When Cities Collide - Connecticut Invasion

By Derek Bonnett: The words “boxing is a dying sport” can never be taken seriously when hordes of pre-pubescent children are seen scurrying around the perimeter of a boxing ring, shadow boxing and “shoe shining”, minutes before an opening bout gets underway.

Such was the case at Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, a mixed martial arts fitness center in Middletown, CT, prior to the start of a exciting evening of amateur boxing dubbed “When Cities Collide - Connecticut Invasion". Amateur boxers from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and even as far as Montreal, Canada traveled to be a part o the competition. World class boxing trainer and former world title challenger, "Iceman" John Scully, was gracious enough to invite Secondsout to the event to report from ringside.

As a Connecticut native, it was exhilarating to see some of the Constitution State’s young talent in action, and it’s comforting to know there is someone like Scully doing his part to strengthen Connecticut boxing. Most notably, the New England state has produced such talent as Willie Pep, Marlon Starling, Lawrence Clay-Bey, Israel Cardona and, of course, Scully himself. Clay-Bey, Cardona, and Scully were in attendance as well as super bantamweight Mike Oliver.

The evening started with a battle between two diminutive pugilists in the 65 pound JO class. David James of the Champions of Life gym was matched against Julio Nieves of the Ring One gym. Stepping into the ring over the lowest rope, each youngster represented their respective clubs with pride. Nieves applied the early pressure and moved forward throughout the bout, while James jabbed patiently to find his distance. James showed the better footwork as he began to circle with the jab, not allowing his opponent the chance to find his own footing to fire his power shots with accuracy. After splitting the first two rounds, neither combatant was willing to let the other get the best of him and both openly traded in the third of their scheduled one minute rounds. Neither neophyte boxer deserved to lose, but James was favored by the judges’ scorecards.

"I just want to keep fighting," the sixty-five pound James stated at the end of the night, while proudly wearing his medal. "I wasn’t ever really nervous fighting in front of the crowd because I just pretended nobody was there. I’d give myself an A+ and my opponent as well."

The audience in Middletown was treated to an impressive display of determination as the JO Best Boxer Award recipient, Jimmy Thompson, came from behind to defeat Liram Lajqi in a 125 pound bout. Lajqi started the first round will extreme confidence and dominated the round with four and five punch combinations to make the Westchester Boxing Club proud. However, the high guarded Ring 83 Montreal-based Thompson let his hands go and stalked his opponent to cut off the ring on his adversary and turn the tide of the bout. Lajqi was stunned several times over the final two rounds, but fought gamely. The bout finished with Thompson firing at will while his opponent could only cover up to diminish the impact of the blows.
The ladies weren’t excluded from the action at the Lion’s Den, but the action would be brief. Ring One’s Nephateria Miller stopped Hailey Kinney in forty-four seconds of the first round. A rapid four punch combination by Miller prompted a standing eight count for Kinney. During the count, the referee saw something in Kinney’s eyes and waved it off. The stoppage appeared pre-mature, but the safety of the fighters was the top priority in Middletown. Kinney represented Whitley Bros. Gym and was upset with the stoppage.
In a Novice bout of special importance to Connecticut, Jarin Clay-Bey, son of U.S. Olympian and former heavyweight contender Lawrence Clay-Bey, competed in only his fourth amateur bout. Clay-Bey met massive 178 pounder Dan Magistralie from Precision Boxing in Vermont. The bloodlines of Clay-Bey were obvious immediately as he put his impressive skill-set on display from the opening bell until the doctor intervened at the 1:55 mark of the second round. Clay-Bey moved around the ring and picked off his opponent’s shots with his gloves with far more ease than one would expect of a participant with his lack of experience. He dropped Magistralie with a right hand just for the stoppage.

The co-trainers offered a little bit of insight on Clay-Bey’s performance and their expectations.

"Jarin spars with his dad, me, Pito Cardona, and Lou Del Valle," stated Scully. "He’s not getting it easy in there. Other coaches see him and don’t believe he only has four fights; they think I’m hustling them."

"I’d give Jarin a B, maybe a B+ tonight. He looked pretty good overall, but he still has some things to work on," Papa Clay-Bey assessed. "We’d like to get those improvements by the next turn of the Golden Gloves. We need a little more time and better competition. We’re going to take him out of state to get a taste of some different flavors."

Nick Walden, Champions of Life, captured the Connecticut JO165 pound state championship with a gutsy victory over Tyshaun Fair, who represented Ring One. Walden abandoned technique and used energy and aggression to overcome his opponent in what was a dominant performance. Fair tried to move in circles with his jab pumping, but Walden easily worked his way inside to land lead hooks to the body and head. The final round had the best two way action of the fight, but the verdict looked cemented and Walden never slowed down. The bout was marred only by a display poor sportsmanship from Fair, who refused to shake hands respectfully and snatched his consolation medal from the hands of the referee. All other Ring One boxers carried themselves with great respect for their coach and gym.
In the main event, the cheering from the crowd, still amped up from Walden’s performance, reached a crescendo as Joey "Chip" Perez from Champions of Life took on Kevin La Vallee of Ring 83 Montreal in a 132 pound Open bout. The fight was easily the best match-up of the night and the four time Canadian Golden Gloves champion showed a heart reminiscent of Kennedy McKinney in his KO loss to Marco Antonio Barrera. Perez fired his best hooks to the body and head in rapid sequence that sparked a miniature reminder of a certain Brownsville heavyweight from the 1980’s. Perez’ intensity was unmatched throughout the night, but for each punishing combination landed, La Vallee fired right back and never gave up ground. It was easy to imagine an amateur fighter growing insecure by La Vallee’s ability to absorb punishment, but Perez took it as a challenge. The crowd was on its feet as Perez edged past La Vallee over the first two rounds. Finally, in the third round, Perez created some distance between the two men and proved his superiority. Bloodied from the nose and covering up at the bouts conclusion, La Vallee accepted defeat, but only because it was from the Open class Best Boxer Award recipient.

In regards to the night as a whole both Scully and the elder Clay-Bey appeared elated by the night’s action.

"It ended with a bang and it was very exciting; I’m very happy," Scully stated. " I’m happy with the enthusiasm from the crowd. That’s the third main event "Chip" Perez has done and all three had the crowd just like that going crazy. It’s really exciting to do it just like that. That’s why I put him in last."

"It was a beautiful night. Good fights and good competition," Clay-Bey said. "I’m really impressed with the crowd and their support for our amateur program in Connecticut."

Other results at The Lion’s Den:
JO 156 Pounds: Will Schaefer (Fighting Fitness) defeated Jerrod Gaskins (Champions of Life)
Novice 152 Pounds: John Smith (KO Artistic Boxing) defeated Ray McNeil (Champions of Life)
Novice 132 Pounds: Lucien Benway (Precision Boxing Vermont) defeated Chris Fontanez (Whitley Brothers Gym)
Novice 165 Pounds: Jeremy Becker (Whitley Brothers Gym) defeated John Haley (Precision Boxing Vermont)
Open 178 Pounds: Ahmad Mickens (Revolution Fitness) defeated Telli Diallo (Ring 83 Montreal)
Open 141 Pounds: Rollin Whitley (Whitley Brothers Gym) defeated Ryan Paris (R&K Fitness)