Boxing

NEW YORK -- The headline on the front page of the tabloid the morning after said it all: "Robbery!"When the final bell sounded about midnight Saturday in Madison Square Garden after 12 rounds of fighting and before the judges' votes were tallied, two facts seemed undeniable:England's Lennox Lewis had become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.Evander Holyfield was ready for boxing's scrap pile.But professional boxing being what it is, neither proved true. An incredulous crowd of 21,284, including some 7,000 British fans, heard the judges rule the intriguing but unspectacular fight a draw.

Robert Lexwood Lee Sr., a welterweight fighter of the 1940s and early 1950s who was known as the "Baltimore Buzzsaw," died Saturday of a heart attack at the home of his daughter in Northeast Baltimore. He was 72 and lived in Towson.Mr. Lee, who never fought as an amateur, began boxing in 1945 with his first professional bout against Kid Grant in Baltimore.In a career that spanned 10 years, he participated in 63 fights that took him to Philadelphia's Toppi Stadium, New York's Madison Square Garden, Chicago, Florida, the West Coast and Cuba.

NEW YORK -- Evander Holyfield will have to wait a little longer and, perhaps, forever, before the fight crowd supports his contention that he belongs in the same elite class as Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis as an all-time heavyweight champion.Looking every bit his 36 years, Holyfield not only failed to make good on his boast of a third-round knockout, but also had to settle for a highly-questionable 12-round draw with Lennox Lewis, who was challenging him for the undisputed heavyweight title.

WHEN IT came to getting Mauritanian immigrant Moctar Teyeb's name, I nailed it right on the button, spelling and all. Ditto for local activists Anditu Siwatu and Nnamdi Lumumba of the National Democratic Uhuru Movement.But when it comes to an easy and simple name like Walter Holtz, what do I do? I blow it completely. Well, I blew half of it anyway. In Sunday's column Walter Holtz, a 14-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department who retired in 1971, came out as Ken Holtz. How did this happen?

While awaiting the outcome of his appeal to International Boxing Federation president Bob Lee after his controversial knockout by David Tua in Miami on Dec. 19, heavyweight contender Hasim Rahman of Baltimore will swing back into action March 12, when he battles unranked Michael Rush of Tampa, Fla., at New York's famed Roseland Ballroom.The ESPN2 show promoted by Cedric Kushner will serve as an appetizer to the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight unifying title bout at Madison Square Garden the next night.

The lucid moments for Jerry Quarry were few and far between after 1995, when the former heavyweight contender was first diagnosed as suffering from dementia pugilistica, a fancy term for being punch-drunk after some 30 years of boxing.It was on one of those rare days when Quarry, who had traded punches with Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier and twice with Muhammad Ali, penned a short poem to commemorate his brutal, 66-bout career: I look at my past, great memories abound/For I fought, I bled and I cried.

At age 8 months, Maxell J. Taylor learned how to walk. Now, at age 15, he wants to teach other kids how to dance like professional prizefighters.The Edgewood teen-ager and his father, also named Maxell Taylor, are organizing a boxing program for the new Police Athletic League center to be built in their area. Father and son -- they have different middle names -- say the program will offer a welcome diversion for teen-agers in an area where there are few activities.A National Junior Golden Gloves champion with more than 175 fights under his belt, the younger Taylor says he wants to train the youths in his neighborhood in the art of boxing to keep them away from battles involving drugs and gang violence.

There will be no "love-in" at the Washington Convention Center tonight when International Boxing Federation middleweight king Bernard Hopkins and Robert Allen battle in a championship rematch.When their first encounter in Las Vegas ended last August, Hopkins surprisingly found himself sprawled among the spectators.This came as a result of a push from referee Mills Lane, who had spent the better part of four rounds trying to separate the two fighters, who did more wrestling than boxing.Hopkins fell through the ropes to the arena floor.

For the past seven years, Alphonzo Daniels has been working toward opposite goals in pursuing his two chosen professions."My friends kid me that I'm a split personality, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," he said.During the day, Daniels works as an emergency room technician in an Oxon Hill hospital, assisting plastic surgeon James Benjamin in making his patients more attractive. At night, the 29-year-old fighter trains to sharpen his boxing skills in order to physically break down his opponents.

LAS VEGAS -- Evander Holyfield called himself "the undisputed heavyweight champion" at the final news conference before tonight's heavyweight title fight against Lennox Lewis, then told his opponent, "It's OK to be second-best."Lewis, meanwhile, said he isn't concerned about Holyfield -- he later raised both fists and said: "I brought my own judges" for the fight.Tough talk by two proud fighters, but will they back it up?Holyfield (36-3-1, 25 knockouts) puts his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association crowns on the line against World Boxing Council champion Lewis (34-1-1, 27 KOs)

SATURDAY THRILL THE WORLD: Dance Baltimore is joining groups around the world as they attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest performance of one dance by the most people at the same time. They'll be dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." The free event takes place at Harborplace Amphitheatre at 8:30 p.m. Go to thrilltheworld.com. SHOGUN FIGHTS: Mixed martial arts come to Maryland with Binky Jones and Dave Daniecki. Controlled fights in various styles such as jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, boxing, kickboxing and karate come to 1st Mariner Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25. VIP tickets are available for $250 and include catered dinner and a chance to meet some of the fighters.

Budd Schulberg, an Academy Award-winning screenwriter who wrote about corrosive ambition and power in "On the Waterfront" and "A Face in the Crowd" and in best-selling books such as "What Makes Sammy Run?," died Aug. 5 at his home in Westhampton, N.Y. He was 95. Mr. Schulberg was the son of a Hollywood producer whose fortunes rose and fell dramatically. As a result, he once said he was intrigued by "how suddenly [people] go up, and how quickly they go down." He used his insider knowledge of Hollywood politics to write his first novel, "What Makes Sammy Run?"

Herbert William "Buddy" Ey Jr., a member of the Maryland Boxing Hall of Fame who chronicled the history of professional boxing in the state from 1930 to 1940, died of heart failure Oct. 19 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Essex resident was 81. Mr. Ey, the son of a police officer, was born in Baltimore and raised on South Decker Avenue in Highlandtown. Mr. Ey left Patterson High School in 1944 and enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a seaman first class. In 1949, he joined the Maryland State Police and served as a trooper at the Easton and Waterloo barracks before joining Baltimore's police force in 1950.

American Son: My Story Oscar De La Hoya with Steve Springer HarperCollins: 286 pages, $25.95 For decades, the health of boxing depended on the presence of a crossover star-the pugilist who could compel non-boxing fans to hit the pay-per-view button. In the late '80s and '90s, Mike Tyson was the magnet, but by the time his antics ended, boxing was badly bloodied and had been shooed off network television. Enter the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya, a virtuoso of violence who had never been in a street fight and looks like a choirboy.

Boxing Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tony Thompson 4 p.m. [HBO]: Times are tough for those who prefer boxing to dudes fighting in cages. And it's easy to understand why boxing generates little heat when the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight belts are on the line, the match is held in Hamburg, Germany, and it is broadcast on a Saturday afternoon in the States. A Thompson win would be a huge upset and you probably still wouldn't care. So it goes.

Whether she's serving up plate-sized pancakes at a Fells Point restaurant or pummeling the speed bag in an oven-hot North Avenue gym, Gina D'Andrea operates at an intensity summed up by the tattoo inside her lower lip: "Hustler." At an even 5 feet and 110 pounds, she says that when some people look at her, all they see is "a nose and a pair of sneakers." But D'Andrea has big dreams. Pancakes pay the bills, but boxing feeds her soul. This week, D'Andrea will step into a ring in Hollywood, Fla., to face another amateur boxer, and if she's good enough, another one after that.

Former Franklin assistant coach Kevin English was named boys basketball coach at Randallstown, athletic director Mike Gelman said yesterday. English replaces Kim Rivers, who stepped down in April to coach Shiloh High School in Atlanta after guiding Randallstown to five state titles - including three straight from 2005 to 2007 - in his 14 seasons. English, a starter on Milford Mill's 1992 state championship team who played three years at Bowie State, was Franklin's junior varsity coach the past two seasons.

The $3.5 million gym that opens at the Edgewood Recreation and Community Center next month could provide an ideal venue for a sport that proponents insist promotes fitness and wellbeing while instilling pride and a sense of accomplishment in participants. Councilman Dion F. Guthrie, who represents the southern area of the county, wants to start a boxing program in the nearly 11,000-square-foot gym. The full basketball court, with bleachers, could make room for a portable boxing ring, he said.

A fellow with two first names won a version of boxing's heavyweight title Saturday night, but Mr. Flip will forgive you if you weren't paying attention. In the fragmented, star-starved heavyweight division, maybe Samuel Peter holds out the hope of at least a unified champion. He defeated Oleg Maskaev for the World Boxing Council belt, and now he apparently must beat a couple of Klitschkos - International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization champ Wladimir and former WBC titleholder Vitali - to be recognized as the undisputed champion.

CANASTOTA, N.Y. -- He has a resume that could stand beside the greatest in his sport. Yet, Larry Holmes always seemed to have to justify himself as a champion. There was no need for explanations yesterday. Holmes received the ultimate validation when he was selected to be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Joining him in the 2008 class were 11 other boxers and ring personalities chosen by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians. He will be enshrined as the longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history, holding the title for nearly seven years (1978-1985)