-Alle foto's met vergunning van Mikey Williams / Top Rank-
CRANSTON, RI (November 25, 2015) – After his impressive second-round stoppage of Sergio “Cuatito” Lopez (19-10-1, 13 Uitklophoue) verlede Vrydag aand by die Cosmopolitan van Las Vegas, onoorwonne prima veergewigtitel vooruitsig Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (17-0, 11 Uitklophoue) het amptelik gegradueer van 'n agt tot tien-round vegter.
“”My optrede was goed,” 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 £. gewig kontrak, maar Lopez geweeg 132.2 lbs.), but I didn’t think too much of it. I really wanted to go four or five rounds for some more experience, maar ek het hom in die tweede ronde met 'n reg haak, en het hom uit. (Lopez was nie in staat om die klok vir die derde ronde te beantwoord.)
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| (L-R) Toka Kahn-Clary en skeidsregter Jay Nady |
“Ek is beslis gereed vir 10 veelsydige spelers. (Hoof afrigter) Peter (Manfredo, Sr) altyd my doen 'n baie conditioning werk. Ons sparred baie rondes vir agt-ronde gevegte, so I’ve been ready for 10-round fights. I won’t be fighting again until next year, maar ek sal weer in die gimnasium volgende Maandag.”
A versier Amerikaanse amateur wat 'n het 131-11 rekord, uitgelig deur 'n goue medalje by die prestasie 2010 Nasionale Golden Gloves Toernooi, Kahn-Clary geslaag op 'n skoot na die maak 2016 U.S. Olimpiese boksspan, draai pro drie jaar gelede.
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| (L-R) – Hoof afrigter Peter manfredo, Sr. & Toka Kahn-Clary |
“Ek dink Toka het 'n groot stelling en so het Top Rank (Kahn-Clary se promotor),” 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, miskien in Januarie of Februarie, and then we can talk about him fighting a top guy. There’s no rush; Hy is net 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, Hy klop aan die gimnasium, three or four fighters a session. And most of the time he’s sparring bigger guys and using big gloves.”
Gebore in Liberië, the 23-year-old Kahn-Clary is a rising star with lofty expectations. “Ek wil om te kompeteer op die hoogste vlak,” he explained. “Volgende jaar, I will keep working hard and hopefully fight some decent named opponents. I’m not ready for the top guys in my division, nog nie, maar ek sal daar wees in die ander jaar.”
Volg Kahn-Clary op Twitter en InstagramTokaKahnClary, of vriend hom op Facebook by www.Facebook.com/tokakahn.