Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez
Jr.
May 9th, 2008
Mike Arnaoutis vs. Lanardo Tyner
“When Being Unbeaten Is Over Rated”
Friday night in Atlantic City N.J.,
formerly unbeaten Light Welterweight, Lanardo Tyner (19-1, 11
KO’s) saw his 0 go after stepping up and finally facing his
first respectable opponent (in his 20th
professional fight) against “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis (19-2-2, 9
KO’s). This 12 round fight was for the USBA Light Welterweight
Title. Tyner had never been past ten rounds as most of his
fights ended by early KO’s.
In the first round, Tyner came out
aggressively and forced Arnaoutis into the ropes, where he
peppered Arnaoutis with power shots that reddened Mike’s face
and got his attention right away. I thought Arnaoutis looked
ripe for being knocked out but he demonstrated good ring
generalship, use of the jab and ultimately, executed a logical
plan for winning against a physically stronger opponent.
Arnaoutis suffered a cut over his right
eye but didn’t let it bother him. He recognized that he needed
to keep things in the center of the ring, where he could use
his jab to control the action. Tyner was wildly aggressive in
the first few rounds and landed stinging punches when he was
able to pressure Arnaoutis into the ropes. But by the later
part of the third round, Arnaoutis made some tactical
adjustments and started finding a home for his feather fisted
jab and gentle combinations. Tyner landed some good shots in
spots but his output steadily declined by the middle rounds
after wasting so much energy winging nothing but power punches
early in the fight. Had Tyner focused his energies on
attacking the body, Arnaoutis’ legs may not have served him so
well down the stretch.
Throughout the fight, Tyner’s strategy
was limited to trying to land one big shot to end it. At
times, Tyner showboated, made faces, stuck out his tongue and
showed a real penchant for the things that don’t matter, while
ignoring the things that do. That big shot never came for
Tyner and in the end it was Arnaoutis’ workmanlike performance
that won him the fight by a large margin.
Tyner’s unbeaten record is more a
reflection of cautious match making than anything else. It’s
not Tyner’s fault that this is how contenders are created
these days. In a way, he’s a victim of a sport that has no
credible rankings system. How do you gauge the ability of a
fighter who’s not fought any credible opponents in 19 pro
fights? If Arnaoutis had any power, chances are that Tyner
would have been either knocked out or seriously hurt. Is this
how managers protect their charges, by allowing them to
develop a false sense of confidence? Why not bring them up
right, match them against increasingly better opponents and
truly discover a fighter’s potential by about the tenth fight?
After losing two of his last four
fights, Arnaoutis may have been taken too lightly. This match
up intended to propel Tyner to legitimacy in spite of his
extremely limited résumé, over a well recognized opponent in
Arnaoutis, who is a good boxer with zero threat of punching
power. Arnaoutis proved that it’s better to have little power
and good boxing skills than to have big power without the
skills to consistently deliver it.
Out of 20 fights, only four of Tyner’s
past opponents had winning records. One of those three had a
3-1 record the other three had records of 22-6, 9-2 and 8-6.
Of Arnaoutis’ past opponents, 14 of 21 had winning records.
This is very telling. When it comes to unbeaten records, what
matters most is quality, not just the quantity of wins. These
days, being undefeated is way over rated.
If Tyner had the kind of talent his
record suggests, he would have shown it in the biggest fight
of his career so far. Unlike Tyner’s previous opponents, Mike
Arnaoutis had some boxing skills, quality experience and
actually came to win.
This victory is a good step in
Arnaoutis’ campaign to regain the momentum he lost after
losing to Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt. Guys I’d like to
see Arnaoutis fight include, Lamont Peterson (24-0, 11 KO’s),
Henry Bruseles (27-3-2, 15 KO’s) who fought Floyd Mayweather
Jr. and particularly, Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita, who is
28-0 with 16 KO’s and has yet to fight a respectable opponent.
* * *
Comments can be emailed to
Frank Gonzalez Jr.
