'TUESDAY NIGHT BOXING' DEBUTS AT LAS VEGAS HILSTON JULY 8

John Mastalir jmastalir@yahoo.com

'DEBUTS'......well not really...... more like returns and with a long memory lane for me ! Here is some history !

9 November 1984 I was working for NBC Las Vegas and introduced to big time Las Vegas boxing by boxing publicist Jim Hunter....Hunter is still alive and the publicist for this event. I am still playing the part of the journalist !

17 March 1990. Taylor-Chavez in what was arguably one of the great fights in boxing history...famous for its great competitive spirit and infamous for referee Richard Steele's stoppage of the fight with 2 seconds left. I still believe Steele's decision was correct and that he was the best boxing referee in history ! This fight was at the Las Vegas Hilton and as I write this I look at a poster of that event (one of only two I have) with autographs from Steele, Taylor, Chavez and the three judges...Dave Moretti, Jery Roth and Chuck Giampa. Giampi was the only one in the arena with Chavez winning the fight thru 11 rounds but it was not to matter. The event at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Finally 3 March 1995....Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia ....main event Ricardo Rivera and Kevin Kelly....I was there.... great fight....Rivera won 8 rounds convincingly and then was knocked out by Kelly in the ninth.....Kelly down twice in the match, yet recovers to win by knockout....what a treat this one was....some I remember ! Kelly.... the main event fighter, now at 41, on this Las Vegas Hilton card.

What ?

Well all the history is good for me and at todays press conference for the July 8 card I rubbed elbows with some of this history and it was very uplifting for me historically and journalistically. It is sort of a "club" card with $25 tickets and always the chance to see something special ! Kelly is 41 and no longer ranked worldwide, he is searching for opponents and remains one of the really great sports figures I have ever met....Hunter is still pulicizing and remains a friend and a pro....Steele now trains boxing heavyweight Kaspars Kambala who is on the card and Steele will remain the best boxing referee in history. UFC heavyweight Ricco Rodriguez now boxing on this card...thusly offering more questions than answers...we will see.

I still love boxing and its potential !