By Rusty Rubin 

Mark Your Calendar:

Aug. 19, 2006...California Boxing Hall of Fame inductions: Huge list of former and past greats to be inducted including Hedgemon Lewis, the Ruelas brothers and a group of many old friends. Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City Cal.ifornia...For information call 818-761-4887.

Oct. 14, 2005...World Boxing Hall of Fame induction, LAX Marriott...Call 909-239-3541...More details to follow.***

I enjoyed listening to the instructions given to Timor Ibragimov by Miguel Diaz in the Russian’s bout with Calvin Brock at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Saturday. After round ten, Diaz threatened to have the corner return to the dressing room if Ibragimov had another round as bad as the tenth. Can you see an exhausted fighter returning to the corner and asking “Hey, where did everybody go”?

Brock won an easy unanimous decision.

In the semi-main, Joel Julio suffered his first defeat at the hands of another undefeated prospect, Carlos Quintana who took Julio to school in almost every round.

Sometimes when you get big knockout punches, both fights go to decisions. Why? Because a person’s KO record doesn’t reflect the strength of his chin. Such was the case this evening.

The fight was shown free on HBO Boxing After Dark.***

This week the action comes from the Philippines when Manny Pacquiao takes on former title holder Oscar Larrios in Pac Man’s home island.

Larrios, an excellent boxer who has the tendency to cut, will have to use his height and jab to keep Pac Man at bay But even then it certainly doesn’t figure to be enough to stop Pacquiao from chopping Oscar up and stopping him in the later rounds.

Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).

Glove2Glove:

Patti Brandenburg continues to have health problems and continues to need your help via prayers.

Prayer for the return to health to 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 recent surgeries have proved successful, but he still has a long way to go. 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 for Mae Sebastian, who is fighting a serious illness. Mae is the wife of Gene Sebastian, who gave Tom Donelson and myself the info needed to write the book “Billy Soose, The Champion Time Forgot”.

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 recovery of good friend and great boxing guy Norm Cote, Past President of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, who is undergoing dialysis three times a week. Norm’s a fighter and we have to be there in his corner.

Prayers also for former World Boxing Hall of Fame Presidents Dub Harris and Charlie Casas who are having some severe health problems as well.

Prayers for the soul of Mike Quarry former boxer and brother of Jerry Quarry, heavyweight contender, who passed away a few years back. Mike set up a foundation to help those afflicted with Alzheimer’s which Jerry suffered from.

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 absolutely 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: As of this writing a missile is sitting on a launch pad in North Korea, sans warhead (we hope) and is supposed to be tested to see how far it goes and how we will react.

Or perhaps it’s just there to give us a reason to meet with the North Korean negotiating team, something that our President refuses to do.

The question is, should we wipe it out as it sits waiting for launch, should we wipe it out (or try to) when it’s launched, or should we just wait and see if North Korea blinks first.

To be sure none of the options are good ones, and maybe our President should meet with North Korean negotiators. I’m not quite sure why he’s being so stubborn, but that’s far from my area of expertise.

I believe that if the missile is launched, we have no alternative but to blow it out of the sky and show both members of the “Axis of Evil” (Iran is building a nuclear program as well) that America means business and we will not back down to any dictatorship.

But personally, I still prefer diplomacy, to avoid any and all confrontations when possible.

Agree, disagree or just want to help? I’d love to hear from you. (Rusty@ringsports.com).