Rusty Rubin, Managing Editor
www.ringsports.com

The big news is that Pro-Islam fundamentalist Anthony Mundine has beaten American Atwun Echols, in Sydney Australia for the WBA title.

There’s little doubt that Mundine can fight, but his political views indicate to me that he’s already taken too many blows to the head.***

Mike Tyson fighting in K1, Don King promoting the mixed martial arts? It seems to be happening, and that tells me that maybe these sports are going to be the wave of the future.

But fight fans have little to worry about. Although these activities are ‘ring sports’, at this point we have no plans to add it to our site, unless of course there’s a big demand for it.***

Time to have a little fun: Let’s rank the top 10 fighters in the world today, and don’t think it’s an easy task.

1. Oscar de la Hoya---Has faced the best and past the test.

2. Roy Jones Jr.---Has proven he can do it all, but hasn’t faced the stiff competition, although it’s through no fault of his onw.

3. Bernard Hopkins---OK, he hasn’t faced the best he could, but with his only loss being to Jones, hard to rank him any lower.

4. Kostya Tszyu---Tough kid who can fight.

5. Shane Mosley---Vernon Forrest may have been his only shortcoming.

6. Marco Antonio Barrera---Heart and talent, a hard combination to beat.

7. Erik Morales---If Barrera has a nemesis, it’s this tough hombre.

8. Manny Pacquaio---He can punch, but can he box? We’ll find out soon.

9. Acelino Frietas---Popo’s only questionable win was against our #10.

10. Joel Casamayor---Would be undefeated if not for close loss to Frietas.

Others that should be considered are, in no particular order, Jeff Lacy, Winky Wright, Fernando Vargas, Diego Corrales, Wayne McCullough, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricardo Mayorga, James Toney, Vernon Forrest and probably a few I missed. Make a list of your own top 10 and send it in, with the reasons of course, and tell us which on our list you would replace.

At this point I would have to mention some others who should be on this list, but aren’t because they are fighting past their prime.

Evander Holyfield---The real deal has nothing to prove.
Lennox Lewis---Only knock is that he’s lazy in training and has faced little in the line of competition.
Sven Ottke---says he’ll retire soon.

Glove2Glove:

Please say a prayer for the return to health of boxing promoter Moe Smith, who had a four by-pass surgery on Thursday. Moe has done much for our sport. Cards can be sent to Moe at: 2713 E. 1st St., Post Falls, ID. 82854.

Please say prayers for former top-notch fighter Art Soto, who is having some severe health problems.

Your prayers have worked and Martin Sommers is no longer in Hospice care, and in fact, is at home recovering. He and his family pass along their heartfelt thanks, and ask that your prayers continue.

Also down but not out with cancer is Kathy Cerola, sister of top referee Elmo Adolph, and my best friend and co-founder of Glove2Glove, Susiey Walker.
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.

Glove2Glove is a non-denomination group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.

If you can make the cruise, please e-mail us at rngsprts@cs.com or Lslovin@aol.com. Thanks.

Touching on politics briefly:

I guess I must be missing the boat, (pun intentded) someplace. According to our friend Salim Valli of the UK, the Koran, like the Bible, the Torah, and other great books), is a book of peace and preaches love and understanding, not killing. That has been my understanding ever since I can remember. All religions that preach love have a strong belief in God.

If a Muslim (or any religion for that matter) is not supposed to kill or hate, why are so many people dying at the hands of Al Qaeda, a bunch of Islam fundamentalists? Or perhaps they can best be described as ‘cold blooded killers’. Who don’t follow or respect the true meaning of their religion.

The recent bombings and killings in Iraq, recently at an Iraqi Mosque, (which has been attributed to but not confirmed) have been blamed on Al Qaeda, a group of killers who have taken a beautiful religion and perverted it to their own sick needs, to brainwash other Muslims into a false interpretation of the Koran. An interpretation that preaches death and destruction instead of love and peace.

I know of no God that wants people killed, let alone in His name. Yet, throughout history, more people have been killed in the name of God then for any other reason.

Al Qaeda keeps drawing that line in the sand, them against us. The God, God fearing people of the world, who don’t believe in killing and the true infidels, those that have perverted a religion for their own end.

Hamas and other groups in the region are also terrorists. Blowing up buses and killing innocent women and children for their own satisfaction.

And how can someone who plants a bomb in a car be called a martyr instead of a cold blooded killer? I guess there’s a lot I don’t understand.

They are challenging their fellow Muslims to either follow their lead or die following their religious beliefs. And sooner or later, that choice must be made.

To be sure, it’s not only Muslims that are terrorists and kill innocent people, guys like Tim McVeigh and James Jones surface from time to time and have their beliefs tied to other religions, on in the case on Jones, one he invented himself.

In a country like America we have laws protecting freedom of speech and freedom of religion. That’s obviously the reason that in a few mosques around the country, they are preaching hatred and terrorism against those who have allowed them this freedom.

We also have a seldom used law called sedition, and that says that anyone preaching the overthrow of our nation can be thrown in jail. The question then arises which law takes precedent?

Legitimate preachers of Islam have no problems. But those that preach lies and hatred and try to brainwash others with a false definition of a long respected religion should be either deported to spew their hatred elsewhere or thrown in an isolation area in prison.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Mr. Valli for recommending a book, to read, that I hope will explain much of what’s going on in the world today. When I read it, which I expect to do shortly, I will either recommend it to others who don’t understand, or I will not mention it again, if I feel it’s not worth reading. Somehow, I feel that it will be.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.

Political feedback:

In response to some recent comments by a Salim Valli, a Muslim gentleman in the UK, we have this response:

“Riad Z. Abdelkarim & Jason Erb reported the following in MediaMonitors.Net (9/20/02)

“Some media pundits and other well known figures…have accused Muslims of remaining silent after the terrorist attacks.” The writers then go on to dispel this misconception with various examples of Muslim leaders in the US condemning those responsible for the 9/11 tragedy.

“I may have been mislead by media coverage, but obviously I was not alone in not having come across such statements of outrage by Muslim leaders.

“Since 9/11, we in the US have hear over and over that Islam does not condone violence in any form. But I think it would be more helpful for Mr. Valli to explain this to some of his fellow Muslims (read Taliban, Hamas, Al Qaeda, etc.) And I don’t know if he’s in a position to accurately quantify ‘majority of Muslims’.

“Mr. Valli makes some good points. I would concede that US media does not have the tendency to be pro-Muslim. But is there a news media in any Arab nation that gives impartial coverage of the US or Israeli prospective? Have we forgotten Al Jazeera?

“As an immigrant and now a US citizen, I respect the culture and beliefs of my neighbors while appreciating the democracy and freedoms (plural) I am afforded in my adopted nation. Obviously in this great city of NY, I come across people of all backgrounds. And that includes Muslims. It’s not the ‘people’ I have problems with but rather the governments and leaders of Muslim nations.

“Currently, it seems that all over the world there is more terrorism and injustice perpetrated in the name of Allah, then in the name of Jehovah, Jesus or Buddha combined. And maybe the US mainstream media is as slanted as you imply, but I would be hard pressed to give an example of three, no make that ONE Muslim nation whose government within the last 5 years was not either a corrupt monarchy (Saudi Arabia) a terror-harboring oligarchy (Iran) or a ruthless dictatorship (Libya, Iraq, etc.).

“I don’t know Mr. Valli’s personal history, but I do know that you are currently living in the UK, which is run by a representative democracy whose laws are based on Judeo-Christian tradition. Perhaps you take that kind of democracy for granted or appreciate it as much as I do. But the fact is that you live in a democracy, and thus we are not very far apart.

“I trust that you would denounce the fact that according to the new Sharia laws in the Islamic northern region of Nigeria, a woman was recently convicted of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and sentenced to ‘death by stoning.’

“And since you are reading a boxing website, I assume you disagree with the hateful words of contender and fellow Muslim Anthony Mundine, following 9/11, who claimed that the US brought 9/11 upon itself.

Unfortunately, no news is good news, and anything positive with regard to a celebrity’s comments or a government’s actions will not make headlines. It’s what needs to be changed that is cause for concern and worthy of media coverage.

“On that fateful Tuesday, 9/11, Mr. Valli, I watched from my midtown office as the twin towers crumbled like a deck of cards. My only cousin in the US worked in the basement of Building One, and thank God he escaped without injury. Upon learning that the responsible parties were Muslim extremists, many Americans I know (Jews, and Christians) did not paint all Muslims with the same terrorist brush. To do so mould make us not much better then the terrorists themselves.

“When the broadcast media such as Al Jazeera and leaders of Muslim nations acknowledge the tolerance that DOES exist in the West, and when the US media becomes more objective, I believe we may more a bit closer towards understanding each other.”

Ralph Martinez, NYC

Comments: Write to us at rngsprts@cs.com