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kenyan_cheena · 05-23-2005, 11:57 AM

Main Event

A night already packed with more excitement and drama than the audience had a right to ask for came to its conclusion when the #9 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament climbed into the ring for his second professional bout.

The pride of Nova Scotia, Sam Langford entered the ring wearing a robe of red and white, his trunks white with a trio of thin red piping up each side. All 5'8" of him was a mass of hyper-frenzied activity, showing head movements upon head movements to his South African opponent, Gerrie Coetzee as he prowled around the ring.

At 183 pounds, the 19 year-old Canadian was only three pounds above the HBF's minimum weight limit. Coetzee, the 104th seed in the tournament, tipped the scales at 199. Standing six inches taller, some had said that he might be able to use this advantage to frustrate and smother Langford's attack. Obviously, those people hadn't seen the Canadian in his debut against the also much taller John Holman.

Well, on this night, those people who had given Coetzee a chance would be only very slightly right.

Langford was not quite as dominant as he had been on debut against John Holman, and Coetzee showed a lot more than he had while being decimated by Tom Sharkey. Even so, in the end, the dynamic Canadian was able to take a comfortable unanimous decision victory, 59-55, 59-56, 59-55.

With the exception of round two, Langford was in control for the duration of the bout, building up on his workrate as the fight progressed, to the point where he showed some dazzling combinations and ripping left hooks in the fourth and fifth rounds. There were no knockdowns.

The final punch totals showed the ease with which Langford achieved this victory, as he landed 173 punches to 82.

"I give all credit to The Lord," Langford said. "This is the path He's laid down for me. Gerrie Coetzee's a tough guy. He showed a lot of heart in there tonight, and I wish him all the best in his future bouts."

The audience applauded Langford's graciousness, and Coetzee himself exchanged another series of handshakes and kind words with the 9th seed.

"Sam, so far in this tournament, you've had to fight two guys who both stood at least six inches taller than you," said Jay Marlow. "Your next opponent is Jim Savage, who is a bit shorter by comparison at only five-ten. Will that be a relief to be going against someone shorter?"

Langford laughed. "Here you are, going on about my height again?" he joked. "No, I don't think it really matters. No respect to John Holman and Gerrie Coetzee, but the height difference isn't important. Doesn't matter if the guy is a foot taller than me, I'm going to prepare and do what is necessary to give me the greatest chance of success."

"Now, leading up to tonight, Tom Sharkey had taken it upon himself to draw comparisons between the two of you, saying that he needed to make himself look better than you. Has that had any impression on you?"

Langford smiled. "The guy looked pretty good tonight," he said. "That was just a great knockout, I have to say. You know, he's the 2nd seed in the group and it doesn't surprise me at all that he has said those things. We are all competing for the one prize, and in our group, I am supposedly his biggest obstacle, being the top seed. It's just going to be a great challenge when we step into the ring against each other. He's done an excellent job so far, you know. He's knocked out two guys within three rounds who have both taken me the full six rounds, so you can't ignore that."

"We really are all looking forward to that, Sam," said Marlow. "Congratulations on your victory tonight, and best of luck for your next bout in the tournament."

"Thank you so much, Jay," said Langford. "I want to thank ESPN and the HBF, but mostly I want to thank this terrific audience for helping to make tonight so special. I think all of you really inspired the fighters to raise their level of competitiveness. So, thanks to all of you, and God bless."

Once again, Sam Langford had shown that he knows how to win a crowd over, and he returned to the dressing room with the chants of "Langford! Langford! Langford!" ringing in his ears...

05-23-2005, 11:57 AM	#152 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,621	Main Event A night already packed with more excitement and drama than the audience had a right to ask for came to its conclusion when the #9 seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament climbed into the ring for his second professional bout. The pride of Nova Scotia, Sam Langford entered the ring wearing a robe of red and white, his trunks white with a trio of thin red piping up each side. All 5'8" of him was a mass of hyper-frenzied activity, showing head movements upon head movements to his South African opponent, Gerrie Coetzee as he prowled around the ring. At 183 pounds, the 19 year-old Canadian was only three pounds above the HBF's minimum weight limit. Coetzee, the 104th seed in the tournament, tipped the scales at 199. Standing six inches taller, some had said that he might be able to use this advantage to frustrate and smother Langford's attack. Obviously, those people hadn't seen the Canadian in his debut against the also much taller John Holman. Well, on this night, those people who had given Coetzee a chance would be only very slightly right. Langford was not quite as dominant as he had been on debut against John Holman, and Coetzee showed a lot more than he had while being decimated by Tom Sharkey. Even so, in the end, the dynamic Canadian was able to take a comfortable unanimous decision victory, 59-55, 59-56, 59-55. With the exception of round two, Langford was in control for the duration of the bout, building up on his workrate as the fight progressed, to the point where he showed some dazzling combinations and ripping left hooks in the fourth and fifth rounds. There were no knockdowns. The final punch totals showed the ease with which Langford achieved this victory, as he landed 173 punches to 82. "I give all credit to The Lord," Langford said. "This is the path He's laid down for me. Gerrie Coetzee's a tough guy. He showed a lot of heart in there tonight, and I wish him all the best in his future bouts." The audience applauded Langford's graciousness, and Coetzee himself exchanged another series of handshakes and kind words with the 9th seed. "Sam, so far in this tournament, you've had to fight two guys who both stood at least six inches taller than you," said Jay Marlow. "Your next opponent is Jim Savage, who is a bit shorter by comparison at only five-ten. Will that be a relief to be going against someone shorter?" Langford laughed. "Here you are, going on about my height again?" he joked. "No, I don't think it really matters. No respect to John Holman and Gerrie Coetzee, but the height difference isn't important. Doesn't matter if the guy is a foot taller than me, I'm going to prepare and do what is necessary to give me the greatest chance of success." "Now, leading up to tonight, Tom Sharkey had taken it upon himself to draw comparisons between the two of you, saying that he needed to make himself look better than you. Has that had any impression on you?" Langford smiled. "The guy looked pretty good tonight," he said. "That was just a great knockout, I have to say. You know, he's the 2nd seed in the group and it doesn't surprise me at all that he has said those things. We are all competing for the one prize, and in our group, I am supposedly his biggest obstacle, being the top seed. It's just going to be a great challenge when we step into the ring against each other. He's done an excellent job so far, you know. He's knocked out two guys within three rounds who have both taken me the full six rounds, so you can't ignore that." "We really are all looking forward to that, Sam," said Marlow. "Congratulations on your victory tonight, and best of luck for your next bout in the tournament." "Thank you so much, Jay," said Langford. "I want to thank ESPN and the HBF, but mostly I want to thank this terrific audience for helping to make tonight so special. I think all of you really inspired the fighters to raise their level of competitiveness. So, thanks to all of you, and God bless." Once again, Sam Langford had shown that he knows how to win a crowd over, and he returned to the dressing room with the chants of "Langford! Langford! Langford!" ringing in his ears... Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 05-23-2005 at 08:26 PM.