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Joe Greene: A Contender To Be? By Ryan Songalia PhilBoxing.com Mon, 31 May 2010  Junior-middleweight contender Joe Greene Jr is not the type of fighter that generates much hype. It's not that he doesn't know how to fight - he's simply a low-key guy that doesn't draw much attention to himself away from the ring. "I don't really like talking junk too much," the 24-year-old Greene says. "I let my hands talk for me in the fight." "That is a classic line repeated throughout the sport's history. And, according to Michael Marley, it is a publicist's worst nightmare." Heading into his HBO debut on June 5 against Vanes "The Nightmare" Martirosyan at Yankee Stadium, Greene faces skepticism about his preparedness for such a "step up" in competition. Though he is unbeaten at 22-0 (14 KO) and ranked by most of the major sanctioning bodies, the Jamaica, Queens native hasn't faced any recognizable contenders since turning pro in 2006. "Luckily for Greene, his training team -- father Joe Greene Sr. and Andre Rozier -- consists of vocal motivators and public defenders against "Mean" Joe's detractors. Greene Sr., who first introduced his son to the sport, points to his son's 200+ amateur fight career, as well as National Golden Gloves, Police Athletic League National championships and other major tournament wins. Those, he says, are proof that his son has been able to compete on the sport's highest stage. "He's fought on this level but more so in the amateurs," Greene Sr. says. "It's the same people, but the only difference is the headgear comes off. In the amateurs the best of the best congregate and fought each other in regional tournaments. You might fight a number on guy on a Monday and then fight a number two guy on a Wednesday. You're doing this in a one week time frame as opposed to having months and weeks to get ready." Greene had been scheduled to make the leap of fate in class last January against then-junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez on HBO. That fight had to be cancelled just a week prior to the bout when Greene came down with kidney stones. At the time Rozier said that Greene would take two weeks off before resuming his career. In actuality, his career would need more than two weeks to recover. Greene Jr had long been embittered by what he perceived to be an inability by promoter Warriors Boxing to get him to the next level. After defeating Delray Raines on an ESPN2-televised bout, Greene sought to extricate himself from his promotional contract. The Raines fight would be his only of 2009 and Greene Sr. eventually wound up buying out the remainder of his son's contract for $50,000 earlier this year. Greene promptly signed with Empire Sports and Entertainment, which promptly arranged for a bout on April 2 of this year at the Mohegan Sun. Shortly before the bout however, Greene's original opponent withdrew. Only on the drive from New York to Connecticut did the team realize they would be facing awkward spoiler Chris Gray. "We were looking at one guy that we viewed as a plodder, just someone that Joe could get some punches off on," explains Rozier, who has worked with Greene since he was 8. "Chris likes to move all over the ring, he can be tricky if you let him." While Rozier and Greene Jr. concede that it wasn't their best performance, they were happy to end ten months of inactivity and shake off some ring rust in the process. "Joe Greene had been off for a very long time," continued Rozier. "I wanted him to perform a little bit better in the bout but he won. It wasn't like 'Oh my God, this is a bout we might be losing.' It was just that so many people had a lot of expectations to knock Chris Gray out." Greene Sr. sees another potential upside to the Gray performance: "We're hoping Vanes is judging us by that performance, that would be a plus." By contrast, Martirosyan, who is promoted by Top Rank and trained by Freddie Roach, has been far more active, fighting four times in 2009 and once again in 2010. Martirosyan's recent opposition has included John Duddy-conqueror Billy Lyell (UD8), Andrey Tsurkan (TKO6) and most recently former world champion Kassim Ouma (UD10). Though his defining win to date, Martirosyan had to climb off the canvas in the ninth round against Ouma. Martirosyan, also 24, with a record of 27-0 (17 KO), represented the US Olympic squad in 2004 but didn't medal. Greene missed the cut when he lost a 16-13 decision to eventual bronze medalist Andre Dirrell, who has since gone on to win a world title at 168 pounds. None of that seems to matter to the Greene camp; they see this as the perfect opportunity to make a statement. "Vanes has always been a good fighter, but I've noticed that he doesn't seem to like pressure. I noticed that in the Kassim Ouma fight, which I thought he came up short in. The pressure that Ouma was putting on seemed to throw him off balance big time. Joe is a pressure fighter, a very strong fighter and he can punch. Some of the things that people overlook is that [Greene] has great handspeed and I think that will be on display big time." Says Greene Sr.: "Vanes is programmed to fight one way, and I think he doesn't like a lot of pressure. I look at some of his fights and he does basically the same thing: the overhand right with the hook." The preparations for this bout have been far more consistent than for their last fight. For Gray, Greene Jr. had very little sparring available. For this training camp, which is based out of the Fernwood Hotel and Resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, Greene is working with fringe contender Gabriel Rosado and stablemate Danny Jacobs, among others. "Things weren't flowing before the way they are now," Greene Jr. says. "I'm alright now and I'm training harder than ever now. I'm going to be a much different fighter than the last time out." "[The sparring partners] are bringing so many different dimensions to Joe's sparring that he's basically ready for anything," says Rozier. "I think he's gonna represent himself very well in the fight. Worst case scenario, we win by unanimous decision. Best case scenario, he stops Vanes. Without a doubt, if Kassim Ouma can put you on your butt, Joe Greene can knock you out." -RS Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia . Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ryan Songalia.  |
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