Tweet
By Thomas Gerbasi - It was a bad night for the blue corner. Of nine fights on last Saturday night’s Top Rank event at the WaMu Theater in New York City, the blue corner lost eight of them.
That’s no surprise really, with the names Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, John Duddy, and Omar Chavez occupying the opposite real estate across the ring.
Yonkers’ Michael Torres, a hot prospect with a 13-0 record, was in the red corner that night, expected to make it 14-0 with a win in the night’s opening bout.
In the blue corner was Toledo’s Martin Tucker, owner of a 6-4 record that basically marked him as cannon fodder for the Top Rank prospect.
“They took him as an opponent,” said Tucker’s trainer Tom Urbina, who had no intention of letting his charge simply show up for a paycheck and a fifth loss.
Easier said than done, but Tucker showed from the opening bell that he wasn’t the stereotypical Midwest fighter sent in to lose to East or West Coast prospects.
He could fight. But could he win?
It didn’t look so early on, as he ate a right hand from Torres that visibly shook him.
Round one to Torres.
“I came to terms with being from a little city with not many fight shows. The life I live is against the grain, so I know when I fight it’s gonna be against the grain. Luckily, I’m used to it, so I just go out there and do what I know.” – Martin Tucker
Toledo, Ohio is far from a hotbed for boxing. The biggest fight news out of the city recently came last November, when the boxing ring at the Glass City Boxing Gym was stolen.
Glass City is the gym that has produced Tucker, as well as the two biggest names fighting there now, 2004 US Olympian Devin Vargas and his brother Dallas. The Vargas boys’ father, Ray, was in Tucker’s corner on October 10th, but was drowned out by Urbino, who has been with the 30-year old lightweight for the last 12 years. [details]
That’s no surprise really, with the names Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, John Duddy, and Omar Chavez occupying the opposite real estate across the ring.
Yonkers’ Michael Torres, a hot prospect with a 13-0 record, was in the red corner that night, expected to make it 14-0 with a win in the night’s opening bout.
In the blue corner was Toledo’s Martin Tucker, owner of a 6-4 record that basically marked him as cannon fodder for the Top Rank prospect.
“They took him as an opponent,” said Tucker’s trainer Tom Urbina, who had no intention of letting his charge simply show up for a paycheck and a fifth loss.
Easier said than done, but Tucker showed from the opening bell that he wasn’t the stereotypical Midwest fighter sent in to lose to East or West Coast prospects.
He could fight. But could he win?
It didn’t look so early on, as he ate a right hand from Torres that visibly shook him.
Round one to Torres.
“I came to terms with being from a little city with not many fight shows. The life I live is against the grain, so I know when I fight it’s gonna be against the grain. Luckily, I’m used to it, so I just go out there and do what I know.” – Martin Tucker
Toledo, Ohio is far from a hotbed for boxing. The biggest fight news out of the city recently came last November, when the boxing ring at the Glass City Boxing Gym was stolen.
Glass City is the gym that has produced Tucker, as well as the two biggest names fighting there now, 2004 US Olympian Devin Vargas and his brother Dallas. The Vargas boys’ father, Ray, was in Tucker’s corner on October 10th, but was drowned out by Urbino, who has been with the 30-year old lightweight for the last 12 years. [details]
Comment