A-Z (A)

Evening all,

Thought I'd try starting something new off. A discussion of the A-Z of boxing but focusing on some of the less talked about topics. I'd like people to suggest either a boxer/venue/city/trainer anything boxing related really for that letter each week and for forum members to discuss their thoughts and any stories they know. I come on the forum to learn more than debate as there are plenty on here that know a hell of a lot more than me.

So to kick things of iI'll start with A for.....

Atlantic City
Henry Armstrong
Arthur Abraham
Alexis Arguello

Cheers for your thoughts in advance.

I'll get things moving with a tale about Henry Armstrong. Before he won his first world title he fought a number of times in Mexico and if memory serves of the 8 fights he had the only one he won was in the fight he stopped his opponent, which suggests Mexico at the time made modern day Germany look favourable for away fighters.

I should add this may not be 100% accurate, it was in Armstrong's biography which I have not read for a while and which I now can't be bothered to check for accuracy.

I like it jeff. Exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. Cheers!

Have just checked, is essentially right, the number of fights might be a bit off but about him losing every fight that went the distance is correct.

As an aside if anyone can get hold of a copy of Armstrong's autobiography Gloves, Glory and God for a sensible price it is definitely worth buying.

Arthur Abraham is actually Armenian and his real name is Avetik Abrahamyan.

Nice way to get the ball rolling, Jeff. Armstrong also had an abnormally slow pulse, which he claimed was the reason he was able to sustain such a scary pace throughout a fight (as an aside, the Vicente Saldivar had the same abnormality and also credited it with allowing him to fight so intensely in the late rounds when his opponents were gassing).

Armstrong originally turned professional under the name 'Mellody Jackson' in tribute to the old Welterweight champion Honey Mellody. It wasn't until after he rejoined the amateurs after making a poor start to his professional career that he became known as Henry Armstrong.

On the official scales, Armstrong was 9 lb lighter than Barney Ross when he took Ross' Welterweight title, but there is speculation that by the time they got in the ring the difference may have been closer to 20 lb.

Apparently in the days leading up to the fight Armstrong was a bit lighter than he and his team had anticipated, so he decided to add as much 'artificial' weight as he could by drinking a huge amount of water as well as a few glasses of beer before the weigh in. This got him up to 136 lb officially (sometimes given as 133, mind you), but after a load of toilet breaks in the delay during which he didn't eat, some members of his camp claimed that he was back inside what we now know as the Super-Featherweight limit by the time the bell rang. That's a story, mind you - not necessarily a fact! Came from Herb Boyd's 'Pound for Pound', though, which is definitely one of the better-researched books out there.

Alexis arguello became very good friends with Aaron Pryor, the man who beat him in one of the all time great fights.

He became a mayor in Nicaragua. Officially he committed suicide a few years ago, he did suffer from depression, but some close to him believe he was murdered by political rivals.

After defeating Rafael Limon in '79, Arguello - unknowingly - had the flag of the left wing Sandinista political party draped over his shoulders. Arguello - who was courted by the party as a result - abhorred their communist ideals - to the extent he helped finance and fought alongside the Contra rebels in '83 (who sought to overthrow the Sandinista government during a period of civil war).

When the Sandinistas came to power, they seized Arguello's assets - homes, cars, bank account the lot - leaving him little option but to seek exile in Miami.

He eventually returned to Nicaragua but had to go cap in hand to the Sandinistas in order to do so (he formed an alliance with the party - eventually becoming Vice President). He spent the rest of his days mired in depression coupled with drug and alcohol abuse before his mysterious death.

As a fighter - he was the very definition of the word champion. A sportsman in the truest sense of the word.

Wow haz thats quite a story. Very sad. Never knew any of that.

This is great stuff by the way lads. Anyone with thoughts on Atlantic City? Favourite fights or fighters from there?

Atlantic City is only a five hour drive from my Folks house and only my brother out of all of us has been there and he hated it..

For some reason, can't think of any fighters from Atlantic City off the top of my head apart from 'The Atlantic City Express' Bruce Seldon.

Again without checking specific fight locations, off the top of my head my favourite fight to have taken place in Atlantic City would be Duran-Barkley. A real classic.

Benn Dewitt was good....Haugen Paz too.

Truss, your big hero fought only 5 hours away and you couldn't be bothered to go. Your cheering might have perked him up against honeyghan. Be ashamed, be very ashamed.

I was 16 my bro 18 and we were both potless.... Steroids cost money..

Cornelius Boza-Edwards said years after facing Arguello that Alexis' body punching was so brutal, it made him mess his shorts mid-fight.

Arguello is the only retired triple world champion not to lose a fight in which he was tge defending champion.

hazharrison wrote:After defeating Rafael Limon in '79, Arguello - unknowingly - had the flag of the left wing Sandinista political party draped over his shoulders. Arguello - who was courted by the party as a result - abhorred their communist ideals - to the extent he helped finance and fought alongside the Contra rebels in '83 (who sought to overthrow the Sandinista government during a period of civil war).

When the Sandinistas came to power, they seized Arguello's assets - homes, cars, bank account the lot - leaving him little option but to seek exile in Miami.

He eventually returned to Nicaragua but had to go cap in hand to the Sandinistas in order to do so (he formed an alliance with the party - eventually becoming Vice President). He spent the rest of his days mired in depression coupled with drug and alcohol abuse before his mysterious death.

As a fighter - he was the very definition of the word champion. A sportsman in the truest sense of the word.

There are varied accounts of what arguello did or didn't actually think politically, certainly he joined the contras but it was after he'd had his assets confiscated. Whichever, there is consensus that he was fundamentally a caring person and wanted to help people, but that his name meant that he was just a pawn in the politics of his country.

As a fighter, as you say, a true champion.

Couple of brief reads here:
http://fusion.net/story/6038/what-i-remember-about-alexis-arguello/
http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/15019-beloved-warrior-the-rise-and-fall-of-alexis-arguello-review-by-thomas-hauser

Cheers for those links milky. Yet another of boxing's harrowing stories.