Eye on CITY SPORTS

Football '97

Friday Night
Bristol Central 10 - Bulkeley 6
Unable to capitalize on five turnovers, the Bulldogs lost a close game at Dillon Stadium. Carlos Diaz had an interception and two fumble recoveries for Bulkeley while quarterback Johnny Roldan ran for 121 yards on 19 carries.
***
Saturday
#3 Weaver 28 - Conard 7
In Hartford, quarterback Aaron Gause rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Weaver (5-0, 3-0 CCC West) won their 18th consecutive football game.
***
Hartford Pub 38 - S. Windsor 23
The Owls got strong rushing games out of Darrion Williams and Earl Stevens as they moved to 3-2 with a victory Saturday afternoon at Dillon Stadium.

***

Adventures In Cambyland - Raptors Beat Knicks, 98-91
Excuse former Hartford Public High School basketball star Marcus Camby for his youthful exuberance on the court or broad smile after his team, the Toronto Raptors, downed the New York Knicks, 98-91, on Sunday night before 10,562 a the Civic Center.

Camby said his teammates expected Hartford to be a party town, but on their seeing farms on the ride in from Bradley International, Camby decided to share that Hartford is a little more laid-back.

It was a homecoming for Camby, nonetheless, and he came through with 16 points and 6 rebounds in 28 minutes, and his Raptors teammates didn't do too badly either.

Former Knick Doug Christie had 22, and all-star Damon Stoudamire knocked home 17 points. The Knicks were led by Allan Houston with 22 points, and Patrick Ewing with 21 points in 30 minutes. "I think Marcus Camby is comfortable, he's getting his minutes...we're looking for another nice year out of Marcus Camby," said Raptors head coach Darrell Walker.

"I'm real happy , especially happy that we got the `W'", said Camby.

Although an exhibition, it was the first victory over the Knicks in Raptors history.

"It feels good to be surrounded by my loved ones, families, and friends," said Camby.

The Raptors withstood the always-tough Knicks fourth quarter comeback to gain the win. For now, Camby is looking ahead.

"I want to get off to a fast start, last year I was hampered by injuries...the difference this year is I am more comfortable, and know what I have to do."

***

Hartford Boxing Greats Honored They honored Johnny Cesario and Johnny Duke on Sunday afternoon at USS Chowder Pot and hardly a mention was made of wins and losses or knockouts, except in humor.

What people were talking about was the substance of these two men who had been prominent in Hartford fight circles for fifty years or more.

Cesario passed away from cancer on October 5, making the event somewhat melancholy, but that was more than offset by the energy of Duke, who kept the audience smiling through a 45-minute acceptance speech about his experiences in boxing.

"The best part of it is having friends," said Duke, before the dinner began, "you always have friends in boxing, money doesn't mean anything, you gotta have friends."

About 200 friends of Cesario and Duke showed up at the dinner sponsored by Neutral Corner, Inc., the group formed by Al Couture, and the Fuggetta brothers, Angelo and Leonard.

"He's the man," said "Pito" Cardona, USBA Lightweight Champ and #4 in the IBF, about Duke, "I've known him since I started boxing."

"I met Johnny Cesario a couple of times, and it was sad his passing."

"Both of these guys have supported me since I started, and I've done the same for them," Cardona said. Cardona is scheduled to fight David Sample on Veteran's Day, November 11 in Miami, Fla., with a follow-up bout to be a possible world title fight.

"I thought Johnny (Cesario) was quite a person...he never complained and he had a strong fight against cancer, he was quite a guy," said John Cipolla, Cardona's manager/trainer.

"Johnny (Duke) is known around the United States and Johnny is known for being a good guy in the sport and those are few and far between," added Cipolla.

They all came to honor these two men, one posthumously, for as much what they did outside the ring as what they did inside it.

"I got to honestly say I learned a lot from Duke," said George Cruz, executive director of The San Juan Center and trainer of top boxers in the area.

"Long-time coming, long overdue, why it wasn't done before is beyond me," Cruz said of Duke's honorary afternoon.

The guest speaker, U.S. Rep. Barbara Kennelly called it "a bittersweet day," while highlighting Duke's great mentoring and counseling abilities. "You never gave up on a kid," she told Duke and the audience. Kennelly shared that she used to live in the same Foster Heights neighborhood where Cesario's family resided. "I watched Johnny as a father, and you never saw a better father in your whole life." "He was proud of the past, but didn't live in the past," she said.

Bob Steele, an announcer with WTIC-AM for over 60 years, described Cesario as an, "outstanding fighter, New England champion, two weight classes, middleweight and welterweight, he was world championship caliber, but never got a title shot."

"His word was his bond," said Steele.

The veteran announcer called Duke, "a good fighter who fought some of the top names in middle- and welterweight divisions," but who perhaps greatest victory came years later helping boys get from the wrong side of the tracks to the right side.

Duke broke his acceptance speech into rounds, asking the audience each time, "did I win that round?", which met with emphatic applause.

He told of the time when the Cuban 3-time gold medalist Teofilo Stevenson was at Foxwoods and wanted to buy some shoes in Norwich. On the ride over, Duke asked Stevenson, a chain smoker, whether he could smoke like that when he was fighting.

Stevenson responded he couldn't, because he had his gloves on.

When Duke suggested Stevenson fight again for a big payday, the Cuban heavyweight said all he had to do was walk down a street in Cuba and 200 people would chase him offering him things, proving Duke said, his point about friends.

"I had 118 professional fights, 117 knockouts, and then I won one," Duke said.

Walter "Doc" Hurley, Sr. worked with Duke in the late 1960's and early 1970's, at the height of urban unrest in Northeast cities after it was suggested to him by Leonard Petrocelli, president of Channel 3-WTIC.

"We about became fathers to the kids in those days," said Hurley. "In his boxing program he has saved a lot of kids."

Petrocelli later threatened to sue an advisory board if it went through with banning boxing. The board change its mind at the suggestion of a lawsuit.

The great Johnny Cesario and the great Johnny Duke, practitioners in what Steele calls "the greatest sport of them all". Neither was a world champion, one making his reputation out of a musty gym in Bellevue Square, another from being an accomplished fighter, honest businessman, and good family man.

"I'm really proud about it, but I wasn't expecting it so soon, it was kind of hard," said John Cesario, Jr.

***

Scully And Vazquez Fights Coming Up
"Iceman" John Scully is scheduled to fight Halloween night on ESPN in a 10-round bout, that much is known.

What is still a mystery is his opponent. Scully was originally supposed to fight Jose Luis Rivera for his I.B.A. light heavyweight title but Rivera pulled out last week citing an injured shoulder.

Scully is now tentatively scheduled to fight former I.B.A. Champion Dominick Carter. The bout was in the final stages of negotiation last week. The fight will be held in Warren, Ohio.

Angel Vazquez, Scully's stablemate at the San Juan Center, will fight in Hartford on ESPN in December for the vacant U.S.B.A. Featherweight title against an opponent to be named. Vazquez is presently rated #5 in the world by the WBA.

A pro show is set for October 25 at the San Juan Center with Super Middleweight Eric Harding in the main event. Harding is 10-0-1. Cruiserweight Shane Brathwaite of the Manchester PAL (2-0) is on the card as are the fighting Whitley twins, Derrick and Darrin. Super Middleweight Dan Sheehan (formerly of Lowell, Mass.) also will be on the show.

Harding, Sheehan, and the Whitley twins all box for the San Juan Center team. Tickets are $20 and $30. The show begins at 7 pm.

San Juan Center Junior Olympic boxer Sammy Vega, rated #1 in the USA at 95 lbs. moved up to 100 pounds two weeks ago and won his second consecutive National PAL championship in St. Louis, Mo., with a decision over Johnnie Allen of Bakersfield, Calif. Vega, who is trained by Scully, is also the reigning National Junior Olympic Champion.

***

SAND Football Championships

A - Teams (12-14 yrs. old)
Redskins defeated the Falcons 7-6. Scoring for the Redskins were Sean White (1 touchdown on a fumble recovery) and Felix Gonzalez (1 extra point). Abner Walsh scored (1 touchdown on a fumble recovery) for the Falcons.

B - Teams (10-13 yrs. old)
Bears defeated the Seahawks, 19-12. Scoring for the Bears were Jeffrey Hernandez and Jamie "Rocket" Bryant (1 touchdown each), Charles Baker (1 touchdown and 1 interception), and Jeffrey Johnson (1 extra point). Scoring for the Seahawks were Jeffrey Nunez and Joshua Rodriguez (1 touchdown each) on pass receptions from quarterback Luis Padilla.

C - Teams (8-11 yrs. old)
Eagles defeated the Steelers, 19-0. Scoring for the Eagles were Jeremy Satterfield (1 touchdown, 1 extra point, and 1 interception), Jason Carillo and Allan Perry (1 touchdown each).