A NIGHT AT THE FIGHTS
WITH TED DANGEROUS BAMI
By Adeyinka Makinde
14.04 - The Democratic Republic of
the Congo, the former Republic of Zaire, is not noted
for having substantive underpinnings in relation to
marquis of Queensbury rules boxing. Save for the highly
competent middleweight Sumbu Kalambay, who fought at
his peak in the latter part of the 1980s and who
suffered a devastating one round knock out loss to Michael
Nunn, no fighter from that part of the world has come
close to setting the game alive. There are historical
reasons for this. It will not have escaped the discerning
observer that many of the sporting achievers from the
African continent in the fields of athletics, football
and boxing to name a few have come from Anglophone nations
such as Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. The colonial regimes
imposed by the British tended to place a great emphasis
on physical endeavour within the academic curriculum
they devised for the nation states they created and
such structures have tended to survive, albeit in the
often times haphazard circumstances of the political
and social instability that has consistently plagued
the continent. Ted Bami, a light welterweight
of Congolese origin, is based in the south London suburb
of Brixton. His predecessor Kalambay saw fit to leave
the shores of his native land during the relatively
stable but highly corrupt and inefficient administration
of Mobutu Sese Seko, and head for Italy. Today, as the
Congo continues to endure tremendous shortages in basic
amenities due to wars raging around its borders with
Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, it would be too much to
expect a nation in such circumstances to be capable
of nurturing and sustaining sporting talent.
Physically compact, lightning fast
in movement and carrying power in his fists, Bami is
a skilful fighter who catches the eye. After decisioning
the Russian Sergey Starkov by forty points to thirty-six
in a four round bout at Brentwood last December, he
stopped Andrey Devyatakin in the first round last month
at East Londons York Hall. It was to this illustrious
of venues that Bami returned on April 12 2003 to engage
the Hungarian Laszlo Herczeg for the vacant WBF
light welterweight championship. Entering to much acclaim
from the crowd including a vocal contingent of Congolese
expatriates, Bamis demeanour bespoke of a fighter
with a great deal of confidence. His movements in the
first round were characterised by a sense of ease and
assurance. On first sighting him in December of last
year, this writer had noted that Bami was "solid,
strong, straight postured fighter possessed of a repertoire
of combination punches most notable of which was left
hook followed by right upper cut manoeuvre." As
with many fighters who move their hands with astounding
rapidity, Bami, who fights while utilizing an orthodox
stance, often holds his left hand from a lowly angle
while his right glove is no where near his chin. He
is, however, quite adept at covering up at moments where
pressure is applied. Herczeg, the taller of the two
men used all the tricks at his disposal to stall Bamis
attacks with an octopus like grip and to bull forward
at intervals. It may indeed have been a deliberate ploy
of the Hungarian to hurt Bami with a blow to the groin,
which necessitated a short time out in the second round.
Bami did find success in the third when he hurt Herczeg
some short, powerful uppercuts during the close fighting,
yet this was a rare burst of success amid the shrewd
and unpretty spoiling tactics of the Hungarian
who was able to fight at moments of his choosing.
Perhaps heeding a ringside entreaty
for him not to chase but to "cut the ring",
Bami began, from the fourth round, to catch Herczeg
with well picked shots. Several of them were hooks that
were delivered to choice locations around the head and
body. Herczeg by now was running away and out of ideas.
In the fifth, a long right stunned the Hungarian and
Bami was able to land a powerful straight right just
as the bell was ringing to end the round. The subsequent
rounds were characterised by Bami chasing Herczeg around
the ring, catching the Hungarian ominously with the
left hook but frustratingly, failing to finish his opponent.
The coup de grace, a ferocious left hook, materialised
in the ninth round. Herczeg was stopped in his tracks
and although his legs kept him up, the referee felt
compelled to stop the fight.
The headlining bout between Dean
Pithe and Craig Docherty for the commonwealth
super featherweight championship ended in a surprising
but well deserved eighth round knock out victory for
Docherty. Also on the Barry Hearn promoted bill was
the Polish heavyweight Albert Sosnowski who overcame
a debilitating gash at the side of his eye to win a
fifty-nine to fifty-six points victory over the Briton
Michael Holden.
Ade Makinde can be reached at adeyinkamakinde@aol.com
0 comments |