Good to have boxing back to normal. The elephant in the room of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao is history; well it should be that there will always be people who won’t let go. Forget about the fight of the century we are back to Saul Alvarez vs. James Kirkland, Jamie McDonnell vs. Tomoki Kameda, Omar Figueroa vs. Ricky Burns, Eden Sonsona vs. Adan Estrella, Illunga Makabu vs. Thabiso Mchunu, Gennady Golovkin vs. Willie Monroe, Roman Gonzalez vs. Edgar Sosa, Alex Povetkin vs. Mike Perez and James DeGale vs. Andre Dirrell and look forward to Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin, Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri, Bryan Vasquez vs. Javier Fortuna, Javier Mendoza vs. Milan Melindo, Evgeny Gradovich vs. Lee Selby, Cotto, Wilder, Kovalev, Walters, Frampton, Quigg and so many more. None of these will generate the hype or the income of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao but start focusing elsewhere because by 2016 both “Money” and Manny will be yesterday’s men and boxing will be regenerating as it always has done.

One of the nicest gestures at the weekend was James DeGale dedicating his title winning effort to the late Darren Sutherland. The “Dazzler” seemed to have a brilliant career in front of him so it was a huge shock when he committed suicide in 2009. DeGale had beaten Sutherland at the European Qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics but Sutherland qualified at the second qualifier only to lose to DeGale at the Olympics. A friendship forged in the ring as so many are and a lovely gesture from DeGale that even during the euphoria of winning a world title he remembered Sutherland.

DeGale became the first British fighter to win a Olympic gold medal and go on to win a world title. The nearest before him was Chris Finnegan who had the misfortune to be around at the same time as Bob Foster who knocked Finnegan out in the 14th round of their 1972 fight which was crowned Ring Magazine “Fight of the Year”. Audley Harrison has his world title shot but was stopped in three rounds by David Haye for the WBA title in 2010 but in this multi-multi titled era he did actually win the World Boxing Foundation title. Now that DeGale has achieved that high water mark Brits Anthony Joshua and Luke Campbell might make it a case of “buses”- none for ages and then three come along at once.

With China dipping its toe into professional boxing the last big markets left virtually untouched are India and Pakistan. India in particular has been very strong in amateur boxing. There has been some pro boxing there but only a minimum and both they and Pakistan have approached the WBC for help in kick-starting the pro sport. It will take years for the pro sport to develop in both countries and there is no guarantee it will not wither on the vine but let’s hope not. 

As I was writing this news was coming out that Yemeni boxer Ali Raymi had died. He was a victim of one of two bomb explosion at mosques in Sanna for which the Yemeni branch of ISIS has claimed responsibility. Raymi was 41 and was a former Lieutenant in the Yemeni Elite forces back in the 1990’s and he started boxing in the military but was a controversial character in Yemeni because of his life style. He fought as an amateur but also took part in many unsanctioned bouts before his first official fight in 2011. He then set a record by winning his first 20 fights by first round kayo and all 25 of his fights ended by KO/TKO. He won versions of very minor world titles at minimumweight, light flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight but the standard of his opposition was abysmal. RIP Ali.

It looks as though a potential date problem affecting David Price’s 26 June fight in Liverpool may be avoided. Price has been nominated to fight Erkan Teper and the purse bidding was won by Z! Group. They have proposed 17 July as the date for the contest. However in the EBU Championship rules, Article 6.1.4 says that a fighter shall not box less than 28 days before a championship contest. The two contests currently on the schedule for Price are 21 days apart but the Article also allows this to be waived with the written permission of the EBU so the likely outcome is either a change of date for the EBU title fight or written authority from the EBU-I hope.

The European titles continue to hold their value even with so many other titles around. Right now negotiations are ongoing for Gavin McDonnell (13-0-2), the brother of Jamie, to put his super bantamweight title on the line against fellow Brit James Dickens (19-1). Rudy Encarnacion (34-23-4) finally gets his title shot as he meets former champion Alex Miskirtchian (25-3-1), at the end of July for the vacant feather title and negotiations for Romain Jacob (23-0) to defend his super feather title against Stephen Smith (22-1) have a deadline of 31 July to reach an agreement. Fights for vacant titles include Orlando Fiordigiglio (21-0) against Cedric Vitu (41-2) at light middle on 13 June and a real humdinger at middleweight between Michel Soro (26-1-1) (coming off a stoppage of Glen Tapia) and Emanuele Blandamura (23-1) on 20 June and Dymtro Kucher (22-1) vs. Bilal Laggoune (19-0-1) for the cruiser with purse offers closing 9 June.

For those interested in finances the standard EBU sanctioning fee is 5% of the boxers purse and minimum purse values are set at EU 4700 from fly to super fly, EU 4850 from light to middle and EU 5000 from super middle to heavy with a set figure of EU 2000 for any EU title fight at any weight. 

Fres Oquendo recently won a court case. A New York District judge awarded Oquendo over $800,000 in his suit against the promoters of his fight with Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA secondary heavy title in July last year and also put in place an injunction preventing Chagaev’s promoters from staging any Chagaev bout where the WBA heavyweight title was at stake except against Oquendo. The paper trail on this was long and convoluted but three things in there interested me. It was alleged that the purse for Oquendo was mutually agreed to be higher than that appearing in the official contract and was deliberately understated in the contract so that the WBA sanctioning fee being a percentage of the boxer’s purses would be artificially lowered. My heart bleeds for the WBA. Another allegation was that Oquendo’s management contract included a clause that said that the contract would automatically roll over as long as Oquendo was rated in the top 10 by any sanctioning body. I thought that “slave” contract went out with the Muhammad Ali Boxing reform Act but obviously I was wrong. What that effectively means is that as long as a boxer is at the peak of his career he will never be free agent. That is the type of contract Don King had with Azumah Nelson. When I was with the WBC Rating Committee at one Convention we realised that Azumah Nelson had been inactive and took him out of the ratings. When I presented the ratings and explained that we left Nelson out in line with the standard measure for inactivity both Jose Sulaiman and the Ghana representative on the Board of Governors protested that Nelson was a great boxer and should be reinstated. The Governors agreed and Don King had a satisfied smile on his face. It is an aberration of a contract clause and should not be allowed. The third thing that struck me was Chagaev is defending his WBA secondary title against Francesco Pianeta in Germany on 11 July. The WBA web site does not currently show the fight on its schedule but it seems the injunction has no teeth and the court case must have cost Oquendo a lot of money which it seems unlikely he will get back. 

How embarrassing for the sport of boxing in South Africa. With Filipino’s Rey Loreto and Jetly Purisima still not paid for their fights in South Africa on 22 March the former Governor of North Cotabato in the Philippines took the step of writing an open letter to President Jacob Zuma requesting that he get involved. Zuma is said to have instigated an investigation but that news came from a journalist not a spokesman from Zuma so it is difficult to know what value that has. There is still the matter of a number of top South African boxers who have not been paid for fighting in a Boxing League on which there has been no action at all. It appears they have no Governor to support them. As if that was not bad enough the South African Sports Minister has said the televised boxing will be returning soon and the administrative body Boxing South Africa will take control of broadcasting rights despite there being an ongoing case regarding this very issue. The Minister did not help his profile by deciding that it was vital that he attend the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Perhaps it would have had some value if he had talked to the Nevada Commission who could have told him that they don’t own the broadcasting rights. The only advice I can give to any manager , agent or fighter or official (the IBO officials also did not get paid) going to South Africa is make sure you have the money in your hand before you get into the ring because it seems there is no mechanism in place to make sure you do get paid.

No part of the sport seems to be working effectively down there. Ring officials are a vitally important part of the sport with the referees having a high responsibility for the health and safety of the boxers in the ring. The last time there was a refresher course for officials was 2009!

Not everything there is dire and desperate. In an amusing incident a promoter staged a dinner/boxing show. The boxing was okay but the food was alleged to be so poor that the patrons almost rioted. I wonder which part of dinner/boxing the promoter did not understand.

Tomas Adamek is set to return to the ring. The former WBC light heavy and IBF cruiser champion is in training for a fight with fellow Pole Przemyslaw Saleta. Both have indicated that they do not want any drug testing involved but one of Adamek’s team has offered to pay for the tests. Adamek has not fought since losing to Artur Szpilka in November and Saleta has not fight since beating Andrew Golota in February 2013. This is more a case of bad blood than a determination to re-launch their careers.

Dennis Boystov remains in an induced coma. It seems the police now believe it was not a prearranged attack but of Boystov just being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the victim of a vicious gang looking for someone to beat up.

Bad news for the sport that SMS, the 50 Cent promotion group has filed for bankruptcy. They had Yuriorkis Gamboa, James Kirkland, Andre Dirrell and others on their books but still could not make money. The other side of the coin to the vast riches of Mayweather-Pacquiao but boxing has never been an easy business. Competition between promoters can be good for boxing-but bad for promoters.

WBA super feather champion Takashi Uchiyama will be out of action for a while as he recovers from an operation on his left elbow. He seemed to be carrying the injury during his defence of his title against Jomthong earlier this month but he is forecasting that he will be back in the gym soon.

Japan lost one of its most experienced judges with the death of Kuwata Kazumasa from prostate cancer. Kazumasa first received his licence back in 1959 and officiated at his last show in 2014 so great service to the sport in Japan.

Nice show developing for Ballerup Denmark on 20 June with Patrick Nielsen facing former CBC challenger Charles Adamu, Dennis Ceylan taking on Sergio Prado and unbeaten fighters Micki Nielsen and Anthony Yigit against TBA’s. Should be wins all the way for the promoters boys. There is talk of a Patrick Nielsen vs. Rudy Markussen fight later but nothing set yet. Two excellent fights planned for 21 June in Las Vegas will see former undefeated IBF super feather champ Rances Barthelemy take on former WBC light champion Antonio DeMarco. Second fight up at super light for the unbeaten Cuban who skipped right past the lightweight division. DeMarco is coming off a loss to Jesse Vargas for the WBA secondary title at super light. Both fighters are tall for the weight with Barthelemy at 5’11” (180cm) and Vargas at 5’10” (178cm) so now no one can tell them to pick on someone your own size. June 20 in Montreal under the David Lemieux vs. Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam fight for the vacant IBF middle title lightweight Dierry Jean will take on Jerry Belmontes and lightweight Ghislain Maduma will fight Italian Michele Focosi. June 26 in Hidalgo, Texas, Diego Magdaleno (27-1) and Puerto Rican Jose A Gonzalez (24-1) will clash at lightweight and Mexican super middle Gilberto Ramirez takes on Derek Edwards.

Mike Katsidis returns to action again in Flemington, Melbourne 8 July with his opponent not yet revealed. Will Tomlinson and Brad Pitt are also scheduled to appear with their opponents the usual TBA.

Oh how the boxing world has changed. Willie Monroe Jr fought for the world title in his 21st fight after only two ten round fights and with no big names on his record. Great uncle Willie Monroe fought from 1969 to 1981 and had 50 fights in 12 years including 35 scheduled for ten rounds and one for twelve. He beat Jose Gonzalez, Willie Warren, Eugene Hart, Stan Hayward, Billy Douglas, Marvin Hagler and so many more good quality fighters-and never once got even a sniff of a world title fight. In fact the only “title” fight he was in was for the meaningless North American title when he lost on a twelfth round stoppage against Hagler. Apart from my conviction that Sugar Ray Robinson was the best fighter who ever lived I stay well away from comparing fighters from other eras but as you can see from above there are big differences in the sport from decade to decade. 

Hidden down in a four round bout on the 22 May show in Atlantic City was Carlos Gongora. The 26-year-old from Ecuador has been one of his country’s top amateurs for the past ten years. He won gold medals at prestigious tournaments such as the Pan American Junior Championships, the Copa Romana, the Jose Che Aponte, Romanian Golden Belt the Dominican Independence Cup and the South American Games. He represented Ecuador at the Pan American Games winning a bronze medal and competed at the World Championships and Olympics. The last Ecuadorian to fight for a world title was Segundo Mercado who drew and lost to Bernard Hopkins for the IBF middle title in 1994 and 1995 and he actually had Hopkins on the floor twice in their drawn fight. They are about due another world class boxer and they have high hopes for Brooklyn-based Gongora.

Snips and Snipes

So much has been said about the “Fight of the Century” that I don’t have much to add. I can say that anyone who thought this was going to be a great fight was not looking at the tactical side of the fight. The only way it could have come close to living up to that tag is if Mayweather chose to stand to-to-toe with Pacquiao and trade for 12 rounds. No way! Mayweather was much too smart for that to be even a remote possibility. Could a 100% fit Pacquiao have forced him to do so? I don’t believe he could. What we needed as a minimum condition of satisfaction was a good fight, a decisive result, so that we would not have to go through all the frustration of the last five years again, and for neither boxer to suffer a serious injury. We seemed to have got the decisive victory but then the question of an injury came into play.

It is obvious now that Pacquiao was not 100% fit going into the fight. The subsequent need for an operation showed that but it is impossible to say what part it played in restricting Pacquiao’s ability in the fight but as it was a rotator cuff injury it must have been a significant impediment. He is now the subject of a class action for concealing the injury and there is no doubt in my mind that he should have owned up to it. Despite that I can understand why he did not. There was a chance, a very slim chance, the injury might undergo some partial healing before the fight so that it would not be a factor but the very thought of a postponement must have been a nightmare scenario for Pacquiao and all those involved in putting the fight on. Any postponement might have killed the chances of the fight every taking place. It took such a great effort to put this one together that there was no guarantee all of those agreements on every detail of the fight could again be reached. Pacquiao was really between the rock and the hard place. He gambled on the shoulder and lost and now faces the consequences including why he ticked the “no injury” box on the Nevada State’s form. However he should not suffer the consequences alone. If anyone at HBO/Showtime/Top Rank etc. also knew of the injury then they too put their profits first and were willing parties to the conspiracy of silence.

Pacquiao has come out of the fight with an even more enhanced reputation in the Philippines with suggestions that he may now turn completely to politics and run for President. One word of caution here. If the allegations of tax evasion are true it would be ridiculous to have a President who has avoided taxes that he would expect his government to pursue rigorously from others. Pacquiao has been a tremendous asset to the Government and people of the Philippines so there is a groundswell of opinion that says he has already done so much for the country that he should not be pursued on this matter almost as if it is a matter strictly between the Philippines Government and Pacquiao. I don’t agree. The money it is alleged he owes to the Government would be enough to build schools and hospitals for the very people he loves but I guess you need to be a Filipino to judge the balance here. My dear mum always told me not to get mixed up in politics or girls. I have just failed on the first-one the second-well chance would be a fine thing.

After all of the razzmatazz surrounding the fight (let down) of the century it was great to see Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov go to war, to see Saul Alvarez showing pulverising power and Jamie McDonnell and Tomoki Kameda fight hard all the way in a great little title fight. Boxing is still great entertainment and has a great future.

On money I recently read in the New York Times an excellent piece on Bulgarian Serfim Todorov. Never heard of him? Well he was the last man to beat Mayweather. Todorov took a 10-9 decision over Mayweather in the semi-finals at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was approached to turn professional but turned the offers down. Now poor Todorov has suffered depression for years and is living on a monthly pension of about $450 a month. Worlds apart.

The WBA’s decision to strip Carl Froch of their secondary title was disgraceful particularly as they disregarded their own stipulation about a Andre Ward vs. Froch fight and also showed bias. On February 28 the WBA ordered the Ward vs. Froch fight saying that the parties should negotiate and if no agreement was reached then the WBA would call for purse offers. No agreement was reached and I am not even sure that any negotiations took place. The WBA had committed themselves to calling for purse offers if no agreement was reached but instead of doing so they went right past their own commitment and stripped Froch. That action itself was bad enough but both parties were at fault over no agreement being reached but only Froch was penalised. Not only was Ward not penalised he was even given permission for a non-title fight with Paul Smith. Froch last defended his WBA title in May 2014 but Ward has not defended his Super title since November 2013. That bias is unfair and should be challenged. To make matters worse Danny Garcia has not defended his WBA Super title since March 2014 and was even given permission to fight IBF champion Lamont Peterson in what could have been a unification fight and without having his title at risk. I believe the WBA’s failure to call for purse offers and their bias in the cases of Ward and Garcia should be challenged by those responsible for seeing that Froch is not shafted but I haven’t yet see any evidence of Froch’s promoter or the BBB of C. taking any action and yet that’s what the promoter gets paid to do and the BBBof C commits to when it takes a licence fee.

So sad to read of the death of Tony Ayala Jr. his was a case of “what could have been” if ever there was one. He had a pro career record of 31-2 and that hides the ruining of a huge talent. Tony was a teenage sensation he was twice US Junior champion and at just 16 won the NGG title. There were stories coming out of Tony Ayala’s San Antonio about this 16-year-old who had badly beaten then feared WBA welter champion Pipino Cuevas in a gym war. When he turned pro fight figures such as Bob Arum and Angelo Dundee were raving over the kid’s potential. He turned pro just after his 17th birthday and was fighting in bouts scheduled for ten rounds in only his third pro outing and by his fifth had beaten former WBC title challenger Mike Baker. He beat useful fighters such as Pat Hallacy, Jerry Cheatham, Steve Gregory, Robbie Epps and Carlos Maria Del Valle Herrera in winning his first 22 fights. In the background there were some very bad stories about Ayala including an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl with it being claimed that the girl was bought-off. Whatever the truth of that there was no doubt about his attack and rape of a woman who caught him burgle ring her house in 1983 and a potentially great fighter was deservedly sent to prison. He served 16 years of a 35-year sentence and was released in 1999. He was a shadow of the great prospect he had been and went a modest 9-2 in eleven fights before being shot when trying to break into a house. He was given 10 years’ probation but in 2004 he was pulled over for speeding, had no licence and was found in possession of drugs and was sent to jail for violating his parole. He was released in April last year and was looking to rebuild his life but was found dead at the family gym on Tuesday this week. His brothers Mike and Sammy were top level fighters. Eldest brother Mike had a 45-6 record and challenged Danny Lopez for the WBC feather title and twice fought for versions of the world super bantam title. Five of his six losses were to world champions or former world champions. Middle brother Sammy did not reach the same heights but beat some useful opposition in his 23-3 record. I had a special interest in the family as I wrote features on Mike and Tony Jr. for Boxing News when they were each starting out way back in the 1970’s and 80’s. I had an even closer involvement through a friend of Tony Snr. who trained his sons. My friend would write to me in London from San Antonio asking for information on Mexican boxers ! No internet then guys. RIP Tony Jr a life wasted.

The WBO refused to sanction the fight between their then champion Tomoki Kameda and WBA secondary champion Jamie McDonnell as a unification fight. They stated that they do not recognise titles of the “secondary” nature and as McDonnell is not the WBA Super champion it could not be a unification fight. They also refused to accept McDonnell as a challenger for their title as he is not in their ratings. The net result was Kameda relinquished the WBO title. The WBO logic is a bit convoluted. McDonnell is not in their ratings because he is the WBA secondary champion so they exclude him for holding a title they do not recognise! However it was nice to see that I am not a voice crying in the wilderness as I have finally seen someone else refer to those WBA titles as “secondary”.

Things do not get any better in South Africa. The winners, other contestants and officials in the Premier Boxing League (PBL) have not yet being paid any of their prize money or fees three months after the event was completed. The South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula had lauded the PBL on Twitter saying it was the future of boxing in South Africa !! I hope not for the sake of all South African boxers. The Boxing South Africa (BSA) who run boxing down there do not seem to want to take any responsibility or any action-except to take the licence fees from the boxers. It also paints a sordid picture when the spokesperson for the Sports Minister Tweets “ this month “ I understand why Mugabi sometimes says “I DON’T WANT TO SE A WHITE MAN” –the capitals are not mine. Racism is alive and stinks in South Africa just as much when it is black on white. Whilst this is all a domestic matter which might be swept under the carpet the matter of non- payment of the purses for IBO champion Rey Loreto and fellow-Filipino Jetly Purisima for the show in Mdantsane in March could have serious repercussions because no fighter is going to travel to South Africa if he fears the same thing is going to happen to him. Again the BSA seem to have done nothing and I would be interested to know what the IBO have/will do. They have recently appointed a promoter Andile Sidinile as their fight commissioner, a controversial decision but one with which they are comfortable as they see no conflict of interest” and as Mr. Sidinile had previously asked the South African Public Protector to investigate these defaults on payments he presumably will also do so with the IBO behind him. After all Loreto was taking part in an IBO title fight and the IBO must have approved the fight and by so doing endorsed the promoter to stage the fight so their reputation is also at stake. Added to all of this the BSA’s stupid idea of taking control of the broadcasting rights for fights is still rightly being contested in court so the South African Broadcasting Corporation is the South African non-Broadcasting Corporation. What a mess but that’s what happens when the government appoint people with no knowledge of boxing to head the BSA.

Johnny Gonzalez has no thoughts of retiring. The former two-division world champion is back in the gym with the aim of a fight with Takashi Miura for the WBC super feather title. His crushing loss to Gary Russell does not seem to have deterred him but he did look a bit shot in that fight.

I used to think that Frankie Gomez was a great talent who would be a world champion one day. Now I am not so sure. It escapes me how he could come in 6 ½ lbs overweight for his fight at the weekend. Discipline is a big factor in a boxer’s future let’s hope the former amateur star finds some.

At the weekend I reported on a fight on the Fedor Chudinov vs. Felix Sturm show in Frankfurt where Adnan Redzovic had won his fight against Bekim Pagga by KO. I have since been informed the the Swiss Federation had suspended Redzovic for two years after he tested positive for anabolic steroids when he fought Arnold Gjergiaj in Basle in October. After this his name was placed on the EBU suspensions list but here he is 7 months later with his name still on the suspensions list fighting on a major card in Germany. Disgraceful.

Some fights to watch out for: 15 May in Phoenix light heavy hope Trevor McCumby faces Brazilian Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira. McCumby is 18-0 with 14 wins by KO/TKO and de Oliveira is 24-2-1 with 22 wins by KO/TKO. De Oliveira’s stats look good but two fight ago he lost on points to Joell Godfrey (16-11-1) so a typical Brazilian padded record. My money is on McCumby-early. May 30 in Merida Mexican Javier “Cobra” Mendoza (23-2-1) defends his IBF fly title against Filipino Milan Melindo (32-1). June 6 Daud Cino Yordan returns to action against Ghanaian Maxwell Awuku for the Interim WBO Asia Pacific title and the WBO African title. That will be different an African champion who is Indonesian. Madness and stupidity abounds. June 12 in Chicago Erislandy Lara puts his WBA secondary super welter title on the line against Delvin Rodriguez. June 13 in New York WBA champion Nicolas Walters will defend his featherweight title against unbeaten Colombian Marriaga. June 20 sees Adrien Broner back in the ring against Shawn Porter in Las Vegas at catch weight. An interesting match. July 11 sees an even looking match at super light with Mauricio Herrera facing Hank Lundy. Both are coming off losses, Herrera to Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA title and Lundy to Thomas Dulorme. Two world title fights set for July will see Sergey Kovalev facing Nadjib Mohammedi in Las Vegas on 18 July with the IBF, WBA and WBO titles on the line and on the same night Arthur Abraham defending his WBO super middle title in series IV of his fights with Robert Stieglitz. Abraham is 2-1 up in the series. On a busy 18th the Top Rank show in Macau will have Mickey Bey defending his IBF light title against Denis Shafikov with Nonito Donaire and Brian Viloria also on the show. It could be that Donaire ends up fighting for the vacant WBC super bantam title as there are strong rumours that Leo Santa Cruz will relinquish the title to go up to featherweight.

One fight that will not take place is Grigory Drozd’s defence of the WBC cruiser title against Pole Krzys Wlodarczyk in Moscow on May 22. Former champion Wlodarczyk has been struck down by a viral infection and it looks likely that Pole Lukasz Janik will take his place. Janik is currently No 19 with the WBC. “Ding” that’s the bell for the WBC ratings elevator to take Janik up to the top 15.

Different countries have different rules when it comes to how old a boxer has to be to turn pro. I get the impression that in Thailand it is a case of if you are good enough age is immaterial. Even then I was surprised to note that the current WBC Asian Council Continental bantamweight champion Saenganan is just 15 and turned pro at 13 ½ years old. He has already gone the full twelve rounds twice in fights which would never be allowed to happen in most countries. He is still unbeaten so good enough is old enough. He boxes as Saenganan KPP, his “alias” is Saenganan Sithsaithong and his real name is Thiranan Matsali. Now you see why I only use the first name when reporting on fights in Thailand. [Note a feature on Saenganan can be read here]

Nice to see Gary Balletto involved in the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Just coming up for his 40th birthday Gary is a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in an accident. A former boxer he built a useful 31-3-2 record and was popular all across the New England States. He did not quite make it to the very top but is now working hard raising funds for the construction of a handicap accessible gym. Best of luck Gary. Unsal Arik is another working for charity. The German-born Turk is very much the rough diamond type. His mother died from cancer and Arik now works with an Association which supports cancer patients and physically disabled children. Arik is sponsoring two of the children and is active in fund raising. There are some good people out there and many of them are boxers.