01.12.04 – By Coach Tim Walker – tpwalker@hotmail.com – When you get right down to it it only takes a couple of things to make a boxing fan happy. One is to see the best fighters in the world take each other on and the other, which is even more sought after, is to see really good competitive bouts. Sometimes hyped boxing matches produce these types of bouts but most of time they are found at local shows by way of some of the sports most unassuming boxers. This makes sense when you think about it because usually the poorest boxers are the hungriest..
This was the case a couple of Saturday nights ago in Boynton Beach, FL at an Elite Promotions boxing show. From the surface it looks like your typical local boxing show. You’ve got judges and referees, managers and trainers, ring card girls and an open bar. In essence this is the makings of a good time with good friends watching the best sport in the world. Of course, as is the case on most local shows, you’ve got two categories of boxers in attendance as well: active and inactive. Within the active ranks there exists two classes of boxers: those whom the crowd expects to win and those who have traveled from afar to lose to the one whom the crowd expects to win. Still every now and then an anomaly occurs when the boxing planets align themselves with the pugilistic stars. This freakish event causes otherwise mediocre talent to rise from the ashes and leaven themselves with the best fighters in the world. This was the case for one of the card’s young boxers Saturday night.
Make no mistake about it, he was brought in to put up a good showing but there were few in attendance who gave him a chance of winning. He was pitted against the home town favorite for this exact purpose. All he had to do was put up a fight on his way to losing in dynamic fashion to the hometown hitter. Somebody just forgot to tell him.
His record is scarred like the mane on an old lion. His name won’t be emblazoned on the fight marquee and he was little more than a foot note on the 10,000 or so flyers that were distributed to promote the event. In fact all he had when they arrived to the show was the doggedness needed to upset the favorite. He possessed, even if for only this night, just enough skill and more than enough heart to say within themselves, “Not this night. I refuse to lose this night.” That my friend is what boxing is all about.
In a scheduled six round bout between debuting and favored boxer Angino Perez and veteran Jose Roman many expected it to end with Perez’s hands being lifted in triumph. After all, they had seen Roman lose or draw 8 times in 12 bouts. He had begun to take on the persona of a setup fighter. The tricky veteran who knows his was around the ring but isn’t supposed to ever put your prospect in danger. Jose’s notice of his role in this contest must have been lost in the mail because from the opening bell he resembled the favorite more than the setup. Viscous body shots and quicker than usual one-two combinations gave way to a third round TKO for the usually playful Roman. I congratulated Jose after his bout and his defining statement to me was “I got tired of losing. All I gotta do is let my hands go and I can’t be beat.” Sure we hear this all the time from boxers but Roman on this night it was true.
True boxing fans all want the same thing. We want to see the best take on the best. We want to see exciting fights between exciting fighters. It is a real treat when one of the best fights I can recall in recent memory didn’t cost me $60 via the pay per view. I hope Roman has a new found resilience and keeps moving up. For the rest of the boxing fans out there support your local shows because you never know if you might be viewing the next great boxer.