|
Interview with Boxing
Writer and Announcer Steve Farhood |
|
|
|
 |
By ROBERT JONES
Staff Writer FightNightNews
Robert Jones: I read that while
you were growing up you were only a
casual fan. At what age did you
first begin taking boxing more
seriously?
Steve Farhood: When I got my
first job (laughs). I was 21 years
old. It was two days after the
Ali-Spinks rematch, when Ali
regained the title and I started at
London Publishing in the boxing
department. I wrote about boxing and
professional wrestling. So, being in
that atmosphere with Randy Gordon,
who was my colleague, I learned a
lot about boxing in a very short
time.
RJ: What are all the jobs
that you hold that are boxing
related today? |
|
SF: I'm a freelancer. I do
the broadcasting for Showtime. I do
some writing for Showtime and I
write columns and features for
Maxboxing.com and Boxing Monthly,
the British magazine. I also am a
columnist for All In magazine, which
is a poker magazine.
RJ: You mentioned you write a
little bit about poker. Do you ever
play? Have we seen you in any of the
big poker tournaments?
SF: Not the big ones
(laughs). I wish. That's my dream. A
fighter dreams of fighting in
Madison Square Garden. I dream of
one day playing in the World Series
of Poker. I'm a casual poker player.
RJ: Great boxing writer
Thomas Hauser has called you the,
"Cal Ripken" of boxing because
you've never missed an announcing
assignment. What's the closest
you've came?
SF: That's an easy one. We
did a show in Mississippi and I
basically fainted in the production
truck, during the day. I was
sweating and I was peeing every 10
minutes and I have no energy, at
all. As Tom said in the story, I was
sitting in the green room, the room
where guests sits, at the casino in
Biloxi, and it's the same room the
round card girls are using, and the
round card girls were absolutely
gorgeous. They were some of the most
beautiful I've ever seen, and I'm
sitting there like I'm going to die
in five minutes. The round card
girls are there, walking around,
half exposed, discussing, "oh, I
can't wear this one because my
nipples show." They were gorgeous,
and they felt bad for me because
they saw how sick I was, but they
were ignoring me. I couldn't even
enjoy the moment because I was so
out of it. Literally about 10
minutes before the show, I got a
little bit of an adrenaline rush and
I was able to do the show. But, they
were so concerned about me that we
actually did the opening of the show
sitting down because they didn't
want me fainting on live television.
That's the only time I've come close
to missing a show.
RJ: You were giving the name
Steve "Faraway" Farhood by another
great boxing writer, Ben Greene. How
did that name come about?
|
|
|
SF: That's
just from Ben.
That's somebody Mike
Marley could tell
you about.
Mike knew Ben as
well as I did. Mike
is probably the only
person in the
business that calls
me "Faraway" Farhood.
Ben Greene was just
a colorful guy. He
never called anybody
by their name, there
was always a
nickname. Marley was
"Breezy," I don't
know why. I was
"Faraway" Farhood,
for alliteration
sake, I guess. I
don't really know
what it meant, but
that's the way Ben
Greene communicated.
|
 |
|
|
RJ: You get
to see a lot of the
best fighters in the
world close up. Who
would you rank as a
few of the top
boxers right now?
SF: Right now
I think Floyd
Mayweather is
clearly number one.
The only question I
have about him is
that he hasn't
really faced
adversity in the
ring. He's been so
dominant, much like
Roy Jones was, that
you want to see him
in a fight. You want
to see him get
caught, you want to
see him comeback
from something. It
really hasn't
happened yet.
Outside of injuries,
he really hasn't
faced adversity in
the ring. Talent
wise, we don't even
know how good he is
yet. He might be
even better than we
think. At the same
time, as far as
rating him being an
all time great, I
would like to see
him come over some
of the adversity
that so many of the
other all time
greats have already
overcome.
|
|
|
RJ: What's
the best fight
you've ever covered?
SF: I'm asked
that quite a bit and
my answer hasn't
changed in 23 years.
Aaron Pryor-Alexis Arguello, First
fight, Miami, Orange
Bowl. Just an
amazing fight and an
amazing night. When
you combine all of
the elements of a
great fight, that
fight had every one
of them. I wasn't at
Corrales-Castillo
one. I wish I were,
and maybe if I had
been at that fight I
would rate that
higher, but, for me,
It's Prior-Arguello
I. Also, Leonard-Hearns
would certainly be
up there, the first
fight. For
excitement,
Holmes-Cooney.
Duran-Barkley. I
have to put one
other in there, Lupe
Pintor-Wilfredo
Gomez, just an
absolutely
incredible fight.
RJ:
Showtime's Super
Middleweight
Tournament is now in
the second round.
Some members of the
media are making
references to this
being Henry
Buchanan's coming
out party? Do you
agree with that? |
SF: I
would say that
if Buchanan
beats Mendy (his
next opponent)
it would be an
upset. I think
that Mendy and
Hanshaw have to
be the
semi-final
favorites, based
on talent, based
on experience,
based on
results. I'm
looking very
forward to the
semi-final
fights. "Sugar
Poo" looked very
good in his
first fight, but
I would still
make Mendy a
favorite over
him. So yes, I
would be
surprised if
Buchanan went
all the way
though, but I'd
love to see it
happen.
RJ: How
did you score
the
controversial
James Toney-Sam
Peter fight?
SF: I
thought James
Toney won
clearly. Now, I
wasn't at the
fight, so I'm
prefacing this
saying I was
scoring off
television,
which is,
obviously, a
very different
experience then
scoring at
ringside. I had
Toney winning by
about three
points. I
thought he boxed
Peter silly. I
thought Peter
landed the
harder shots,
but not enough
of them to give
Peter the rounds
he needed to
win.
RJ: What
do you think
about the WBC's
decision to
order an
immediate
rematch?
SF: I
think it's
ridiculous.
Look, I thought
Toney won, so
for me to say
that may sound
contradictory.
If we're going
to start
replaying every
fight that's
close, we're
never going to
get new
match-ups. I
think it's
absurd. I think
you can find 10
fights just like
it in the last
year or two,
just as tight as
that. We can't
replay every
fight just
because the
public disagrees
with the judges.
So, I think it's
absurd.
RJ: Diego
Corrales and
Joel Casamayor
are set to
square off for a
third time
October 7th on
Showtime. A lot
of boxing
insiders are
automatically
giving the edge
to Corrales. Do
you think it's
that cut and
dry?
SF: Oh,
not at all. I'm
shocked. I saw
the results of a
poll; I think it
was 58 out of 66
writers picked
Corrales to win.
I was absolutely
shocked. "Chico"
Corrales is
vulnerable now.
He's always been
vulnerable.
Casamayor has
knocked Corrales
down three times
in two fights..
You can make the
argument that
Casamayor won
the second
fight. I can't
see why more
people aren't
giving Casamayor
not just a
chance, but a
very strong
chance. I think
he has the style
to give Corrales
trouble everyday
of the week.
RJ:
Predictions for
the Serguei
Lyahkovich vs.
Shannon Briggs
WBO title fight
November 4th?
SF: I
think Shannon
will be
dangerous for
two or three
rounds, somewhat
the usual
Shannon Briggs
formula. I
interviewed him
for an article I
did about two or
three months
ago, I didn't
like some of the
quotes I heard.
At the time he
thought he would
be fighting
Klitschko. He's
quotes were, "I
have to knock
him out, I'm not
even going to
train for a long
fight." "I know
I'm going to
knock him out."
I hope he
doesn't train
like that for
Lyakhovich. To
go out and train
light and go for
a knockout, and
if he doesn't
get it, well
then,
psychologically
he's beaten.
RJ: Thank
you very much
for your time.
SF:
Certainly, thank
you very much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
