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Indeed, this man named Courage was a
shooting star from 1993 to 1996
winning 19 in a row with 12 first
round ko's and 3 in the second
round. Only three fights went the
distance. But there warning signs
aplenty, albeit subtle at first. One
was his alleged amateur record of
72-1. Reportedly, he lost his first
fight by DQ and then went on to win
69 or 72 (whichever story you
believe) consecutive first round
knockouts! I have not been able to
verify this so let's just call it
"the best amateur record that no one
can corroborate." A less than subtle
warning sign appeared when
Commentator Larry Merchant termed
Tshabalala one of the "saviors" of
boxing and the “best heavyweight
since Mike Tyson.” After this
inexplicable comment, all kinds of
amber lights started to flash.
Merchant, not known as the greatest
researcher (at least in my opinion),
stated in 1999 that Courage
Tshabalala would be the heavyweight
champion in the year 2000 and if it
wasn't him, it would be Shannon
Briggs. Briggs proceeded to get ko'd
that same night by Darroll Wilson
and Courage would be iced 6 months
later by a fat bumpkin from the
heartland. The less-than-thorough
Larry also forgot to mention that
many of his opponents leading up to
the Scott fight had atrocious, if
not even verifiable, records.
Indeed, after this and a few other
fights, he would even take on the
one and only Danny Wofford who ended
with an astounding record of 17-101-
2.
But back to December 14, 1996. The
highly touted Courage was a huge
favorite and we all anticipated an
early knockout ala Tommy Morrison.
We were not disappointed. Only one
problem. It was "No Limit" who got
blown away by a sneaky, sharp and
surprisingly fast Scott right hand
in the second round. As we left the
venue in semi-amazement, we wondered
out loud whether this was just a
fluke and Courage would bounce back
or whether he had been exposed. Was
Scott that good or was Tshabalala
that bad? The consensus was that he
would come back.
He then fought Stanley Hughey (7-16)
in January 1997 and won by first
round KO. His next "big" fight was
scheduled for June 3, 1997 at the
legendary Blue Horizon in
Philadelphia against Darroll "Doin'
Damage" Wilson and it was one for
the books. After being down in the
first and engaging in an
ebb-and-flow second, Wilson used his
superior skills to outpoint
Tshabalala in the third. Suddenly,
however, he was caught by a winging
right hook. Wilson went down like he
was shot and just barely got up and
then fell down again, but he made it
up just as the referee got to ten.
Lou Duva (Tshabalala's manager and
trainer) protested the referee's'
call in his usual hyper-ventilating
and irritating fashion but to no
avail. Wilson held off the South
African in the fourth when
Tshabalala moved in for the kill
like a Lion going after its prey.
Wilson then fought back (like he did
against Shannon Briggs) and began to
take the heart out of Courage. He
soon drew Tshabalala into fierce
exchanges, and Courage, exposing a
stamina problem, tired badly.
Finally, Wilson used combinations
and put the big South African down.
Courage spit out his mouthpiece and
stayed down as referee Rudy Battle
stopped the fight. The battle was
hailed as one of the most exciting
Heavyweight fights of this year.
Thus, in just two years, Courage
Tshabalala had participated in one
of the upsets of the year (1996) and
one of the most exciting fights of
the year (1997). If nothing else, he
was on everyone's radar screen.
Tshabalala then fought and won by
stoppage three fights against poor
competition including the
aforementioned Danny Wofford and
journeyman Tony LaRosa. The
Chicagoan, LaRosa, had lost 7 in a
row coming into the fight but
actually hurt "No Limit," perhaps
revealing still another weakness
called a "weak chin." He was then
booked to fight Oleg Maskaev in a
June 1998 fight. Besides moving up
significantly in class, the fight
would be in Maskaev's hometown of
Moscow. Tshabalala, a big underdog,
was given a puncher's chance and
nothing else. He did not disappoint;
he was dispatched by ko in the
ninth.
A discouraged Courage would then
take five years off to ponder his
future. He returned to fight Lenzie
Morgan (14-29-3) winning by spilt
decision in a six rounder in Cape
Cod in July 2003. Morgan had lost 7
in a row coming in. His next two
fights were won by early stoppage
and he seemed to be getting a bit of
grounding.
Stepping up once again, he signed to
fight mediocre but sometimes
dangerous Robert Wiggins on July 1,
2005 in Plymouth, MA. It would be
his fourth fight since his comeback
began and his first semi-serious
test as a force in the division.
Still only 34 years of age, he could
conceivably line himself up for
bigger paydays with a strong
showing. To his credit, he weighed
in under 235 pounds, the lowest
weight of his comeback effort thus
far. He seem ready to make a
statement.
Wiggins (19 (11 ko)- 4-1), out of
Providence, is a hot-and-cold
fighter, who had fought decent
competition and could make the fight
a slugfest or a snooze-fest
depending on which Robert Wiggins
showed up. At any rate, the bout
shaped up to be a classic crossroads
fight......and also a toss-up. But
this time, I thought the likable
Courage just might pull it off,
since Wiggins had lost 3 of his last
5 fights.
The two heavyweights went to war on
the co-feature of ESPN2's Friday
Night Fights. And one again, Courage
"No Limit" Tshabalala failed to live
up to his name as Wiggins scored a
TKO in the 5th when Tshabalala could
not come out of his corner. Both
fighters were throwing heavy punches
early but Wiggins was landing the
cleaner shots. Incredibly,
Tshabalala landed three low blows on
Wiggins and was deducted two points
for them. After the fight,
Tshabalala's handlers stated that
"No Limit" broke his hand in the
first round thus causing him to quit
on his stool, but those of us
watching this fight felt that his
suspicious stamina once again played
a bigger part in the stoppage. I
also wondered why he would throw 3
low blows....and visions of Mike
Tyson vs Evander Holyfield quickly
passed by.
Now I don't mean to be harsh but in
my view anyone named Courage who
supposedly ko'd in the first round
something like 69 of 70 amateur
opponents should not have let a
fighter off the hook when he had him
down twice and almost out; anyone
named Courage should not be knocked
out by an overweight and limited
fighter out of Kansas; anyone named
Courage should train so stamina
never becomes an issue in a 5-round
fight; anyone named Courage should
not fight a Lenzie Morgan or Danny
Wofford.......and above all, anyone
named Courage should never, ever
concede a fight by retiring on his
stool.
Courage Tshabalala has not fought
since this debacle in Plymouth and I
suspect the career of this
once-promising heavyweight is over.
Despite his quick professional start
of 19 straight wins and hype, the
man simply never lived up to his
name. Sadly, It seemed that Courage
Tshabalala didn't have
much….courage… after all.
"Sammy Peter has loads of raw talent
and potential. But he has fought
such low-level opposition it's hard
to know where he's going. It's a
crapshoot. Maybe he'll be champ.
Maybe he'll be the next Courage
Tshabalala." Dan Rafael (April 9,
2004)
Ted Sares is a syndicated writer,
a boxing historian, and a new member
of the Boxing Writers Association of
America.
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