By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent- Ringside
*Photo Credit: Robert Brizel
New York, NY (August 22, 2014)–On Wednesday evening, August 13, 2014, an 8 round preliminary to the main event middleweight bout at BB King Blues Club & Grill in Manhattan between Derrick Findley and Lamar Russ ended in an eight round decision win for Findley. The bout featured two knockdowns scored by Findley, a point taken away from Russ for holding, and a horrific hematoma lump atop Findley’s right forehead which surprisingly nonetheless did not affect the outcome of the bout. The three points lost by Russ cost him a draw. The final scorecards were 77-72, 76-73, and 75-74 for Findley. Without the point deductions, the cards would have emerged 77-75 Findley, 77-75 Russ, 76-76 even for a draw.
In this particular bout, the cards were less significant than the game plan executed by both fighters. Subject to scrutiny, both well-trained fighters had their strengths and their flaws. Russ, now 14-2 with one no-contest, Tallahassee, Florida, is a promising rising college educated middleweight prospect in the stable of DiBella Entertainment. Findley, now 20-13-1 with 13 knockouts, Gary, Indiana, is a tough trial horse with 11 unbeaten fighters on his record, including Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, Fernando Guerrero, Matt Korobov, Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez, Mike Jimenez and J’Leon Love. Other big names include Curtis Stevens and, Maxim Vlasov and Ronald Hearns. Findley has been stopped once, only by Dirrell, in 205 rounds boxed and 35 contests.
Findley’s unique sort of experience, having beenin with the best, enables him to evaluate his opponent and choose the best approach to victory. A short five foot six inch power hitter, Findley’s game plan consist of baiting taller opponents into a stand in front toe-to-toe slug out. It appears most of his opponents did not fall for the trap. Others,like top ranked light heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara, Ronald Hearns (son of Thomas Hearns), Miguel Hernandez, David Thomas, Roberto Florentino, Elliot Blend, Nathan Martin, Jessie Davis, Ricardo Swift, Omar Bass and Yancy Cuellar walked into the Findley trap, stood in front of him, and got knocked out.
Russ has a solid defense, and superior height, reach, and technical jab boxing skills, and fights best when he outworks his opponent out of range on the move. This approach has enabled a number of fighters to frustrate and outwork the shorted and limited Findley. Fighters who have successfully outworked Findley by using height and reach and stay out of range include Jorge Gonzalez (Win 6), Andre Ward (Win 6), James Shedrick (Win 4), William Johnson (Win 6), Richard Pierson (Win 6), Miguel Hernandez (Win 8), Andre Ward (Win 6), Matt Korobov (Win 8), 20-0 Fernando Guerrero (Win 10), Elvin Ayala (Win 10), Eric Mitchell (Win 10), 10-0 Victor Polyakov (Win 10), Curtis Stevens (Win 8), 10-0 J’Leon Love (Win 10), and 25-0 Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (Win 10).
In fact, Findley’s limited game plan or trying to get inside and use his power to win is a largely unsuccessful one, and he was unable to win any of his previous seven bouts dating back to his February 2013 lopsided 10 round loss to J’Leon Love, before noted matchmaker Joe Quiambo put Findley in with Russ.
Findley is a good trial horse test for any rising or established fighter, a short but strong power hitter. His one track fighting style is wrong, as evidenced by the severe forehead hematoma lump he incurred emerging from the top right side of his forehead from fighting Russ. Findley does not put his hands up! Findley knows he is short but has power. He has good boxing skills, but he does not have a defense! His game plan is get inside and use your power with headhunting all the way. Findley has what it takes for offense, but in terms of defense he has none. In nearly 40 years of covering boxing, this reporter has never seen in person the time of horrific head injury Findley incurred-and survived-to win this bout!
Findley’s one track game plan mind set is a simple formula: if my opponent is weaker than me and he cannot knock me out, then I can beat him. Findley’s approach simply measures his own power hitter skills versus his opponent. Findley’s fixed game plan has never varied and will never change, his biggest battle flaw which his seasoned opponents have exploited.
This approach has not worked, as cited above, with the high quality fighters Findley has fought, yet he still tries it. Findley looks like a guy who does what he wants to do, and does not listen to his corner. Findley is not a technical boxer, he’s a pure brawler. Findley comes straight to you, and makes you fight. If the opponent does not spin Findley, and keep him away at bay, the opponent is going to be in trouble.
Iron Mike Tyson was in trouble with big dudes like Lennox Lewis. Mike’s whole game with the tall guy was to get in close. When Mike saw you swinging, he looked up at you and knew you were off balance because you were bent over. Mike then hit you with fatal combinations to the body and the head. When Mike, who has power, hit you to the body and the head, it became hard for an opponent to survive. The taller and more powerful Lewis did not let Mike get inside, beat him up out of range and then put him lights out.
Findley knew he had to stay close on Russ and get up on him, meaning Russ could not throw punches. When you get inside that close on a fighter, you use your power. All Russ could do was hold. Findley looked Russ down in the second stage of the eight round fight. After Findley got inside on Russ, Russ was not using his left jab at all. Russ was not throwing enough punches, so Findley went inside and from there outworked him.
The fight should have been stopped in the sixth round, due to the head injury Findley occurred, and all of the stuff happening lately. A consensus of reporters at ringside, because of what happened to Magomed Abdusalamov at Madison Square Garden, felt the ringside doctors should not have taken a similar chance. Boxing commissions do not approve certain fighters because they do not want to take a chance of somebody getting hurt, but then if someone does get hurt they don’t want to stop the fight.
Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. did his job in outstanding fashion. He checked with the ringside physician assigned to the corner frequently, and gave Findley, who was fighting competitively, every chance to win. To Findley, he was feeling and fighting fine, and the injury was only a visual thing to him and everybody else. This reporter felt the referee should have stopped the bout because of the problems they have had in New York State. Plenty of fights have been stopped for less reason. Probably any other referee would have stopped it, but lots of times when a fighter says he’s alright they let the bout run. A ringside doctor can let the bout continue, yet the ringside doctor cannot see what the referee looks for. Mercante was trying to give Findley every chance, being completely neutral and fair.
Lamar Russ started well. He was dancing, and using his left jab effectively in the early rounds. Beyond a certain point, he stopped throwing his left jab, he let Findley walk him down, and Findley was hitting him. After the first knockdown from a leaping left hook in round four, Russ should have started moving again. After getting knocked down by a right hand to the head in round seven, and getting penalized a point for holding, Russ looked so bad the officials simply let the fight run without even checking Findley’s horrific forehead hematoma. If Russ had stayed with his left jab, and stayed on top of the knot on Findley’s forehead, the referee would have had to stop the bout. Russ did not do anything in rounds five, six, or seven to warrant an immediate stoppage. In the eighth and final round, Russ had Findley out on his feet and ready to go after landing a big shot and staggering him, and still could not get him out, ultimately getting outworked by Findley and losing the round.
Derrick Findley versus Lamar Russ Prospects For a Rematch, and How Russ Can Win
In a return confrontation, Lamar Russ would have to stay away from Derrick Findley for the entire bout, make Findley eat his jab and stick to the basics. Every time Findley comes in on him, Russ has to set Findley up and land the one-two right-left jab combination.
Russ has to stay on top of Findley, and eventually he will break Findley down. Russ has the technical boxing skills, tools, height, and reach advantage, but he was not seasoned enough to use them for all eight rounds against Findley. Findley, in a rematch, is going to do the same thing. Walk right in and try to knock Russ out. Russ has to use his skills differently and more consistently if and when the two combatants meet again in the future.
Russ has the ability to change, but does he want to? Russ has a trainer who is telling him what to do, but in the ring he is not executing the winning game plan correctly. Sometimes a fighter loses focus. As Iron Mike Tyson says, you listen to your trainer till you get hit. Sometimes fighters just do what they want to do. In raw terms, it is often the way they are.
This reporter does not know what the trainer is telling Russ, and what Russ is doing in the ring. The trainer could correctly be telling him to do the right thing, and Russ is not following directions. I am sure Russ was supposed to do better than he did. When Lamar was dancing around the ring and throwing his jabs, Findley could do nothing. Lamar’s jabs were solid and powerful enough to cause the hematoma on Findley’s forehead, and then make it worse. Subsequently, though, Russ was stopping in the ring, and letting Findley walk up right on top of him and stay with him, and let Findley back into the fight, a mistake in logic Russ cannot repeat if he intends to win a rematch of 10 rounds duration.
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