By Derek Gionta: Super featherweight Monty Meza-Clay (28-3, 19 KOs) of Pittsburgh, PA will make his anticipated return to the ring at the new Rivers Casino in downtown Pittsburgh this Saturday night (August 28th) against Saint Paul, Minnesota native Allen “The American Boy” Litzau (13-5, 7 KOs)in an 8 round main event. This promotion entitled, “Rumble on the River,” will be the inaugural boxing event at the new casino. The show will take place at the casino’s outdoor amphitheater, which is located along the Ohio River.
Meza-Clay recently held a media workout (August 20th) at the casino amphitheater where he will make his return to the ring after a one year layoff.
Aside from a new hair style, a few new tattoos, and some minor adjustments made to his arsenal by long-time trainer Tommy Yankello, Meza-Clay was his old self making jokes in between some intense rounds on the hand mitts with Yankello and talking with the media on a very humid summer afternoon.
Clay, at 5’2”, will be moving back to the 130 lb division after a handful of fights in the featherweight division. Clay mentioned, “I had to lose too much weight when I fought at 126. My family almost didn’t recognize me (laughing).”
Meza-Clay, at 29 years old, has held titles (IBA Super Featherweight, IBC Americas Super Featherweight, and a couple of local titles), fought a number of world class fighters, and has been highly ranked in three of the major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBO, and IBF) in the sport.
In his last fight just over one year ago, Clay suffered his third defeat as a pro, dropping a competitive 12 round decision to Fernando Beltran Jr. in Laredo, Texas (June ‘09). That fight was for the IBF Latino featherweight title. Five months prior, Meza-Clay, riding an eight fight winning streak, made the trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico where he faced Jorge Solis in an IBF featherweight title eliminator bout. The bout was stopped in the fifth round by referee Pat Russell as Solis had Meza-Clay on the ropes, scoring the TKO. Some felt the bout was stopped premature.
Meza-Clay’s response was about as no-nonsense as his fighting style. “It is what it is. Some feel it was a good stoppage, some feel it wasn’t. I’m here to fight. It was a great opportunity that didn’t work out as we planned, but I’m back and ready for new challenges,” said Meza-Clay.
Meza-Clay’s manager Mark Yankello, the brother of his trainer Tommy Yankello, was optimistic about the future of his fighter. “Monty took a huge step up against Solis and Beltran. They were two of the best guys in the division. If he beats Solis, he gets a crack at the IBF title. He’s 28-3 and he’s still a pretty young guy,” stated Yankello. “Hopefully within a fight or two Monty breaks back into the rankings and gets back on TV. I don’t feel the losses hurt his ranking as much as some may think. He’s had his share of injuries and the year layoff is what dropped him from the top 15 in the major sanctioning bodies.”
Prior to those two fights, Meza-Clay fought in his hometown of Pittsburgh where he defeated former IBF featherweight champion Eric Aiken by a seventhh rd TKO on ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights in February of ‘08 followed up with a brutal firstt round knockout of Fernando Omar Lizarraga on Telefutura in May of ‘08.
Meza-Clay’s trainer, Tommy Yankello has made some minor adjustments to Monty’s game that he feels will be a great addition. “I’m having Monty use his jab a lot more and pivoting more than he ever has,” stated Yankello. “A lot of guys have great head movement, but if they get away from using their jab consistently they can be picked off.” Yankello has seen almost every style in the book. He has trained a wealth of amateur and professional fighters in his time, most notably former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora, as well as two former heavyweight contenders in Calvin Brock and Brian Minto.
Meza-Clay feels great about his training regimen. “Tommy does a great job adapting to different styles of fighters and fine-tuning them, where some trainers look to totally change how a guy fights.”
Litzau, 28, the older brother of featherweight Jason Litzau, has had his share of tough fights since turning pro in November of 2002, sharing the ring with the likes of Josesito Lopez, Wilton Hilario, and Luis Ramos Jr. At 5’7” tall, he will have the height advantage over Meza-Clay, which is nothing new to Monty. “I’m just about always the shorter guy,” stated Meza-Clay. “Like always, I’ll come to fight.”
When this reporter asked the former IBA champ if he was looking for the knockout. He responded, to no one’s surprise saying, “most definitely!”
The matchmaker for this event is Mark Yankello, who put together a card consisting of six pro bouts and 1 amateur bout. The event will be promoted by Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring Inc. in association with Troy Ridgley’s TNT Sports Promotions and the Rivers Casino.
August 25, 2010
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