brutal and sustained assault from the younger man. Showcasing his experience, Burley regrouped quickly and had Charles in serious trouble in Round 5. This was a 10-round fight with Charles getting the best of it down the stretch to secure a unanimous decision victory. Unfortunately, there is no footage of this bout or the rematch, which took place 35 days later and produced the same result.
The next time you see an elite-level fighter complain about how tough it is to succeed in this world of social media vitriol, spare a thought for Johnny Tapia. The Albuquerque firecracker was beset by tragedy his entire life. Tapia’s father was murdered before he was born. His mother was horrifically raped and murdered when he was 8 years old, with the young Tapia witnessing her violent abduction. And later in his life, as the troubled fighter lay in a coma following an overdose, Tapia’s nephew and brother-in-law perished in a car accident. Despite all of that, Tapia established himself as one of the greatest junior bantamweights of all time and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He made 13 defenses of the WBO title, unified with the IBF crown, picked up WBA and WBO bantamweight straps, as well as the IBF title at featherweight. “Mi Vida Loca” (My Crazy Life) always came to fight and never took a backward step. Tapia is a poignant look back at the life and career of a hugely successful world champion who carried death on his shoulder. He found a way to succeed due to hard work, talent and the unwavering support of his wife, Teresa, who remained by his side until the very end. One month after his final interview for this enthralling HBO documentary, the great Tapia was found dead at his home in Albuquerque. He’d succumbed to heart failure. This is a powerful and hard-hitting feature, but if you know nothing about Tapia or need a reminder of what made him special, then this one is not to be missed.
Forgotten Fight: Alex Arthur vs. Michael Gomez October 25, 2003, Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh T hey had different personalities. They had different ring styles. They could both punch their weight. They were both exciting. The ingredients were already there for an entertaining, high-contact battle. But when you add a spit bucket full of Anglo-Scottish bad blood, you have the recipe for one of the greatest British championship fights of the modern era. In the fall of 2003, highly touted Scotsman Alex Arthur defended his British junior lightweight title against
Englishman and former champion Michael Gomez. A complete sell-out, this was the first major professional boxing show held in Scotland’s capital for over two decades. Arthur, an Edinburgh native, was a technically excellent boxer with formidable power in both hands and a penchant for body-punching. He closed out a quality amateur career with Commonwealth gold in 1998 and had done everything asked of him in the professional ranks. Arthur came into the bout with a 16-0 (14 KOs) record and a ton of momentum. He was also being advised by trainer Freddie Roach, who was unable to make the trip but communicated with the fighter by telephone. While Gomez was born Michael Armstrong in Longford, Ireland, to a Traveller family, he settled in Manchester, England, at an early age. A cerebral pressure fighter, he took the name of his boxing hero, Puerto Rican great Wilfredo Gomez, but paradoxically made the Mexican
huge left hook rocked Arthur’s world, but this time Gomez’s second phase of attack was more punishing. The challenger repeatedly bashed his way through the guard to land an alarming number of left hooks that cut Arthur around the right eye and turned his legs to jelly. It was a chilling assault that almost produced a stoppage. A warrior to his core, Arthur fired back with quality work, but he’d sustained a lot of damage. The finish was every bit as spectacular as the fight itself. After a body shot almost folded him in half in the fifth, Gomez used his experience to buy time and get his breath back. Suddenly, a short and explosive left hook – another one – decked Arthur, and two more quick knockdowns, the last of which was unnecessary, gave Gomez the greatest win of his up-and- down career. Symbolically, as the gallant Arthur lay prostrate on the canvas, a Mexican sombrero rolled into the ring and settled at the stricken fighter’s feet.
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