?There is speculation that fight could lead to GBP bringing Spadafora into the fold as a possible undefeated opponent for Floyd ?Money? Mayweather. Several years ago there was a sparring session between Spadafora and Mayweather in which Spadafora got the better of it. Also Spadafora?s undefeated streak is longer than Floyd?s, so there are multiple story lines.??Chris Morris (Fightnews.com)
?He?s the smartest fighter I know. He?s a true scientist. He knows the game through and through.??Tom Yankello
?I?m a fighter. That?s what I do. It?s who I am.??Paul Spadafora
The somewhat rejuvenated Paul ?The Pittsburgh Kid? Spadafora who beat Robert ?Red Hot? Frankel (32-12-1) over 10 rounds on April 4 to capture the vacant NABF light welterweight title (Boxing.com?s Jill Diamond was the supervisor) is now positioned to reach Rocky Marciano?s record, but he has that one draw with Leonard Dorin that will forever separate his record from The Rock.
Paul, though never heavy handed, is still slick and cagey, but he is light years away from what he once was. Father Time (he is an old 38), a hardcore life style and checkered past have caught up to him. He is longer a great counterpuncher; he now relies on ring generalship and uses a sharp jab to slice and dice opponents while providing a moving target that remains hard to hit.
However, to his great credit, The Kid has picked a formidable opponent in Venezuelan Johan ?El Terrible? Perez (17-1-1) for a November 30 fight promoted by Golden Boy at the Mountaineer Casino in Chester, West Virginia, site of The Kid?s last three bouts. Perez?s sole loss was to tough Pablo Cesar Cano by TD. He has wins over former KO artist Kenny Galarza (which pretty much ended the once touted Puerto Rican?s career), former world champion Steve Forbes, and formerly undefeated Yoshihiro Kamegai (22-0-1). He also has a draw with undefeated Panamanian Alberto Mosquera. In short, Perez is a tough costumer.
Mayweather Speculation
If Paul beats ?El Terrible,? and that?s a very big if, forget about any speculation that he will get a crack at FMJ because Mayweather would be a 50-1 favorite and, by extension, the fight would not draw flies. The fact is, Spadafora needs to defeat a couple of important contenders before even being considered for the FMJ sweepstakes. Should ?The Kid? get by Perez, either Paulie Malignaggi or Zab Judah could be possible opponents in his quest to reach 50-0-1.
Despite Paul Spadafora?s well-documented troubles outside of the ring, he has continued to comeback from rock bottom. This will be the first major test in that comeback. Stay tuned. Follow us on Twitter@boxing_com to continue the discussion
