02.12.06 – By Wray Edwards: Photo © Wray Edwards – Jeff and Ronald have a lot in common. They live near each other in the Tampa Bay area. They both fight in the middleweight to super middleweight divisions. They have both struck out on their own from the Gary Shaw promotional camp. They will both be in the same ring (though not together) this Saturday night and, most importantly, neither fighter won his last match. Early in the year Jeff went to Jolly Old to defend his titles and took on the pride of Wales, Joe Calzaghe. Jeff was schooled by Joe and got his first glimpse of world class boxing and tactics…more about that later.
Winky traveled to Memphis to fight Jermain Taylor in a WBC/WBO title meeting. The very busy scrap left Ronald with a puffy face and Jermain with a closed eye.
That meeting ended in a points draw. So the stage is set for two of the most exciting fighters in Boxing to demonstrate their will and adaptability. Ronald at 35 is considerably older than Jeff, 29. Jeff’s Golden Boy debut may or may not be a harbinger of the future. Winky’s foray into self promotion is also on the line. What follows is my opinion of their chances in the immediate event and long term.
First let’s look a JEFF’S position. He was somewhat overlooked at the press conference, and treated a bit like his bout was not a co-feature which it is, and should be. Just because Lacy had a lot to say about his expectations approaching the Calzaghe tussle, does not mean that he is a hollow boxer. Fighting Calzaghe might have been just what Lacy needed to ground him in the necessity for adaptability and especially how to deal with a crafty and formidable fighter such as Joe.
The 90 plus times Calzaghe hooked his right under Jeff’s left, effectively forced Lacy to be a one-armed fighter through most of the fight. It was very effective, though in the estimation of many, a borderline tactic. Well that was just too bad for Jeff. He has to learn how to deal effectively with a myriad of styles and tactics. Not every ref will call the same infractions so, in a less than perfect world, he will become successful at the elite level only if he can adapt. Manny has shown that it can be done. Jeff has a great heart and does not seem like the kind of fighter or man who will let a setback deter him from a final expression of his Boxing potential.
The sport is replete with examples of strong, young bucks who jump out of the trees and challenge with a frenzy of power and head-long fighting to claim his harem…That all comes to a screeching halt when the great stag of the mountain comes with his tricks and age-worn toughness. Then, brought up short, the youngster must step away, lick his wounds and make careful plans to develop the skills necessary to be successful next time.
We stood on the apron as the judges called a draw in the Abragimov/Austin bout. From the look on Sultan’s face, it was obvious that he was disappointed, but shortly thereafter, where few could see, he firmly committed himself to improve. Other boxers have learned that sometimes the only thing we learn from continuous victories is arrogance. It often takes an attention getting defeat to teach a man what his limitations are, and prompt him to make every effort to overcome them. Jeff has the stuff for that. He is being underestimated.
As for WINKY this meeting with Quartey should be a very exciting encounter. Their styles make for plenty of action and Ike, who is more orthodox than Soliman, will play into Wright’s battle plan quite well. Ronald is a cool customer with a certain reservation in his approach to the sport which does not often include bravado or trash talk. If, however, there is any controversy as there was after the Taylor decision, he is known to skip the press conference rather than indulge in useless debate after the fact…common sense methinks.
Promoting his own enterprise may have the effect of increasing his self-confidence, as if he needed more, and remove what can often be a wrangle of opinions about this and that. With Dan Birmingham still in the mix one does not expect Winky’s abilities to flag for other than reasons of age.
During the weigh-in Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Lou DeBilla, Shelley Finkel, Samson Lewkowicz, Shane Mosley with Dad Mosley and other luminaries worked the room. The room was chock full of photogs, boxer groupies, state officials and General Chaos brought along most of his soldiers.
Why the sport continues to shoot itself in the foot by scheduling two notable events at the same time on the same weekend is a mystery. There were boring, non event weekends a plenty on which one or the other of these events could have been staged. Certainly it is not fair to the fans or the sport not to communicate and avoid these petty conflicts.
So enjoy the picture gallery and we’ll see you at the fights.