Joe Louis

Thursday, February 01, 2007

EEC - February 1, 2007

Your morning boxing news coming at ya…

News, Notes, and Rumors:

- The Milburn family of Windsor, Ontario has donated a pair of Joe Louis’ gloves that he used in his historic battle with Max Schmeling in 1936 to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The Milburn family originally received the gloves from relatives who were close with Louis’ long time manager.

- WBC President Jose Sulaiman thinks that it’s time for Erik Morales to hang up the gloves…

“When someone loses hunger, he loses the desire to win,” Sulaiman said. “I think fighters lose the motivation to get up at 4 a.m. in the morning and go running, and the motivation to go on a diet. And I believe in that regard, Erik has not taken care of himself. He put himself through inhuman levels to lose weight, and he has picked the best to fight with the least amount of conditioning, and that is why he is in the situation that he is.”

Sulaiman also thinks that Morales needs one last fight…

“But my opinion is that he wants to retire with a victory, and he believes he can win the championship at lightweight. Erik doesn’t want to go out a loser in the way that he lost against Manny Pacquiao. He doesn’t want to go out in the minds of the people thinking of him on the canvas. So there are two motivations for him: his fourth world title and his leaving boxing with a different image for fans who’ve seen him for so many years.”

What does this all mean? Since Joel Casamayor will fight Acelino Freitas, that leaves David Diaz open for Morales’ taking. Look for a WBC Lightweight Title fight in either March or April…

- Floyd Mayweather Jr’s advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, has told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that Freddie Roach’s training methods aren’t going to have an impact on the fight between Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya:

“Oscar had two chances to win this fight, slim and none, and slim just left town when he hired Freddie,” Ellerbe said. “I have a lot of respect for Freddie as a great trainer, but to compare Freddie Roach as a trainer to Mayweather Sr. is like comparing (Manu) Ginobili to Kobe Bryant.”

- Manny Pacquiao has not yet decided whether or not he wants to run for mayor of his hometown or for a seat in the House of Representatives in the Phillipines.

Some Good Reads:

FOX Sports: The big time has called Kelly Pavlik

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Watch The Brown Bomber

Ever wish you could see Joe Louis box? Here’s a pretty cool opportunity to watch two of Louis’ heavyweight title bouts…

ESPN Motion: Joe Louis vs Billy Conn

ESPN Motion: Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Remembering Joe Louis

The birthplace of Joe Louis, Lafayette, Alabama, is planning and raising funds for a statue to be erected in honor of him. The town has raised close to $10,000 in the last two years - the construction of the statue is estimated to cost around $50,000. The memorial would be almost life-size and would be erected outside of the town courthouse.

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