Kirk Johnson vs Al Cole II - HBO BAD 3-20-99

  • 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00The following is a special presentation of HBO Sports,
00:03the network of champions.
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01:10Tonight, live from the Emerald Queen Casino
01:13on the Puyallup Indian Reservation
01:15just outside Tacoma, Washington,
01:17a heavyweight doubleheader on Boxing After Dark.
01:20Beginning with a rematch between Kirk Johnson and Al Cole.
01:24An exciting battle against each other in December.
01:26And then a matchup of two undefeated,
01:29ultra-talented heavyweight fighters,
01:31Aiki Bayabuchi and Chris Byrd.
01:34It's been a long week.
01:36We are a long way from Madison Square Garden.
01:39And tonight we have boxing action
01:41with four tough, hard-hitting heavyweights
01:44and an undercurrent of comic relief
01:47in a really enthusiastic house
01:49with a handful of tough, hard-hitting round-guard girls.
01:53Let us know the number of the upcoming stanza in each fight.
01:57Welcome back, everybody,
01:59to another night of heavyweight boxing.
02:01Hello again. I'm Jim Lampley.
02:03We bring you back here with some trepidation,
02:05but with excitement about the prospect
02:07of real competition tonight
02:09and fair outcomes at the end of the bout.
02:11Three of the fighters on tonight's card,
02:14Byrd, Aiki Bayabuchi, and Kirk Johnson,
02:17combined to have had 72 fights
02:19and a collective record of 71 wins,
02:22all three of them, for reasons perhaps unknown now,
02:25aspire to someday fight
02:27for the heavyweight championship of the world.
02:29Forgive them. They're young.
02:31They don't know any better.
02:32Working with me, another victim
02:34still hung up on the boxing beat,
02:36HBO analyst Larry Merchant.
02:38Larry, you've been touting the young guns
02:40in the heavyweight division.
02:41Where do these guys fit into the mix?
02:43I'm glad you asked, Jim,
02:44because I've prepared a top-ten list of my own
02:47because, one, we need somebody's impartial list
02:51around here someplace,
02:52and, secondly, because we just want to take a look
02:55at the scene after last week
02:57from the impartial view of boxing magazines
03:00as well as personal observation.
03:02Lennox Lewis, number one by acclamation,
03:05the two best young fighters in the world
03:07in Grant and Tua, who are serious threats.
03:10Evander Holyfield, off of last week,
03:12would have a hard time beating any of these young fighters,
03:15including Aiki Bayabuchi, who is fifth
03:18and who once beat Tua but was inactive for a year.
03:21Right behind them, Chris Byrd,
03:23who is in a position to unseat Bayabuchi tonight.
03:26Rachman Kirk Johnson, the veteran Larry Donald,
03:30deserves a look, and Mike Tyson,
03:32who can surely beat any of the fighters
03:35behind these top ten.
03:37There's a dual purpose in putting this out there.
03:40One is to expose the fraudulent, mandatory challenges
03:44we're about to be confronted with
03:47in Akinwande and Ruiz.
03:49But secondly, to declare that attention must be paid
03:53to the young heavyweights at last.
03:56We've been hung up on the marquee names for a decade.
03:59Some of these guys, I believe,
04:01could beat the best of the old champions.
04:04You're saying Grant, Bayabuchi, Tua, or Byrd
04:06might beat Lennox Lewis?
04:08Yes, I do. Maybe Grant has the best chance.
04:11I believe Tua has his shot, certainly against Holyfield.
04:14All right, let's turn to our other broadcaster tonight,
04:17the best fighter in the world,
04:19world light heavyweight champion,
04:21and a hero of last week's pay-per-view broadcast,
04:23Roy Jones Jr.
04:25Roy, you know Al Ice Cold pretty well.
04:27He got lucky last December when Kirk Johnson engaged him
04:30in a brawl in New York, and Johnson says
04:32this time around it won't be a brawl.
04:34It'll be a boxing match.
04:36Cold says it'll be another brawl. Who's right?
04:38Well, it's hard to tell who's right.
04:40The winner of the fight tonight will be who's right.
04:42Cold needs a war because that's Cold's fight.
04:44That's the only thing Cold has ever done in his entire career,
04:47was be a warrior, so he would want a war.
04:49Kirk Johnson, on the other hand, has to prove
04:51that he can stay out of a war and box when it's time to box.
04:54That's how we tell when a guy is ready or not
04:56to make that next step.
04:58All right, and the two fighters are already in the ring,
05:00so quickly let's take a close look.
05:02There's young Kirk Johnson from Nova Scotia,
05:04and Larry, a closer look.
05:06He's a former Canadian Olympian.
05:08He had two top trainers before this in Cokes and Benton,
05:11but he is now with Teddy Atlas,
05:13who flew overnight from Philadelphia to be here tonight
05:16after having been with Johnson earlier in the week here.
05:19Johnson got a draw in the fight in the Roseland in New York
05:22on December 8.
05:24It was a tough draw for him because in round 1,
05:27he was charged with having been knocked down
05:29on what appeared there to be a slip,
05:3110-8 round for Cold on one of the scorecards.
05:34Then Johnson retaliated with a series of low blows,
05:37and he lost a point from referee Wayne Kelly
05:39for that low blow in round 5,
05:41another one for that low blow in round 7,
05:44and then a third low blow in round 10.
05:46So altogether, three-point deductions for low blows
05:48plus the disputed knockdown all contributed to the draw.
05:52But give Cold credit.
05:54He took what was given to him,
05:56and here's a closer look at Al Cole.
06:00Cole is a former cruiserweight champion.
06:02Did they call him King Cole?
06:04He's a very tough heavyweight, never been knocked down.
06:08He can bring it.
06:12So there's a look at the two fighters.
06:14Cole, a former cruiserweight champion,
06:16has now grown to become a 230-pound heavyweight
06:19at 6'4 and 230.
06:21He actually holds the size advantage
06:23over young Johnson, as you'll see on the tail of the tape.
06:26Cole is already now 34 years old,
06:29Johnson at 26 and with a 1-inch reach advantage.
06:32Punch that numbers, Larry.
06:34This will give you a picture of the last fight.
06:37Johnson more active, both landing
06:39approximately the same amount of punches,
06:41but remember, Johnson had points deducted.
06:43That will allow for the discrepancy
06:46in the total punches landed.
06:48Jabs, you can see how Cole lured Johnson
06:51into a battle that Johnson doesn't really want.
06:54He landed only an average of four jabs a round.
06:57Not good for a boxer-puncher.
06:59Rules of the bout with the unofficial ringside scorer,
07:01Harold Letterman.
07:03The Kirk Johnson-Allies Cole fight
07:05is scheduled for ten rounds
07:07using the state of Washington
07:09Department of Licensing rules, non-title.
07:11The standing eight count is in effect.
07:13The three knockdown rule is in effect.
07:15The doctor auto referee can stop the fight
07:17and he can be saved by the bell
07:19in the tenth and final round only.
07:21And now let's go ring announcer Michael Buffer
07:23for the official introductions.
07:25Ladies and gentlemen,
07:27from the Emerald Queen Casino,
07:30right here in Tacoma, Washington,
07:32Cedric Kushner Promotions,
07:34along with your undisputed,
07:36undefeated king of beers, Budweiser.
07:38This Bud's for you.
07:40Present heavyweight, world-class boxing
07:43for your entertainment.
07:45All the bouts are sanctioned
07:47by the Washington State Department of Licensing.
07:49This first bout is presented in association
07:52with Power Punch Promotions.
07:54The three judges at ringside
07:56scoring the bout on a ten-point must system
07:59will be Allen Krebs,
08:01Tom McDonough, and Tim Wood.
08:04And when the bell rings,
08:05your referee in charge of the action,
08:07Paul Field.
08:09And now, ladies and gentlemen,
08:11the rematch.
08:13Ten rounds of boxing
08:15in the heavyweight division.
08:20Introducing first,
08:21fighting out of the blue corner,
08:23wearing black trimmed with green and gold
08:26and weighing in at 230 and one quarter pounds.
08:30He has an excellent professional record
08:32consisting of 30 victories,
08:3415 by knockout,
08:36with three losses and one draw.
08:38From Spring Valley, New York,
08:40ladies and gentlemen,
08:42here is the former Cruiserweight
08:44champion of the world,
08:46Alfred Ice Cold.
08:54And his opponent across the ring,
08:56fighting out of the red corner,
08:58wearing black trimmed with gold,
09:00he weighs 226 and one half pounds.
09:03His professional record,
09:05an outstanding 26 victories without a loss,
09:0819 of those by knockout with one draw.
09:12That draw with his opponent tonight,
09:15ladies and gentlemen,
09:16from North Preston, Nova Scotia,
09:19presenting the number four
09:21ranked heavyweight in the world,
09:24the undefeated,
09:26Curt Johnson.
09:34Gentlemen.
09:36Gentlemen. Johnson.
09:42Gentlemen.
09:44You got your instructions in the dressing room.
09:47Let's have a good, clean, professional bout.
09:50Let's go.
09:53A couple of thousand folks
09:55crammed into a tent.
09:57Every bit as colorful a scene
09:59as we saw in Madison Square Garden
10:01last night.
10:03Last week, just as enthusiastic
10:05as this fight last week.
10:07All hoping that the judges
10:09will come to the same fight
10:11that they had.
10:14Ha ha.
10:19And round one begins.
10:23Curt Johnson has gotten rave reviews
10:26from a number of the people
10:27who have seen him and worked with him
10:29in the division.
10:30He's brought himself along relatively slowly.
10:32Teddy Atlas, of course,
10:34trained Michael Moore to a heavyweight championship,
10:37so everyone here is wondering,
10:39what will the marriage produce?
10:41This is step one.
10:42Johnson steps in, firing a left hook
10:44to the body that backs Cole up.
10:46And Cole is starting out like he wants to box.
10:48He's not starting out with that brawl already.
10:50He's taking his time.
10:51He's not rushing into anything.
10:56In their ten-round battle
10:58at Roseland in New York,
11:00both fighters were in trouble
11:02on a couple of occasions during the bout.
11:04Curt Johnson hit Cole
11:06with a big right hand in round one.
11:08Cole caught Johnson with a big right hand
11:10in round ten,
11:11and many thought Johnson
11:12was lucky to finish the fight.
11:22Straight right hand by Johnson.
11:26And immediately Johnson slips,
11:28and this time it isn't called a knockdown.
11:30Lucky for him.
11:32It looks, Roy, like he has new shoes on,
11:35and they look a little slippery to me.
11:37Yeah, and that butt wire's
11:38a sign in the center of the ring sometimes
11:40makes it slippery.
11:44Especially if it gets wet at all.
11:49There were moments in the fight in New York
11:51when Johnson looked right at home brawling,
11:54but he said to us yesterday,
11:56I don't like to get hit.
11:57When I look back at the tape of that fight,
11:59I was astonished at the number of times
12:01I got hit hard.
12:02I don't ever want it to happen again.
12:05It sounds sort of strange, though,
12:07because he's out here trying to land
12:09some big punches already,
12:10and when you throw big punches,
12:11you're gonna catch big punches.
12:13Be careful what you don't want,
12:15because you may get it.
12:18Well, Johnson says that
12:20Teddy Atlas is a trainer
12:22who wants him to win the boxing match first
12:25and then let his opponent make mistakes.
12:28Cole lands a big right hand
12:30to the temple of Johnson,
12:32and already they're trading big shots
12:34as they did in New York.
12:36And I do think this will be another brawl.
12:38And that's to Cole's advantage, right?
12:40Yes, it is, because Cole has always been a brawler.
12:44However, it can't come back to hurt him,
12:46because Grant is a big puncher.
12:48Johnson just wobbled Cole
12:50with a giant left hook.
12:53Cole took a hop step to get back into position
12:56after that left hook
12:57smashed into the right side of his face.
13:03Right hand lands for Cole.
13:05Johnson back with a counter left.
13:27One round at a time.
13:28Take a deep breath through your nose,
13:30and out your mouth slowly.
13:31Come on.
13:32How am I doing?
13:33You're doing okay.
13:34Now listen to me very closely.
13:36Stop the bouncing,
13:37walk this guy a little bit,
13:38and just move your head when you have to.
13:40When you find your punch,
13:41you're doing a good job,
13:42but you hit him.
13:43Step to the man,
13:44double and triple your jab,
13:45bend your legs,
13:46and dig to the body.
13:47That's all you got to do.
13:48And turn him.
13:49Keep him.
13:50You weight too much.
13:51Exactly.
13:52Speed first,
13:53especially with the jab.
13:54And don't go one jab.
13:55Double and triple your jab up.
13:57And bend your legs
13:58and dig to the body.
14:00That would have been
14:01the end of the fight
14:02for a lot of heavyweights,
14:03but Cole has shown an iron jaw
14:06in the past.
14:13And Johnson may feel, Roy,
14:14that he is so much more quick-handed
14:17than Cole,
14:18that he can't stay inside
14:20and outbox and outpunch him
14:22from an inside position.
14:24And the other thing is that
14:25he knows he's been a heavyweight
14:27And the other thing is that
14:28he knows he's been a heavyweight.
14:29You know, Cole came up
14:30from the cruiserweight division,
14:31so Cole is not used to being,
14:33he's not a full-blown heavyweight
14:35like people would expect him to be.
14:36Although Cole was at great pains
14:38to point out to us yesterday,
14:39hey, I'm the bigger man here.
14:41I'll outweigh him.
14:42You can't say I'm not
14:43a heavyweight anymore.
14:44No, I'm not saying
14:45he's not a heavyweight.
14:46He's definitely a heavyweight.
14:47But I'm saying, you know,
14:48he hasn't been carrying that weight
14:50for as many years
14:51as Kurt Johnson has.
14:52And if you're not fighting
14:53at your natural weight,
14:54you're giving something up.
14:55Right.
14:58In round one,
14:59by copy box numbers,
15:00they threw 36 jabs
15:01and landed only four between them.
15:03It was brawling,
15:05not boxing.
15:06Once again,
15:07Johnson caught Cole
15:09coming in with that left hook.
15:11Left hook is the most devastating
15:14punch in boxing
15:15when it's well-delivered
15:16and well-timed.
15:20Great right hand lands for Cole.
15:24Johnson tried to retaliate,
15:26but Al ducked away.
15:28Cole is showing good head movement here.
15:30Very different from when he was a cruiserweight.
15:35Yeah, when he was a cruiserweight,
15:36he would just stand in there
15:37and trade with you.
15:38No head movement at all.
15:57Well, if Teddy Atlas' advice to Johnson
15:59was to win the boxing match first,
16:02you gotta wonder how happy he's gonna be
16:04with these first two rounds.
16:05Not too happy,
16:06because he's not gonna win a boxing match
16:07with one big punch at a time.
16:17Blood spilling from Cole's mouth.
16:27Kurt Johnson seems to be trying to hit so hard
16:29with the right hand
16:30that he's telegraphing it,
16:31and Cole can see it coming.
16:45Boy, there's a feeling
16:46that Johnson is in very low condition
16:48for this fight.
16:49But when you load up
16:50and try to throw so many big shots early,
16:53isn't there a danger
16:54of getting punched out?
16:55Yes, it is,
16:56because you don't train
16:57to throw big shots all day.
16:58You train to throw mediocre,
16:59fast, consistent shots.
17:01So when you throw the big shots,
17:02they take double the work,
17:04especially when you miss.
17:17Now Cole teeing off
17:18with one more big right hand
17:19to punctuate round two.
17:21They picked up
17:22where they left off
17:23in New York last December.
17:25Eddie Atlas leans in
17:26to advise Kurt Johnson
17:27to start boxing.
17:29And you take a look
17:30at Anavon.
17:31All one word.
17:33She says that she's a fitness freak.
17:35Some of those muscles
17:36are trained and built up.
17:38Some of them are store-bought.
17:41She says she's stronger than you.
17:52You don't want to do this, man.
17:53You don't want to do this.
17:54All right?
17:55Don't give me pump no heart.
17:57You got to stick to this, man,
17:58and let your head go.
17:59Double and triple your jabs, son.
18:01All right?
18:02Right hand.
18:03Put the right hand
18:04before it, behind it.
18:05But get your distance.
18:06Bring your legs.
18:07All right?
18:08And don't pull straight out,
18:09because he has long arms.
18:10Don't pull straight out.
18:11Now take a little bit more control.
18:13Step up that concentration.
18:15Hold it down.
18:16Let's go to work.
18:17Let's go to work.
18:18Get that towel.
18:19Get that towel.
18:21Time.
18:24Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
18:26wants Paul to be more aggressive.
18:28Paul has been a little bit tentative
18:31in the last round and a half
18:33because he started catching
18:34some of those quick left hooks
18:36from Johnson.
18:40Now a straight right hand.
18:42That's why I think he wanted
18:43Paul to be more busy,
18:44because he doesn't want him
18:45to sit out there and wait
18:46and catch the big right hand.
18:54Crowd-pleasing fight,
18:56and this is a real boxing crowd.
18:58They sat through the preliminaries.
19:00The place has been a full house
19:02since a couple of hours ago.
19:06Body shots from Johnson,
19:08doubling Cole over in there.
19:15We asked Johnson if he did extra work
19:17to try to prevent low blows,
19:19and he said,
19:20hey, if you're a body puncher,
19:21you've got to just keep letting them glow
19:23and not worry about that.
19:32Welk under the left eye of Cole,
19:35indicating how many of those
19:37rights and lefts he's been catching there.
19:39And Johnson's still relatively
19:41I don't think there's much doubt
19:43that Kirk Johnson is the bigger puncher.
19:45Yeah, he's definitely the bigger puncher
19:47because he's been in the division longer anyway,
19:49so he had to punch all along.
19:51Cole had to bring his punch from cruiserweight
19:53up to the heavyweight division with him,
19:55and he wasn't an exceptional puncher
19:57as a cruiserweight.
19:59But he is very game,
20:01and he throws a lot of punches.
20:03Cole trying to step in
20:05and shorten the range between him and Johnson.
20:07Johnson's stepping back,
20:09trying to observe Teddy Atlas' instruction
20:11to get at range.
20:13Left hook to the body.
20:15Cole comes back with a right hook.
20:17Johnson's got the right hook.
20:19Johnson's got the right hook.
20:21Johnson's got the right hook.
20:23Johnson's got the right hook.
20:25Johnson's got the right hook.
20:27Left hook to the body.
20:29Cole comes back with a right hand up there.
20:31Remember Teddy Atlas saying
20:33don't step back because of his long arms?
20:35He stepped back,
20:37and Cole got him with those long arms.
20:43Johnson seems to be showing a little fatigue already.
20:49Actually, they both seem to be
20:51showing a little fatigue already.
20:53Well, if Cole is showing fatigue,
20:55then Teddy is observing.
21:21Another good round for Johnson.
21:25He finished the round real well.
21:27Kirk Johnson has tassels on his shoes
21:29because he's idols.
21:31Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali
21:33both wore tassels as well.
21:35Now, listen very closely.
21:37I'm going to say it in English.
21:39You can't misunderstand.
21:41I expect you to do it.
21:43I want you to start backing this guy up.
21:45The only time he's effective
21:47is when you pull back or you lay out and punch.
21:49You know why?
21:51He needs room to punch.
21:53Give me a better response.
21:55Start backing him up smart.
21:59There you see that
22:01straight hard right hand
22:03on Cole.
22:05Many a fighter would not survive that.
22:07Then he comes through with an uppercut.
22:09This has really been the best performance
22:11we have seen from
22:13Johnson.
22:15A mature performance.
22:17Balance, both hands.
22:19You heard Teddy Atlas tell him
22:21back Cole up.
22:25Harold, how do you have it through the first three?
22:27Jim, 30-27.
22:29Three rounds to nothing.
22:31Kirk Johnson, no question.
22:33Kirk Johnson's getting on the inside,
22:35keeping the fight in close,
22:37and beating up Al Cole.
22:39Solid right hands like that.
22:41Good uppercuts based on clean punching
22:43Kirk Johnson in each round.
22:47CompuBox numbers through round three
22:49very similar to those for the first fight
22:51in New York, though
22:53the small differences register an
22:55improvement in Johnson's performance,
22:57connecting more and a higher
22:59percentage rate.
23:01Borderline blow
23:03by Johnson, won by
23:05the referee. One thing Johnson is doing
23:07is everything Cole tries to do, he
23:09counters it, and it's making it very hard
23:11for Cole to get anything started.
23:13And that's more of a boxing-type
23:15technique, which is what he wanted to do anyway.
23:19And Cole, not nearly as willing
23:21to initiate the action now as was the
23:23case in the first couple of rounds,
23:25so the power of Johnson's shots
23:27having a chilling effect on Cole's
23:29offense.
23:43Hard right hand again from Johnson
23:45as Cole leans in.
24:07Johnson doing an excellent job
24:09of finding the right timing
24:11and doing an excellent job of finding
24:13the target amid Cole's
24:15attempts at
24:17movement. He's also
24:19doing a good job of keeping Cole at bay.
24:21Cole is not close to him where Cole needs
24:23to be. Cole is right outside of his punching
24:25power so that he can land the hard
24:27shots on Cole. Well, you've got a big ring
24:29here, Roy.
24:31Looks significantly bigger, for instance, than the ring
24:33in which Lennox Lewis fought a band of Holyfield
24:35last week in New York.
24:38A couple of feet at least.
24:40And it gives Johnson more room
24:42to move around and set up
24:44to take advantage of Cole when
24:46Cole comes in. Just saw
24:48Johnson do something very nice.
24:50Threw a left and a right and
24:52moved away by the time Cole retaliated
24:54and he was gone.
24:58Cole right back on him.
25:00That's where Cole needs to be,
25:02right on top of him. That's the only chance he has
25:04of winning this.
25:06All right, let him go.
25:08Let him go, Cole. Come on.
25:22Let's just hope that tonight's
25:24second bout between Batman
25:26Ike Ibeabuchi and
25:28the elusive Chris Bird
25:30produces anything close to the
25:32kind of action we've got in this one so
25:34far between Dirk Johnson
25:36and Al Cole. Ike Ibeabuchi,
25:38nicknamed Mr. President.
25:42I like that. I like that.
25:48Get right back at him.
25:50Close the damn gap, Ice. Don't wait.
25:52That was a good round. And when you get in there,
25:54throw the hook to the body and the head, put the right hand with it.
25:56Put them together. And stay there.
25:58Now, if he's feinting out on you, give him the mouthpiece.
26:00Feint him. Let him move back
26:02in that step behind the jab.
26:04If it takes two jabs, use two jabs.
26:06God damn it, back him up now.
26:16Teddy Atlas
26:18trying to make Dirk
26:20Johnson into a
26:22positive boxer-puncher.
26:24You do see him more aggressive than he was
26:26a couple of years ago. How much
26:28farther can he go in that fashion?
26:32Round 5
26:34of a scheduled 10.
26:36Both bouts tonight
26:38scheduled for 10 rounds.
26:44Here just outside
26:46the city of Tacoma, which has produced
26:48some memorable names in boxing.
26:50Middleweight champ in the 30s,
26:52Freddie Steele. Johnny Bumpus,
26:54junior welterweight champ.
26:56Davey Armstrong, Olympic gold medalist.
26:58Sugar Ray Seals, Olympic gold medalist.
27:00Leo Randolph, Olympic gold medalist.
27:02All from Tacoma. And, of course,
27:04two-time lightweight champ Greg Haugen
27:06from Auburn nearby.
27:10And they are exchanging some big punches
27:12in the center of the ring now.
27:14And Cole with a left hook.
27:16A triple left hook.
27:20Hard right hand by Cole.
27:24Johnson starting to open up and give Cole
27:26his chances now.
27:28Johnson's instructions are making it a Cole's fight.
27:30He told Johnson to back Cole up.
27:32That's what Cole wants
27:34in an inside battle.
27:40So by instructing Johnson to come to Cole,
27:42Teddy is offering a strategy
27:44that gives Cole a chance to do what he wants.
27:46Very beneficial to him as Cole.
27:48But if he comes inside
27:50with his wrong arms,
27:52Cole is not going to be able to beat
27:54Johnson to the punch, I don't believe.
27:56He may have some more of this muscle stuff going on.
27:58No, I'm not saying he's going to
28:00beat him to the punch, but this is what Cole
28:02is most effective at, right there.
28:04That's Cole's fight. That's all I suppose
28:06best chance of winning, to fight him in a brawl.
28:08To trade punches with you.
28:10And even if he doesn't beat you to the punch,
28:12he can counter you a lot more effectively in here.
28:14He throws more punches here.
28:18He feels more comfortable throwing punches here.
28:20So suddenly Cole,
28:22much more comfortable in the bout
28:24in round 5, so far,
28:26his best round.
28:30Oh, big left hook
28:32from Johnson. Cole coming right back
28:34with a right hand.
28:46This is an all-out war.
28:54Cole taking a breather now.
28:58And he took a left and a right
29:00right there.
29:02Good, sharp punching by Johnson.
29:06Johnson came back at the last minute
29:08of the round, but the first two minutes
29:10belonged to Ally Cole.
29:14And he's got the right hand,
29:16and he's got the left hand,
29:18and he's got the right hand,
29:20and he's got the right hand,
29:22and it's all going to belong to Ally Cole.
29:26You've got to make a change.
29:28You've got to make a change here.
29:30You're not going to win the fight that way.
29:32Do you hear me?
29:34Listen. You're not listening.
29:36You're not going to win it that way.
29:38You can't pull straight back.
29:40You're laying this button.
29:42You're not doing nothing.
29:44You've got to use that jab.
29:46You've got to start controlling with the jab.
29:48I need the jab pumping.
29:50That was a good round.
29:52I need a better round.
29:54Cole, he's ready to go.
29:56Cole, let your hands go.
30:02Al Cole calls himself an overachiever.
30:04Here he achieves a beautiful
30:06left to the body and left hook,
30:08and later Johnson comes back
30:10with that right hand.
30:16By CompuBox number,
30:18Al Cole's best round.
30:2020 of 58 punches.
30:22Johnson just 11 of 46.
30:24Both men landed some big shots.
30:42We asked Al Cole
30:44to list his strengths as a boxer,
30:46and he did.
30:48He's got a lot of head zones,
30:50and the first thing on the list
30:52was his chin.
30:54No lie.
30:56Second thing should have been his heart.
30:58He's got it.
31:00That's why I said the inside fight
31:02was best suited for him.
31:04Johnson landed only one jab
31:06in the last round.
31:08Now, on the instruction of Teddy Atlas,
31:10he goes back to work with the jab,
31:12trying to make it something
31:14Can you tell how good a puncher is
31:16when he's punching against
31:18like Cole, who just has
31:20this enormous will
31:22to go with his chin?
31:24Yes, you still can tell how good of a puncher he is,
31:26because if he's a good puncher, it still shows.
31:28Just like when he caught Cole with the hook
31:30in the early part of the fight.
31:32But now I think his punches are losing some of the steam.
31:34He puts a little bit of steam on some of the right hands
31:36now, Dan, but not as often as he was.
31:38He's a good puncher. It's going to show,
31:40be it by cut or however,
31:42it's going to show some kind of way.
31:44Big uppercut by Johnson in there.
31:46Hard right hand by Cole.
31:48Now, that one hurt Johnson.
31:50It was the best punch of the fight for Cole.
31:52Johnson walked right into it.
31:54And there's another one.
31:58And Johnson not moving
32:00as Cole tries to work to the body
32:02to set up another big right hand shot.
32:04And this is where Cole is most effective,
32:06right down the inside.
32:08Shoulder to shoulder.
32:10Well, Johnson is showing me something here
32:12by the way he's coping.
32:14He's got to start punching back, too.
32:30Now Cole having another big round.
32:34Johnson wobbled it up by the right hand.
32:36He's got a good hand,
32:38but he's standing still
32:40and scarcely defending himself for the moment.
32:44Now Kirk gets back up and moves.
32:56If this one goes the distance,
32:58as did their predecessor,
33:00these two guys are going to know each other
33:02as well as Robinson and LaMotta did.
33:06And it's going to be a close one.
33:20It's getting closer.
33:22Six out of ten rounds in the book.
33:24What do you want to be with your life?
33:26Huh?
33:28Yeah, well, you're not acting like it.
33:30There's seven rounds coming up.
33:32You've only got four rounds left to prove it.
33:34You've only got four rounds to prove it.
33:36I'm telling you, you're losing a fight.
33:38You're looking for one punch.
33:40You're doing what he wants you to do.
33:42If he asked you to do something,
33:44that's what he would want.
33:46You're standing at the end of his jab
33:48and you're waiting for him to dictate to you.
33:50You hear me?
33:52You hear me?
33:54Over here on the corner over there.
33:56You've got a corner right there
33:58because you're looking for one shot.
34:00And here's what got Teddy Atlas excited.
34:02That right hand
34:04just grazed the chin.
34:06Served notice for some bigger ones.
34:08A quick right hand
34:10without its full force.
34:12And then that one
34:14with Cole's full leverage.
34:18Round six, another big one for Al Cole.
34:2018-7 edge in power shots.
34:2226 out of 61 punches overall.
34:24Prompting Teddy Atlas
34:26to ask a quintessential
34:28Teddy Atlas in-the-corner question,
34:30what do you want to do with your life?
34:32Harold, what do you want to do with your life?
34:34Jim, I got it.
34:36Four rounds to two.
34:3858-56.
34:40Still Kirk Johnson because of the first four.
34:42But I want to tell you,
34:44it's a completely different fight we're watching now.
34:46Personally, I thought Al Cole
34:48was the last guy with that right hand.
34:50He's definitely hurting Kirk Johnson,
34:52especially in rounds five and six
34:54with right hands, so give Al Cole
34:56the last two rounds with that right.
34:58Well, these seem to be clear,
35:00easy rounds to score.
35:02I have it the same way as Harold does.
35:04Carbon copy of the first fight
35:06in terms of the exchange
35:08of punches. After six rounds
35:10in the first fight, Copybox had
35:12a four-punch difference in connects.
35:14Tonight, only a six-punch difference
35:16after the same six rounds.
35:22Like a couple of fastball
35:24pitches just rocking and firing.
35:28Imagine what that crowd in the garden
35:30would have been like last week if they could have seen
35:32something like this.
35:46So what must Johnson do now
35:48to reverse the momentum of the bout, Roy?
35:50Either he has to land a big punch
35:52or he has to get back to boxing.
35:54Right out of Cole's
35:56nose now.
36:00He's trying to land
36:02one punch, and this is right
36:04into Cole's hand.
36:06Right into his hand.
36:16Trading punches
36:18on the inside.
36:20Al Cole continues
36:22to finish most of the exchanges.
36:24He's going to start, and he's going to finish
36:26most of those exchanges.
36:46This is another reason
36:48I don't agree with changing
36:50trainers to also in the middle of the street.
36:52Al Cole is a good champion doing what he's doing,
36:54so he has confidence at doing what he's doing.
36:56Craig Johnson doesn't have the same confidence
36:58trying to back Cole up as he does
37:00because he's not that type of a fighter.
37:02And, of course, Johnson, as we showed you
37:04before the fight, has previously
37:06been trained by Curtis Cokes,
37:08who's now involved, as one of many,
37:10with Aiki Bayabuchi, and by
37:12George Fenton, whom you'll remember
37:14from his association in the past
37:16with Lou Duva. And Cokes,
37:18Fenton, and Teddy Atlas
37:20are three different guys
37:22with three different styles.
37:24Last Saturday, Evander Holyfield
37:26and Lennox Lewis met in one of the most controversial
37:28fights in heavyweight history,
37:30the Draw Herd Round the World,
37:32on Sunday at 5.30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
37:34We'll take one last look at the 12 rounds
37:36of action which led to this horrendous decision.
37:38Joining Larry and I for further discussion,
37:40Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis,
37:42and the three judges responsible
37:44for the outrageous outcome
37:46of the bout. Incidentally,
37:48on our HBO Boxing website,
37:50as we remind you,
37:52that we've been polling people
37:54on various questions.
37:56One of them, who won the fight?
37:58You can see the responses there.
38:0085% Lewis, 15% Holyfield.
38:02Striking coincidence.
38:04Do you think Holyfield underestimated Lewis?
38:06Again, the margin.
38:0885% yes, 15% no.
38:10No guarantee, incidentally,
38:12that everybody who responded to the polls
38:14actually saw the fight.
38:16And, of course, of those 15%
38:18who say they think Holyfield won it,
38:20if they did see it,
38:22maybe they need eye exams.
38:24Round 8, Al Cole against
38:26Kirk Johnson in a fight
38:28that seems to be getting closer
38:30as Cole gets a little more of his way
38:32through the middle stages.
38:41Johnson now starting
38:43to discipline himself
38:45to use the jab and box.
38:49Four straight, stiff jabs
38:51by Johnson.
38:53He can do this all night long.
38:55You wonder if his 8-year advantage
38:57in age will mean anything
38:59coming down the stretch,
39:01but it is only a 10-round fight.
39:03And, of course,
39:05it's not.
39:07And, of course,
39:09it's not.
39:11And, of course,
39:13it's not.
39:38Woo!
39:40Al Cole
39:42tempts Johnson
39:44into exchanging with him
39:46and lands a couple of little shots inside.
39:52Cole putting his hands on his hips
39:54as if to say,
39:56well, if you want to dance,
39:58I can dance, too.
40:00Trying to humiliate Johnson
40:02into leaving this strategy behind
40:04because it's serving
40:06so well.
40:08And he walked right into a straight right hand.
40:10I think Cole is behaving
40:12a little oddly in this round, Roy.
40:14I do, too.
40:16You think he's tired?
40:18I think he's a little tired.
40:20But, there again,
40:22coming from cruiserweight to heavyweight,
40:24it's a little more difficult for him
40:26to tote this weight and go 10 rounds
40:28than it would have been for him to go at 190.
40:30Nice little uppercut inside
40:32by Johnson with the left hand.
40:35Big round now
40:37for Kirk Johnson
40:39as Cole not able to throw very much
40:41here in round 8.
40:47Cole's face
40:49turning into a
40:51grotesque mask.
40:53Lumps and bumps
40:55and bruises.
40:57Is that a sign of power, Roy,
40:59or is that simply a function
41:01of how many times you get hit?
41:03But it's also a sign of the accumulation
41:05of blows that you've been hit with.
41:09And now the referee, Paul Field,
41:11warns Johnson for
41:13shouldering Cole off.
41:15But it's not a bad idea
41:17to keep Cole out of the zone
41:19where he can fight.
41:21Big round for Johnson.
41:27Sir, you're giving him the fight now.
41:29You're giving him the fight.
41:31You're giving him the fight.
41:33I need these two rounds big.
41:35I need them big.
41:37You gave him the round.
41:41You've got six minutes.
41:43You've got six minutes,
41:45you can become a millionaire.
41:47You do it for your son now.
41:49You've got six minutes.
41:51You've got to fall in.
41:53Punch. Take a step back if you have to.
41:55Don't let him close
41:57and fall in where he can smother you.
41:59When you're inside, you put your hands behind him.
42:01Rotate your shoulders and punch.
42:03You put your hands behind him, don't come back to this corner.
42:05Because that means you don't want to fight.
42:07Do you hear me? That means you don't want to fight.
42:11Here we see Johnson following through
42:13the way a pitcher would throw a fastball
42:15on that right hand.
42:17And that probably affected
42:19Cole throughout that round.
42:23What did Teddy Atlas mean when he said to Kirk Johnson
42:25if you put your hands behind him, don't come back to this corner?
42:27He doesn't want him to get close enough
42:29to be able to put his hands around him.
42:31He wants him to stay outside and box him.
42:33Don't get close and brawl with Cole like Cole wants to do.
42:37If you get close enough to put your hands around him,
42:39that means he's too close.
42:41Good combination by
42:43Kirk Johnson.
42:47Comes from a community
42:49just above Halifax and Nova Scotia
42:51called North Preston.
42:54From a poor upbringing
42:56but strong family.
42:58His father got him into boxing.
43:00Member of the 1992
43:02Canadian Olympic team.
43:04Lost in the second round at the Olympics
43:06but has not lost a fight since.
43:12Seven years of unbeaten professional work.
43:14Marred only by a draw
43:16with the man in front of him,
43:18Al Icegold.
43:24This is more of
43:26Kirk Johnson's fight.
43:28To jab, stay outside and box.
43:30This is what he should have been doing earlier in the fight.
43:32Instead of trying to back Cole up.
43:34Backing Cole up was not the right thing to do.
43:36And there was another big right hand for Johnson
43:38as he finds a groove
43:40in these last two rounds
43:42that suits him perfectly.
43:44Round 8 was a big one.
43:46Round 9 looking just as good.
43:48Cole knocked him out
43:50of the ring.
43:53Not able to mount an offense
43:55from this distance.
44:05Good left hook.
44:07And Johnson not there waiting
44:09for the receipt.
44:11Cole looked up getting ready to throw the right hand
44:13but Kirk was gone.
44:15Right hand lead works as well.
44:17Another big round for Kirk Johnson.
44:22Al Cole is only thrown
44:24by CompuBox numbers
44:26three punches in the round.
44:28You heard Eddie Mustafa
44:30pleading with him between rounds.
44:32That comes from that extra weight carrying.
44:34He's carrying a lot more weight than he ever was used to
44:36carrying as a cruiserweight.
44:38That's the difference when you find a guy
44:40to move up from a lighter weight class
44:42to carrying all of his weight.
44:44Although he's just 230 pounds,
44:46his body's not used to carrying 230 pounds
44:48for 10 rounds.
44:50Meanwhile Johnson
44:52as he succeeds
44:54finds his own energy level rising.
44:58In the last two rounds
45:00Johnson has listened to Teddy Atlas
45:02boxed Al Cole
45:04and succeeded big time.
45:06Three minutes to go
45:08and now logic tells you
45:10Ice Cole needs a knockout.
45:16Last round, three minutes.
45:18Let me ask you a question.
45:20Can you hear what I'm asking you?
45:22When did you become a Mormon?
45:24When did you become a Mormon?
45:26When did you become a Mormon?
45:28When did you become a Mormon?
45:30When did you become a Mormon?
45:32When did you become a Mormon?
45:34When did you become a Mormon?
45:36Are you a Mormon?
45:38Huh? You know what a Mormon is?
45:40They don't want to hurt nobody.
45:42Every time you catch him a goddamn punch
45:44you back out. Right, Timmy?
45:46You hit him. You need this round big.
45:48Now don't be careless.
45:50Go in behind the jab, close the gap.
45:52Everything in your damn head, Ice.
45:54Drink the water, man. Drink the water.
45:56Move in your head.
45:58When you ain't close, Ice,
46:00that's when you dominate.
46:02Don't teach him.
46:04And goddamn it, you pull out.
46:06You need this round.
46:08You hurt him and you pull back.
46:10Go forward. Move your head and go forward.
46:12Listen to me closely.
46:14Go, go, go.
46:16Show them what a man you are.
46:18Show them.
46:20I think James Fullmer was a Mormon
46:22and he was a middleweight champion.
46:24What he wasn't was a Quaker.
46:26And I'm planning to have a conversation
46:28with Teddy later to tell him the difference
46:30between Mormons and Quakers.
46:34So you can see that Harold Letterman agrees
46:36with our conclusion that Ice Cole
46:38would need a knockout now.
46:40Kirk Johnson with 26 out of 49
46:42by CompuBox numbers in round 9.
46:44Come on.
46:58Al Cole is really one tough hombre.
47:00He's the sort of guy with
47:02David Aizon
47:04and some others who should be a gatekeeper
47:06for the heavyweight division.
47:08You gotta beat these kind of guys
47:10to get yourself ranked.
47:14Let's go.
47:30Kirk Johnson, on the other hand,
47:32is a fighter who should be considered
47:34for a high ranking.
47:36Although we should keep in mind
47:38that it wasn't until round 10 last fight
47:40that Cole was able to hurt Kirk Johnson.
47:42Yeah, he caught him with about a minute
47:44to go in round 10 with a wallop
47:46on the right hand.
47:48And you don't rule out the possibility here.
47:58Cole's showing a little more determination
48:00now than was the case in rounds 8 and 9.
48:02There's a cut above the right eye of Kirk Johnson.
48:06And a little cut above the left eye of Al Cole.
48:08Johnson's starting to bleed.
48:10That's okay.
48:12The fat man will have all night to work on it.
48:32Less than a minute to go
48:34in a rousing boxing-after-dark battle
48:36between Al, Ice Cole,
48:38and Kirk Johnson.
48:40Johnson, one of three young heavyweights
48:42on tonight's card here,
48:44hoping to move up in the rankings
48:46and move toward that coveted title shot.
48:50I'll tell you what.
48:52If these two guys fought every day,
48:54I would watch them.
48:58They've given us 20 memorable rounds.
49:00Good body shot by Johnson.
49:02Cole temporarily sags into the ropes.
49:04Yeah, and Cole taking the law
49:06into his own hands by
49:08pounding him back under the belt
49:10because it's the end of the fight
49:12and nothing much can happen from it anyway.
49:14Good left hook by Cole inside.
49:20And they fight on past the bell.
49:24And the crowd is on its feet
49:26in appreciation
49:28as though last week never happened.
49:32Well, it didn't happen here.
49:38Last week it was
49:40like you went to see
49:42Shakespeare in Love
49:44and at the end of the movie
49:46they told you you had seen
49:48Chasing Private Ryan.
49:50Saving Private Ryan.
49:52Saving Private Ryan.
49:54I don't think we'll get that tonight.
49:58Harold, how did you score it?
50:00Well, Jim, I gave Al Cole a tenth round.
50:0297-93.
50:04Seven rounds to three.
50:06Kirk Johnson. Jim, I'll tell you,
50:08Al kept walking in, Kirk kept backing up
50:10and Kirk kept nailing him with right hands
50:12and I think that was the story of the fight.
50:14Too many good clean right hands
50:16mostly to the head by Kirk Johnson.
50:18Certainly won him the fight.
50:20It was a good fight for Johnson.
50:22It worked. Al would walk in, he wouldn't stop a jab
50:24and Kirk would just nail a bigger guy
50:26with a different right hand.
50:28Well, let's take a look at some of those right hands
50:30that Johnson landed throughout the fight.
50:32You're brilliant, of course, Harold,
50:34in pointing out the constancy
50:36with which Johnson landed right hands
50:38like that one in round three.
50:40Like this one in round four.
50:42And notice, of course,
50:44that these are good shots
50:46but Al Cole keeps on coming.
50:48That one in round five.
50:50Here's another right hand shot
50:52in round eight by which time
50:54Al Cole had begun to slow down considerably.
50:56Al Cole not coming back
50:58after that shot.
51:00Same thing in round nine.
51:02Cole at this point losing the will
51:04to keep going back at the man
51:06who was punishing him so badly.
51:12Hey, Michael Buffer has the official decision.
51:14Let's go to him.
51:16Ladies and gentlemen,
51:18we go to the Budweiser scorecards.
51:20Tim Wood scores the bout 97-93.
51:22Tom McDonough scores at 96-94.
51:24And Alan Krebs has it 97-93.
51:26All for the winner by unanimous decision,
51:28still undefeated,
51:30Kirk Johnson.
51:52A rousing victory
51:54for Kirk Johnson.
51:56And the Nova Scotian star
51:58moves forward toward
52:00possible bigger things
52:02in the heavyweight division.
52:04Johnson remains unbeaten
52:06and erases, at least psychologically,
52:08the blemish left over
52:10from his draw with Al Cole
52:12in New York this past December.
52:14Coming up next,
52:16perhaps an equally exciting bout
52:18if Ike Ebenezer
52:20can find Chris Byrd
52:22in the ring.
52:24The elusive, unbeaten Byrd,
52:26the target for Ebenezer's
52:28two-fisted power.
52:30We'll have that one right now.
52:32Let's look ahead to an upcoming
52:34program here on HBO.
52:36Premiering Monday night
52:38at 10 Eastern and Pacific,
52:40the most recent edition of
52:42Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
52:44Among the stories,
52:46a look at one of basketball's
52:48most recent games,
52:50the UCLA-Houston Summit meeting,
52:52regarded by many as the game
52:54most responsible for popularizing
52:56college basketball.
52:58Real Sports, where nothing
53:00is out of bounds.
53:02World Championship Boxing
53:04and Prince Nassim Hamed
53:06return April 10 as the prince
53:08defends his featherweight title
53:10against England's undefeated
53:12Paul Engel.
53:14One week later on April 17,
53:16Bryant Gumbel will be crowned
53:18king of the U.S.
53:20National Basketball Team.