There have been times at the Maywood Boxing Club, where a multitude of world-class prizefighters do their daily routines, when you?d see a particular boxer practice the most rudimentary punch in boxing- the jab. Time after time, for about a half-hour, this particular guy would throw out his right jab and move forward with his jab-step and then start the process all over again. It?s as if he?s a novice to this sport, learning this craft for the very first time. The jab and learning how to step with it, is usually among the first things you are ever taught as you walk into a gym. Only this isn?t a boxing beginner but an accomplished practitioner of the sport, a guy with a record of 41-2 with 34 knockouts to his credit, who held a major world title, defending it six times.
That would be Daniel Ponce de Leon, the former WBO junior featherweight beltholder, who faces Adrian Broner this Saturday night as the opening feature at Anaheim?s Honda Center on HBO?s ?Boxing After Dark.? He would do this most fundamental of drills under the watchful eye of trainer Dub Huntley.
Despite his credentials, Ponce de Leon was never going to make any boxing textbooks based on his technical acumen. His game was based on brute strength and despite his amateur pedigree (where he represented Mexico in the 2000 Olympics), he was rawer than sushi. He didn?t so much hit you but more or less club you with his heavy hands. And to say he had two left feet would be an insult to everyone with two left feet. In the past, he jabbed awkwardly and over-strode to a point that he reminded you of Willie ?Stretch? McCovey reaching for a ball at first base.
So this drill, while tedious, was absolutely necessary.
“At the beginning, it was tiring,” he admitted this past week, through interpreter Richard Romero, before his days work, “but now, I?m able to throw a jab for a whole hour without getting tired.”
More importantly, he can throw the jab with proper technique with his feet underneath him and his hands in proper position, more or less. “His balance was off and the way he threw his punches, wild punches. I told him that straight punches get there quicker than a wild punch,? said Huntley. Ponce will never be confused for Pernell Whitaker but in his four fights, since working with Huntley, he has shown technical improvement. “I?d say, 100-percent. A 100-percent he?s improved; his jab is better,” said the trainer, himself a former welterweight back in the day. “He doesn?t do the wild punches that he used to. He?s come out real good.”
When asked if he was basically starting over, Ponce insisted, “No, I already went through all that. It?s just that I?m picking up things because it?s a whole different style of schooling for me.” He says of working with Huntley, “I feel very comfortable with him because the four fights that I?ve been with him, I?ve felt very secure about myself. We?ve done very well.”
Since hooking up with Huntley, Ponce has scored three stoppages (including a bludgeoning of Antonio Escalante that opened a few eyes) and he outpointed the respected Cornelius Lock.
Huntley says as he first took a look at what he had to work with, he knew that?well, this was going to be a lot of work.
“I did but I knew he could do it. I knew he could do it,” said Huntley, who was trained by Bill Slayton during his days as a boxer. “People had just let him do stuff that he?s not supposed to do and they just let it go on but you gotta be able to stop him right there and tell him. Tell him what?s wrong. He?s made a big change, I think.”
While they may have not necessarily started over completely, they did rebuild the foundation and for most practitioners of this game, throwing a sound jab is paramount. So that?s the first- and sometimes, only thing- they worked on.
“I told him, ?If you want to learn, we?re going to go step-by-step,? and he did it. He wanted to know, so he did everything I told him to do,” said Huntley, who believes no matter the pedigree or skill of a fighter, knowledge is always there to be had. “See, you can be champ of the world but still, you can do a lot of stuff wrong. You gotta start from the bottom and bring it back up. You can?t start up here and come down. You gotta start from the bottom and go up.”
He added later, “Y? know, everybody can learn- everybody. When you see people that say they know everything, walk away from them because they?re lying to you. I?ve been in this game for over 50 years and I?m still learning. You?ll never know it all. You always learn.”
And in Ponce de Leon, he has a willing student.
“Yeah, he is,” said the 71-year old trainer, “because I?ll tell him to do something; he?ll say, ?Well, Dub, I can?t do it,? and then he?ll go out there and do it and I?ll say, ?I thought you couldn?t do it?? He can do it. I tell him, ?Man can do anything he want to do.”
Mark Hernandez, who manages the fighter, says, “Ponce?s become a much more patient fighter; he?s not out there trying to get the knockout like he used to in the past. He?s actually polished up his boxing skills and he?s more patient. He definitely is better and he throws more combinations, instead of one punch at a time.”
Yes, he might actually be a superior fighter than he was when he had the WBO belt around his waist.
“Yeah he is,” agreed Hernandez, while laughing at the thought. “It?s funny but he?s a better fighter at this point. He still needs a lot of work but the difference between now and then is now, he?s open to getting better. Before, just his raw skills, his determination made him a world champ.”
This is actually a reunion of sorts, as Huntley was in his corner, briefly before.
“Dub worked with Ponce early on when Ponce first came here from Mexico,” explained Hernandez. “Dub was part of that team and I?m not sure exactly what happened but as time went along, knowing that Ponce needed to work more on his combinations and his footwork, it just made sense to talk to Dub and see how he felt and get back together with him.”
In what is a rather unusual arrangement, Huntley works with the brothers ?Yucca? and Ramon Morales. Yes, tri-trainers. What do they say about too many chefs spoiling the stew? But Hernandez insists, “Everybody?s on the same page.”
With this newfound knowledge and improved fundamental grounding, Ponce de Leon is ready to make another run.
“I feel very calm, more than before,” he says. “I?ve learned a lot and I?m ready to become a world champion again.”
THE PROBLEM
In facing Broner, Ponce de Leon is taking on a fighter who is not only faster, quicker and more athletic, he is the naturally bigger man. And despite his number one ranking by the WBO in the featherweight division, this fight is taking place at 130 pounds.
Why?
“Well, for this fight, [Ponce] was offered a good purse and it?s a good opportunity to fight again on HBO,” explained Hernandez of their decision. “So being that he?s moving up, it?s a fight that Ponce believes he can win and that?s why we took the fight.” The hope is that his world-class experience can overcome Broner?s physical advantages. “He may be bigger and more athletic but in the pros, he?s lacking quality opponents. He recently faced a kid who?s 112 pounds who went up to 136, when he fought Broner. [Editor?s note: The ?kid? Hernandez is referring to is Ilido Julio, who just turned 40 two days ago.] He?s a good pro but he was a smaller guy. So in this fight, Ponce, to make 126, he doesn?t have a lot of trouble but he?ll be comfortable fighting at 130 pounds.”
Another issue, according to Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions, is that the same guy who took his title back in 2008 by halting him in one round stayed put.
“?JuanMa?s? tied up,” he explained, referring to Juan Manuel Lopez, the Puerto Rican standout. “We were told late last year when we did this eliminator that ?JuanMa? was going to move up to 130. Now we?re told he?s going to stay there for awhile. He?s going to do at least one or two more defenses and then he?s going to move up. That being the case, Ponce?s not looking for a rematch at this time and he just wants a big fight. You can?t blame the guy; he wants a big fight again.”
And he got it. You just wonder if it?s too big.
IMPROVEMENT
Speaking of world champions that can be- or have to be better- I had a chance to speak to Robert Garcia, who trains newly-minted WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios, who put on quite the show by overcoming the tough Miguel Acosta this past weekend. But while he was victorious, via tenth round TKO, ?Grandpa? knows that ?Bam Bam? will need to improve in certain areas to keep this title for awhile.
Garcia spoke of the need to come through the front door with a jab, while utilizing more head movement. He also believed that Rios was much too square in his stance, leaving him an open target for straight punches. He also spoke of getting his fighter on a real conditioning program. The bottom line is very simple; you?ll never change Rios. He is who he is but you can at least try and improve what he does and, with his hell-bent-for-leather style, minimizing the damage he takes each bout and being in optimum shape will be key.
According to Garcia, it looks like Rios? right hand, thought to be broken, may only be swollen. If that?s the case, it clears up his immediate future. Bob Arum told Maxboxing on Tuesday afternoon, “What I?d like to do is, if Cotto wins (on March 12th versus Ricardo Mayorga), then we?re looking to do Cotto and [Antonio] Margarito on July 16th and have [Marco Antonio] Barrera and Rios fight on that card. The idea being that [if] they both win, they would fight each other in the fall.”
NO MSG
There are still some fights out there that need venues in the upcoming months but you can scratch off the famed Madison Square Garden as one of the possibilities for the time being.
Promoter Lou DiBella, a native of the Big Apple, says, “It?s going to be beautiful in about a year but they?re starting renovations and they will be renovating the Theater first. Then with the Knicks looking like they?ll be in the playoffs, they?ll be beginning renovations on the big room after their season and the Garden?s going to be out of commission for awhile. We?re going to have to look for some alternative sites or it?s going to be hard to bring big fights to New York City.”
Speaking of sites, it looks like his April 16th match-up between WBC welterweight beltholder Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz will land in one of three destinations: the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, the Palms in Las Vegas or the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. DiBella hopes to have an official announcement by Thursday.
KNOCKOUTS
The female boxers of ?Knockouts for Girls? will lace up the gloves and take to the ring on Friday, March 4, 2011 as part of the ?Warner Center War 3? show at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, California. According to a press release: ?Knockouts for Girls? (www.ko4g.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed by a group of female boxers who wanted to pass on to young girls the health and fitness benefits of boxing as well as the empowerment and confidence gained from boxing. Donations collected by the ?Knockouts? are applied toward granting wishes to deserving (and often underprivileged) girls. Wishes range from college scholarships to eye glasses to piano lessons-anything that will enrich the lives of girls. ?Knockouts for Girls? also provides free boxing lessons. For more information, visit www.KO4G.org
COMBINE FLURRIES
Arum said that no decision has been made on who will televise Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?s bout versus Sebastian Zbik for the WBC middleweight title, saying that now, “Showtime is interested and we gotta work out the dates and all that sort of stuff.”…As for a potential Rios-Humberto Soto fight down the line, Arum indicated that Soto will soon be moving up to junior welterweight…On the untelevised portion of the card at the Honda Center this weekend are Daniel Jacobs, James Kirkland and Seth Mitchell…?Go Go? Gomez tells me he?d like to match Peter Quillin and Jesse Brinkley on a ?Solo Boxeo? card in Reno, Nevada in April…I really like the May 20th match-up on ESPN2?s ?Friday Night Fights? between Joel Julio and Antwone Smith…Seriously, is Charlie Sheen a great source of amusement or what?…Didya guys know I actually went to a Stone Temple Pilots concert on Friday night at the Palms? Thanks to Showtime?s Chris Legentil for hooking me up…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
