By John Wall
On Friday, November 12, Schuetzen Park in North Bergen will host an evening of professional boxing featuring local favorites Jerson Ravelo of Newark, Carlos Vinan also of Newark, Juan Zegarra of North Bergen and in the main event Matt “The Predator” Vanda (43-11 23KOs) of St Paul, Minnesota takes on Ossie “The Ghanaian Gladiator” Duran (28-8-2 9KOs) of Paterson, NJ in a clash of junior middleweights.
In his last outing Ossie got back the winning track with a unanimous decision victory over Jamaal Davis at Bally’s Atlantic City. Duran is a throwback to an era when pride, sport, and giving fans their money’s worth was the matchmaker not greedy promoters or conniving managers. Duran has never let the threat of a blemish on his record stop him from taking a bout. Many of his loses have come in the hometown of a top flight opponent.
Was it necessity or courage that drove the native of Ghana to take on difficult fights? According to Duran it is his own sense of pride that made him go after the hard ones. Even when he has lost a bout to a questionable decision his resolve gets even stronger “I beat a guy up and they give him the fight it drives me even more.”
“I feel like I am 20 (years old) I can beat guys in their 20's,” said Ossie when I mentioned he was 33 years old. Ossie still feels like a young man and has put a 3-5 year timetable on his becoming a world champion. When I asked him about this
Friday’s match up with Matt Vanda Ossie said confidently, “I’m ready. He is a good fighter. I am a good fighter. I’m ready to beat him up”. When asked about who he would like to beat for a world title Ossie, always the professional ,admonished me about looking past the task at him but then added whimsically , “After I win on Friday interview me again he I will tell you who I will beat for the title!"
WANT TO ORDER A GSFS SHIRT? Email Yanoboxing@aol.com and get yours today!
No comments:
Post a Comment