Without the
journeymen or club
fighters, there
likely would be no
boxing. Club
fighters often fight
locally and have
so-so records. A
journeyman is
slightly more
respected than a
club fighter - often
by way of having a
superficially decent
record. A contender
defeats journeymen
and club fighters in
order to establish
himself as a
challenger for a
world title.
Club fighters and
journeymen provide
the foundation and
grounding for the
sport we love so
much. Being one is
not a bad thing.
Terry Malloy in On
The Waterfront was a
club fighter, but he
could have become a
contender.
But some fighters
seemed to be matched
to lose with the
certainty of the sun
setting......fighters
like Andre Crowder
(8-55-4), Greg Cadiz
(4-46-2), Danny
Wofford (who has
lost over 100
fights) and Frankie
Hines (lost 120).
These may be club
fighters but they
are not journeymen,
for they lack the
ability to protect
any gates nor garner
much respect by
their ring
performances.
Irish Mike Culbert
Journeymen can be solid and
competent fighters capable of an
occasional surprise though they
rarely rise to the top. Some, like
Ross Puritty, Marian Wilson, Quinn
Navarre, or Everett Martin are the
tough gate keepers through which
others must pass to reach the next
level. Others, like Kenny Craven,
Terry Crawley or Louis Monaco, fight
six rounder's or less to fill out a
promoter's card much like a chef
puts garnish on a plate to give it a
sense of false fullness. Hell, Kenny
fought Eric Esch aka Butterbean 4
times going 2 and 2! And some, like
Garing Lane, Harold Sconiers or
Jeremy Bates get an occasional main
event opportunity of their own.
Often journeymen are all
three..............but some, like
Joe Mesi and Mathew Saad Muhammad
before him tragically and needlessly
drop to this status because they
fail to heed the warnings.
During the recent past, there was a
piece on one of the boxing Internet
sites involving a fighter named
Irish Mike Culbert's and his "last"
professional fight. I think it
received four posts...two of which
were from me. I was struck by the
stark contrast that, say a thread on
Wladimir Klitchko or Shannon Briggs
might receive. The thread on Irish
Mike slowly moved into the archives
with no more attention. But wait. He
had his share of successful 6 and 8
and even 10 rounder's. Surely he had
earned a better send off.
For those who didn't know it, Irish
Mike, a super middleweight, was born
in Belfast (N. Ireland) almost 40
years ago and "closed out" an
18-year pro boxing career last week
with a split decision win against a
journeyman named Khalif “Panther”
Shabazz in the 8-round main event at
Memorial Hall in Plymouth, MA.
That's right, journeymen fight
8-round main events. The "Panther"
had been in with the likes of
Bernard Hopkins, Julian Jackson and
Tony Thorton, though unsuccessfully.
With his win, Culbert finished with
a fine 30-W, 4-L, 1-D record in a
career that started in 1988 at the
Boston Gardens when he TKO 'd one
Santiago Hermida. He also closes
with an unbeaten streak of 10 since
losing in 1996 to the great Roberto
Duran in six....the only time Mike
was ever stopped (in a fight he took
on just two weeks notice).
During his long career, which
admittedly was fought against
mediocre opponents with mostly
losing records, he won the
Massachusetts State titles in
back-to-back fights, the super
middleweight by 10-round decision
against Carlos DeJesus and the
middleweight by 10-round decision
against Jimmy Cappiello. He also won
the vacant New England light
heavyweight title with a 10-round
decision against Glenn Burnett on
April 24, 1998 in Plymouth. Most of
these fight probably don't mean much
to the average fight fan, but to
those of us in the greater Boston
area, they provided entertainment
and enjoyment, particularly for the
many Irish boxing fans in the area.
More importantly, they gave the
affable and well spoken Mike a few
days in the sun and maybe some egg
money.
The last time I saw Irish Mike fight
was when he won a hard fought
8-rounder over Jimmy Cappiello of
Somerville, MA for something called
the U.S.B.F. Regional Super
Middleweight Championship at the
Roxy in Boston on April 1, 2000.
That's right. An 8 round
championship fight! That's what
journeymen sometimes do when they
step up. The strangely disparate
scoring of 79-75, 78-72, 74-78
favored Culbert. A standing-
room-only crowd was up and roaring
at the end, me included, as the two
fought fiercely in their rematch for
this Massachusetts "title." This was
beer sloshing, hot dog eating, slam
banging, ball room boxing at its
best; this was blue collar stuff and
it was great.
Previously, on march 8, 1996 in
Whitman, MA he was on the undercard
with a young, but later to become
infamous, Peter McNeeley. Mike moved
his record to 12-2 beating the
aforementioned Greg Cardiz of
Hartford for the second time. With
his nose mangled by a nasty
second-round head butt, he fought
courageously for each of the
remaining six rounds winning them
all. I was in attendance that night
as well and I admired his grit and
courage. It provided a pleasant
contrast to the pathetic and
seemingly designated loser with whom
McNeeley was matched.
Now I don't quite know where to slot
"Irish Mike." By virtue of his
excellent record, he is really not a
club fighter though he has fought in
enough clubs to be one. And by
virtue of the admittedly poor
quality of most of his opponents, he
really cannot be considered a
journeyman, as he has not protected
many gates. Moreover, he will never
be an "Irish Micky Ward" or an
"Irish John Duddy." Perhaps Mike is
an anomaly or perhaps what "Irish
Mike Culbert really represents is
the blue collar ingredient of
boxing. Yeah, the beer drinking,
slam banging, rugged boxing at the
Roxy in Boston, the Ballroom in
Baltimore, at Cicero Stadium near
Chicago, or at some fair grounds in
Ohio or Delaware. Blue collar stuff
is all about grit and
courage.............and most
importantly, even a degree
never-say-die hope that journeymen
and club fighters often seem to
lack. Indeed, a blue collar fighter
is perhaps the embodiment of the
American work ethic and the dignity
of labor..
But even for a tough guy like Mike,
there comes a time to face reality,
to acknowledge that it may be time
to walk away. Mike Culbert is now
almost 40 years old. He has two
children and works full time as a
supervisor at the Department of
Youth Services in Brockton,
MA.......the town he fought out of
for most of his career and where he
once trained with Marvin Hagler at
Petronelli’s Gym. At the time, he
was the youngest in the Brockton
gym; now he is the only one left
still boxing. If he is serious about
his retirement, then let's hope he
goes on to bigger and better things
like two other New England fighters,
John Scully and Dana Rosenblatt,
did. They each finished with
excellent records and launched
rewarding new careers in different
areas of endeavor. Of course, they
both fought at the top level of
boxing. One was a champ; the other
was a top contender.
But there have been rumors that
since Irish Mike has now garnered
his 30th win, he just might want to
move on to the biggest offer and
payday he can get......one last
fight in some fair grounds, armory
or beery urban ball room. But heck,
who can blame him? Isn't that what
blue collar guys do?
As an aside, The following is an
obituary that appeared in May 2004
in the Boston area newspapers:
“Dave Hamilton (born January 19,
1971 in Hanson, Massachusetts - died
May 18, 2004 in Middleboro,
Massachusetts. Was a super
middleweight journeyman boxer known
as "The Hammer." Hamilton began his
career in 1995 with a first-round
knockout of Paulino Falcone, and won
his next seven pro fights. In 1997,
He suffered his first loss to Jay
Pina and then lost again to Mike
Culbert in a bout for the New
England middleweight title. He
recorded his last win in April 2002,
when he won a six-round decision
over Manny Teo. In his last six pro
fights, he lost four and had two
stopped before a decision could be
reached. In a fight card held at the
Brockton Fairgrounds in August,
Culbert won a unanimous eight-round
decision over Hamilton.
Though very limited in terms of
skills and stamina, Hamilton earned
a reputation as a scrappy fighter
who gave his all in the ring. He
fought IBF light heavyweight champ
Glencoffe Johnson, and top
contenders Eric Harding and Jermaine
Taylor, and compiled a record of
15-12-2, with 5 KO's and 2
no-contests.
Hamilton was driving his son Marcus
to daycare when he swerved off the
road and crashed, killing him
instantly. Marcus, 4, later died of
his injuries at a Providence, Rhode
Island hospital.”
“Writing about blue-collar folks
is something I've been doing right
from the start. It's a world I know
pretty well. I like most of these
folks quite a bit." Richard Russo
