[kenyan_cheena]

JAMAICA
OBSERVER

Sunday 17 December 2006

MCCALLUM SCORES
DECISION WIN OVER NAPOLES

Story by Shavar Edwards

Jamaican boxing legend Mike McCallum defeated Miami's Jose Napoles by unanimous decision last night in their blockbuster junior-middleweight bout at the National Stadium in Kingston. In one of the most anticipated fights of the year McCallum proved to be too strong and aggressive for the Cuban-born former welterweight champion and floored him twice on the way to taking the verdict by scores of 116-110, 117-109 and 116-110. It was an exciting, competitive contest through the first seven rounds but McCallum won it going away, Napoles' stretch fade leading to McCallum sweeping the final five rounds on two cards. The fight was a meeting of two of boxing's best active combatants, former WBC/IBF junior-middleweight champion McCallum bringing an undefeated 36-0-2(27) mark and the status as arguably the best pound-for-pounder in the sport into the evening. Napoles (28-1(24)) had relinquished the WBC belt he'd held since March 2003 to move up from welterweight and challenge McCallum in the non-title fight.

McCallum had tipped the scales dead on the 154-pound weight limit, Napoles coming in at 153. Entering the ring first Napoles was decked out in a robe of solid black, his trunks the same but with flag patches of the USA and Cuba on each thigh. As always McCallum wore Jamaica's national colours, his robe and trunks gold with black and green trim, BODYSNATCHER stencilled in black on his waistband. Many experts had said Napoles was unwise to take on McCallum in his first junior-middleweight bout, but the man himself was regarding it as a "fantastic opportunity" to fight one of the "legends of the sport in his prime". McCallum looked more hungry, determined and enthusiastic than he'd been for some time as he prowled the ring before the opening bell. He made an impressive start, taking the opening round convincingly as he caught Napoles with a hard left early, a jolting right cross midway through the frame and a penetrating straight right about ten seconds from the bell.

Napoles responded promisingly in the 2nd, controlling most of the round and putting McCallum back on his heels with a pair of solid left hooks. McCallum planted a hard left of his own on Napoles jaw moments before the bell, the punch being his only highlight of the round. But he brought the crowd to their feet one minute into round three when a short, clean right cross caught Napoles flush and dropped him on his pants. Up at six he still appeared groggy but was able to see out the round while suffering little follow-up damage, McCallum not concerned with finishing the job. In his best three minutes of the fight McCallum dominated the 4th, peppering Napoles with a succession of jabs and combinations and staggering him one minute in with a head-snapper of a left hook. While landing a bunch of punches himself he was making Napoles miss much more often than not, the Florida slugger landing only 15% of his shots through the opening four rounds.

The action slowed through the 5th, McCallum stealing it with a flurry of activity in the final twenty seconds not long after Napoles had unloaded with a wicked left to the body. Napoles employed a more aggressive attitude in rounds six and seven and took both of them to put himself right in the contest. He stunned McCallum with a crunching uppercut in the 6th and then with a left hook in the 7th. Round eight was a close affair which really could have been scored either way as both men had their moments. But it was Napoles who looked the more wary during the intermission and when McCallum floored him for a second time late in what had been an unenventful 9th frame it signalled the end of his resistance. It was a big uppercut that sent him falling forwards to the canvas. Napoles was up at eight, the bell ringing soon after he made it to his feet.

McCallum kept the momentum through round ten, finishing it strongly with some damaging body work in the bottom third. The 11th was a thriller, McCallum appearing to have Napoles at his mercy midway through after a smashing left hook before Napoles rallied admirably to stave off oblivion. Unsurprisingly he had nothing left for the final round, which McCallum took with ease and without trying to blow his adversary away. The two combatants embraced after the bell, exchanging words of admiration and respect. When McCallum was announced as the victor there was little celebration, McCallum content to acknowledge the audience's applause before once again shaking hands with Napoles. McCallum landed 308 of 745 punches (41.3%), Napoles 189 of 1,121 (16.9%).

"Jose gave me quite a challenge," said McCallum afterwards. "He was right in d' fight up to the 8th round 'dere, but I think the knockdown in round nine took a lot of the steam out of him. Even so, he really earned my admiration, you know? He's a very gutsy fighter and I think with a couple more bouts he'll be a lot more comfortable and very dangerous in the division."

"What can I say about it?" said Napoles, smiling. "He was just too good for me. It's that simple. I think I still had a chance going into the 9th but, just like Mike said, that knockdown took something away from me and I couldn't get it back. But I ain't got no regrets. I had a chance to fight a legend and it was one of the experiences of my life. Who knows, if I'd waited around for a year to prepare for him maybe the opportunity wouldn't have been there anymore. The opportunity was here now, I took it and I'm glad that I did."

Both fighters were asked what lies ahead for them and both were content to defer the question to their promoters. It would seem that for Napoles a shot at one of the vacant junior-middleweight straps would not be too far away but McCallum's future seems a little more uncertain. He's already said he has no interest in dealing with the major sanctioning organisations or fighting for one of their titles. Based on that, one would think his next bout will be of the same status as last night's, and therefore be regarded as another superfight. However, the list of opponents who would be suitable for such a fight is very short, with perhaps the middleweight Bert Lytell leading it. Lytell takes on Venezuela's Fulgencio Obelmejias for one of the super-middleweight titles next month, so perhaps the picture will become clearer following that contest...