By Lyle Fitzsimmons
You might think a blow-by-blow guy like Jim Lampley arrives at ringside with a knapsack of rehearsed phrases to pull out at the exact moment a fight gets all dramatic and compelling.
You might think that. But you’d be wrong.
Instead, the imminent International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee insists, his pre-fight carry-on includes as little paper as he can get away with, and—with a soon-to-be exception on May 2—no scripting.
For that special Saturday night in Las Vegas, even his own rules are meant to be broken.
“Normally, I would have nothing,” he said. “But in this particular instance, I do have one line that I am planning, hoping that I will use at the very outset of the fight, either before the opening bell or immediately after the opening bell. That line has been evolving in my mind for six years.
“And that's the only one. I'll tell you the day after the fight whether I actually got that sentence in or whether it gets lost in the flow of everything else. But I do have an observation that I'm planning to make which is in my head and I think I'll probably make it around the time of the opening bell.”
Aside from that, though, everything else that exits his mouth is organic.
To the point that—even when he drops a line like “Lennox Lewis knocks out Mike Tyson, and banishes him from the upper stratosphere of the heavyweight division”—he might not even recall it later.
“I don't remember saying it. It sounds like a pretty good line. Not bad,” he said.
“I know the camera shot. A cameraman managed to lean out on the ropes and hold his camera directly above Mike's face and you're looking directly down on Mike's face, and he's bleeding from both eyes, bleeding from both nostrils and bleeding from the mouth. It was like an artwork, demonstrating what Lennox had been able to do to him over the course of the eight rounds.”
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This week’s title-fight schedule:
FRIDAY
Vacant IBO junior welterweight title – Moscow, Russia
Aik Shakhnazaryan (No. 20 contender/No. 30 IWBR) vs. Eduard Troyanovsky (No. 23 contender/No. 52 IWBR)
Shakhnazaryan (15-1, 6 KO): First title fight; Fifth fight in Moscow (4-0, 1 KO)
Troyanovsky (20-0, 17 KO): First title fight; Ten straight victories by stoppage (37 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: Troyanovsky is more than a decade older, but is also bigger, stronger and punches better than his slightly higher-ranked fellow pursuer of a vacant belt. That’ll work. Troyanovsky in 8
WBA cruiserweight title – Moscow, Russia
Denis Lebedev (champion/No. 8 IWBR) vs. Youri Kalenga (No. 1 contender/No. 16 IWBR)
Lebedev (26-2, 20 KO): Second title defense; Fifteenth fight in Moscow (14-0, 9 KO)
Kalenga (21-1, 14 KO): First title fight; Seventh fight outside of France (5-1, 4 KO)
Fitzbitz says: The Congo-born Frenchman has a nice record, but not nearly the street cred of his hard-hitting and resilient opponent who’s also fighting on home turf. Too much to overcome. Lebedev in 7
SATURDAY
Vacant IBO lightweight title – New Lambton, Australia
Pablo Barboza (No. 35 contender/No. 42 IWBR) vs. Chad Bennett (unranked/unranked IWBR)
Barboza (23-4, 9 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside Argentina (0-1, 0 KO)
Bennett (35-4-3, 26 KO): First title fight; Ten straight wins by stoppage (52 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: There’s not typically a lot of reason to select a 41-year-old to do anything when a 30-year-old is available, but a slugging Aussie is almost always preferable to a light-hitting visitor. Bennett in 9
Vacant IBO super featherweight title – New Lambton, Australia
Kye MacKenzie (No. 17 contender/No. 61 IWBR) vs. Jack Asis (No. 39 contender/No. 67 IWBR)
MacKenzie (14-0, 12 KO): First title fight; Ten straight wins by stoppage (37 total rounds)
Asis (32-18-5, 17 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2011 (11-0-1, 7 KO)
Fitzbitz says: You’ve got to give the Filipino credit for reinventing himself after a five-bout losing streak from 2009-11, but reinvention doesn’t always mean perpetual success. MacKenzie in 6
WBC light flyweight title – Mazatlan, Mexico
Pedro Guevara (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Richard Claveras (No. 14 contender/No. 73 IWBR)
Guevara (24-1-1, 16 KO): First title defense; Fourth fight against foe with two straight wins (2-1, 0 KO)
Claveras (12-0-2, 12 KO): First title fight; First fight outside the Philippines
Fitzbitz says: The Filipino has exactly one win against a foe with double-digit victories – and that guy, by the way, had 31 losses. But presto, he’s a top-15 guy in a title fight. Ahhh, the WBC. Guevara in 7
WBO middleweight title – Brooklyn, N.Y.
Andy Lee (champion/No. 12 IWBR) vs. Peter Quillin (No. 2 contender/No. 4 IWBR)
Lee (34-2, 24 KO): First title defense; Fifth fight in New York (4-0, 3 KO)
Quillin (31-0, 22 KO): Fifth title fight (4-0); Held WBO title (2012-14, three defenses)
Fitzbitz says: Lee is tough as nails, so this will be a serious litmus test for Quillin. If he’s more than just flash, he should start a second reign. If he’s anything less, Lee will prove it. Quillin by decision
WBO junior lightweight title – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Orlando Salido (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Roman Martinez (No. 13 contender/unranked IWBR)
Salido (42-12-2, 29 KO): First title defense; Held IBF/WBO titles at 126 pounds
Martinez (28-2-2, 17 KO): Ninth title fight (5-2-1); Two WBO title reigns (2009-10, 2012-13)
Fitzbitz says: If there’s been a 12-loss fighter better than Salido in a generation, you’d be hard-pressed to find him. Martinez is no joke, but his Mexico foe can out-rugged almost everyone. Salido by decision
Last week's picks: 2-0 (WIN: Stevenson, Cuadras)
2015 picks record: 14-4 (77.7 percent)
Overall picks record: 653-227 (74.2 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.