Lossis Archives: Louis Kaplan

boxing

Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Announced

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CTBHOF logo
Cocoa Kid, John Harris, Bill Gore, Brian Clark, Angel Vazquez & Don Trella

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (Lub yim hli ntuj 13, 2018) – The Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) has announced its six-member Class of 2018 to be inducted during the 14TH annual CBHOF Gala Induction Dinner on Saturday night, October 13, in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun.

 

 

 

The new CBHOF inductees are boxers Cocoa Kid thiab Angel Vazquez, judge Don Trella, and trainers John Harris, Bill Gore thiab Brian Clark.

 

 

 

Once again,” CBHOF president John Laudati Hais, “the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame has elected a fantastic class of inductees. We are excited about the historical significance of inducing Cocoa Kid, the great fighter from the 1930’s. Our other honorees come from across the state. We hope to see a large contingent come out to congratulate a great local boxer, Angel Vasquez, and to celebrate the life of Willie Pep’s famous trainer, Bill Gore. This class also includes two other incredibly accomplished trainers, Bill Clark, of New Haven, and John Harris from Fairfield County. Don Trella, who is from my hometown of Waterbury, is one of the best boxing judges in recent history. It promises to be a great night for the entire boxing community: inductees, their families and friends, but, most importantly, our Connecticut boxing fans!”

 

 

 

Cocoa Kid (56-20-2, 48 KOs) came to prominence in 1933, when as an 18-year-old he registered a shocking upset of former world featherweight champion Louis “Kid” Kaplan, who was inducted into the CBHOF charter class in 2005. Cocoa Kid, who settled in New Haven, captured the New England welterweight and middleweight titles. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012 and passed way in 1966.

 

 

 

Considered one of the hardest hitting featherweights of his era, Vasquez won his first 21 pro fights and finished his pro career with a 22-2 (16 KOs) record. The Hartford native captured the WBO Latino, NABA and USBA featherweight titles. The highlight of his pro career came at home in Hartford, when he defeated previously unbeaten Berbardo Quinones (19-0-1) for the USBA crown.

 

 

 

Trella has been a boxing official for the past 21 years on the local, national and global scenes. He officiated more than 500 amateur bouts before he was awarded his first professional license in 2001 at Mohegan Sun, where he has been employed the past 17 years in various Human Resources positions, currently holding the title of Director of Employee and Guest Experience. A resident of Noank, Trella is highly regarded as one of boxing’s best judges. Tsaib no, for example, he officiated three of the most high-profile fights in the world: Gennady Golovkin vs. Danny Jacobs, Vladimir Klitschko vs. Anthony Joshua (ntau tshaj 90,000 fans in attendance at Wembley Stadium in London) and Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez.

 

 

 

Harris established himself as the preeminent trainer in Fairfield County, founding the Meadow Gardens Boxing Club in 1989, which was later renamed the John Harris Boxing Club, after he died in 2012 at the age of 85. A native of Cleveland, where he fought in the Golden Gloves, Harris lived most of his life in Norwalk. The highlight of his career was in 1993, when he trained four fighters who qualified for the National Golden Gloves Championships, including Travis Simms, a CBHOF Hall of Fame inductee and two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight world champion.

 

 

 

Gore is best known for training the great Willie Pep, who was also inducted into the CBHOF charter class, to a pair of world featherweight championships. Gore, however, also trained another all-time great, world light heavyweight champion Bob Foster. A native of Providence, Gore died in 1978 at the age of 84 and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008.

 

 

 

Clark opened the Ring One gym in New Haven nearly 30 years ago to keep kids off the streets, producing many amateur champions, and even one light heavyweight world champion, Chad Dawson. Often bankrolling the gym, himself, Clark has become an icon in New Haven, where his gym is in one of the city’s roughest neighborhoods. Ring One is believed to be the oldest continuously operating boxing gym in Connecticut.

 

 

 

Tickets for the CBHOF 13th annual Gala Induction Dinner, reasonably priced at $90.00, are on sale and available to purchase by calling Ann Murphy at Mohegan Sun (1.860.862.8846) los sis Sherman Cain at the Manchester Journal Inquirer (1.800.237.3606 X321). Qhov rooj qhib thaum 6:00 p.m. LI, followed by a full sit-down dinner at 7 p.m. LI.

 

 

 

Thov online ntawm www.ctboxinghof.org for additional information about the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame, its 14th annual Gala Inductee Dinner, event sponsorship opportunities, or past CBHOF inductees.

boxing, ESPN Boxing, PBC nyob ESPN, Premier Boxing Champions

Connecticut’s top all-time great fighters & Foxwoods’ best fights

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PBC nyob ESPN & ESPN Deportes Doubleheader
Hnub plaub, Lub Xya hli ntuj 21
From Foxwoods Resort Casino – 8 p.m. LI/5 p.m. PT
MASHANTUCKET, I (Lub Xya hli ntuj 19, 2016) — Connecticut may not have equal status with New York City or Las Vegas in terms of being a fight capital, but the Nutmeg State has produced five Hall-of-Famers with Foxwoods Resort Casino, located in Mashantucket, I, hosting many of the sport’s greatest fighters and fights over the past two decades.
The tradition continues on Hnub plaub, Lub Xya hli ntuj 21, as rising middleweight contender Sergiy “The Technician” Derevyanchenko (8-0, 6 KOs) faces former world champion Sam “vaj ntxwv” Soliman (44-13, 18 KOs) in the 10-round main event of Premier Boxing Champions rau ESPN & ESPN Deportes.
Televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. LI/5 p.m. PT, and features a 10-round middleweight clash between powerful Ievgen Khytrov (13-0, 11 KOs) and California’s Paul Mendez (19-2-2, 9 KOs).
Connecticut’s all-time greatest boxer is the late Willie “Will ‘o the Wisp” Pep (229-11-1, 65 KOs), who was born in Middletown and lived in Rocky Hill. Pep, who fought professionally between 1940 thiab 1966, was a two-time world featherweight champion who had an epic rivalry with Sandy Saddler.
Other Hall-of-Famers from Connecticut are world heavyweight champion (1926-28)Gene “The Fighting Marine” Tunney (65-1-1, 48 KOs), of Greenwich, who defeated the legendary Jack Dempsey twice; Ukrainian-born world featherweight (1925) titlist Louis “Kid” Kaplan (108-22-12, 72 KOs), from Meriden; world light heavyweight champion (1933) “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom (222-42-31, 2 NC, 19 KOs), of Leonard Bridge; world light heavyweight titleholder (1926-27) Jack “Bright Eyes” Delaney (73-11-2, 43 KOs), who was born in Canada but lived in Bridgeport.
Over the year, many other Connecticut fighters have made an impact on the sport including Hartford’s NBA featherweight champion Battling Battalino (57-26-3, 26 KOs), who was the first world champion to lose his title on the scale, Hartford’s two-time world welterweight titlist Marlon “Magic Man” Starling (45-6-12, 27 KOs), Norwalk’s WBA junior middleweight champion “Tremendous” Travis Simms (28-1, 21 KOs), New Haven’s three-time world light heavyweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson (33-4, 18 KOs) and world welterweight contender Gaspar “El Indio” Ortega (131-29-6, 69 KOs), Stamford’s world No. 1-ranked welterweight Chico Vejar (92-20-4, 43 KOs), and Bloomfield’s 1996 Olympic Team USA captain Lawrence Clay-Bey (21-3-1, 16 KOs).
The No. 1 Foxwoods fight of all-time, held on April 16, 2011, was also promoted by DiBella Entertainment, and was selected as the 2011 Ring Magazine and BWAA Fight of the Year. Defending champion Andre Berto (27-0) and challenger Victor Ortiz (28-2-2) battled for 12 muab suav, each getting dropped twice, with Ortiz winning a hard-fought decision (114-111, 114-112, 115-110) for the WBC welterweight title.
A close second place is the 2003 BWAA Fight of the Year, in which future Hall-of-FamerJames Toney (65-4-2) won a 12-round decision over reigning IBF cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov. The action started days earlier at the pre-fight press conference when a skirmish erupted as tables were overturned and glasses thrown. The animosity continued between the two fighters and their respective camps right up to the final bell. Previously undefeated, Jirov (31-0) started fast but faded, getting decked in the final round.
Nyob rau hauv 2004, New England favorite Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton, hailing from nearby New Bedford, MA, was involved in a great 12th round, come-from-behind knockout of always-tough Omar Sheika in a rematch of a previous draw, for a regional super middleweight title.
Two other N.E. fan favorites who fought regularly at Foxwoods were multiple-time world champion Vinny Paz (Pazienza during his boxing career), fighting out of Cranston, RI, and New Bedford’s all-action “Sucra” Ray Oliveira. Paz had a 13-3 record at Foxwoods, highlighted by his 1998 decision over Glenwood Brown and his 50thcareer win in his retirement fight against Tocker Pudwill nyob rau hauv 2004. Oliveira was only 6-7-1 fighting at Foxwoods, but he faced nothing but iron and he did defeat a world champion, Vince Phillips, in their 2000 non-title fight that produced the second-most total punches (2,989) recorded at that time.
Brazilian boxing fans always turned out in force when countryman Acelino “Popo” Freitas fought at Foxwoods, primarily because of the large Brazilian community in Connecticut. Freitas fought there four times, all in lightweight world title fights, defeatingZahir Raheem thiab Artur Grigorian and losing to Juan Diaz thiab Diego Corrales.
Other great fights at Foxwoods include future world middleweight champion Andy Leecoming back from the brink of possibly getting knocked out to stop Craig McEwan in the 10th round of their 2011 fight, Carl Froch‘s dramatic late surge in 2009 to knock outJermain Taylor (who was well ahead on the scorecards) in the 12th round for the WBC super middleweight championship, Pernell Whitaker taking a close decision fromAndrey Pestryaev (115-113, 115-112, thiab 114-113) in their 1997 WBA eliminator (later ruled a No Decision due to Whitaker’s failed drug test), thiab Ike Quarteyovercoming two knockdowns to successfully defend his WBA welterweight title versusJose Luis Lopez nyob rau hauv 1997 (Quartey was originally awarded a win by majority decision, but a scoring error was discovered and the fight was ruled a majority draw).
Two of the greatest boxers in modern boxing history, Floyd Mayweather, ❏ Jr ❏. thiab Roy Jones, Jr., both fought at Foxwoods in 1998. In his 15th pro fight, Mayweather registered a third-round technical knockout of Miguel Melo, while Jones successfully defended his WBC/WBA light heavyweight titles with a 10th-round TKO of Otis Grant. In the Jones-Grant co-feature, IBF lightweight champion Shane Mosley successfully defended his title against Jesse James Leija, who was unable to answer the bell for the 10th round.
Daim pib rau cov kev tshwm sim nyob, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment, luv nqi tom $150, $75 thiab $45, thiab tsis muaj kev tsub thiab se, thiab muaj rau ntawm kev muag khoom tam sim no. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com thiab www.foxwoods.com or by visiting the Foxwoods’ Box Office. To charge by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.
Xav paub ntau ntxiv, sib ntsib www.premierboxingchampions.com, follow on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @LouDiBella, @DiBellaEnt, @FoxwoodsCT, @ESPNBoxing and @Swanson_Comm and become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/premierboxingchampions. Highlights are available to embed at www.youtube.com/premierboxingchampions. PBC on ESPN is sponsored by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.