back to Niagara Falls Reporter archive
Tommy Huff, who last week signed to fight on the undercard of the Joe Mesi-Keith McKnight bout on April 5, spent much of the winter wondering about his future as a professional boxer.
That, and whether the man who taught him to fight would be in his corner if and when the Niagara Falls middleweight returned to the ring.
Huff launched his career by splitting a pair of fights on the undercard of Joe Mesi's bouts at the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center last April and July. Huff atoned for a decision loss to Ian Gardner in his debut by stopping Ron Carnell in four rounds three months later, setting up an Oct. 12 date in support of the Razor Ruddock-Egerton Marcus clash for the Canadian heavyweight title.
But that match fell through at the last moment, leaving Huff feeling as though he were running and punching in place. A bigger jolt came a month later, when trainer and manager Lew Ciavaglia fell ill.
During a routine physical, doctors found the beginnings of cancer in Ciavaglia's colon. While surgery removed the cancerous tissue, complications soon put him back on the operating table.
"It just exploded," Ciavaglia said with his typical candor. "They didn't give me six hours to live."
During Ciavaglia's ordeal, his protege wondered about his future in boxing.
"It made me nervous," Huff said. "Sometimes we have our little arguments, like anybody else. But I don't know what I'd do. I don't know if I could work with someone else, building up that trust with someone else."
The forced break in his training refreshed Huff's outlook.
"I did take some time off and got my head back together," Huff said. "Missing it made me realize how bad how I wanted it."
While Ciavaglia recovered from a second operation, he and Huff stayed in touch outside the gym, enabling the fighter to train alone.
"He knows what I want," Ciavaglia said. "He'd call me all the time. He followed everything I said to a T. He made it easy for me when I came back."
Ciavaglia returned to the 13th Street Gym, where he runs the Niagara PAL boxing program and trains Huff, earlier this month.
And he likes what he sees.
"I couldn't get him any more ready if he was going to fight Sugar Ray Leonard himself," Ciavaglia said, referring to the promoter of the April 5 fight.
Huff's addition to the promotion makes him the second Niagara Falls fighter on the card. DeMario Crittenden is scheduled to make his pro debut against Ray Morales in a four-round bantamweight bout. Huff is slated to face Mike Englert of Rochester. Ciavaglia said Leonard's matchmaker, Ron Katz, told him the bout should wind up as part of the ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" broadcast. The two-hour show normally includes a main event, a supporting fight of at least 10 rounds and at least one shorter bout.
"I'm just excited," Huff said. "My uncle lives down in Florida and he's never got to see me fight yet. Now he'll get the chance."
And after going seven months without a bout, Huff is slated to have two in seven weeks. He also signed last week to fight Ed Gilik of Toronto, on a card promoted by Allan Tremblay of Orion Sports Management, who put on the three promotions held at the Convention Center last year.
The promotion is tentatively set for May 24 at the Niagara Falls (Ont.) Memorial Arena. Ciavaglia said the timing is falling into place for Huff.
"He's on edge. I've got him right where we want him," Ciavaglia said. "I took him up to Niagara Falls, Ont., to spar with a light heavyweight and I had to pull him off. He would have killed the guy." Katz switched Huff's scheduled opponent from Englert to Ed Howell of Long Island, then back to Englert last week. The match was made at 160 pounds. Huff had beefed up to 168 for the Oct. 12 bout that never took place, but said slimming back down wasn't a problem.
"I feel like I'm hitting a little harder and I'm quicker," Huff said. "I don't feel weaker or anything."
Ciavaglia said that if anything, Huff has gotten stronger.
"I finally taught him how to use his weight on top and he's banging like a son of a B," Ciavaglia said. "He's really hitting."
And after his health scare, Ciavaglia said he feels like he's getting a fresh start, as well. "Right now, honestly, it feels like I've never been in the hospital."
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | March 26 2002 |