Fighting For Your Life

By Ron DiMichele

28.01 - The National Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament, currently getting underway across the country, along with Olympic boxing, are the two main showcases of amateur boxing talent in the U.S. Many amateur fighters aspire to turn pro, a few actually enter the pro ranks, and fewer still create more than a brief blip on the professional boxing radar screen. But one thing is certain, most fighters turning pro soon discover the boxing techniques learned in the amateurs will not suffice in the pro ranks.

John Curran of the Somerville (Mass.) Boxing Club has trained amateur and professional fighters for the past 34 years, and he’s ticked off. "An amateur learns to throw seven to eight-hundred punches a round. It’s a disservice to the kids. It shouldn’t be called a boxing contest, it should be called a punching contest." Indeed, the main objective of amateur boxing is to score points, and that means landing punches. In Olympic bouts, consisting of five 2-minute rounds, the force of a blow or its effect on an opponent doesn’t matter, a jab counts as much as a knockdown, it is the accumulation of points — 1 point for every 3 blows scored — which wins bouts. "There’s no defense," says Curran. "They have no idea about counterpunching or body shots. It’s all about going to the head." The transition from amateur to pro boxer eventually results in a steep upgrade in the quality of opposition. "An amateur [turning pro] must realize he’s about to meet some of the toughest human beings walking the face of the earth," says John Curran. "Observers see a fighter take a shot to the liver who smiles and says, ‘Give me some more,’ but they don’t realize what that shot actually feels like."

Peter Manfredo Sr is a former world kickboxing champion who currently trains fighters at the Manfredo Gym in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Two of Manfredo Sr’s well-known charges are his son, Peter Manfredo Jr, an undefeated up and coming junior middleweight, and Ray Oliveira, a veteran contender in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions. Manfredo Sr’s views on the amateur to pro transition echo those of John Curran. "Many fighters don’t realize the difference with no headgear, rougher fights (head butts and elbows), and smaller gloves." He explains that much of the amateur to pro transition involves the increased distance of the fight. "Amateur judges want to see the head ‘pop.’ So the fighters don’t focus on body punching. In the pros, body punches can wear an opponent down in the course of a longer match and so are very important." Manfredo Sr trains fighters to ‘sit down’ on their punches — getting the body in proper position to punch with optimum speed, leverage, and power — "In the pros, you can’t just run around for the whole fight."

Mike Tyson (photo: Tom Casino/Showtime) was a terror as an amateur. He showed the same one-punch fury that became the hallmark of his professional career, but he never made it to the top of the amateur mountain, never captured Olympic gold. Tyson’s skills were better suited to the all-out destruction of an opponent. The bulky headgear, larger gloves, and point-accruing style of Olympic boxing only hampered him in his grim task. Two fighters who did win gold in the 1984 Olympic Games, heavyweight Henry Tillman, who beat out Tyson for the Olympic berth, and super-heavy Tyrell Biggs, were knocked out by Tyson with relative ease as pros.

A successful pro career does not require all of the ingredients, just the right combination. Evander Holyfield is a small heavyweight without too big a punch, but his skilled, pressing style and incredible heart overcome his other deficits. Chris Byrd can’t break an egg, but he’s often impossible to hit. Sometimes a great combination of ingredients is missing one item that leaves the fighter incomplete.

The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal produced a windfall of gold medals for U.S. boxers. Sugar Ray Leonard, brothers Leon and Michael Spinks, and Leo Randolph, all struck gold in Montreal and went on to professional titles. But for Howard Davis Jr, who not only won the gold, but was voted most outstanding boxer in Montreal, the professional path proved rocky. Davis Jr was an extraordinary boxing talent with superior speed and boxing skills. But despite these gifts, three times he came up short fighting for professional titles. He lost a decision to Scotland’s Jim Watt over fifteen rounds for the WBC Lightweight title in 1980 and was stopped by James ‘Buddy’ McGirt in the first round of their 1988 IBF Junior Welterweight title bout. But it was Davis Jr’s battle in 1984 with Puerto Rican knockout artist Edwin Rosario for the WBC Lightweight title which best revealed his shortcomings as a pro. Going into the twelfth and final round of a closely-fought contest, Davis Jr held a slight lead. As time waned down in the round, he appeared headed for victory. But inexplicably, in the final fifteen seconds of the fight, Howard Davis Jr chose to punctuate his performance with an extended salvo of left/right combinations. Rosario picked his moment and lashed out with a sizzling left hook. Davis took the punch flush on the jaw and hit the canvas. The knockdown, coming literally in the last seconds of the fight, was enough to swing the judge’s scorecards in Rosario’s favor. The decision to go toe-to-toe with a big puncher in the final seconds of a fight showed a lack of focus which plagued Davis Jr’s career. In the longer pro fights, Davis Jr’s lack of consistent focus and clear purpose were deficits not apparent in his amateur career.

Professional cruiserweight Michael Bennett won the world amateur heavyweight championship in 1999 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Despite Bennett’s late start in boxing, he turned pro in 2001 at the age of twenty-nine, his skills and amateur success pointed towards a promising pro career. But there’s been a hitch, Bennett can’t take a punch. In thirteen professional bouts, he has lost three times, all by knockout, twice to less than top caliber opponents. The rigors of the pro game have exposed a serious threat to his professional aspirations.

While Michael Bennett’s shortcomings have surfaced early in his professional career, the jury is still out on other prominent amateurs. Wladimir Klitschko won a gold medal as a super-heavyweight in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and nobody can question Klitschko’s success as a pro, but his TKO loss to journeyman Ross Purrity, in which many observers felt Klitschko quit, has fueled debate as to whether he possesses all the ingredients of a champion. Fight fans scour a boxer’s performance to find any deficit which may hamper his professional prospects. Experienced observation reveals which combinations of ingredients work and which don’t. If your defense is suspect, you better have a good chin. If you lack a big punch, you better have good movement.

Undefeated flyweight and former Olympian Brian Viloria is an excellent example of a fighter negotiating the amateur to pro transition. Viloria has been successful as a pro, but not always appreciated. The boo birds have been out in several of his bouts. His reputation as a big punching amateur has followed him into the pros. Many of his fans come to see the knockouut, and when they don’t get it, they’re disappointed. At times, Viloria seems caught between wanting to please the fans, reverting to the point-scoring flurries of the amateurs, and discovering his own pro style. It is fascinating to watch his development unfold.

Junior middleweight Peter Manfredo Jr of Pawtucket, RI had over 165 amateur bouts. He was four-time New England Junior Olympic Champion and three-time New England Golden Gloves Champion. At 22 years of age, Manfredo Jr is 16 – 0 as a pro with 7 knockouts. His words help sum up the amateur to pro transition. "You can be more relaxed in the ring," he says. "With more time to set things up and wear down an opponent, there’s no need to rush into anything. " Manfredo Jr says he has worked hard since turning pro in 2000 to upgrade his defensive skills. "In the amateurs it was about points," he says. "I was a kid fighting for fun. But in the pros it only takes one shot. Now I train much harder and think much more in the ring." Has Manfredo Jr’s attitude towards fighting changed since turning pro? "Definitely," he says. "This is my career. In the pros, you’re fighting for your life."

Ron DiMichele’s email address is: Rondimi@yahoo.com