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By DOUG PAPE dpape@leader.net
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Page: 1B
SCRANTON – Adam Richards climbs through the ropes and nods to his father at
ringside. Now he’s ready to fight.
Adam starts slow, and his father, Melvin, a polite southerner, can’t sit
quietly.
“Come on, Adam, get busy. You’re not doing anything,” he yells.
Melvin Richards’ arm shakes with nervousness as he wrestles with a video
camera at a ringside table.
“Left hooks to the body, left hooks to the head,” he shouts.
In the second round, Richards, a super heavyweight, responds with punches
to Timothy Tyson’s nose.
Tyson’s blood splatters on both boxers, and the referee stops the fight.
Richards wins.
“Is that it? Is it over?” Melvin Richards asks.
A victory for Richards, 18, is another step to the Olympics. That’s what
brought him to this week’s USA Boxing Eastern Trials at the Scranton Catholic
Youth Center.
The preliminaries continue today at noon, with semifinals at 7 p.m.; finals
are 7 p.m. Friday. The 12 winners of each weight class advance to the U.S.
Olympic Team Trials from Feb. 9-13 in Tampa, Fla. and a chance to represent
the nation at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Scranton’s Jason Gavern and Marty Flynn were eliminated in the
preliminaries.
Rudy Cisneros of Chicago hopes to make the U.S. team after two previous
losses in qualifying rounds. “In the first two I drew the No. 1 MD112guy and
got eliminated early,” he said.
Cisneros, an 18-year-old college student at Robert Morris in Chicago, wears
a Deion Sanders jersey into the ring.
“That was a gift from an ex-girlfriend back in ’96,” he said. “I’ve been
wearing it ever since and it’s brought me a lot of luck.”
The 156-pounder is a national Junior Olympic and Golden Gloves champion. He
is focused on fighting in the Olympics and will put turning professional on
hold until he earns a college degree.
Richards, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., started with football at 4 years old and
later found himself working with boxing trainer Kerry Pharr.
“I carried him to his trainer at 8 years old,” Melvin Richards said.
Adam Richards, a 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, played offensive tackle for his
high school team last fall. At first glance, he appears better suited for
football, but he is light on his feet.
“He throws a very good left hook and he boxes good for a real big guy,”
Pharr said. “He’s just a high-quality individual with a really good work
ethic.”
Richards, a four-time national champion, won two Junior Olympic titles and
a Junior Olympic World Title. He and Mike Tyson are the only two fighters to
win back-to-back Junior Olympic titles by knocking out every opponent they
faced.
He has fought more than 200 times, losing seven and, in the process, earned
the nickname “Bulldog.”
“A long time ago people said I fight like a bulldog,” Richards said. “I
don’t like to lose and I just keep coming straight forward and try not to give
up.”
But this is Richards’ first time at the Eastern Trials, where he will face
experienced fighters up to age 34.
After he graduates high school this spring, Adam will decide whether to go
to college and continue fighting in the amateurs or turn professional.
Whatever he decides, his dad will approve and sit ringside with his trusty
camera.
“I feel a lot better when my dad’s around,” Richards said. “He inspires
me. When I start to feel a little bit down, he’s there to pick me up.”
Call Pape at 829-7227.
IF YOU GO What: USA Boxing Eastern Trials Where: Scranton Catholic Youth
Center When: Semifinals today, at noon and 7 p.m. Finals, Friday, at 7 p.m.
Cost: Tickets for the semifinals are $7 for general admission and $10 for
reserved; and for the finals the prices are $10 and $20.
Info: Call the CYC at 347-3411