Rusty Rubin, Managing Editor
www.ringsports.com

Observations:

First a look at this past weekends big fights, and a few smaller ones…Ricardo Mayorga never showed he could go the distance before. And because he’s a guy who smokes heavily when not in training, and supposedly takes more then just a few nips, he isn’t supposed to out-box a fine boxer like Vernon Forrest over 12 rounds.

But, he did.

When he KO’d Andrew Lewis and then Forrest in their last meeting, resulting in Mayorga winning a world title, we knew that his punching power was real. But his stamina was still in question, which is why Forrest went off as a 3-1 favorite.

Mayorga again confounded the experts by winning a majority decision over the two-time conqueror of Shane Mosley.

Mayorga is a very cocky, but likable young man. And he does have a future in this business, but if he smokes and drinks during the time he’s not in training, we can’t expect him to have a long career. But heck, he’s fooled us twice already.

And there have been other world champions who had similar bad habits and still made a name for themselves in boxing. So far be it for me to pass judgment here.***

On the undercard, Zab Judah broke his hand in defeating Chop-Chop Corley, yet won the fight. Judah is working hard at being disliked by the boxing fans and boxing press. His showboating only drew well deserved boos. Look, the guy can fight, but he’s far from Mr. Personality, and his chin remains in question.***

In the North End of the state, we can say with virtual certainty that tall super welterweight southpaw Rodney Jones, at age 34, still has a shot at a major title before hanging ‘em up. He’s not a huge puncher, but has a great jab.***

And Jesse Brinkley is still improving and needs to fight a better caliber of foes to really know how good he can be, and that may be very, very good.***

And young referee Victor Alegria is constantly improving his talents, with the many fights that have come to the area in the past seven months.***

Odds and ends:

For the record, we are still calling for Billy Soose to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Soose beat Tony Zale and fought a draw with Charley Burley, neither of which could be considered an easy opponent, and he did so as a converted puncher. He was a big banger early on, but a broken knuckle on his right hand caused him to become a boxer. The transition is one that very few have been able to make successfully. And he used it to win the middleweight championship of the world!

As a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and a voter for those inducted into the IBHOF, I take personal offense that this former champion's name does not even appear on the ballot. The World Boxing Hall of Fame in LA had the good sense to induct Soose in 1994. Let's hope that common sense carries over to the IBHOF.***

Reader Ed Ramos is looking for a bottle of Old Kentucky Cabin bbq sauce, Muhammad Ali fashion shade sunglasses, Ali's high school yearbook, Ali large popcorn bags, Ali cookie box, Cassius Clay golden gloves and Olympic Boxing finals full tickets, Ali champ shoe bumper sticker and a Mousehammad cat toy. He is also seeking a 1960 Olympic-boxing program. If you have or know of someone who has these items call Ed at 1-860-246-9096, or e-mail him at Andinoramos@hotmail.com.

Our next boxing party at Spiros Sports Bar at Mira Loma and Longly, in Reno, will be held on July 26, and feature the Vanderpool – Vargas fight..

Glove2Glove: Is absolutely free and non-denominational, and the only time you will be contacted is if someone is in need of prayer and/or cards. You join by sending us an e-mail. It's that simple. And Glove2Glove is our way of showing that boxing folk genuinely care about each other and the world we live in. In short, its called compassion!

The success of the Glove2Glove program has provided some sensational results, and we can take credit in extending a number of lives. It also shows the world that boxing folks care about each other, and stand tall for them. In short, it enhances the sometimes-seedy reputation of our sport.***

Now we ask you to take a moment and pray for the soul of the mother of former heavyweight fighter and now trainer/manager Beau Williford, from Lafayette, LA., who passed away on June 7.

Say prayers and send get-well cards to ring announcer Mark Biero, who has lost sight in both his eyes from the ravages of diabetes. You can write to Mark at 2700 N. MacDill Ave. #218, Tampa, FL. 33607-2273.

Also prayers are needed for the return to health of Colleen Tucker, wife of NV boxing judge Doug Tucker; Colleen will be having heart surgery on June 30.

We ask for your prayers for the soul of Mass. outstanding sports and boxing writer/editor Pete Farley, who passed away on June 29. Rest in peace, fellow scribe. They don’t make writers like Pete much, anymore.

Glove2Glove is on a crusade to help former champions Gerald McClellan and Greg Page and their families. They were injured in the ring and have very high medical bills. We need your prayers for them. And remember that on July 4th, their freedoms have been taken away from them to a great degree, and we should do what we can to help.

And, to improve the image of our sport and the great people in it, we need you on board our Thanksgiving Cruise out of Miami, Nov. 23-30 to raise money for these great warriors who have given us so much and have received so little back. Hey guys, the Lord remembers a lot more than we choose to. We owe it to our fellow human beings and our sport to make the extra effort.

I know Thanksgiving traditionally should be spent with family, but what better way to celebrate the holiday than with your family, and the boxing family as well? We hope you take part in this event to show the world how strong and committed the boxing family is. I know a lot of folks think that all people in boxing should be committed anyway, so let's change their minds.

Thanks to Ron Borges and other members of the press corps for the extra coverage of this event. And thanks also to Alex Ramos of the Retired Boxers Federation who has jumped in to help the cause.

100% of the money we raise will go to these two families. And the price is very affordable and includes some extra boxing guests and entertainment. Join us. For information, please drop me a line at Rngsprts@cs.com. Or, if you can't make it, a cash donation to the RBF for Page/McClellan would be much appreciated.

Remember, fans, the worst things happen when you do nothing. And the feeling of trying, even if not successful, makes you a winner, no matter what!

URGENT!!!! We ask for your immediate prayers for the return to health of the sister of referee Elmo Adolph, Cathy Cerola, suffering from cancer. She has taken a turn for the worse and needs your fervent prayers. Only the Lord can help them now, and with our prayers, he will.

A very special prayer was answered and we received the best Christmas miracle imaginable, as the oncologist who had given her about three years to live, now said that four more chemos and we should get all of it. At last report, they did! Your prayers for the return to health of Glove to Glove CO-founder Sue Walker, has worked, and in the words of Robert Duval in the motion picture 'The Apostle', 'We're small but we're powerful'. If we can do this with a relatively small group, imagine what we can do if we had the big numbers.

We still need your prayers for Sue who suffered a seizure recently, and now is back in the hospital. Her cancer has returned and bad, and she needs a complete and quick recovery and we need your prayers again to make it happen. We need another miracle from the Lord, but we also know He has as many as we need, if just ask. So I’m personally asking for your help on this one!

Glove2Glove is absolutely free. The only thing we ask is an e-mail address so that we can notify you when a boxing person or a member of his family is ailing. Sue has been my best friend for 25 years and thanks to some of the wonderful people out there, she will be with me for a lot longer. But please keep those prayers coming. You can send a message of encouragement or prayer for her to our e-mail address (Rngsprts@cs.com) or drop a card to our Reno office. I'll see that it gets to her, personally.

Thanks and God bless.***

To answer a question I seem to be asked more and more frequently. Yes, the website and the magazine are seeking new investors, and hopefully working partners for further expansion. If you are interested, give me a call or drop me a line via PO or e-mail.

This opportunity will not last very much longer! Once we start our push to make the mag and the website the finest in the world, the opportunity will either be long-gone or very expensive. For any doubters, I suggest you watch our smoke.

Touching on politics briefly: The question being asked nowadays is if President George Bush deliberately lied to the American people about Iraq buying nuclear material from the African country of Niger?

Well, our President admitted that he was given wrong information, and in return used it in his State of the Union speech.

And, while no one likes to be lied to, there can be no question that getting rid of the terrorist regime in Iraq was a good thing for everyone, except of course Hussein and his followers.

American troops seem to be daily targets of Saddam’s followers, and we’ve lost a lot of guys there in our peacekeeping efforts.

But I must state that it’s my belief that many of the terrorists who are targeting our soldiers are not Iraqi’s at all, but rather members of other terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, who have been doing much of the dirty work.

The bottom line is that even if President Bush believed he was telling the truth in his 2002 State of the Union speech, and I believe he was, he was relating a lie. He gave out false information given to him by people who knew it was false. If some heads don’t roll as a result of this incident, it is quite possible that this will be used against him in his next campaign.

And, this, along with our national security, which is a bad joke at best and an oxymoron at worst, and the economy which could easily slide back into recession due could make George Bush Jr. a one-term president.

In his favor, however, is that there is no popular opposition candidate that seemingly has much of a chance to defeat him.