Portland Ob— rv»r, February 11,1982 Paça 15
Sport Talk
Here's your ticket to ridel
The M arch 15 fig h t between
champion Larry Holmes and chal
lenger Jerry Cooney w ill undoubt
edly be the richest boxing event in
history. Holmes reportedly will re
ceive between 10-15 million dollars,
and all this for a fight that is expect
ed to last less than six rounds.
We would be terribly remiss if we
failed to mention that the reason for
such a big purse is that the match is
a classic B la ck -W h ite c o n fro n ta
tion.
Boxing for the Black man has run
the gamut. In the early days o f box
ing, the heavyweights were ruled by
Caucasians. From the beginning,
boxing was a sport that attracted
athletes from society's lower
echelons. The heavyweight ranks
were dom inated by the Iris h , the
Italians and other poor immigrants
who were seeking avenues to a
better life.
Blacks were denied this opportun
ity due to the discrimination policies
o f that era. During the early 1890s
to the early 1900s, entertainm ent
was the only profession in which
Blacks were allowed to participate,
and there were no big bucks avail
able.
Jack Johnson was the first Black
heavyweight champion. He was im
mediately a role model in the Black
community. Because o f his lifestyle,
Jack Johnson was hated by many
whites. He lived high and fast. H e
dressed Jlashy, drove big cars and
married a white woman. He made
big money and spent big money and
was the envy o f many Americans,
Black and white.
Jack Johnson's m arriage to a
white woman caused him to lose the
vast m ajority o f his white support
ers, forcing Jack to flee the country
and resume his career abroad. What
Jack le ft here was thousands o f
young Blacks taking to the boxing
gyms around the country in search
o f the elusive American dream.
Boxing was the first sport open to
Blacks and through the depression
years they came to dom inate the
sport.
Blacks dominate from the light
weight division to the heavyweights.
Such great fighters as Henry A rm
strong, Sandy Saddler, Sugar Ray
R obinson, K id G a v ila n , and the
late, great, Joe Louis were a few o f
the greats who emerged as
champions.
Armstrong was the first man ever
to hold titles in three weight d iv i
sions: welterweight, middleweight
and light-heavyweight. During that
time Armstrong was rated as the top
boxer in the w o rld , pound-per-
pound.
Sandy Saddler dom inated the
featherweights and fought some o f
his greatest battles against W illie
Pep, the white ex-champion in that
weight division. The Saddler-Pep
fights were on the same level as the
M uham m ad A li-Joe Frazier th rill
ers.
Sugar Ray Robinson and Kid Oa-
vilan were the top welterweights o f
the early '50s. Sugar Ray emerged as
the greatest fig h te r pound-per-
pound in the game at the time. Rob
inson won titles as w elterw eig h t,
middleweight and only the heat kept
him from obtaining the light-heavy
weight crow n. Robinson was fa r
ahead o f cham pion Joey M a x im
when the 115-degree heat caused
him to collapse in his corner. H e
could not answer the bell fo r the
13th round. On that same hot sum
mer evening in New Y o rk , referee
Ruby Goldstein also collapsed dur
ing the 8th round and a substitute
had to be called in.
When the Dodgers signed Jackie
Robinson, baseball was then opened
to the Black m an. M a n y o f the
young athletes that would have gone
in to boxing were now fin d in g a
more glam orous life in baseball.
This led to the slow demise o f box
ing for Blacks.
Soon a fte r baseball, the N B A
opened its doors to the Black ath
letes. This led to the further demise
o f boxing for the Black man.
During the 1960s, when the Civil
Rights movement opened doors for
Blacks into all professions the brutal
sport o f boxing was no longer glam
orous to the Black man. Instead o f
turning to the gym, they turned to
the universities and colleges o f the
world. When the Blacks no longer
needed boxing for a living, the fight
game a b ru p tly turned to the L a
tinos, who then began to dominate
the lower weight divisions just as the
Blacks once had.
M ost Blacks stayed away fro m
boxing. They diverted their energies
to the N F L , N B A , and major league
baseball.
The 1976 Olympic boxing team is
credited with bringing the Black ath
lete back in to boxing. A t a tim e
when W aterg ate had d rained the
spirits o f our nation and Americans
needed something to be proud o f,
along came this great Olympic team,
dominated by young Blacks. But the
nation cheered the young Blacks
who represented o ur cou n try so
well. Amateur boxing has long been
dominated by European and Soviet-
bloc countries. But this team— Leo
R andolph, H o w ard D avis, Davey
Arm strong, Leon Spinks, M ichael
Spinks and C a p ta in Sugar Ray
Leonard— won the hearts o f Am eri
ca as they battled their way to be
come O lym p ic cham pions. These
young heros were sdfcn daily in the
homes o f two hundred million A m
ericans and all o f them were later to
become professionals with the ex
ception o f Howard Davis and Davey
A rm strong. D avis did fig h t fo r a
cham pionship and A rm strong de
layed his professional debut to try
for the 1980 Olympics which then-
President Jimmy Carter was later to
boycott. W hat Sugar Ray Leonard
did, we all know.
Game of the Week
Give It a little m o re o o m p h . Kelvin!
NFL players, owners battle
The N F L Players Association and
the owners arc on a collision course
again. The players arc asking that 55
per cent o f the profits o f each team
go to the players fund for salaries.
The owners say the players are
asking for too much and that they
would never consider that proposal.
Can they come to an agreement?
W ill the players, like the baseball
union, strike? W ho will win in this
battle? Observer Sports will keep
you posted on the events o f this
fight. Read Observer Sports for the
best in Sport coverage.
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Portland Observer
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Prep game o f the week— M a r
shall 70, Jefferson 60. The Minute
men captured the first h a lf cham
pionship by downing the Democrats
on th e ir home court in overtim e.
M arsh all led throughout the con
test, but the Demos managed to gain
a 56-56 tie w ith 26 seconds left in
regulation. The game was marked
by numerous turnovers by both
sides. This wasn't the usual Bobby
Harris coached Jefferson team that
has shown us so much discipline in
the past. Jefferson dug their own
grave by repeatedly putting up d iffi
cult twenty-footers. Marshall buried
them at the other end by driving in
for easy layups.
“ D ream T e a m ” members will
participate in an Old Timers game at
C andlestick P ark on July 17 and
will be featured in a variety o f team
promotions and special events this
year.
P h ila d e lp h ia 's 76ers may have
their “ D octor” but the Grambling
State Tiger basketball players boast
o f 6-4 guard Kenneth Simpson as
the "D o c to r.”
D u rin g his prep days Simpson
was often referred to as the “ Leg
end.”
Legend or n o t . . . People from
the S W A L th in k he’ s som ething
special.
Simpson is G S U ’ s leading scorer
so far with a 17.5 average. H e’s av
eraging 11.5 boards a game, while
shooting 58 per cent from the floor.
A nd as a ju n io r he led the confer
ence in both steals and assists. The
high flying southpaw is expected to
go high in this year’s N B A draft.
307 N .E. B roadw ay
Portland, Oregon 97232
Phone (603) 284-1106
And for the past ten years
D o nn y A nderson has followed
that example selling them.
For any advice on new or used
cars, leasing, or general
information on how to buy a car
and not get burnt call him at
284-1106
Dream Team selected
The San Francisco Giants a!! time
“ D ream T e a m ” was announced
Jan. 27 at a special screening o f the
Giants 25th Anniversary film in San
Francisco. Led by W illie Mays, the
“ Dream Team ” features four cur
rent members o f the Giants greats.
Current manager Frank Robinson,
was named to p ilo t the historic
team.
The "D ream Team ” was selected
from more than 20,000 ballots cast
by G ian ts fans last season. M ays
was the leading vote getter w ith
13,621, followed by W illie McCovey
w ith 12,399 and T o m H a lle r w ith
10,605.
The members o f the “ D ream
T e a m ” in alphabetical order ar*:
Jack C la rk , Jim D av en p o rt, T ito
Fuentes, Tom H a lle r, A1 H o lla n d ,
Johnnie Lemaster, Juan M arichal,
Gary Matthews, W illie Mays, W illie
M cC o ve y, Stu M ille r and F ran k
Robinson.
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