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 © Richard Eberline |
Tye Fields is one of today’s most promising heavyweights. He’s also one of the biggest, whichever way you look at it. The six-foot-nine, 279-pound former college basketball player is amazingly fit and agile for a man of his size, and with top of the line trainer Jesse Reid at the helm, is also getting better all the time. Now thirty-two and one with thirty of |
those wins not going the distance, the red hot Fields is preparing for step-up opportunities that he hopes will lead to big TV dates and world title fights. Riding a streak of fifteen victories, Tye came into the Savvis Center in St. Louis ten days ago and simply crushed Mississippi journeyman Ray Lunsford on the Spinks – Judah II under-card, and trainer Reid says that’s only the beginning of good things to come.
Don’t miss this exclusive interview with Tye Fields and his trainer Jesse Reid, only at SaddoBoxing.com
Fields transitioned to boxing in 1999 after a college career starting at the forward position for San Diego State University’s basketball team. The Iowa based giant knocked out Gerald Hill in the first round and reeled off sixteen more victories, all by stoppage with only one of those going past the fateful first frame. After such a bulldozing career start, perhaps it was overconfidence that led to Field’s crashing first round KO loss to spoiler Jeff Ford in 2001. Undeterred, Fields got back on the horse and five fights later returned the favor to Ford.
The next contest for the mammoth heavyweight was a first; it went the distance. Joe Lenhart managed to go all five rounds on a Thunderbox telecast from Miami but soon after, Fields was back on form. The knockout machine starched five more journeymen before getting his first real test against Sherman Williams in September of 2003. At stake was the USBA belt and for the first time Fields was in a scheduled twelve-rounder.
The fight went the distance and the much shorter Williams managed to survive, with Fields cautiously boxing his way to victory and the USBA title. Next up was a rarity. A taller opponent. Julius Long is seven-foot-one, which means he fell from a long way up, knocked out in the third in Field’s hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. After a tune-up fight last October, “Railroad” Tye pulled into St. Louis a couple of weeks ago on the high profile Cory Spinks – Zab Judah rematch for the undisputed welterweight crown.
Opponent Ray Lunsford made it through the first after getting speared by a right hand that dropped him momentarily to the canvas, but wouldn’t be so lucky in the second. Fields worked behind a long, long jab and floored Lunsford twice more before teeing off with left hooks that caused the referee to stop the mismatch and declare the six-foot-nine thirty-year-old as the winner. The next day, Tye sat with Jesse Reid at St. Louis – Lambert airport and reflected on his victory. “The fight probably wasn’t going to go much longer because of the way the opponent looked,” he said. “My brother-in-law said he looked like the phantom of the opera. The whole right side of his face was destroyed. So bruised, so red and he had a slight cut. This was from just from two rounds of jabs and short punches. It wasn’t going to go much longer. I knocked him down four times, so it was just a matter of time.”
Jesse Reid has trained many legitimate world champions and liked what he saw in the ring from the man he’s only been working with for approximately two months: “I felt very good about Tye’s performance, it was excellent,” he said. “This was a big fight, a big deal for Tye and he carried himself like it was a day in the park. We worked in the gym on getting his hands extended a little more and movement in his body and trying to be fluid in that movement. Also, not to try and load up but just to let the natural body motions carry the power. We saw all that in the fight, so I was happy with it.”
Having been through a carousel of trainers, including Emmanuel Steward, Fields feels confident that Reid offers the right fit for this crucial point in his career as he gets closer to securing make or break fights against the best heavyweights in the division. “My power has been increasing and that comes with the better technique,” he said. “Jesse is teaching me that better technique and I felt good in this fight. It only took two rounds and I didn’t have to overexert myself. Everything that I’ve been working on with Jesse came into play. We had two months to get involved with each other and it’s really going good. I like how I brought everything from the gym into the fight. I wouldn’t stay in this sport if I weren’t getting better. I feel am getting better and the sky’s the limit. Right now I have a fight in April in Chicago, so that’s the next thing I’m getting ready for.”
Reid, who also trains WBO world champion Lamon Brewster among others, shares Fields’ confidence and thinks that the affable man-mountain could just turn out better than anyone previously thought. “He’s ready for a title eliminator or a title fight, physically and ability-wise, right now,” he enthused. “But I want to have some more time with him. I want to get about six to eight months where each fight he’s going to progress more and more. I’m excited about this; it’s a big, big deal. I’d like to see Tye fight the older Klitschko, but both of the Klitschko brothers would be perfect for him because you’d have giants fighting each other. Tye has a better style than both of them; he looks good in the ring, he has good ring generalmanship, plus he has the power to handle both of those guys. To me working with Tye is like working with the perfect specimen. He runs six and a half-minute miles, and he can run four miles. He’s huge, he has great love for the game, he’s educated and he’s got a college degree. He’s not somebody you’ve got to worry about; he’s somebody who’s really focused. He’s a trainer’s dream and I’m really excited about it. Tye is going to be very successful. In the future, if Tye keeps focusing the way he is, where Tyson made thirty million, this guy may make forty to fifty million a fight. This is a big deal.”
Tye Fields continues to roll on down the track, flattening everything in his path. Will he realize his goals and Reid’s lofty hopes? Only time will tell but one thing is for certain; Tye Fields will be a big deal wherever he goes.
Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm
