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SENSATIONAL SADDLER
SIZZLES AT STAPLES CENTER
Thursday 26 September 2002
Regarded as one of the finds of the IBL's Atlantic City selection trials, 19 year-old Boston Featherweight Joseph "Sandy" Saddler was disappointed when the league confirmed that he'd been placed in the Future Contender series rather than the World Championship regional qualifiers. He felt he'd earned the right to compete for a shot at the championship and was not impressed that he'd have to bide his time for a good eighteen months before fighting against ranked opponents. League scouts had actually pointed to his maturity in deciding to place him in the FC series, saying Saddler had taken to "sulking" and acted in a "temperamental" fashion at times during the course of the New Jersey trials. Saddler had denied those claims but tonight he put his unhappiness to one side and made a spectacular professional debut, knocking out Ghana's Joe Tetteh in round three at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Saddler made his way into the ring wearing an oversized Troy Brown #80 New England Patriots jersey and a Red Sox baseball cap turned sideways, a pounding hip hop anthem accompanying him with each step. He looked cocky, confident and excited, his trunks mainly white with red and navy blue trim, SADDLER stenciled in white on the waistband. He came out aggressively in round one, tagging his unfancied opponent at will with punishing combinations. At 5'8" Saddler is one of the taller Featherweights and he used his three-inch height advantage to the fullest, striking at Tetteh from long range. To his credit the African fighter gave a good account of himself in the 2nd round, an exciting three minutes that featured some explosive exchanges. Tetteh was able to get inside with success, working the body and also catching Saddler with a pair of hard uppercuts. All three judges scored the round in his favour.
Unfortunately for the African that would be as close as he came to victory as, after controlling most of the round, Saddler caught him with a flush, smashing right hook eight seconds from the bell. The shot dropped Tetteh like a bullet from a sniper and he didn't move for the duration of the count, the fight declared over at the end of round three. Saddler made a trio of circuits around the ring, nodding and smiling to the crowd, right fist raised high. With one punch he illustrated that he's not just a talented boxer, also possessing serious knockout power. He landed 81 of 229 punches (.354), Tetteh 54 of 124 (.435).
"It was a lot of fun," said Saddler, a grin from ear to ear. "Just bein' in the ring after waitin' so long, it's a real rush. Maybe I got a bit excited, bit too aggressive there in round two, but damn it felt good landing that right hand. When you land a shot like that you feel it right up your arm, you know? Like crushin' a fas'ball, man. I'm already up for the nex' one, no doubt."
His opponent may have been of limited ability, but "Sandy" Saddler showed enough tonight to say that he'll be a serious contender further down the road...
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL BOXING LEAGUE FIGHT CARD
THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2002
STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA
IBL FUTURE CONTENDER SERIES
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION - GROUP ONE, SERIES ONE
OPENING BOUT
Ray Famechon TKO5 Stephen Morris
PRELIMINARY 1
Jack Wolfe UD6 Luiz Feola
PRELIMINARY 2
Carmelo Negron SD6 Ricardo Morales
SUPPORT BOUT
Howard Winstone MD6 Alan Sigurdsen
CO-FEATURE
Alberto Martinez TKO5 Carlos Mendoza
MAIN EVENT
Joseph Saddler KO3 Joe Tetteh
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