The Neutral Corner

We caught up with Escalade, AKA Troy Jackson, from Queens, cousin of former New York Knicks guard Mark Jackson. Escalade has been a fixture on the wildly popular And-1 streetball hoops tour. Escalade was ringside at a recent fight with four-time Golden Gloves champ Brian Adams.

The Neutral Corner: With both men in their prime, who wins, Ali or Tyson?

Escalade: Wow. Wow! I'll go with Ali. I'm from New York, born and raised and Tyson is my boy. But I played at Louisville in college and Ali came by and gave us some pep talks. So I say Ali.

The Neutral Corner: Who wins, Tyson or Escalade?
Escalade: (Laughing) Me. I'm from the city, I don't back down. I know one thing, it would end in a knockout either way. I told Junior Jones and Brian Adams if they want to make a comeback, I'd fight either one at a catch weight of 225 pounds.

The Neutral Corner: Who wins, an MMA fighter or a pro boxer?
Escalade: If it's MMA rules, an MMA fighter. If it's boxing rules, a boxer would win.

The Neutral Corner: How about Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Sugar Ray Robinson?
Escalade: I think Floyd would win. Athletically you can't keep up with an athlete from 2008. He has advantages in training, in dieting. It's a whole different ballgame. Athletes today are stronger and faster.

The Neutral Corner: What is the best fight you've seen in person?
Escalade: Terry Norris vs. Sugar Ray Leonard at the Garden. I was like 16. The other one would be Oscar de la Hoya vs. Sugar Shane Mosley, the first fight.

It’s the Stanley Cup finals, so the Neutral Corner reached out to Clark Gillies to talk a little boxing, hockey, and, of course, hockey fighting. Gillies was the consummate power forward during his 14-year NHL career. Twelve of those seasons were spent with the Islanders, where Gillies was on the same line as Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy during the Isles’ four-year run as Stanley Cup Champions. Gillies, who scored over 300 goals, has had his number retired by the Islanders and was elected to the hall of fame in 2002.

Neutral Corner: Who were your favorite boxers to watch?

Clark Gillies: Certainly Ali’s fights with Frazier, the Thrilla in Manilla was a classic. I also enjoyed Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard’s fights. Oscar De La Hoya just keeps going and going. He’s as good looking now as he was 10 years ago. That SOB looks like no one hits him. But Ali was special, particularly in his prime, the way he floated around the ring. Then certainly we went through the Tyson era, which was exciting.

NC: You were a Tyson fan?
CG: Most of it you could take until he tried to bite Holyfield’s ear off. Then to see where he’s gone since is kind of disappointing.

NC: In their primes, who wins, Ali or Tyson?
CG: Ali. I think, because Tyson wouldn’t have gotten many shots in. Ali would have been able to take him 12, 15, rounds and win a decision. Tyson wouldn’t have been able to land the same shots he was landing against other guys.

NC: You had a pretty solid career as a heavyweight in your own right.

CG: Well, it was in self defense most of the time. I had a much shorter temper in junior hockey than I did in professional hockey. My job never changed. I had some good success passing the puck and scoring goals. But my job was to also make sure nothing happened to Trots and Bossy. I was able to contribute, from a hockey standpoint as well. It was part of my whole package. The fighting part is not that enjoyable.

NC: Do you know your fight against Dave Schultz is YouTube classic. How often do people ask you about it?

CG: I don’t really get asked about it as much as people like to tell me about it. They come up and say, that fight with Dave Schultz was awesome, it put the Islanders on the map. I know Schultzy really well and he’s a good guy. He was a very talented hockey player and he got lost in the minors. He got into a fight with someone and beat him up and the fans went crazy. He thought, well, this is my avenue to the NHL and sure enough he got there. At one point he scored 20 goals, he had some pretty good offensive talent. You talk about making a living the hard way. Every night he had to fight somebody.

NC: Do you think that fight really legitimized the Islanders?

CG: I don’t know. That fight was the culmination of a lot of smaller fights. But we laugh about it now. I heard Schultzy telling a story about it one time at an event. He had a crowd of guys around him and I saw them laughing so I went over there and said, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, I just telling these guys how mad I am at Moose DuPont. I said, ‘Why are you mad at him?’ Then Schultzy said, I was just getting ready to get off the ice to beat this [stuffing] out of you until Moose grabbed you.

NC: What was the best hockey fight you ever saw?

CG: The best one I ever saw didn’t involve me. It was Marty McSorley and Bob Probert. It was in Detroit and I think the fight lasted for 2 ½ minutes. Which for a hickey fight was incredibly long. They pounded each other with lefts, when they got tired, then they pounded each other with rights. When one guy would go down, the other guy would lift him up.

NC: Those Islander teams that won the Cup were very tough teams, weren’t they?

CG: We didn’t really discover it until 1980 when we played Boston. We woke up to really how tough we were and we could play any style of game. Bobby Nystrom was very tough. Gordie Lane was extremely was tough, a very good fighter, Duane Sutter, Bobby Lorimer, Bobby Bourne, could surprise guys. It was a tough team. Trottier didn’t fight that much but he was tough. It was a very well-rounded team. We could play a finesse game, we could play fast-paced. We could be tough and aggressive when we needed to be.

NC: Did you ever have any formal boxing training?

CG: I never had any boxing training. Our training was that we used to fight when we 10 years old. I had been fighting different guys in different games for the most part since I was 10 years old. The one thing I regret is that I didn’t get any better throwing left hands.

The Clark Gillies Foundation (http://www.clarkgillies.org) has its annual golf outing on June 9, at the Huntington Crescent Club. The foundation helps numerous charities on Long Island and is responsible for the Clark Gillies Pediatric Center at the Huntington Hospital.

-- CASSIDY

The Neutral Corner caught up with former world bantamweight and junior featherweight champion Junior Jones. He came up out of the Bushwick section of Brooklyn and was a mainstay in boxing's lighter weight classes throughout the 1990s. He beat Marco Antonio Barrera, Orlando Canizales, Tom Johnson and Tracy Harris Patterson and had tough losses against Erik Morales and Kennedy McKinney. We tossed out some random boxing questions, here's how Jones responded:

Neutral Corner: What is your greatest moment in the ring?

Junior Jones: Beating Orlando Canizales. He broke the record for 17 successful title defenses at bantamweight and I beat him. That was my best moment. You thought I was going to say beating Marco Antonio Barrera didn't you?

NC: With both men at their best, Ali vs. Tyson. Who wins?

JJ: Wow. I have to pick Tyson. I think the way Tyson fought in his prime, he'd catch Ali. Ali would try the rope-a-dope but it wouldn't work. I say Tyson in four rounds.

NC: Who wins in a fight, an MMA guy or a boxer?

JJ: MMA, big time. Once he gets you to the ground, it's over. Boxers aren't trained for that.

NC: Which athlete, from another sport, would make a good fighter?

JJ: Charles Barkley. He had a tough attitude. He wouldn't back down to anyone. He had no fear. John Starks too. No fear. He was a lightweight with a heavyweight's heart.

NC: Is there one fight, one thing that you wished you could have done in your career?

JJ: Yeah, fight at heavyweight. One big fight, and you are set financially for life. Look at all the fights I had. One big fight at heavyweight would equal everything I made in those fights.

-- CASSIDY

Talk about your scholar athletes, Vitali Klitschko, the former WBC heavyweight champion, is running for mayor of Kiev, in the Ukraine. In his previous attempt at politics, Klitschko was runner up in Kiev’s last mayoral election. He currently serves on Kiev’s city council. He has a doctorate in Physical Science and Sports.

The election is May 25. And, oh yeah, Vitali announced he is returning to the ring and has a fight lined up with current WBC champion Sam Peter for the summer. His younger brother, Wladimir, is the current WBO-IBF heavyweight champion.

The Neutral Corner recently caught up with Klischko while he was in New York.

Neutral Corner: Do you want to talk politics or boxing?

Vitali Klitschko: Either one.

NC: Let’s start with politics, how do you feel about the upcoming election?

VK: My chances look very good. I have good support in Kiev, the public supports me and I am very optimistic about the election. Every morning at 6 a.m., I am in the gym. By 9 a.m., I in the office. I feel great.

NC: What is the perception of the United States and our government around the world?

VK: Actually, I understand that so many American citizens are sometimes very critical of American politics and politicians, but American politics show a very good example for the whole world. It’s an open discussion. It’s democracy. There is freedom of the press. There are so many things we can speak about. There are so many places in the world where you can’t do that. Where you can’t do things you can do in America. I don’t want to criticize American politics.

NC: Okay. Tell me about your comeback.

VK: Every day I spend two, three hours in the gym. I am in great form. I have experience and you can never lose experience. I am at a point, not just in boxing, but in life, where I have experience. I promise to fight and I have a vision to realize my dreams. To write the history of boxing and be world champion at the same time as my brother, two heavyweight champions at the same time. It’s never happened in the heavyweight division. I plan to fight this summer for a world title.

NC: In his last fight, your brother Wladimir was criticized for his performance against Sultan Ibragimov. How did you feel about the fight?

VK: I am very happy that my brother is world champion. He is the strongest fighter in the world. I support him. I think my brother had a great performance. Please don’t forget that he fought against a world champion. Of course the people want to see the knockout, it’s very difficult to knock out someone who was running away form you. I was happy with the decision.

NC: There have been quite a few heavyweight champions who have emerged from the former Soviet Union, yourself, your brother, Oleg Maskaev, Ibragimov, Valuev, why do you think that is?

VK: After the Iron Curtain fell down, all the Russian amateurs moved to the west and pursued professional boxing careers. Right now we have good results. The Russian fighters are very hungry.

NC: Vitali, good luck in the election and good luck in your quest to regain the title.

VK: Wait. I have a question for you.

NC: Okay.

VK: Don’t you want to know why I got into politics?

NC: Sure.

VK: I travel around the world, I spent a lot of time in Germany and in the United States, my three children are born in Los Angeles. I come from Kiev, Ukraine. When I come to Kiev, I see the city, very pretty, 1,500 years old. But the rules are still same as they were under the Soviet Union. I am trying to bring the same simple rules to Kiev, to make life in my city, like life in Europe and in the United States. I have very high moral qualities. I want to work hard for my city and the people who live there. It’s not communist anymore, but there is corruption in Kiev. So many investors want to invest in Kiev, but they are afraid because no one can guarantee that the money will come back. There is no guarantee that someone will steal the money.

-- CASSIDY