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Halifax Sunday
Chronicle-Herald

SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2006

LANGFORD KNOCKED OUT OF
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

Story by Louis Haywood

Nova Scotia's two-time Olympic gold medallist Sam Langford suffered the first defeat of his professional boxing career last night, losing by split decision to the Italian Massimiliano Duran in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The bout was a quarter-final of the International Boxing League's World Junior-Heavyweight Championship tournament. Despite having considerably less experience than Duran most expected that the fantastically talented 24 year-old would have little trouble overcoming the Italian and upon final assessment of the contest Langford was painfully close to victory. Not only tasting the previously unfamiliar bitterness of a pro defeat, Langford was also sent to the canvas for the first time as a professional 2:22 into round nine. He had been winning the frame comfortably but a jolting left hook stunned Langford and a follow-up barrage dumped him on his backside. He was quickly back on his feet but the knockdown was effectively a three-point turnaround as each judge gave Duran the round, 10-8. The final scorecards read 96-93, 93-96, 95-94, meaning that Langford would have been the victor if not for the knockdown.

Langford's exploits winning gold as a welterweight in Sydney and then at light-heavyweight in Athens secured his place as one of Canada's Olympic greats and he is perhaps the most popular sporting personality in our nation today. As a professional he has continued to set an outstanding example for Canada's youth with his humility, modesty and selfless attitude. After being firstly reported months ago as speculation it's now been confirmed as a fact that Langford's open and honest expressions of his Christian beliefs has led to a jump in the number of Canadians attending church each week, quite an extraordinary example of the influence the man has. Many boxing experts were predicting that he was good enough to go through the IBL tournament undefeated and claim his division's inaugural championship. They failed to acknowledge the fact that Langford had never fought anyone with the same big-fight experience as Duran, who was the IBF cruiserweight champion for two years before losing the title to Carlos DeLeon in early 2004. True, if Langford stays on his feet he wins the fight but Duran tested him to a greater extent than any of his previous opponents had.

After a competitive opening round Langford had the better of the next three before Duran came back into the fight with some effective work in the 5th. At the mid-point of the contest Langford was leading on two scorecards and still held the upperhand at the conclusion of round eight. He had hurt Duran with some punishing shots in that stanza and the Italian was wearing some nasty swelling under his right eye. An accidental headbutt early in the 9th resulted in a cut outside Duran's right eyebrow and the sight of blood made Langford more aggressive. He pounded Duran with a series of stinging body shots and just as it looked like the Italian's resistance was fading he produced that huge left hook that turned the fight on its ear. After rising from the knockdown Langford appeared shaken, perhaps more from the experience of being on the canvas than any physical damage. His finish to the fight was outstanding as he clubbed Duran with at least half-a-dozen flush, single power punches through the final round, the best of them a vicious cross that turned his man's legs to jelly ten seconds from the bell.

Considering the way the fight ended it seemed certain that Langford would take the decision but it was not to be. He had connected with 252 of 1,010 punches (25.0%), Duran 200 of 517 (38.7%), totals that illustrated what everyone in the Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot already knew, that Langford had been by far the more aggressive, active fighter. A chorus of boos rained down upon the ring when the verdict was announced but Duran was oblivious to them, briefly consoling Langford before celebrating jubilantly with his corner crew. Showing once again that he is a man of integrity and class Langford did not question the verdict and when pressed on it simply acknowledged that Duran was the smarter combatant and deserved the win, pointing to the knockdown as a real turning point and lamenting his carelessness at that moment. He said that the defeat would only make him hungrier to succeed, would only make him push himself harder in training.

"I see this as another test the Lord has placed in front of me," Langford said, smiling. "I never took this fight for granted despite what everyone in the press were saying and maybe this is His way of reinforcing that belief ... that belief that nothing is ever handed to you without hard work, diligence. I got careless there in the 9th round and it cost me the fight."

With the win Duran improved his record to 31-4-1(22) while Langford's sheet is now blemished at 14-1(11).

The night featured a second unexpected result when former WBA light-heavyweight champion and tournament 2nd seed Maurice Holmes was stopped on cuts in round five by Ohio native Jeff Lampkin. Holmes retired from the sport in 2004 but IBL president James Molk called the Brooklyn-born slugger personally to invite him to take part in the tournament. Molk was hoping Holmes would add some much-needed star power to the junior-heavyweight division so there's no doubt that he'll be as disappointed in the result as Holmes himself was. The 34 year-old seemed to intimate afterwards that it might be his last bout, with the idea of fighting his way to the top of the rankings during the next twelve months and beyond clearly not an appealing one. Holmes looked in great shape as he prowled the ring before the opening bell and after he dominated round one it seemed like Lampkin was going to be in for a tough night. He gave a much better account of himself in the 2nd, finishing it with a fantastic last thirty seconds. A hard uppercut backed Holmes up before a series of bodyshots had him dropping his guard, leaving him open up top for Lampkin to land a flush right hand that opened a cut above the New Yorker's left eyebrow.

Referee Mike Ortega halted proceedings and led Holmes to a neutral corner where the ringside doctor observed the injury and allowed the fight to continue. Holmes' corner crew went to work on the cut with what appeared to be a sense of panic during the intermission. Sensing the danger of the situation Holmes swung for the fences in the 3rd, winning the round easily but failing to put his man away. The action slowed in the 4th and it appeared that Holmes' cut might not be so bad. He came out strong in the 5th, rattling Lampkin with two seperate uppercuts and a left hook through its opening minute. But the two men were soon tangled up in a corner. They banged heads and when Ortega seperated them it was clear to see that Holmes' cut had been reopened and looked much worse than before. Once again the doctor was summoned and this time he ruled than Holmes could not continue, the #2 seed falling to his knees in despair while Lampkin hollered and pounded his chest, wild excitement showing in his eyes. In a career that has featured some big wins but even bigger disappointments this might just be Lampkin's most important triumph. His record now stands at 34-7-1(28), Holmes falling to 38-4-1(33) and an uncertain future.

In the evening's opening bout Italy's Angelo Rottoli rallied from a slow start to finish with a wet sail against Germany's Alexander Petkovick, the drawn result (95-94, 95-95, 94-95) seeing 4th-seeded Rottoli progress to the semi-finals. It was a thrilling action-packed fight with the turning point coming when Petkovick was floored early in round six. From that moment on Rottoli was in control and he shouted triumphantly at the realisation that he was still in the tournament. He'll face #1 seed Carlos DeLeon next, the hometown favourite looking pretty ordinary in scraping to a split decision win over Jamaica's Uriah Grant (96-95, 94-97, 98-94). DeLeon may have still been feeling the effects of his 12-rounder with Ronnie Hayes on April 1. Whatever the reason, he looked unconvincing and will no doubt be ecstatic that the two men tipped to be his biggest challengers for the title (Langford and Holmes) have both been eliminated from the tournament. DeLeon is now 31-1(21), Grant losing for the third time in seven fights to fall to 26-6-1(18).