Thursday, February 10, 2000
Local boxers 2-for-4 at Olympic Trials
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TAMPA, Fla. — Midway through the afternoon session of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Trials here Wednesday, two of Cincinnati's boxers had been upset, and Ricardo Williams Jr. wasn't fighting for another five hours.
It was up to Dante Craig to raise the fallen banner.
And he did, jabbing and straight right-handing his way to a tough 14-12 decision over LeChaunce Shepherd of Milwaukee, who twice in the third round nailed Craig with left hooks that stunned him.
“Coming out for the fourth (final) round, my attitude was, "I need this round to win the fight,'” said Craig, 21, a graduate of Woodward High School. “As soon as I heard the bell, I poured it on.”
The first- and second-place finishers in each of the 12 weight classes advance to the U.S. Olympic Trials Boxoffs in Connecticut at the end of this month. For a second-place finisher to make the Olympic team, he would have to beat the first-place finisher twice in Connecticut.
“I'm not even thinking about that now,” said Craig, a 147-pounder. “I'm just thinking of my next fight.”
That comes tonight vs. Ramon Olivas of Phoenix.
Coach Roy Dale said it could have been an easier match if Craig had taken aim at Shepherd's body. But it is often hard to get amateurs to do that, because they think shots to the head count more than those to the body.
“In the next bout, I want to see Dante work up and down, work the head and chest, and throw a lot of double jabs and then the right hand,” Dale said.
Craig boxes at the Findlay Street Neighborhood House but occasionally ventures over to the Mount Auburn Gym, to spar with his longtime friend, Williams, as a way to gauge his tournament readiness.
“I'm glad I did that, because I hadn't had a tournament bout since October,“ Craig said. “Even with that, I felt a little slow. My coach kept telling me to pick up my pace, but I never really did. I'll do that (tonight), because I usually get better as the tournaments go on.”
Shepherd, the silver medalist in the Pan-Am Games, packed more wallop than Craig, who was faster and had a longer reach.
But in amateur boxing, no more points are awarded for a crushing blow than a cleanly landed punch that doesn't stun the recipient. As long as there's body weight behind the punch, the point is awarded.
In other matches Wednes day:
• Williams, 18, a graduate of Taft High School, lived up to his pre-tournament billing, dominating Corey Bernard, of Fort Carson, Colo., 25-9, in the 139-pound class.
“I threw a lot of straight punches, 1-2's, to make his head snap back,” Williams said. “That makes the judges recognize points.”
Williams will box Dmetrius Hopkins, the national Golden Gloves champion from Philadelphia, today.
• Gerald Tucker, 21, a Purcell Marian graduate who had trained in Texas for these trials because he couldn't get the sparring that he needed in the 119-pound weight class in Cincinnati, was upset 10-7 by Carney Bowman of York, Pa.
USA Boxing officials called it the upset of the afternoon session. Tucker came in rated No.2 nationally in his weight class and was well-known by the other boxers — especially his opponent — for having won Pan-Am gold last year.
Bowman, 17, qualified for the Trials by winning the Eastern Regionals, the last-chance avenue into this tournament. It was only his third bout as a 119-pounder. He had been boxing at 112.
Tucker landed heavier punches — bloodying Bowman's nose and raising a welt under his left eye — but Bowman landed many more punches.
“I couldn't get to him,” Tucker said. “And when I did get to him, he threw two or three punches to my one. It was an awkward fight for me.”
But Tucker is still “alive,” because this is a double-elimination tournament.
He will box Sergio Espinoza, of San Diego today.
• Ron Siler Jr., 19, of Northside Boxing Club, was upset 19-7 in the 106-pound class by Nonito Donaire, 17, of San Diego.
“I underestimated him,” Siler said. “He just came from the JO's (Junior Olympics). He was strong, a slugger. He showed it right from the get-go. He jumped on me like I was nobody. I made the mistake of fighting his fight. I tried to slug with him instead of boxing and moving.”
Siler will box Akbar Walton of New York today.
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