By Keith Idec
PASSAIC, N.J. — Pat Lynch cannot wait for tonight.
Jorge Diaz, one of the four undefeated prospects from New Jersey that Lynch co-manages, will become the first member of that promising group to fight on television. Diaz (12-0, 8 KOs), an all-action 122-pound prospect from New Brunswick, N.J., is scheduled to meet Mexico’s Alejandro Lopez (13-0, 2 KOs) in an eight-round fight at Mallory Square in Key West, Fla.
The Diaz-Lopez fight will be broadcast as a “Top Rank Live” co-feature on FOX Sports En Espanol and FOX Sports Net at 10 p.m. The main event tonight will match Cuban heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis (15-0, 11 KOs) against Costa Rica’s Carl Drummond (26-0, 20 KOs) in a 10-round fight.
The fight is important in Diaz’s development, but focusing on his young fighters also has been therapeutic for Lynch.
Watching Diaz and three of his stablemates become better boxers and more mature men has helped Lynch take his mind off the devastating death of Arturo Gatti, the legend Lynch managed throughout his celebrated career.
Lynch and Gatti were family for nearly two decades, and Lynch is awaiting results from a second autopsy that he is certain will prove Gatti’s death was not a suicide. Brazilian authorities stated in the immediate aftermath of his July 11 death in Porto de Galihnas, Brazil, that Gatti, 37, was murdered by his widow, Amanda Rodrigues, but they never charged her with a crime and later ruled he committed suicide.
Eleven months before Gatti died, Ronney Vargas, a junior middleweight prospect Lynch managed, was murdered in his native Bronx, N.Y. Vargas, 20, was shot to death on Aug. 16, 2008, in his car following an altercation at a nearby bodega.
After those two tragedies, Lynch welcomes some positive diversions.
“It’s exciting,” Lynch said. “You have four kids that can really fight. You’re careful, of course, with who you put them in with. But you’re not overly concerned because you know they can fight.
“The nice thing is they’re a really nice group of kids. I’ve really enjoyed being around them. And it is therapeutic. It keeps me in the game in a good way, and I think it’s going to wind up being in a big way, at least from what I see.”
Diaz definitely helped his stock among matchmakers for Top Rank Inc., when he knocked out Yan Barthelemy (9-2, 2 KOs), a left-handed Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, with a single left hook in the sixth round Oct. 10 in New York. He has since scored two first-round knockouts against less accomplished opponents.
In the unbeaten, 22-year-old Lopez, Diaz, also 22, will encounter a technically sound boxer who has knocked out just one opponent since winning his pro debut by first-round knockout in May 2005.
“It’s a great opportunity to [advance] my career,” Diaz said. “I talked to some people from Top Rank and they told me this is real big. Depending how I do on this show will determine how many doors will open for me later on. So it’s a real big opportunity. But I’m not applying any pressure on myself, because at the end of the day I don’t have anything to lose. … [The time] has arrived. It’s here. Now it’s time to step up.”
Top Rank, Bob Arum’s promotional company, has helped Lynch and his brother, John, move their young prospects by giving them slots on Top Rank undercards in New York, Las Vegas and Atlantic City. John Lynch founded Pound-For-Pound Promotions, a Union City, N.J., company that represents Diaz, junior welterweight Jeremy Bryan (13-0, 6 KOs), of Paterson, N.J., junior middleweight Glen Tapia (4-0, 3 KOs), of Passaic, N.J., and featherweight Victor Valenzuela (6-0, 1 KO, 1 NC), also of Passaic, N.J.
“[Diaz is] what you call TV-friendly,” said Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s vice president of boxing operations. “His style, his charisma and his weight class, it all adds up to good TV. So if he’s going to give you that kind of fight each time out, how can we not show it?”
Moretti and Lynch have worked together since Moretti’s days at Main Events, the Totowa, N.J., promotional company that represented Gatti his entire career. Building a fighter as fascinating as the unusually courageous Gatti will be almost impossible, but they’re looking forward to watching Lynch’s prospects progress on the “Top Rank Live” series.
“With this series, we’re going to do shows on the East Coast sometimes, Atlantic City or Key West or wherever,” Moretti said. “It allows the kids that Pat has to build up on the series. Jorge is a perfect example. As long as he’s willing to be in competitive fights, which he clearly is [tonight], it’s great exposure. We’ll be in 43 million homes live, and in 83 million homes overall.”
Tapia, who trains alongside Diaz, Bryan and Valenzuela at the Passaic PAL boxing gym, might make tonight’s broadcast as well. Time permitting, Tapia’s four-round fight against Puerto Rico’s Carlos Rodriguez (3-2, 3 KOs) will be televised as a swing bout.
The hard-hitting Tapia, 20, most recently recorded a one-minute technical knockout win against Tyrone Miles (1-3), of Camden, N.J., on Feb. 27 in Atlantic City.
“It’s really, really going to be an exciting night for us, to see one of our guys who grew into that spot,” Lynch said. “He’s in a TV spot now, and we feel like the other three are right behind him. We feel that they will probably wind up on the network also as the year goes on.
“We knew coming into this year that this was going to be a big test for us. Now it really starts to get exciting, when they start to get the exposure. Everybody around the country gets a chance to see them now.”
Lynch also appreciates that the “Top Rank Live” series will afford trainer Mike Skowronski a stage to showcase the work he has done with four fighters he has trained since they turned pro. Skowronski, a Jersey City, N.J. native, was a longtime assistant trainer and close friend to Gatti.
“I had mentioned to [co-manager] Sal [Alessi] when we were coming back from Atlantic City [after Tapia’s fight] that the job that [Skowronski] has done as a trainer is incredible,” Lynch said. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one of the best young trainers out there today. He just gets the job done.
“It’ll be nice now, with the TV exposure, not only for our kids to get the exposure, but for him to get it as a great trainer. It’s really good all around. It’s a real exciting year for us and it all kicks off [tonight].”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
