 – Pictures courtesy of Mikey Williams –
Providence (Ka 18, 2016)) – Undefeated blue-chip featherweight prospect Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (17-0, 11 Kos) continues to show improvement in each and every fight. Last weekend, the 23-year-old Liberia-native knocked out seasoned veteran Orlando Rizo (19-7) in the fourth round at Sportsman Lodge in Studio City, California.
Kahn-Clary, ho loantša ho tsoa Providence, may still be flying under the radar but he’s getting closer to becoming a breakout star. His most recent fight was his first scheduled 10-rounder.
“I put in a lot of hard roadwork, running seven miles a day, le (his head trainer) Peter, (Manfredo, Katha.) really pushed me,” Kahn-Clary talked about preparing for his last fight. I got some good work from Javier Fortuna, sparring him a few times, and he’s a good southpaw.
“I wasn’t looking for a knockout but it just happened. I stepped left and threw a left. I didn’t load up but it was accurate, hitting him right on his chin. I was happy to get the knockout but I was looking forward to getting in some more rounds.”
“Nothing Toka does really surprises me because I’ve known since the beginning that he’s special,” Manfredo commented. “Toka continues to improve with each fight and he’s hungry to get to the next level. There’s no rush, he doesn’t turn 24 to next year. He’s still maturing. The kid he knocked out was Nicolas Walters’ main sparring partner.
“I just don’t want to put him in with the big names just yet. He’s maturing but he’s not all the way there. He’s improving all of the time, putting his combinations together better each fight. I’ve also noticed that he’s nice and relaxed in the ring now. He’s becoming a good boxer who always had power. Top Rank is doing a great job moving him. Everybody’s happy.”
 A khabisitsoeng American tsenwe ea neng a e 131-11 rekoto, totobatsoa ke sa khauta-khau tshebetso ka 2010 National Golden litlelafo Tournament, Kahn-Clary ba fetela pele ho enta ho etsa hore 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team to turn pro three years ago.
“I’ve been boxing 10 lilemo tse,” Kahn-Clary added. “Knowing what I’ve already accomplished, I also realize that I’m still improving. I’ll be back in the gym Mantaha to get ready for the next call we get about my next fight. (Top Rank’s) Brad Goodman is one of the best matchmakers in boxing. He and everybody at Top Rank are doing a great job positioning me for a big opportunity. That may not happen this year but, hopefully, it will sometime next year. I’m boxing so much better now than I ever did. I used to fight like I was in a fog but, hona joale, my eyes are wide open.”
Not bad for a kid who left his mother and siblings in Liberia when he was six, only to have his father murdered a year after he arrived in the United States. He’s overcome many difficult obstacles in his young life, most of them tougher than any opponents he’ll every fight, including a stretch in which he was homeless. It’s only made him tougher and an even better overall person.
 Latela Kahn-Clary on Twitter le InstagramTokaKahnClary, kapa motswalle mo on Facebook kawww.Facebook.com/tokakahn.
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Tag Archives: Peter Manfredo Sr.
Undefeated prospect Toka Kahn-Clary Returns to ring this Saturday night vs. Gabino Cota in Studio City, California
Cranston, RI(February 8, 2016) – Rising super featherweight star Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary(17-0, 11 Kos) returns to action this Saturday night against Mexican opponent Gabino “Flash” Cota (18-5-1, 16 Kos) at Sportsman Lodge in Studio City, California. A decorated American amateur boxer (131-11 rekoto), his career highlighted by a gold-medal performance at the 2010 National Golden litlelafo Tournament, Kahn-Clary is a native of Liberia who passed on a shot to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, ho retelehela lan tharo tse di fetileng.
Kahn-Clary’s impressive second-round stoppage of Sergio “Cuatito” Lopez (19-10-1, 13 Kos) last November was supposed to lead him graduating to a 10-round fighter. His promoter Top Rank’s show ena Moqebelo, headlined ka Alex Saucedo vs. Clarence Booth, doesn’t have a single 10-round fight, in favor of three 8-rounders including Kahn-Clary vs. Cota.
“That really doesn’t matter to me,” Kahn-Clary said. “I trained to beat this guy, not how many rounds. I’m a lot better fighter than I was a year ago. I’m a lot more relaxed in the ring. I think more as I’m moving in the ring, adjusting a lot better, and my combinations are coming out a lot better.”
A former WBC FECOMBOX and Mexican featherweight champion, Cota is a dangerous opponent who has knocked out 16 ea 18 fighters he’s defeated as a professional.
“Cota may have lost four of his last six but they were all title fights or on television against name opponents,” Kahn-Clary hlooho mokoetlisi Peter Manfredo, Katha. o ile a hlokomela. “He has some pop, throws a zillion punches and just keeps coming forward. This is a good step up for Toka.
“Toka is ready for this fight. He’s had a lot of good sparring. Toka is aggressive, well-conditioned, a good defensive fighter who can crack. There wasn’t a 10-round fight available on this card but we wanted this fight. Toka’s still only 23 so there’s no reason to rush things.”
Cota is battle tested having fought world title challengerJonathan Oquendo, Puerto Rican Olympian Orlando Cruzand Russian champion Zhenya Klimov.
“I like fighting guys that come to me like Cota,” Kahn-Clary remarked. “It makes my job easier. I can setup my punches and fights against guys like this aren’t as much as a chess match. I’ll be landing hard shots and fans like that better than a chess match.”
Latela Kahn-Clary on Twitter le InstagramTokaKahnClary, kapa motswalle mo on Facebook ka www.Facebook.com/tokakahn.
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Krrish tšepo Toka Kahn-Clary abeloang mangolo hore ba 10 ho pota oke
-bohle ditshwantsho mekhoa e metle ea Mikey Williams / Top Rank-
Cranston, RI (November 25, 2015) – After his impressive second-round stoppage of Sergio “Cuatito” Lopez (19-10-1, 13 Kos) ho qetela Labohlano bosiu The Cosmopolitan ea Las Vegas, Krrish blue ladica i featherweight tšepo Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (17-0, 11 Kos) o ka molao a fumana lengolo tse robeli tse leshome ho pota oke.
“”My tshebetso ne e le molemo,” Kahn-Clary looked back on his knockout of Lopez. “I didn’t do anything to make it a difficult fight. I was a little concerned that my opponent came in overweight (128 liponto. konteraka boima ba 'mele empa Lopez boima ba 132.2 liponto.), but I didn’t think too much of it. I really wanted to go four or five rounds for some more experience, empa ke a mo theoha a le bobeli ho pota-pota le le tokelo ea hook they, 'me a nka mo. (Lopez ne a sa khone ho araba tšepe la boraro ho pota.)
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| (L-R) Toka Kahn-Clary le moletsaphala Jay Nady |
“Ke sebele loketse ho 10-rounders. (Head mokoetlisi) Petrose (Manfredo, Sr.) kamehla o 'na ho etsa e ngata conditioning mosebetsi oa. Re sparred e ngata garela tse robeli ho pota ho tlisa lintoa, so I’ve been ready for 10-round fights. I won’t be fighting again until next year, empa ke tla ho khutlela ka tlelaseng ea boikoetliso, latelang Mantaha.”
A khabisitsoeng American tsenwe ea neng a e 131-11 rekoto, totobatsoa ke sa khauta-khau tshebetso ka 2010 National Golden litlelafo Tournament, Kahn-Clary ba fetela pele ho enta ho etsa hore 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, ho retelehela lan tharo tse di fetileng.
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| (L-R) – Head mokoetlisi Peter Manfredo, Katha. & Toka Kahn-Clary |
“Ke nahana hore Toka ile a etsa e khōlō mantsoe ao 'me ba joalo le ka Top boemo bo (Kahn-Clary ea mohlophisi),” Manfredo added. “They’re so high on him that they want to put him in a big fight. I told them to give us a 10-round fight first, mohlomong a January kapa February, and then we can talk about him fighting a top guy. There’s no rush; a 's feela 23.
“Toka’s really maturing. He still doesn’t have ‘man strength’ but he’s getting there. He always works hard. He spars hard with bigger guys. He doesn’t just beat up a sparring partner, a otla ka ba tlelaseng ea boikoetliso,, three or four fighters a session. And most of the time he’s sparring bigger guys and using big gloves.”
A hlaha ka Liberia, the 23-year-old Kahn-Clary is a rising star with lofty expectations. “Ke batla hore a qothisane lehlokoa ka holimo a boemong ba,” he explained. “Selemong se tlang, I will keep working hard and hopefully fight some decent named opponents. I’m not ready for the top guys in my division, ha e so etsahale, empa ke tla ba teng e 'ngoe selemo.”
Latela Kahn-Clary on Twitter le InstagramTokaKahnClary, kapa motswalle mo on Facebook ka www.Facebook.com/tokakahn.
Krrish blue ladica i tšepo Toka Kahn-Clary Liberia habo etsa lebitso la in America
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Ho loantša Sergio Lopez ena Moqebelo ho la Las Vegas
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(bohle litšoantšo Jeny Luna Hernandez-Watson)
Providence (November 16, 2015) — Krrish featherweight tšepo Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (16-0, 10 Kos) ka 'na ba molemo ka ho fetisisa, batlang e le “e sa tsejoeng” prizefighter ka har'a naha, bonyane ka ntle ho New England.
A khabisitsoeng American tsenwe ea neng a e 131-11 rekoto, totobatsoa ke sa khauta-khau tshebetso ka 2010 National Golden litlelafo Tournament, Kahn-Clary o khutlela ho ka tsa bophahamo ba ena Moqebelo bosiu (Nov. 20) ka The Cosmopolitan ea Las Vegas khahlanong le Mexico lireng Sergio “Cuatito” Lopez (19-9-1, 13 Kos) a se lokela ho ba Kahn-Clary oa ho qetela calendar tse robeli ho pota bout pele a abeloang mangolo hore ba 10-rounders.
“O e le boima Mexico oke ke mang ea ka lebokoseng e nyenyane ka ntle,” Kahn-Clary ile a bua ka a hae a latelang lireng, “empa a fihla ea pele, le eena o. O nang le phihlelo le e 'nile ea le e ngata molemo bahanyetsi ba.”
Lopez ke thulana le teko leha e le efe tšepo. His last three fights include a loss to 18-0 Alejandro Luna (KO4) sena se fetileng August, 10-ho pota-pota e petsoha ka atamela le 24-7-1 Joksan Hernandez, le hlollang le bohlano ho pota botekgeniki knockout ea 16-0 Victor Betancourt.
“Lopez ke Gamer,” Kahn-Clary hlooho mokoetlisi Peter Manfredo, Katha. a phaella ka. He’s tough but our plan is for Toka to take him apart and eventually take him out. Toka’s not far away from a really big fight, mohlomong 8-10 dikgwedi tse. We were offered a big fight but, re lokela e mong 10 ho pota ntoa pele, 'me o fumana hore ntoa ba pele selemong se tlang.”
Kahn-Clary, ho loantša ho tsoa Providence, o tla tla a hae ka ho fetisisa hlokomelehang tlhōlo e le professional ho qetela June, eo a neng a kenella ho fihlela ka tlelaseng ho jara 33-11 Jonathan Perez, pele e neng e Colombia bartolomeo bantamweight le World Boxing Lekgotla la (WBC) mampoli. Kahn-Clary stopped Perez in the sixth round of their fight on a card headlined by Timothea Bradley'S ya nakwana lefatše welterweight tlotla hapa Jessie Vargas ka StubHub Center a Carson, California.
The 23 ea lilemo li, ea ileng a tsoaloa Toka Kahn, will never face obstacles in the ring more difficult to overcome than his early life experiences. Now a blue-chip prospect, he was born in Liberia and came to America with his younger sister to join their father when he was only six. He lived in Philadelphia only one year before his father was killed in a shooting. Toka’s arduous journey continued as he and his sister moved to Providence, ba neng ba lula le a likhutsana batsoali ba, hlathe koana le koana, ne ke sa tsotelle se ileng sa etsahala ho bona.
Matshwao ohle o ile a bua Toka ho le mathata ka Providence literateng e le sa le mocha, haholo-holo ka linako tse ling, ha a ne a se nang bolulo. Ka lehlohonolo, leha ho le joalo, motsoalle a mo tlisa Manfredo ea Gym a Pawtuckert, RI. Boxing truly saved his life. Manfredo, USA Boxing New England e le mopresidente Jim Perella le banyalani ba bang ba hore qetellong ile ba amohela mo, Andrea Watson le Ron Clary, ka tsela e hlollang fetoha bophelo ba hae.
Kahn-Clary saennweng le papatso konteraka le Top boemo bo, e leng, hammoho le mookameli Mike Criscio le Manfredo, ba ile Kahn-Clary ka e tsitsitseng, ho ea holimo lebelo. Kahn-Clary, tshohanyetso, tla ho loantša ka lekhetlo la boraro selemong sena, ka mor'a ho tse hlano selemong se fetileng.
 “Top boemo bo a se entseng mosebetsi o motle ho boloka ke tsoarehile,” southpaw Kahn-Clary commented. “I know that it takes time to climb the ladder and I still need to improve a few things. I need to beat a top fighter to get into the world rankings. I’ll be ready when I get that call.“Ke loketse hona joale bakeng sa 10 kapa 12 ho pota-pota ntoa. I’ve done a lot of sparring to help me get ready to step up. I’m excited about fighting 10 le 12 round fights because it’ll be a test for me and I love to be test. The top guys in my division are the (Gary) Russell, (Khathetsengk) Lomachenkole (Tau) Santa Cruz. I have the skills and heart to compete with them.”
Quality sparring a New England ke ka Premium, haholo-holo ho e tse nyenyane tse-boima ba 'mele oke tse kang Kahn-Clary, ea ile ea bohlokoa haholo phihlelo sparring le WBA bartolomeo featherweightJavier Fortuna (29-0-1, 21 Kos), tse tharo ea nako e US Olympian Rau'shee Warren le-'moho le eena New England le motsoalle oa, New Haven’s Luis “KO Morena” Rosa (21-0, 10 Kos).
“Petrose (Manfredo) 'na le Hotéis ke Worcester (MA) le Connecticut ho fumana mosebetsi o molemo,” the gifted boxer-puncher Toka-Kahn explained. “It’s been a great help for me. I’ve gotten a lot of valuable experience in there with fighters like Fortuna and Warren. Ke bone bona bophahamo ba generalship, bona mokhatlo, and I’ve learned from them. They’re smart. I’ve learned from them, even try to copy them. It’s not just about sparring, e leng ho ithuta phihlelo. Haeba u sa ithuta ho sparring, bohle u tla ho be ke sparring molekane.”
Manfredo e bile le ha e le a hlokomela hore hae prise seithuti, Kahn-Clary, will need to go away to training camp for good sparring when he starts fighting 10-rounders. “Ke le metsoalle e molemo le Freddie Roach 'me re tla tsoa ho ea California le ho koetlisa ka Hell Card Gym,” Manfredo concluded. “I’m very happy with the way Toka’s been moved. I have faith in Brad Goodman, ba ke e mong oa molemo ka ho fetisisa, if not the best matchmaker in the world. They’ve moved Toka along at a good pace. They know what they’re doing.”
Ntango wana, Toka Kahn-Clary plans to make his name in boxing next year. Pele, leha ho le joalo, o na le ho fumana nakong e fetileng Lopez ena Moqebelo bosiu hore a lule a botsitso tla.
Latela Kahn-Clary on Twitter le InstagramTokaKahnClary, kapa motswalle mo on Facebook ka www.Facebook.com/tokakahn.
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