By Hector Echevarria
Hammerin’ Hank Lundy will be returning home to Atlantic City, NJ, next Friday on ESPN against Raymundo Beltran. The Philadelphia fighter is looking to get one step closer to getting a world title shot against the winner of the Sep.8 bout, involving John Molina and Antonio Demarco
This is sort of a homecoming for the South Philadelphia native. Lundy is coming off maybe the best win of his career against Dannie Williams on the same network several months earlier, getting off the canvas to score a unanimous decision victory. Now moving forward, Lundy has been very upset that he’s not getting the big fights he wants and has been displaying his anger on social media sites and also blog talk radio.
He’s been getting into a war of words with several fighters, none bigger then Junior Lightweight star Adrien Broner; who said he would be open to making a fight with Lundy if he stays off the canvas. Hammerin’ Hank replied to that statement with one his own, saying he was going to leave blood in Broner’s mouth.
Hank appeared on ThaBoxingVoice Radio show a few months back, and talked about his frustration prior to the Williams fight. He talked about his struggles to get Demarco in the ring and also getting a rematch with Molina, a fight he was winning after 9 rounds until he got caught with a shot that sent him to the canvas. Till this day, it’s the only blemish on Lundy’s record.
Next Friday, Hank takes on 27-6 Raymundo Beltran, who’s coming off a loss to blue chip prospect Luis Ramos Jr at the top of the year. This is supposed to be a stay busy fight for Lundy but you wouldn’t tell it by Lundy’s demeanor. I reached out to him via of twitter and he told me he was focus, training hard, and ready for his upcoming bout, which is great to hear.
At this point, Hank has to stay active and not let the politics of boxing affect him. He knows all he can do is win and let things play out. It’s hard for fighters like Lundy who are looked at as high risk low reward, with no big promotional backing him, and a lack of a solid fan base. So he has to rely on eliminators and hardcore fan support.
So with every win, Lundy inches closer to his childhood dream of a world title shot and victory. With his peers Danny Garcia and Mike Jones getting there number called, Lundy doesn’t want to be left out in the cold. Next Friday, the most frustrated boxer is set to let his anger out on Beltran and let the world know why he’s so mad.
