Boxing

 

Eastside Heavyweight Rankings Update

By Steve Trellert

#17. Lawrence Clay-Bey
Moving up ten spots after defeating Charles Shufford in a fairly lackluster victory may seem an abomination at first glance, but considering the fact that everyone ranked from #12 to #30 are packed like sardines and languishing in a sea of mediocrity helps place it in proper perspective. Clay-Bey has suddenly chosen to take his career seriously in its twilight and it finally seems to be paying dividends. Defeating a prospect ranked in the twenties, in line with a devastating knockout of journeyman Sedrick Fields, get him where he is. Above Lou Savarese as his consecutive wins over Tim Witherspoon and David Bostice is slightly less impressive, and below Monte Barrett as his victories over the former and Robert Davis is slightly more impressive. Unfortunate for Lawrence is the fact that the road upward becomes significantly more difficult from here. This in accordance with advancing age and a talent level at most only a few spots higher seems to suggest Clay-Bey may be getting close to his ceiling, unless he can hit his absolute peak at exactly the right time and create some kind of upset.

#29. Charles Shufford
The loss to Clay-Bey was not totally unexpected, as Lawrence always did seem to have a greater degree of natural talent. Nevertheless, Shufford has previously demonstrated a capacity to stifle those with more talent as he did against Lamon Brewster. In that fight Shufford was the aggressor, taking the initiative and never giving it back to Brewster who could not get through a determined jab. Against Clay-Bey, Charles seemed overly respectful and cautious of his opponent, and seemed reluctant to really take the bull by the horns and determine his own destiny. Now Shufford resides between a similarly reorganizing fighter in Derrick Jefferson, and the Euro upstart in Sinan Samil Sam, in other words, barely in the top thirty. Where from here? Probably more aimless floating in this vicinity if the past is any indication.

#28. Sinan Samil Sam
It is always refreshing to see a new face in the Heavyweight division who comes out of nowhere and makes a splash similar, though less so in this case, to Davarryl Williamson last year. This sultan of swing has one hell of a right hand as discovered by Euro journeyman Przemyslaw Saleta who ended up on his backside four times before succumbing in the seventh round. This raised a few eyebrows, but not as many as when he recently defeated the latest heir to the British Heavyweight throne, inherited from Herbie Hide, in Danny Williams. Danny was similarly dispatched in one less round and flattened thrice. Of interest is the fact that Sam is similarly based in Hamburg, Germany, just as the Klitschko brothers. Do we have a third potent European Heavyweight on the horizon that could eventually shake up North America? Perhaps, but at this point it may be time to take a short trip up to Copenhagen, Denmark, and challenge the third most highly regarding Euro-based Heavyweight in Brian Nielson. A victory there should mean America beckons.

#30. Derrick Jefferson
I doubt there is hardly a boxing fan alive who does not have a soft spot of respect for Jefferson and his entertaining style in the ring and post-fight interview personality. Derrick will always unflinchingly give every ounce of himself in the ring virtually guaranteeing boxing fans always get their money's worth. Unfortunately for his career this ring passion can get the best of him, as he tends to throw the kitchen sink without exactly timing when to throw it. Similar to Clifford Etienne, Jefferson tends to fail in the ring smarts department at key moments of his career. Against David Izon he suffered his somewhat chronic Achilles' heel in stamina in failing to pace himself properly, and punched himself out in a fight he was winning by a mile. With Oleg Maskaev he suffered some bad luck in a broken ankle (and kept going nonetheless!), but clearly Maskaev outsmarted him in the inside game with that short right hand. Then strike three occurred in a long trip to Germany to face Wladimir Klitschko where he literally took it on the chin. After a period of obscurity, Derrick started the move back up with a close win over the ever game and unpredictable Sedrick Fields, followed by a second round knockout of Ray Austin in the unofficially recognized Heavyweight Tourney. A beginning of a second wind? Perhaps, and with a little more stamina and ring savvy, maybe even a move into the top fifteen.

Fallen Out
Ray Austin's loss to Derrick Jefferson, despite not being an 'officially recognized' result, is enough to have Jefferson take his place at number thirty. Jeremy Williams has fallen out of the ranking not primarily due to his disappointing show at that very same tourney, but due to his draw with Al "Ice" Cole.

To see the entire Eastside Top 30 Heavyweight rankings, look under Boxing Rankings on the website. To comment on this article, either post it here or email me at Vancanste@aol.com

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