Boxing Geek Reasserts Herself

So tomorrow, my boxing crush Tommy Karpency fights in the cute little ballroom of the locally owned hotel in which I have come to so enjoy seeing matches. The ballroom has a giant gorgeous chandelier that hangs over the ring, the decor is fantastic, and it's a very ritzy looking event all for about $25. There really isn't a bad seat in the house because the room is fairly small, so you can sit in the back, make a boob of yourself, and it's not a problem for others. Vital requirements for my and D/B's participation as spectators in the world of boxing.

Tommy is going up against Chuck Mussachio, who troubles me because he has the pleasing nickname "The Professor." I'll so be wanting to yelp and cheer when they announce "Chuck 'The Professsssooooorrrrr Mass-AH-keeoooo." That kind of thing gets to me. The Prof is currently ranked #30 in the US and he has had a few less fights than Tommy. But disturbingly (for fangrrrls) his record currently stands at 13-0-2 (two ties) with 5 wins coming by way of knock out. Gack! That means one of two things: he's either had bad competition or he's got a heck of a punching strategy. In other words, he's either "untested" or he's good.

Tommy right now is 17-1-1 with 11 wins by way of knock out. A better record, and he's ranked #15 in the US, but The Prof could still be some serious competition. I think that's good, though, because I'd like to see Tommy crack the top ten, which he'll need to start doing in order to have any kind of shot at being the top contender for the #1 spot, and he's going to need better competition to do so. It's so disappointing to watch Friday Night Fights on ESPN and see somebody put their new boy with a big punch against a "jobber" who's job is basically to lose. It's not a rigged fight, but it might as well be. Even if Tommy wins everything from here on out, he'll still take probably two years or so to be in position to challenge for the #1 spot, as the top five currently all have way more experience than he does, and moving like that just takes time. But he's young and he has the time to give. Three out of the top five are geriatrics in boxing (40 years old). I'm sorry, but boxing should have a shelf life, if only for your own sake.

Tommy has been training with one of the geriatrics, Roy Jones Jr., currently #3 in the US. We'll see how it goes for him. I had to miss his last fight because it conflicted with the KY Derby. Why do the few fun things I do have to cross up with each other?! Anyway, tomorrow I'm totally going to get a geeky fangrrl picture with Tommy after his fight. Because I think he's going to turn into something special in boxing, and I want a "I knew him when" picture -- he'll be fairly untouchable later.

-- DV