McCrory’s Triple Threat
By: Andrew Harrison
tags: glenn mccrory, luis garcia, mike perez, alexei acosta
Category: Uncategorized
| Aperture: | f/3.5 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 6.6mm |
| ISO: | 320 |
| Shutter: | 1/45 sec |
| Camera: |
You may have heard on the grapevine the curious tale of the three hotshot Cuban fighters who defected from their homeland and set up camp in my native North East? The three fighters in question (all amateur junior world champions by the way) are Alexei Acosta (super bantamweight), Luis Garcia (super middleweight) and Mike Perez (heavyweight) all of whom are being nurtured under the management umbrella of Gary Hyde and tutored by none other than former IBF Cruiserweight titlist and Geordie icon Glenn McCrory.
I was ringside recently at the Lightfoot Centre in Newcastle to see McCrory’s triple threat for myself. Acosta blew clean through his overmatched opponent Fikret Remziev early, Perez outpointed the colourful Zak Page over 8 x 3’s and Garcia schooled the tough Michael Gbenga over the distance in the highlight performance of the night. Ok, everything is relative and compared to the rest of the bill, Garcia was allowed to look like Pernell Whitaker, however after the hangover subsided I was left with the definite impression that this kid can go far, perhaps heading all the way up into world class. Garcia was quick and accurate with a cute defence, his pedigree plain for all to see.
Now there’s a story here; Garcia should look (well if Hyde has any sense) to get in the mix with the Brit super middleweight prospects such as James DeGale, Darren Sutherland, George Groves and Tony Jeffries.
Jeffries (who took bronze in Beijing at light heavyweight) has decided to style himself as ‘The Mighty Mackem’ in reference to his beloved football club, Sunderland (and no doubt hoping that he can pull in a similar crowd to Ricky Hatton by linking himself to such a fervent football mob). If Garcia and his compatriots continue to win fans over in the black and white part of the region (indeed, Newcastle United shirts were worn to the ring) then a Jeffries-Garcia fight could figure to fill a stadium (St James or Stadium of Light, take your pick) and make all concerned a nice packet off the back of the fierce Tyne-Wear footballing rivalry (ok I’m stretching a bit here, but you gotta have imagination right?).
I’ll be keeping close tabs on Garcia, definitely one to watch. Jeffries, Degale et al would be wise to follow suit.
Perez doesn’t really do anything for me. I’ve seen him live a couple of times and he looked average at best. By all accounts though Garcia is meant to be one hot prospect. I look forward to seeing what he can do against competitive opposition.
Hey Dave, I agree on Perez, he just doesn’t do anything outstanding for me. He doesn’t seem to hit too hard either, which is surprising, he looks like he should. The American guy he fought did alright to be honest, Zak Page he was called, he was dancing in the crowd before the fight, very lively!!
Apparently Perez gave Tyson Fury a good argument in sparring so maybe we’re missing something?
I really like the look of Garcia, hopefully they’ll start moving him on a bit soon, although he’s pretty young, think McCrory’s in no rush (probably still pinching himself to be training the three of them).
Hey Haz, yeah it’s possible that Perez is holding something back. A lot of the Cuban pros tend to be a bit lazy, more so at heavyweight. Odlanier Solis springs to mind (and I’ve also yet to see what the big deal is with this guy). But hopefully Perez comes good. Lord knows we need all the stars at heavyweight we can get!
I have to wonder how long the boys will continue trudging across the dales out in the sticks in the nearby Consett area of Durham in army boots with McCrory, especially when they start having money thrown at them.
With Solis, Gamboa and the new flavour of the month, Rigondeaux-their amateur careers were so stellar, the hype when they turn pro is enormous, trouble is, a lot of them are knocking on a bit and it’s so hard to make the transition to the pros, totally different ball game.
I think Perez can get in the mix with Price, Fury, Rogan etc and hang tough at that level, which would be fun at least. Can’t see him making world class though, he doesn’t seem to have anything to seperate him from the others, even in this, the worst heavyweight divsion of all time.
Out of interest Haz, what’s your opinion of Fury? I like the look of the kid a lot. Love the way he mixes his punches and the fact that he justs get in there and takes care of business. Obviously question remarks still remain about punch resistance, stamina etc., but I believe if he’s handled correctly he might just be the next big star at heavyweight.
Finding suitable opponents for him is going to be difficult though. He’s blowing away normally durable guys, but at the same time he’s probably not ready to step up to the next level yet. I mean, I heard Oliver McCall’s name being thrown about as a possible opponent and I find that ridiculous quite frankly. McCall may be past it but he’s still good enough to hang with fringe level operators and would be too experienced for Fury at this stage.
The thing I like about Fury is the fact he lets the punches go, plenty of them and they flow, which is weird for a giant heavyweight.
I think it’s a myth that heavyweights mature late, they may gain strength and nouse over their career, however they’re very rarely capable of fighting at a fast pace.
For me, that’s Fury’s major plus point, if he can get himself fit and I mean really fit, he’ll outwork these dough balls, they won’t be able to live with his workrate. They also won’t be able to bully him due to his size. Guess a lot depends on how he copes when punches start coming back at him also, he has that tight look about him at present when he’s throwing, bit like Audley had whenever anyone got close to him!! He’s from tough stock though, I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to take a whack and come back.
I agree reference McCall, it was Boxing News who suggested it, if you’re gonna fight a ‘name’ veteran, get someone who’s whiskers aren’t made of granite, maybe Bruce Seldon? I’d give old Olly an outside shot at a few of the top ten, that’s how bad that lot are!!