BOXING : These Days, Even Impostors Can Be Successful

About once a decade, boxing is treated to a well-executed impostor story. But there have been two in the last six months, so what’s next?

A story that John L. Sullivan, age 132, has been found alive and well in a rest home in Devil’s Kitchen, Ida.?

Last summer, a downtown Los Angeles man who frequented bars on Broadway was passing himself off as Tony DeMarco, the 1950s welterweight champion. He discovered that when he would walk into a bar and introduce himself as DeMarco, folks bought him cocktails.

He successfully worked the routine for several years, until he failed to show for several days at his favorite gin mill. The bartender went to his hotel and found him dead in his room.

The bartender called The Times, to report that Tony DeMarco had died, that his body was lying unclaimed at the morgue.

Art Aragon, another former boxer of the period and a friend of DeMarco, was asked if he had heard of DeMarco’s death. He called the real Tony DeMarco in Boston, and the following conversation ensued:

DeMarco: “Tony DeMarco speaking.”

Aragon: “Tony, this is Art Aragon. The L.A. Times says you’re dead. Are you?”

DeMarco: “Geez, I don’t know. Let me go look in the mirror (pause). No, I’m still here, Art.”

Now, another impostor.

Turns out the homeless guy in New York who up until a couple of weeks ago was passing himself off as former welterweight champion Johnny Bratton is also a fake.

It also turns out that the New York Post reporter who picked up a tip that a guy sleeping on the floor of the Port Authority Bus Terminal was Johnny Bratton wasn’t the only New Yorker conned. So were several TV stations.

The L.A. Times reported what the Post had reported, but only after the son of the real Johnny Bratton, Dana Bratton of Los Angeles, had said that he believed the New York man was indeed his father.

It was later learned that the Madison Square Garden boxing staff had been giving free fight tickets to the phony Bratton for years. And when the Post ran its story about the homeless, gambling-addicted alcoholic, “Johnny Bratton,” being down and out in the bus station, fighting off muggers in the night, compassionate New Yorkers stepped forward with offers of help.

Someone actually got him admitted to an Upstate New York alcohol rehabilitation facility, and bought him a bus ticket. But he jumped off the bus in Harlem and wasn’t seen again for days.

Shortly after the Post had run its story, the real Johnny Bratton stood up--in a nursing home on Chicago’s South Side.

New York Post headline:

‘DOWN AND OUT BOXING

CHAMP’ FOOLED US ALL

Secondary headline: ‘He’s a bum, says real fighter.’

“I have no idea who that guy is,” said the real Johnny Bratton, adding he hadn’t been in New York for 15 years.

“I don’t like people to tell lies about me,” Bratton said. “I’m not a drinker or a smoker and I’m not much of a gambler.”

Referee Richard Steele is taking an undeserved beating, particularly from those writers and broadcasters who cite his “ties to Don King” or “ties to Steve Wynn.”

What ties? The fact is, nothing Steele could have done in the Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock fight would have substantially benefited either promoter King or Wynn, president of the Mirage Hotel, the fight site.

Steele works in the casino at the Golden Nugget, Wynn’s other Las Vegas hotel. OK, so do we eliminate all casino-hotel workers from holding part-time boxing jobs? That would reduce Las Vegas boxing’s work force by about half.

Two points are being missed here:

--King and Wynn had a “multifight understanding,” meaning that King’s next major heavyweight fights would be at the Mirage, no matter who won. King wants the Mirage to be his “home court” for his KingVision pay-per-view boxing shows.

--King was a winner no matter who won. Had Ruddock won, King had options as Ruddock’s co-promoter--with Murad Muhammad--for his next three fights.

Simply put, Steele is an outstanding referee who had a bad night. Had he checked Ruddock closely in the seventh round, which he didn’t, and then stopped the fight, there would have been no such outcry.

Steele, who was paid $1,900, called a Ruddock slip in the second round a knockdown. He also missed at least one very low blow by Tyson.

Had Steele done a perfect job, few would even recall today who the referee for the fight had been. But he stopped a fight too abruptly and it’s as if he’d kidnapped the Lindbergh baby.

Steele, who has worked 83 world title fights, had worked a fight in Japan the previous Thursday, returned to Las Vegas Friday, worked a Las Vegas main event Sunday night and then Tyson-Ruddock the next night.

On assigning Steele to Tyson-Ruddock, Chuck Minker, the Nevada Athletic Commission’s executive director said, “We’re going to take a long look at our selection criteria for selecting referees.”

Already, Minker and the Nevada commission have taken a long look at the brawl that erupted in the ring after Steele had stopped the fight.

Minker said three people are going to be summoned to Las Vegas for a special commission meeting May 8: Tyson’s trainer, Richie Giachetti; Ruddock’s brother, Delroy Ruddock, and Ruddock’s promoter, Muhammad.

“After long looks at the video of what happened after the fight, we want to talk to those three people,” Minker said, implying that all three are looking at possible fines, suspensions or both.

Boxing Notes

There’s a good heavyweight bout at the Country Club in Reseda Tuesday night--Orlin Norris (28-2-1) vs. Mike Hunter (19-2-2). Norris is the older brother of light-middleweight champion and Sugar Ray Leonard conqueror Terry Norris . . . Promising featherweight Rafael Ruelas (23-0) of the Van Nuys Ten Goose stable meets his toughest opponent yet Sunday when he fights former Steve Cruz (35-5) at the Sands in Las Vegas. Cruz, a former featherweight champion, has slipped, but he’s still a formidable test for Ruelas.

The Southern California Golden Gloves tournament will be held April 8-13 at the Lincoln Park Recreation Center, 3501 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles. Weigh-ins for both novice and open boxers are scheduled Saturday and Sunday at the Los Angeles Youth Athletic Club, 401 Ave. 19. . . Michael Carbajal, the Phoenix light-flyweight who survived a surprisingly difficult match with Javier Varguez of Mexico March 17, will join International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Michael Nunn on the pay-per-view card at Davenport, Iowa, May 10. Carbajal (19-0) defends his world title against Domingo Sosa (20-0) and Nunn (36-0), fighting in his hometown, meets James Toney (24-0-1). The show will be held at the Angels’ minor league baseball stadium in Davenport.

Both heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and George Foreman are training in Houston for their fight in Atlantic City April 19, Holyfield at the Heights Gym, Foreman at his own gym in north Houston. . . ESPN boxing’s all-time ratings leaders: 1. Virgil Hill-Mike Peak, Jan. 6, 1991 (3.5). 2. Harold Brazier-Joey Ruiz, Oct. 17, 1985 (3.5). 3. George Foreman-Rocky Sekorski, Dec. 18, 1987 (3.4). Hill, Carbajal and Terrence Alli are all in the top 10 twice. Carbajal-Varguez, incidentally, did a 3.3 (1.924 million homes), seventh best.

Marty Denkin, former assistant executive officer of the California Athletic Commission who now advises top middleweight contender Reggie Johnson, says Johnson figures to be a mandatory challenger to Nunn, if, as expected, Nunn beats Toney on May 10. He also expects Johnson to be ranked No. 1 by all three major governing bodies by May.

Boxing statistician Bob Bordier of Rosemead is publishing a quarterly ratings booklet of more than 100 pro boxers for every weight category. He says his ratings, which cost $12 a year, are based “purely on results--not based on potential, skin color, radical haircuts or association with Don King.” Bordier’s address: P.O. Box 6336, Rosemead, Calif. 91770.