Two Fight Cards, Two Cities, in Two Nights
10-Jun-08 17:33
5pm on a Friday can never come fast enough. For the majority of my adult life that usually meant I was only minutes away from a $1 draft, and hours away from receiving a text message that read, “RE: Who is this?”. In recent years I have been lucky enough to convert my Friday’s into “Date Night” (luckily with the same amazing girl, and not the numerous faceless/nameless, dinner/movie dates that rarely allowed my hand to stray any further to the right than the “seek” button on the radio). And in recent months, select Friday’s have meant “Fight Night”, as I’ve ventured off to cover many excellent shows in the Philadelphia area. This Friday meant it was a return to Reading, PA…in many ways the place where it all began, as I was set to cover Top Rank’s Telefutura Card before traveling to Atlantic City for Pavlik-Lockett on HBO.
I hit the road around 5:30pm, for what I was hoping would be about an hour commute. It was a rather warm day so I was happy that I remembered to pack an extra shirt for the evening. Happiness turned to helplessness as I found myself at a four-way stop sign. A usually effortless task is made much more difficult when a driver (moi) is trying to turn left, without the use of a functional blinker. Thank God my car is going into the garage on Monday! Things were looking up when I hit the highway to surprisingly find traffic was flowing.
Before I had the opportunity to write for secondsout.com, I covered exactly one fight card. That was also a Top Rank card in Reading that aired on the “VS” network. Its main event featured Hasim Rahman taking on journeyman Zuri Lawrence. Isn’t it funny how some people’s names are always preceded by the same adjectives? “Journeyman” is to Zuri Lawrence as “blue-eyed soul singer” is to Daryl Hall. Anyway, my fight report for Rahman vs Lawrence wasn’t going to be in the sports section of the local newspaper, or submitted to a boxing website, but rather it was destined for the paperless newsletter distributed by the company for which I work. Not necessarily the fan base still buzzing over Cotto-Mosley. Apparently the local media wasn’t too interested in Rahman’s final run for heavyweight glory, and I was granted a press pass from Lee Samuels of Top Rank.
The Sovereign Center was around the corner, so I got in a line of cars and entered a parking garage. True to form the garage was full until I found myself on the roof. I had a few minutes to stretch my legs, and put on a fresh shirt. To my surprise I found myself in a decent sized line as I approached the elevator. Safely on the ground I walked toward the Sovereign Center. The street was filled with a crowd that ranged over at least three generations. This wasn’t the boxing crowd I was expecting. When I entered the building the box office was closed, but I didn’t mind because I was in air conditioning. I did however worry when I was handed a program with a tassel sticking out of it. Unless “Leapin” Lanny Poffo was on the undercard I was in the wrong place. Turns out Sovereign Bank owns two buildings a few blocks apart, and I was in the one that was reserved for a graduation.
Back outside in the heat and not sure exactly where I was going soon caused panic…or at the very least sweat. I found out that I was two-plus blocks away from my destination. No worries….just think “cool” thoughts.
At the ticket window I handed the woman my ID, and told her I was from secondsout.com. A miscommunication had a pass reserved for my editor, Clive Bernath instead of me, but it only caused a delay of a few seconds.
This venue was obviously the older of the two venues, but it wasn’t a dump by any means. The ring was on a stage, and there were three sections of floor seating as well as a balcony. A place I’d go if I wanted to see an area theater production, or maybe even a… graduation.
I got to my seat just in time for the opening bell. Although I was once again in air conditioning the cool air had the opposite effect on my sweat glands. Looking down at my shirt I noticed a few dots of sweat had quickly multiplied. I guess it is sort of like when a toddler falls down, but doesn’t cry until their parent picks them up? People always ask if I get hit with sweat or blood sitting in Press Row, but this was the first time that a fighter was in danger of getting hit with sweat from Press Row.
My seat was located on the floor directly behind the “Blue” corner, and looking up at the stage I realized that I had a perfect view of the trainer, co-trainer, and cut man. My vision was obstructed enough that I could only view about 1/3 of the ring.
I was about to make a move until I was joined on Press Row by Jake Donovan, managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Jake made the trip from Tennessee and we got to talk a little shop between rounds of Harold Citron’s pro debut. Harold is the eldest of the three boxing brothers. He resembled Kermit and Jason in appearance, but his punches weren’t nearly as fluid. To me, he had the look of a wrestler that picked a fist fight. Although he won the first round, he fought as if he had spent the day in a swimming pool. The same no-no that once got me benched in a Little League game. The bout was entertaining. A Cintron cut turned the tide in the second round, and he spent rounds two and three with his back against the ropes and taking punishment. I thought he rallied to earn at least a draw, but two of the three judges gave the nod to Gustavo Delli.
Following the fight I turned to see that Kermit Cintron was sitting behind me, sporting a bandaged right hand. I overheard him telling referee Steve Smoger that he had to have surgery on the hand. The “Killer” was gone before I could ask him about the injury and his future plans. I for one would love to see Kermit move up to 154lbs. I think he could make a run in a division that is suddenly filled with future potentially exciting opponents such as: James Kirkland, Joel Julio, and Alfredo Angulo to name a few.
The televised portion of the card began, and I decided to move a few rows back so I could get a better view of the entire ring.
Cruiserweight Julio Cesar Matthews thrilled the hometown crowd and impressed the television audience with a first round beat down of Josh Harris. A barrage of head shots sent Harris to the canvas for the second and final time at 2:23 of the opening round.
Matthews is trained by Marshall Kauffman, who was wearing the hats of both trainer and co-promoter for this event. Kauffman just has the look of a guy that was born to coach. Whether it would be football, baseball, or boxing, he seems like a guy that I’d love to play for.
The final bout of the evening saw prospect Argenis Mendez improve to 12-0 (8) against the rugged Jose Navarette. Mendez started strong, and soon realized that his complete arsenal failed to dent Navarette’s chin. Unfazed, Mendez decided to box his way to victory. I put my pen away in round three, and didn’t see anything in the ring that would cause drama when it went to the cards. Somehow, one of the judges saw it differently and scored the bout 57-56 for Navarette. My faith was restored when the final two cards of 59-55 and 60-54 were read in favor of Mendez. I know that judges see things differently, but not even an obstructed view from behind the blue corner is an excuse to be that far off.
Ok. It’s now time to pack my overnight bag, give my pug Mosley a kiss, and hit the road for Atlantic City. And for my faithful fan base of 3, keep checking out secondsout.com for as many blogs as I could squeeze in this weekend. Don’t worry, they won’t be this long!
Boxing, Horse Racing, and an awful economy are making the headlines. Where have you gone James J. Braddock?
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