June 26th

[scappoosejohn]

from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:


On This Day in History: June 26
Why Hit the Man When He’s Down?
by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 06-26-2008


BRONX — Both the Brooklyn and Bronx Velodromes were built in the 1920s for bicycle races of all types, including motorcycle-paced races. The name was derived from the fact that bicycles were also called velocipedes. The arenas were steeply banked wooden cycling tracks much the same as those on a smaller scale in circuses and at carnivals. But in the center of this it was found profitable for both places to feature boxing and wrestling bouts on certain nights in a ring on the flat center surface.

In the Bronx Velodrome on the east side of Broadway at 225th Street in the Marble Hill section, on June 26, 1922, one of the strangest contests in that arena took place. An overflow house of 26,000 was on hand for a boxing bout between two lightweight world champions. Twenty-six year old lightweight Benny Leonard was matched against welterweight Jack Britton, 37 years old and well past his prime. Leonard, a 3-to-1 favorite, appeared sluggish and lethargic and was behind on points after twelve rounds. In the thirteenth, however, Leonard connected with a hard left to the body that dropped Britton. Before the count could reach ten, Leonard rushed across the ring and hit his kneeling opponent. The lightweight champion was immediately disqualified by the referee and Britton declared the winner.

“I awarded the bout to Britton on a foul,” Referee Patsy Haley explained at ringside. “Leonard floored Britton with a left hook to the stomach. Britton claimed the blow was foul but I disagreed with him. I was preparing to start a count over Britton when Leonard stepped in and struck him while he was down. It was on this foul that I disqualified Leonard, not because of any low blow, and awarded the bout to Britton.”

Although Leonard vehemently denied the accusation, it was whispered for years that the great lightweight champion had bet heavily against himself and fouled on purpose when it looked as though he might win the fight. If so, it didn’t reduce his drawing power, because a month later 60,000 viewers showed up at Boyle’s Thirty Acres in Jersey City to see Leonard outpoint Lew Tendler and a year later about the same number jammed brand-new Yankee Stadium to see him do it again. Aside from heavyweights, these were two of the largest crowds ever to watch boxing matches in person in the U.S.

The Bronx Velodrome burned to the ground in the summer of 1930 and was never rebuilt. The fire raised more than a few eyebrows because it spread so rapidly and occurred just a few weeks after the competitive Velodrome at Coney Island opened. The site is now occupied by the Marble Hill Houses, a group of moderate-rise low-rent apartment dwellings, where Eagle managing editor Raanan Geberer lived until the age of 19.

[straycat]

1916- Jimmy Wilde KO 11 Tancy Lee, London. Retains World Flyweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/cm2h6mcu



1922- Harry Greb ND 10 Hugh Walker, Pittsburgh. "According to the sport writers every round was Greb's, who gave fifteen and one-half pounds to Walker." (Indianapolis Star) Walker reported as Hughey Walker-Kansas City. The Pittsburgh Post said that a booming right nearly floored Greb in the first round. Walker won that round but Harry took the other nine. He smothered Walker in a hail of blows, outfought him on the inside, and cut and bruised him. Walker kept trying and made it an interesting fight, but he was too slow to give Greb much trouble.

https://uploadir.com/u/mxwv5pua



1922- Jack Britton W DQ. 13 Benny Leonard, Bronx, NY. Retains World Welterweight Title. After Leonard floored Britton with a left to the mid-section, Britton cried foul. But, to no avail. Before referee Patsy Haley could count to 10, Leonard raced across the ring and struck his fallen rival one more time. Leonard was DQ’d.

https://uploadir.com/u/7ifdjd6j



1924- Harry Greb W 15 Ted Moore, Bronx, NY. Retains World Middleweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/npgs9jl3



1924- Young Stribling W 6 Tommy Loughran, NYC.

https://uploadir.com/u/51iqlhao



1925- Frankie Genaro W 12 Kid Williams, Baltimore.



1934- Sixto Escobar KO 9 Baby Casanova, Montreal. Wins vacant NBA Bantamweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/exakauva



1955- Franco Cavicchi Pts 15 Heinz Neuhaus for the EBU European Title in Italy

https://uploadir.com/u/xwasms0y



1956- Joe Lucy TKO 13 Sammy McCarthy for the British Title in London

https://uploadir.com/u/28x9qocw



1956- Joe Bygraves Pts 15 Kitione Lave for the British Empire title in London.
Bygraves down once.

https://uploadir.com/u/s1x6jnm8




1959- Ingemar Johannson KO 3 Floyd Patterson, NYC. Wins World Heavyweight Title.
Ingemar floors Floyd 7-times in the fateful third.

https://uploadir.com/u/2jl5syg3



1965- Oscar Bonavena TKO 4 Rodolfo Diaz in Buenos Aires

https://uploadir.com/u/a6aph9bt



1971- Bruno Acari KO 9 Enrique Jana, Palermo, Italy. Retains WBC Junior Welterweight Title.

1972- Roberto Duran KO 14 Ken Buchanan, NYC. Retains World Lightweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/4lxyr99c



1976- Carlos Monzon W 15 Rodrigo Valdez, Monte Carlo. Retains World (unifies WBA & WBC Titles) Middleweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/lyhn1o2i



1976- Emile Griffith Draw 10 Bennie Briscoe in Monaco

https://uploadir.com/u/4j7erojf



1977- Samuel Serrano W 15 Leonel Hernandez, Puerta La Cruz, Venezuela. Retains WBA Junior Lightweight Title.



1982- "Irish" Leroy Haley W 15 Saoul Mamby, Highland Heights, OH. Wins WBC Super Lightweight Title.



1993- Nigel Benn KO 4 Lou Gent, London. Retains WBC Super Middleweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/qtdplr9s



1993- Dingaan Thobela W 12 Tony Lopez, Sun City, South Africa. Wins WBA Lightweight Title.



1993- John-John Molina W 12 Manuel Medina, Atlantic City. Retains IBF Junior Lightweight Title.



1999- Steve Johnston W 12 Aldo Rios, Las Vegas. Retains WBC Lightweight Title.



1999- Paulie Ayala W 12 Johnny Tapia, Las Vegas. Wins WBA Bantamweight Title. Fight of the Year!

https://uploadir.com/u/evr9ubd1



2005- Martin Castillo W 12 Hideyasu Ishihara, Nagoya, Japan. Retains WBA Super Flyweight Title.

[straycat]

Passed Away On This Day

1999- Former WBA Super Featherweight Champion Alfredo Layne, 39, is shot and killed by robbers outside his home in Panama City. No info is available on wekipedia or boxrec.com




Born On This Day

1967- Luisito Espinosa (born Luisito Pio Espinosa in Manila, Philippines)
Espinosa won World titles in two different weight division.
Espinosa turned professional in 1984. In 1989, he won the WBA Bantamweight title by knocking out Khaokor Galaxy in the first round. He was trained by Dee Pooler now of Pacific Rim Sports. He defended the title twice before losing it to Israel Contreras by a 5th round knockout in 1991.
In 1995, he won the WBC Featherweight title by outpointing Manuel Medina. He defended the title seven times before losing the belt in 1999 to Cesar Soto who won by unanimous decision. The following year, he challenged Guty Espadas Jr for the Vacant WBC Featherweight Title, but was outboxed and lost a technical decision after their fight was stopped after a clash of heads. Espinosa retired in 2005 after being knocked out by Cristobal Cruz.
Promotional disputes left Espinosa with little, and he retired in 2005 after a public outcry for him to stop fighting. He currently is working as a stocker at Costco, a membership wholesale store chain.
Espinosa, who was out of the boxing scene for quite a while, entered the Mixed Martial Arts scene by training brothers Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz in boxing to improve their stand-up. He also assisted in the training of the University of San Francisco's Boxing team from 2006-2007 in preparation for the annual Hilltop Cup.




1999 Fight Of The Year

Paulie Ayala and Johnny Tapia had staged a sizzling 12-round battle in the bantamweight division in June 1999. Although Ayala won a unanimous decision -- in a big upset -- there were many who disagreed with the verdict. Among them, of course, was the emotional Tapia, who later told me in a telephone interview that he was convinced he had won, "down as far as you can go in my heart."

Tapia had moved up to the featherweight division and Ayala was still a 118-pounder. The two agreed to meet at 124 pounds. Tapia's trainer for the bout, Jesse Reid, told me over the phone before the fight that he thought his man would be "super strong" coming down in weight to 124. But Ayala's trainer, Henry Mendez, said in a phone interview: "I don't think the little extra weight will make much difference. Paulie's very strong, even though he's a little man."

The rematch was just as good as the first bout, maybe better. Once again, Ayala won by unanimous decision, but, much like the previous fight, the decision was disputed. Jesse Reid angrily proclaimed that Tapia had given Ayala a boxing lesson, but it looked desperately close. As I reported from ringside for Boxing Monthly: "Tapia had many good moments, but so did Ayala. Just when you thought one man was getting on top, so the other came back."



Ayala, right, fought Tapia at 124 pounds after beating the Albuquerque
native at bantamweight one year before.

[chef97]

Paulie Ayala W 12 Johnny Tapia
Wins WBA Bantamweight Title
Fight of the Year

Thanks for posting this full fight Astor! Another great fight in this outstanding daily thread that I for one look forward to everyday....

[straycat]

Still think Johnny got the short end on that one and in the rematch he got the complete shaft.