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Fighter Profile / Alex Morales

Alex Morales:     Weight: Super-Middleweight/ Stance: Orthodox/ Pro Record: 2 wins 2 by knockout, 0 loses, 0 draws

In a recent personal conversation with Everett “Bigfoot” Martin, he suggested that I focus more of my time and energy on the young fighters in Houston who may have not had the chance to achieve some of the things he and other Houston “OG’s” have, but are out there trying to represent Houston.  I agreed wholeheartedly, thanked “Big Foot” and he finished the conversation by telling me, “Lou, those young guys need the recognition and attention more than us old guys do, we had our time, it’s their turn to shine.”

With respect to “Bigfoot” here is the first of this form of article I’m calling “Fighter Profiles”, introducing a young man with a very inspiring story, local super-middleweight Alex Morales.

Lucky Lou: Alex how did you get started in boxing and where did you get your start?

Alex Morales: I got my start at Mena’s Boxing Club with Coach Howard Mena. I need to back up a little though and explain the circumstances. I have known Coach Howard for many years as a family friend but up until about three years ago, I hadn’t seen him in a long time. He contacted me out of the blue one day and told me he had just opened up a boxing gym near the area where I lived and asked if I would come help him build the gym. I helped him put everything together in the gym and after we were done, he said he wanted to train me in boxing. I was 25 years old, badly out of shape [about 250 pounds], had a poor diet, smoked cigarettes, and didn’t drink anything but cokes.

LL: So I assume you weren’t very enthusiastic about starting up in boxing at the time?

AM: No sir, I resisted, told him I thought I was too old to start and didn’t initially listen when he said I could be a boxer. I think I may have even told him, “You’re crazy old man, it’s too late for me to start”.

LL: What changed your outlook?

AM: Well Coach Howard is a stubborn man and he kept insisting so I eventually gave in and went to his gym.

LL: Was it hard at first?

AM: Yes very hard, I went there thinking I was going to punch bags and what not, but before I could punch even one bag coach Howard made me work on something he called “The Line” which is just what it’s called, a line, taped to the floor that is used to perform a series of balance exercises. With me being overweight at the time and not used to these type of exercises, “The Line” was tough and to make it worse it’s almost the only thing I did for about a month because that’s what Coach Howard said I needed work on!  So during that time I met the other two coaches there, Joe Rodriguez and Ricky Stoner, and I started to become addicted to the workout, especially once I was able to do more than just the line exercises!

Although I was getting in shape I would still get discouraged and “quit” for a couple of days here and there, but I always came back.Slowly my weight started dropping and my conditioning began to become the conditioning of a boxer, meaning soon I would be ready to begin sparring.

LL: The fun part, right?

AM: I went into it with no fear and I sparred whoever was available, because by this time I had been bitten by the boxing bug and knew this was something I wanted to do. So many times I was sparring with professional boxers from the area and from Mexico, and took my fair share of butt whuppings, but it built mental toughness and endurance. No matter how bad it looked at times, the old man [Howard] kept telling me that I was going to be a world champ one day and I started to believe it was possible.

About a year and a half into my training I was ready for my first amateur fight, which was going to be held in Pasadena, at The Dynasty Boxing Promotions Gym. A funny thing happened before my first bout though.

I was busy working at a plant and training for my first amateur fight when I started talking to my foreman one day about my upcoming match. I didn’t know my foreman personally but we started talking and he asked me when and where I was going to fight. I told him at The Dynasty Boxing Promotions Show and he immediately laughed and said, “No you’re not”. I was a bit confused and he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, read it and said my name wasn’t on the sheet. You see my foreman ended up being Jesse Morales, Owner/Operator of Dynasty Promotions Boxing Gym! I had been training to fight at his show but had not been matched up yet, which is why my name wasn’t on the bout sheet! Luckily I was able to get matched and I did fight, and win at that show, which was the beginning of my boxing career.

LL: You mentioned earlier that you have only been in boxing for about three years, and with two professional wins already under your belt, your amateur career must have been pretty short?

AM: Yes I had two amateur fights fighting under the Mena’s Boxing Club banner and I ended up training and fighting out of Dynasty Promotions Boxing Gym, under the instruction of Jesse Morales for my last three amateur fights. When I left the amateur ranks I had a 4-1 record. My last amateur bout was my proudest moment in the ring so far because my opponent was really good, and tough, he was left handed, and I came into that bout with nothing physically because of a bad weight cut. My opponent was actually maybe the better boxer that night, but I was determined to stop him inside the distance,and going on mostly pure determination, I was able to stop him and get the win. Once I got that last amateur bout in, my Coach Jesse Morales told me I was ready for my first professional bout. Although I was now training full time at The Dynasty Promotions Boxing Gym, I brought in Howard Mena and Joe Rodriguez to help me prepare for my first pro fight, because I knew I needed their help as well, and I wanted them in my corner.

LL: This obviously worked well because you got that first win along with another win since then, leaving you with a 2-0 with 2 KO’s record at this time correct?

AM: Definetly! With Jesse Morales, Howard Mena, and Joe Rodriguez in my corner, I won my first pro fight with a tremendous, one-punch knockout in 43 seconds! My second pro bout was a little tougher because my opponent had an iron chin and was trying his best to win, but I still was able to stop him in the fourth round.

LL: Well Alex it’s been nice getting to know you better and your story is a very inspiring and motivating one for anyone out there that may be out of shape and headed to a road of bad health. You were able to not only leave behind some bad habits and lose weight, you got yourself into fighting condition, which is something very few people can do, with the great demands that boxing makes on a persons mind, body and soul. Is there anything you want to say in parting?

AM: Yes, I want to thank Howard, Joe, and Ricky at Mena’s Boxing, along with Jesse Morales at Dynasty Boxing, for everything that I have learned from them and all the hard work they have put into me. I give it my all everyday because my coaches have always given me their all. I’m still working to perfect my diet and conditioning routine and I believe I can compete as a middleweight in the future. I know I have a long way to go and a lot to learn but I live life one day at a time and I know that I will be a Champion one day! This is my story, Alex Morales super-middleweight, soon to be middleweight boxer and future world champion.

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Everett “Big Foot” Martin

Born and raised in Houston, Texas,  Everett “Big Foot” Martin faced a virtual who’s who of boxing in the heavyweight division, in a professional career that spanned from 1984 to 2001. Bigfoot also may hold the all-time record for most heavyweight world champions faced, having faced 16 in his professional career, at one point facing 9 in a row!

He began his professional career as a light-heavyweight and cruiser-weight but competed as a heavyweight for most of his career, even though he was relatively small in stature for that division.  Although he gave up size for most of his career and faced a murderer’s row of opposition, he was never knocked out and would only be stopped by T.K.O. several times during the tail-end of his career when he was already “tired and worn”. 

“Big Foot” was a journeyman that would fight anyone, anywhere, many times with no training camp and on short notice, but still managed to always be competitive, and give the boxing fans an entertaining fight win, lose, or draw. He also held Olympic Champion Chuck Walker to a draw, beat Jesse Selby, Sherman Griffin, “Smoking” Bert Cooper, and Tim Witherspoon by decision, along with knocking down Micheal Moorer.

In an amazing professional career that took him all over the world, he faced many top contenders and champions including:

Jesse Shelby, Sherman Griffin, Olympic Champion Chuck Walker, Kevin Kelly, Vincent Boulware, Tony Willis, Bert Cooper, Johnny Du Plooy, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, George Foreman, Gary Mason, Pierre Coetzer, Francesco Damaini, Micheal Moorer, Riddick Bowe, Tim Witherspoon, Tony Tucker, Larry Holmes, Herbie Hide, Tony Tubbs, Lance Whitaker, Wladimir Klitschko, Danell Nicholson, Lamon Brewster, Fres Oquendo, Joe Hipp,James “Bonecrusher” Smith, Obed Sullivan, David Bostice, Siarhei Liakhovich, and Ruslan Chagaev!

Originally from Fifth Ward, he would later move to Houston’s South Park neighborhood, where he began learning to box first from his mother Mary Martin, who he described as a “tough, street fighting woman” and  “Big Al” Alfred Leon Willis, who taught and trained neighborhood boys to box in parks, back yards, and anywhere in the neighborhood, especially in the courtyard of The Villa Americana Apartments. “Big Foot” said that “Big Al” and his mother taught him everything he needed to know in boxing and although he would work with other coaches in his professional career, he would always depend on what he learned from his mother and “Big Al” to get him through anything, along with his faith in God.

A big kid in his youth with a good heart, “Big Foot” hated to see smaller, weaker kids getting bullied in school and would defend them by telling their tormentors, “Hey man, what are you picking on him for, he’s just here doing what he has to do, just like you”. This would inevitably lead to fights with those same bullies and though he didn’t like fighting, backing down wasn’t an option on the streets of South Park and Fifth Ward. After getting in trouble at school for fighting but not necessarily at home since he was fighting to protect those being bullied, his mother decided he needed to box to keep him out of trouble and off the streets. This was when she brought him to “Big Al” Alfred Leon Willis to introduce him to amateur boxing.

“Big Foot” stated he didn’t like boxing initially but eventually became very good at it, partly because “Big Al’s Boxing Club” sparred in the Villa Americana Apartments courtyard and he “Didn’t want to look weak in front of all the homeboys”.  He also said that once he started becoming proficient in boxing he began to see boxing as a way he could eventually take care of his family, which was a strong motivation for him. This outlook served “Big Foot” well as he became an elite amateur boxer, winning The Houston Golden Gloves, Open Division, Heavyweight Championship in 1981, 1982, and 1983.

I asked “Big Foot” what skills he learned from “Big Al” that enabled him to become known as one of the toughest, most fearless boxers to ever grace the ring and he said, “He first taught me how to stand correctly and on balance, then how to move in and out and side to side, to be in condition, how to remain calm in the ring, protect myself, control my breathing and punches, and to make my opponent fight how I wanted him to fight, not how he wanted to fight”

I met “Big Foot” only once before calling him today for a phone interview and I must add that he was very gracious about sharing information about his life in and out of boxing. Our interview eventually became more of a private conversation and as a lifelong participant, coach, and fan of boxing I asked him many questions as much as for my personal interests as for this article.  One of the main things that intrigued me was how he was able to be competitive against all the contenders and champions he faced over the years without ever being knocked out or seriously injured. “Big Foot’s” response was simple and direct.

“The only reason to be scared of those guys would have been if they were able to hit me and hurt me and I wasn’t about to stand there and let them hit me without moving around and hitting them back, that’s why it’s called BOXING”.

 

 

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Danny Donatto

Danny Donatto began boxing in the Fifth Ward neighborhood of Houston, Texas. He boxed out of The H.O.P.E. Development Center, on Lyons Avenue, under coaches Jimmy Fields and David Carrington.

Danny won The Houston Golden Gloves in 1971 as a novice featherweight, in 1972 as a novice welterweight, and in 1973 as the Open Division Champion at welterweight. In his amateur career Donatto battled other great local talent such as Oscar Trevino, Danny O’Quinn, and Ruben Nuncio.

Donatto would also pursue a professional career in boxing, compiling an 11-7-1 record while fighting the likes of Ike Fluellen, John Capitano, Darnell Knox, and Milton Seward.

Donatto is also credited with being the initial person to invite future fellow Houston boxing legend Melvin Dennis to The H.O.P.E. Development Center in February of 1969, setting off what would be an extraordinary boxing career for Dennis.

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Houston Golden Gloves Boxing Icons / Jesse Valdez

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Jesse Valdez is considered one of the finest boxers that The City of Houston, Texas has ever produced. A native of Houston’s Northside he began his boxing career at The Red Shield Boxing Club, and would go on to become a bronze medal winning Olympic Champion as a member of The 1972 United States Olympic Team.  Jesse won his first four Olympic matches by wide margins (5-0), (4-1), (4-1), and (5-0) with his lone loss coming to eventual gold medal winner Emilio Correa of Cuba, by a disputed (2-3) decision that left famed color commentator Howard Cossell, “Speechless”.

Jesse’s accomplishments in The Houston Golden Gloves and beyond are as follows.

Houston Golden Gloves Championships

1961     Junior Champion            100 lbs

1962    Novice Champion          Bantamweight

1963    Open Champion             Lightweight

1964    Open Champion             Welterweight

1965    Open Champion             Welterweight

1966    Open Champion             Welterweight

1967    Open Champion             Light Middleweight

1968    Open Champion             Light Middleweight

Winner of The Elby Pettaway Outstanding Boxer Award in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968.

Texas State Golden Gloves Champion in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1972

U.S.A. National Golden Gloves Champion in 1967 and 1972

Pan-American Games Bronze Medal Champion 1967

U.S. Armed Forces Champion 1970, 1971, and 1972

Olympic Bronze Medal Champion 1972

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El Tigre Promotions, LLC.

A huge thank you to Alfonso Lopez and everyone at El Tigre Promotions LLC. for their participation and presence at The Kenny Weldon Sparring Benefit, tomorrow May, 12, 2018 at Fighter Nation Boxing Gym.

Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez is well known as one of the best boxers to come out of The State of Texas in many years and has had much success as an amateur and now as a professional.  Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, he made his boxing debut as an amateur under the guidance and training of Felix Ramirez and Henry Harris Jr. of The Cut and Shoot Boxing Gym, and has represented that historic boxing tradition very well ever since.

In 2017 Alfonso and several partners founded El Tigre Promotions LLC, with the intention to host quality professional boxing events in Houston, Texas and its surrounding areas, while providing local boxers a platform to display their skills and progress their careers. Having several military veterans on the El Tigre Team, the organization is also involved with giving back to those that defend our freedom and have partnered with Camp Hope,  a PTSD Foundation of America Outreach Program,  giving a portion of all proceeds earned to that program.

The team of (General Manager) Chris Stalder, (President) Alfonso Lopez, and (Vice President) Felix Ramirez got off to a terrific start in their inaugural promotion at The Galveston Island Convention Center at The San Luis Resort, bringing a fantastic night of boxing to Galveston, Texas in a beautiful venue. The team is currently focusing on their second event,  being held at The Humble Civic Center on June 22nd,  which will feature the second generation of another storied boxing tradition, Arturo Marquez in the co-main event, and the return of “El Tigre” Alfonso Lopez himself in the main event!

Again Clutch City Boxing and everyone involved in the organization of the sparring benefit and celebration in honor of Kenny Weldon, would like to thank Alfonso and The El Tigre Promotions Team for taking time out of their busy schedules to participate in this event.

el tigre promotions, el tigre boxing promotions, chris stalder, alfonso el tigre lopez, felix ramirez,

 

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El Tigre Promotions Presents, Galveston Fight Night April 14, 2021

Clutch City Boxing is excited to announce our participation in The Galveston Fight Night on April 14, 2018. We will have Mike Klekotta representing Clutch City Boxing Club and The Grind Boxing Academy, boxing a four round bout against Galveston’s Andy Patina.  For the convenience of Clutch City Boxing and The Grind Boxing Academy friends, students, members, and associates, we have several general admission tickets for sale. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by calling 832-845-1321(Lou) or dropping by The Grind Boxing Academy and Fitness Center at 18075 West Little York, Katy, Texas, 77449.  Tickets can still be purchased by contacting El Tigre Promotions, if we run out before you get yours from us and at the box office on fight night if the event doesn’t sell out before fight night.

We encourage all friends, family, and associates to attend and support Mike as he has been working hard to be able to bring home a win and is in top condition.

The night of professional boxing promises to be an exciting event as nine bouts are scheduled featuring some favorite and popular professional boxers from the Houston, Galveston, and surrounding areas.  The line-up looks like this:

El Tigre Promotions, Galveston Fight Night

Mike Klekotta vs Andy Patina - 4 rounds

Marc Perales vs Chris White - 4 rounds,

James Strickland vs TBA - 4 rounds

Armando Frausto vs Christian Morris - 4 rounds

Wilson Wills vs Angel Avila - 4 rounds

Joseph Rivera vs Rynell Griffin - 4 rounds

Alex Morales vs Deadrian Taylor - 4 rounds

Monica Flores vs Samantha Salazar - 4 rounds, in the  co-main event.

and Alicio Castaneda vs Joshua Ross - 6 rounds, in the Main Event.

The event is being held at the beautiful Galveston Island Convention Center(San Luis Resort) at 5600 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77551.  Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and first bout starts at 7:00 p.m.

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Kenny Weldon

kenny weldon, galena park boxing, houston boxing legacy, bill gore, benny leonard, willie pep

kenny weldon, galena park boxing, houston boxing legacy, bill gore, benny leonard, willie pep

Kenny Weldon started boxing as an amateur in Houston in 1953. A native of Galena Park, Texas, Kenny had an amateur record of 216-11, winning 4 Houston Golden Gloves Titles in the process and also competing in the State and National Golden Gloves Tournaments as well as the Pan American Games, before turning pro in 1968. As a pro, Kenny went 50-7-1 claiming the Texas Featherweight Title and N.A.B.F. Super Featherweight title before retiring as a fighter in 1978.

Kenny’s greatest accomplishments, however, came as a coach. A protege of all-time great trainer Bill Gore, who was a Benny Leonard protege, Kenny was taught an analytical and scientific approach to boxing that allowed him to become one of the most successful boxing teachers in the history of the sport.  The program he established at The Galena Park Boxing Academy produced 316 Houston Golden Gloves Champions, 51 Texas State Amateur Champions, 17 National Amateur Champions, 3 Pan Am Medalists, and 3 Olympians. Kenny also served as a coach for The U.S. Olympic Team in 1988.

Gilbert Renteria, currently ranked in the top 10 of the USA Boxing, Elite Men’s 114 pound Division, is one of the last boxers to be directly trained by Kenny Weldon, who is still active in the amateurs. Renteria will undoubtedly become a professional Champion in the future, and will continue to add to the Kenny Weldon and Houston boxing legacies.  

As a professional coach, Kenny cornered 18 world title fights with Hall of Famers such as Evander Holyfield, Vinny Pazienza, Orlando Canizales, Mike McCallum, Raul Marquez and Pernell Whitaker, as well as local legends like Wilford Scypion, Termite Watkins, Mike Phelps, James Pipps, Joel Perez, Stephen Martinez and Lewis Wood.

Always a fierce advocate for teaching proper fundamentals, Kenny also authored one of the top selling boxing intructional videos of all time.
Kenny retired from boxing for health reasons in 2013, but his impact can still be felt in the Houston boxing scene with a host of his former fighters and students now operating gyms of their own.

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Houston Golden Gloves Boxing Legends

  Houston Golden Gloves Boxing Legends 

Clutch City Boxing will award a free Clutch City Boxing T-Shirt to the first  person that can identify these two legendary Houston Golden Gloves Boxing  Champions. One of these legends won a total of 1 Novice Division and 3 Open  Division Championships! The other legend won 5 Open Division Championships! 

Both legends have been continuously mentioned among several others that we  will also recognize at a later time, as two of the finest boxers to ever  compete in The Houston Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament.   

To win you must reply directly to the original post at clutchcityboxing.com 

Prize can be mailed to you or you can pick it up at The Grind Boxing Academy  and Fitness Center at 18075 West Little York, Katy, Texas 77449.  

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2018 Texas State Champions

boxing, golden gloves champions, texas state golden gloves champions, gulf lbc, houston golden gloves, houston boxing legacy

2018 Texas State Champions 

The Gulf LBC Team represented Houston and the Houston area very well again this year at the Texas State Golden Gloves, held in Fort Worth, Texas. Our 2018 Houston Golden Gloves, Open Division Champions were able to dominate the State Championships once again, having the entire team advancing to the semi-finals, five team members becoming Texas State Champions, and winning the best team trophy for the 6th consecutive year. 

Our local boxers also did very well at this year’s USA Western Qualifier Tournament, with Austin Williams and Ephraim Bui winning their divisions, and others losing close, disputed decisions. All of our competitors performed very well and proved once again that Houston develops the best boxing talent in the state and country. Clutch City Boxing would like to thank all of the boxers, coaches, and officials in the Gulf LBC for all of the hard work they do day in and day out to continue the legendary Houston boxing legacy!  

This year’s Texas State Golden Gloves Champions are:  

Ephraim Bui            108 pounds  

Martel Washpun   123 pounds 

Oscar Perez            132 pounds 

Alex Donis              152 pounds 

Darius Fulghum     201 pounds  

This year’s USA Western Qualifier Champions are:  

Ephraim Bui          108 pounds 

Austin Williams    165 pounds 

 

 

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Deontay Wilder vs Theoretical Experts

boxing, training and tips, clutch city boxing, lucky lou

Deontay Wilder vs “Theoretical Experts”  

 

It always amuses me when I hear a boxing coach, manager, promoter, writer, etc. with little to no boxing experience, criticize a boxer when they themselves are unaware of how little they really know. Do you have to have actual boxing experience to be an effective boxing coach? Manager? Promoter? Writer? That’s a loaded question and I won’t go too far into it at the moment because it deserves its own time and space. There have been very knowledgeable boxing people that didn’t have any actual boxing experience and that can’t be denied. At the same time, I think those that were really good at it had to have at least grown up around and in the game in some fashion, in order to know what they are seeing or not seeing, when they never participated. The thing about it is that a person can’t understand how different it is actually competing versus being in the corner as a second, or watching from the stands, if they have never experienced it themselves. So, if they don’t really understand how hard it is to be effective in the ring when it’s you alone versus your opponent and all eyes are on you, then how can they really judge a boxer’s performance? Again, there are those that never practiced but have been effective teachers such as Angelo Dundee, but also again, Angelo grew up in and around boxing his whole life because his brother was a promoter. Angelo also was known for authentically caring about his fighters and their welfare, which is the main ingredient most “theoretical” or “practice” coaches lack.  

Caring about your fighter and knowing your fighter is very important and this is where a guy with little or no experience can excel, but he has to have the fighters best interest at hand at all times. Most, not all the time, the guys with no experience are the ones that don’t care enough or know their fighter well enough because they are more interested in promoting their own name and making a name in boxing, than they are about their fighters.

Because they have no prestige or acknowledgement to their name in boxing, many times they will build their names at the fighter’s expense. These are the kind of guys that will take their fighters on a “meat wagon” tour around the nation, losing to the big-name promoter’s guys, just to bring some recognition to their name I suppose. A good coach knows what his fighter is capable of as well as what he is not capable of and won’t throw his guy to the lions unless he feels he has a lion beater on his hands. A good coach will also take the time to learn what it is he wants to teach and won’t rush into something he or his fighter isn’t ready for, because he understands the dangers of the sport. But I’m getting a bit off topic here.  

Deontay Wilder is a perfect person to bring this subject out and into conversation because of his brash personality, poor technique, and continued success. Now I’m not implying that anyone that criticizes Wilder is simply a “hater” or someone that doesn’t know what they are talking about, at all. It’s very obvious that his technique can be very poor at times and he isn’t likely to be the next Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, or Jack Johnson, but the kid keeps winning! Not to mention he was an Olympic Bronze Medalist and he accomplished that with very little amateur experience. He took his amateur success and has had even more success in the professional ranks, winning every bout so far and he’s winning in very impressive fashion. He has something like a 97% knockout to win ratio and has stopped every opponent he’s faced in the professional ranks. He accomplished that feat while fighting some very decent fighters as well.

Owen Beck, Audley Harrison, Siargei Liakhovich, Malik Scott, Bermaine Stiverne, Gerald Washington, Chris Arreola, Artur Szpilka, and Eric Molina maybe aren’t world beaters but they aren’t tomato cans either.  With that being said, I’d say any boxer, past, present, or future would call what Wilder has accomplished a success and would love to or would have loved to accomplish what he has. They also know how hard it is to accomplish things like Wilder has, even on a lower scale such as regional amateur smokers. 

And still there are guys out there with no boxing experience calling Wilder a hype job, saying his technique sucks, calling him “Windmill” Wilder and on and on. My question to those guys is this, “Well then how does he keep winning “? I’d be willing to bet a week’s pay they can’t tell me how he does it because they don’t know. And because they don’t know they have to categorize the situation in some way, in order to feel like they understand. The way they’ve done it with Wilder is by saying he’s protected, he’s fought less than stellar opposition, he’s Al Haymon’s cash cow etc. I’ve heard some say Wilder has only been successful because he’s big, strong, and athletic. Well if that was all it took we would have had a million Deontay Wilders already. All we would have had to do is raid the NFL or NBA draft and we’d have a new George Foreman every year.

Of course, plenty of knowledgeable boxing guys with all the experience you could ever want feel Wilder is horrible technically and needs a lot of work. When you have dedicated your whole life to perfecting an art and you see someone putting your art into practice in an ugly way, it’s going to be bothersome. So, the message here isn’t that people don’t know what they are talking about when they criticize Wilder, I’m just saying be careful who you listen to because most times the guys who are out there making the most noise criticizing, are the least qualified to do so.   

I personally like Wilder, I think he’s fun to watch and his knockout power makes him a threat to any heavyweight in the division in my opinion. Do I think he’s the next Willie Pep or Sugar Ray Robinson? of course not. Wilder does need to improve on a few things and maybe he will maybe he won’t, but the kid is game if nothing else and his success can’t be denied. The thing about it though is that I’ve been in the ring in actual competition and I know that there is no certain equation that will guarantee who will win or lose a bout.  I’ve experienced and seen how the most technical guy doesn’t always win. Or the hardest puncher. Or the fastest/quickest. Or the toughest etc. There are many things that factor into who will be victorious in a boxing match and somehow this kid Wilder keeps putting enough of those things together to keep winning.

Therefore, it irks me when guys that never set foot in a ring in their life go around bashing the kid when they can’t say they ever had the courage to even try doing what he’s doing. Or they say, “Well I always wanted to be a coach so that’s why I just coached”. Of course, they did because coaches don’t get punched. It’s very easy to be an “expert” when you are a spectator, even if it’s from the corner as a second. Unless you’ve actually got in there and “danced” yourself at some level, your expertise is only in theory, in my opinion. You are a “Theoretical Expert”. So, change the title on your business card and advertisements to (Coach, “fill in your name here” Theoretical Expert.)