By Thomas Gerbasi

As an understudy to former welterweight and current IBF junior middleweight world champion Cory Spinks, Devon Alexander learned his lessons well. He did his job, didn’t steal the spotlight from his more accomplished neighbor, and waited for his own moment to come.

And waited…and waited…

Despite a stellar unbeaten record, world-class talent and the type of charisma that could cross him over into areas rarely touched by boxers these days, Alexander found himself as a bit player, even in his own hometown of St. Louis, stuck on the undercards of four of Spinks’ last six fights. But again, Alexander didn’t complain, showing remarkable restraint for someone with the nickname “The Great.”

He trusted that one day he would reap the rewards of a life spent in the hurt business, the key word being ‘business.’ Because when you look at where he came from in North St. Louis, just being able to have a career with a steady paycheck was something to hold on to in and of itself because many of his peers weren’t as fortunate.

“I've done seen it all,” said Alexander during a recent teleconference.  “I've done seen the gangs.  I've done seen killings.  I've done seen drugs.  I've done seen it all.  I started off with 30 guys and most of them fell astray and fell off and got into other stuff that wasn't gonna help them in the future.” 

Kept on the straight and narrow by a former cop named Kevin Cunningham, Alexander stuck to the boxing gym from the time he was seven years old. Along the way, Cunningham – the man who led Spinks to the top of the boxing world – sung the praises of his young phenom to everyone he spoke to, sure that Alexander would be the next member of his camp to wear championship gold around his waist. More importantly, he held the youngster up as an example to others looking to escape their own private prisons.

“He's an example for how your life can turn out if you do the right things and stay focused,” said Cunningham. “That's everything I've ever stood for, just staying focused.  Regardless of the conditions in which you came up in, you don't have to be a product of your environment.  And Devon is living proof of that and he stuck with the program, stayed focused, worked hard.  And, you know, that's why he's where he is today.”

It was far from an easy road though. After over 300 amateur fights, 18 pro bouts, and numerous stops and starts in his career, he was brought out of Spinks’ shadow and into his own spotlight at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California on August 1, 2009. His opponent, veteran Junior Witter; the stakes, the vacant WBC world junior welterweight title; the result, Alexander was “The Great” that night as he romped over Witter, forcing the Brit to quit in his corner after the eighth round.

“We had a game plan,” said Cunningham of the Witter fight. “We prepared for a smart, tricky, veteran former world champion who's fought the best 140 pounders in the world and he was real slick and tricky.  And everybody that Junior Witter had fought prior to us, he made them look horrible, I mean, from Zab Judah to Chop Chop to Tim Bradley to--everybody he fought, he made them look bad.  But, you know, Devon looked good beating Junior Witter.”

And now he was a world champion. Just as he pictured it. There would be no ‘I told you so’ or sour grapes about the past. The 23-year old southpaw just decided to let the past be just that, and to look forward to the future. It’s the confidence of a young man who is secure in the prospect that now that he’s here, he’s not going anywhere until more championships, more big fights, more acclaim, and more money come his way.

“I'm a self motivator and I'm a hungry person,” he said.  “I love what I do,  I love boxing and I love to get in there and show the world that I can be one of the best fighters that ever did the game.  And whatever my promoter (Don King) has lined up for me, I'm gonna go with it.  I just put my trust in God on that because whatever's meant for me to get--like I got the belt, I got the title with Don.  It was meant for me to get it August 1st, you know?  So, I'm not tripping off the long layovers or anything like that.  I mean, I would love to fight every month.  But, if that's not the case, then I'm not gonna sweat it.  I'm gonna stay in the gym, gonna work hard, and that's what Kevin always told me to do - work hard, train hard until we get our opportunity, and once we get our opportunity to get in the door and blow, we blow.”

On March 6th, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, Alexander approaches door number two in his quest for world domination – a unification bout against IBF 140-pound boss Juan Urango. On paper, it’s the classic matchup of boxer vs brawler, with Alexander holding a decided edge in speed, technique, and ring generalship. But when it comes to power and world-class experience, the pendulum swings back to Urango, making it an intriguing bout, even if Alexander and Cunningham may disagree on the Urango’s supposed advantages.

“I think the power is not an issue because I've got power, too,” said Alexander, who has 12 knockouts among his 19 pro wins. “Everybody's looking at me like I've got some feather fists.  No, that's not the case.  Everybody's talking about his power, and its okay.  But, I've got speed.  I've got slickness, and I've been around slickness my whole life.  So, I'm just gonna add that to my power, and it's just gonna be an explosive night.  People are gonna be surprised at what they're gonna see out of Devon Alexander "the Great" because when I fight the best, the best comes out in me, and I'm just explosive.”

“As far as the experience,” adds Cunningham, “we'll be prepared to deal with whatever any experienced guy has to bring to the table.  Devon has boatloads of experience.  He's had over 300 amateur fights.  He was one of the best amateurs in the world, and he's fought overseas, all over the place.  He's got 19 fights.  And I've always overmatched Devon coming up.  He's always fought guys with lots of wins, lots of experience, former champions coming up through the ranks.  So, he's been prepared for this moment the whole time.  And I think this is gonna be one of the most exciting fights HBO has put on in a long time, because one thing about it - we know that Juan Urango is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, junior welterweight in the division.  We know he's strong, he's tough, he can take a punch and all of that.  So, we're prepared to dish it out.  Whatever he can take, we're prepared to dish it out, we're prepared to give it to him all night and we're definitely gonna put on an explosive performance.”

“Explosive” is the buzzword from both men, and if Alexander can deliver on his promise, he may just eclipse Spinks on the popularity meter back home in St. Louis. That’s not something you’ll hear out of the mouths of Alexander or Cunningham, so I’ll say it – it’s nice to follow the hometown kid who excels with defense and slick boxing technique; but it’s so much bigger when you add spectacular knockouts to the equation. Alexander has the potential to do it, and after receiving the key to the city last year and having Mayor Francis Slay as part of the HBO pre-fight feature for next week’s bout, ‘The Lou’ may already be gearing up to embrace their newest star.

Who said patience wasn’t a virtue?

“It's like a dream coming true,” said Alexander.  “It's all falling together for me and I'm just taking it all in, taking it one day at a time, staying focused.  It's a great honor that Mayor Slay is even mentioning my name.  I’m a kid who went from nothing to something and the Mayor mentioning my name is a great honor.  I'm just so humbled to be in this situation, and I'm gonna make the most of it and stay on top.”