By Rusty Rubin
Three boxers from Santa Clara University (Cal.) were suspended for testing positive for anabolic steroids.
Steroid use in all sports should be banned and those caught using must be severely punished. It’s not anti Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire or anyone else, it’s to keep our sport pure.
One of the ways to do so should be either adding an asterisk next to their names in the record book, or disregard their falsely earned record completely. These athletes don’t deserve any rewards for trying to fool the public and pad their pockets at the same time.
Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and others set their records legitimately, and no juiced up phony should be allowed to replace them.
Accidental drug use shouldn’t count, because some medications do have banned substances in their ingredients, and you can’t expect an athlete to be a pharmacist as well, and know how long these substances remain in their system. And last time I checked, most of these meds are not performance enhancers anyhow.***
Kenneth Kizer has replaced Marc Ratner as Nevada State Athletic Commission Exec. Director. Marc, who did a yeoman job for boxing over the years moves up to another executive position, this time with mixed martial arts. We wish Marc well in his new endeavor, and Kizer as well, as he has very big shoes to fill.***
On Saturday, Sergei Liakhovich upset Lamon Brewster to win the WBO heavyweight crown, in Cleveland, Ohio. This was one of the best heavyweight title fights seen in many years, and can only help our sport. It was also shown free on Showtime, TV.
It was a unanimous decision but many rounds were close enough to call it a draw or give the nod to Brewster. Lamon who fights far more often then Sergei, ran out of gas late in the fight and that may have been the difference in the scoring.
Both fighters are true warriors and a rematch will happen.***
This weekend Zab Judah again tries to match-up with the best pound for pounder out there, Floyd Mayweather Jr. I don’t know of any way Zab can beat FM, but this is boxing, after-all.
Mayweather has all the tools to make him one of the great pound for pound fighters of all time. Judah has a big mouth, questionable whiskers, a bit of power and a lot of speed, not enough in my eye to make the fight close.
I’m willing to overlook Judah’s last fight, a lost to Carlos Baldomir, which he didn’t seem to prepare well for, but we know he should train hard for this must win fight.
I’m going to predict a big win for Mayweather, giving Judah a bad beating and stopping him in round eight.
But remember, this is boxing!
Accidental drug use shouldn’t count, because some medications do have banned substances in their ingredients, and you can’t expect an athlete to be a pharmacist as well, and know how long these substances remain in their system. And last time I checked, most of these meds are not performance enhancers anyhow.***
Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).
Glove2Glove:
First, I know there are many people out there who are in need of prayer, but I always make sure that listing them in this column is okay with them, because many do not feel comfortable having their health problems known. I sincerely appreciate everyone who tells me of someone in need of prayer, but unless it’s Okayed by the family, I feel it’s in bad taste to list them. However, that does not mean they are not included in my personal prayers.
However, in this case I made an exception. My good friend Norm Cote, former President of the World Boxing Hall of Fame has been released from the hospital in Los Angeles, but still needs your prayers. A word of prayer also to give his wonderful wife Annie strength would also be most appreciated. Once again, you’ve proven to the doubters that prayers do work.
Allow me to thank all the good friends out there who have taken time out of their busy lives to say prayers for my brother and sister in law who were killed in the bus crash in Chile last week. Although neither was a boxing fan, they were family and your kind words helped make the transition easier.***
More sad news as both Alfonso Luna, father of my photographer Ray, and Boston boxing scribe Charlie Ross went to their final rewards. Prayers for their souls would also mean a lot.
Patti Brandenburg continues to have health problems and continues to need your help via prayers.
Let’s say a prayer for the father of Eva Futch, a great friend, and the widow of legendary trainer Eddie, who passed away in 2001. Eva’s father’s cancer has returned and needs all the support we can give him, and please pray that Eva has the strength to cope with this difficult challenge she faces at so close to her having lost her esteemed husband.
Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.
Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers for his total recovery.
Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.
Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***
Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***
Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.
Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***
Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***
Touching on politics briefly: It’s becoming more and more obvious that our elected leaders don’t care about the people they represent, YOU!
National security is a major problem in a free society, and never more so that in this age of nuclear weapons and the hate that Islamic radicals and others feel for democracy. The bottom line is that they hate anything that represents freedom to think and express you, or in short, everything that democracy stands for.
Two of the most pressing issues have been on the news of late, those dealing with illegal immigration and port security, two ways that terrorists and weapons can enter the United States.
While no one I know favors isolationism, something must be done to secure our borders and prevent our elected leaders from selling our ports, which, for the record, have really not improved their security since 9/11.
While it’s true that we haven’t been attacked since 9/11, we know the nature of our enemy and only a fool would think it will not happen again. What have our elected leaders done to keep us safe? Very little, they’ve just been lucky so far. And luck does not last forever.
To be clear, I have no problem with Canadians or Mexicans or anyone else becoming American citizens. They have in the past and certainly will in the future, and they have been, as a rule, hard working and proud citizens of this great land.
The big thing however is that not too long ago, most of them came here legally, and were proud to take their place in the country of their choice. In times more recent, for whatever reason, (almost always economic) they pour cross our borders illegally, thus breaking our laws, and that should not be tolerated in this dangerous age that we live in.
As always we must welcome all immigrants from Mexico, Canada or wherever, but they, like their ancestors before them, should do it legally and honestly. That’s certainly not asking any more of them than we did in the past, and it serves as a security measure for all of us.
Here’s my suggestion, if a person came into this country illegally, they should register and show proof that they have been working and paying taxes for five or more years, than be allowed to take the test to become an American citizen. All others should be deported at the expense of their home country and if they return, be made to join our community by legal means only.
No one is calling hard working immigrants terrorists. No one wants to see them deported. We only want to see them take the necessary steps to become American citizens, and most important, have a background check. These are times when it takes only one terrorist to slip through the cracks and do immense damage.
In order to ensure enforcement of our laws, our borders must be strengthened so few if any can slip through the cracks.
Our current and most recent past President feel that the opinions of the American people don’t count. Here’s a news flash for Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton, we do count, and we must show it at the polls in every election from here on in. We elect our leaders to do our bidding not for them to ignore our feelings. Isn’t that what democracy and representative government mean?
As for the ports, someone had better figure out a way to scan those containers from foreign lands. It doesn’t take much to kill innocent people.
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