BoxingInsider: I heard you say you didn’t exactly embrace boxing in the beginning. Is that true?

Nonito Donaire: ”I didn’t like boxing at first. I never knew how brave I was until I got in the ring. I was ten years old. I saw Gatti – I didn’t really like it. He was getting too bloody. Too beat up. I was afraid of boxing in the beginning.”

BoxingInsider: What inspired you to proceed in boxing?

Nonito Donaire: ”There’s a lot of inspirations. For me, one thing that got me where I’m at is because I was inspired. And I think that my inspiration has inspired a lot of people out there. To do their best. I grew up – I was picked on. I grew up as one of those kids that people laughed at, one of those kids, that they’ll say was the fat kid on the playground, wants to be last to be picked. So an inspiration – I was called all kinds of names, Snot Face, anything. And then look where I’m at. I think that I can just say, inspire kids out there, you can do anything. You never know what your future is gonna be. If you try your best you can be anybody.”

BoxingInsider: Will you box lefty or righty vs. Omar Narvaez?

Nonito Donaire: ”Whatever advantage we can take, we’ll fight. If it’s better to fight southpaw, we’ll fight southpaw.”

BoxingInsider: Which stance do you feel more confident in?

Nonito Donaire: ”I’m stronger southpaw. I’m stronger. I’m willing to take a punch southpaw. But if I land a punch – it’s over. So that’s one thing, I can do it. I can box so well with my right. I’m fluid, very fluid, I love it, I can dance, I can do anything. I can be as great as Muhammad Ali or as smooth as whoever it is [smiles]. But the point is, when I’m in southpaw, that’s pretty much my normal stance. I have great power in that, that I just realized. I’m learning to.”

BoxingInsider: You keep going up in weight and keeping your power. It’s astonishing.

Nonito Donaire: ”I definitely feel my power. I think it’s just the way I throw my punches. It’s just knowing my body. And delivering the punches, the proper balance and the proper timing – will take anybody out. So the punches you can’t see are the punches that hurt you the most. With the proper way of throwing a punch, it has to be with velocity, speed and power. It all comes along.”

BoxingInsider: You’re naturally quick. Did you train for that speed?

Nonito Donaire: ”Actually, I didn’t have power in the amateurs. I didn’t have knockouts at all. I was always quick, I was always fast. I think after I learned, as I got older, I learned to sit down on my punches. Rather than, back then, I was always afraid to get hit. This time I don’t mind getting hit, as long as I’ll take you out [laughs]. I’m learning to bap-bap-bap (he imitates quick, short inside combination flurry). But this time I’m learning to bap-bap-BOOM. Take you out.”

BoxingInsider: Do you think the knockout of Vic Darchinyan made you realize the power you have?

Nonito Donaire: ”Well, the thing was, as a professional, I’ve dropped every guy that I’ve faced. Back then I wasn’t sure I’d get tired and want to be able to finish him and I’ll get tired. A day before, a week before, two weeks before and I’ll fight, I thought I’ll knock this guy out or I’ll drop him. But I felt the power once I started to show it. But I knew I had the power to do it.”

BoxingInsider: What do you need or want to add to improve your style?

Nonito Donaire: ”There’s a lot to improve. I mean, I’m a fighter who is always trying to learn, a fighter who’s willing to learn, who wants to see myself be better. I know that I need to learn how to jab more. I need to be faster and react to everything. There’s a lot of things that I need to learn. For me, I’m always looking to learning. I want to learn how to be defensive. I want to learn how to be offensive. I want to learn how to fight lefty. I want to learn how to fight lefty like I fight with my right hand. So I’m always there to learn. I’m always a student of the game.”

BoxingInsider: Can you tell that story about meeting Sergio Martinez?

Nonito Donaire: ”Sergio Martinez came up to me at and wanted to take a picture. I’m like, Sergio Martinez wants to take a picture WITH ME??!!?? It was in LA, I think it was Sergio Mora-Shane Mosley fight. We were watching the fight and he came up to me, (asked) if I can take a picture. And I’m like, YOU’RE SERGIO MARTINEZ! You know, like, with me, when I’m off the ring, I’m a big boxing fan. So I’m just a fan. I’m looking at Sergio, like, DID YOU JUST ASK ME?!?!”

PHOTO CREDIT: Stephen Tatarian.

Ht: 5-foot-11 Wt: 195 pounds.

DOB: April 10, 1980 In: North York, Ont.

Hockey Inspirations: “Brett Hull was always my favorite player growing up, so I’d say him.”

Early Hockey Memory: “Probably my best one was (attending) my first NHL game. It was 1992 and it was a playoff game between Toronto and St. Louis. My favorite player was Brett Hull and he got a hat trick that game.”

Nicknames: “Not gonna tell you. Too many that I don’t like (smiles).”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Big music guy in the off-season. A lot of concerts and festivals, cruising around, checking out shows.”

First Job: “Hockey school, working at a hockey school.”

First Car: “A 1988 Audi. (Color?) It was between brown and purple. I’m not sure what you would call it.”

Favorite Movies: “Favorite movie all-time – probably Big Chill.”

Musical Tastes: “Neil Young’s my favorite. I’m all over the map.”

Favorite Meal: “I like Indian food. Probably a good chicken tikka masala.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Chocolate.”

Pre-game Feeling: “Just try to stay loose, kinda not get too nervous or wound up.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Getting traded to New York.”

Most Painful Moment: “Haven’t had one yet.”

Closest Hockey Friends: “Too many to count, too many to name.”

Funniest Players Encountered: “Funniest looking? (smiles) I don’t know, there’s a lot of funny guys.”

Favorite Athletes To Watch: “I like to watch Michael Vick. He’s always been exciting to watch. Not a big baseball guy. Not a big sports guy.”

Favorite Arena(s) To Play: “Madison Square Garden. That’s easy.”

Last Halloween Costume: “What was it…I don’t know. I’m not a big commercial holiday guy.”

Worst Injury: “Nothin’ real bad yet. Knock on wood.”

Favorite Uniforms: “Either us or Detroit.”

Funny Hockey Memory: “Too many. It’s usually me doing the funny stuff to everyone else. (Any revenge on you?) No. No. They don’t want to feel the wrath (smiles).”

Embarrassing Hockey Memory: “Probably scoring on my own goal when I was younger, 10 or 11.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Biggest thing – probably individuality. I like that. People be their own person.”

Mark ‘Scoop’ Malinowski’s second book “Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew” will be available on www.amazon.com in September.

Ht: 6-foot-3 Wt: 215 pounds

DOB: June 3, 1957 In: Vancouver

First Hockey Memory: “Dad tried to make a rink in our backyard. We had record warm weather in February over night. When I got home, my friends and I went swimming instead (smiles).”

Hockey Inspirations: “John Ferguson. Ernie ‘Punch’ McLean. Bobby Orr. Herb Brooks. And man I really looked up to The Man – Dick Butkus.”

Favorite Movies: “Man on Fire with Denzel Washington and Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe.”

First Car: “1960 black Meteor. Three on the column. Price tag was $50. I bought it for the huge back seat(smiles).”

First Job: “Was moving animal hides on docks.”

Current Car: “I take the train now.”

Favorite Meal: “Roast chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, Caesar salad, lemon meringue pie and a glass of ice cold chocolate milk.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Lime sherbet.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Becoming a New York Ranger. First game as a New York Ranger. I was playing in front of eight or nine thousand in Colorado. As a kid I had hockey cards of players like Bob Nevin, of the Original Six teams. I dreamed of playing with one of the Original Six teams. When I got to New York, I thought: ‘This is what hockey is all about. Playing in a historic arena like Madison Square Garden in a city like New York City.’ You have to be consistently good every night as a player, instead of every other night. The highlight memory was putting on a Rangers jersey and skating out on the Garden ice for the first time.”

Most Painful Moment: “Not being able to win the Stanley Cup with teammates and fans.”

Most Memorable Goal: “First game at Madison Square Garden with the Rangers against the Los Angeles Kings.”

Funniest Player Encountered: “Me!”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Tim Kerr and Clark Gillies were very strong and hard to move out from the front of the net. I remember using all my strength and it was hard to move them. Both the Islanders first and then the Oilers after them, had similar qualities – scoring, toughness and leadership equals Stanley Cups.”

Funny Hockey Memory: “There are hundreds of stories. One time, in Colorado, Don Cherry’s dog Blue came waddling into our locker room. He came in and, you know how those dogs do it, he rubbed his butt on the floor – right in front of my locker, in the area I used to do push-ups. So I gave Blue a little whack with my stick and he ran yelping down the hall back to Don’s office. Then Don came in and asked who did it? We kind of looked around, said we didn’t know. The next day I got traded to New York. ”

Favorite Uniforms: “New York Rangers.”

Quote: “I was tough. When I had that toughness taken away from me (shoulder injuries), I was a different guy.”

Favorite Arenas To Play: “Madison Square Garden. Checkerdome in St. Louis. The Igloo in Pittsburgh.(Why those two? Nobody has ever said them.) Every rink is different, like a theater. The sight lines change from one arena to the next. The Igloo and Checkerdome always felt comfortable for me. There are some places you can never play a great game in…maybe good, but not great. When you get on the ice you know right away. I like the boards and glass, too. Lots of give.”

Personality Qualities Most Admired: “Balls.”

Status: Former NBA point guard. Currently serves as New York Knicks TV analyst for MSG Network.

Ht: 6-4 Wt: 210

DOB: March 29, 1945 In: Atlanta, GA

Hobbies/Interests: “Sailing.”

Nickname: “Clyde. From the movie Bonnie & Clyde. I used to wear a fedora hat to the games and our trainer Danny Whelan started calling me Clyde. It stuck.”

Favorite Movie: “Gone With The Wind.”

Musical Tastes: “Light rock, oldies, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Four Tops, Diana Ross, Motown.”

First Job: “Zesto’s drive-in restaurant in Atlanta, in 8th grade.”

First Car: “1949 blue Ford Coupe. Bought it and shared it with my best friend.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Being drafted by the New York Knicks. That was something I didn’t expect. I was a late bloomer. As a kid, I didn’t think I could play pro.”

Closest Basketball Friends: “Earl Monroe.”

Funniest Player Encountered: “Dick Barnett. The press and public perceived him as stoic and aloof. But he could make you laugh until your sides hurt.”

Favorite Sports Outside Basketball: “To play – tennis, to watch – football.”

Favorite Vacation Spot: “St. Croix.”

Most Treasured Possession: “My cool demeanor. There’s little that can upset me. I’ve only been in one fight.”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Earl Monroe, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Phil Chenier, Archie Clark.”

Favorite Meal: “Chicken.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Raisin Bran.”

Little Known Fact: “I’m a quiet and shy person.”

U.S. Presidents Most Admired: “Abraham Lincoln – for what he did for black people. Lyndon Johnson. John F. Kennedy – He was synonymous with Martin Luther King. In my grandmother’s home you could find of King on the wall and right next to it would be a picture of Kennedy.”

Family: Wife, Marsha; som, Walt III, daughter, Angel.

Career Accomplishments: Two-time NBA champion (1970 and 1973); seven-time All Star, seven-time All Defensive First Team; Led Southern Illinois to NIT title in 1967 and was named tournament MVP; NBA guard from 1967-1980 for New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavalier; 1975 NBA All-Star Game MVP.

Status: Hall of Fame manager, trainer and TV commentator.

DOB: May 30, 1922 In: Rockaway Beach, N.Y.

Childhood Heroes: ”Van Lingo Mungo, Joe Strip, Ralph Kerchival – guys you never heard of. Way before your time.”

Nicknames: ”Radar. I had a pretty good set shot.”

Early Boxing Memory: ”The first fight I had Ralph ‘Tiger’ Jones beating Ray Robinson (1955) and I just bought a house and I was wondering how I was gonna pay for it. And that helped me ease my mind a little bit.”

Favorite Movie: ”Casablanca.”

Favorite Boxing Movie: ”The Champion with Kirk Douglas.”

Musical Tastes: ”Glenn Miller, Moonlight Serenade.”

Favorite TV Show: ”NYPD Blue.”

Favorite Meal: ”Spaghetti and meatballs.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: ”Strawberry.”

First Job: ”Busboy at Reis Park in Rockaway Park.”

Greatest Career Moment: “When Emile Griffith knocked out Benny Paret and won the welterweight championship (KO 13 in 1961). It was the first time that I had a world champion and the spectacular way that Griffith did it made it even more exciting.”

Most Painful Moment: ”Gerry Cooney getting knocked out by George Foreman. Cooney looked so great in training. Really looked like it shouldn’t have been a contest. He went into the ring and just froze.”

Pre-Fight Feeling: ”I don’t get nervous at all. Just think about what the fighters should do and that’s about it. I always used to bring my fighter into the dressing room early, to give them plenty of time to prepare. Like some of these guys now they like to come in at the last minute and show that they’re a big shot. Get the fighter to calm down and maybe even take a little nap. And when they get up, talk to them about the important things we’ve been working on.”

Childhood Ambition: ”Be in athletics. It worked out fine. I went to NYU and studied physical education. They had boxing in the Army service before I went to NYU. They had an intramural program. A PAL boxing coach started out for $1,000 a year [laughs]. I boxed in the Army. Boxed a lot of guys who were heavier than me. Only got stopped once, by a guy by the name of Hillhouse. Hit me with everything.”

Funny Boxing Memory: ”I’ve seen guys who went to the ring who forgot to put their trunks on, when they took their robe off. Golden Gloves show one night, right in the middle of a round the lights went out. And it was completely black in the auditorium. And when the lights came back on again, the one guy was out cold!”

Favorite Boxers To Watch: ”Oscar De La Hoya. Willie Pep. Ray Robinson. Roy Jones. Lennox Lewis. I think he’s a little too big for Holyfield. Holyfield’s had a lot of tough fights. I’d like to see Holyfield retire.”

Most Treasured Possession: ”Hall of Fame ring in 1993.”

Funniest Boxers Encountered: ”Being around me not too many of them had a good sense of humor. I don’t remember too many guys fooling around.”

Favorite Fights: ”Leonard-Hagler. Ralph ‘Tiger’ Jones-Eduardo Lasse from Argentina. One of the greatest fights I’ve seen and unfortunately my guy lost.”

People Qualities Most Admired: ”Boxers are a unique brand. Any sportswriter will tell you they’re the easiest to interview. They respect each other. It’s not a team sport. There’s no place to hide. They get out there, they’re on their own. It’s a great character builder for anybody to participate in the sport. Absolutely best conditioned athletes in the world. Just to walk up those four steps and wait for that first bell takes all the courage in the world.”

How Would You Like To Be Remembered: ”Worked hard with a lot of young kids, developed them into good fighters and good human beings. Most of my fighters are still around and they’re all pretty successful.”

Ht: 6-foot-2 Wt: 210 pounds

DOB: July 6, 1957 In: Sudbury, Ont.

Hockey Inspirations: “Growing up, for me, it was Bobby Orr. Living in Canada, I loved his style, how he dominated the game, his end-to-end rushes, he just stood out. I was a big fan of Bobby Orr’s.”

First Hockey Memory: “Is of being a little boy playing on a rink that was designed for a small community, back in northern Ontario. Just being there all the time.”

Nicknames: “Doogie.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “I love playing golf and tennis. I trade on the stock market.”

Favorite Movies: “I’m a big Harrison Ford fan, so all of his movies. Tom Hanks, his movies. Cast Away is one of my favorites.”

Last Book Read: “Don’t read books, I read articles. I read newspapers – USA Today is my favorite. But I don’t read a whole book. I read different, a lot of articles about health and fitness.”

Musical Tastes: “Different types, I can like Neil Diamond to U2 to Bon Jovi.”

Favorite TV Show: “King of Queens, Seinfeld.”

First Job: “Delivering newspapers – The Sudbury Star.”

First Car: “Pinto (brown).”

Current Car: “It’s a Jaguar XK8 (blue).”

Favorite Meal: “Spaghetti and meatballs.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Probably not a moment, but a small time. Making it to the Stanley Cup final with the New York Rangers (1979). That whole series against the Islanders, that whole experience might have been my best moment and experience.”

Most Painful Moment: “The day I didn’t have a job in the NHL as a player.”

Favorite Uniforms: “I still love the New York Rangers uniforms.”

Favorite Arenas To Play: “Madison Square Garden.”

Closest NHL Friends: “I’ve been away. I’ve been living in Southern California and Florida, so I kind of detached myself from players. Recently, in the past two years I’ve come back to New York. So since being back to New York, Chris Kotsopoulos has been someone that I’ve re-united with. And Ron Greschner.”

Funniest Players Encountered: “Barry Melrose and Nick Fotiu.”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Particular players? Boy, there’s some…if you would have said craziest…I’ve competed against some tough players. Fiercest, probably, I played against Bobby Clarke and so many of those Flyers were fierce. Probably Terry O’Reilly. (How about the craziest?) I don’t want to mention (smiles).”

Most Memorable Goal: “Probably my first in the NHL. It was like, ‘I’ve made it.’ Against Cleveland. It was in Cleveland. I scored against my best friend, who I believe was on the ice – John Baby. We played together on a junior team and we ended up playing against each other and I ended up scoring against his team in Cleveland.”

Funny Hockey Memory: “Being around Nick Fotiu and roommates with Nick Fotiu, he was always up to something. There’s a lot of stuff I’m not going to mention. But being around Nick Fotiu was fun because he was always up to some prank.”

Strangest Game: “The game we played against Boston and the players went up in the stands. At The Garden. The Boston Bruins players were up in the stands fighting with the fans. We were in the midst of a small brawl on the ice that was about to start. We were all on the ice about to start, all of the sudden the fan hit the Bruin and that broke that up and we ended up sitting there watching.”

Embarrassing Hockey Memory: “After they initiated, shaved my head. I love my long hair and didn’t like that look. (Who got you?) Nick Fotiu, John Davidson, Dave Maloney, Greschner, all those guys that were part of the team. They blind-folded me so I couldn’t tell.”

Favorite Sport Outside Tennis: “Golf.”

Favorite Athletes To Watch: “Current would be Ovechkin, Stamkos. In the past, Gretzky, Lemieux. I played with both of those guys. (Tennis?) I became friends with John McEnroe, so I always enjoyed watching John. Not just for his skills, but for his personality. (Keep in touch with him?) Yes I do. He’s a big Ranger fan. (Ever play tennis with him?) I did a long time ago. And he encourages me to call to hit now, but I don’t want to embarrass myself. I could rally with him, but not try to win a game off him. I could rally with him and keep the ball in play. I’ve played tennis a long time. I’m going to take him up on that.”

People/Personality Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty.”

The general consensus is that Solis is just another fat heavyweight lining up for a handout payday from the kingpin.

But Solis is a different animal, he is an Olympic gold medalist and undefeated as a pro. He has power, speed, technique, ambition and the mind and spirit of a winner.

The little-known Solis brings a lot to the table. He is very confident of defeating Vitali, as evidenced by his strong words in the media and also the brash declarations of his promoters Oner and King who both seem assured that they will control the new WBC champion on Saturday evening.

Solis himself is hard to read, he doesn’t speak much English. He is a mysterious figure and continues to be as very few outlets of the American boxing media seems to have any interest in him or his chances in this fight.

I have spoken to Solis once, we did a Biofile (which you can read in the Biofile scroll at this site) and short interview at a press conference at Madison Square Garden a few days before his KO win over Monte Barrett.

He stands only about 6-ft 1-inches tall but is a very big and strong, hulking sort. He is polite but highly confident.

I watched his actions at the initial press conference two months ago and noted how he refused to engage Vitali in a staredown for photographers. Fast foward to this week and the final press conference in Cologne on Monday. And once again, Solis refused to look into the eyes of Vitali at the staredown pose for photographers.

Vitali’s reaction to this was a slight amused smile. He tried to draw Solis to look at him but soon realized it simply would not happen.

This has to be slightly confusing for Vitali who, to my knowledge, has always been able to control his opponent at the press conference, and dominate them with his very intimidating death stare. This time, Solis would not cooperate and it must be puzzling to Vitali. Why won’t he look? Is he scared? Of course he can’t be scared, he’s an Olympic gold medalist. Why won’t this guy look at me? Is he trying to pull some kind of trick on me? I’m used to being in total control, what is happening here?

It’s very curious to me that Solis is breaking the pattern. Could this be an omen that another pattern is going to be shockingly broken on Saturday night?

Or is Solis, under that big red snow jacket, once again 20-30 pounds over his optimum fighting weight? Is Solis afraid to look into Vitali’s eyes because he fears what he might see in them?

This psychological warfare between Vitali Klitschko and Odlanier Solis is very hard to figure.

But it’s absolutely extremely intriguing and I am very excited to see this clash of titans on Saturday night.

Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal on a tennis court is always captivating theater, so competitive that after 21 meetings it’s still unclear who really is the superior all-around player. Though Nadal leads the head-to-head 14-7, Federer is far ahead in total grand slam victories (16-7). So just out of curiosity, what would happen if these two supreme gladiators put on the boxing gloves and battled it out for 12 rounds in the squared circle at Madison Square Garden for a prize of $10,000,000, in an ATP Heavyweight Championship fight promoted by Don King? We asked several tennis insiders for their opinion of such a match…

“In this corner, weighing in at 188 pounds, the reigning French Open champ, #1 in the world from Manacor, Mallorca, Spain…RAFAEL NADAL!. And weighing in at 187 pounds, the defending Wimbledon champion, #2 ranked challenger, from Basel, Switzerland, ROGER FEDERER!”

Bud Collins: “Well I think Nadal would be too big of a left hooker with those muscles. Yeah, I think it would be Nadal. (By TKO?) No, he’d knock him out.”

Tommy Robredo: “Federer. For the age. He’s five years older. When you have five more years than the other one you have a little more power, no?”

Olivier Rochus: “Nadal. He has more fighting spirit and I think physically he’s stronger than Federer.”

Jarkko Nieminen: “I don’t know. They’re both strong guys. It’s tough to say. Who has better techniques. And Nadal seems to have bigger muscles but Federer has great technique in tennis. So maybe he would have the same in boxing too. So then it’s over toughness.”

Fernando Vicente: “Nadal, no? Nadal. Too powerful.”

Justin Gimelstob: “I would say I think Nadal’s one of the strongest guys on the Tour. But boxing I think has a lot more to do with than just strength. But Nadal would be rough. I don’t think a lot of guys would want to have to deal with him.”

Mike Agassi: “Nadal is the physically stronger man. You can see the muscle.”

Vince Spadea: “Well I’d say Federer. Federer probably has more punching power and he can still move. He can stick and move.”

Ivan Ljubicic: “Oh, definitely Nadal. He’s stronger physically.”

Carlos Moya: “Boxing…oh I guess Rafael looks stronger than Feddy but…probably the one who has been fighting more would win. I know Rafael never fought in his life [smiles] but I don’t know about Federer, what he did when he was younger.”

Fabrice Santoro: “The easy selection would be to say Nadal. Because he has a lot of punch and a lot of energy. But Roger is a smart athlete, a smart guy, so he would have a chance too.”

Robby Ginepri: “I’ve never seen them without racquets in their hand against each other. I think Nadal would have a little bit more of an advantage, he’s more cut up than Federer. I don’t know. It’d be a fun match to see though.”

Tim Henman: “I think Nadal would win. (TKO?) I think so, yeah. Great question [smiles].”

Brad Gilbert: “Nadal. He’s a little bit stronger. Federer would have to keep his distance. He’d have to stick and move. I think Nadal would have to get in on the inside. He’d be more of a brawler. I don’t know. But I’d pay $50 to see it [smiles].”

Georg Bastl: “I think Nadal. He would have more punch.”

Greg Rusedski: “I think it’s pretty one-sided. I think Nadal would win the boxing match. Federer would be doing the running this time instead of vice versa [smiles].”

Tomas Berdych: “Boxing match…ah, Nadal. I think maybe he’s stronger and maybe for boxing it’s more important.”

Lleyton Hewitt: “I don’t know mate. Good question [smiles].”

Donald Young: “I don’t know. It’s hard to decide. Depends on the surface [smiles].”

Jonas Bjorkman: “They’re different. They can’t be in the same weight class. 10 or 15 kilos difference, so you can’t compare a boxing match like that. It’s like having Tyson and one of those light heavyweights. (But what if Federer moved up in weight and he challenged him in the ring?) Then he’d win. On class [smiles].”

Andy Murray: “Nadal. He’s just stronger and maybe physically just a bit better than him. But I think Dimitri Tursunov would beat Nadal [smiles]. (Tursunov is standing near us.)”

Michael Llodra: “Federer. He’s more crazy than Nadal. (Oh he is?) Yeah. I know him now since long time, in juniors. Now he’s a little bit cool. But I see he can be more crazy than Nadal. It’s not about only the muscle. He has a small muscle and he is more crazy than everybody. And you have to be crazy when you want to fight. (Can you share an example of the craziness of Federer?) No, no, no. I say he’s crazy. That’s all I say [smiles]!”

Let’s get ready to Rum-Bull!!!

You can read more tennis articles at Scoop’s new site www.tennis-prose.com

Status: Hall of Fame Boxing Referee.

DOB: January 27, 1926 In: Brockton, MA

Passed Away: April 10, 2010

(Note: This Biofile was originally done in 1995 and was published in an issue of Boxing 95 magazine.)

First Boxing Memory: “My uncle Joe fought James J. Braddock three times. They each won one and drew one. He also fought Max Schmeling at The Garden. He was my mother’s brother and I idolized him. I was in awe. We used to go to Ernie Schaaf’s gym together. Jack Sharkey would be there.”

Childhood Heroes: “Joe Louis – I met him. He was a very down-to-earth fellow, very easy to talk to. Joe Di Maggio. Jackie Robinson.”

Childhood Dream: “I always wanted to be a physical education teacher. They always seemed well built and well dressed, so I went into the field. And I’m still in. I’m Deputy Commissioner of Parks & Recreation in Hempstead.”

Pre-Fight Feeling: “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. After being in the ring for 50 years, there’s no situation I haven’t encountered. After the bell sounds, the boxer’s nervousness and butterflies are all over. It’s the same with referees.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Refereeing Ali-Frazier I (the “Fight of the Century” in 1971 at Madison Square Garden). It was a great honor and a great feeling. And I only got paid $750!”

Most Painful Moment: “It was the second Patterson-Johansson fight at The Polo Grounds in 1960. Johansson went down in the fifth from a great left hook. He was bleeding from the mouth and his legs were quivering. I was definitely afraid, very concerned. It could have been the end. It wasn’t that I let the fight go too long. It was just one punch. Now, if I see a fighter winning every round, I stop it.”

Toughest Boxers Encountered: “My feeling is that they’re all tough or they wouldn’t be in boxing. Still, some of them stand out in my mind. Joe Frazier was a bull, a tough, tough guy. You’d have to hit him with a sledgehammer to knock him out. George Foreman knocked him down six times, but he was up and ready to go when I stopped the fight.”

Favorite Boxers To Watch: “Ray Robinson – my all time selection as best fighter. I worked his last fight at The Garden versus Denny Moyer. Muhammad Ali – he was very clever and a great jab. Roy Jones – he’s going to be tough to beat. Alexis Arguello. Julio Cesar Chavez. Frankie Randall.”

Favorite Fights: “Hagler-Hearns. Ali-Frazier I, III. Benny Kid Paret-Federico Thompson II.”

Favorite Movies: “Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Informer.”

Musical Tastes: “Opera, Madam Butterfly, Traviata.”

Closest Boxing Friends: “Gil Clancy. He was here yesterday for breakfast.”

Hobbies/Interests: “Woodworking. I always get the urge to go down to the basement and make something, like a birdhouse. Gardening. I get a great thrill seeing seeds come out of the earth. It’s very soothing.”

Little-Known Fact: “When I was at NYU, I got an athletic letter in diving. I was metropolitan champion.”

Embarrassing Boxing Memory:  “I don’t remember any. Nothing comes to mind.”

You Refereed Ali vs. Frazier I and Tyson vs. Tubbs – who do you see winning Tyson or Ali?  “I think Ali would have beaten Tyson because, Ali, he gets in and he gets out and moves. Throws beautiful jabs. I think he would outclass him. I really do.”

Strange Fight Memory:  “There was the fight between Arguello and Escalera in Puerto Rico, where Escalera received a tremendous beating and in Puerto Rico, the doctor was able to stop the fight only. And he wouldn’t stop the fight. So it went to the 12th round. So I finally overruled him by outsmarting him. I got in the middle of the ring and raised my arm – the doctor just stopped the fight. And I was saved – otherwise they would have killed me.”