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***Great Manfredo article about possible upcoming fights***
The Pride of Providence: Peter Manfredo JR Still Trying to Prove That He is More Than
A Contender
Former Contender television star Peter Manfredo, JR., 27-4, 13 KO’s, is quickly stepping back into the ring a month after knocking out journeyman Ted Muller, and will look to continue his quest in becoming Super Middleweight Champion when he faces off against David Banks June 20 at Foxwoods Resort and Casino.
“These are the steps I have to take to become a world champion. I’m going to do my thing and work my way back to another title fight,” said Manfredo at a press conference.
Manfredo is looking to climb his way back up the contender ladder after his controversial third round TKO loss against undefeated WBO Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe. With the loss come the thoughts and questions if Manfredo has enough to ever become a world champion.
After reviewing his fight resume, no notable names are in his win column. In fact, the most recognizable fighters on his record, Sergio Mora, and Calzaghe, are marked up as losses for “The Pride of Providence.” However, Manfredo has shown flashes of brilliance in his knockout victories against Scott Pemberton and Joey Spina. Going into the Spina fight, many questioned whether Manfredo could defeat the fellow Rhode Islander, but he put those thoughts to sleep quickly with a third round TKO. Therefore this puts to question, does Manfredo have enough talent to go toe to toe with the top contenders in his super middleweight division, or will he be known as a good, but not great fighter when all is set and done?
Looking at the super middleweight division it certainly isn’t lacking in talent as the heavyweight division seems to be. Allan Green ranked 18th on boxrec.com, could be a possible future match up with Manfredo. Peter could match up well because Green does not present much speed, particularly fast hands which Manfredo fell victim to in his loss against Calzaghe. Both Manfredo and Green have been victorious over Muller, Green facing off against Muller in 2005, however Manfredo knocked out Muller, and Green won by unanimous decision. Green was undefeated until being knocked out in his latest fight against middleweight contender Edison Miranda. Currently at this point in his career, I feel that Manfredo would match up well with Green’s style, and I think he could pull off a victory against a talented boxer.
Another possible future fight could be Manfredo fighting former IBF, IBO and WBO Super Middleweight Champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy. Lacy also lost to Calzaghe in lopsided fashion, and not only lost the fight, but lost his IBF and WBO Super Middleweight Championship Titles. It could be argued that Lacy was getting beaten down more than Manfredo was in his fight against Calzaghe, however Lacy’s fight went on, and Manfredo’s was stopped.
Both fighters have also knocked out Pemberton, Lacy in the 2nd round and Manfredo in the 3rd round. Lacy’s latest fight wasn’t all too impressive, a victory against Vitali Tsypko, although this could have been because he tore his rotator cuff in his left shoulder. Lacy also does not present world class speed; however he does possess world class power, with 17 knockouts in 23 fights.
During the post Mike Tyson era, many were searching for the new Tyson, and I think that Lacy fell to this label, possibly being overrated too early in his career. Also, he is coming off of major surgery after tearing his rotator cuff in his left shoulder, and after all his strongest attribute is his nick name, “Left Hook,” and tearing the left rotator cuff certainly does not help a fighters left hook. . After watching the Tsypko vs. Lacy fight, he certainly did not show his supposed world class talent; therefore I think that Manfredo could have a chance in this fight, in which most would probably pick Lacy as the winner. According to ESPN.com boxing analyst Dan Rafael, Manfredo’s handlers have their eyes on Lacy.
Another possible fighter Manfredo could take on is Librado Andrade, who most recently was undefeated until being beaten by undefeated Unified WBA and WBC Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler. Andrade is certainly a respectable opponent who could cause problems, and is the twelfth ranked super middleweight fighter on boxrec.com.
Like Manfredo, Andrade also had his chance at a world title and failed; therefore both fighters are on the rebound of their careers and are most definitely hungry to get back to another world title fight. Out of the fighters I have just mentioned surprisingly I think Manfredo would have the most difficulty in a fight against Andrade. Manfredo does have good power, but after watching Kessler bomb away at Andrade’s grill with no knockdowns, he certainly does not have a weak chin. Therefore knocking Andrade out would be difficult.
Andrade has a very good fight to knockout ratio, with 18 knockouts in 24 fights, so similar to Manfredo, Andrade possesses knockout power as well. This would be a great match up, and probably the most difficult.
Other possible future fights with super middleweights such as Kessler, WBA Champion Anthony Mundine or Lucian Bute, but they probably wouldn’t make sense at this point in Manfredo’s career.
One reason being he probably isn’t seasoned enough to win against any of these fighters, which is why Manfredo is building up his talent by fighting more often.
Therefore the question remains whether Manfredo will be a good fighter, or a great fighter, and only time will tell.
http://ringsidereport.com/rsr/news.php?readmore=1470
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Originally Posted by Big_Deuce
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