Alexander Is a Good Story Trying to Be Great

Alexander is a good story trying to be great Devon Alexander is the irresistible story that explains the battered game’s inexhaustible resiliency. As reports of the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather talks continue to sound like a sequel to Seinfeld’s theme about nothing, along comes Alexander and the junior-welterweight division with a chance to talk about something real. I’m not sure what to make of Alexander, unbeaten (20-0, 13 KOs) and in possession of the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles. Not yet anyway. Don King, who loves references to ancient history and is old enough to be one, is calling him The Great. Maybe he is. Or will be. Standing in his way, however, are Tim Bradley, Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz, just a few who will try to turn him into Alexander The Wannabe. In Alexander’s immediate path Saturday night in hometown St. Louis on HBO, there is Andriy Kotelnik (30-3-1, 13 KOs), an able Ukrainian who probably finds motivation in Russian Dmitry Pirog’s stoppage last Saturday that knocked-much hyped Danny Jacobs, The Golden Child, out of the ranks of middleweight contenders. Pirog’s stunner is a timely memo, reminding Alexander that a nickname only makes the target a lot bigger. If Alexander doesn’t get deluded and decked by historical allusions, headlines and assorted other feints, he can help recreate interest in a business that has been backed into a dark and dull corner by the Pacquiao-Mayweather talks to nowhere. Alexander’s well-documented story, tried and true, is a perfect fit for the timeless drama that always has a role for somebody who shakes circumstances and adversity that condemns neighborhood and friends to poverty and jail. Alexander, a child of the Midwest’s meanest streets in north St. Louis, is winning that one, thanks to a cop-turned-trainer, Kevin Cunningham. King has almost sounded like a grandfather when talking about Alexander on conference calls and at news conferences. Alexander is a chance, one more opportunity, at getting back to the big-time for the aging promotional lion. Alexander lived at King’s home in Las Vegas while he trained for Kotelnik. On the streets, Alexander whipped temptations more dangerous than Kotelnik, a former World Boxing Association champion. But in the here-and-now, only Kotelnik matters. A few weeks ago, the talk was about Bradley, whom Alexander has been pursuing for a long time. Neither Cunningham nor Alexander was impressed with Bradley’s welterweight experiment, a unanimous decision last month over Carlos Luis Abregu of Argentina. “A subpar decision,’’ Cunningham said. Real subpar, Alexander said. “I didn’t see nothing special,’’ said Alexander, whose potential for stardom continued to emerge in a stoppage of Juan Urango in his last bout. “I don’t really see the hype about, you know: Am I up to Timothy Bradley’s skill level. I mean, he has heart, but nothing special. It was a lame performance.’’ After beating Abregu, Bradley announced he wanted to fight Pacquiao. Other than Mayweather, who doesn’t? But Cunningham called Bradley’s predictable declaration a “disgrace.” Alexander, Cunningham says, doesn’t talk about fighting Pacquiao or Mayweather. He can’t, Cunningham said. There’s too much else to do, a lot left to conquer. It took a long time for the ancient Alexander to be great. His story was a long one. Hopefully, the modern Alexander’s story will be too. NOTES, ANECDOTES · The $115-million lawsuit against Mike Tyson is either a result of too many unemployed lawyers, or web sites starving for frivolous content, or all of the above. Somebody named Mike Landrum, 49, filed the suit in Los Angeles, alleging that Tyson stole his nickname, “Iron Mike.’’ TMZ reported Landrum was 6-4 as a fighter and alleged he was unable to get fights or endorsements because Tyson had ripped off his moniker. Maybe, TMZ got that record from Lindsay Lohan. According to boxrec.com, Landrum was 0-2 as a junior-middleweight, losing in the first round in 1982 and in the second round in 1985. The pick here is that Landrum is about to go 0-3. · It was Deja vu all over again in news last week of an eviction notice filed against Mayweather’s promotional company. Through an attorney, the landlord said Mayweather owes $63,000 in back rent. Mayweather has until Aug. 17 to respond, or exactly one month after he failed to respond to Bob Arum’s deadline for a yea or nay on a deal to fight Pacquiao on Nov. 13..

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