Tomato Can (sports idiom)

In the context of American boxing or mixed martial arts, a tomato can is a sports idiom for a fighter with poor or diminished skills who may be considered an easy opponent to defeat, or a "guaranteed win." Fights with "tomato cans" can be arranged to inflate the win total of a professional fighter.

Characteristics

A "tomato can" is usually a fighter with a poor record, whose skills are substandard or who lacks toughness or has a "glass chin." Sometimes a formerly successful boxer who is past his prime and who has seen his skills diminish is considered a "tomato can" if he can no longer compete at a high level. Such an individual is an attractive opponent if his name still carries prestige but his diminished skills make him an easy conquest.

Most fighters who are considered "tomato cans" are heavyweights, because at lower weight classes one must maintain a certain level of fitness in order to make weight, whereas a heavyweight who once fought at a trim 205 pounds could conceivably gain 150 pounds and still fight in the same division.

One characteristic which may account for the use of the "tomato can" metaphor for a bad boxer is the tendency to leak "tomato juice" (i.e. blood) when battered.

"Tomato cans" are similar to jobbers in professional wrestling in that they serve to enhance the stature of someone the promotion uses to draw a crowd.

urprises and upsets

It must be noted that victory over a "tomato can" is not a certainty. Journeyman boxers generally regarded as "tomato cans" have been known to provide surprising challenges to champions and in several instances, cause shocking upsets against supposedly superior opponents.

On March 24, 1975, Muhammad Ali faced Chuck Wepner, a lightly regarded but popular boxer from New Jersey. A former nightclub bouncer, Wepner was nicknamed the "The Bayonne Bleeder" and was considered a washed-up contender with a poor record. Don King selected Wepner as a "tomato can" to provide an easy victory for Ali after his famous win over George Foreman. [ [http://www.njboxinghof.org/cgi-bin/henryseehof.pl?191 CHUCK WEPNER] , "New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame", 1982-10-29, Retrieved on 2007-03-31.] In a surprising turn of events, Wepner scored a disputed knockdown in the ninth round, survived 19 seconds short of the distance, before losing to a TKO in the 15th round. [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/3.html Tomato Cans: MUHAMMAD ALI vs. CHUCK WEPNER] , "CNN / SI", Retrieved on 2007-03-31.] Wepner's bout with Ali provided the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's movie "Rocky". [ [http://www.planetrapture.com/wepner.htm CHUCK WEPNER, THE REAL ROCKY] , "Planetrapture.com", Retrieved on 2007-03-31.]

In a fight on February 11, 1990, Mike Tyson lost his championship to James "Buster" Douglas in Tokyo.Kincade, Kevin., [http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=4063&more=1 "The Moments": Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas] , "Eastsideboxing.com", 2005-07-12, Retrieved on 2007-03-26.] The victory over Tyson, the previously undefeated "baddest man on the planet" and arguably the most feared boxer in professional boxing at that time, at the hands of the 42-1 betting odds underdog Douglas, has been described as one of the most shocking upsets in modern sports history. [Staff, [http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/010523upset.html Page 2's List for top upset in sports history] , "ESPN.com", 2001-05-23, Retrieved on 2007-03-26.] Douglas was widely regarded as a "tomato can", lined up to provide an easy victory for Tyson at that time. That view was borne out later when Douglas lost his first title defense against Evander Holyfield and was never able to successfully compete at such a high level again. [Kanew, Evan., [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/9.html Tomato Cans:JAMES (BUSTER) DOUGLAS vs. MIKE TYSON] , "CNN/SI", Retrieved on 2008-01-15.]

On October 4, 2008, at EliteXC: Heat, presumed tomato can Seth Petruzelli defeated Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds by TKO. He was offered the fight as a stand-in after Ken Shamrock received a cut over his left eye in pre-fight practice and was forced to back out.

Other notable examples

*Henry Cooper [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/index.html CNN/SI - Tomato Cans ] ]
*Brian London [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/2.html CNN/SI - Tomato Cans ] ]
*Jean-Pierre Coopman [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/4.html CNN/SI - Tomato Cans ] ]
*Randall "Tex" Cobb [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/6.html CNN/SI - Tomato Cans ] ]
*Peter McNeeley [Sandomir, Richard (1995), "TV SPORTS; Who Must Tyson Face Next? A Finer Brand of Tomato Can", "The New York Times, Sports Desk, Late Edition - Final, Section B, Page 8, Column 1", 1995-08-22. "Abstract:" "If you paid $45.95 for Saturday's Mike Tyson fight, and you felt ripped off, even astonished by its brevity, you must have ignored all we knew about how undeserving a challenger Peter McNeeley was. He was a hurricane without an eye. Other tomato cans are insulted when stacked on ..."]

Notes

External links

* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/holyfield/tomatocans/index.html Tomato Cans] - A CNN/SI gallery of "Tomato Cans" in modern heavyweight pro-boxing history.