Last Saturday night; live at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, our team was on hand to cover the HBO Boxing After Dark card. While there, we ran into famed trainer, and former light welterweight champion, James “Buddy” McGirt. McGirt was there for his fighter on the card Isaac Chilemba, who won a light heavyweight unanimous decision over Rayco Saunders. The bout was originally scheduled to be televised but was knocked down to the off-TV undercard. McGirt seemed undisturbed by this “It just gave us some time to get into a groove and get used to working together.” Proving that every fight is an opportunity to learn something.
McGirt, as many hardcore boxing fans know, is a true veteran of the scene. Once a champion of the light welterweight division himself, he now trains champions. His stable of past and present fighters includes Antonio Tarver, Arturo Gatti (whom he famously brought back to life after losses to Ivan Robinson and Angel Manfredy.), Matthew Macklin, Paulie Malignaggi, and Tomasz Adamek. Although he seems to be just a stop along the way on the journey of many fighters’ careers, there’s no denying he is good at what he does.
Speaking of the present, McGirt spoke of Chilemba’s performance on Friday night. He admits that amidst fan speculation that Chilemba could have made easy work of Saunders, he knew the fight was going to be tough. Having worked with Rayco Saunders in training camps with the likes of Antonio Tarver and Buddy McGirt Jr., it is safe to say the team of McGirt-Chilemba knew what was in store. “Isaacs speed gave him trouble, he keeps his defense tight so you have to come up the middle with the uppercut”, said McGirt of what looked to be a possible signature punch in the making. As for the performance, although untelevised, wasn’t enough to get fans on the Chilemba bandwagon McGirt proudly says that his fighter, “Will be champion of the world.”
And back to the past. Matthew Macklin trained by McGirt, coming off of a KO win that “Matthew needed” two weeks ago on the Chavez-Martinez undercard; Buddy says that the pair is only getting better with time. “I’m learning that Matthew listens really well,” says McGirt. Admitting that they needed time to get into a groove of working together, in their first fight together being Macklin’s loss to Sergio Martinez in March of this year. Buddy thinks that if there were a rematch the fight would be just as exciting, but Macklin would come out on top. Hinting that he knows the keys, pointing in the direction of doing exactly the opposite of Julio Caesar Chavez Jr., but wouldn’t give any specifics.
Well, some secrets are meant to be kept.
