With his opponent all but guaranteeing a victory, vocal lightweight champion“Hammerin’” Hank Lundy has issued yet another reply in hopes of ending the banter between he and Dannie Williams before the two settle their feud in the ring later this month.
“This kid is a joke,” Lundy said in response to Williams’ promise that he’ll be “fighting for a knockout” Friday, March 30th, 2012when the two face one another for Lundy’s North American Boxing Federation (NABF) title in the main event of “All In,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports and broadcasted live on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” from the Foxwoods Resort Casino’s MGM Grand Theater in Mashantucket, Conn.
“You can’t scare me. You can’t derail me, because I fight for a living. I’m going to hurt this boy. There’s an old saying that goes, ‘Your arms are too short to box with God.’ I’m not god, but in the ring I’m the closest thing to it.”
Lundy, ranked No. 4 in the World Boxing Council (WBC), No. 12 in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 7 in the World Boxing Organization (WBO), is searching for his second consecutive title defense and first since knocking out former world champion David Diaz on ESPN2 in August.
“We are thrilled to have this main event fight on ESPN’s FNF series from the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods and appreciate the work both promotional camps demonstrated to make this fight a reality,” said ESPN Director of Programming and AcquisitionsDoug Loughrey. “Our loyal fans are most familiar with both fighters, who had tremendous knockouts in 2011 on FNF, and hopefully the battle of words these two fighters have engaged in thus far will transfer to the ring for an action-filled and entertaining night on March 30th.”
New Haven, Conn., native Elvin Ayala (24-5-1, 11 KOs), ranked No. 16 in the WBC, will defend his WBC U.S. National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title against Hector Camacho Jr. (53-4-1, 28 KOs), the son of former four-time world championHector “Macho” Camacho Sr., in the 10-round co-feature.
The highly-anticipated title bout between Lundy (21-1-1, 11 KOs) and Williams (21-1, 17 KOs) could wind up as an early candidate for ESPN’s Fight of the Year. The war of words began in late December when Williams, ranked No. 1 in the NABF, vowed to “hurt” Lundy if the two were to face one another. Though Williams later claimed those words came from his promoter, Steve Smith of Rumble Time Promotions, Lundy issued a threat of his own – ironically on Valentine’s Day – promising a knockout victory.
“I’m going to take your heart, I’m going to crush it up, I’m going to break you down, and I’m going to knock you out,” Lundy said in February. “I put that on my kids. I’m going to hurt you. You’re going to feel what real pain is about.”
Williams fired back Monday, focusing primarily on his training camp in Youngstown, Ohio, with head trainer Jack Leow, and the thrill of fighting on national television, where he hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow St. Louis veterans Deandre Latimore andDevon Alexander, both of whom won televised bouts in recent weeks.
The feud between he and Lundy has also gone viral with the two taunting one another through social networking.
“Lundy's talking so much [he] has made me loose,” Williams said Monday in a statement issued by Rumble Time Promotions. “You know the old saying, ‘The loudest person in the room is the weakest guy.’ His people have been saying I’ve never fought anybody. Well, we’ve fought one common opponent, Reggie Sanders. They went the distance [in 2006] and I nearly killed him. His head was dangling on the ropes. I hurt guys that I hit.”
“Of course, when you fight tomato cans they’re going to fall. Let’s be serious,” Lundy answered. “He keeps talking about his built-up record. He’s got all these knockouts, but who are those knockouts against? Let’s be real. When you get a real name on your resume, we’ll talk. I’ve been in the gym everyday for hours on end. I’ve been in there with guys bigger than me and I’m putting them to sleep. I can’t wait to show him what a real punch is.”
The Philadelphia native certainly has every reason to be confident. Since suffering the first and only loss of his career in 2010, he’s won his last three bouts, including a unanimous-decision win over former Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez on ESPN2 in April to capture the then-vacant NABF title, and his subsequent knockout win over Diaz, one of FNF’s top finishes of the year.
“We’ve been doing two-a-days in training camp – two times a day with cardio and strength training,” Lundy said. “Our whole camp has featured two-a-days. I’m going to show the world I should be fighting for a world championship. The champs up there should be fighting me instead of ducking me.
“I’m going to make an example out of [Williams]. I’ll put it like this: The last guy they told me had a big right hand was Omri Lowther. What did I do? I took his right hand away,” added Lundy in reference to his unanimous-decision win over Lowther on ESPN in August of 2010. “He couldn’t touch me – and Lowther is a better fighter than Dannie Williams. I took that fight on four days’ notice. Let’s be serious.”The undercard features Philadelphia’s Frankie Trader (8-0, 2 KOs) facing Adrian Perez (7-4-1, 1 KO) of Sarasota, Fla., in a six-round super featherweight bout; and Shelton, Conn., super middleweight Nick Lavin (2-2, 2 KOs) battling Steven Chadwick (0-3) of Jacksonville, Fla. New London, Conn., featherweight Shelito Vincent (1-0) will face Karen Dulin (2-10, 1 KO) of Mystic, Conn., in a four-round rematch; and Josh Crespo (0-1-1) of New Haven will take on Alfredo Garcia (2-0) of Sarasota in a four-round super bantamweight bout. New Haven welterweight Christian Lao (3-1, 1 KO) will face Thomas Miller (2-0, 2 KOs) of Huntington, W.V., in a four-round bout.
Light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. (7-1, 7 KOs) of Long Island, N.Y.; Providence, R.I., cruiserweight Donte Wiggins (1-0, 1 KO); and newcomer Abner Lloveras of Barcelona, Spain – the winner of the Spanish Olympic Boxing Tournament in 2010 who also has won 14 victories on his resume in professional mixed martial arts – will be featured in separate four-round bouts.
