Oquendo vs Izon / McCline vs GooFi / Briggs vs Minus

By Frank Gonzalez

Fres Oquendo (21-0-0-13 KO’s) vs. David Izon (25-3-0-21 KO’s)

05.12.01 - In the absence of Wladimir Klitschko, who claims to have a shoulder injury and couldn’t keep his knock out date with David Izon, Fres Oquendo stepped in and took the opportunity in Wlad’s place. The opportunity I speak of is to get an easy win against an opponent who hasn’t had a fight in over a year. Professional Tomato-can, David Izon is the type of fighter that other fighters use to build their resumes. His claim to fame is that he stopped lowly Derrick Jefferson in 9 rounds back in January of 2000 and knocked out pathetic Lou-ser Saverese in 1997. Izon has beaten Garing Lane in August of 1999, don’t feel left out if you’ve never heard of Garing Lane…nobody has. He was stopped by Michael Grant in 1998, and was stopped by David Tua in 1996. If you see the pattern here, then you understand why the managers of big name fighters want Izon as an opponent for their fighters.

Other fighters besides Klitschko have left David Izon hanging. He was twice scheduled to fight the brave Mike Tyson, but Tyson pulled out of both bouts. Hasim Rahman also bailed on Izon once. Izon is a medium sized heavyweight with a chiseled physique. He is slow, plodding and telegraphs his punches, making him a safe opponent who only looks dangerous. If he were smaller, Roy Jones Jr. would be looking to fight Izon next. There is a good future for David Izon as a tomato-can.

Fres Oquendo was raised in Chicago and relocated recently to Puerto Rico where Felix Trinidad Sr. now trains him. He gained the NABF Heavyweight title in his last fight against old Obed Sullivan. He showed himself to be very mobile, dancing around the slow Izon and scoring at will with his famous jab, which he uses generously. By the 3rd round, Oquendo began to flurry against Izon, who hardly threw punches back, causing the referee to stop the fight.

Oquendo has now convincingly beaten his last three opponents in Clifford Etienne, Obed Sullivan, and David Izon, all B class fighters. I still question Fres’ stamina and don’t feel he was truly tested by the likes of David Izon. Fres is still a work in progress, but considering the quality of the Heavyweight division, he may be ready to take on the top fighters in that division, who with the exception of Lennox Lewis, aren’t exactly shinning stars.

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Shannon Briggs (36-3-1-16 KO’s) vs. Rey Minus (13-5-0-11 KO’s)

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing Shannon Briggs score first round knockouts over D class fighters. Reynaldo Minus is appropriately named as he took to the canvas in the 1st round looking very capable of getting up and continuing. Don’t worry Rey, the check is in the mail.

Briggs’ record is so bogus, if you research it, you will find that outside of winning a questionable decision to aged George Forman, a draw with Frans Botha, and getting knocked out by Lewis in 5, he has not fought anyone worthy of discussion. The quality of his last two opponents was so low, that his only marketable asset at this point seems to be his muscular physique and dreadlocks. Briggs has a problem with stamina. He knows it. Instead of doing more roadwork to develop his stamina, he takes on easy fights where he wins by knockout, hoping to create a Tyson-like mystique of being a knockout artist. Most fans of the sport know that he is more of a bull____ artist. My advice to Briggs; Go away.

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Jameel McCline (26-2-3-16 KO’s) vs. Lance GOOFi Whitaker (23-1-0-19 KO’s)

Jameel McCline started Boxing at the age of 25, after serving time in prison for running guns. He went 1-0 in his amateur career then went straight to the pros with Cedrick Kushner promoting him. Not many knew of him until recently. In July of 2001 he knocked out Michael Grant with one punch in the first round. McCline is a big man at 6 foot 6 inches tall, 261 pounds of rock solid muscle. His corner consists of Jimmy Glen, trainer and cut man, and Alex Newbold, the second assistant.

Lance “GOOFi” Whitaker is a 6 foot 8 inch 251 pound man undergoing many changes in his life. He is in the process of legally changing his full name to GOOFi. In his last three fights, he knocked out Oleg Maskaev, stopped Robert Davis in the second round, and won a 12 round split decision over Monty Barrett. He is an improved fighter who has been on a media tour promoting his new name for the last few months. He has a new trainer, a new name, and a new promoter in Rock Newman, who promoted Riddick Bowe. His trainer is Phil Borgia, Bernard Brooks is his cut man, and Dave Tenny is the second assistant.

GOOFi enters the arena surrounded by children carrying cards saying GOOFi, which they chanted as he smilingly made his way into the ring.

McCline looked serious as he entered, tight and anxious. No smiles, just the business of fighting on his mind.

As the fight began, McCline started quickly, throwing power shots, showing a lot of movement. GOOFi blocked most of his shots and lands a few of his own in the first few rounds. GOOFi looked calm; McCline looked over anxious and nervous. Whitaker has good Boxing skills and although he’s not the heavier puncher, pressed the action and minimized the effects of McCline’s aggression in the early rounds.

The children in the crowd chant “GOOFi, GOOFi” as Whitaker and McCline exchange blows, both showing they to have good chins. McCline scored points with combinations, often connecting as the fight went on with left right lefts followed by hard right crosses, and then clinched to regain his energy. The referee, Steve Smoger seemed too small to effectively manage this fight, as he tried to break the many clinches. McCline’s strategy was simple; attack with left, right, left combinations to the head or body, then clinch, regain his breath, and do it again. As Jameel punched and then clinched, he took away Whitaker’s ability to land solid shots by taking away Whitaker’s range. McCline used this strategy effectively as the fight went on. Although he looked to be breathing heavily, with his mouth open, he actually had very good stamina and was able to stick to his game plan throughout the fight. He succeeded in overpowering GOOFi, and won just about every round.

I gained lots of respect for both fighters as this fight progressed. Whitaker showed good defensive ability and skillful clinch work on the inside. McCline was simply too much for Whitaker and by the end of the fight, McCline was unscathed and looked good to go another few rounds while Whitaker looked defeated. I was amazed by the judges scorecards, although they unanimously had McCline winning, they had it much closer than was realistic. Here is what the judge’s scores looked like:

Melvina Lathan: 116-112 Dan Ackerman: 114-113 Steve Weisfeld: 115-112

I have to wonder how the judges could have had the fight so close? This fight was a lot of things, but close wasn’t one of them.

I had it 119-110 with Whitaker winning only 2 of 12 rounds, and that was being generous to Whitaker. I had the first round even. Then in the seventh round, I thought Whitaker had made a big enough effort to win that round, although it was arguable. I wish I understood the judge’s rationale for their scoring. Is it based on what the promoters want, or is it based on their ability to determine who is actually winning rounds? My criterion for scoring is based on four things: 1-effective aggressiveness, 2-landing cleaner punches, 3- ring generalship (the ability to control the tempo of the fight), and 4-defensive skills and endurance.

Overall, it was a good fight. I felt that it was a quality match-up (which is rare these days). If Whitaker hadn’t taken so much punishment in the early part of the fight, I think he’d have done better down the stretch. McCline may lack experience, but he knew the simplest rule; hit your opponent more than he hits you, chances are you will win.

I look forward to seeing McCline take on the usual suspects in the Heavyweight Division. He is a real threat to any of them. As for Whitaker, all is not lost. He showed good Boxing skills, good chin and good defense, but he needs to work on his power. If he packed more power, he could be very dangerous. As for his wanting to be called GOOFi, hey, that is his business and I may think it’s stupid sounding, but he’s the one wearing that name so, go on with your bad self GOOFi.

McCline has earned much respect as a heavyweight after dismantling a decent fighter in Whitaker. During the post fight interviews, he gave credit to Lennox Lewis, whom he sparred with often and learned a lot from. He said that Lewis taught him things that other champions would never show anyone. McCline seems ready to take the division by storm. Outside of Lewis, I can’t see anyone out there who could beat him. He fights with the speed of a middleweight with the power of a heavyweight. This guy hits hard and often, has a good chin, good stamina, good defense and the right attitude. It was refreshing to listen to him speak, he was humble, respectful and admitted that he is still learning. For a man who was supposedly incarcerated for running guns in his past, McCline was a perfect gentleman in front of the cameras. He only lied once, when he said that he thought Michael Grant was a better fighter than Whitaker. Grant lasted a few seconds of one round with McCline, whereas Whitaker went the distance.

Until next time, enjoy all your favorite sports.

Sharkie