Tommy “The Duke” Morrison had won the vacant WBO Heavyweight strap from George Foreman in 1993. Seven weeks later in what was supposed to be a “grand homecoming” Tommy successfully defended his title against a guy named Tim “Doughboy” Tomeshek (51-12, 18 KO’s). But get this, Morrison didn’t even know his opponents name!!!

The Duke was originally supposed to fight another low level fighter named Mike Williams (22-6, 14 KO’s). Williams was a joke himself in that he hadn’t fought in over a year (after getting knocked down 4 times vs James Buster Douglas in a 7′th rd TKO loss). Williams had a stupid rivalry brewing with Morrison since the filming of “Rocky V” when Williams played the role of a Tommy “Machine Gunn” knockout victim. Just 1 hour before the fight Williams pulled out becuase he refused to take a pre-fight drugtest.

Tomeshek was called in as a true “last minute” replacement and got severely beat up for 3 rounds before the fight is halted in the 4′th. The fans in disgust of the clear mismatch threw ice chips into the ring. Morrison stated after the fight, “I didn’t know I was fighting whatshisname till I got out there,”….

This is why I rate this the weakest World heavyweight title defense ever! As blatantly corrupt as the boxing organizations have always been, it still manages to blow my mind at how Morrison was able to get this fight sanctioned as a World Title Defense?

As for the actual fight? It was as bizzare a championship as it gets with Tomeshek holding, taunting and eating punches. The contest was halted after the 4′th round when it was clearly apparent to everyone in the arena that the contest simply should have never taken place.

USA boxing was held without a gold medal for the first time since 1948. In fact, this team couldn’t even muster a silver medal. Heavyweight Deontay Wilder brought home the sole medal, a bronze.

This team not only failed to achieve its goals, they now go into the history books as the worst Olympic boxing team EVER. That is not an opinion, that is a FACT.

So what has happened to the USA boxing team that once produced superstar legends such as Cassius Clay, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Oscar De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker and Evander Holyfield?

I believe the best young boxers in the United States are urged to turn professional earlier and earlier today. The lure of big money is just too powerful. Younger boxers all think they’re the next Floyd Mayweather Jr. This attitude is only reinforced by the promoters and managers in the business who see a possible meal ticket in every hard jab that is thrown.

You heard me correct: I blame this disaster on the overall “selfishness” that is USA boxing.

Fewer and fewer boxers are willing to put the sport before themselves. Amateur boxing requires sacrifice. But how many young fighters have the integrity to push themselves in the gym for no money, only glory? Sure, there are some. But sadly, not enough.

You also have to look at the professional boxing style that dominates in the US. That style simply doesn’t work in amateur competition. I’ve always felt that if these fights were professional instead of amateur our team would’ve met great success. However, under this awful current scoring system (that seems to not even take account body shots landed), it will be difficult to encourage future youngsters to participate.

The 2008 Olympic boxing team took us to an all-time low. Can we be revived? Can we reestablish dominance? In order to do so we need to not only make immediate changes in both coaching and leadership, we also must change the overall negative attitude that amateur boxing seems to conjure up within the minds of everyday Americans. This will not be an easy task.

I feel these detractors are way track. Klitschko uses a very consistent method of throwing steady and consistent strong lefts hands in order set up his thunderous right hand power shots. Opponents know this method coming in, yet they have failed countless times in attempting to negate it. In Thompsons case a swift combination literally put him to sleep in the 11′th round.

So what does Wlad need to do to win the world over? The other heavyweight champions (Sam Peter and Ruslan Chagaev) haven’t exactly been knocking hard on Klitschko’s door. In fact, Peter is entertaining the possibility of fighting brother Vitali Klitschko who hasn’t fought in nearly 3 years! So I ask who should he take on next? Well his next fight will most likely be a mandatory against undefeated Olympic Gold medalist Alexander Povetkin. After that a line forms behind Wladimer Klitschko the “king of the heavyweight division”.

Without a doubt this fight is huge. You have Antonio Margarito a effective brawler that does not back off. In the other corner you have Miguel Cotto a former amateur star now trying to cement his legacy as one of the best pros of 1990’s-00’s. The winner of this fight will go on to great things…….possibly an Oscar De la Hoya or Floyd Mayweather Jr showdown.

As the anticipation grows so have the ticket sales. The MGM Grand is expecting a sell out this Saturday night.

It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today. I have decided to permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport. I have said numerous times and after several of my fights over the past two years that I might not fight again. At the same time, I loved competing and winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were there for me and enjoyed watching me fight. However, after many sleepless nights and intense soul-searching I realized I could no longer base my decision on anything but my own personal happiness, which I no longer could find. So I have finally made up my mind, spoken to my family, particularly my mother, and made my decision. I am sorry I have to leave the sport at this time, knowing I still have my God-given abilities to succeed and future multi-million dollar paydays ahead, including the one right around the corner. But there comes a time when money doesn’t matter. I just can’t do it anymore. I have found a peace with my decision that I have not felt in a long time. Finally, I want to personally thank all of my fans for their loyalty and dedication as my career comes to a close. I always believed that their enthusiasm and support helped carry me to victory with every fight I ever had. It was a great joy to have fought for all of you. Now I hope you understand my decision and wish me well with the rest of my life.

On the undercard Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KO’s) of Brooklyn won a difficult split decision rematch over Lovemore Ndou. Malignaggi stated after the fight that he suffered a broken right hand in the 6′th round and that hindered his performance. He also stated that he was foolish to sport dreadlock hair extentions that came undone and became a constant distraction. The problem wasn’t solved until Malignaggi’s cornerman gave him an abrupt and chopping hair cut.

I felt Paulie did better than the commentators were giving him. With a hurt right hand her was able to use his left to earn the win. The New Yorker maybe could have used his legs more, however he was successful in pulling the trigger faster than Ndou.

Hatton never came close to knocking the granite chinned Lazcano out. However, he was able to put on constant pressure and score some nice combinations. In the end both fighters passed thier tests, but I’m not putting either of thier names on the honor roll list.

The American known as “Desert Storm” had difficulty at first adapting to Witters unorthodox fighting style. After losing 3 of the first 5 rounds Bradley started to come on strong. In the 6′th round he scored a series of shots that sent Witter down to the canvas. Junior bravely rose and completed the fight, but he was more defensive minded and looked to score big counter shots but sadly failed too often and got outworked.

Bradley although undefeated was considered a pretty big underdog at 8-1 odds to win. However, after having seen Bradley fight many times I knew he was threatening opponent. I’d describe Bradley as a crafty fighter that works hard to improve and makes adjustments as the fight progresses. For this fight Bradley said he watched lots of footage and took time to focus on Witter’s highly unusual technique. He said the key to beating Witter is timing your shots well and always moving your feet.

Although Bradley does not bring raw power to the table he compensates it with his intelligence and superb athletic ability. The super lightweight (140 lbs.) division is pretty loaded up………..now we’ll have to add Timothy Bradley to the mix.

Stay tuned for more to this story…

Feliciano known as “El Rayo” is no stranger to the boxing world. He was last seen falling short in a world title fight against Kermit Cintron in what many considered to be a surprisingly hotly contested battle. The Puerto Rican fighter previously earned his stripes last March when he upset Delvin Rodriguez in a shocker.

Most analysts and fans are picking Feliciano to win this fight. I do not agree. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that this will be easy work for Tsurkan. Just last week I listened to a radio interview with Feliciano, to put it nicely the 25 year old has already showed signs of being punch drunk. This is not very surprising if you look at his resume. Of Feliciano’s 6 career losses, 4 have come by knockout. Not to mention he’s been in many wars, for example his trilogy vs Alphonso Gomez was extra ordinarily violent. True, Feliciano did beat Rodriguez. However, in the interview last week Jesse stated that his infant child had just died of an illness giving him inspiration to win the fight. Sadly that story reminds me of when Buster Douglas shocked the world by knocking out Mike Tyson. After the fight Buster cried saying that he drew strength from his mother who had just passed away. The next time we saw Douglas he was lying in a heap courteous of Evander Holyfield. My point is, in boxing the death of a loved one will make a man almost super human, but it can only last for so long before it wares off.

Feliciano hasn’t had an easy match up in nearly 5 years. I believe this has taken a toll on him and although he is favored I would stress to say “he will not win”. Tsurkan will be the more determined fighter and more importantly the better prepared fighter. Tsurkan is simply on a mission and Jesse Feliciano serves as the guy standing in his way.