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I posted the video for Omar Sheika for the latest “Nightly Knockouts” post on the Ring Gang Radio Instagram.  A video showing a young Omar Sheika destroying a journeyman in only 30 seconds.  In In the process of finding this video on Youtube had me stumble upon a bunch of Omar Sheika’s fights.   ESPN Friday Night Fights was one of my favorite boxing series to watch.  At times it was the only thing worth watching on TV Fridays.  Many future stars made their debuts on it and had several unheralded fights that never got the recognition it deserved.  Omar Sheika had a certain couple of fights there that meet that criteria.  The couple of fights I’m referring to are his 2 barnburners with Scott Pemberton.

First Fight – 7/25/2003

                This at the time was seen as a must win for both men.  For Omar Sheika, he was riding a 2 fight losing streak coming up short in an IBF title eliminator fight against Thomas Tate after dropping him twice.  He had also had unsuccessful title challenges against then WBC Super Middleweight Champion Eric Lucas and then WBO Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe.  For Scott Pemberton, he was starting to get up there in age as well having personal issues outside of the ring.  Both fighters being notable punchers, no one thought this fight would go the distance. It certainly didn’t appear that way when in the second round, Pemberton got dropped by Sheika with a right hook counter.  Sheika for most of the early rounds was the aggressor scoring with hard combos.  Pemberton weathered the storm and starting putting in effective body work in the middle rounds.  By 9^th round you could see the pace of the fight start to wear on Sheika as his output slowed.  Pemberton also started to clinch more than usual.  He looked like he was going to fight to a clear decision when Omar came alive in the 11^th round and nearly came close to putting him away late with a loud thudding left hook.  Pemberton, as he had been doing all night, weathered the storm and gave it as good as he got in the final round.  Scott Pemberton would win a split decision by 2 scores of 114-113; Sheika given the nod on the final card 116-111.  I personally do not agree with that score as it was too wide for my liking but it was still an outstanding fight

Second Fight – 1/23/2004

                The first fight was wildly considered to be a top FOTY candidate for 2003.  In fact ESPN had actually named that fight as its fight of the year.  So you already know they were going to do it again.  The second fight pretty much picked up where it left off.  Round 1 or Round 13 depending on how you looked at it.  It almost mirrored the first fight where Sheika controlled the earlier rounds and again drops Pemberton in round 2.  Pemberton weathers the storm again by clinching repeatedly in order to get his bearings back.  The middle rounds were mostly Sheika being the aggressor and in the 6^th round forced a standing 8 knockdown after catching Pemberton on the ropes with a barrage.  After that round, Sheika’s activity began to drop as Pemberton willed himself back in the fight.  By the 9^th round Pemberton was landed almost at will on a defenseless Sheika.  The 10^th round, Sheika completely exhausted would get knocked down by a 3 punch combination.  The ref would have done well to stop the fight by then as Sheika labored to his feet.  Pemberton followed up with a big right hand that had Sheika in all types of trouble.  One more combination from Pemberton would send Sheika falling off balance into the corner forcing the ref to stop the fight.

Aftermath:  Both fights were brutal affairs that put more than enough of mileage on both fighters. Pemberton, the victor of both fights, would only fight on 4 more times.  He would eventually receive his one and only title shot against then IBF Super Middleweight Champion Jeff Lacy.  Lacy wound run right through him in only 2 rounds.  Omar Sheika would fight on another 8 years. He also received a title shot against Jeff Lacy and in his career best performance gave him all that he could handle.  Sheika would lose a disputed UD with the scores being close on 2 cards.  He would receive one more title shot against then WBC Super Middleweight champion Markus Beyer who handled him with ease on his way to a wide decision.  Sheika would never regain any form and the fights added up. His last fight of note was getting ko’ed in 5 rounds by an aging Roy Jones Jr.  Neither of them ever made it to the top level of the sport but those 2 fights were nothing but pure class. Do yourself a favor and catch those fights.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Written by PatScorpio for

RingGangRadio.

Introduction

                One of the old adages of boxing is “boxing goes as the heavyweights goes.”  This has been, more or less, been the way boxing has operated for 115 something years.  At the turn of the century though there was a change in this status quo.  The heavyweights were no longer the de facto marquee division of boxing.  The fighters in the lower divisions had managed to maintain and/or raise their profile to the level where they were able to create bankable, crossover stars.  In contrast, the heavyweight division went on a decline.  The top HW fighters and contenders of the 80s and 90s were aging and the newer class of heavyweights did not necessarily have the spark or “it factor” to capture the public’s attention.  Contrary to popular belief, there were definitely good to great heavyweight fights that occurred in the post Tyson/Holyfield/Lewis era.  The fight I am highlighting in this article was IMO the best heavyweight fight post 2000.  An all-time classic heavyweight title fight and slugfest to boot.  The fight I am referring to is Lamon Brewster vs Siarhei Liakhovich.

The Fighters

                “Relentless” Lamon Brewster debuted on the scene in 1996 and was considered somewhat of an underachieving prospect dropping fights to Clifford Etienne and Charles Shufford.  Lamon would work his way back from those minor setbacks where he would score his biggest career victory to date:  Stopping Wladimir Klitschko in 5 rounds to win the vacated WBO World Heavyweight Championship.  This fight would put on full display the vulnerability factor that would come to epitomize him and his career.  Dropped for the first (and only time) in his career in the 4^th round by Wlad, Lamon managed to come back in the next round to hurt and drop Wlad, albeit after the bell.    He would then go on to defend the title successfully 3 times in wildly exciting fights against the likes of Kali Meehan, Andrew Golota, and Luan Krasniqi.

                “The White Wolf” Siarhei Liakhovich debuted in 1998, a couple of years after representing Belarus in the 1996 Olympics.  A decent boxer-puncher but his chin was considered questionable after a KO loss to Maurice Harris.  He did manage to work his way back from that defeat including getting a good win over fringe contender Dominick Guinn in December of 2004.  However this was Siarhei’s last fight prior to getting a shot at Lamon Brewster, which was scheduled for April 1, 2006.  So during this period of inactivity, Siarhei managed to maintain ranking of 13 with the WBO in order to justify this title shot. 

The fight

                Prior to his scheduled 4^th title defense, Lamon started experiencing vision problems and underwent laser eye surgery unsuccessfully to correct it.  Details on why the fight still went forward remain a little murky.  In particular that Lamon had a state mandated eye examination 8 days before the fight and was given the ok to fight.  There was also reportedly a desire to go on to fight by Lamon so he could fulfill his contractual obligations to Don King and move on to another promoter.  This fight aired on Showtime as part of its free view weekend.  I had grown to be a fan of Lamon Brewster during this period of his career because his fights as mentioned before were exciting, in contrast to the other HW champions like John Ruiz or Chris Byrd.  I would be lying to you if I said I was anticipating this fights or did I think this fight would turn out the way it did.  I think my opinion of this fight was definitely shared by the majority of boxing fans.

                The fight, point blank, was 12 rounds of epic brutality and ebb and flow.  The first 4-5 rounds shows Liakhovich outboxing Brewster with an educated jab and beautiful combination punching.  Brewster being just a sad slower until the 5^th round.  Brewster then start living up to his nickname and started letting off savage combinations to the body and head.  Liakhovich, to his trainer’s dismay, followed suit.  The middle rounds were filled with violent back and forth action. Liakhovich came back nearly stopping Brewster in the 6^th.  Brewster then coming back getting the best of Liakhovich in the 7^th round knocking him down in the last seconds of the round after both inflicted heavy punishment on each other.  Liakhovich managed to regain his bearings in the 8th and in the 9^th round wobbled Brewster an over hand right and left hook and came very close to KO’ing him.  Referee Ernie Sharif would have done well to stop the fight at this point.  How Lamon Brewster remained on his feet after that is beyond me but essentially that emptied his tank.  He never was able to mount any real sustained offensive response nor was able to keep Liakhovich at bay until the final bell.  Siarhei Liakhovich dethroned Lamon Brewster by unanimous decision (115-113, 115-112, 117-110) to be the new WBO Heavyweight Champion.   I found myself agreeing with the post-fight comments of the Showtime broadcasting team.   In particular with Karyn Bryant who mentioned to Steve Albert” that although the fight was free, she would have paid a heck of a lot of money to see this fight”.

Aftermath

                You would think a fight like this would be mentioned over and over with its highlights being shown ad nauseam on Showtime in throwback montages. Surprisingly, that is not the case. It is only mentioned from time to time and usually by only hardcore boxing fans.  To me it is the best heavyweight fight of the last decade and the last one I considered an ATG until Joshua vs Klitschko. Both men really put it on the line and unfortunately both ended ruining each other.  For Lamon, he had suffered a detached retina in the first round.  On top of his fighting style, this most likely played a part in the tremendous punishment he took.  He would go 2-3 in his last 5 career fights.  2 of those losses ended in a KO.  A shell of what he was during his reign.   He would retire in 2010 with a left eye that, to date, has not fully healed.  

As for Liakhovich he got his day in the sun but it would be brief.  This was in a way a pyrrhic victory. He managed to win a war with one of boxing’s heaviest punchers, he also used up a career worth’s of punch resistance.  He would go 4-6 in his next 10 fights never really being able to take a good shot from an opponent.  He would lose his belt in his first title defense to a sluggish Shannon Briggs by KO in round 12, needing only to remain standing to win.   He would also suffer some more brutal knockouts along the way at the hands of Robert Helenius, Bryant Jennings, and Deontay Wilder.  Of course these are just my words and thoughts.  Please watch the fight and most likely that you will also be in agreement as well.

Written by PatScorpio for Ringgangradio.com