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06/16/2004 Archived Entry: "‘Battle at the Belvedere’ Fight Report"
Sheika, Thomas, Pulver, Binkowski and Gang Stampede in a Beefy ‘Battle at the Belvedere’
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Elk Grove Village, IL - In an evening rife with heavyweights and heavy hitters, Bobby Hitz’ ‘Battle at the Belvedere’ proved thoroughly entertaining, providing plenty of action, ring science and thrills to the lively crowd and TV fan alike watching via ESPN2’s Tuesday Night Fights.
In the main event, Omar Sheika (24-6-0, 17 KO’s) edged rugged bomber, Manu Ntoh (15-7-1) in a scintillating light heavyweight scrap closer than scores might have suggested.
Sheika, an exciting puncher in his own right, found an obstinate and unwilling foil in Ntoh, who had previously given local favorite Vitalyi Kopytko a nightmarish fight in garnering a disqualification win over the popular Ukrainian.
In this bout, things did not take long to get heated. The bout was fairly competitive, as both landed hard punches, Sheika’s hardest being to the body just above the waistband and Ntoh’s a hard uppercut in close which sent sweat flying from Sheika’s head.
Sheika attacks crouching Ntoh
Round two was bristling as the sturdy and compactly muscular Ntoh generated huge torque as he turned his body hard behind stupefying looping punches while the lankier Sheika countering sharply. Both landed hard punches: Sheika focused more on banking solid body punching in hopes of wearing down his rugged opponent in the later rounds, while Ntoh favored bombing the head more. It was a close round filled with anticipation and plenty of cheering.
In round three, both exchanged very heavy blows in a closely fought round.
Round four, both continued to land thudding punches, Sheika edging in output and speed—arguably taking a little off the bodily commitment behind his punches in order to fire more rapid shots—while Ntoh pounded away with more the more cumbersome and unwieldy blows. Towards rounds end, Sheika mounted a very solid rally and appeared to be out-pointing Ntoh.
Round five precipitated more give and take, again with Sheika perhaps edging in terms of sheer output, but Ntoh right in there in the mix with his heavy, looping blows.
Round six waned by comparison, featuring a lot more clinching and mauling in close on the ropes. However, there were some heavy exchanges interspersed throughout as well. Again, Sheika appeared to be outpointing his stockier foe in terms of numbers of punches landed.
In round seven, Omar Sheika boxed more effectively and his superiority in handspeed and boxing ability became more apparent. Moving more, he peppered his pressing and tough adversary, who cut impressive swaths in the air about Sheika’s head and shoulders with his heavy swings as he continued to turn hips, shoulders, legs and torso jarringly behind almost every punch, whereas more of Sheika’s punches appeared to be more of the snappy, points scoring, arm variety.
Sheika continued to mix up his offense quite well into round eight, seemingly pulling ahead until Ntoh landed some very heavy hooks, punishing Sheika in a corner. Cornered, Sheika fought back hard, planting both feet and letting both hands go. In a phone booth battle for survival, Sheika backed Ntoh off and managed to finish fairly even, perhaps even edging him at rounds end.
Round nine presented a lot of give and take, as a more tired Sheika fought more flat footed as the two alternatively traded blows and momentum, as well as falling into clinches more frequently.
In the tenth and final round, both fought hard in crackling, two-fisted exchanges. However, using faster hand speed, Omar Sheika appeared to pull ahead.
The final scores unanimously favored Sheika 98-92 twice and 97-93. The win was Sheika's second straight since his back-to-back wars with Massachusetts rival Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton.
In the co-main event, hard punching cruiserweight Chris Thomas (14-4-1, 13 KO’s) impressed with his heavy hands, dispatching Richard LaMontagne (28-5-1, 23 KO’s) in two rounds.
Early into round one, Thomas gave a taste of things to come, as he wobbled LaMontagne with a hard right hand. For the most part an accelerated feeling out round, the two moved about well, exchanged briskly and intermittently.
In round two, LaMontagne began asserting himself with crisp punching. However, just as LaMontagne appeared to be taking charge in round two, momentarily stunning Thomas and landing several hard punches, Thomas knocked him down twice—the first from a straight right followed by a left hook and the second courtesy of a wicked left hook. The second knockdown ended matters when the referee waived off the fight at 2:30 into round two.
Afterwards, Chris Thomas commented on his fight.
CBZ: How do you feel about your overall performance in this fight?
Chris Thomas: You know, to be honest, I don’t know. It happened so quick, really to be honest, I don’t know. I asked my trainer while we were in the dressing room, ‘how did I look?’ I didn’t really get a chance to get working my jab, working feints and counterpunches, you know, I just rolled with the punches. Everything was hesitating. I couldn’t really tell you, I couldn’t really answer that question. I never could really get started the way I wanted to. I didn’t do things—I don’t know if my hands were down, the rhythm, everything’s like a blur right now. 
Thomas overcome after career defining kayo
CBZ: You were in a fight! He appeared to be mounting a good offense, but then you nailed him. What was your perspective of that?
CT: He tried to get started, he tried to work. But I knew I was faster than him once he tagged me several times. You know, he didn’t hurt me, but you know, I said, ‘okay, no problem: I’ve got to work the counterpunches; I’ve got to get off faster!’ Whatever he does, I’ve got to answer right back; I had no time to think. And I think that’s what I did with the right hand in the first round: I caught him a couple times and he grabbed my trunks and he pulled them down, kinda got him a little rest or whatever, kinda a breather. Then he came back in and I caught him with a short hook. And, it’s like as soon as I started putting my punches together, the fight was over.
CBZ: Were you hurt at any time during this fight?
CT: No, I wasn’t. I think I ran into his head and that’s what caused my nose to bleed. But, I shook it off and came right back. It’s just one of those things: I knew I had to get started—relax, work my stuff and just work. ‘Just work and you’ll be okay,’ that’s what I kept saying in my head, ‘You know, just work and you okay, you okay.’
I know, man, that I was in shape; I trained at a hundred and three degree weather. Man, in that gym, it’s hot…the Windy City Gym. The gym is on the second floor and we have a sunroof over the ring. So, those days when it was hot last week, it gets about a hundred and twenty, a hundred and thirty degrees! Yeah, you know when you’ve got that headgear on, those 18 ounce gloves and you’re going through two and three people, four people at a time sparring, it gets hot, man! I was doing seven and a half to ten round boxing, so I knew I was in shape. And I got my trainer right here, he’s pushing me, letting me know that everything is mental. If we can get your mental as strong as your physical, I’m going to be a force to be reckoned with in this division.
CBZ: What’s next?
CT: We don’t know; we just sit back until the phone rings. We know it’s going to ring. You’re talking to the number two guy in the nation now. So, hey—that’s me: Chris Thomas! I would love to get a rematch with Calvin Davis, now. I have a corner, I have a manager, I have a trainer, I’m on a stricter regimen [and] yeah, I even have a promoter now. Calvin Davis, possibly O’Neal Bell, ah you know, Wayne Braithwaite, some of the top guys, let’s bring it on! Let’s see where I’m really at. I’m not scared.
[Explaining about the Calvin Davis fight]: I didn’t have a manager, I didn’t have a corner, you know I trained with a guy, Adolpho Washington. Adolpho Washington is a good fighter: you know, his punches come straight down the middle. He’s what you call a very orthodox fighter. So, when I got in the ring with Calvin Davis, they told me I was going to be one of the very first fights. I ended up fighting at 12:30 [AM] at night! I didn’t have a trainer, you know, somebody to just work my corner, whoever was there. Everything was just out of whack. Now that I got a trainer, now that I’ve got a manager and I’ve got a promoter, now that I’ve got a gym that just gonna teach [me], now that I’m not training at a park district—you that I trained at a park district for Calvin Davis—you know, I wanted to fight with a lot of odds against me. Now that some of those odds are even, let’s bring it to the table! You’ve got the IBF cruiserweight title. Man, I’d love to see if we can do that!
CBZ: Who are you training with these days?
CT: Phill Ferratt, that’s my trainer, Sam Colonna, Windy City Gym. There’s a kid named Tommy—I don’t know his last name—but he got picked for ‘The Contender’ [TV boxing reality show]. I got a chance to train with him. I had a chance to train with Ed Gutierrez, I had a chance to train with Carl Davis, another guy by the name of Dave—I don’t know what Dave’s last name is—but all these guys, they stepped up to the plate and they brought it to me, let me know that they were going to get me in shape. We sparred, we banged in there!
CBZ: How would you describe yourself to those who have not seen you in action?
CT: Boxer/puncher. I can counter punch, you know, I can box and, when it comes down to it, I can just straight up stand toe to toe and fight, you know, so let’s do it! Let’s do it!
In his second pro fight, popular former Mixed Martial Arts world champion, Jens Pulver (1-0, 1 KO), edged out Steven Vincent (3-0, 3 KO’s) in a surprisingly gritty and exciting welterweight battle by split decision.
In Round one, Pulver pressed the action, as the aggressor, but was knocked down briefly. However, Vincent was unable to follow up his momentary advantage as Pulver resumed his pressuring tactics.
In round two, Pulver returned the favor, knocking down Vincent with a heavy left and sought to follow up strongly. However, to Vincent’s credit, he managed to stifle his follow up attack with a mixture of good defense, combination punching and movement. In round three, Pulver knocked down Vincent again with another left about midway into the round. For his part, Vincent tried to fend him off hard, incorporating occasional low blows in the mix.
Pulver lands his powerful left hand
Early in round four, Vincent mounted a mini rally, landing a series of hard punches in several flurries. Undeterred, Pulver continued to pressure hard and, although failing to generate a knockout, closed the round out strongly in pursuit of just that. The final tally was 38-37 for Pulver, 37-36 for Vincent and 37-36 for Pulver, thus giving Pulver the nod.
Following his fight, Jens Pulver shared some thoughts with the CBZ:
Jens Pulver: [on why he took this specific fight] I just want to do it because I want to practice. I’m going out to learn how to box in the MMA world, cause in my world—the MMA world—there’s not too many boxers and the closer the show got, the bigger the show got, I’m thinking, ‘Well, I might have gotten in over my head; I find the guy’s three and oh with three knockouts, so I was a little nervous. I just wanted to perform. I mean, I don’t want to go out there and embarrass myself. I want people to understand in boxing, I don’t take this sport as a joke. Boxing is my dream. MMA is what I did because I couldn’t box; the ‘Ultimate Fighting’, the ‘Mixed Martial Arts’—I was the world champion in that—but boxing is something I’ve always been about. I mean, it’s the one thing I’m fascinated with. I just wanted to go out here, I knew a whole lot of people would be watching at home, I didn’t want to disappoint, that’s my biggest thing: I want to be exciting, you know.
CBZ: Were you hurt at any time? When he knocked you down, were you hurt?
JP: No, that was [a] flash [knockdown]! I didn’t even know I went down. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m on the ground!” But he did hit me once, a left to the body. That hurt. That hurt bad. I was like, ‘I hope he didn’t hear me make any noise,’ you know, like, ‘Oh God, did I wince?’ So, I couldn’t punch for about 20 seconds after that. I was like, ‘Ah.’ You know, yeah, but he hurt me a little bit. Definitely. I was kind of like in a daze the whole time.
[Regarding his need for improvement] Like I said, I’ve got no choice: I can either move or I can punch. I’m still trying to learn how to do both. In the sport I’m in [MMA], I have to worry about takedowns, kicks, knees, elbows, but to get in there where you do it just hands, I’m a little too squared up and I WATCH. I’m such a fan, I watch. That’s him hitting off my face, but I’m still watching a little too much. I think too much, so I’m just gonna keep working.
CBZ: What’s next?
JP: July 9th in Hawaii, I’m doing my Shooto fight—open style fighting—I’m number two in the world there. I’m doing a Shooto fight: it’s a Japanese organization. I fought over in Japan in March. I came off a two-minute knockout [victory]. I guess it lined me up for a world title there in Japan. And, then I’m coming back and practicing and getting back in the ring for [Bobby] Hitz as soon as I can! I’m loving it!
I love boxing! I like it. I watch Kostya Tzyu and all them too much! I’ve got to get out here and do it myself a little bit, you know.
…[Continuing on his upcoming Shooto fighting tournament] It’s televised in Japan. And, then the fight it leads up to—I don’t know if you’ve heard of the ‘Pride’ or the ‘K-1’—I’ll be on that, so I’ll be back on television. And the UFC, they’re still punishing me, so they won’t put me back on their cards yet. I’m still on their bad side, so…because I gave up the world title [that] I never lost and held it for two and a half years and went after bigger money in Japan and left them. I just felt they weren’t treating me correctly: when you defend your title three times and they pay the other guy more money—by tens of thousands of dollars—you get your new contact and you think, ‘Now, it’s time,’ and they’re offering you exactly what they’re paying them, you’ve got to leave, you know what I mean? CBZ: You sound like you’re straddling two sports. Are you going to choose one soon?
JP: Yeah, and I will choose boxing. I already won the world titles [in MMA]. I’m not saying there’s not more I can’t do in MMA, but I want to box. I love boxing; I just think it’s a wonderful, wonderful sport and I think for me, it’s a wonderful game. It’s what I want to do. The MMA was great, like I said, but I used that to work on my hands, to build a name, and if I had to make a choice right now, I would probably pick boxing, because I really like it.
CBZ: What are you going to do to improve your boxing skills?
JP: Start sparring with more boxers. Spend more time with ‘Windy City [Gym].’ I’m with ‘Alley Cat Boxing’s Jeff Perez. Good thing about him is he works with a lot of kids and he trains right out of his garage. And, so, he’ll be taking me up here to train more. It’s just when you’ve got a fight July 9th and you’re like, ‘I better work a little bit more on the ground [fighting techniques], but I need to spar with more boxers and less wrestlers. The only thing I have going for me at ‘Pat’s Gym’ is I’m boxing 170, 180 pounders. But, I’m not getting any of that movement and that combo throwing, I’m not chasing anybody around. The minute I get up to ‘Windy City,’ it’s a whole new world and I just need a whole lot more of that.
CBZ: How would you rate your performance today?
JP: I would give it a six, maybe with my comeback—getting off the floor and doing what I did—I would definitely give my heart a ’10.’ Skillwise, allowing him to pretty much have the fourth round uncontested, hitting the canvas really disappointed me, I would give it a six, but I know I have a whole lot more in me because I’m up here and I’ve just got to get out there.
I’m also getting married the day after my fight in Hawaii…I’m marrying a grappler!
CBZ: What improvements do you see yourself making in the future?
JP: I want to get a lot more movement, I want to get a lot more with my right hand, I definitely want to throw that jab, lead hook, I want to become a boxer. You know, I want that power to stay hidden. I want to surprise people with the power. And, the biggest thing is I want to punch and not get punched! I want to do what my coach tells me. I want to have enough skill to go out there and land combinations, skill to move a lot, to flow a lot more and just to keep the fans ecstatic above all. That’s for me, man, keeping them excited!
CBZ: Who is the fighter you would most like to emulate?
JP: Kostya Tzyu. Without a doubt, Kostya Tzyu. One, after meeting him, he’s an extremely nice guy. But, two, I love the way he’s got power in both hands. I love the way he’s so confident in his power that, back in the day, he wouldn’t move. And, above all—look at who he’s fought: I was there when he fought Zab Judah. He went against the flash and the speed and he stayed composed, waited for his minute and then “BAH!” And the way he fights, that’s how I want to be; it looks like he can go 35 rounds! I mean, he’s phenomenal…there’s other fighters, of course: I want a left like Mickey Ward, I want a heart like Gatti, I want to go to the body like Chavez, be like Meldrick Taylor. If I could take them all, I’d take a little bit of everybody, you know!
Heavyweight Lamar ‘T Rex’ Stephens (3-0-0, 3 KO’s) took a while to get warmed up as a surprisingly bellicose and effective Shaba Bahati (1-0-0) pressured in close, outhustling and even knocking Stephens mouthpiece out in the midst of a spirited flurry. In fact, it appeared that Bahati won the first round based on superior work rate and landed punches.
Bahati continued to disrupt, duck and counter with spunk as he retreated and Stephens followed with ill intent. Near the end of the second round, Stephens found his range: he knocked Bahati down and nearly through the ropes with his leaden rights and follow through of his body. Fortunately for Bahati, the bell spared him from further punishment, ringing shortly thereafter.
In round three, Stephens began landing his bombs with regularity, knocking his opponent into the ropes with booming rights and lefts. As bloodlust frenzied some in the crowd, yet others cried out, “Stop the fight, ref!” Doing his best to cover up, Bahati offered no resistance as the referee waived off the fight 1:35 into round three.
Heavyweight Malachy Farrell (1-0-0) dominated Mike Pena (9-5-0) for the brief duration of their bout, completely outboxing and outlanding his portly opponent, finally flattening him at 1:00 into round two for a knockout victory.
In another wild shootout, heavyweight Guiseppe Kidd (1-0-0, 1 KO) prevailed over Louis Parker. Initially, it looked like anything but a win for him, as he was wobbled in the opening moments with a whistling sucker right hand punch. However, Kidd gathered himself up and surged back with a vengeance, swinging for the fences and, in relatively short order, wobbling Parker in return and having him holding on for dear life.
Round two, Kidd continued to swing hard, dominating Parker, who appeared to be looking to survive.
Round three featured more free swinging from both parties, with Kidd doing by far the greater scoring and damage, while Parker kept him honest with occasional heavy counters. Kidd won by unanimous decision with scores of 40-36 all.
Returning crowd favorite, heavyweight Art Binkowski (11-0-0, 8 KO’s) fought David Cherry (7-26-0) in an entertaining scrap. Despite scant rumblings that Cherry was merely a sacrificial lamb for Binkowski to cut his teeth on and who would faint at first sign of trouble, Cherry demonstrated that he meant business from the get go. Early in round one, Cherry drew gasps from the crowd as he landed heavy lefts and rights flush on Binkowski’s face and momentarily backing him to the ropes. However, Binkowski dug in with both heels and whaled and willed his way back, wading in throwing ponderous blows to head and body to forcefully wrest control of the round.
At the beginning of round two, Cherry once again surprised, mounting a very hard attack with a blistering series of lefts and rights. However, Art withstood the assault, reset and set upon Cherry with bludgeoning blows to head and body, finally knocking him out at 2:00 with a leaden left-right-left combination into round two. As a bonus, Binkowski retaining his Illinois State Heavyweight title in the process.
Wearing his older brother, former lightweight champ Jesus Chavez name, ‘Chavez’ on the back of his trunks and ‘Sandoval’ on the front, rising lightweight, Jimmy Sandoval (4-0-0), thoroughly dominated Oney Hellems (6-23-2) in their bout. Jimmy Boxed smartly behind a steely jab and teed off with great effect via strong, two, three and four punch combinations in the first and second rounds, eventually knocking Hellems down in the latter round.
In round three, Sandoval stepped up his attack, pitching a near shut out. However, Hellems showed his experience by occasionally landing hard combinations to back Sandoval off.
Round four saw a much more competitive battle, as Sandoval pressed, but Hellems fought back surprisingly effectively in spurts, landing several jarring series of blows in the process. However, Jimmy Sandoval maintained his composure and simply resumed a disciplined and well-balanced attack, closing out the fight strongly. The judges scored the bout unanimously 40-35 all for Sandoval.
Afterwards, on his way out, Jesus Chavez—who worked Sandoval’s corner—had a few things to say about his performance. 
Former champ Chavez (right)poses with victorious brother
Jesus Chavez: Well, I think Jimmy did what he had to do to win tonight and that’s important, you know. He pulled the win and we’re happy for him.
CBZ: How do you think he’s coming as far as growth in his career?
JC: Ah, well, that’s difficult to say right now. This is the first time I’ve seen him fight and he did a pretty good job tonight. We’ll have to see him against better opponents to see how he responds.
Hard punching and ruggedly handsome heavyweight Mike Mollo (11-0-0) utterly dominated Eric French (10-30-3), pummeling, pounding and outboxing him throughout. On a number of occasions, it appeared that Mollo was on the cusp of a kayo victory. However, it was not to be this evening.
To his credit, the highly experienced and well-traveled French sported a rock solid chin, survived Mollo’s bombs and even occasionally tested Mollo’s chin with stinging counters on a handful of occasions. In the end, the score reflected the general balance of the action, with judges scoring the bout 40-34 all in favor of Mollo.
All in all, Bobby Hitz’ Battle at the Belvedere sizzled and glutted everyone’s appetite for beefy sock, pop and excitement. Barbecue sauce, anyone?
EDITORS NOTE: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO VIEW ADDITIONAL PICTURES FROM THIS EVENT WITHIN 12 TO 48 HOURS OF THIS POSTING AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:
http://photos.yahoo.com/juancayllon
