April 28, 1999

On Boxing By Jay Searcy
Philadelphia Inquierer

Prison boxing down for the count

The sport is being phased out of Pa. penitentiaries. Many trainers are
unhappy.

One of Pennsylvania's top training grounds is getting out of the boxing
business -- the state Department of Corrections. Despite protests by a
number of amateur trainers, college coaches and state legislators, prison
boxing is being phased out.

The number of people incarcerated has more than tripled in the last several
years, according to James G. Tice, chief of the department's treatment
division. "The number of inmates that benefit from the program does not
justify the cost of security risks or maintaining the staff for a program
that only reaches a limited number of participants," he told several people
who had objected to the plans.

Leading the protest was Kenneth Cox, a professor emeritus at Lock Haven
University and a boxing coach who has had several national collegiate
champions.

In a letter to Gov. Ridge, Cox said he had taken his student boxers more
than 200 times to the State Correctional Institution at Rockview to share
training methods and for instructional sparring with inmates.

"Through the years, it became apparent that boxing has had an inherent value
as a rehabilitation instrument," he said. Cox said the sport gave the
inmates "the ability to maintain identity, work off aggressions, stay alert,
and prevent physical and mental deterioration."

Penn State and U.S. Naval Academy club boxers also have participated in
workouts at the prison.

International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins,
incarcerated as a teenager, and light heavyweight Will Taylor, who recently
fought for a world title, learned to box in Pennsylvania prisons. Both are
from Philadelphia.
Now, now, boys. Olympic teammates David Reid of Philadelphia and Fernando
Vargas of California, who recently won 154-pound world titles, both decent
and clean-living and both undefeated as pros, are closing in on an
interesting, big-money showdown. The prefight posturing already has begun.

Reid, the only U.S. boxer to win gold in the 1996 Games and a millionaire
before his first pro fight, said that Vargas "flopped out early in Atlanta,"
is "making little money," and is "fighting with nobody watching."

Vargas, who failed to earn a medal as a 147-pound Olympian, countered: "I
respected David before, but now he wants to open his mouth. Well, I'm going
to shut it." The fight isn't likely to happen before next year, just before
Reid moves up to middleweight.
Golden Gloves. Joey Jones of Joe Hand Promotions said the recently completed
Pennsylvania Golden Gloves tournament may have been the most successful ever
in Philadelphia. On championship night, a standing-room-only crowd of
perhaps 1,500 at Poor Henry's Brewery in Northern Liberties saw some
world-class amateur boxing. The fans also bought out everything in the
second-floor pub arena. There wasn't a T-shirt or a morsel of food left when
the bouts ended.

The tourney's 12 winners will move on to the regional tournament in
Harrisburg on Friday. The regional champions will advance to the national
Golden Gloves tournament, May 10-15 in Syracuse, N.Y.

Among the Philadelphians seeking national berths are twins Rock and Tiger
Allen, whose goal is the 2000 Olympics. Fighting in the open division for
the first time, the 17-year-old Roxborough High students eliminated two
former champions. Tiger, named the tournament's outstanding boxer,
decisioned last year's national Golden Gloves 125-pound champion, Aaron
Torres, a student at Philadelphia Community College. Rock (132) outpointed
Brian Schrack, a Holy Family College student who was seeking his third title
in the Philadelphia tournament.

Also fighting Friday will be Wahid Raheem (112), brother of 1996
Philadelphia Olympian Zahir Raheem, now an unbeaten pro; Rashiem Jefferson
(106); John Santiago (119); Demetrius Hopkins (139); Shamone Alvarez (147)
of Atlantic City; Saheed Hawkins (156); Randy Griffin (165); Prince Badi Aja
mu (178) of Camden; Frank Walker (201); and super heavyweight Michael
Bridges, a U.S. Marine.
Better than the rest. A poll of readers in The Ring magazine recently named
Philadelphia's Blue Horizon the "best venue in the world to watch a fight,"
ahead of Madison Square Garden. Readers also overwhelmingly named the
welterweight class as the most competitive division and named Roberto Duran,
George Foreman, Julio Cesar Chavez and Larry Holmes as the four fighters
they would most like to see retire. The fight they would most like to see?
Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad, in a battle of undefeated
welterweights.

On Sat, 01 May 1999 15:41:29 GMT, "mwhaught" <mwhau...@netwalk.com>
wrote:

        You are correct.  Three judges sit on three sides of the ring.

        Again, correct.  The referees I know do not want to judge -
that is not their focus.  Judging and watching for safety, rule
infractions, etc. are two different things.
Mel

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To reply to email, delete "NOSPAM" from the reply address.

thanks, was wondering who won.....looks like simon will keep doing well, he
beat a top fighter in ronald wright to win the title, and he took care of
lueshing quickly, just as he should have.....is there any word as to who simon
will fight next? after a couple more fights, i wouldn't mind seeing him tangle
with fernando vargas.

who's hatton? what's his full name?

simon won in 3 after puttin' kev down three times.....we have to wait ( in
u.k ) for our lad hatton to get more experiace......this kid is the real
deal and all the americans out there take notice of the name......

sid

<29239-372B14C5...@newsd-122.bryant.webtv.net>...
that fight is scheduled to take place today. i would greatly appreciate
any info(esp the outcome) concerning the fight.

thanks

we have to wait ( in u.k ) for our lad hatton to get more experiace......this
kid is the real deal and all the americans out there take notice of the
name......

Bet ya Ass Ricky's the real deal. I've been singing he's praises for months.

Support Hatton he's a real "Blue Chip" prospect unlike that piece of shit
Wayne Alexander.

Respectfully

Andre Figueiredo

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
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yo, where's the rest of your post? you don't want to fuck mariah carey anymore?

<19990501192904.18446.00000...@ng-fd1.aol.com>...

ricky hatton.........hes like a young duran.....great boxer......won most
promisin' prospect  and looks like one of the few brits cabable of bein'
world class . he can dig and puts pressure on his opponents

sid

when are you fighting again?

 I am supposed to fight again May 19th in Providence, Rhode Island. Dont know
the opponent yet. Alex Stewart will be on the card also. After that I am
scheduled to fight again in Ocala, Florida June 18th and then possibly a week
later in Miami. But all of this is subject to change and cancellation (part of
boxing). I will keep everybody updated.

MIKE

Good luck Mike, keep getting those W's