NAOYA INOUE VS. WILLIE PEP
to mess up those hands so we lose more money on you this time?” Pep is stunned for a moment as LaMotta turns around in a fighting stance. He says with a twinkle in his eye, “I shoulda brought a golf club with me this time.” They break out laughing and Pep embraces them both. Rocky says, “We love you, pal, but we need to talk.” Rocky adds, “I know you can do the job on this guy, but we have to be realistic, and I want you to promise me you will run this by Bill, Lou and Ray. No one is going to jeopardize your speed and footwork magic, but for this fight you need some more punching power and a stronger midsection besides the regular sit-up routines. “I can pull in a couple of favors and bring in two guys to add to your camp who will give you a gift that you don’t have for this fight.” “Like what?” says Pep. “A one-night stand with a ring card girl?” Graziano and LaMotta grab him in a playful headlock. Graziano: “No, Errol Flynn. They will add some T.N.T. to your other skills, and you need it for this fight like Dracula needs blood.” Jake says, “Trust us, Willie. “I want you to talk with these two guys to fit in a couple new type of punches you can pull the trigger with, if the chance shows itself. “You need a sneaky, one-hitter quitter to pull out of nowhere during the fight,” LaMotta continues. “Will you at least listen to them? They also have a new ball-busting ab routine for you to give you a bulletproof gut. Just do it, because you will need it this time, Willie.” Pep, “OK, thanks for caring. Just let me know when they are coming to see me.” T he next day, Pep emerges from the gym and nods to the assemblage of Arcel, Gore and Viscusi. “All done,” he says. In his hourlong private session, Pep had been given an arduous new abdominal routine that included hanging leg raises, rope crunches and
incline sit-ups with dumbbells. He’d been assigned more wind sprints up hills, neck exercises and sledgehammer work on a tire, and he’d learned one- shot power drills from all angles with both hands. The advice he’d received from the two mystery trainers boiled down to this: “Nothing we showed you, nothing we practiced will in any way interfere with your style or game plan, but now you have two different punches and how to deliver them in your arsenal. Only you can choose the time to pull the trigger with them in the fight.” The door to the gym opens again, and Archie Moore steps into the parking lot, followed by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. They offer a quick goodbye and a wink to Pep’s team, then depart. OHASHI GYM, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN Inoue has finished a brutal workout and is now sitting with his father, Shingo, his brother Takuma and cousin Koki, along with assistant trainer Daisuke Okabe. They are studying videos of Willie Pep. The moments they key in on are from the Saddler fights: knockdowns and stoppages in Pep’s losses and the way he stayed in motion and punched on the move in his only win against Saddler. Shingo says to his son, “Now you see why I had you throwing your most damaging punches on the move without setting yourself in mid-ring. Once you have him in a corner, then sit down on the shots in combinations of three. He will still spin out, but he will be hurt and be slower. “No matter how many times he hit Saddler, he did not hurt him enough to drop him, but he does cause facial damage with his hand speed. “I am not worried about his ability to hurt you – only outpoint you. And we must prevent that.” T he lavish final press conference is uneventful, with even the face-off being brief and without any kind
of malevolent staredown. The fight is selling itself. The next day, Inoue weighs in at 125¼ pounds while Pep makes 126 on the nose. This time, the old-school Will o’ the Wisp stares coldly into Inoue’s eyes and is met with an equally intense focus. They pull away on command, shake hands and leave the podium. FIGHT NIGHT AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: The arena has been filled to capacity since the opening prelims. We are now down to the main event. At ringside sit the color commentators: Randy Gordon, Al Bernstein and Bert Randolph Sugar. Bernstein is the first to comment on the air: “Tonight we are going to see if Willie Pep can bring anything different to this fight and if the first fight has taken too much out of him.” Gordon: “It all depends on which Willie Pep shows up tonight. If the Pep that lost to Sandy Saddler and then was reborn enough to outpoint Sandy in one of the most amazing displays of ring craft is here tonight, we could see a big upset, as Inoue is favored by odds of 11 to 5.” Sugar: “We all saw Pep vs. Inoue 1, and one judge had Pep outpointing him, but he suffered three brutal knockdowns before that stoppage. That kind of punishment would take the wind out of anyone’s sails for a long time. But with Pep, he is capable of greatness on any given night. We will see. Here we go!” The Garden’s lights dim and then focus on the aisle near one side of the arena. Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” blasts through the Garden as the crowd cheers wildly. And HERE COMES PEP, resplendent in a black hooded robe, jogging toward the ring throwing punches in the air. He is sandwiched between Arcel and Gore with LaMotta, Graziano, Viscusi and Jacob “Stitch” Duran in tow. Moore and Carter are already on the
ring apron holding the ropes open for Pep and his team. Pep darts up the stairs and through the ropes with the grace of a dancer and immediately starts throwing fast punches. He glides around the ring as smoothly as if he were on ice skates to the delight of all the old-time boxers in the audience – they are starting to feel the magic. Now the spotlights are on the other aisle and AC/DC’s “Big Gun” is blasting. Inoue comes down the aisle to an incredible MSG reception. He is flanked by two of the greatest Japanese fighters of all time – former flyweight and bantamweight champion Masahiko “Fighting” Harada and former flyweight champion Hiroyuki Ebihara. Inoue’s father, Takuma and Koki are with them, as are assistant trainers Okabe and former Ring flyweight champ Akira Yaegashi. He is adorned with a beautiful blue and gold velvet robe as he walks slowly
to the ring. The crowd reaches out to touch him, and he reciprocates with a light touch of his glove and a firm nod of his head, yet his face remains a stoic, stern mask of deadly focus. He gets into the ring and proceeds to throw lightning-fast bursts of uppercuts with a finishing vicious left hook that cuts through the air like a scythe to the appreciative roar of his fans. The sound of the bell quiets the crowd. Ring announcer David Diamante booms: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND FIGHT FANS AROUND THE WORLD, ARE YOU READY? THE FIGHT! STARTS! NOW!!! “Twelve rounds of boxing scheduled for the undisputed IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine featherweight championship of the world. “The three judges scoring this bout are Harold Lederman, John McKaie and Tony Castellano. Your referee is Ray Miller.
“Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner, wearing the purple trunks, he scaled 126 pounds, bang on. His professional record, an astounding and legendary one: 229 wins, 11 losses and one draw with 65 knockouts. Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, the former undisputed featherweight champion of the world, hailed by many as the greatest featherweight champion of all time, THE WILL O’ THE WISP, … WILLIE PEP! Pep!” The resounding applause rocks the Garden in appreciation for the legend who stands in the ring. Pep holds both hands aloft, but his face and eyes are locked in with frozen concentration. Arcel removes Pep’s robe and he looks to be in the best shape of his career, his back muscles and abs rippling under the bright ring lights. Diamante continues: “Now introducing his opponent, fighting out of the red corner wearing the blue and gold trunks and weighing in at 125¼
80 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 81
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker