By Dave Patek, SEF President
Rather than partake in my usual weekend of partying with the boys on these out of town trips, I brought along my 5 year old son Hunter – who is just getting into contact sports as a casual observer. He does not like wrestling…because even he can tell how fake the WWE is these days. Gone are the full contact days of the Von Erichs and King Kong Brody – In are the moronic Monday evenings where the shoot interviews are the highlight and the actual choreographed ‘fights’ are a side note. But I digress….
Hunter came along to see just what it is that draws his Dad to the great sport of boxing. Athletics and skill come first – the guys in the ring have to know what they are doing. There has to be a combination of defense to go along with a calculated offensive attack. Of course, styles make fights…and that does not always amount to a crowd pleasing event. In fact, in most cases lately it seems just the opposite. Rather than a war for twelve rounds, we have seen some great potential fights turn into chess matches with razor thin decisions (Pac/Marquez and Khan/Peterson).
My son has not come far enough in his boxing education to realize that the sport is more than a playground scrap where the loser is pummeled into a stain. He still thinks that the winner is going to get into some sort of trouble with his buddies for not executing a kick to the balls before the teacher intervenes. Hunter is convinced that showing off after your opponent is mentally beaten is proper etiquette. This leads me into the event that took place this past Saturday in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Civic Center is a HUGE venue. Much bigger than I anticipated. There is a massive lower level with an enormous upper deck. I purchased what I thought were mid-level tickets at $45 each…and we ended up about 500 feet from the action. Think of it as being in the last seat of the upper deck at Savvis center. The ring was the lone “Q” in a giant word search puzzle. Kind of hard to make out at first glance. Fortunately the promoters (KO Kings) positioned two large video screens on either side of the ring for our viewing pleasure.
I have attended boxing matches all over the country – and it’s common knowledge that it has an ‘urban edge’ meaning many more African Americans tend to go to these events than white folks. This match was no exception. Hunter and I were in the vast (and very silent) minority in the upper deck. While I grew up in North County St. Louis – and was deep in the throes of diversity, my son has grown up a little differently – not that he is shielded from other cultures, but it’s way different than it was when I was a kid. Whereas everything was black and white in the 80’s, he does not identify people with race, creed, culture or language. However, boxing events tend to throw curveballs. People in general get animated and those words (that he knows but is not supposed to say) are used liberally. Very liberally.
Let me spin off here for a second and tell you that the Friday before the event, we went to a few places in downtown Atlanta – and he was treated to some of the rudest and most vile behavior I have ever witnessed… even in our hotel lobby. I’ll spare you the details; let’s just say that there are bad people out there that can set an entire culture back by displaying behavior that is horrendously stereotypical. My son heard things and saw things that I’m sure made an impression on him…even if he didn’t discuss it with me (and I wasn’t going to re-hash it with him). This was my primary concern heading into this boxing event. I thought I had made a terrible mistake in judgment.
Anyway - After a few matches of vastly different skill levels, The Outlaw made his debut in Atlanta. Entering the ring to bagpipes and bandanas, he faced off against former Olympian Dante “The Inferno” Craig in what was to be his semi-first fight at Light Heavyweight (Outlaw actually weighed at 177 vs. Craig’s 175). Though I could only see his physique from the monitors, all seems well in the land of Ryan Coyne. He looks chiseled and in terrific shape – not gaunt and pale as one might expect from a guy who cut 20 pounds of muscle in just a few months.
As the bell sounded, and my son and I peered binocular-less into the ring, one thing was clearly evident – SPEED. Ryan has amazing speed, and this was noted by several of the audience members around us. There were also comments made about the chopping right hands that were being landed in frequency to the body of Craig. The formula seems to be working well for Coyne – nasty right hooks to the body, followed by a right uppercut and a straight overhand left if there is an opening. If Ryan got hit through any of his onslaught it was not clearly visible from where I was sitting (but again, from where I was sitting, not much of ANYTHING was clearly visible.) It looked like Outlaw was in complete control. As the second stanza progressed, the body shots were already weakening the resolve of Craig, and his elbows dropped just enough toward the end of the round for Ryan to stick him with straight left hand in the corner. Craig fell – and the beginning of the end was in motion. Clearly hurt as the bell rang, he staggered back to his corner and refused to come out for the third round.
An impressive TKO for Coyne and another fine example of his dedication to a championship run. While Craig might not be a world beater, he was certainly a decent opponent on paper – and for a fighter in the top 5 (4 actually) for the WBC, it was a solid step in the right direction. Great Job Outlaw.
Anyone that knows me is well aware of the disdain and contempt I have for Roy Jones Jr. I think he is an amazing specimen, a brilliant boxer and entertaining character. My problem is that in his prime (and on HBO) he fought some of the WORST hand-picked bums that his team could find. He fought retired cops, garbage men and faded former contenders…and often humiliated them in doing so. Roy was never a traditional boxer, but he often used dance moves…talked down to people – and even landed a punch against Glen Kelly that saw him put one both hands behind his back before surprising his opponent with a right to the temple. All would be killer against solid competition – but it never happened.
At any rate, his fans ate his antics up until he ran into trouble with Antonio Tarver a few years back and never fully recovered. Every time I thought Roy had it together and was taking it seriously again, he pulled his ‘crowd pleasing’ garbage and was horribly stopped. It happened against Danny Green and it happened against Daniel Lebedev…a fight he was winning until he played around and dropped his guard. Turded again.
In what was billed as a probable retirement fight, RJJ entered the ring against another foe of lesser talent – Max Alexander. Alexander did fight on a season of the Contender, but never achieved much after that as a professional. He was (cough) hand-picked as an opponent Roy knew he could beat.
It was obvious from the beginning that Alexander was trying to take Roy out early, and Roy was far too quick to let it happen. He escaped and pivoted plenty of times…showing that old RJJ crowd pleasing style that made him who he is. The crowd howled at his antics – the dancing and shuffling, etc. Just when I went to tell my son how silly it all was, I noticed that he was clapping and smiling for the first time the entire night. He was enjoying himself – he was getting caught up in an electrifying fighter doing what he does best…fire up the crowd. I conceded. And as I looked around one last time, people were on their feet laughing and high fiving at a guy far past his prime having just as much fun as they were. They bought their tickets and got what they paid for. For that Roy, I admire you. You got me (finally)
Prez
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