By Jake Donovan
His career began with good intentions. An upset win in the final round of 1998 Golden Gloves was supposed to be a sign of good things to come for Elvir Muriqi, then a 19-year old Albanian living in New York City. With trainer Teddy Atlas in his corner, the Kosovo Kid would find himself with a direct pipeline to the revamped ESPN2 Friday Night Fights circuits a little over a year into his pro career.
Then came his first loss, two years in, against Dan Sheehan, who would go on to serve as a career opponent. Muriqi avenged the loss that never should've occurred in the first place, but the new penny shine was already removed.
Whatever hype remained was removed altogether, even in victory, when he overcame four knockdowns to score two of his own in stopping unheralded Sam Ahmad. Six knockdowns in a three-round bout – nobody could question Muriqi's heart, but his status as a potential player went from fringe to non-existent. Everyone stopped believing.
Even Muriqi himself.
"I admit, I grew bored and frustrated earlier in my career," confesses Muriqi (34-4, 21KO), who attempts to pick up the pieces Thursday night in the Bronx when he faces Willis Lockett in a light heavyweight scrap scheduled for ten rounds or less. "I didn't have a lengthy amateur career, so my trainers were constantly changing my style, while feeding me lesser fighters that weren't teaching me anything. I wanted to improve my competition, but instead saw my career go nowhere."
In an ironic twist, Muriqi now finds himself at the height of his popularity after a loss. Fame tends to come easier when you extend a former world champion the distance on Showtime Championship Boxing. So even in dropping a majority decision to Antonio Tarver last June, Muriqi's career was injected with a much needed shot in the arm. He went in assumed as road kill, but came out praised for his efforts.
Most importantly, he was proud of himself for the first time in his career.
"I got a lot of phone calls from friends, family, and even people I haven't spoken to in years, saying they thought I won and they were so proud of me. I thought for sure that I won the fight, and was actually mad when I heard the first judge had it a draw. When I heard the other two cards and then Tarver announced as the winner, I was upset. But when you fight a superstar, and you get close scorecards like that, you know you did good."
The only person in the ring who didn't agree was Tarver, who to this day takes judge Steve Weisfeld to task over his 114-114 scorecard. Tarver had even less kind words for Muriqi and his camp that evening, asking that they be removed from the ring before he conducts any post-fight interviews.
Muriqi didn't pay it any mind, just laughing it off while pondering what would've been if the two were alone.
"If there was nobody there, they'd be taking him out of the ring, trust me," laughs Muriqi. "But I knew nobody was taking him seriously so I didn't bother stressing over it. I just told him, "Be a man. When you lost to Roy, he gave you a rematch. This was a close fight, so do right by me like he did right by you. After that he showed me respect."
What wasn't shown to Muriqi was an offer for a rematch. Or a match of any kind, as Muriqi was forced to spend the rest of 2007 watching on the sidelines while waiting for a fight, any fight, to materialize.
But this being the new and improved Kosovo Kid, a little inactivity wasn't enough to dampen his spirits.
"My confidence is sky high. The only thing I wanted to come right back. I want to show that I belong with the top light heavyweights."
Only those same top light heavyweights who wouldn't hesitate to call when they needed a perceived tune-up suddenly lost Muriqi's number. Just imagined if he won the fight.
"Even with the loss listed on my record, everyone now knows that fighting me isn't a guaranteed win. It's good and bad. The good thing is everyone knows about me. The bad thing is, those same guys aren't willing to fight me."
"We once had a fight lined up in Germany with Zsolt Erdei (regarded by historians as the linear light heavyweight champion). But after the Tarver fight, it was a different story.
When they still thought I was a walkover, they wanted me, but were scared off."
Fast forward to the present, when Muriqi resurfaces on the club circuit, for his ten-round tilt against Willis Lockett (10-5-4, 4KO), a late replacement for Dhafir Smith, who pulled out of the fight for unknown reasons. Muriqi's not particularly interested in why, just grateful that someone will be in the other corner, even if on a smaller stage than he expected.
"It's frustrating that I had to wait seven months, and to go back to clubfights. But I still have to maintain my focus, all of which is on Lockett at the moment. Not sure what happened with the other guy, but Lockett is the same type of opponent, which means we didn't have to make too many adjustments in training.
"Honestly, I'm taking this to stay busy. I know I can beat the top guys, and want them as soon as possible. But I have to take what is offered, and just focus about what's in front of me before worrying about what's ahead."
Of course, winning helps as well. It's great that Muriqi received some much needed shine for his valiant-in-defeat performance against Tarver, but nobody wants to go through a career being best remembered for the nights in which he came up short.
For the moment, that remains Muriqi's legacy – the close call against Tarver, losing twice in a span of six months at Madison Square Garden against opposition he should've otherwise handled with room to spare. All 34 of his wins have come against opponents that range from pedestrian to cannon fodder.
Even that won't change no matter how spectacular he looks this weekend. But what has changed in the past couple of years has been his self-confidence.
"When I was #5 in the world, I was bored. But then I lost everything I had, and realized I needed to fall back in love with what I do best. I was 26 and realized, 'I'm a man now.' I grew into my body, and boxing is fun again.
"When you take it serious and have fun, it's nowhere near as hard. I haven't been hurt in four years, not in a fight or sparring. My confidence is at an all-time high, and back to having fun. I feel better than ever."
Muriqi will feel even better once the big fights resurface. He knows it all begins with a big win Thursday night, and then immediately planning for the future. A Tarver rematch remains close the top of his to-do list, but his immediate goals doesn't begin and end with Antonio Tarver. Nor are they limited to whoever is the highest bidder.
"I would like to fight everybody. Chad Dawson, Glen Johnson, Clinton Woods, Roy, Tito, Hopkins. On another good night, I beat all of them,. And just to show its not a payday, I have no problem signing a winner-takes-all contract."
A long way off from where he was even two years ago, when the next fight merely meant the next paycheck. Then again, that's why they call it redemption.
"I know expectations were high at the beginning of my career, and I never came close to fulfilling them. I have no question that I will make it up in this later part of my career. Soon enough I will be a world champion, and finally live up to expectations."
Thus making good on his last chance at a lasting impression.
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His feature column runs every Tuesday, and his Prospect of the Week series runs every Thursday. Jake is also BoxingScene's official Telefutura correspondent.
Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
