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Monday, May 19, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The boxing experts sitting ringside for a championship fight Saturday night agreed that Paul Spadafora did not fight the smartest fight of his career.

	Paul Spadafora took his share of punishment Saturday night in his draw against Leonard Dorin. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

Quite the opposite. Words like "stupid" and "stubborn" were thrown around after Spadafora decided to stand toe-to-toe with inferior technician but game opponent Leonard Dorin.

Spadafora's decision to fight instead of box, the style that won him the International Boxing Federation lightweight belt to begin with, cost him his unblemished record when the judges ruled the 12-round unification bout a draw. But after the controversial and entertaining match, Spadafora's stock on the open market rose.

No longer can the commentators say Spadafora is strictly an athlete and technician adept at avoiding punches. For the first time in his career, Spadafora fought instead of boxed, and the end result was a thrilling fight that some of the boxing aficionados at the Petersen Events Center were calling the fight of the year so far.

"This was the most entertaining Spadafora fight I've ever seen," said Xavier James, vice president of HBO Sports, who said he is interested in buying the rematch. "He already had respect. I think the question is: Did he need to do that? He could have had an easier fight fighting the way he normally fights, stick and move. After this he becomes a better television fighter, so I was happy with his performance."

Spadafora said he was happy with his strategy and wouldn't change much for the rematch.

"I wanted to show people that I have a lot more dimensions than people think," he said. "I'm not only a boxer, a move-around type of guy, make you miss, pitty-pat. I can do a lot of different things that people never get a chance to see me do."

According to Emanuel Steward, HBO commentator and noted boxing trainer, it was a misguided game plan.

"I always knew he had guts," Steward said. "I would have liked to have seen him fight at a better distance. He would have won a lot easier had he done that. He fought a fight that suited Dorin.

"In the rematch, he should box, more angling. If he had done that this time, it would have been a mismatch.

"He showed a lot of guts, but his skill was questionable tonight. He didn't put together the type of speed and skill he normally does. But he showed a lot of heart."

Lou DiBella, a former HBO sports executive and now a promoter, also questioned Spadafora's strategy but agreed that he made himself into a better television draw.

"He fought a macho fight with a macho fighter," DiBella said. "... What the boxing world thinks is reflected by what the television networks will pay. And what they think is that both of these fighters are bigger right now than they were three hours ago. That's a tribute to them. You're privileged when you see a fight like that. You have to understand what you saw tonight was something special."

Spadafora co-trainer Jesse Reid answered some of the criticisms in the moments after the fight and promised that things would be different for the rematch.

"He was going straight back and getting hit with right hands going out, instead of spinning to the side and pointing his shoulders," Reid said. "The next fight will be different. ... His angles were not the best they could be, but at times they were. He was trying so hard to punch to the body and not letting punches flow like we worked on. I think he was trying to make a statement, and it's hard to get a guy out of the flow like that when he's trying to make a statement. He didn't fight the way he exactly wanted to, but he fought proud. He should have fought a little smarter. But it was a great fight."

Spadafora acknowledged in the post-fight news conference that he let his ego get the best of him at times, but it sounded as if he would need to be convinced by his trainers and handlers to change his style in the rematch.

"When he would catch me with a couple of shots, I wanted to pay him back instantly," Spadafora said. "If I'd have just boxed him the way I know how to box, then maybe I could have made it easier on myself.

"[But] I don't want to be satisfied with just winning the fight just because of my athletic ability. When I come out here fighting the way I love to fight, I fight a lot better and I please myself more. I'd rather go back home and know that I pleased myself than go home and look in the mirror and say, 'I just boxed this kid for 12 rounds. This was easy.' And everyone looks at me like I'm not a fighter like that. But I am a fighter like that, believe me when I tell you.

"I guess I gained respect in the boxing world. I let people know what I already knew, that I could sit there and fight with anybody. I do it in the gym every single day. I think I gained respect in boxing, but I already had respect in myself. I really don't care what the boxing world thinks of me. I know in my heart that I can fight any type of way."