By Cliff Rold
Beginning his eleventh year as a professional, former unified Lightweight titlist Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KO) can look back on a career which, in the best sense of the word, has been professional. The beginning of his narrative is well told. Campbell came late to the sport, turning pro in his later 20s without a lengthy amateur run. He fought in nightclubs and deep on undercards, into contention, and ultimately through the highs and lows of world title losses and wins.
It’s not been the path of a superstar, but it’s been an honest run worthy of envy from the hundreds of fighters who started in similar places and never made it as far. Nate Campbell holds his fate in his own hands this weekend as he tries to extend that run.
It’s the latest case of Campbell entering the ring against a younger man for whom bigger things are hoped. In 2005, he drubbed undefeated Kid Diamond for a tenth round stoppage to re-emerge as a contender after some tough losses. Two years ago on an HBO undercard, as he will be again this weekend, it was Juan Diaz and his WBA, IBF, and WBO Lightweight title belts. Diaz had run rough shod through the 135 lb. class; Campbell ran rough shod through Diaz to hand him his first loss by decision.
Campbell was 36 when that March 2008 opportunity was taken advantage of.
This time, the challenge he faces isn’t undefeated but, like Diaz and Diamond, Victor Ortiz (26-2-1, 21 KO) is a hoped for star of tomorrow. How high are those hopes? Consider this: when Vitali Klitschko tore his rotator cuff and retired in the corner while way ahead on the cards against Chris Byrd in April 2000, Klitschko was absent from HBO (and all other U.S. TV) for the next three years.
Ortiz surrendered in the midst of a firefight against Marcos Maidana last summer and is making his second HBO appearance in three contests since.
Campbell’s role then is clear. It is the role of co-star in a co-feature. At 38 years of age, Campbell has every reason to enter the ring at Madison Square Garden this Saturday feeling like it’s him against the boxing world. “It’s always that way with me.” Campbell stated in conversation the weekend before the contest. “I don’t mind.”
Campbell feels that his age does nothing to diminish his chances given his late start in the game. “I haven’t been beaten up. I guarantee you this: I got less wear and tear on my body than Victor does,” the former Lightweight champion said, a reference to Ortiz’s longer amateur tenure. “I think they’re hoping that I’m old. They’re hoping that I’ve slipped. They’re hoping that I’ve aged. They’re hoping that old man river washes me away.”
Reminded references to ‘old man river’ help in dating him, Campbell added with a laugh, “Hey, I got a granddaughter. I’m not ashamed of my age.” 38 isn’t quite as old as it used it be in boxing of course with seemingly more fighter enjoying success longer into their lives. Asked what factors he feels influence that, be that advances in sports medicine or fewer fights than the old timers contested, Campbell opined, “The medical field is so much better. Ailments are taken care of so there’s not much time to lay off.”
That doesn’t mean Campbell see the structure of today’s game as necessarily superior. “I’m an old school guy. I wish I could fight so much more.” Of fighters of days gone by, Campbell listed Sugar Ray Robinson as fighters he has learned from on film. “My favorite was Aaron Pryor. I hated when he had to fight Alexis Arguello ‘cause I loved them both…I like old school fighters. I like guys with an old school feel.”
Campbell’s love for the sport has him planning for a future outside the ring. “I have a management company now…Rhema Boxing being my new baby.” Rhema, a biblical reference marking the word of God to the individual, reflects the strength of faith in Campbell’s life in and out of the ring.
The 23-year old Ortiz, who holds advantages not only in youth but also probably in speed, hasn’t forced Campbell to feel he needs more time in the tape room. “I haven’t watched that much tape on him at all. I saw him fight; I watched him fight while he was coming up. He is what he is. He’s a right hander that fights left handed.” Speaking later, Campbell added, “I am a right hander that used to fight left handed. What can you possibly show me that I have not seen?”
That doesn’t mean there weren’t lessons to learn in Ortiz’s loss to Maidana. After trading knockdowns in the first, Ortiz had Maidana down twice in the second but couldn’t put him away. Ortiz found himself on the floor in round six and showed little interest in continuing when being examined for a cut shortly after.
What did Campbell take away? “It tells me he has a breaking point,” Campbell said of Ortiz and, asked about the same point in himself, Campbell responded, “You know, I haven’t found it. I haven’t found it even when I got head butted in my face in the (Timothy) Bradley fight, it bothered me more than anything that I couldn’t see. I didn’t want to lose my vision.”
For those who would argue that Campbell does have a breaking point, his reference to the Bradley contest would be ample evidence. Faced with the talented and swift Jr. Welterweight titlist last August, a head butt caused a cut over the left eye of Campbell and was followed by a leathered assault which seemed to have him hurt. In the corner after the round, Campbell insisted he could not see and the fight was stopped. “It wasn’t anything (Bradley) did. For me, I don’t sweat head butts. I been cut most of the time and I’ve never quit in a fight from the cut.”
Initially ruled a win for Bradley, the ruling was later changed to a “No Contest” but those who felt Campbell had chosen not to fight remained. Campbell had lost before, including stoppage losses (one clean, another debatable) to Robbie Peden in 2004 and 2005 but had shown no quit in either. That some would see quit in him during the Bradley fight still bothers Campbell. “I reacted very hard to that. I hated it.”
The best way to make the world forget the last time out is with a new last time out and Campbell knows he must win this weekend. “(This fight is) very important. Very important. If I lose, I probably won’t get on TV again.”
If he can win this weekend future TV dates would be rife with challenges. Jr. Welterweight is a stacked division in 2010, the rare weight class among seventeen which can produce a top twenty and still provide quality names to discuss. Campbell’s contest with Ortiz comes beneath the U.S. debut of another star hopeful, 2004 British Olympian and Silver Medalist Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO). Khan will be defending his WBA belt against former IBF titlist Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO) in the main event.
Campbell feels he fits in right at the top. “I’m the best in the world. I need to go out and prove it every time I go out. I’m the most experienced guy in the division. I fought better competition. Let’s be honest. Look at pound for pound who the other guys have fought and who I have fought.”
Campbell’s record of wins and losses includes not only champions Diaz, Peden, and Bradley but also potential Hall of Famer Joel Casamayor, rugged Lightweight contender Ali Funeka, and former Welterweight beltholder Issac Hlatshawyo. Campbell went further, drawing his sparring wars over the years into the discussion. “Shane Mosley was a sparring partner. I sparred with Angel Manfredy. I sparred with Sharmba Mitchell…I can go on and on and on. I sparred with better guys than these guys have fought.” Reflecting for a moment, Campbell said with pride, “I’ve rubbed elbows with the greats.”
Campbell feels fans would be blown away if they could see the quality of some of the fights before the fights. “Oh my God. If you could only get to the gym and really look around. The good guys that spar each other…what a shock it would be.”
Campbell has his eyes on Khan-Malignaggi. “I want to fight the winner. I mean, but, I can’t make…you know what. I don’t call nobody out no more. I see no reason to do that because nobody listens.” While he sees Khan, for instance, as someone whose vulnerabilities he could exploit, Campbell was stoic in stating, “what’s that matter if you can’t get the dates.”
It’s what makes a win over Ortiz a must have. “I can put so much pressure on the situation.” Campbell said, the situation being getting his next big fight. “I plan to do just that.” If it’s not the Khan-Malignaggi winner, a rematch with WBO titlist Bradley (25-0, 11 KO) would seem a natural with their first fight left unresolved. Asked what interest he’s received from the Bradely camp for a return, Campbell said, “Ain’t nobody call me. They know they can get it. One thing about Nate Campbell, who have I ever turned down?”
He saw complications in discussion of a showdown with WBC titlist Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KO), but not because of the fighter. “I left (promoter) Don King and I’m not going to play games with Don King (Alexander’s promoter). I don’t have time to play games with him. Now that I’m with Golden Boy, if Golden Boy can make the fight for the right dollar amount, as long as Don King is out of the way, (Alexander) can get it.”
There is still Ortiz and Campbell feels ready and on weight. Campbell notably missed weight and lost his Lightweight titles on the scale last year versus Funeka. For an eight week camp, Campbell, “came to training camp only about eight pounds overweight and I’d already been training about a month and a half.”
He’ll need every ounce this weekend to pull another Diamond, another Diaz, out of his hat. If he can, the new school at Jr. Welterweight will know that they still have some formidable old school to contend with and evidence will be provided that Campbell may just refuse to age until he’s ready to do so on his terms.
Weekly Ledger
But wait, there’s more…
ESPN2 Coverage: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27601
Cazares & Williams Report Cards: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27640
Picks of the Week: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27656
Cliff’s Notes… Manny Pacquiao, Congressman. If that isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen for an active fighter at the top of their game, I’m not sure what is…Does this mean that Pacquiao could counter Mayweather’s body men with Filipino Secret Service should they ever meet?...Vic Darchinyan may be calling for the Vasquez-Marquez winner but it says here a 115 lb. showdown with Hugo Cazares is the real classic in waiting…Tavoris Cloud and Glen Johnson appear finally ready to get it on. Will this be the last chapter of a distinct Light Heavyweight era?...Alexander Povetkin wants steroid testing in a shot at Wladimir Klitschko. As long as he’s been the mandatory, it’s nice to hear he actually wants to fight Wlad at all.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
