I never seem to tire of reading this article. The Hatchetman was the Ernie Shavers figure of his era. Not the best puncher, but I sincerely think the hardest hitter.
Forgot I had read this awhile ago. These are the kind of boxing stories that are so intriguing. Sad but def interesting.
There's no Aram Rocky Alkazoff on Boxrec, but I found this article https://www.lipstickalley.com/threa...inst-neighborhood-drug-dealer-and-win.368858/ Not saying parts of the story may not be true, but I think it has to be read with a full bottle of salt. Are the participants in this forum skeptical historians or just suckers for a con man's sob story? It might be that I'm being a bit hard on Mr. Alkazoff, but maybe somebody should check his story out a bit further. He may be a better storyteller than a reliable source of information
Sheppard is a bit of mystery, and an intriguing one at that. Al Abrams claimed 'Curtis Sheppard' wasn't even his real name (which he says was James Roberts). What is unquestionable is his power was absolutely legit - his 1 round destruction of Maxim is very impressive, and the testimonies just add to it.
Also, Rocky Alkazoff is, imo, pretty legit. I'm just unsure about his Sheppard story. Here is some old, unfortunate info about him from a very legit thread which @greynotsoold himself linked me to a while ago. https://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=78351&sid=237d9089132cef2c631b4a350129906f&start=14875
Article states that Sheppard trained Floyd Cummings at Pontiac, but everything I've found said Cummings learnt to box at the Stateville Correctional Center, with no mention of Sheppard. Am I missing something?
I'm friends with Mr Alkhazoff on social media. I've interacted with him many times and hes a stand up man. A honorable gentleman in my book
Love the story and I’ve still no idea if Curtis is alive today (would be 102). Im sure someone knows in here