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12/20/2003 Archived Entry: "Bell Overwhelms Harmon"
Bell Overwhelms Harmon
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Photos by Edward Zajac
“You are awesome O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God.” --Psalm 68:35
Rosemont, IL - Rising cruiserweight star, O’Neal Bell, wore a furtive look on his brow as he rolled his head and loosened up. He appeared tense, as if he were contemplating the daunting task before him. The hard punching, NABF cruiserweight champion, he wore a resplendent purple velvet robe with his name, an image of a crown and the Bible verse, Psalm 68.
Across the ring, chiseled challenger Derrick Harmon looked very relaxed and confident. This was a guy who gave Roy Jones, Jr. one of his toughest bouts to date several years ago. With an air of confidence, he paced the periphery of his end of the ring, testing traction of the ring’s surface with stabbing thrusts of his feet on the canvas. Wearing a red robe with his name and the trendy clothing tag “BUM EQUIPMENT” splashed brazenly across his back, he looked firmly ensconced in the sporting establishment. A beautiful, African American lady called out, “Hey, Derrick! Smile for me, baby!” He turned and flashed a smile that said, “I’m a winner.”
The first two rounds suggested as much. Although Bell appeared to be more aggressive of the two, Harmon was clearly the superior and more fluid boxer, slipping punches, using movement well and landing sharp straight lefts. At the end of the first round, Harmon’s corner shouted, “Stop posing,” to their cool and confident charge.
After a relatively quiet first round, the second became a bit more heated. Both fighters appeared strong. However, when O’Neal Bell trapped Harmon on the ropes, his punches seemed largely ineffectual; Harmon ducked, slipped and blocked most punches. Those that landed appeared relatively pedestrian to this seasoned pro. In fact, when Bell’s vaunted right hand landed cleanly on Harmon’s face, there was little, if any discernable effect. At one point, a concerned O’Neal Bell turned the palms of his gloves forward to fend off Harmon’s fuselage of punches. It appeared that Bell was in over his head versus a seasoned pro solely bent on drawing him into deep waters of later rounds to drown him. I scored the first two rounds 10-9 in favor of Harmon.
Harmon looks in control in round two
In round three, O’Neal Bell pursued Harmon with increased abandon, throwing his full weight behind punches. In fact, at times Bell’s body leaned forward nearly horizontally, reminiscent of the late Rocky Marciano’s bullish lunges. Like the “Rock,” O’Neal caught more than he landed and occasionally threw forearms and elbows, as well.
Bell works on the inside
Derrick Harmon did his best take on Ezzard Charles, making Bell miss and—occasionally—pay. A southpaw, Harmon repeatedly landed his right jab. More polished, he landed a big straight left and mixed subsequent punches well. Switching up, he connected with a straight right. About 2/3 of the way through the round, the two came together and clinched. Holding Derrick Harmon from the right side, Bell knocked him down with a heavy right hand. The referee immediately ruled it a “no knockdown.” However, the blow had notably shaken Harmon. The CBZ also scored this round 10-9 in Harmon’s favor.
In round four, O’Neal Bell began firing straight rights with increased fervor. He pinned Harmon on the ropes with increased regularity and effectiveness. Previously stiff and cumbersome, he loosened noticeably. It was almost as if the crowd witnessed a sea change as he appeared to mature from boy to man before their eyes. Harmon continued to box well and peppered with stiff straight lefts. However, he was having greater difficulty keeping Bell off of him. He was shaken noticeably, then knocked down.
Never the quitter, Harmon rose from the canvas only to be trapped on the ropes three times. He fired back hard in heated exchanges. For his part, Bell not only connected more often and with more telling effect, but he also walked Harmon down, backing him across the ring.
Round five saw Bell throw some lead rights and—trapping Harmon on the ropes—some big one-twos, with an emphasis on heavy right hands. At one point, O’Neal Bell bent Derrick Harmon back over the ropes and shoved a forearm into his throat. Harmon complained to the referee. Some heated exchanges occurred in center ring, with favor shifting back and forth. However, this was clearly O’Neal’s round.
Round six saw increased power punching from both combatants as the two engaged in heated exchanges along the ropes and at center ring. Bell clearly favored pinning Harmon to the ropes, where he seemingly discovered the right uppercut—which he threw with great relish. Harmon preferred center ring, where he threw potent straight lefts, rights and his own right uppercut. Bell threw one low blow that seemed to pass unnoticed, then later lost his mouthpiece. The crowd cheered and applauded lustily.
Sitting on his stool just before round seven, O’Neal Bell smiled and winked at Derrick Harmon. Clearly irritated, Harmon jabbed Bell hard to the head. However, the action quickly went to the ropes: first one side, then the other. After sustaining several right hands, Harmon turned his head slightly and loudly complained to the ref about a right elbow being thrown by Bell. Big mistake: Bell nailed him with a big right hand and floored Harmon.
Harmon was clearly hurt. He threw some straight lefts and held. He even managed to knock Bells mouthpiece out, which bought him precious time. However, Bell was relaxed and in control. He trapped Harmon on the ropes and threw leaden straight rights and uppercuts. The crowd applauded heartily.
Although the momentum clearly favored Bell, the fight was not over—yet. After sustaining heavy pounding along the ropes, Harmon fired back with some heavy artillery of his own. His mode of choice: some very heavy body shots. Momentarily, the tide appeared to be turning, as Derrick Harmon surged. However, it was short lived. Bell maneuvered Harmon to the ropes and landed a very heavy overhand right, followed by a trifecta of heavy lefts and rights. Harmon’s head rolled back from Bell’s coupe de gras, a very hard right to the jaw. Derrick Harmon dropped to the canvas like a sack of wheat flour and lay on his left side. Peering out to the crowd, Harmon’s mouth was bleeding. Our eyes met momentarily. My heart went out to him, as caught a glance of his true humanity: in his eyes and countenance, I saw a look of resigned defeat. He did his best and it just wasn’t enough. Moments later, the referee stopped the contest: TKO in the eighth round.
To the applause of the crowd, minutes later, Derrick Harmon rose from his stool to raise O’Neal Bell's hand in a gesture of true sportsmanship.
In the previous bout, a colorful side to Chicago’s rich, ethnic heritage was displayed for all to see as men carried a large, Polish flag for Chicago’s popular 166 pounder, Vitaliy Kopytko (22-5-0). A large section of the crowd yelled, “Kopytko, Kopytko,” repeatedly. He faced Patrick Coleman, an African American from Rockford, Illinois.
Throughout the fight, Kopytko (apparently pronounced, “Koh-peet-kah”) used a busy, southpaw style to dominate and outhustle his somewhat slick, but gun-shy opponent, winning a 10 round decision.
Kopytko seemed to favor combinations initiated with the right jab, followed by a straight left. Often, he threw three to five straight punch combinations, often ending with a hard straight left or the occasional hook to the stomach just above Coleman’s waistband. Unfortunately, he also bled from a cut on the bridge of his hawkish nose as early as the second round, I believe.
Coleman was prone to move to the sides, jab and throw shots over the top. He also liked to step to the side of Kopytko and—reminiscent of Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker—spin and maneuver behind his man. Like “Sweet Pea,” he was also prone to occasionally shimmying his shoulders and clowning. However, that was where the similarity ended. He did not punch in bunches and was often relegated to covering up and squirming out of traps on the ropes.
Kopytko gave a solid boxing performance, increasing his output as the rounds wore on. He staggered Coleman in the seventh round with the odd straight right, after previously knocking him down with a borderline, on-the-beltline blow that was ruled low.
At the conclusion of the seventh round, former world titlist, Angel Manfredy, shouted to Coleman, “Keep turning him to his left!”
In the eighth, Kopytko served up a typical combination: a straight right to the body, straight right to the head, an uppercut and a hard straight left to the midsection. Coleman’s response? He grabbed and occasionally threw one shot at a time. Moments later, he absorbed a straight right to the head and stumbled away.
The tenth round saw Kopytko unload a crescendo of blows similar to a Fourth of July fireworks finale. Coleman was alternatively knocked down and staggered in what ended up being a unanimous decision of 99-89 on all judge’s scorecards. As his sizable contingency chanted in heavy, Polish accents, “victory, victory,” repeatedly, three men paraded the Polish flag around the ring.
Promoter - Hitz PromotionsNetwork - ESPN2
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Nice pictures!
Posted by Joe Piccione @ 12/21/2003 04:23 PM EST
