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OLYMPIANS "LOOKING TOO FAR AHEAD",
SAYS REYNOLDS
Tuesday 10 September 2002
Writing today in his New York Age column, sports journalist James Reynolds has taken a shot at some of the Olympic medallists competing in the International Boxing League's regional qualifiers. In particular, he singled out Jamaica's gold medallist Mike McCallum and the Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad, who suffered a surprise debut defeat last night in front of his fellow countrymen.
"Let's take a look at the numbers," Reynolds wrote. "The IBL has 27 Sydney Olympics medallists competing in their tournaments. So far, fourteen of them have made their debut and three have been defeated. That's a surprisingly bad strike rate, in my opinion. The German fellow Rocchigiani, maybe I can excuse him becuase that was a terribly close fight. But Mike McCallum and Felix Trinidad? Just woeful performances. I'm amazed that two fighters of their calibre would step in the ring as unprepared as they were, McCallum physically and Trinidad mentally."
Reynolds went on to write that Trinidad displayed all the resolve of a mound of dirt.
"It was incredible to see it in his eyes. The moment the fight turned against him, he had no idea what to do. He didn't just panic, he completely froze like a deer in the headlights. That allowed a fighter who shouldn't even be mentioned in the same ballpark as him to score a victory over him. It's shameful, really it is. I think some of these Olympians are looking too far ahead. They're just assuming that all they'll have to do is show up and the rest will take care of itself. That's not how it's gonna happen, because the field of competitors in these tournaments are tough. I wouldn't be surprised if we see two or three more upsets of this nature before series one is completed."
Reynolds did dedicate some of his article to the excitement of the scheduled series two clash between the Cuban duo of Luis Rodriguez and Olympic silver medallist Jose Napoles.
"That figures to be the matchup of series two," wrote Reynolds. "They aren't just the two best Welterweights in Cuba, they're also the two best fighters. Period. I guess it's good for their chances that they get this bout out of the way early. Rodriguez was held to a draw last night so a win will be vital for him. He won't want to go into series three without a victory to his name."
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