-konke izithombe ngezilokotho Mikey Williams / Top Rank-
Cranston, RI (November 25, 2015) – After his impressive second-round stoppage of Sergio “Cuatito” Lopez (19-10-1, 13 Kos) ngoLwesihlanu olwedlule ebusuku The yedorobheni Las Vegas, Ezingakanqotshwa blue-chip featherweight ithemba Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (17-0, 11 Kos) uye iziqu ngokusemthethweni kusukela ayisishiyagalombili kuya eziyishumi nxazonke fighter.
“”Ukusebenza My kwakukuhle,” 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 lbs. isisindo inkontileka kodwa Lopez kuhlaziywe 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, phansi kodwa mina wamfaka emzuliswaneni wesibili nge hook ilungelo, futhi out wamthatha. (Lopez kwaba awakwazi ukuphendula lo insimbi for the nxazonke wesithathu.)
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| (L-R) Toka Kahn-Clary futhi umahluleli Jay Nady |
“Ngingumfana nakanjani isilungele 10-rounders. (Head trainer) Peter (Manfredo, Sr.) ubelokhu me enza umsebenzi omningi conditioning. Thina sparred a lot of emahlandla for nesishiyagalombili round ukulwa, so I’ve been ready for 10-round fights. I won’t be fighting again until next year, kodwa Ngizobuya in the gym uMsombuluko ozayo.”
A ahlobisa amateur American owayenonembeza 131-11 irekhodi, esiqokonyiswa ukusebenza ngegolide-ngendondo at the 2010 Gloves National Golden Tournament, Kahn-Clary awadlulisela a shot ukwenza 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, turning pro eminyakeni emithathu edlule.
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| (L-R) – Head trainer Peter Manfredo, Sr. & Toka Kahn-Clary |
“Ngicabanga Toka wenza isitatimende big kanjalo Top Rank (Umgqugquzeli Kahn-Clary sika),” 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, mhlawumbe January noma ngo-February, and then we can talk about him fighting a top guy. There’s no rush; yena kuphela 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, ushaya up ejimini, three or four fighters a session. And most of the time he’s sparring bigger guys and using big gloves.”
Wazalelwa e Liberia, the 23-year-old Kahn-Clary is a rising star with lofty expectations. “Ngifuna ukuncintisana ezingeni phezulu,” he explained. “Ngonyaka ozayo, I will keep working hard and hopefully fight some decent named opponents. I’m not ready for the top guys in my division, hhayi okwamanje, kodwa ngizoba khona omunye ngomnyaka.”
Landela Kahn-Clary on Twitter and InstagramTokaKahnClary, noma umngane kuye on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/tokakahn.