Is Manfredo jr. ducking Sheika or does he just wanna shut Spinas mouth

[PRIDE OF BOSTON]

Sheika rips Manfredo Jr.!

May 24, 2006

By Rick Scharmberg

A piping hot Omar Sheika (26-8, 17 KOs), of Paterson, NJ ripped into Contender star Peter Manfredo (25-3, 11 KOs), of Providence, RI, claiming they had a verbal agreement to fight on a June 16 ESPN show, but was jilted in favor of Joe Spina. Spina (18-0-1, 13 KOs), also of Providence, recently stopped another Contender, Jesse Brinkley, in eleven exciting rounds. "We had a deal, a verbal agreement," said Sheika. "He (Manfredo) wants an easy fight. Who is Spina? He beat one Contender (Brinkley), and that's it."

Sheika continued, "If he wants a real fight, and doesn't duck anybody like he claims, he should challenge me. He is a good, solid fighter, and we would make a big fight. People know us. I thought I could respect him. Who did Manfredo beat? (Scott) Pemberton, who I washed up; he was never the same after our wars. Then Jeff Lacy finished him." For the record, Pemberton twice defeated Sheika in two extremely brutal fights back in 2003 and 2004.

A pro since 1997, Sheika, 29, came up short in four world title tries over the course of his career. He was stopped on cuts by Joe Calzaghe in 2000 and dropped a decision to a prime Eric Lucas in Canada in 2002. Most recently, he lost a 12 round decision to Markus Beyer in Germany in a bid for Beyer's WBC super middleweight title. In 2004, Sheika, known primarily as a heavy handed slugger, showed off his boxing ability when he dropped a relatively close (117-111, 115-113, 115-113) decision to then-IBF champ Jeff Lacy.

While Sheika would present a strong test for Manfredo, a Manfredo-Spino bout seems like a natural at the moment. It would be an all-Rhode Island collision in New England at the Mohegan Sun, between hot fighters fresh in the public eye with recent televised wins.

Asked if he would like to challenge the winner, Omar stated, "I'll fight both of them, Manfredo and Spina right after him. I thought he had heart. We had a deal and you backed out."

Perhaps Omar Sheika and Peter Manfredo will eventually hook up in a classic crossroads bout between the veteran and the rising star. Stay tuned.

[TyBuff]

I think Manfredo is better off fighting Spina, he is an up and coming fighter. Either way I dont think Manfredo will get credit for beating either fighter. When he beats Spina it will be "Spina is one dimensional", when he beats Sheika it will be "Sheika is a washed up fighter, to many wars, has no boxing ability" blah, blah, blah. I like the Spina fight, it would show how well Manfredo can or cant take a shot and if he how well he would do over 12 rounds. He would have to go after Sheika next, it would show how well he would do against somebody with Sheika's experience.