BOXING - Where are they now? - Boxers in Retirement.

Would you prefer just the one each Christmas Sally?

 

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Mickey Walker (July 13, 1903 - April 28, 1981) was a multi-faceted boxer from New Jersey. He was also an avid golfer and a renowned artist. Some say he was actually born in 1901.

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He boxed professionally for the first time on February 10, 1919, fighting Dominic Orsini to a four round no-decision in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As a matter of a fact, his first seventeen bouts were all boxed in Elizabeth. For his eighteenth bout, he went to Newark. On April 29 of 1919, he was defeated by knockout in round one by K.O. Phil Delmontt, suffering his first defeat.

In 1920, he boxed twelve times, winning two and participating in ten no-decisions. Once again, all his bouts were held in New Jersey, which was, at the time, one of the areas where scoring systems had not been installed in boxing, therefore, each fight that lasted the scheduled distance was automatically declared a no-decision, regardless of who the better boxer had been.

He boxed sixteen times in 1921, winning six, losing one and having nine no-decisions. By then, Rhode Island had already become one of the areas where scoring in fights had been installed to allow fighters to get decision victories, and this attracted Walker twice to the area. He lost on a disqualification to Joe Stenafik his first time there, but earned his first decision win, in twelve rounds, against Kid Green, the second time around. He also held world champion boxer Jack Britton to a no-decision back in his home state of New Jersey, and beat Nate Siegal in Boston.

1922 was not looking like a great year for Mickey Walker, as he went 3-4-4 before getting a world title shot. He lost to Jock Malone during that span. However, on November 1 of that year, he found himself a world title challenger against Britton, who was the world's Welterweight champion. Walker outpointed Britton over fifteen rounds to become world champion.

He had thirteen fights in 1923, winning 11, having one no decision and one no contest. He defended the title twice, against Pete Latzo and Jimmy Jones.

Nine bouts followed in 1924, Walker winning six and having three no decisions. He defeated Lew Tendler and Bobby Barrett in defense of his world title, and had two of his three no decisions that year against arch-enemy Jock Malone.

After winning two fights to start 1925, he went up in division to challenge world Middleweight champion Harry Greb on July 2 but he failed to win the Middleweight crown at that time, losing a fifteen round decision to the 160 pound division champion. He went back to the Welterweight division, defending his title against Dave Shade, retaining it by decision. He won three bouts, lost one and had three no decisions that year.

On May 20, 1926, he lost the world Welterweight title in a rematch with Pete Latzo, concentrating on winning the world Middleweight title instead after that. On November 22, he finally was able to beat Jock Malone, and on December 3, he conquered the world's Middleweight title with a ten round decision over world champion Tiger Flowers. He kept that title for five years, although he only defended it three times during that span. He beat Mike McTigue and former world champion Paul Berlenbach.

On March 28, 1929, he tried to become a member of the exclusive group of boxers who have been world champions in three different weight divisions, however, he failed in his attempt when he was defeated by a ten round decision by world Light Heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran. On June 19, 1931, Walker decided to give away his world Middleweight title to take a leap into the Heavyweight division. His debut as a Heavyweight on July 22, against former world Heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey, ended with a fifteen round draw (tie). In 1932, he went 5-1, beating such fighters as King Levinsky and Paulino Uzcudun before facing former world Heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, who knocked Walker out in round eight.

He went down in weight again, to the Light Heavyweight division, in 1933, when he lost a fifteen round decision to Maxie Rosenbloom for the world title. He kept campaigning in that division until 1935, when he retired after losing to Eric Seelig by a seven round technical decision.

Walker opened a restaurant after retirement and his restaurant became a popular dining place in New York. It is said that he faced alcoholism problems after retiring.

He became, however, an accomplished painting artist, many of his works being exhibited at New York and London art galleries. During his boxing career, he found golf to be a suitable distraction to his training regimen, and he often dragged his manager Doc Kearns, and his kids to golf courses to play golf. There is a golf course named after him.

Walker was found by police in 1974 lying on a street in New York and taken to a hospital, where he was admitted with doctors initially thinking he was just a drunken man picked up at the streets. But further testing revealed that Walker was suffering from Parkinson's disease. Walker ignored who he was or where he was at when he was picked up by the police officers.

While he recovered from this incident, Parkinson's eventually took his life, and he died seven years later.

Walker had a record of 93 wins, 14 losses, 4 draws, 46 no decisions and 1 no contest in 163 professional bouts, his 60 knockout wins making him a member of the exclusive group of boxers who have won 50 or more bouts by knockout.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, as an original member of that institution.


(you've probably already read this one Josey - but I learnt something reading it)

 

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- courtesy of biography base dot com.


Laszlo Papp (March 25, 1926 - October 16, 2003) was a boxer from Hungary.

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....the great Lazlo Papp.


Papp was, according to some, the greatest Olympic boxer of all times, earning Gold medals in the 1948, 1952 and 1956 games. He beat José Torres for the gold medal on his last Olympic competition, becoming the first boxer ever to win three Olympic gold medals. Today, he shares that distinction with Teofilo Stevenson and Félix Savón, both of Cuba.

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....Papp in action at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.


Papp, despite having hand trouble, turned professional in 1957, and immediately began rising on boxing's Middleweight ranks.

But professional boxing was outlawed in Hungary, and he was never allowed to perform in his home country. Furthermore, Papp had to travel to Vienna, Austria each time he was going to train for a fight. Nevertheless, Papp was able to beat each of the top ranked contenders put in front of him, including veteran Tiger Jones, before challenging Chris Christensen for the European Middleweight title. He knocked out Christensen to become Europe's champion, then defeated American fighter Randy Sandy.

Just then, as Papp was about to get a shot at world championship, Hungary's government, perhaps enraged that he challenged their ban of professional boxing by travelling abroad to fight, revoked his right to travel, forcing him into retirement in 1962. Papp has since been the subject of many boxing discussions, boxing fans debating whether he could have been a world champion or not. There have been a few books written about him, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.

His record was of 27 wins, no losses and 2 draws, with 21 wins by knockout.



(Comments: That Papp had to travel to Vienna each time he wanted to train for a fight, and his right to travel was eventually revoked ending his career, are mindboggling by today's standards. Joe Bugner was probably very lucky to be part of a later, more sensible era.)

 

For your benefit and perhaps others:

Here's a simple index of what's been posted in this thread so far:

1/ Michael Spinks #1
2/ Leon Spinks #7
3/ Michael Spinks (different article) #18
4/ Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini #20
5/ Nedal 'Skinny' Hussien #25
6/ James 'Quick' Tillis #26
7/ Oscar Bonavena #30
8/ George Foreman #31
9/ Kronk Gym Fighters #36
10/ Dave 'Boy' Green #39
11/ Jeff 'Flash' Malcolm #40
12/ Frank Bruno #47
13/ Band on the Run album cover #48
14/ Teofilo Stevenson #72
15/ Marvelous Marvin Hagler #79
16/ Earnie Shavers #81
17/ Tony Tucker #85
18/ Denis Reardon #86
19/ Ron Lyle #87
20/ Mickey Walker #94
21/ Lazlo Papp #96

 

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An earlier post in this thread had me wondering what happened to Edwin Rosario - curiosity got the better of me - and as it was an interesting read here it is direct from Wikopedia:


Edwin Rosario

Edwin "El Chapo" Rosario (March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican boxer. He was the WBC world lightweight champion from 1983–84 and the WBA world champion in 1986–87 and again in 1989–90. After moving up to the junior welterweight class, he became a WBA world champion once more, holding the title from 1991 to 1992.

Early life and career

Chapo, as he was known in the world of boxing, was born in Barrio Candelaria, Toa Baja, an extremely poor barrio. Rosario's brother, Papo Rosario, was a professional boxer in the beginning of a promising career. His boxing manager and coach (trainer) was Eulalio "Lalo" Medina. Rosario was inspired by his brother, and had a stellar amateur boxing career.

Papo died unexpectedly, supposedly due to drugs, two years after his Rosario's move to professional boxing. Rosario persevered, wanting to honor his brother's memory by winning a world championship. He scored big knockout wins over Young Ezzard Charles and Edwin Viruet, the former in 3 rounds as the Holmes-Cooney undercard. He eventually gained a record of 21-0 with 20 knockouts. This led to talks of a title fight against world lightweight champion Alexis Argüello, to be held in Miami, but Argüello abandoned the division to challenge Aaron Pryor.

Boxing Champion

Rosario was then matched with Mexico's José Luis Ramírez on May 1, 1983. Rosario dominated the first 7 rounds, but tired down the stretch to make for a very close fight. The judges, as well as most of the public present, felt Rosario had done enough to win, and Rosario had become world lightweight champion by the unanimous score of 115-113 on all 3 judging cards. Rosario injured his hand during the fight and needed surgery, for which the World Boxing Council gave him a dispensation.

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Rosario returned to the ring in 1984. In his first defense of the title, he faced Roberto Elizondo, who had lasted 7 rounds with Argüello in a previous world title challenge and was expected to give Rosario a tough challenge. However, Rosario knocked out Elizondo in a single round. Howard Davis Jr proved more of a challenge—he led Rosario on all scorecards with ten seconds remaining in the bout, but was dropped by Rosario and lost a split decision.

A rematch with Ramírez was scheduled, again in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 3, 1984. Rosario dropped Ramírez once in round one and again in the second, but Ramírez was well trained and got off the canvas to take Rosario's title away with a four round TKO. This was Rosario's first defeat, and he seemed to never fully recover.

Rosario won a comeback fight against future world champion Frankie Randall in London and then had to wait one more year before an opportunity to recover the title. On June 13, 1986, he met world champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was televised by HBO, and although Rosario shook Camacho badly in the fifth round and rallied down the stretch, Camacho swept the middle rounds and the judges thought that had been enough for him to retain the title by a split decision.

Because of the closeness of that bout, the WBA gave him a chance to challenge the other world lightweight champion, Livingstone Bramble. Rosario went to Miami and defeated Bramble by a knockout in the second round to become world lightweight champion for the second time. His pose, raising his arms after the fight, became The Ring magazine's cover for the next month—the only time Rosario was featured on the cover of that magazine's English version.

He defended the title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Nazario with a knockout in eight in Chicago, but in his next defense he was brutally beaten by Julio César Chávez in Las Vegas. By the eleventh round, Rosario's eye was almost completely shut and he was spitting blood from his mouth; the fight was stopped by his corner, and Rosario lost.

Rosario took off for 7 months, went 7-0 with 6 KO's, and after Chavez vacated the title in 1989, Rosario came back and won it again, beating tough Kronk prospect Anthony Jones for the championship. Rosario joined the short group of men who had become world champions 3 times in the same division. This time, however, he didn't last long; he gave Nazario a rematch, and Nazario stopped him on cuts in 1990 at Madison Square Garden in the 8th round.

Rosario moved up a weight class to the junior welterweight division, and then defeated defending world champion Loreto Garza in three rounds in Sacramento's Arco Arena to become a world champion for the 4th time. However, personal problems started to take their toll. In his first defense, against Japanese Akinobu Hiranaka in Mexico City on April 10, 1992, he lost by TKO in the 1st round.

Later career and death

Rosario disappeared from the boxing scene, but years later received media attention after being arrested for stealing beer from a supermarket. He vowed to stay clean and went into a program to achieve this. In 1997, he won two comeback fights, then won the Caribbean welterweight title by beating Roger Benito Flores of Nicaragua in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, in a twelve-round decision. Rosario, once an HBO staple, was now fighting on small cards without any TV showings. He was, however, ranked #10 among Oscar De La Hoya's challengers at the welterweight division after his win over Flores, making him an official world title challenger once again.

However, after defeating Sanford Ricks at Madison Square Garden and celebrating his final fight on September 25, 1997 by knocking out Harold Bennett in 2 rounds at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Rosario died before any more fights could take place. He died of an aneurysm on December 1, 1997. Many celebrities and dignitaries attended his funeral, and a group of Puerto Rican world boxing champions were among the pallbearers. More than five thousand people came to the funeral or watched from their homes as the coffin was driven from the funeral home to the cemetery. On January 12, 2006, Rosario was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, thus becoming the sixth Puerto Rican inducted into the hall.

 

...time for a bit of sexual equality in this thread:

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Straight out of Wikopedia:

Lucia Rijker (born December 6, 1967) was a Dutch professional female boxer, kickboxer, and actress.

Rijker has been dubbed by the press and opponents "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World".

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She can speak four languages and is a Buddhist, dedicating time daily to meditation and chanting. Her mother was born in the Netherlands and her father is from Suriname.

Rijker started her martial arts career at the early age of six, when she began training in judo. A year later, she was part of the Dutch National Softball Team.[citation needed] At fourteen, after picking up fencing a year earlier, Lucia became the Netherlands Junior Champion of that sport.[citation needed]

As of February 2007, she was undefeated in the ring; her boxing record is 17-0 (14 K.O.'s), and her kickboxing record is 37-0 (25 K.O.'s), conquering five world titles in the process. She met her only defeat in October 1994 at an exhibition Muay Thai kickboxing match against male opponent, World Champion Somchai Jaidee of New Zealand (a 2nd-round K.O.).

Rijker has been on the cover of numerous magazines including Inside Kung Fu. As a professional boxer, she has won the WIBF Welterweight Title, and has beaten name fighters such as Marcela Acuña (5th-round K.O.; Acuña was 0-1 going into the fight, and 19-4 as of June 2005), and Deborah "Sunshine" Fettkether (10th-round decision; Fettkether was 8-4-3 going in).

After winning her first 14 fights, but failing to secure a match with Martin, Rijker stepped away from boxing in 1999 to pursue a career in Hollywood. She co-starred as Billie 'The Blue Bear' in 2004's Oscar-winning, female boxer-based film Million Dollar Baby. She was also featured in the documentary film Shadow Boxers. She played a minor role in Rollerball (2002 film) and had a brief cameo in the season 2 finale of The L Word as Dana's trainer. She returned to The L Word in Season 5 as Dusty, Helena's cellmate in prison. Rijker also played a Romulan communications officer in the film Star Trek. Rijker also auditioned for the role of the female terminator in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and was one of three finalists.

She returned to the ring in February 2002, beating Jane Couch (20-4 going in; 25-6 as of December 2004) by decision (eight rounds) on June 21, 2003 for her 16th win. Win number 17 was a ten-round decision over "Sunshine" Fettkether on May 20, 2004.

Rijker and Christy Martin were scheduled to fight on July 30, 2005 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Major U.S. promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank Boxing's head) had made their match the main event of a card (with otherwise male boxing matches) called "Million Dollar Lady". Each woman was guaranteed $250,000 (U.S.), with the winner receiving an extra $750,000; however, on July 20, it was announced that she had ruptured an Achilles tendon while training for the fight; recovery time was estimated to be 4–7 months. The match was ultimately cancelled.

Rijker stated that although not retired as a professional boxer, she would only consider one more fight - a bout with Laila Ali.

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She remains busy giving lectures and seminars to athletes and people from all walks of life to perform their best, while still maintaining her top physical form and a strict diet.


(postscript to this article - Rijker had her last bout in May 2004, and never did get that fight she craved for against Laila Ali)