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01/21/2004 Archived Entry: "New England Chatta"
New England Chatta
The latest on Pemberton, Manfredo and Rivera
By J.D. Vena
Pemberton ready for battle
His eyes swelled and his words were worn as he spoke to members of the media. He had the look of a man that was beaten. Had he not have survived two tumultuous final rounds and fought back like a man possessed, he would have been a beaten man. As it turned out, Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton of New Bedford (MA) looked the part of a man who had lost, even though he had just won a split decision over tough Omar Sheika.
It was the kind of exciting win, which ESPN2 voted as the best fight aired on their network, that you’d think would have afforded him a big money fight or would have awarded him a shot at a world title. The last thing in the world you’d expect would be to see Pemberton looking back at Sheika in another potentially dangerous fight. But on Friday night at the Fox Theater at Foxwoods Casino Resort, Pemberton will meet Sheika again in what promises to be another great fight.
“I’m not lying to you,” Pemberton admits. “I’m doing this to help buy my family a home. I don’t want to fight if it’s not going to pay me any money. People wanted to pay me to see me fight Sheika again. It’s a dangerous fight for me, but it will hopefully give me another chance to make enough money to buy a home.”
Prior to winning what would prove to be the biggest win of his career, Pemberton proposed to his longtime girlfriend and mother of his baby girl in his dressing room. They are the fuel that keeps him in this treacherous game.
“There’s nothing I hate more than being away from (my wife) Peg and my daugheter,” said Pemberton. “Boxing is what I’m doing for them. Sheika is trying to not only tale my head off, he’s trying to take away from my family.”
Pemberton knows that in order to provide for his family, he will have to summon the same willpower to defeat Sheika a second time. Sheika, 23-5 with 16 KO’s of Paterson, NJ, is now trained by the well-respected James “Buddy” McGirt, a former two-division champion whose reputation as a trainer nearly exceeds over his resume as a fighter. Pemberton feels he knows what it will take to repeat another victory.
“Maybe (McGirt) wants him to box me more or maybe he wants Sheika to bum-rush me early and take me out,” said Pemberton. “You can’t change a fighter in one training camp. I expect Sheika to be ready to fight, like he was the last time. I plan on boxing him and fighting a smarter fight.”
Over the years, ‘fighting smart’ hasn’t been what you would associate with Pemberton’s fights. Like many of the exciting New England boxers, Pemberton wins or loses by attrition. This was the case in his two shoot-outs with LeVan Easley and with former world champion, Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer. And it’s why he’s one of the more exciting boxers in the world today.
“Believe it or not, I never intend to get into a slugfest,” said Pemberton. “It just happens.”
That’s what most fight fans are hoping.
Back in Business
When most of you last saw Providence hopeful, Peter Manfredo, Jr., he was fighting in 4 or 6-round prelims on the undercards of Pemberton fights or your typical New England headliner. You may have thought that he had done a disappearing act if you didn’t happen to catch his bouts around New England or Philadelphia. But had you seen him, I guarantee you’d think he’d become a well-groomed professional.
After parting ways with Jimmy Burchfield, Manfredo was in search of another promoter. He had few fights in the interim, which were non-televised. The improvement was there but there wasn’t must of an audience to pay notice. Manfredo, now 19-0 with 9 KO’s is now back with Burchfield and will appear in Friday night’s co-feature with fellow unbeaten jr. middleweight, Sherwin Davis of Indianapolis.
And though he is preparing to meet the best opponent of his professional career in Davis, the 23-year old Manfredo has been well-nurtured over the past couple of years. Being from New England he has worked with, among others, the cunning punch-stat machine, Ray Oliveira, the wicked body puncher, Micky Ward, the warrior in Vinny Paz and the giant (6’2”) in Pemberton. He has worked in the camps of multi-division champ, “Sugar” Shane Mosley and former two-time champion Fernando Vargas, both of whom used Manfredo and his ample skills to mirror Oscar De La Hoya in their preparation to meet the Golden Boy.
“I’ve known Peter since he was a child,” said Pemberton who is 37. “When I first started working with him, I couldn’t stop but think that I was throwing punches at him. He’s become a hell of a fighter and has everything a worldclass fighter needs, except one-punch power. He should go a long way.”
“Those guys have taught me so much in and out of the ring,” Manfredo told the CBZ. “What I like about them is that they are always willing to help you. They know plenty about everything. Obviously you can’t learn everything you need to know but if you can pick up a little something from each of those guys, it’ll make you a better and more confident fighter.”
Manfredo battles with Victor Rosado
In Davis (17-0, 11 KO’s), Manfredo will be facing another spring chicken, a fighter looking to burst onto the scene just like him. In Davis, there will be the need to remain unbeaten and Manfredo understands the importance of the unbeaten status. Undefeated welterweight Ishe Smith, who outboxed veteran Randall Bailey over 12 rounds last Thursday on ShowBox, had his hands full with the veteran. Manfredo fought a veteran named Randall just over a year ago and after four competitive rounds, Manfredo took Frankie Randall out with a single body shot. It was a good victory but not the kind that Manfredo hopes to build his budding line of work.
“At this point in my career, I’d rather be fighting hungry guys like Davis rather than a veteran,” said Manfredo. “I’m not generalizing and I know that some veterans are hungry but I’d rather fight an undefeated guy because he’s not going to want to give up the “O” at the end of his record. Some of the veterans like to land one big punch early or just take the fight for a payday. When you beat an undefeated kid, you feel a greater sense of accomplishment.”
For Manfredo, having a fight on national television is all he cares about.
“I’m just happy to have a major fight on national television,” said Manfredo. “It’s great to be back with Jimmy now and being given the chance to fight in front of the fans. I just can’t wait to fight.”
Everyone’s just waiting to see how well.
Those attending the Pemberton-Sheika II at Foxwoods will also catch a few good scraps. Brooklyn’s Richard “The Alien” Grant (14-10, 2 KO’s), most known for getting whacked out by James Butler after he had beaten him a couple of years ago, will face Dave “The Hammer” Hamilton (15-11-1, 5 KO’s) of Hansen (MA) in a 6-round super middleweight bout. Also appearing on the show is a rematch between South Boston’s Martin Thornton (6-1, 3 KO’s) and Bobo “The Bull” Starnino of Providence. The two first met in a swing bout after the ‘Halloween Homecoming’ brawl between Gary Balletto and Goyo Vargas. October. Starnino seemed to be on his way winning another decision until a right hand from Thornton, originally from Galway, Ireland, knocked him into next week. Starnino hit the canvas like he had been body slammed. He rose on legs which couldn’t control him and referee Harold Gomes stopped the bout. For ticket information contact CES at 401-724-2254 or visit www.cesboxing.com.
Good guys finish first
It seems to be a recurring tragic theme when a hardworking, upstanding citizen isn't appreciated. Fortunately for Jose “El Gallo” Rivera of Worcester, that hasn’t been the case over the last several months. He was not only crowned the WBA welterweight champion outpointing Michael Trabant in Berlin in Septermber, he’s also been recognized by his great city. Recently Rivera was named the Telegram & Gazette’s 2003 Vision’s Young Leader award recipient for his work with youths in the Worcester area. Rivera, along with four other recipients will be honored January 29 (4 p.m.) in Mechanics Hall (Worcester) by Mass. Lt. Gov. Kerry Murphy Healey who will be a guest speaker at the open public celebration.
The prestigious award goes to an individual younger than 35 and is awarded for community, private or professional work with youths. Besides being a world champion and father, Rivera, 30, is an associate court officer at Worcester Juvenile Court and has worked many years with Worcester youths through such organizations as the Worcester public schools system, the Boys & Girls Club and the United Way of Central Massachusetts. “This is a real honor,” Jose remarked. “There are so many other people doing wonderful work for youth and I feel blessed to be selected. The work I do with and for the youth of Worcester is simply a matter of me taking an opportunity to give back and try to make as much of a difference as possible. Having grown up underprivileged and going through all the obstacles that many of our youths are facing today is why they are able to relate to my message. “Being able to overcome many obstacles and achieve success in boxing has given me a platform to do the work that I do. I thank God for that. People say I deserve this award; in life we deserve nothing, but God gives it to us anyway. We have to work hard and earn it! We can earn things in life without feeling like we are entitled. It is as simple as just humbling ourselves and doing God’s will.”
“I have watched Jose grow from a child into an adult,” Rivera’s longtime manager Steven “Tank” Tankanow added. “Through the ups and downs of life, he always manages to stay in the sunshine and he inspires those around him to do the same. He lives by faith and not by fear.”
Rivera (37-3-1 (24 KOs), is in training to defend his world title against an opponent, site and date to be determined. The CBZ spoke with Tony Cardinale, Rivera’s attorney, at Foxwoods just a few weeks ago and he was looking to secure a fight with former world champion Ricardo Mayorga.
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Hey,
Sounds exciting! That was a nice and informative read.
By the way, I especially enjoyed the bit about Rivera towards the bottom. I quoted him and passed it around to friends.
Cheers,
Juan C. Ayllon
Posted by Juan C Ayllon @ 01/22/2004 12:47 PM EST
