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03/26/2005 Archived Entry: "Novak and White a Double Knockout in ‘Date with Destiny’!"
Novak and White a Double Knockout in ‘Date with Destiny’!
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Johnny Novak (left) shows off his Indiana State championship belts
MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA – The crowd cheered lustily throughout. They came to see a fight, and a fight they got. Indiana State lightweight champion, Johnny Novak (133.5 lbs., 12-1-0, 5 KO’s) overcame a stiff challenge in stopping steely Charles McClellan (131 lbs., 6-17-0, 3 KO’s) in five hotly contested rounds.
Both fighters boxed smartly in a fast paced bout. Rounds one and two were fairly evenly contested rounds, with Novak landing some crackling rights, but McClellan landing a hard hook, digging rights and other hard, snapping punches of his own. Moving side to side and boxing crisply with both hands, in round two, Novak began banking hard shots to the body. McClellan fought back with equal resolve. Novak appeared to edge round two.
The pace was fast and furious in round three, which featured hard, back and forth slugging, with subtle shifts of momentum. Novak appeared to be asserting himself. However, both punched with equal effectiveness.
Novak (left) and McClellan engage in a spirited exchange
Novak continued to pick up momentum in round four, while McClellan kept it competitive with sharp counters. Novak landed hard flurries to head and body, while McClellan landed sharp, single shots.
In round five, Novak found what he was looking for. Escalating crisp shots to the body, Novak knocked McClellan down. Pouncing on McClellan on the ropes, Novak caromed a fusillade of blows to head and body, finally dropping his man for good at 2:25 into the round with a stupefying left hook to the body, which left a pained McClellan down long after the final count.
Afterwards, Johnny Novak granted the Cyber Boxing Zone’s Juan Ayllon this exclusive interview.
McClellan is counted out
JUAN AYLLON: Johnny, how do you feel after this exciting bout?
JOHNNY NOVAK: I feel real good! Everything came together tonight. Everything came together. I was here, Team ‘One in a Million was here, everybody fought good tonight, this was a real good night for us. I want to thank my manager, Octavius James, like I said, ‘One in a Million. Everything came real good, man: the left hook came, the right hook—flew right off my shoulder, man—and I can’t ask for anything else. I was trying to pick up the paces in the later rounds, and I’m ready, man, I’m ready. I’d like to step up a little bit here, whatever is good with my manager—
OCTAVIUS JAMES [interjecting]: He’ll be fighting all year, he’ll be fighting all year.
JOHNNY NOVAK: You’ll see me every other month, you’ll see me every other month.
OCTAVIUS JAMES: By the end of the year, he’ll have 20 fights.
JOHNNY NOVAK: By next January, I want to be 20 and one; you know, I’ve still got that one blemish, but that’s behind me. I’m not looking at that no more. Only thing I can see is lights, you know, headlights. The tunnel is in front of me, I’m trying to run all the way through it, if I can. I’m not looking back.
JUAN AYLLON: Are you looking for any particular opponents coming up?
JOHNNY NOVAK: Um, I really would like a couple people. You know, too bad they’re under different promoters and they’re not going to take the fight. One’s Josh Turner; he’s undefeated—he’s nine and oh. For him to step up and fight me, I think it would be real good for the public. And, let’s do what the people want to see! You know, let’s not do what the people kinda want to see; let’s do what the people really want to see. You want to see two good fighters? You want to see an undefeated fighter? Hey, I’ll give him his first blemish, as long as he comes up here! We can meet half way. You know, I’m at 133 pounds right now, he comes down two pounds, I’ll go to 130. You know, as long as the money’s right, people want to see it, good fight man!
JUAN AYLLON: Regarding tonight’s fight, were you ever hurt?
JOHNNY NOVAK: Um, no. One time I got caught with two really good punches. You know, I can’t lie; I got caught with two good punches and everything came right off my shoulders. Everything was really good. He stung me maybe once. I don’t know, maybe two times I got caught, but other than that, no. I know I caught him with a couple good shots, two good solid shots. I thought he was going to fall, but he didn’t. So, I’ll take them body shots. I’ll take them body shots. That’s what counts. You know, that body counts. I knew sooner or later, I was going to catch him with it. I started picking up the pace in the later rounds and everything worked out for me.
JERMAINE WHITE VS. JOHN HOFFMAN:
Jermaine White (center) flanked by 'One in a Million' promoter, Octavius James (left) and a cornerman (right)
Jermaine White (139 lbs., 6-0-0, 3 KO’s) overcame a few anxious moments in stopping seasoned warrior John Hoffman (136.5 lbs., 10-15-0, 3 KO’s) inside two rounds.
Round one proved very exciting, as White snapped Hoffman’s head several times in close in what looked to be another route. However, in short order, Hoffman shook him with a hard left, which left him momentarily stunned and holding on. Recovering, White banged away at Hoffman in a corner relentlessly. Hoffman not only survived, but fought back with the fervor of a champ.
Trapped in a corner, Hoffman (left) feels White's furry
In round two, White charged at Hoffman with resolute fervor, pinning him to the ropes. However, Hoffman landed a heavy left and fought on. His surprising success proved short-lived, as he was pounded in succeeding corners, finally succumbing under the pressure of White’s vicious inside punching. Clearly hurt along the ropes, Hoffman received momentary respite as the referee intervened to take a closer look. Moments later, the ref called it off at 1.25 minutes into the 2nd round.
Afterwards, Jermaine White spoke with this writer about his fight.
JUAN AYLLON: You mentioned to me earlier that you were feeling shaky before the bout. Elaborate on that.
JERMAINE WHITE: Yeah, I’ve been sick to my stomach and I felt like I was going to throw up. I felt like I needed to lay down all day. I’ve been sleeping all day. Just a few minutes before the fight, I was laying down and stuff. But, I knew that once I saw my friends and my crowd, and things like that, I knew that everything was going to be alright. And, you know, John Hoffman, give him a lot of credit. He came, he hit hard, he was awkward. You know, the last guy, he was in the southpaw stance, but he wasn’t a serious southpaw. You know what I’m saying? You know, I haven’t fought a southpaw in like six or seven years. And, I didn’t train to fight no southpaw. I just went in there, I know what to do, and I know to use my skills, and I know that my skills are greater than a lot of people’s, and I feel that I can beat just about anybody, no matter what.
A gracious Hoffman (right) lifts up his conqueror, Jermaine White
JUAN AYLLON: It looked like Hoffman hurt you in the first round. Can you tell us about that?
JERMAINE WHITE: Oh, yeah. Well, he didn’t necessarily hurt me; it takes a lot to hurt me. He caught me with a shot I didn’t see. It kind of shakes you up. And, he caught me with a head butt I didn’t see. It shook me up. There were a couple shots that kind of shook me up, but it wasn’t nothin’. It was just a matter of time. He thought he was doing something. Once I get ahold of him, I’m just like another Roberto Duran with black skin, that’s all!
JUAN AYLLON: Tell us about your finishing shots at the end.
JERMAINE WHITE: I’m an inside fighter. My style goes back to Tony Zale, 1900’s. I can knock somebody out from here [Editor’s note: White held his fist about six inches away from his other hand, then smacked them together for emphasis]: Six-inch punch. He couldn’t see it. Most guys he fight probably never done it before. That’s my style. All I was waiting on was for him to stop moving and stop punching and let me get right to him and it was going to be over.
JUAN AYLLON: For the reader’s sake, when did your father pass?
JERMAINE WHITE: January 2, 2005. Yeah, I felt him before I got in the ring. You know, the more I started waiting on my mouthpiece, the more I felt weird. You know, the more weird I felt, I just wanted to hurry up and get him out of there. I kind of lost focus on what my game plan was. With a southpaw, you’re supposed to circle to the right foot. I was moving both ways! I wasn’t thinking. That’s how I ran into his left hand that kind of shook me up. So, my game plan was out the window. I wasn’t focused. After I sat down and got the yelling from my coaches here, it was on!
JUAN AYLLON: What’s next on your horizon?
JERMAINE WHITE: Whatever, whoever comes! You know, they bring them, I’ll beat ‘em. I don’t care who they are, I don’t care what they done, I don’t care what kind of future they have, I don’t care who they fought, come see me!
Solis (L) attacks Bogard on ropes
GUY SOLIS VS. WAYNE BOGARD
Light heavyweight, Guy Solis (174 lbs., 10-3-1, 3 KO’s) knocked out Wayne Bogard (175 lbs., 1-13-0) in round three of their fight.
Maintaining a high guard throughout round one, Solis covered and stalked, as Bogard remained busier, stepping to the side and slugging with both hands. However, Solis hurt him with a right hand and upped his work rate in the last minute or so of the round.
Solis rocked Bogard on several occasions in round two, coming out increasingly from his guard and dominating for the latter two thirds of the round.
Solis opened up his offense in round three, rocking Bogard repeatedly, finally knocking him down. Bogard attempted to rise, but fell back down and was counted out at 2:44 into round three.
Afterwards, Solis said, “I trained hard for this one. I’m going to keep training.”
SHAY MOBLEY VS. MARK HALE:
Middleweights Shay Mobley (158 lbs., 8-4-1, 2 KO’s) warmed up slowly, but eventually stopped gritty and hard hitting Mark Hale (155 lbs., 1-8-1, 1 KO) in the third round.
Hale started out very aggressively in the first round, establishing that despite his record, he was here to win. He landed a number of hard right hands. However, Mobley was not to be outdone, fighting with abandon and knocking down Hale near round end. Throwing caution to the wind, both traded wantonly, forcing the ref to intervene after the bell sounded.
Round two started off with more fireworks, as Hale landed a big hook. Mobley landed a thudding left hook to the body that clearly stung, raising Hale’s leg a stitch and battered Hale, sans the knockdown. Hale was more than willing to trade, however.
In a bruising third round, Mobley asserted himself and hurt Hale with an overhand right near rounds end.
Mobley (R) asserts himself
Mobley was clearly in charge in round four as he pressed Hale, banging him hard to the body and. Hale increasingly held. Knocking down Hale from a wicked left hook to the body, Mobley’s hand was raised at 1:46 into round four as the ref waved it off.
Shay Mobley talked about his fight afterwards.
JUAN AYLLON: How did you feel about the fight?
SHAY MOBLEY: I came out, I started out real slow, but whatever! But, you know, I feel I deserved to get a feel for the guy. I didn’t want nobody catching me with something stupid, so I was relaxing a whole lot this fight.
JUAN AYLLON: At the end, was it a left hook to the body that finished him?
SHAY MOBLEY: Yeah. I was just going to the body; I was just basically working on the body shots. I felt that, hey, he couldn’t take the body shots, so I just stayed with it. That was the game plan, to just stay with the body.
JUAN AYLLON: What's next?
SHAY MOBLEY: Well, basically, I want to fight a few more fights, then—you know—fight for the title, fight for the NABF title, something like that.
Mobleys hand is raised in victory by ref
JUAN AYLLON: Are there any particular fighters you want to target?
SHAY MOBLEY: Not right now. My last fight—the one before this one, um, I fought somebody [Miguel Hernandez] that had a title. Whatever. You know, up and coming middleweight. And I went and took him out in front of the whole world. I didn’t even take the title; I didn’t fight for the title. I just wanted to show the world that he could be beat and I didn’t want that title. I showed the world that he could be beat and I did it easily. It was an easy fight for me. I wish everyone thought it would be hard; it was too easy for me, so I made things look real good.
JUAN AYLLON: Do you want another shot at David Estrada? [Editor’s note: David Estrada, a Chicago middleweight, stopped Mobley in a tough fight in 2004]
SHAY MOBLEY: That’s what I want. If he give me the shot, that’s all I want right there. You know, if guys give me my rematch, I’ll give those other guys their rematches. But, till I get mine, nobody gets theirs.
JUAN AYLLON: Are you considering a specific date for Miguel Hernandez?
SHAY MOBLEY: No, actually, Hernandez is out of the question right now. You know, he’s a done deal. It was some personal things his camp did to me personally—
JUAN AYLLON: Can you elaborate on that?
SHAY MOBLEY: Actually, not right now. You know, it’s a lot of stuff that went on and as far as him putting in on the Internet saying that he’s gonna give the rematch against me, that he had control or whatever, I think he lost. So, therefore, right now, it’s a long way for him. So, he can keep doin’ what he doin’. I got mine.
JUAN AYLLON: Any other thoughts that you would like to share with us?
SHAY MOBLEY: Right now, I’d like to—you know—for all the up and coming boxers with a record similar to mine or whatever, just keep fighting hard. It doesn’t matter what your record is, as long as you keep fighting, you’re gonna come back. You know, because I have four losses and a lot of people thought I was out. But all those losses was wins. I beat myself when I [was] training. So, now I’m showing the world that I can come back. Eventually, down the road, there’s a couple guys I’m eyeing, but I’ve got to wait, you know before I start on a mission, I’ve got to make sure that I’m ready before I say things.
JUAN AYLLON: Is there anything in the works in terms of television dates?
SHAY MOBLEY: Well, actually, with ‘One in a Million’, they’ve been really good with me, getting me a lot of T.V. dates and, actually, for what the record I have, I done fought on T.V. with ‘One in a Million’ three times. I mean, I’ve been doing good with them and they’ve been doing good with me. You know, my manager hasn’t spoke with me about any up and coming T.V. dates right now. You know, if he sees something worth for me, then he’ll take it.
JIMMY HOLMES VS. CHARLES TAYLOR
Holmes (L) stalks Taylor
Jimmy “The Fighting School Teacher” Holmes (161lbs., 8-0-1, 6 KO’s) won a unanimous decision over dicey Charles Taylor (163 lbs., 0-3-0).
In round one, Holmes dominated, scoring with sharp jabs, hooks and rights while Taylor predominantly covered.
Round two saw Holmes essentially pitch a shutout, as Taylor’s offensive was minimal and what little he threw was blocked. Holmes was warned for a low blow at rounds end.
In round three, Holmes tried desperately to get Taylor out of there, but found an uncooperative foil, as Taylor effectively ducked, blocked and smothered many of Holmes blows. Still, for lack of an offense, Taylor did enough to lose the round.
Rounds four and five provided more of the same. Fighting a disciplined fight, Holmes never the less swung hard, raining down combinations in bunches. He landed a hard right to the head at rounds end that dumped Taylor into the ropes.
Holmes continued to press hard for a knockout in the sixth and final round, working over Taylor to head and body with ripping hooks, strafing rights and winging uppercuts. In the last 20 seconds, Taylor fought back with a fire that lacked during the rest of the bout. However, even then, Holmes finished definitively.
Then end was never in doubt, as the fight was scored 60-54 thrice for Holmes.
In between bouts, popular Chicago middleweight, Michael Walker, visited at ringside and said, “I’m training hard. I just came from New York City. I was sparring with Leonard Pierre. He’s a middleweight. I’m getting ready for my next fight April 22nd against Jimmy Gonzales. That’s going to be a good fight! They called me up.”
JAIME ALVARADO VS. WILSON RIVERA:
Rivera (L) and Alvarado square off
Gutsy lightweight Jaime Alvarado (135 lbs., 1-2-2, 1 KO) prevailed by unanimous decision over chiseled Wilson Rivera (134 lbs., 2-1-0, 1 KO) in the spirited, four round opener.
Round one proved to be a fairly closely fought round. Heavy, two-fisted, non-stop exchanges entertained the crowd between the two proud Mexican warriors. However, Alvarado seemed to edge the round ever so slightly.
More of the same was served up in round two. Both fighters exchanging some sharp blows. Rivera appears to be the sharper boxer, Alvarado the more aggressive slugger. It was a close round.
Rivera opened round three very aggressively, landing very well to head and body with a flurry of thudding lefts and rights. However, about 45 seconds into the round, he went down from what appeared to be a knockdown and a slip. Alvarado tried to finish him, but Rivera seemed just fine and returned as well as he received.
Round four proved to be another very spirited affair, with Alvarado landing a number of sharp and sneaky rights and hooks. Rivera fought back sharply, landing a looping right hand of his own towards the end of the round. The edge in effective aggression appeared to belong to Alvarado.
Judges scored the bout 38-37, 39-36 twice for a unanimous decision victory for Jaime Alvarado.
ARMANDO HORN VS. MIKE JUAREZ:
Juarez (L) and Horn mix it up
As a surprise bonus, lightweights Armando Horn (133.5 lbs., 13-0-0, 11 KO’s) and Mike Juarez (132.5 lbs., 24-15-2, 9 KO’s) put on a spirited scrap to the delight of the crowd, with Juarez prevailing for a unanimous decision.
In round one, Juarez dominated the action, as Horn played defense predominantly. The momentum picked up in round two and round three was pretty competitive, with Juarez appearing to edge slightly with effective aggression.
Round four appeared to be a strong round for Juarez, only to have the tide turn the other way as Horn rallied back hard. Close round, appeared to favor Juarez slightly.
Round five featured more pronounced clinching. However, the round was Juarez’ by and large.
The sixth and final round saw Juarez mounting a shut out, only to see him hurt by Horn with a hard right and follow-up blows. His mouthpiece was knocked out, thus buying him valuable time when the ref had it rinsed following a desperation clinch by Juarez. His senses cleared, he boxed and fended off Horn’s follow-up attempts.
The fight was scored 59-55 and 58-56 twice for Mike Juarez.
All in all, the evening proved to be highly entertaining for all. The fights were compelling and hard fought and the pacing between fights was brisk, as witnessed by this writer’s friend and first time viewer, Jill, who said, “It was very entertaining.” Indeed, as ‘One in a Million’ hit another one out of the park with a sublimely entertaining show.
Friend of the author, Jill, said the fights were, "...very entertaining!"
Guy Solis and son celebrate his victory
All photos by Juan C. Ayllon
