DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK
test for marijuana following the Andrew Golota fight in October 2000. While he never fully regained his elite standing, his increasingly bizarre persona kept him relevant, securing him another title shot and several impressive paydays, arguably his primary objective during this phase. Including his loss to YouTuber Jake Paul in 2024, Tyson’s record after the twin Holyfield losses is 5-4 with two no-contests. He didn’t help his legacy, but the boxing world would’ve been duller without him. It’s not always a desperate bid for money that brings a fighter back after consecutive losses to the same opponent. Sometimes it’s because he’s still chasing greatness. Marco Antonio Barrera was a bright young star, having made eight defenses of his WBO junior featherweight title, when he lost by DQ to Junior Jones in 1996. DQ? No, Jones was battering Barrera when the Mexican star’s trainer stepped into the ring to stop the fight, drawing the disqualification. Barrera lost to Jones again in 1997, this time by unanimous decision. Apparently, Jones had Barrera’s number. Rather than fade away, Barrera charged ahead into the featherweight class. He put the setbacks behind him and enjoyed an impressive career. After the Jones bouts, his ventures included his unforgettable trilogy with Erik Morales, plus significant victories over Naseem Hamed, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley, Paulie Ayala and Rocky Juarez (twice). His stats were 24-5 after the twin failures against Jones, the latter part
of his career ensuring his 2017 induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Shane Mosley was at the top of The Ring’s pound-for- pound rankings, having gone undefeated in 38 bouts, when he unexpectedly dropped consecutive fights to Vernon Forrest. He rebounded with a close win over Oscar De La Hoya to take the junior middleweight title, then lost another two in a row, this time to Winky Wright. But Mosley wasn’t done. The post- Winky era saw Mosley go 10-6-1 against some of the decade’s best. This included two victories over Fernando Vargas, two over Ricardo Mayorga and his memorable TKO win over Antonio Margarito. Of course, late-period Mosley may be best remembered for nearly knocking Floyd Mayweather on his ass during their 2010 bout, when Mosley was nearly 40. Going back in history, we come across the forgotten name of Virgil “Honeybear” Akins, a rangy, crowd-pleasing puncher. Akins won the welterweight title in June 1958 but lost it later in the year to Don Jordan via 15-round decision in Los Angeles. Akins had been a 3-to-1 betting favorite, so the title change was considered an upset. The rematch in Akins’ hometown of St. Louis was a bruising contest. Again, the decision went Jordan’s way. After losing two in a row to Jordan, the 31-year-old Akins was in no position to retire. He’d always been a “ham and egger” working for short money, allegedly part of a stable managed by Blinky Palermo, a creepy character who was
like a stuck pig until the action was mercifully stopped at 0:52 of the 12th. Zivic couldn’t have inflicted more harm on Armstrong if he’d come into the ring with a bayonet. Armstrong retired and lived like a playboy for a while. He even tried his hand at managing a fighter. But boredom set in, along with a need for cash. Seventeen months after his second loss to Zivic, Armstrong restarted his career. He was only 29, but with more than 130 fights on his ledger, he was a war-torn 29. Yet he enjoyed a few more lucrative years in the ring – he often said he made more money during this era than when he had been a three-division champion – with wins over some good names of the time, including Tippy Larkin, Lew Jenkins, Juan Zurita, Sammy Angott, Bummy Davis and Mike Belloise. He even got some revenge against Zivic, outpointing him in San Francisco in 1942, when both were faded ex-champions trying to make a buck. During those later years, Armstrong even kept a young Ray Robinson on the run for 10 rounds, the younger, fleeter Robinson unwilling to slug with the old man and content to win on the move. Overall, “Homicide Hank” was 40-7-2 after the two losses to Zivic. That’s a decent career for most
part of a Philadelphia crime family. And in a scenario as familiar to fighters as flat noses and sore knuckles, Akins also owed money to the Internal Revenue Service. Hence, Akins was boxing again within a few months. He worked steadily during the next three years but never made it back to the title scene. After the twin losses to Jordan, Akins was a meager 10-11-1. Citing eye problems, he retired in 1962. Though he had a tune-up bout between them, Sugar Ray Robinson’s two split decision losses to Paul Pender in 1960 were proof that he had finally reached the end. He was 39 years old with more than 150 fights to his credit, and he simply wasn’t the boxer he’d once been. Pender, a good but not great fighter with a history of brittle hands, was in the right place at the right time to take Robinson’s middleweight crown. When Robinson lost the rematch, it was the first time he
Fury claimed he’d done enough to win both fights against Usyk.
fighters. For Armstrong, it was just his curtain call. Fury is working in a different era. A fighter of his stature attains barbaric wealth for a single fight, the kind of payday Virgil Akins couldn’t imagine. It isn’t likely he’ll take a lot of bouts in Mississippi just to keep the lights on. It’s also unlikely that he’ll keep performing at a high level for many more fights. Fighters such as Armstrong, Holmes and Hopkins were freakishly durable, but Fury’s huge body isn’t made for the long haul. Once reportedly ballooning to 400 pounds, with a history of substance abuse and a series of physically demanding fights in his past, Fury’s future as a top competitor is limited. To this observer, it appeared the biggest problem in his bouts with Usyk was that Fury’s spark was gone. That internal drive that had made him so compelling in the past was dimmed. He’d always been more than just a big, awkward slapper – he’d had vast ring intelligence, a zeal for competition and just a touch of meanness. But against Usyk, those qualities were less apparent, and he became the big, awkward slapper his critics had always chided him for being. Sure, Usyk’s skill and pressure had something to do with it, but so did Fury’s age and long-abused body. One more fight? It’s possible. And if he looks good, perhaps a second one. If we’ve learned anything about The Gypsy King, it’s that he does as he pleases. We don’t have much say in the matter, even if the road’s end is more visible than ever.
had failed to win a rematch. That was a sure sign that things had changed irreversibly for the sweetest practitioner of the sweet science. He looked good in his next bout, a 15-round draw with old rival and NBA middleweight titlist Gene Fullmer, but Robinson lost the rematch with Fullmer as well. He seemed bound for retirement. Yet with the IRS hounding him, Robinson fought on for nearly five more years. With only a flicker left of his old brilliance, he followed the Pender losses by amassing a record of 30-11-4 with a no-contest. Some of his victims included Denny Moyer, Wilf Greaves and Ralph Dupas. He also took one last series of bouts in Europe, where he’d always been an attraction. Still, this last gallop around the track felt stale. By the time he retired in 1965, the boxing scene was more than ready to bid Robinson adieu. Sometimes a champion gets whipped twice by the same guy and retires. He figures there’s not much more he can give to the business, and that two whippings are a sign that it’s time to quit. That’s how it was for Henry Armstrong. He’d made 19 defenses of the welterweight title before Fritzie Zivic handed him horrendous beatings in October of 1940 and again in January of 1941, both times at Madison Square Garden. The second bout was the worst, with Armstrong bleeding
Evander Holyfield prevailed in back-to- back wins over Mike Tyson.
64 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 65
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker