by James Slater: On the under-card of the massively intriguing June 28th lightweight battle between David Diaz and Manny Pacquiao, there is an also quite interesting heavyweight clash. The huge Tye Fields takes what is arguably his sternest test yet when he meets former world title challenger Monte Barrett over ten rounds..
The jury is still very much out on the 33 year old Fields, a massive southpaw who stands at 6’8.” And though the 36 year old Barrett has seen better days, he can be extremely dangerous at times – as he proved when stopping the then unbeaten Owen Beck a couple of years back. Since then “Two Gunz” has lost three of his last five, but he enters the bout with Fields having won his last two fights by quick KO. Will Barrett ruin Fields’ chances of possibly becoming the next big thing (figuratively and literally) at heavyweight?
Apart from an early blip in his career, when he was stopped in just one round by the 2-0 Jeff Ford, Fields, who weighs-in at around 260-270 pounds, has been perfect. In amassing a statistically impressive record of 41-1(37) the colossus has got people talking. He clearly has size, strength and some punching power, but is “Big Sky” the real deal? The fight with Barrett will likely answer at least a coupe of questions. The biggest question any emerging yet largely untested heavyweight contender faces is one regarding his chin. Can Fields take a good shot on the jaw? Barrett will certainly be aiming to find out.
There is no doubt the smaller Barrett has faced the better opposition. In his career record of 33-6(19), the 36 year old has been in with Lance Whitaker (L split 12), Wladmir Klitschko (L TKO 7), Tim Witherspoon (W split 10), Joe Mesi (L Majority 10), Hasim Rahman (L unanimous 12) and Nikolay Valuev (L TKO 11). That’s quite a list of good fighters. Tye Fields, on the other hand, could probably only point to former champ Bruce Seldon and proven trial horse Sedreck Fields as his two best opponents. And though Barrett lost to most of the good men he fought, he rarely goes down easily or quickly.
At age 33, it is time for Fields to make a move and step up in quality. Monte Barrett, at the very least, offers a slight move in the right direction. Something tells me this one could be lively! I go for Fields to grind “Two Gunz” down for a late stoppage. But he will likely have to go through some rough patches first.