By Terence Dooley
Manchester has been caught up in Guzmania for the past three weeks as Dominica’s Joan Guzman prepared for his crucial crunch rematch with South Africa’s Ali Funeka in Las Vegas this Saturday night. Guzman recently hooked up with Lee Beard; the Denton-based trainer brought Guzman over here in order to fine tune preparations ahead of the vacant IBF lightweight title fight. Beard, who has brought Kerry Kayes onboard to manage Joan’s notorious weight problems, believes that the change of scenery and training pattern has rejuvenated Guzman.
“Joan has been sparring a lot of rounds with the lads over here,” revealed Beard to BoxingScene.com. “British boxers throw a lot of punches and are in good shape, they got Guzman working on blocking the jab, as that was a problem in the last fight. He feels a lot stronger and I can feel the power when taking him on the pads. Joan’s putting his knuckles behind the shots and not just throwing arm punches.”
Still, at 6’ 1’’ Funeka presents the 5’ 7’’ Guzman with a multitude of problems, not least that long, nagging jab and looping right hand, two major factors in the first encounter. Beard, though, believes that Funeka, who boxed a brilliant fight last November, has shown us everything that he has in his arsenal, whilst Guzman, who looked jaded in that majority draw, can improve on his performance.
“What you see with Funeka is what you get. He throws a lot of punches, coming on strong as the fight goes on. Joan made him miss early, got close, though he made a few mistakes that led to head clashes and cuts, but he lost concentration after the nose problem and because of the blood he was swallowing,” declared Beard.
“Once Funeka got into a rhythm, Guzman found it difficult to get back into the fight. A lot of rounds were up for grabs, Funeka landed some good shots, a right in the eighth especially, but Joan boxed his way to a draw when not himself on the night.
“Joan can be a lot more explosive, faster on his feet and better defensively, he made a lot of mistakes in the early rounds, and he knows that. Funeka will have a different Guzman, the old Guzman, in front of him. We’ve been working on a few things that will be effective in this fight. Funeka will be in great shape, he’s a big lightweight, but Guzman will not have any problems getting close in this one.”
As mentioned, Guzman was bloodied about the nose and right eye in that first encounter; he battled through the red mist for the majority of the contest and was unable to avoid Funeka’s big right hands, most notably when taking a shellacking late in round eight. However, prior to walking onto a huge right, which had Joan in serious trouble, the 29-0-1 (17 early) stylist had managed to close the range, landing some solid right hooks to the long, lean body of Funeka, 30-2-3 (25 KOs).
“That is it, that round didn’t start out a bad one for Joan”, concurred Beard when breaking down that eighth stanza, “he landed some nice shots, but it went against him at the end of the round - it was costly as a few punches changed the course of that round. Joan was showing too much heart and not enough of his ability – I want him to control and dictate in this fight. Funeka is strong, durable and awkward but he couldn’t get rid of a bad Guzman on the night so on Saturday night we’ll see a totally different fight.
“That explosive speed will be there and the things we’re working on will find Funeka out on fight night. Even in the first fight, Guzman closed the gap in the first few rounds but used sloppy punches when he got close and those shots took more out of Guzman than they did Funeka. It was hit and hope mostly in that fight; he’d make Funeka miss on the outside and close the range then just hammer the arms of Funeka looking for that money shot.”
Indeed, Beard believes that Guzman showed some of his ‘elusive and abusive’ form in the early going, and that this bodes well for the return encounter. “Funeka hit thin air at times, that is what we’ve been working towards for this fight,” said Beard.
“Guzman will control the fight on the inside and the outside. I’ve noticed a few things in Funeka, things that Guzman can use to his advantage. Joan can make Funeka miss, as Ali has to do certain things before firing his punches. For example, he takes big steps at times on his jab and throws his body forward when using that shot. As Guzman’s eye damage got to him those jabs started landing - he couldn’t see the shots coming.
“Guzman can’t afford to switch off, he did that in third round of the last fight and got caught with a jab and big right hand, then the blood starting flowing and changed the complexion of the fight. Funeka will be in there all the time so Joan has to be switched on all the time to stay one step ahead.
“Someone like Ricky Hatton knows what to do on the inside and can do a lot of damage but when Joan got close on Funeka he was wasteful with his punches, he needs more thought in his work. We’ve worked on making punches count when in positions like that.”
Guzman readily admits that he had fought through a haze in that first encounter, the 33-year-old believes that Funeka, 31, should have taken him out, he also feels that he can improve massively on that first fight. Consequently, both fighter and trainer have been doing their homework in recent months.
“We’ve watched the fight together”, continued Beard, “he’s seen the mistakes he made in that fight, and knows that he has to make his opportunities count. Guzman plays at times and paid the price for that so I really got onto him about that to make sure that everything counts in this fight. Joan doesn’t need to fight at Funeka’s pace, he needs to control the place.”
Inactivity has plagued Guzman, who architected his own problems when failing to make weight for a lightweight title showdown with Nate Campbell in 2008; Beard recognised that the first hurdle was to ensure that Joan was brought down to the championship limit in a precise manner. They sought the assistance of Ricky Hatton’s former nutritionalist, Kerry Kayes, in a bid to ensure that Joan is in tip-top condition come fight night.
“He didn’t look in good shape in that last fight and has been very inactive, which isn’t helpful for his level of fighting, the more you fight the better you are, the more momentum you have,” admitted Beard.
“Kerry is an expert with helping fighters make the weight so I took him straight to Kerry when we got over to Manchester. Kerry asked a lot of questions about the history of Joan’s eating habits and then put him on a CNP plan that is specific for Joan. Having Kerry onboard is a big relief for me as it gives you less to worry about. I knew I needed help and knew that Kerry had brought Ricky on the weight safely every time.
“Kerry will be in Vegas with us and in the corner on fight night, that is a massive boost. I can concentrate on the boxing side of things, you don’t need to worry about Kerry as he’ll do his job and bring Guzman in on weight.”
Lee, however, understands that Guzman has a lot to prove after failing to capitalise on that fine win over Jorge Barrios in 2006, the trainer believes that the mercurial talent will take a massive step towards fulfilling his potential by handily defeating Funeka.
“It needs to go well this time, Joan’s been inactive in recent years so this is a make-or-break fight. Joan is a really great guy, he’s bonded with Kerry and we have the good team needed to ensure that everything goes well on the night. Kerry is proving invaluable for this fight and will be part of a good win and good performance by Guzman so I’m extremely grateful to Kerry. We will see the real Joan Guzman on fight night,” predicted Beard.
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