- 5/16/2025
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LearningTranscript
00:00:00So now we get ready for the main event.
00:00:02Once again, on camera with HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant.
00:00:05Larry, David Reed, as we pointed out several times in the telecast,
00:00:08was the only American Olympian to win a gold medal in 1996.
00:00:12But now, at this stage of his professional career,
00:00:14he's fallen behind two of his Olympic classmates
00:00:17in the race to win professional world championships.
00:00:20Why?
00:00:22Well, Jim, the first reason is that he has more gold medals than them
00:00:26and more gold bullion.
00:00:28Bullion, gold, money.
00:00:30We'll explain that as this piece goes on.
00:00:32But here are the other fellas who are so promising.
00:00:35Floyd Merriweather Jr., just a couple of weeks ago,
00:00:38won a junior lightweight title.
00:00:39Will fight Angel Manfredi in December.
00:00:42And Fernando Vargas, another bronze medalist,
00:00:46who will fight Yuri Boykampos for a junior middleweight title,
00:00:50also in December.
00:00:53David Reed got a bit of a late start
00:00:55because of some operations on his eyelid,
00:00:58but he also got off to a very rich start,
00:01:01a multimillion-dollar contract.
00:01:03He's accelerated through these early fights
00:01:07by fighting an unusual number of fighters
00:01:10with very good records, good journeyman fighters,
00:01:13not the type of fighters ordinarily fed to a tyro,
00:01:18a promising young fighter.
00:01:20So he's probably more advanced than his record shows, Jim.
00:01:23And tonight, he's fighting an undefeated fighter
00:01:26who is ranked.
00:01:27Southpaw, 6 feet tall,
00:01:29kind of guy that nobody really goes out of his way
00:01:31to try to fight, unless you're super talented.
00:01:33Did I mention the five separate world titles
00:01:35and three different weight classes
00:01:37for Roy Jones, our expert commentator?
00:01:39Roy, the kind of challenge that James Coker provides,
00:01:42good for a fighter like David Reed
00:01:43at this stage of his career,
00:01:44or the kind of thing that he might want to be avoiding right now
00:01:48as he tries to take a stepping stone
00:01:50toward a world title fight?
00:01:51No, I think it's good.
00:01:52I think it's actually brilliant.
00:01:53He hasn't fought in any Southpaws yet.
00:01:55He hasn't fought a tall Southpaw for sure.
00:01:57So now that he's facing a Southpaw,
00:01:59that's probably the only area that David Reed has not covered
00:02:02as far as the experience thing goes.
00:02:04So once he gets this under his belt,
00:02:06I think that will assure himself and his trainer
00:02:09that he is definitely ready for a world title shot.
00:02:11All right.
00:02:12First time against a Southpaw as a professional.
00:02:14He did fight many of them in the amateur ranks,
00:02:17but that, of course, is a different style of boxing.
00:02:19Tail of the tape.
00:02:22Between Reed and Coker,
00:02:23and you can see the 7-year age advantage for young Reed.
00:02:26He did fight many of them in the amateur ranks,
00:02:29but that, of course, is a different style of boxing.
00:02:31Tail of the tape.
00:02:34Between Reed and Coker,
00:02:35and you can see the 7-year age advantage for young Reed.
00:02:383-inch height advantage for the rangy Coker.
00:02:41Also a 2-inch reach advantage.
00:02:43And since they weighed in yesterday,
00:02:45both fighters have put on 14, 15, 16 pounds.
00:02:48You can see that Coker will be 4 rounds heavier
00:02:50as they come into the ring tonight.
00:02:52Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer,
00:02:54Harold Letterman.
00:02:55To David Reed,
00:02:56Cowboy James Coker fight is scheduled for 12 rounds
00:02:59using the standardized rules for all championship fights.
00:03:02There is no standing eight count,
00:03:04no three knockdown rule.
00:03:05Only the referee can stop the fight,
00:03:07and you cannot be saved by the bell at any round,
00:03:09including the 12th and final round.
00:03:11Jim.
00:03:12All right.
00:03:13Thank you very much, Harold.
00:03:14And because Coker holds one of those
00:03:16continental America's titles
00:03:18that make hearts beat faster all over the boxing world,
00:03:21David Reed will be entering the ring first.
00:03:237 KO's, as you see, in 10 fights.
00:03:26And as Larry Merchant pointed out,
00:03:28he may well have fought in his first 10 fights
00:03:31the toughest 10 opponents that any beginning Olympian
00:03:34of the recent era has ever had to fight.
00:03:37Show how important a top fighter is in Philadelphia, Jim.
00:03:41The entire back page of the Philadelphia Daily News,
00:03:46my old newspaper,
00:03:48was a photo of David Reed...
00:03:54looked upon as the next outstanding Philadelphia fighter.
00:03:59There you see him.
00:04:01There you see him fighting his first scheduled
00:04:0312-rounder tonight.
00:04:05And look at the record of his 10 opponents.
00:04:13Reed, who dropped Alfredo Duvrahel of Cuba
00:04:16with a lightning right hand in the third round of a bout
00:04:19in which he trailed badly on the scorecards
00:04:22to win his gold medal in Atlanta,
00:04:24still sees that lightning right hand
00:04:26as the expert in the ring.
00:04:28Still sees that lightning right hand
00:04:30as the X factor for him,
00:04:32his big advantage against his professional opponents.
00:04:35Ha ha ha!
00:04:37And you'll recognize the theme music for James Coker
00:04:39as he enters the ring.
00:04:41At least you will if you're in the Baby Boomer generation
00:04:43or older.
00:04:45He says his great-great-grandfather
00:04:47rode on the Chisholm Trail
00:04:49and hung out in Dodge City.
00:04:53And his great-great-great-uncle
00:04:56was a hero in Texas's fight
00:04:59for independence from Mexico
00:05:01in the early 19th century.
00:05:04Theme from Bonanza.
00:05:06Somewhere Lorne Green and...
00:05:10Dan Bunker are, uh...
00:05:13are smiling tonight.
00:05:15Beat ranked prior Robert West in his last fight.
00:05:17That's the first time in his career he'd fought a ranked fighter.
00:05:19Tony Ayala, Sr., kind of a well-kept secret
00:05:22in boxing training circles, Larry.
00:05:24One of the better trainers from Texas.
00:05:27And Coker's record is kind of odd
00:05:30because he was out virtually for five years
00:05:33before he decided to come out from the car business,
00:05:36used car business, back into boxing.
00:05:39Dan Blocker, I meant. Gotta got that corrected.
00:05:42Let's go up to Michael Buffer for the official introductions.
00:05:45Ladies and gentlemen,
00:05:47from Donald J. Trump's Taj Mahal Casino Resort
00:05:50here in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
00:05:52America presents,
00:05:54in association with your undisputed,
00:05:56undefeated king of beers, Budweiser,
00:05:59this Bud's for you,
00:06:00are proud to bring you
00:06:02the main event of the evening,
00:06:0412 rounds of boxing
00:06:06for the WBC Continental America's
00:06:09Super Welterweight Championship.
00:06:12Sanctioned by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board,
00:06:15Boxing Commissioner Larry Hazard, Sr.,
00:06:18Chairman Jerry Gormley,
00:06:20Members, Gary Shaw and Steven Katz,
00:06:23Deputy Commissioner John Greco,
00:06:25Timekeeper at the bell, Earl Curry,
00:06:28Physicians at ringside, Dr. Richard Snepper,
00:06:31Dr. Earl Shaw, Dr. Charles Wilson,
00:06:33and Dr. Eric Wormser.
00:06:36This belt is also sanctioned by the World Boxing Council,
00:06:39President Jose Suleiman,
00:06:41WBC Supervisor at ringside,
00:06:44Jean-Guy Prescott.
00:06:46The three judges scoring this contest
00:06:48in a 10-point must system are
00:06:50Ron Greenlee, John Pottery,
00:06:53and Paul Venti.
00:06:54And when the bell rings,
00:06:56your referee in charge of the action,
00:06:58Tony Perez.
00:07:00And now, ladies and gentlemen,
00:07:02for the thousands in attendance
00:07:04and the millions watching around the world,
00:07:08let's get ready to rumble!
00:07:15Introducing first,
00:07:17fighting out of the red corner,
00:07:19wearing gold with black trim.
00:07:21He weighs 152 pounds,
00:07:23and in 1996, he captured Olympic gold.
00:07:27And now, as a professional,
00:07:29he has a perfect record
00:07:31of 10 consecutive victories,
00:07:33seven by knockout.
00:07:34He comes to us from the city
00:07:36of brotherly love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
00:07:39Here is the undefeated challenger,
00:07:42the American dream,
00:07:44David Reed!
00:07:53And across the ring,
00:07:54fighting out of the blue corner,
00:07:56wearing red trimmed with white,
00:07:58and weighing in at 153 and one-half pounds.
00:08:01He also has an outstanding professional record
00:08:04consisting of 19 straight victories without a loss,
00:08:0712 by knockout.
00:08:09Ladies and gentlemen,
00:08:10from San Antonio, Texas,
00:08:12here is the undefeated WBC
00:08:15Continental America Super Welterweight Champion,
00:08:19James Cowboy Coker!
00:08:31Reed, Coker,
00:08:32I gave you the instructions in the dressing room.
00:08:34I caution again.
00:08:35I expect a good, clean fight.
00:08:37Two things you must remember.
00:08:39One, obey my commands at all times
00:08:41and protect yourself at all times.
00:08:43Shake hands. Good luck to you.
00:08:45A left-handed gunslinger from Texas
00:08:50against a howitzer from Philadelphia.
00:08:53Not bonanza.
00:08:54Magnificent 7.
00:08:56What an unbelievably embarrassing error by me.
00:08:59Thanks to the folks in the truck
00:09:01who straightened me out.
00:09:04Just goes to show you,
00:09:05I didn't watch enough TV as a kid.
00:09:08You were deprived, Jim.
00:09:13The thing that's gonna be impressive here
00:09:15early on in this fight
00:09:16is how Coker reacts to being hit by a David Reed punch.
00:09:21Yeah, Coker likes to think that
00:09:23his resume of tough club fighters in Texas,
00:09:27incidentally, only 19 fights in 8 years,
00:09:30but he likes to think that a lot of those guys
00:09:32are tougher than the kind of people
00:09:33that Reed has been in against,
00:09:34but Reed has the kind of power
00:09:36that is usually an eye-opener against his opponents.
00:09:41And the first good left hand from Reed
00:09:43knocks Coker back 3 steps.
00:09:47Coker's never seen a fighter like this
00:09:48before I can tell already.
00:09:51Yeah, but I'm not sure that David
00:09:53has seen a fighter like Coker
00:09:54who's already thrown 2 or 3 nice body shots.
00:10:00Has a nice stance against David.
00:10:02His right hand is sideways to him,
00:10:04making it difficult to hit.
00:10:17Reed's chronically droopy left eyelid,
00:10:20always a subject of conversation.
00:10:22He says he's tired of hearing us and others talk about it,
00:10:26and is what it is,
00:10:27but you can't help but notice
00:10:28every time he gets into the ring
00:10:31and seems to be a visual obstruction
00:10:34against, for instance, Coker's right jab.
00:10:38I think he's been fighting long enough
00:10:39to be able to adjust to that jab,
00:10:41and I think that's why he probably gets upset about it,
00:10:43because if he can make the Olympic team with it,
00:10:45then he can do anything with it.
00:10:48Straight right hand lands for Reed.
00:10:51You know, when we saw David Reed
00:10:53the other day in the afternoon,
00:10:55the eyelid didn't look nearly as droopy.
00:10:57Maybe it has something to do with the fact
00:10:59that it's past midnight.
00:11:23Coker seems quite composed.
00:11:29He's aware of the right hand,
00:11:31but fighting his own fight all the while.
00:11:34Yeah, he is fighting his own fight,
00:11:36and he's aware of the right hand.
00:11:37He just got caught with it a few seconds ago.
00:11:39And Reed goes to the body twice
00:11:41as Coker manages to get away after stepping in close.
00:11:47He's not looking to be a hero.
00:11:48He's showing one shot at a time like that.
00:11:51And very smart shots.
00:11:52That was a good body shot by Coker.
00:11:56So in round one, James Coker gets a chance
00:12:00to taste David Reed's power,
00:12:02and Reed gets a sense of the technical challenge
00:12:05that will face him tonight.
00:12:08Meanwhile, earlier this evening,
00:12:09the world title fight at 130 pounds
00:12:11as Roberto Garcia of Oxnard, California,
00:12:14risked his crown against Ramon Radon,
00:12:16a member of the Team Freedom group
00:12:18of Cuban refugees in Miami.
00:12:20And in the second round,
00:12:21Radon knocked Garcia on his back
00:12:24with that big left hand.
00:12:26But by round four,
00:12:27Garcia had stabilized the fight
00:12:29and turned things in his direction.
00:12:31And working to the body,
00:12:32he set up with some damage
00:12:34that knockdown of Radon.
00:12:36And then by round five,
00:12:37a thoroughly exhausted Ramon Radon
00:12:40couldn't score with his left hand anymore.
00:12:42Roberto Garcia jumped all over him
00:12:44and pounded him with both discs
00:12:46until after the second knockdown,
00:12:48the referee, Eddie Cotton,
00:12:50saw no reason for Radon to continue.
00:12:52So Garcia, with a stirring
00:12:54come-from-behind performance,
00:12:55retained his 130-pound world championship.
00:12:59A very Arturo Gatti-like performance,
00:13:03which is just about the highest praise
00:13:05boxing after dark can confer on a fighter.
00:13:10We should, uh, we should ordain the Gatti Trophy
00:13:13for the most dramatic performance every year
00:13:15on boxing after dark.
00:13:16I tell you what, it'll be hard to give it up
00:13:18because we see some very, very interesting fights here
00:13:22on boxing after dark.
00:13:23We do. No question.
00:13:25And round one was interesting
00:13:27between David Reed and James Coker.
00:13:30As Reed may be as close as one fight away
00:13:33from a title shot.
00:13:35Faces the first southpaw of his professional career,
00:13:38a guy like himself is unbeaten.
00:13:47Left hand landed for Reed.
00:13:49A beautiful combination by Reed.
00:13:59Since they're both fighting at 154 pounds, Roy,
00:14:03one possible future bout
00:14:05about which fight fans love to speculate
00:14:07is Reed against his Olympic teammate Fernando Vargas.
00:14:11Yeah, and that would be a very, very good fight.
00:14:13I think that would be a fight
00:14:14that people would love to see.
00:14:15And the thing about it is,
00:14:16is by them coming out at the same time
00:14:18and being in the same weight class,
00:14:20it makes it very interesting
00:14:21to watch the paths run into one another.
00:14:23And try to compare them in terms of style,
00:14:26similar technique, similar attributes, similar.
00:14:30The biggest difference is,
00:14:32Reed's money punch is his right hand.
00:14:34Vargas is a left hooker.
00:14:37Good short right hook inside by Reed.
00:14:41But Reed is having his problems here.
00:14:43This is, if it's gonna be a learning experience,
00:14:46he's gonna learn something.
00:14:51Yeah, but even though there's a technical learning game
00:14:54going on here for Reed,
00:14:55he's fighting, it seems to me,
00:14:57with more confidence and self-possession
00:14:59than in some of his previous bouts.
00:15:01Yeah, because he doesn't feel like
00:15:02he has to be afraid of his opponent's power.
00:15:13What he has to get used to is the idea
00:15:15that he's gonna run up against opponents
00:15:18who are gonna try to fight him this way
00:15:20to stay away from his power.
00:15:22And he has to find a way to solve that.
00:15:24Good body shot by Coker.
00:15:26And Reed smiles as if to say,
00:15:28yep, you got me.
00:15:32Coker's smart because he knows
00:15:34Reed has not been 12 rounds before.
00:15:36He knows this is Reed's first 12-rounder.
00:15:38So he's trying to beat Reed's body
00:15:40in case the fight becomes closer in the later round.
00:15:43And taking his time and stretching things out.
00:15:52He's having a hard time reaching Coker, Roy.
00:15:55The cause of the southpaw stance.
00:15:58Time.
00:16:06Number one, you're laying out too much
00:16:09and playing and doing slipping and sliding.
00:16:11You have to pressure the southpaw, like I told you.
00:16:13You go to the body.
00:16:14Stop all that moving and funny stuff, okay?
00:16:16Aim right here and there.
00:16:17That's all you gotta do.
00:16:18You don't even have to aim at his head.
00:16:20You understand what I'm saying?
00:16:21That's what you do.
00:16:22The right hand to the body,
00:16:23you're aiming at to it first.
00:16:25The right hand to the body,
00:16:26you're aiming at to it.
00:16:27Forget about that, okay?
00:16:28Remember, I tell you, a good boxer,
00:16:29you gotta stop trying to load up
00:16:30and go for the one shot.
00:16:36He ain't doing nothing.
00:16:37He ain't doing nothing.
00:16:38He's getting clumsy.
00:16:39He's getting clumsy.
00:16:40Whatever he tries to slip,
00:16:41keep it composed.
00:16:42All right?
00:16:43Don't go into nothing.
00:16:44All right?
00:16:45Keep that jab and roll.
00:16:46Keep that jab and roll.
00:16:48He don't like it to the body.
00:16:49Straighten up, he don't like it to the body.
00:16:52Here's David Reed as he slipped in that round.
00:16:57Helped by a little bit of a soft push from the cowboy.
00:17:02I love that expression,
00:17:03and I've used it myself, Roy,
00:17:05about he doesn't like it to the body,
00:17:06but if you think about it, who does?
00:17:09Yeah, you got a point there.
00:17:12If it's not massage therapy,
00:17:13I don't like it to the body either.
00:17:15I don't like it to the body either.
00:17:22Reed only able to land 5 of 52 punches,
00:17:25or 5 of 52 jabs, I would say, so far.
00:17:30As usual, the jab,
00:17:31a low percentage punch against the southpaw,
00:17:33which doesn't mean you can't keep using it.
00:17:40And Reed has a cut over his right eye.
00:17:44A little bit of an emergency to the fight.
00:17:47Round 3 of the schedule 12,
00:17:49first schedule 12 rounder
00:17:50in David Reed's developing pro career.
00:17:53Now, Koch was aiming at that blood.
00:17:59And Reed, conscious of the blood above his eye,
00:18:01begins to paw at it with his glove.
00:18:07Well, this is one of those turns in a fight
00:18:11that could be dramatic.
00:18:14It did seem to come from a headbutt.
00:18:17And there's a red spot on Koch's forehead.
00:18:19Is he bleeding, too?
00:18:20I don't think he's bleeding.
00:18:21I think that's the spot where they collided here, though.
00:18:23And you think he's got Reed's blood on his forehead.
00:18:27You can see the blood around David's eye.
00:18:32First real adversity in David Reed's career.
00:18:42Fascinating to hear what trainer Al Mitchell
00:18:44has to say to Reed about this.
00:18:49Cut man in Reed's corner is Fred Jenkins.
00:18:53He'll be going to work.
00:18:54Hard left hand by Kocher.
00:18:58Right on the cut.
00:19:01Kocher seems to be getting confidence here, Jim.
00:19:04And landing more solid shots
00:19:05than was the case in the first couple of rounds.
00:19:10What David Reed may learn from this fight
00:19:12is not to fight tall southpaws.
00:19:18Roy Jones could have told him that.
00:19:23I doubt it.
00:19:24A hit by McGee.
00:19:26Now there may be a cut over Kocher's right eye,
00:19:29or is there?
00:19:30Well, it's hard to tell whether Kocher's bleeding
00:19:32or whether he just has a lot of Reed blood there,
00:19:34but David is bleeding a lot.
00:19:38We'll take a closer look between rounds,
00:19:40but it appears that this is a very serious cut.
00:19:43Presently forming over the right eye of David Reed.
00:19:47As we told you,
00:19:48as Roy Jones immediately pointed out,
00:19:50it was the result of a headbutt early in round 3.
00:19:55Now Reed goes to the right uppercut,
00:19:57looking to hurt Kocher.
00:20:05Here we go.
00:20:09Okay.
00:20:11Now listen, you gotta drill them body shots, okay?
00:20:14And when you're in close,
00:20:15you gotta drill that right hook.
00:20:17Okay?
00:20:18You gotta work the right hook to the body
00:20:19and sneak it over top to the head, okay?
00:20:21Okay?
00:20:22Start taking the body.
00:20:26Okay?
00:20:27You gotta drill it.
00:20:28Okay?
00:20:29You gotta drill it.
00:20:30Wipe it.
00:20:31Watch it.
00:20:32Okay.
00:20:33Remember I told you how southpaw it is?
00:20:34That's why you gotta stop trying to slip.
00:20:36It's easy to bump a southpaw head,
00:20:38and that's what you did at the top, okay?
00:20:40Referee Tony Perez went around the ring
00:20:42telling all of the judges
00:20:44that this was from an accidental butt,
00:20:46and indeed it was right there.
00:20:52And later,
00:20:53Kocher splashed his glove on that cut.
00:20:59And in the round,
00:21:00by copy box numbers,
00:21:01Kocher outlanded Reed,
00:21:0320 punches to 18.
00:21:05So the bout becomes considerably more interesting now
00:21:08as the result of the accidental head butt,
00:21:10the cut over Reed's eye,
00:21:11and the question of how it will affect his progress
00:21:14as the rounds go on.
00:21:16Reed's looking to pressure him
00:21:17in order to try to get the fight over with now.
00:21:20You gotta be careful, though,
00:21:21because Kocher's not just a guy
00:21:23you can just run over and hit.
00:21:28You saw the location of the cut
00:21:30well above the eyebrow up on the forehead.
00:21:32That one may bleed for a while.
00:21:34Yeah, but it shouldn't be too bad of a problem
00:21:36because by the time it reaches the eyeball,
00:21:38it's going to the left or right.
00:21:39Yeah, around the eyebrow.
00:21:41I guess that's why God gave us eyebrows
00:21:43is so that they can divert the blood
00:21:45from cuts on our forehead.
00:21:53All this time,
00:21:54you thought it was just a dust collector, huh?
00:21:56There you go.
00:21:57I thought it was cosmetic.
00:22:04Come on, Reed.
00:22:22Now Reed is using the jab very smartly.
00:22:29Yeah, and I mentioned in the last round
00:22:30that even if he's not gonna be able to land the jab,
00:22:33you still want to throw it.
00:22:34It's a tactical weapon.
00:22:35It sets up your other punches.
00:22:38It keeps your opponent at range.
00:22:44But if he's gonna damage Kocher,
00:22:46it isn't gonna be with jabs.
00:22:48This is not a very entertaining fight,
00:22:52but it is dramatic in some way
00:22:54because of the danger that David Reed...
00:22:57Not a boxing at the dockerish type fight, huh?
00:23:00No.
00:23:04Come on.
00:23:10Well, Al Mitchell said
00:23:11that the first challenge to Reed would be
00:23:13to establish a footwork pattern
00:23:15that could give him opportunities
00:23:17to score against Kocher,
00:23:18and he would have to learn how to move his feet
00:23:20to get in position to land punches.
00:23:23And then the next question after that would be
00:23:25how tall or how tough is the tall Texan gonna be?
00:23:30Break.
00:23:31Richard Martin, break.
00:23:32So far, the answer is it's not easy
00:23:34to get the footwork right,
00:23:36and the tall Texan's pretty tough.
00:23:38Yeah, he just took a good right hand there from David Reed.
00:23:42Another one.
00:23:44That one partially blocked.
00:23:47But I get the impression
00:23:48that whenever he's hit by that punch,
00:23:50he's looking for it.
00:23:52He's taking the sting out of it by his movement.
00:23:58Kocher lands a left hand to the body...
00:24:00Time!
00:24:02...and goes back to the body as the round goes to a close.
00:24:06And on November 14, light heavyweight champion
00:24:09Roy Jones makes his next appearance on HBO,
00:24:11taking on Canadian Otis Grant, a southpaw,
00:24:15moving up from middleweight
00:24:16to take on our announced partner,
00:24:18who is considered by many critics
00:24:20the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.
00:24:22Don't miss it.
00:24:23Also, we mentioned Jesse James Leija,
00:24:25but Gabriel is on the undercard earlier this evening.
00:24:28Leija will be fighting Shane Mosley.
00:24:35Shane Mosley's a lightweight champion,
00:24:37and here's another lightweight champion.
00:24:40Or at least a contender.
00:24:42Fresh on him now.
00:24:43He's cut, and he's desperate.
00:24:46He's cut, and he's desperate.
00:24:49Looking good.
00:24:52That was Harold Warren in the corner there
00:24:56talking to Kocher between rounds.
00:24:59Veteran fighter, one of the Warren brothers from Texas.
00:25:02Harold and Frankie have done a lot of damage
00:25:04in the ring over the years.
00:25:05Yes, they have.
00:25:06In fact, Frankie would be the fighter
00:25:08we saw here earlier tonight, John Brown.
00:25:10Mm-hmm.
00:25:11But he lost to my fellow fighter,
00:25:13Derek Smolgana.
00:25:14Derek Gaynor.
00:25:15Harold, how do you have it through 4 here?
00:25:17Jim, I got a 38-38, 2 rounds apiece.
00:25:19I thought David Reed did enough damage
00:25:21in rounds 1 and 4 to win him,
00:25:23and certainly James Kocher in 2 and 3
00:25:25because he's busier.
00:25:26As far as I see this fight,
00:25:28James Kocher's doing pretty well
00:25:29because he's got a stinking style.
00:25:30You don't see that left hand coming,
00:25:32and he taps you to death with that right jab.
00:25:33But I'll tell you something.
00:25:34Every once in a while,
00:25:35he'll backhand you with the right jab,
00:25:36and that's illegal.
00:25:37Jim, on the headbutt rule,
00:25:38if they stop the fight
00:25:39because of that cut in the later rounds,
00:25:41we still go to the scorecards
00:25:42because it was originally caused by a headbutt.
00:25:46Oh, big left hand over the top by Kocher.
00:25:49Right hand over the top by Kocher.
00:25:57Kocher confusing Reed with lateral movement,
00:26:00causing occasionally to land a shot.
00:26:18I think that Jesse James, Lehi, and Shane Mosley
00:26:21fight should be a very interesting fight
00:26:23on November 14th.
00:26:25I like fights like that.
00:26:27You don't think that Mosley is too strong
00:26:29for Jesse James Lehi coming up in weight?
00:26:32Not coming up in weight
00:26:33because Jesse James beat one of the strongest
00:26:3530-pounders that I think has ever been
00:26:37in a sumo wrestling.
00:26:40Let's do it.
00:26:47Reed sneaks the right hand up the middle
00:26:49against Kocher.
00:26:57Because he throws just one punch at a time,
00:27:00James Kocher is a very, very difficult cat to fight.
00:27:04Yeah, because he won't get out all those punches.
00:27:06He stays set, and it's hard to counter him.
00:27:11No, no, no, no.
00:27:12You can't hardly tell when he's coming after you.
00:27:14He's a very patient customer.
00:27:16He waits for you to overcommit against him,
00:27:18and when he's got you leaning forward,
00:27:20that's when he pops you.
00:27:24The strategy of most tall southpaws.
00:27:27What do you do against a fighter like this, Roy?
00:27:29You pressure him. You pressure him.
00:27:30You make him open up.
00:27:31He doesn't want to open up.
00:27:32You can't let him just sit back and take his time.
00:27:34You have to put pressure on him.
00:27:35Al Mitchell told Dave Reed this
00:27:37between rounds 3 and 4, I think,
00:27:39but you have to pressure a tall southpaw.
00:27:41You can't stay out there and let him have his way.
00:27:47And you see David moving forward when he can
00:27:50to try to apply the pressure to Kocher,
00:27:52but, of course, the footwork problem remains.
00:27:54How do you get there?
00:27:55That's how you get there, like he just did.
00:27:57When you go out there and you press him,
00:27:59he can't do anything about it.
00:28:06Take a deep breath.
00:28:08Okay. Okay.
00:28:10Get this. Clean this up.
00:28:12Okay.
00:28:14Take a deep breath.
00:28:16How you feel, champ?
00:28:17Like a champ.
00:28:18Okay, I told you.
00:28:19I told you the style.
00:28:20The style was different.
00:28:21I told you, didn't I?
00:28:22Okay, you have to pick it up a little bit.
00:28:24The rounds is too close.
00:28:25Okay.
00:28:26You've got to stop punching one or two.
00:28:27You've got to punch three and four punches,
00:28:29and when you back him up, you've got to punch, okay?
00:28:32You've got to punch, and it's at the body, okay?
00:28:34Okay.
00:28:35When he come in, it's the right uppercut.
00:28:36It's right there.
00:28:37Yeah.
00:28:38But you can't just throw one punch.
00:28:39You've got to punch in twos and three punches.
00:28:40Okay.
00:28:41You've got to drill him.
00:28:42All right?
00:28:43All right.
00:28:44Okay, and you can't win it back.
00:28:45You are back.
00:28:46Fernando Vargas next to appear
00:28:48in a 154-pound world title fight
00:28:50against Lloris Boy Capas.
00:28:52Vargas, the stablemate of Roberto Garcia
00:28:55of Oxnard, California,
00:28:56who defended his 130-pound title
00:28:58earlier this evening,
00:28:59and Vargas, of course,
00:29:00Olympic teammate of David Reed.
00:29:01We mentioned the speculation
00:29:02about whether they'll ever meet,
00:29:03because they fight in the same weight class
00:29:05at 154.
00:29:07You may remember that Vargas
00:29:09suffered a bad cut in his last fight.
00:29:13Against Dan Mashinsky.
00:29:16Another awkward...
00:29:18Softball.
00:29:19...tough softball.
00:29:22Vargas was able to turn the tide
00:29:24and win the fight with a...
00:29:26I think it was a sixth-round TKO.
00:29:29And now we're in the sixth round here.
00:29:33And you heard Roy Jones say
00:29:35that David Reed must pressure James Coker.
00:29:38Try to get Coker out of his rhythm.
00:29:41Can't let him just stand there
00:29:42and do what he wants to do.
00:29:45But he's still...
00:29:47He's got Reed throwing one punch at a time also,
00:29:50despite the urging of his trainer
00:29:53between rounds.
00:29:55Al Mitchell saying,
00:29:56don't throw two-punch combinations.
00:29:58Give me four-punch combinations.
00:30:01And he also told him,
00:30:02when Coker comes in,
00:30:04the right uppercut is there for him.
00:30:06There goes three or four-punch combinations right there.
00:30:08That's what Al told me.
00:30:10There you go.
00:30:11One, two, three, four again.
00:30:13Double left hook.
00:30:14And a good one.
00:30:31Take him out.
00:30:39Well, if nothing else,
00:30:40I give Reed a lot of credit for patience.
00:30:42He's being very patient here tonight.
00:30:44He doesn't look ruffled by this.
00:30:46He doesn't look as though
00:30:47his confidence has been at all damaged.
00:30:49He's just calmly waiting for his opportunities
00:30:52and doing what he can.
00:30:53He understands that it's very difficult
00:30:55to face a tall southpaw like this,
00:30:56so he's just going about it the best way.
00:30:58Be patient, and you'll get what you want.
00:31:01Do you think halfway through this fight, Roy,
00:31:03that it was a mistake to put Reed in
00:31:05with this kind of awkward, difficult-to-fight fighter?
00:31:09No, because this is the only technique
00:31:11that he probably never had to use.
00:31:13He's never had to face a southpaw,
00:31:14and this is something that you need to learn
00:31:16before you become a world champion.
00:31:18Therefore, after you become a world champion,
00:31:20if you have to face one,
00:31:21you're going to have a problem
00:31:22because you've done it before.
00:31:23You've been there, done that.
00:31:28Yeah, you win a world title,
00:31:29and someday your mandatory number-one contender
00:31:32might be a tall southpaw.
00:31:33You've got to go ahead and fight him
00:31:35if you're going to keep your title.
00:31:36That's right.
00:31:39Or it might just be somebody
00:31:40you don't like that's a tall southpaw.
00:31:42Ha ha ha!
00:31:47I know one in New York that you don't like very much.
00:31:51But you've got your victory over Lou Deval.
00:31:53I like Lou. Lou's a good guy.
00:31:55Lou's a good friend of mine.
00:31:56Just that at the time, you know,
00:31:58had to take care of business.
00:31:59Did a good job of promoting the fight.
00:32:01November 17, Real Sports with Brian Gumbel returns.
00:32:04Among the stories, a look back
00:32:05at the 1958 NFL championship game
00:32:07between the Colts and Giants
00:32:09and its impact on the development of the sport.
00:32:11This is the game that changed
00:32:13National Football League football.
00:32:15Alan Amici's touchdown won it there.
00:32:17Candid interview with struggling golfer John Daly
00:32:20and we'll follow the travails of the intense athletes
00:32:23who compete in 100-mile ultramarathon races.
00:32:27Real Sports, where nothing is out of bounds.
00:32:31Listen to me. Listen to me.
00:32:34He is under pressure.
00:32:38He's under pressure.
00:32:39He is under pressure.
00:32:40Don't square up too much.
00:32:41He wants to counter on you.
00:32:44He wants to counter it.
00:32:45Don't let him counter.
00:32:46Even if you don't throw any punches,
00:32:48don't let him counter.
00:32:49You throw some shots and then that goes out?
00:32:53Show yourself, Paul.
00:32:54Make styles. He's different.
00:32:55Okay?
00:33:01Al Mitchell seems almost pleased
00:33:04that his fighter is getting a tough challenge here.
00:33:06Yeah, and meanwhile, somewhere in there,
00:33:08David Reed is saying,
00:33:09yeah, but then I have to experience it like this.
00:33:14Couldn't I have watched the film someplace?
00:33:17Come on, baby.
00:33:20The numbers of punches they're landing are small.
00:33:34Remember, John Brown was landing
00:33:3530 or 40 punches a round against Gabriel Ellis.
00:33:38But both of those guys were inside fighters.
00:33:40Here you have two counter punches,
00:33:41two raging fighters, two outside fighters.
00:33:43And to be honest with you,
00:33:44David Reed is not really the type of fighter
00:33:46that boxing after dark usually is accustomed to,
00:33:48because he's a boxer.
00:33:49He's a smart guy.
00:33:50He's more of a fighter that wants to hit and not be hit,
00:33:53which is very smart.
00:33:57And that's not what our boxing after dark audience
00:33:59is really used to.
00:34:00Now, we've had a lot of toe-to-toe battles here,
00:34:02no question.
00:34:03Reed, you see doubling and tripling on the jab now.
00:34:06Try to pile up some connections.
00:34:10He's gonna have to grind.
00:34:12He's gonna have to grind out a 12-round decision here.
00:34:15It makes sense at this point
00:34:16to put as many rounds in the bank
00:34:18as he can possibly get.
00:34:21Reaching right hand lands for Reed.
00:34:24Coker reaching with his left hand
00:34:26to try to get to Reed's body.
00:34:29Coker's not landing many punches at all anymore, though.
00:34:32And Reed doing a good job of moving
00:34:34to keep his lead foot outside of Coker's lead foot.
00:34:38One of those challenges for a conventional fighter
00:34:40against a softball.
00:34:47David stepping to his left
00:34:49so that Coker's jab goes on by
00:34:51and then pounding twice with his own jab
00:34:53when he gets the angle from the outside.
00:34:56Good boxing here by David Reed.
00:34:58Very good counterpunching.
00:35:05Reed wanted to throw the uppercut,
00:35:06finally resulted to the left hook.
00:35:10Oh!
00:35:17Coker wanted to tie Reed up,
00:35:18wasn't able to do it,
00:35:19and took the punch to the body instead.
00:35:21Well, Coker doesn't like this inside thing here.
00:35:23No, he doesn't like what he's getting
00:35:24to the body from Reed.
00:35:25No, he doesn't.
00:35:26He doesn't like those body shots at all.
00:35:28You see his elbows going down against the ribcage,
00:35:30and Reed at this point thinking,
00:35:32if I can keep pounding to the body
00:35:34and bring those hands down a little bit,
00:35:36maybe I get a chance upstairs
00:35:38to use my left hook or my right cross.
00:35:40That's very good thinking.
00:35:46Got to do it for a couple of rounds.
00:35:49Invest in it.
00:35:54One of George Foreman's pet phrases,
00:35:56invest in the body punches.
00:35:58They will pay you in.
00:36:05Al Mitchell told us
00:36:06that he was learning in the gym.
00:36:08This might be one of those fights
00:36:10that would be better off if it was in a gym.
00:36:13Okay, you got to stay down there.
00:36:15Do you understand what I'm saying, kid?
00:36:17You got to stay underneath and work.
00:36:19Uppercuts and hooks, okay, when you're enclosed.
00:36:21Okay?
00:36:22And don't let him get back in it.
00:36:23Okay?
00:36:24Now, you got to take control
00:36:25these last couple rounds.
00:36:26This fight is dead even, I got you.
00:36:28Okay?
00:36:29It's who's taking control.
00:36:30Okay, put that zip in there.
00:36:32Taking that zip in there.
00:36:33He's desperate.
00:36:34He's very desperate.
00:36:35Listen to me.
00:36:36It's an eight round,
00:36:37and he's going to try to come and knock you out.
00:36:39It's all right.
00:36:40You got to beat water, all right?
00:36:45Get up, get up, get up.
00:36:46There you go.
00:36:47Come on.
00:36:48There you go.
00:36:49Come on.
00:36:50There you go.
00:36:51Seconds out.
00:36:53Hold that hand.
00:36:54Hold that hand, all right?
00:37:01Round 8 of a scheduled 12.
00:37:04David Reed with 7 knockouts
00:37:06in his first 10 fights as a pro,
00:37:08looking for knockout number 8 in his 11th bout,
00:37:11but it's going to be a tough one to get
00:37:13against the rangy cowboy James Coker
00:37:16of San Antonio, Texas.
00:37:17And right now, Larry Merchant
00:37:19is in David Reed's corner
00:37:21with trainer-manager Al Mitchell.
00:37:24All right, Al Mitchell,
00:37:26is this more difficult than you anticipated?
00:37:29I tell you, the southpaw style,
00:37:31and he's deceiving the way he box and move.
00:37:34He's like, he's disciplined,
00:37:35and he just want to get one or two shots
00:37:38and dance and move.
00:37:39What is your fighter, David Reed,
00:37:41learning from this, and how?
00:37:42He's learning that he have to go to the body.
00:37:44The key was going to the body from the first round,
00:37:46and he looking for the right hand.
00:37:48The body is the key.
00:37:50Is he coming on as this fight is going on?
00:37:53Is he learning more about how to deal with this?
00:37:55He needs to know better.
00:37:56These are the kind of fights you got to learn.
00:37:58Hey, this will make him a champ.
00:37:59If you want to be champ,
00:38:00you have to go through this class.
00:38:03I said earlier on the air
00:38:04that one of the things he's learning
00:38:06from fighting this tall,
00:38:07sort of awkward left-hander
00:38:09is maybe you shouldn't fight tall, awkward left-handers.
00:38:12Hey, hey, it comes with the territory.
00:38:14If you want to be a champ,
00:38:15this is the kind of fights you have to do.
00:38:17We have to take them one at a time.
00:38:19Thank you, Al.
00:38:20Anytime.
00:38:21Al Mitchell repeating everything you said
00:38:23in your on-camera before the fight.
00:38:24Was he watching your on-camera, Roy?
00:38:26No, that's the guy that knows his game.
00:38:28Ha, ha, ha.
00:38:30Mitchell, who had left professional boxing
00:38:33to spend all of his time as an amateur trainer and coach
00:38:37until he hooked up with David Reed.
00:38:39He says, you know, I was finished with this game
00:38:41because of all the problems that are a part of it,
00:38:43but Reed brought me back to professional boxing.
00:38:46I want to be with him all the way down the road
00:38:48and be a many-time world champion.
00:38:51I believe that is true.
00:38:53Oh, they have the love.
00:38:55These two have a very close relationship.
00:38:57Hard right hand by Reed.
00:38:59More and more, he's doing exactly what Al Mitchell says
00:39:02he needs to do, using the body to set up head shots.
00:39:06Yeah, because Coco doesn't like being hit to the body at all.
00:39:09And once you hit him to the body a few times,
00:39:11you make him drop his hands,
00:39:12and then you can hit him with the big head shots.
00:39:14But you go looking strictly for the head shots,
00:39:16it's not going to happen that easy.
00:39:17So you've seen Reed respond to the early difficulty
00:39:20of the cut above his eye created by an accidental headbutt.
00:39:23You've seen him more and more figure out
00:39:25the footwork puzzle of how to get at James Coker.
00:39:28You've seen him solving the equation
00:39:30of which punches to use to get through Coker's guard.
00:39:33If he can reel him in in the late rounds
00:39:35and produce a knockout,
00:39:36it'll go down as a hell of a performance.
00:39:39Right now, the cowboy looks like he's riding a Bronco.
00:39:48As opposed to a giant stallion.
00:39:50Yeah, this is no trot in the park.
00:39:54This has become very difficult for Coker.
00:40:02Coming up December 8,
00:40:03HBO Sports presents the next edition of
00:40:05Sports of the 20th Century.
00:40:07Sugar Ray Robinson,
00:40:08the bright lights and dark shadows of a champion.
00:40:10The documentary which traces the triumphs and tragedies
00:40:13of the boxer most experts call
00:40:15the greatest pound for pound of all time.
00:40:17Outside of the ring, Robinson was a fearless
00:40:19and flashy showman.
00:40:20But his final days were marked by sickness and poverty.
00:40:23As you'll see in Sugar Ray Robinson,
00:40:25the bright lights and dark shadows of a champion.
00:40:28Coming December 8, only on HBO.
00:40:32You got a bunch of combinations.
00:40:33You're still not putting the hook with the right hand.
00:40:36And the hook is the key.
00:40:37Yeah.
00:40:38Okay, he's so awkward.
00:40:39All right?
00:40:40And the body is the key.
00:40:42All right?
00:40:43All right.
00:40:44Okay.
00:40:47All right.
00:40:50Jim, in my days as a columnist and editor
00:40:54for the Philadelphia Daily News near here,
00:40:57there was a catcher for the Phillies named
00:41:00Jim Coker of all things.
00:41:03Also from Texas, from Houston.
00:41:06Part of the 1964 team.
00:41:08No, he was gone by that time, Jim.
00:41:11He was.
00:41:12Yeah, he was a tough little catcher.
00:41:13Tough little catcher and a very good guy.
00:41:15Very good.
00:41:16And right now, James Coker is becoming
00:41:19the catcher in this fight.
00:41:21Harold, how do you have it through 8?
00:41:23Jim, I agree with Larry.
00:41:24I got it 78-74, 6 rounds to 2.
00:41:27David Reed, I thought he picked up the pace
00:41:29tremendously in the last 5 rounds.
00:41:31He stays on top of James Coker,
00:41:32and he hits him with tremendous right hands.
00:41:34The thing about Coker is he's got a great jaw.
00:41:37David really hits him good shots and nothing happens.
00:41:40Well, Reed's 2 best right hands of the fight
00:41:43have landed in this round,
00:41:45and Reed seems for the moment
00:41:47to be on the verge of solving the puzzle
00:41:50of how to make his right hand
00:41:52the dominant factor in the fight.
00:41:54He's figuring it out now,
00:41:56and now he knows just keep him backing up.
00:41:58That's the way you beat a southpaw.
00:41:59Make him constantly back up,
00:42:00and you have no problem hitting him.
00:42:02But if you let him come forward,
00:42:03you're not gonna beat him that easy.
00:42:05Why is a southpaw more difficult to fight
00:42:08than a conventional fighter going back?
00:42:11I've never quite understood that reasoning.
00:42:13Explain it.
00:42:14Why is he difficult to fight?
00:42:15Now, why does he have more trouble?
00:42:17Let Harold explain.
00:42:18He wants to ask.
00:42:19Go ahead, Harold.
00:42:22Larry, a southpaw is difficult to fight
00:42:25because they give you half the body to swing at,
00:42:27just like you said the first round.
00:42:29They're always slanted halfway away from you.
00:42:31That's number one.
00:42:32The second thing is they circle the wrong way.
00:42:34A conventional right-handed fighter
00:42:35circles naturally to his left.
00:42:37But when a southpaw goes backwards,
00:42:39he just makes it even more difficult
00:42:41than when he fights you straight ahead.
00:42:43Sure, because he doesn't square up in front of you.
00:42:45He gives you half the body to swing at all the time.
00:42:48Still confuses me a little,
00:42:49but I think I understand it.
00:42:51Larry, you don't see the left hand coming.
00:42:56Which only makes it stand to reason
00:42:58that, of course,
00:42:59they don't see the right hand coming,
00:43:01and that's why most people start out
00:43:03trying to throw a straight right hand
00:43:05against a southpaw
00:43:06because it's going to damage them
00:43:07the same way their left hand might damage you.
00:43:09That's right.
00:43:10That's why whoever chases who back first
00:43:12usually has the advantage.
00:43:13So that's why you want to make him back up.
00:43:15I want to make him back up
00:43:16because I run him right into my right hand.
00:43:18You know, they've done a very good job
00:43:20with the cut over David Reed's eye.
00:43:23For the first time since he was cut,
00:43:25I see a little bit of blood.
00:43:27It's opening again.
00:43:30But by and large, it hasn't been a factor
00:43:32because of good work in his corner
00:43:34and because of good work by Reed,
00:43:36who took more of an initiative in the fight
00:43:39when it appeared that the blood might bother him.
00:43:49Reed landing his right hand twice more.
00:43:52Round 9 has been the best round yet
00:43:55for David Reed.
00:44:05It is time out.
00:44:07You got to work.
00:44:08You understand what I'm saying?
00:44:10You got to put them together.
00:44:13Give me the towel.
00:44:18Fifth round.
00:44:19Ready?
00:44:20Take a deep breath.
00:44:21How you feel?
00:44:22You need these three rounds.
00:44:23Okay?
00:44:24You have to work.
00:44:25You got them there.
00:44:26The right uppercut is the key
00:44:28when you're going to him.
00:44:29He landed.
00:44:30You keep looking for the right hand to the head,
00:44:32and he's ducking his head.
00:44:33The right uppercut is the key.
00:44:35Okay?
00:44:37When you got a gun, shoot it.
00:44:39And that is David Reed's gun.
00:44:45The end of the night,
00:44:46with all the strategizing,
00:44:49that's what's winning the fight for him.
00:44:53Bigger guns.
00:44:57Reed landed 40% of his punches in the 9th round,
00:44:59up from 30% in the preceding 8 rounds.
00:45:02You saw the two straight right hands
00:45:04that landed flush on Coker's face
00:45:07in the early part of round number 9.
00:45:10Al Mitchell has now cited three keys for Reed.
00:45:12One minute he tells him the left hook is the key.
00:45:14Then he tells him going to the body is the key.
00:45:16And now the right uppercut is the key.
00:45:18I think that straight right hand right there,
00:45:20that's the key.
00:45:22Well, he's got a triple lock he's trying to open up,
00:45:24so there's three keys.
00:45:27The question now is whether Coker
00:45:30will try to win the fight
00:45:32or be satisfied to go the distance.
00:45:36I'll bet on the latter.
00:45:42Coker probably figures he's doing about as well as he can do.
00:45:49But as David put it,
00:45:50I'm his Super Bowl,
00:45:52and he's got to try something here
00:45:54to make some kind of impression,
00:45:56even if he loses.
00:46:01Come on.
00:46:02Let's go.
00:46:03Hands up.
00:46:04Hands up.
00:46:05Let's go.
00:46:06Come on.
00:46:07Come on.
00:46:08Come on.
00:46:09Come on.
00:46:10Get up.
00:46:11Get up.
00:46:12Get up.
00:46:13Come on.
00:46:14Hands down.
00:46:15Hands down.
00:46:16Let's go.
00:46:17Let's go.
00:46:18Get up.
00:46:19Get up.
00:46:20Get up.
00:46:21Come on.
00:46:22Come on.
00:46:23Come on.
00:46:24Come on.
00:46:25Step forward.
00:46:26Step forward.
00:46:28Well, we've described David Reed's right hand
00:46:31as a devastating punch,
00:46:33and it has been
00:46:35through the first ten fights of his career.
00:46:38And although he has
00:46:41stunned
00:46:43Coker a few times with it,
00:46:45he doesn't seem to have put much of a dent in him, really.
00:46:48Well, because you can't hit him too clean.
00:46:50Number one,
00:46:51when you fight a southpaw,
00:46:53his left hand is farther away
00:46:56from you than his right.
00:46:58But the closest thing to him is the right hand,
00:47:01which is the weak hand.
00:47:02And that's the first hand that he puts out in front of his face.
00:47:04So you got to run into that before you get to his face.
00:47:06And after you get past the right hand,
00:47:08you got to deal with the left hand.
00:47:10So it's much harder to land a straight right hand on him
00:47:12unless you hit a conventional fighter.
00:47:14But there's another right-hand landing, and...
00:47:19Yeah, I think Reed's right-hand shots
00:47:21would have produced a more devastating effect
00:47:23if he were closer in.
00:47:24These are all fully extended.
00:47:26Right. If he had got closer,
00:47:27then maybe they would have done more damage.
00:47:29You see the knockouts when a punch travels 8 inches,
00:47:32not when it travels 2 feet 8 inches.
00:47:41But certainly,
00:47:42the right hand in the last two rounds
00:47:45has separated the two fighters
00:47:47and established Reed as the physically dominant
00:47:52boxer in the ring.
00:47:54It also would have helped him to have
00:47:55much of the body weight in this fight.
00:47:58Body shots were hurting Cole.
00:48:01But he didn't really start doing it
00:48:02until the middle rounds.
00:48:17I don't know.
00:48:18I met McCullough and Bungu Romero
00:48:20on Halloween night.
00:48:21And you're not listening to what we tell you to do.
00:48:23We're telling you to go to the body.
00:48:25We're telling you to go to the body.
00:48:26You're not backing up.
00:48:29Give me another towel.
00:48:30I gave him one.
00:48:32You listen to me.
00:48:33You're pulling out.
00:48:34The key is...
00:48:35Remember I told you you're going to get hit
00:48:36if you pull out?
00:48:37The key is backing him up.
00:48:39Don't pull out and work to the body.
00:48:41Okay?
00:48:42You're making it a long night.
00:48:43Nobody else.
00:48:44He's not making it a long night.
00:48:45You're making it a long night.
00:48:47Okay?
00:48:50Mama, don't let your boys
00:48:52grow up to be boxers.
00:49:03As Willie Nelson might sing.
00:49:09And don't let your daughters grow up
00:49:10to be gymnasts or figure skaters.
00:49:18Round 10 and round 9 look very much alike.
00:49:20There's the uppercut that
00:49:22Al Mitchell wants David Reed
00:49:24to throw more frequently.
00:49:27You got to time it just right
00:49:28because he's got to throw it
00:49:29when poker's coming in
00:49:30and that happens only sporadically.
00:49:42A knockdown of David Reed.
00:49:45Forward as a knockdown.
00:49:49Oh, I missed it.
00:49:50Did you?
00:49:51I think he was a little bit off balance.
00:49:53He was off balance.
00:49:54He caught a left-hand punch from Coker
00:49:56and he went to one glove
00:49:58to maintain his balance
00:49:59and when that glove touched the canvas
00:50:01the count began.
00:50:07So another learning experience
00:50:09for the young 154-pound star.
00:50:11And now Reed responds
00:50:14with anger.
00:50:25Producer David Harmon telling me
00:50:27from the truck that replays will demonstrate
00:50:29it was a slip, not a knockdown
00:50:31but it's had the effect
00:50:33of bringing out the tiger in David Reed.
00:50:36He seems to be a little bit more serious
00:50:37than he was at first.
00:50:39You're wondering if James Coker
00:50:40at this moment is thinking
00:50:41no, it was a slip.
00:50:44I didn't mean it.
00:50:55Good straight right-hand by Coker.
00:51:03Oh, I'm thinking right now
00:51:04it's a slip.
00:51:06Oh, I'm thinking right now is
00:51:09is it time to move the clock back yet?
00:51:16Yeah, that's right.
00:51:17We all get an extra hour in Atlantic City.
00:51:23Hard right-hand by Reed.
00:51:36Coker's most aggressive assault in a while.
00:51:41A couple of clawing right jabs.
00:51:53And Reed punctuates the round
00:51:55with another hard right-hand.
00:52:00Take a deep breath.
00:52:01Listen to me.
00:52:03Take a deep breath.
00:52:04Listen to me, kid.
00:52:05You have to back him up
00:52:06and go to the body.
00:52:08He's blocking.
00:52:09You throw in the right hand,
00:52:10he's blocking every last one.
00:52:12Was this a knockdown?
00:52:15Didn't look like one to me
00:52:17unless you can knock a guy down
00:52:18by hitting him in the upper arm.
00:52:22However,
00:52:24David Reed does tend to get
00:52:25a little off balance.
00:52:27His legs do tend to fly
00:52:28over the place sometimes.
00:52:32You got to finish.
00:52:33You got to get him out there, Dave.
00:52:34This is too close to the car.
00:52:36You got to get him out there
00:52:37and he's there for you.
00:52:43Now, in Coker's corner,
00:52:45they're telling him to box.
00:52:48In Reed's corner,
00:52:49they're telling him he needs a knockout.
00:52:52What fight are we watching here?
00:52:56Coker's thrown only 39 punches
00:52:57around in the last two rounds.
00:52:59His activity level dropping,
00:53:00suggesting, to me at least,
00:53:02that he's fighting to finish the fight.
00:53:05It sounds like
00:53:06Coker's management,
00:53:08meaning Tony Aiello Sr.,
00:53:10is content to go away
00:53:11with a decision loss.
00:53:14Harold, how do you have it
00:53:15through 11?
00:53:16Jim, I don't think
00:53:17that David Reed needs anything
00:53:18to win this fight.
00:53:19Eight runs to three,
00:53:20106-102 David Reed.
00:53:23I got him with a solid
00:53:24four-point lead.
00:53:25Jim, I got to tell you something.
00:53:26These painted canvases
00:53:27are really tough sometimes.
00:53:28When they get wet,
00:53:29from sweat,
00:53:30from the water coming off
00:53:31a guy's trunks and gloves,
00:53:32they're brutal.
00:53:33They get very, very slippery,
00:53:34and the footing is bad.
00:53:35As Roy Jones will tell you,
00:53:36he had that problem
00:53:37at Madison Square Garden.
00:53:39It's a painted canvas
00:53:40with advertising painted
00:53:41on the ring,
00:53:42and that's what's causing
00:53:43the slips.
00:53:46Harold knows more
00:53:47than I thought he'd know.
00:53:50Harold knows everything, Roy.
00:53:52He might be a genius.
00:53:55Second knockdown of Reed,
00:53:57and now
00:53:58if the scorecards
00:53:59are closer than Harold's,
00:54:01you get into a very dangerous area
00:54:03for the young prospect.
00:54:05And that was a straight left hand,
00:54:07and that one, Larry,
00:54:08was a knockdown.
00:54:09Yep.
00:54:10I thought that was a jab.
00:54:13I think it was the left hand
00:54:14behind the jab,
00:54:15but I think both punches landed,
00:54:16and I think Reed,
00:54:18at this point,
00:54:19had better not coke her out
00:54:20to be certain.
00:54:22And that was one of the biggest
00:54:23right hands he's landed
00:54:24in the fight.
00:54:25He's got a minute and a half
00:54:26to pull it off,
00:54:28going to the scorecards
00:54:29at this point
00:54:30would be highly suspenseful,
00:54:31with Coker having been credited
00:54:33with knockdowns
00:54:34in each of the last two rounds.
00:54:39And Reed doesn't want to hear
00:54:40the scorecards, either.
00:54:43And neither do the crowd.
00:54:45Oh, that body shot
00:54:46hurt Coker real bad
00:54:47just then, though, Jim.
00:54:51Minute to go.
00:54:53Coker seemingly
00:54:54a little wobbly.
00:54:56Reed better unload
00:54:57the kitchen sink.
00:55:19Ayala standing up
00:55:20to yell at Coker
00:55:21to move on.
00:55:22Ayala standing up
00:55:23to yell at Coker
00:55:24to move,
00:55:25move side to side.
00:55:29Now, Coker,
00:55:30for reasons unknown,
00:55:31he likes to come forward
00:55:32and throw punches,
00:55:33and Reed doesn't respond.
00:55:40Reed trying to buy some time
00:55:41to get his win back.
00:55:45We're 10 seconds away
00:55:46from going to the scorecards.
00:55:53This could be interesting.
00:55:56Well, this is a little bit
00:55:57more excitement and drama
00:55:58than I'm sure
00:55:59a lot of people wanted to see
00:56:00for David Reed.
00:56:03A cut over his eye
00:56:04from an unintentional butt.
00:56:08Two official knockdowns,
00:56:10one of them clearly a push,
00:56:14could make the scoring interesting.
00:56:18Here you go, count one!
00:56:19Harold Lederman.
00:56:20Hey, Harold Lederman,
00:56:22talk to me a second.
00:56:23In the last round here, Harold,
00:56:25you have a situation
00:56:26where Coker gets credit
00:56:28for a knockdown,
00:56:29and then David Reed
00:56:30dominated the rest of the round.
00:56:3210-9 Coker,
00:56:3310-8 Coker,
00:56:34how do you score?
00:56:35Either way, Jim,
00:56:36no matter how you saw it,
00:56:37I thought that James Coker
00:56:38came back
00:56:39in the last couple of seconds
00:56:40to do enough
00:56:41to hang on to his 10-8.
00:56:43I gave him the 10-8.
00:56:44I still left David Reed
00:56:45ahead by two points,
00:56:46one for two,
00:56:47one for three.
00:56:48I still left David Reed
00:56:49ahead by two points,
00:56:50one for 14,
00:56:51one for 12,
00:56:52eight rounds to four,
00:56:53David Reed.
00:56:54Yeah, but you had Reed
00:56:55winning seven consecutive rounds
00:56:56from the fourth through the tenth.
00:56:58That's when I thought
00:56:59David Reed absolutely dominated
00:57:00with the right hand.
00:57:01Atlantic City judges
00:57:03rarely give a fighter
00:57:04seven rounds in a row
00:57:05in a fight of this type.
00:57:07Jim, I thought you had to.
00:57:08James Coker was just
00:57:09tapping him with the right hand,
00:57:10but on the other hand,
00:57:11David Reed landing solid
00:57:12with his right hand.
00:57:13There's the knockdown,
00:57:14and I told you
00:57:15it was the left hand.
00:57:16See, every once in a while
00:57:17there's something here, Roy.
00:57:18There's the straight left hand
00:57:19that knocked Reed down.
00:57:21He still seemed to be
00:57:22off balance, though.
00:57:23Well, that contributes
00:57:25to knockdowns sometimes,
00:57:26but you've got to call that
00:57:27a knockdown.
00:57:29And David Reed knows
00:57:30that he made a mistake.
00:57:35So that introduces
00:57:36an element of suspense
00:57:37that surely Reed and Mitchell
00:57:39and the folks at America Presents
00:57:41who promote him
00:57:42did not want to be a part
00:57:44of this fight.
00:57:47Beautiful, baby.
00:57:53And now you can just hear
00:57:55the Coker people after the fight.
00:57:57If Reed gets the decision,
00:57:58they'll say,
00:57:59well, we were robbed.
00:58:01We knocked him down twice.
00:58:02What more do you have to do?
00:58:06And Michael Buffer
00:58:07has the particulars in his hand,
00:58:09so let's go up.
00:58:11Ladies and gentlemen,
00:58:12here at the Trump Taj Mahal,
00:58:14Budweiser scorecards.
00:58:16Ron Greenlee scores
00:58:17the bout 118 to 110.
00:58:19John Pottery has it
00:58:20119 to 111.
00:58:22And Paul Venti scores
00:58:23it 117 to 111
00:58:25for the winner
00:58:26by unanimous decision
00:58:28and new champion
00:58:31from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
00:58:33the American Dream,
00:58:36David Reed.
00:58:39None of the three scorecards
00:58:41were as close
00:58:42as Harold Letterman's.
00:58:44So that confounds
00:58:45my expectations
00:58:48and goes to show you
00:58:49that the judges
00:58:50saw Reed's dominance
00:58:52throughout the fight.
00:58:54Final punch stat numbers,
00:58:56and you'll see that Reed
00:58:57landed 83 more punches
00:58:59through 184 more punches
00:59:02and landed at a higher percentage.
00:59:04His were also, by and large,
00:59:06the harder blows.
00:59:12And now let's go up
00:59:13to Larry Merchant
00:59:14in the ring with 11 wins,
00:59:16no losses,
00:59:17unbeaten Olympic gold medalist,
00:59:19David Reed.
00:59:21David, your trainer,
00:59:22Al Mitchell,
00:59:23sent you out in the last round
00:59:25with instructions
00:59:26to go after him
00:59:27and try to stop him
00:59:28because it was a close fight.
00:59:30Did you think it was
00:59:31a close fight?
00:59:32Most definitely,
00:59:33I thought it was a tough fight,
00:59:34but I just didn't want
00:59:35to leave the judges
00:59:37in their hands.
00:59:39And consequently,
00:59:40you got knocked down.
00:59:43It looked like a knockdown,
00:59:45but I didn't get knocked down.
00:59:47You know, I slipped a little bit
00:59:48and his glove touched me
00:59:50and I fell,
00:59:51and that's what made it look like
00:59:53that I slipped.
00:59:54Well, when his glove touches you
00:59:55and you fall,
00:59:56that's usually a knockdown.
00:59:57So you wind up
00:59:58with a cut over your eye,
00:59:59two official knockdowns,
01:00:01even though one looked like a,
01:00:03at least one of them
01:00:04looked like a slip or a push.
01:00:07Give us your thoughts
01:00:08on a night like this.
01:00:09It was a little bit more
01:00:10dramatic and exciting
01:00:12than a lot of people
01:00:13wanted to see.
01:00:15It was a more technical fight.
01:00:17The guy came there to fight.
01:00:18I made a whole lot of mistakes
01:00:20and that's what made it
01:00:21a long night.
01:00:22You know, my coach,
01:00:23Al Mitchell, he told me
01:00:24to work to the body
01:00:25and throw my right uppercut,
01:00:26but I didn't do that.
01:00:28But it seemed like
01:00:29he wasn't there.
01:00:30So, you know,
01:00:31I just was worried about,
01:00:33you know, scoring.
01:00:35Al, one of the things
01:00:37I thought you might have learned
01:00:38from this fight
01:00:39is to keep him away
01:00:40from tall left-handers
01:00:41for as long as you can.
01:00:43Larry, I told you
01:00:44this fighter go 8, 9,
01:00:45for 10th or 12th round.
01:00:46He's a very good boxer
01:00:47and he's deceiving.
01:00:48He don't box like the wind.
01:00:51He box on your mistakes
01:00:53and he's tall
01:00:54and he's awkward.
01:00:55And that's why you ain't
01:00:56gonna see too many people box him.
01:00:57They all go duck him.
01:00:58I want Dave to learn this game
01:01:00and it's the only way
01:01:01to learn it is take one step
01:01:02at a time.
01:01:03You made the comment
01:01:04before the fight
01:01:05that the talent is there
01:01:06to be a champion,
01:01:07but the mental outlook,
01:01:08the mental toughness
01:01:09has to catch up to the talent.
01:01:11Did it catch up tonight?
01:01:13Is this the kind of experience
01:01:14that helps you catch up?
01:01:16It only can help him.
01:01:17He went 12 rounds, hey,
01:01:18and I feel good about that,
01:01:20but he made a lot
01:01:21of mental mistakes
01:01:22and he wanted to get
01:01:23in his own mode
01:01:24and do what he wanted.
01:01:25But he got to understand
01:01:26this is a team.
01:01:27We all have to work together
01:01:28and he have to listen.
01:01:29But at the end of the day,
01:01:30you convinced all the judges
01:01:31that you were right,
01:01:32that your right hand
01:01:33is what got you
01:01:34out of the trouble
01:01:35and your right hand
01:01:36is what did it for you.
01:01:37Well, he's a Southpaw,
01:01:38so what you're supposed
01:01:39to use, the right hand,
01:01:40left hook,
01:01:41and I used my jab
01:01:42a little bit.
01:01:43You know, I just did enough
01:01:44to score, to win a bout.
01:01:46Where does this put him,
01:01:47Al, as far as his path
01:01:49toward a shot at a title?
01:01:51Well, we got two
01:01:52or three more fights.
01:01:53We got to work
01:01:54on a couple things.
01:01:55This bout, nobody liked
01:01:56the bout, Southpaw.
01:01:57Why?
01:01:58Because they make you look lousy.
01:01:59I thought it was a good fight,
01:02:00but it was a technical fight
01:02:01and the Southpaw style
01:02:02do make you look awful.
01:02:03Did you want him
01:02:04to look lousy?
01:02:05No, I didn't.
01:02:06I thought he did a good job.
01:02:07He got the job done
01:02:08and anybody will tell you,
01:02:09boxing a Southpaw,
01:02:10especially a tall Southpaw,
01:02:11will make you look
01:02:12like he's slow.
01:02:13Thanks a lot, Al.
01:02:14Anytime.
01:02:15Thank you, David.
01:02:16We'll be seeing you again.
01:02:17So, we've been following
01:02:19the progress of David Reed
01:02:22since he turned professional.
01:02:24This is another turn
01:02:26as he turns professional
01:02:29and turns toward becoming
01:02:31a championship contender.
01:02:34Whether he's a champion
01:02:35still has to be determined
01:02:37by some tougher fighters,
01:02:39if not as tough to fight
01:02:42as the fighter he was in with
01:02:44tonight. Jim?
01:02:46All right. Thank you very much, Larry.
01:02:48And some fascinating scoring
01:02:49in the last two rounds.
01:02:50You heard the scores,
01:02:51all of them relatively one-sided
01:02:53in David Reed's favor.
01:02:54James Coker, you'll recall,
01:02:56was credited with official knockdowns
01:02:57in both the eleventh
01:02:59and twelfth rounds.
01:03:00One judge gave the twelfth round
01:03:03to Reed, ten-nine,
01:03:04ignoring the knockdown.
01:03:05Another judge scored the twelfth round
01:03:07even, ten-ten,
01:03:08and that knockdown was the one we saw
01:03:10as a legitimate knockdown.
01:03:12And a third judge, Paul Venti,
01:03:13gave the twelfth round to Coker,
01:03:15but only by a ten-nine,
01:03:16not a ten-eight margin.
01:03:18In fact, his two knockdowns
01:03:20in the last two rounds
01:03:21gained Coker not a single ten-eight edge
01:03:24on any of the three scorecards.
01:03:26Very interesting.
01:03:27Roy Jones, the question is,
01:03:28is David Reed off that performance
01:03:30ready to go to the
01:03:31championship level?
01:03:32I think he's ready to go to that level.
01:03:34Which champion he chooses
01:03:35is gonna also have a lot to do with it.
01:03:37Keith Mullings, who came up with me,
01:03:39who's been sparring me for a long time,
01:03:41would not be a good option,
01:03:42I think, yet,
01:03:43because he still wants to learn
01:03:44a few more things.
01:03:45Keith is a little bit more well-schooled
01:03:46at dealing with a fighter
01:03:47that fights that same style,
01:03:49similar style,
01:03:50to what David Reed fights.
01:03:51There are other champions out there
01:03:52that I think he would definitely beat.
01:03:54Well, Youri Boy Campos
01:03:55is a 154-pound champion.
01:03:57He's already taking a fight
01:03:58against Vargas.
01:03:59Keith Mullings, as you say,
01:04:00that's a tough assignment.
01:04:01Laurent Budiwani,
01:04:02who is the third 154-pound titleist,
01:04:04is promoted by Don King.
01:04:06Sometime it's hard to get at King's fighters,
01:04:08so it's hard to know exactly
01:04:09what Reed's title options are going to be
01:04:11in the near future,
01:04:12but rest assured,
01:04:13we'll continue to follow it
01:04:14right here on HBO.
01:04:15Thank you, Roy.
01:04:16And we'll have more unboxing
01:04:17in just a moment.
01:04:18Right now, look ahead
01:04:19to some upcoming programs on HBO.
01:04:23Next Saturday on HBO...
01:04:26Jennifer Love Hewitt
01:04:27and Sarah Michelle Gellar
01:04:28spend their summer vacation
01:04:29on a guilt trip
01:04:30with a killer on their trail.
01:04:32What are you waiting for, huh?
01:04:34Then, the reigning prince
01:04:36of the World featherweight division
01:04:37defends his crown
01:04:38against the number one contender,
01:04:40Wayne McCullough.
01:04:41Next Saturday on HBO.
01:04:43It's the premiere of
01:04:44I Know What You Did Last Summer at 8,
01:04:46followed by world championship boxing
01:04:48at 9.45.
01:04:50Next Saturday on HBO.
01:04:54Tonight, I'll massacre.
01:04:56This is a heinous crime
01:04:57that requires swift resolution.
01:04:59In the City of Angels...
01:05:01Six victims.
01:05:02One of them, one of our own.
01:05:03Freeze! Police!
01:05:04I want confessions, Edmund.
01:05:06How I'll break them, sir.
01:05:07Everyone's got a story.
01:05:08You talk only to me on this one.
01:05:10There's something wrong
01:05:11with the night owl.
01:05:12I just can't prove it.
01:05:13I didn't kill nobody!
01:05:14And no one goes by the book.
01:05:16We need evidence.
01:05:17I'll get the evidence.
01:05:18How about some payback?
01:05:19The big time.
01:05:20You haven't improved?
01:05:21The proof had his throat slit.
01:05:22Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe,
01:05:24Guy Pearce,
01:05:25James Cromwell,
01:05:26Academy Award winner
01:05:27Kim Basinger,
01:05:28and Danny DeVito.
01:05:30I just want to solve this thing,
01:05:32even if it means paying the consequences.
01:05:34L.A. Confidential,
01:05:35premieres Saturday, November 7th
01:05:37on HBO.
01:05:39And coming December 8th,
01:05:40HBO Sports presents
01:05:41Sugar Ray Robinson,
01:05:42the bright lights and dark shadows
01:05:43of a champion,
01:05:44a documentary which traces
01:05:45the triumphs and tragedies
01:05:46of the boxer most experts call
01:05:48the greatest pound-for-pound
01:05:49of all time.
01:05:50Don't miss it.
01:05:51Only on HBO.
01:05:52Every Thursday,
01:05:53don't miss
01:05:54Inside the NFL.
01:05:55Len Dawson, Nick Bonacotti,
01:05:56Chris Collinsworth,
01:05:57and Jerry Glanville
01:05:58take the week's first look
01:05:59at the upcoming NFL games.
01:06:01Earlier this evening,
01:06:02here in the Taj Mahal Hotel
01:06:04in Atlantic City,
01:06:05John Brown has been looking
01:06:06for a long time for a big win.
01:06:08Atlantic City native
01:06:09pounded out Gabriel Ruelas
01:06:11in what may have been
01:06:12Ruelas' swan song,
01:06:14Gabriel absorbing the fifth loss
01:06:16of his career
01:06:17and the brutal beating
01:06:18from Brown before it was finally
01:06:20stopped as a TKO
01:06:22in the ninth round for Brown.
01:06:24And then David Reed
01:06:25got a unanimous decision win
01:06:27over tough Texan southpaw
01:06:29James Coker.
01:06:30Coker fighting conservatively,
01:06:32throwing one punch at a time,
01:06:33made it difficult for Reed
01:06:35to attack,
01:06:36but Reed overcame
01:06:37a cut from an accidental headbutt
01:06:39and two scored knockdowns
01:06:41against him
01:06:42to overwhelm Coker
01:06:43with aggression
01:06:44and win the fight.
01:06:45Coming up immediately
01:06:46following our show,
01:06:47stay tuned for Executive Target.
01:06:49And now for the entire
01:06:50boxing app,
01:06:51the dark crew.
01:06:52I'm Jim Lampley,
01:06:53the beast of the East
01:06:54saying so long
01:06:55from Atlantic City,
01:06:56New Jersey.
01:06:58The executive producer
01:06:59of HBO Sports
01:07:00is Ross Greenberg.
01:07:01Tonight's boxing app,
01:07:02The Dark Show,
01:07:03was produced by David Harmon
01:07:04and directed by Mark Peet.
01:07:06The associate producers
01:07:07were Steve Cohen,
01:07:08Betsy Aronan,
01:07:09and Thomas Odelfeld.
01:07:10Assistants to the producer,
01:07:11Matt Poland and
01:07:12Brodney Burford.
01:07:13The production manager
01:07:14was John McAuley.
01:07:15The technical supervisor,
01:07:16Bob Hunter,
01:07:17and the technical director
01:07:19was Doug Getz.
01:07:49This has been a presentation
01:08:04of HBO Sports,
01:08:05the network of champions.
01:08:14Focused, fearless,
01:08:15and ready to dominate.
01:08:17Cool.
01:08:18Roy Jones Jr.
01:08:19is on a power trip
01:08:20committed to supremacy
01:08:21over one of the toughest
01:08:22middleweights in the world.
01:08:23Otis Grant,
01:08:24World Championship Boxing,
01:08:25Jones vs. Grant.
01:08:27Live, Saturday, November 14th.
01:08:29The best fighters in the world
01:08:30fight here,
01:08:31right here,
01:08:32on HBO.
01:08:33Next, on HBO.
01:08:36Ace stunt car driver,
01:08:37Michael Madsen,
01:08:38has sprung from jail
01:08:39to help kidnap the president,
01:08:41but he's got other plans.
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