
By David "Los Gatos" Rosenberg
In my earlier story on BoxingScene.com, I revealed Ryan Coyne's new opponent. Coyne was scheduled to face WBA champ Guillermo Jones who pulled out of the fight with an injury. He is now scheduled to face Dave McNemar this coming Saturday.
BoxingScene's Ryan Burton later wrote a story in which cruiserweight contender Lateef Kayode's manager Steve Feder ripped Team Coyne's selection of McNemar as a replacement opponent.
Coyne's business advisor Michael Garrett defended his opponent selection and fired right back at Kayode's manager Steve Feder.
Garrett told BoxingScene, "I'll give Team Kayode the benefit of the doubt on being educated on the challenge of finding an opponent to come in to fight on 6 days notice in front of a packed arena of hometown fans since their idea of a rabid crowd is the overflow from a few craps tables in a casino ballroom. McNemar took the challenge and this marks the second undefeated fighter Ryan will have fought in his past three fights."
Garrett wasn't finished. He wanted to let the world know that Coyne has never avoided an opponent and accused Kayode of ducking WBO champion Marco Huck.
"We're not in the business of ducking fights. Ryan stepped up to the plate when offered the opportunity to fight Guillermo Jones for the WBA World title while Kayode was getting a gift decision versus a Florida club fighter and struggling for several rounds versus a dump truck driver. Did Kayode step up when they were offered their WBO title shot versus Marco Huck? My understanding is they did not. Let's make one thing crystal clear, we signed to fight Jones the moment Don King offered us that fight. Ryan is in this business to win a world title and it was Jones that came up lame."