Rusty Rubin is a veteran boxing writer
Allow me to re-state something I have said many times before, that boxing people, as a whole, are among the finest people in the world. They are hard-working, blue collar folks, who when they get to know you, will give you the shirt off their backs in the middle of winter. That’s the main reason I’ve been involved with the sport for many, many years.
The 100th anniversary of the Jack Johnson – Jim Jeffries fight will be celebrated in Reno, NV. from July 1-4. Among some of the names expected to be on hand are George Foreman and Ray ‘Boom Boom Mancini’. For more information please call the Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno.
It wasn’t hard to see the upset that I gave out in my last column. This week an upset win is harder to see.
American Olympian Andre Ward is fighting in his hometown of Oakland, California, and his opponent is not a big puncher. I just can’t see any major problems for him on June 19th.
Ward, 26, and undefeated at 23-0, isn’t a big puncher, winning only fifty percent of his fights via the Knockout route. Ward is four years younger and has fought some tougher opposition than his opponent, 30 year old Allan Green.
Green, 30, hails from Tulsa, OK. and sports an impressive record of 29-1 with 20 Knockouts.
Greene has fought seven times more than Ward, so he’s far from a pushover. At 6’2”, he’s got a slight height advantage over Ward, but it’s negated because they both have the same reach.
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