The Neutral Corner

It has been announced that The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation will honor Sugar Ray Leonard with its “Great Ones” award at the Tenth Anniversary “Tribute to Living Legends of Sports and Media” on Thursday, October 30, 2008, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Jim Murray was a legendary sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times from 1961 to 1998. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1990. Among his many other awards, was also the Nat Fleischer Award for excellence in boxing journalism in 1989. To the best of our knowledge, the only other sports columnists to win the Pulitzer were Dave Anderson and Red Smith, both of the New York Times. Smith and Anderson also won the Fleischer award, which is given out annually by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Leonard is the first fighter to win titles in five weight classes. His bouts with Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler are modern-day classics.

“We are so pleased to honor Sugar Ray Leonard this year with the ‘Great Ones’ award,” said Linda McCoy-Murray, President/Founder of the JMMF. “His reputation in both his sport as well as the community around him most certainly qualifies him as a Great One!”

The goal of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is to raise funds throughout the year to provide scholarships for second and third year journalism students.

The 2008 JMMF scholarship winners are Kyle Austin, Syracuse University; Kyle Goon, University of Maryland; Ryan Haney, Trinity College-Hartford; Alex Herbach, University of Southern California; Bill Oram, University of Montana; Michael Sanserino, Indiana University; and Mark Viera, Penn State University. The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation was established in 1998 by McCoy-Murray. As of 2008, the JMMF has awarded 63 journalism scholarships totaling $332,500.00.

For more information on the Jim Murray foundation, click here.

-- CASSIDY

Dan Rafael is reporting on ESPN.com that future hall-of-famer and three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera has signed a five-year promotional deal with Don King.

Read Dan's report on ESPN.Com.

The once great Barrera, who is 34, has lost his last two fights. Both of them came in 2007 and were decisions against Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. This corner is betting that Barrera retires well before the end of the contract.

-- CASSIDY

Muhammad Ali was in Denver to support Barack Obama

There is a saying, "As goes the heavyweight division, so goes boxing."

Suffice it to say, things aren't go so well right now.

So what better time to write about a previous era, perhaps the Golden Age of heavyweight boxing -- the 1970s.

It was of course the Golden Age because of Muhammad Ali. And if you saw Ali at the Democratic National Convention supporting Barack Obama, the sight may have left you feeling sad. Don't. Ali, suffering from Parkinson's, has never wanted that.

While Ali has become somewhat of a national teddy bear now, back in the 1970s, you either loved him or hated him. Every great fighter needs strong opposition, and Ali had it everywhere he looked back in those days. Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle, George Chuvalo, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers. Larry Holmes was just beginning and Floyd Patterson was just ending his career. That's six Hall-of-Famers among the group.

As a heavyweight champion of the world, Ali is unparalleled. Many experts rank Ali and Joe Louis as 1. and 1a. while compiling the list of all-time great heavyweights.

To me, here is why Ali wins that argument: Billy Conn. If Billy Conn were able to do that to Louis, imagine what a primed Ali would have done? And this is not to diminish Conn’s boxing ability. Conn, a Hall-of-Famer from the light heavyweight division, is one of the all-time great boxers. But Ali was bigger, stronger, faster and hit harder. And while this may be a generational bias, I believe Ali beats Louis.

Perhaps more than any other athlete, the Ali mystique has extended to all corners of the globe. He can be recalled many different ways: as Olympic hero, heavyweight king, champion of the underprivileged, conscientious objector and goodwill ambassador. There may never be another athlete whose impact has crossed so many lines.

Like all heroes – all humans – Ali had flaws. Did he go too far in taunting Joe Frazier? Absolutely. His role as a leader during the turbulent 1960s is better left to be debated by those who came of age in that era. What shouldn't be debated, though, is that Ali was charismatic, generous to a fault and the most accessible superstar history has ever known. His presence generates an electricity that crosses racial, religious and social boundaries. He has made people of all colors smile.

Ultimately, the essence of Ali is his personality. Even in the few glimpses we get of the man now, he is smiling and reaching out to others. Never in our history has there been an athlete who has meant so much to so many. Ali's impact is a matter of personal experience.

Here's mine.

In January of 1971, my father, middleweight contender Irish Bobby Cassidy, lost a very controversial split decision to Luis Rodriguez in Miami Beach. Rodriguez was Ali's stablemate and himself a future hall-of-famer. It's been said that Ali learned a lot from watching Rodriguez when they both trained at the famed 5th Street Gym. Luis would playfully call the kid from Louisville, "Boca grande," which translates to "Big mouth."

This was about two months before Ali would fight Joe Frazier in what we now know as "The Fight of the Century." After my father lost to Rodriguez, Ali found his way into my father's dressing room and said, "Don't give up, kid, you won that fight."

My father came home with a loss on his record and a very special autographed picture. It read, "To Robbie, Your Daddy is the Greatest, Muhammad Ali."

-- CASSIDY

The Neutral Corner caught up with Andy Murray this week at the U.S. Open. Murray is a Scottish tennis player and is currently the No. 6 seed at the Open. He also happens to be a huge boxing fan. On Thursday, Murray looked a lot like a fighter by outplaying and outgutting Michael Llodra on the Grandstand in a very exciting match, Murray won, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6. We spoke to Murray over the course of two days at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Neutral Corner: Can you talk about your Olympic experience. Not so much on the court but the atmosphere and what it was like to compete in the Games.

Andy Murray: I mean, it was something different to anything I'm sure all of the tennis players have experienced before. You know, so many great athletes around you. You know, I didn't leave the Olympic Village at all from when I arrived, and it's a little bit strange, sort of ‑ there's no cars, you know, and you don't hear any planes. It's like no noise in the Village.
I really enjoyed meeting all the other athletes and started collecting these ‑‑ you know, you get pins from your country. And you go and you speak to the other athletes and switch pins and stuff, and that was one of the highlights to me. I got to speak to people from the Cook Islands, British Virgin Islands, and I collected like 120 pins.

NC: I know you are a fight fan, did you get to see any of the boxing competition?

AM: After I lost I went to watch the boxing competition. I saw a couple British guys fight. I enjoyed that.

British Journalist: There's a contrast between no cars and no planes and New York, what is it about playing here that you really enjoy and what is it you feed off?

AM: I've just always loved being in America. I think the people here are very upbeat. You know, they're always have been really helpful and I love the courts. And also the atmosphere, it's just a bit different to all the other Slams. I enjoyed playing here as a junior. It was the first time I stayed in a five‑star hotel, and, you know, I really enjoyed the way I got treated as juniors here, and it's been my favorite tournament since then.

NC: Is Joe Calzaghe going to beat Roy Jones Jr.?

AM: I think he'll beat him comfortably.

NC: That fight is at the Garden, would you attend?

AM: It's in November and I will be in the United States. I may try to see it. I think Calzaghe beats him.

NC: In America, we haven't seen a lot of Amir Khan, the British silver medalist from the 2004 Games. How good is he going to be?

AM: I don't know how good he can be but right now he's very good. He's very exciting. I've gone to see three of his fights.I was at the Gary St. Claire fight. He's very entertaining, very exciting to watch. He's very fast. I think right now the experts are questioning his resistance to punches. I guess we'll see what happens as he keeps facing better opposition. But he's very talented. I think he can become a world champion.

-- CASSIDY

By Marcus Henry

We won't get to see Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, but we are getting the next best thing.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported Wednesday that De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao will meet on December 6, possibly at the MGM Grand. The two are reportedly set to square off at 147 pounds. An official announcement is expected Thursday, according to ESPN.com.

All the talk of De La Hoya taking on Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto turned out to be a pipe dream. There was no way the "Golden Boy" was ready to take on two of boxing's most powerful punchers. Paul Williams? Although he's worthy, Williams doesn't have enough of a name for De La Hoya to risk ruining his legacy.

But De La Hoya saved face by taking on Pacquiao (47-3, 35 KOs). Pacquiao, who captured the WBC Lightweight title with a ninth-round TKO over David Diaz, is considered by many to be the sports best pound-for-pound fighter.

You're probably asking why De La Hoya decided to take on Pacquiao. The answer is simple. As great as Pacquiao has become, it will be the first time the Phillipine native will fight north of 135 pounds. In fact, his fight against Diaz was the first time he fought as a lightweight. In his eight fights prior to Diaz, Pacquiao fought as a super featherweight. Before that he fought as a featherweight, a super bantamweight and a flyweight.

De La Hoya on the other hand, hasn't fought below 150 pounds since scoring a fifth-round TKO over Arturo Gatti in 2001. De La Hoya should have a distinct advantage in size and power, which means the chance of a knockout is a real possiblity. That doesn't mean De La Hoya will enter the ring as the favorite or even win the fight, but it underscores how much De La Hoya values his legacy. A close loss to Pacquiao, who shouldn't be able to seriously hurt the bigger De La Hoya, will look a lot better than a beating at the hands of Margarito or Cotto.

Jabir Herbert Muhammad, the man who managed the greatest heavyweight in boxing history, died after heart surgery in Chicago at the age of 79.

Muhammad took over as Muhammad Ali's manager in 1966, when the fighter was already heavyweight champion of the world and a star in the sport of boxing.

Ali was a man who really didn't need a manager. But Herbert Muhammad was the son of Elijiah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam and was basically appointed Ali's manager by his father. Whether Herbert's role was more spiritual advisor than financial adviser, only Ali can answer. Spirituality cannot be measured in dollars.

But the question has always been, who benefitted more from the relationship?

Thomas Hauser, one of boxing's premier journalists, wrote the definitive biography on Ali and it was published in 1991. Here are what some people in the book had to say about Herbert Muhammad and his relationship with Ali. These quotes can be found beginning on page 376 of Hauser's book:

Muhammad Ali: "I know there are people who don't like Herbert, but I love and respect him. Make sure the world knows, I love and respect Herbert Muhammad."

Belinda Ali, the fighter's second wife: "He was a great manipulator."

Jeremiah Shabazz: "Herbert is smart when it comes to the religion. We don't always see eye-to-eye about it, but with the religion, he's very smart. But business is another matter. That's one place where Herbert leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think it was maliciousness on Herbert's part. I think it was ignorance, but Ali still suffered."

Harold Conrad: "After [the second Liston fight] we came back to New York for a black tie dinner. Ali didn't own a tuxedo, so I took them to a clothing place called After Six... they were happy to give him a tuxedo. They gave Herbert one too, for free. And that was when Herbert found out he could get something for free wth Ali. It started him off and he never stopped. Before you knew it, he was a silent partner in Ali's promotions. I think he made more money out of some of those fights than Ali. Arum and King both cut him into the promotions, and I doubt he shared that money with Ali."

Gene Dibble: "I think Herbert was interested first and foremost in Herbert. And I also think Herbert just didn't know much about business. He thought he was a good negotiator, and he wasn't. Instead of getting first-rate lawyers, he listened to a lot of bad advice."

Teddy Brenner: "One thing Herbert did very well was the way he played Don King. He read King right. He brought the dollars out of King and got bigger paydays from King than anybody else."

Ferdie Pacheco: "People say, and it's true, that Herbert made a fortune off Ali. And it's also true that Ali might not be as well off financially as he could be today. But the bottom line is, if Herbert had never taken a penny, if he'd worked for twenty years for free and brought in every dollar possible for Ali, Ali would have given it all away.... when Ali was fighting, Herbert didn't want the entourage, Ali wanted it."

No matter what the quotes say, good, bad or indifferent, to me, the bottom line with all the members of Ali's camp, is that they led him into the ring in 1980 for an unnecessary beating against Larry Holmes. It didn't matter what kind of business acumen Herbert Muhammad had, everyone knew Ali should not have been inside that ring. The only longtime member who walked away before the fight was Pacheco.

-- CASSIDY

I come not to bury Cuban boxers, but to praise them.

For the first time since the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, the Cuban boxing team will go home without a gold medal in boxing. Aside from boycotting the 1984 and 1988 Games, Cuba has dominated the boxing competition.

It was difficult to call Cuba the boxing favorite before the Games in Beijing because it lost five gold medalists from its 2004 team. Three of them – Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Yan Barthelemy defected, another, Guillermo Rigondeaux, was banned after a failed attempt at defection, and the great Mario Kindelain had retired.

So, not only did Cuba send a team to Beijing without a defending gold medalist, it sent a team without a single round of Olympic experience. Also, for the first time, they qualified boxers in 10 weight classes, not the full compliment of 11 weight classes. But then, suddenly, a week into the competition, those who doubted the mighty Cuban boxing machine were looking silly.

In the history of Olympic boxing, there have only been three fighters who won three boxing gold medals. Two of them were Cubans Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon (the third was Hungary's Laszlo Papp). Cuba is the country that gave the boxing world Kid Gavilan, Luis Rodriguez and Joel Casamayor. How could we doubt them.

Cuba sent eight fighters into the semifinals, guaranteeing them at the very least, eight bronze medals. They ended up with four bronze and four silver medals.

Two of the favorites to capture gold were middleweight Emilio Correa and lightweight Yordanis Ugás. Ugás won gold at the 2005 world championships and the 2007 Pan Am Games. Correa also captured gold at the 2007 Pan Am Games. Correa is the son of Emilio Correa Sr., a welterweight who was a mainstay on the Cuban national team from 1966 to 1979. Correa Sr. won gold at the 1971 Pan Am Games, 1972 Olympics and 1974 world championships.

At Beijing, Correa wound up with a silver medal while Ugas won bronze.

Here is what happened. Cuba got a taste of its own medicine. For years, American amateur fighters argued that they were really fighting pro fighters when they met the Cubans. Fighters in Cuba are not allowed to turn pro and therefore remain in the amateur ranks for years. Thus, an 18-year-old American kid might face a 28-year-old Cuban for the gold medal. Seems a bit unfair, but that’s what happened to several Cuban fighters in Beijing. They went up against far more experienced fighters and lost.

Yes, we all remember the great Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine when he says the gold medalist is forever “the greatest guy in the world,” and the silver medalist, “never heard of him.”

But consider this. We send a team to Beijing without a single round of previous Olympic experience (as we always do because our kids turn pro). But if before the Games, you were told we would come home with four silvers and four boxing bronze medals, you would feel pretty good about that, right?

So why shouldn’t the Cubans? This was team that Fidel Castro refused to allow to the 2007 World Championships for fear of more defections. This was a team with very little international experience. It’s a far cry from ’92 when they won seven gold medals, but eight medals in 11 weight classes isn’t bad either.

We only came home with a bronze medal from heavyweight Deontay Wilder.

-- CASSIDY

Brooklyn junior welterweight Dmitriy Salita will challenge WBA champion Andreas Kotelnik on November 8th, 2008 at Madison Square Garden. The bout will be on the undercard of the Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones Jr. fight. It will be televised on HBO PPV.

Salita is 28-0-1 and Kotelnick is 29-2-1.

-- CASSIDY

Which is the greatest Olympic boxing team in the history of the Games?

1968: USSR, six medals, three gold

1976: USA, seven medals, five gold, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks

1980: CUBA, 10 medals, six gold, including Teofilio Stevenon's third and Angel Herrera's second. Note these games were boycotted by the USA.

1984: USA, 11 medals, nine gold, one silver, one bronze, including Meldrick Taylor, Mark Breland, Pernell Whitaker, Tyrell Biggs and Evander Holyfield (who won bronze). Note: these games were boycotted by Cuba and USSR.

1992: CUBA, 9 medals, seven gold and two silver, including Felix Savon and Joel Casamayor

2004: CUBA, 8 medals, five gold, two silver and one bronze, including Yuriorkis Gamboa, Yan Barthelemy, Odlanier Solis and the second won by Mario Kindelain.

-- CASSIDY