It's going to be a busy couple of weeks on the local boxing scene in general, and for the Casal family in particular.
Friday's amateur fight card at Smokin' Joe's Family Fun Center, featuring top boxers from throughout the Northeast, marks the fourth such production in less than a year. As in two of the three previous shows, Anthony Casal of Niagara Falls is scheduled to fight in the main event, this time taking on Scott Paul of Niagara Falls, Ont.
Doors open at 6 p.m. for the July 29 show, with the first bell of Summer Fight Fest set to ring at 7 p.m. Tickets, available at Casal's Boxing Club on Hyde Park Boulevard and Smokin' Joe's, are $25 for ringside, $10 for general admission.
The first three cards, in October of 2004, and January and March of this year, filled the former Wintergarden to capacity, with well-matched bouts keeping the crowd entertained throughout.
A week later, Anthony's older brother, Nick, will attempt to keep his professional record perfect. The 140-pounder, who has won all 11 of his bouts by way of knockout, is featured on the undercard of a show in Tampa, Fla., highlighted by a world title fight to be telecast on Showtime.
Casal is slated to take on Jose Roman (7-7-3, 3 knockouts) in what could be the final six-round bout of his career.
In the main event, unbeaten Jeff Lacy tries to establish himself as the world's top super middleweight against Robin Reid of England. Lacy defends the International Boxing Federation title at 168 pounds, while Reid enters with the lightly regarded International Boxing Organization strap. It has the makings of an entertaining brawl, with both fighters far better known for their power than for their respective defenses.
Nick Casal is scheduled to return to action in his first eight-round bout, the co-feature event of an Aug. 17 card at Rochester's Frontier Field. Four tickets for that show will be raffled off at the Summer Fight Fest.
Casal is scheduled to face Shakha Moore, one of his most experienced opponents to date. The 29-year-old Moore, a southpaw, comes in with a record of 9-9-3, having lost his last bout via unanimous 10-round decision to Frank Houghtaling for the International Boxing Council's International Welterweight title.
The main event could be a preview of a future 140-pound showdown with Casal, as Buffalo's Hector Alejandro (10-1, 7 knockouts) takes on Francisco Figueroa (11-2, 9) of the Bronx for the New York State Junior Welterweight title.
The heavyweight division may be a mess, but thankfully, there's a former champion making a comeback.
No, it's not Lennox Lewis.
OK, so Tony Tubbs never really went away, having fought six times since 2002 after a merciful layoff of nearly five years.
And it's a stretch to call him a "champion," since his crowning achievement was a crashingly dull 15-round decision against Greg Page at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo in 1985 for the World Boxing Association belt, a bauble he graciously ceded to Tim Witherspoon in his first defense.
At his best a decent boxer with no punch, in the mold of Buster Mathis, he's probably best remembered for getting destroyed by Mike Tyson in two rounds in a 1988 bout in Tokyo. That, and the rolls of fat that jiggled throughout each of his title bids. He weighed in at 258 pounds for his last bout, a six-round decision over Danny Wofford -- who suffered his 100th professional loss -- in February.
Tubbs' disdain for training showed in ways other than his bustline, though. After beating Orlin Norris for the NABF heavyweight belt in 1989, he tested positive for drugs and his victory became a no-contest.
The woefully mis-nicknamed "TNT" could have delighted boxing fans by fading into history at that low point, but 16 years later, at age 47, here he is, scheduled to face an opponent to be exhumed later at the Grand Victory Casino in Rising Sun, Ind.
Not only that, his little -- to use the word very loosely -- brother Nate is also scheduled to appear on the card. The 40-year-old was last seen in 1998, when he weighed more than 260 pounds, while absorbing knockout losses at the fists of Lawrence Clay-Bey and David Tua.
So who would pay an obese middle-aged has-been and his even pudgier never-was brother good money to lace them up for fights that figure to be nauseating at best? Well, the company putting on the show is Kasse-Tubbs Promotions, if that gives you a hint.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 26 2005 |