A Few Thoughts on Clay-Bey vs Shufford

Ron DiMichele

01.01 - In the first live boxing match I ever attended, one of the fighters entered the ring drunk. He was a very tall, very slender middleweight who looked a little ridiculous from the get-go. He moved around the ring like an overcooked strand of spaghetti, throwing sweeping, ineffective rights and lefts. This embarrassing spectacle didn’t last long. Within a couple of minutes he was sprawled out on a stretcher heading back to the dressing room. When he came to, he claimed he fought better when he was loaded. This fighter, in all probability, could be classified under the heading of "bum."

But isn’t this term "bum" thrown around a little loosely? It’s not unusual for a fighter ranked in the top twenty or even top ten in the world to be called a bum. But keep in mind that we are still talking about the 10th baddest dude in the world. In professional football a top-notch receiver can make a good defensive back look terrible. And don’t ace pitchers routinely leave talented hitters looking foolish? This same dynamic exists in boxing. A thoroughbred fighter can make a highly-skilled, but overmatched opponent look, well, like a bum. Sometimes viewers, in their secret dreams, fancy themselves a competitive match for an outclassed fighter. A few intrepid souls have carried these fantastical ruminations too far.

In 1979, all-pro defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, abruptly quit football to pursue the lifelong dream of a professional boxing career. "I never liked football," Jones said at the time, "I was just good at it." Many thought that "Too Tall," at 6’9" would blow away the competition in an unobstructed march to the heavyweight championship. Some clamored for an immediate match with then heavyweight champ, Larry Holmes. Jones pro debut was big news and broadcast on national t.v. His first opponent, Yaqui Meneses, was plucked from the depths of total obscurity. But Yaqui turned out to have a little fight in him. In a knockdown dragout fiasco, Jones managed to emerge victorious, but after a half dozen or so fights, all of them victories against hand-picked opponents, Jones decided football wasn’t so bad after all. He returned to the Cowboys for 10 more successful seasons.

In the early nineties, Mark Gastineau, former defensive end for the New York Jets, and until
recently, all-time NFL single-season sack record-holder, gave the sweet science a try. But after
an extended skein of losing bouts and murky rumors of fight-fixing, Gastineau permanently excused himself from the ranks of professional fisticuffs.

Motto: It’s not as easy as it looks.

Scott LeDoux was a borderline heavyweight contender of the 1970’s with a rough and tumble style, willing to take 2 or 3 shots in exchange for landing one of his own. And as top contender Ken Norton found out one night, LeDoux was one tough customer. Norton, in a match expected to be a walk-over, meted out a beating to LeDoux for the bulk of their 10-round bout, but in the last couple of rounds, the tomato can fired back. Norton had begun to appear more tired from throwing punches than LeDoux was from fielding them. When LeDoux put together a few shots of his own, he quickly had Norton out on his feet. Norton survived the bout with a draw, but the moral victory went to Scott LeDoux.

LeDoux was a good example of a fighter the average viewer would consider unskilled. But he always
insisted there was science and strategy behind his brawling ways. LeDoux had the will and stamina to fight through punishment, but he also had some subtle skills. He utilized a very sneaky, but stiff jab, which thrown from weird angles caught many an opponent by surprise. He had a successful career and stumbled only against top flight competition.

On the surface, the Lawrence Clay-Bey vs Charles Shufford match-up is a pedestrian bout between two borderline contenders. Thirty-seven year old Lawrence Clay-Bey (17-1, 13 KO’s) of Hartford, Ct, has seen his professional career sputter after a stellar amateur run. He has good hand speed and puts his punches together well, but Clay-Bey is somewhat reminiscent of a Greg Page. The skills seem to be there, but is there fire in the belly? Clay-Bey entered boxing as a way to lose weight, and that’s how he can sometimes fight, like a reluctant participant in a weight-loss program. Nevertheless, he is coming off of an impressive 2nd round knockout of trial horse Sedrick Fields and will likely be the favorite in this bout.

Charles Shufford (19-2, 9 KO’s) is best known for getting clocked by the Steel Hammer, Wladimir
Klitschko. But in his last fight he jabbed his way to a solid 12-round unanimous decision over Eliecer
Castillo and is looking to continue his rebound effort against Clay-Bey. Shufford will likely seek to utilize reach and height advantages over Clay-Bey to jab his way to victory.

The showdown will take place Jan. 3rd at The Thunderbird Wild Wild West Casino in Las Vegas and
will be broadcast on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. While this bout may not generate the electricity of a big-time match-up, a lot is on the line for these fighters. With the current heavyweight cocoon cracking open to new possibilities, a victory here should lead to a higher ranking and more lucrative purses a short ways down the road. The loser will drop another notch into the heavyweight contender fringe zone. Lightning will most likely not strike at the Lawrence Clay-Bey/Charles Shufford fight, but it could be an interesting bout, provided both fighters show up sober…