LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – The conventional wisdom in boxing says that a good big man always beats a good little man. But Kassim Ouma doesn’t want to hear anything about conventional wisdom.
When it comes to his fight against undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KOs) at Alltel Arena in Little Rock on Saturday night the former 154-pound champion Ouma (25-2, 15 KOs) would like to apply another sports cliché: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.
“When Jermain Taylor says he is going to knock me out that (upsets me),’’ Ouma said after the final press conference in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in downtown yesterday. “When he says he’s going to knock me out he’d better step back. It’s not that easy to knock me out.’’
Ouma has never been knocked out, but he has been down and battered. Roman Karmazin hammered Ouma over 12 rounds before winning a unanimous decision and taking away Ouma’s International Boxing Federation junior middleweight title in 2005.
“That wasn’t the Kassim Ouma we all know,’’ said Tom Moran, Ouma’s manager. “We shipped him off. We hope we never see him again. On Saturday night we’re going to see the best Kassim Ouma ever.’’
Ouma said that he typically walks around at 170 pounds and gets down to 154 when fighting as a junior middleweight. He said he was up to 177 pounds before going into training for nine weeks to prepare for Taylor. He said he weighed about 164 on Thursday afternoon.
“Don’t be fooled by these clothes I have on,’’ Ouma said pointing to his baggy sweatsuit. “When I take these clothes off you’ll see.’’
Emanuel Steward, Taylor’s trainer, said they are not taking Ouma lightly. He said he was present at the Karmazin fight and believes it was just an off night.
“I believe he had a cold before that fight,’’ Steward said. “He has a cute way of getting away from punches. He doesn’t get hit that easy.’’
Ouma said he is not worried about Taylor’s size or power. He said he sparred with middleweights and light heavyweights in anticipation of what Taylor can throw at him. Taylor, who won a bronze medal for the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxing team, has heavy hands. During the training for the Olympics, there was a machine that measured punching power at the facility at Colorado Springs. The two hardest punchers according to the machine were Taylor and super middleweight Jeff Lacy. [details]
When it comes to his fight against undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KOs) at Alltel Arena in Little Rock on Saturday night the former 154-pound champion Ouma (25-2, 15 KOs) would like to apply another sports cliché: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.
“When Jermain Taylor says he is going to knock me out that (upsets me),’’ Ouma said after the final press conference in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in downtown yesterday. “When he says he’s going to knock me out he’d better step back. It’s not that easy to knock me out.’’
Ouma has never been knocked out, but he has been down and battered. Roman Karmazin hammered Ouma over 12 rounds before winning a unanimous decision and taking away Ouma’s International Boxing Federation junior middleweight title in 2005.
“That wasn’t the Kassim Ouma we all know,’’ said Tom Moran, Ouma’s manager. “We shipped him off. We hope we never see him again. On Saturday night we’re going to see the best Kassim Ouma ever.’’
Ouma said that he typically walks around at 170 pounds and gets down to 154 when fighting as a junior middleweight. He said he was up to 177 pounds before going into training for nine weeks to prepare for Taylor. He said he weighed about 164 on Thursday afternoon.
“Don’t be fooled by these clothes I have on,’’ Ouma said pointing to his baggy sweatsuit. “When I take these clothes off you’ll see.’’
Emanuel Steward, Taylor’s trainer, said they are not taking Ouma lightly. He said he was present at the Karmazin fight and believes it was just an off night.
“I believe he had a cold before that fight,’’ Steward said. “He has a cute way of getting away from punches. He doesn’t get hit that easy.’’
Ouma said he is not worried about Taylor’s size or power. He said he sparred with middleweights and light heavyweights in anticipation of what Taylor can throw at him. Taylor, who won a bronze medal for the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxing team, has heavy hands. During the training for the Olympics, there was a machine that measured punching power at the facility at Colorado Springs. The two hardest punchers according to the machine were Taylor and super middleweight Jeff Lacy. [details]
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