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“Don’t get me wrong, I could get a bit excited and try to knock the guy out early, and maybe I could, but Robert would sooner me take no shots and show that I can box.”–David Walker on how he and trainer Robert McCracken are reconstructing his fighting style.
| In the fall of 2003, two weight British Southern Area titlist David Walker was riding high. The popular Sidcup boxer had one of the largest followings in England on the strength of dramatic performances that had earned him the sobriquet “Kid Dynamite” and had impressed his promoter and manager Mick Hennessy enough to put him in with European light middleweight |  |
champion Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin. The Russian, who incidentally challenges Kassim Ouma next weekend in America for the Ugandan’s IBF crown, came into the bout a very experienced campaigner who had only come up short against Spain’s world class light middleweight Javier Castillejo. While Walker had proved himself on the domestic level, losing only to the very underrated Jimmy Vincent in a British title eliminator, to call the prospect of facing Karmazin a step up in competition would be a modest understatement.
Naturally, for Walker and his legion of fans around the South London area, the occasion was monumental. The publicity machine was ramped up full blast with Walker featured in a fair number of television spots and putting in many high-profile personal appearances. By the time the fight itself rolled around in October of that year, “Kid Dynamite” was still dazed from his turn in the spotlight. “I rushed things in the fight against Karmazin,” recalled the twenty-nine-year-old. “I believe if I had been able to keep things nice and neat, a bit tighter, for a few more rounds, then I could have had a chance.”
As it turned out Walker went in winging and Karmazin was the one who kept things together, knocking the younger man down once in the second and twice in the third, prompting a halt in the action. The Sidcup boxer’s big opportunity hadn’t gone how he had hoped to be sure, but Walker has come away with a refined sense of purpose and how to best go about achieving his goals in the ring. So far, the education he received from the European champion has been put to good use as “Kid Dynamite” has won all three of his bouts that came afterward.
Walker has the chance to continue his comeback this weekend as he makes an appearance on Hennessy Sports’ “Trailblazers” card held Saturday at the Nottingham Arena, co-headlined by British and Commonwealth super middleweight titlist Carl Froch and European light welterweight Kingpin Junior Witter.
While as of press time a replacement had not been found for Walker’s original scheduled opponent, he remains upbeat. “It’s my first fight in nine months so I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring,” he said. “I’ve been sparring with different guys in the gym, like Lenny Daws, and I’ve been doing a lot of sparring with Darren Barker, a good junior middleweight. Even Carl Froch helps me out a little bit. The training’s been going well under Robert McCracken and I’ve been doing strength training with a personal trainer called Dave Hall.”
As Walker has not fought for sometime and an adversary has to be found at the last minute, nothing too challenging is to be expected which will give the light middleweight an opportunity to continue with his new and healthier style of boxing. “Robert wants me to box clever, keep my balance in the middle and just box without going mad and getting caught,” said David. “Just clever and smart, with lots of little movements, without rushing and getting hit; that’s what I’d like to do. Don’t get me wrong, I could get a bit excited and try to knock the guy out early, and maybe I could, but Robert would sooner me take no shots and show that I can box. My natural inclination is to go in there and just fight, and while that’s more exciting I suppose, for people in the audience, it’s not good for me in the end.”
If all goes well for Walker in this bout as is expected, the well spoken “Kid Dynamite” is hoping for more meaningful opportunities over the horizon and he’s got a good mind as to just who he may be stepping in with next. “The British Boxing Board of Control wants me to fight Andrew Facey as soon as possible for the English title,” he said. “My camp wants me to have one more fight before that and then contend for the English. Facey is tricky and awkward but he gets hit and goes over. I think that’s a good fight for me. Jamie Moore and Michael Jones are going at it again this weekend, for the British title, and I think Moore will win it because he’s much stronger.
“I’d like to fight for the English title and then fight the winner of Moore-Jones for the British title. Winning the Lonsdale has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid and I’d rather face Moore because I think it would be seen as a harder fight and therefore better for television. ITV2 is televising the Carl Froch and Junior Witter bouts on my card this weekend and I’m just hoping that they show my fight, too, because the chance to fight on terrestrial television is fantastic. Right now I’m really just focusing on coming through this fight and doing better than I’ve done in my last three as I just wasn’t as consistent as I’d like to have been. I just have to keep it tight, be cute and have a look first and I’ll be alright.”
Curtis McCormick can be reached at thomaspointrd@aol.com
