Boxing is a mess. Whether it’s warring promoters, Mad Max levels of oversight or Ponzi-by-numbers business models, the sport too often can’t stay out of its own stupid way. Yet every now and then, a thing of beauty is fished out of the bog – a selfless act, a genius tactic or just a moment worth sharing. I hope to find and highlight them in this space weekly. (C’mon, boxing, three a week ain’t too much to ask!)
Got an idea or tip of your own? Feel free to send it my way, and I’ll be sure to give you a nod if it’s used.
1. Mike Tyson’s new weapon: Stinkfist?
If you don’t love this bit of news about Mike Tyson turning prefight preparations up to 11 for his scheduled July 20 bout with Jake Paul, you’re too old, man.
It seems the one-time baddest man on the planet has been gigging with the frontman for maybe the gnarliest band on Earth. Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan recently posted a photo with a sweaty (and jacked!) Tyson to his Instagram feed, announcing that the 57-year-old former heavyweight champion had begun his training camp at Keenan’s Verde Valley Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai studio in Cottonwood, Arizona.
“Gonna be bragging about that for a bit,” Keenan wrote.
I have no idea exactly how these disciplines will translate to Tyson’s skill set or fitness in the ring against Paul, but I’m all for the collaboration. And why stop there? Put Tyson Fury on a cliff face with Mick Jagger. Toss a yoga mat down next to Edge for Katie Taylor. Hell, I’ll even accept Kouhaku bringing back AKB48 if they make room for Naoya Inoue’s J-Pop dance moves. Let’s do this right.
2. The glorious existence of Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin
If you can’t get excited about a 37-year-old, balding-yet-mulleted Jewish boxer who enters the ring dressed like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and cranking Hulk Hogan‘s “Real American” anthem, you are, I’m afraid, clinically dead inside.
Welcome to the wondrous world of Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin.
Friday at the Madison Square Garden Theater, the fun didn’t end with Seldin’s ring entrance – or even with his majority decision win over Jose Angulo. After the fight, “The Hammer” grabbed the in-ring microphone and gave us all yet another reason to fall in love with him – by proposing to someone who had fallen for him long ago, girlfriend Jessica Ostrowski.
I won’t spoil the ending. Video of the moment is too perfect not to screen it yourself.
3. Nisa Rodriguez … just getting started?
Not to pile on Paul, but it is satisfying for a change to take note of a non-influencer civilian entering the professional ring and making good. Nisa Rodriguez did precisely that in her pro debut Friday at New York’s Madison Square Garden Theater, outpointing Josette Cotton in a four-round middleweight bout.
Of course, it’s a bit misleading to call Rodriguez a civilian – not just because she’s an officer with the New York Police Department, but also because she’s an eight-time winner of the New York Golden Gloves and a three-time winner of the national title. In other words, she’s “a civilian” in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger is “a Californian.”
Last month, BoxingScene’s Thomas Gerbasi wrote brilliantly about Rodriguez’s backstory, which you should absolutely check out. But after her win, I wondered what Rodriguez made of her first taste of professional boxing and whether, at age 32 – and already with a busy career away from the ring – she has enough runway left to make a legitimate push for a world title.
“It was good,” Rodriguez said of the first step in her transition to the pros. “It was almost the same thing, when you get into it with the crowd. The gloves do feel a lot lighter than the competition gloves, but other than that, it was all natural.”
So is she capable of making what would need to be a quick climb to world champion?
“I mean, why not?” she said. “I’m at a point in my life that I’ve been through so much. And in this sport, it shows whether you can overcome adversity.”