by Robert
Earle Stanton
2015
Allen Hoey Award Winner/Author, Selling The Pain
I
dialed Hank Lundy's number after I sent him a few pages of questions and he
said, "Rather do it over the
phone?"
I
hear him answer and I thought he sounded tired. "Hello, Hank, It's
Bob, tired?"
"No,"
he said, "Just got done working out."
It
started out something like that.
"No
one ever gave me nothing. I earned everything I got," said Jr
Welterweight boxing star "Hammerin'" Hank Lundy of Philadelphia, who
has appeared on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, and will be boxing Mauricio Herrera on
July 11th on HBO Latino.
I
told him things he already knew about Herrera - how he beat undefeated Ruslan
Provdkinov, and I remember Hank prior telling me he considered Herrera the real
Jr welterweight Champion, because of the Danny Garica fight.
Lundy
and Herrera (who will be fighting at 140 pounds) have both been at the short
end of the stick. And it seems they both have mutual respect for each other.
Herrera could have been "Fighter Of the year" winning the Jr
Welterweight title from Garcia and defending it successfully against 21-0
Benitez but instead came out with two losses. Lundy beat Beltran,
in most eyes, and easily beat Viktor Postol, and says he beat Dulorme on HBO
but came out with 3 losses - a Majority Decision, a Unanimous Decision, and a
Split Decision.
At
the same time he was on TV fighting Ray Beltran Lundy said he was battling,
"Politics in boxing," and this is was the only part in the
conversation where he wasn't his enthusiastic self. The fight was broadcast on ESPN. "End of the
day, Teddy wasn't there, Zab [Judah] had me winning, Joe [Tessitore] had me
winning. Politics in boxing," he
repeated. "I schooled Beltran and beat him"
Lundy
was also having a different fight outside the ring with an Ex Manager.
"He was shady, he was doing lots of lying, and stealing money. I got a
lawyer and won the case." He brought up the Tyrell Hendrix fight
(undefeated Lundy went to 18-0-1 Hendrix's hometown and beat him up bad on
ESPN. He spoke of this ex Manager, "I caught
him," Lundy said, then "The promoter says, 'I
gave him (manager) the bonus and he said he put it in your account' - end
of story, 'I did not get paid'
Back
to Beltran. "I knew I won that fight, and
he told me that afterwards, says Lundy. Beltran
came to his locker room, says Hank, and said, "I respect you, you're a
warrior like me, you won it." The Ray Beltran fight has been taken off
of Youtube but not the Viktor Postol fight.
Let's
go back prior to 2012. Coming off
the Molina Jr fight, which we'll go back to, Lundy started off beating 21-1
Dannie Williams. Then it was Ray Beltran. Zab Judah commentated and had great stuff to say about Lundy and he
showed off his technical prowess.
His defense, impeccable, and we saw a different side again, a different side than
the Diaz fight. Yet when the verdict was read Lundy came out with a shocking,
upset, Majority Decision Loss.
After
the Beltran fight Hank Lundy was moving up to Jr Welterweight and was scheduled
for the biggest fight of his career vs Lucas Matthysse on Showtime. There
was a trailer for the fight. But then "The Ex Manager" came back
in the picture "serving up papers trying to stop the fight" Lundy
says. "The judge said, 'You're (the manager) trying to stop this guy
from making a living'" -- Lundy won a settlement of $250,000.
Going in the fight and dealing with all that vs Lucas Matthysse, Hank doing his own management now,
still in contract vs Matthysse, Golden Boy got word "if you all
let this happen (Lundy vs Matthysse) I'll sue you all. So they go to court, the paperwork for
this to go through, Golden boy gave fight to [19-2-1] Mike Dollar Jr. Dallas Jr. didn't last a round vs Matthysee.
Lundy
keeps it real. He was at 140 pounds now (he can make both lighweight,
135, and Jr Welterweight, always
in shape. He looks up to Hopkins, in
many ways, as an Philly fighter would. In fact he just got done training before
talking to me to go back to train)
So
I had to ask something that bothered me for a while. "After the Beltran loss why would you go to the Ukraine to fight
undefeated Ukrainian Viktor Postol? The answer was the simple, ugly side of
boxing.
"The
phone wasn't ringing," he
said, "So I took it and beat the guy, It's okay," he
said, after I told him it was odd looking, the audience, in the Ukrained. He cut me off and said "They
were cool," but added, "I'm never going back" and as for after the fight, "I
clearly won, Postol had his head down."
I
told him that I know, "I saw it."
An
article on the settlement
http://www.boxingscene.com/hank-lundy-ces-score-legal-win-over-manager-cohen--79075
We
talked about other things as I asked him to describe the standard, ideological
Philly fighter. The definition is Always
training. Warriors, Philly fighters, the rough streets of philly, Die hard.
Harcore fightin style.
This isn't actually how the phone call started.
I called and I read a bunch of questions inside of other questions I
wrote him and Hank sat there silent as I read him his biopic.
Looking
at your resume'," I said, "you started at Lightweight - no padding on
your record. You turned pro in '06, and by '08 at 11-0 you fought
8-0 Darnell Jiles Jr to a Draw. You then beat 7-0 Esteban Almaraz. The
next year you were 12-0-1 fighting 10-0 Jason Cintron (younger brother of
Kermit) which seemed personal. It made a lot of noise in the area. You
knocked him out in the 5th round.
Hank
said, " Philly fight, me and Cintron, Kathy Duva set it up. I
KO'd him like I said I would. That was the end of him. He don't fight no
more."
I
went back to my sheet and read:
In
2010 you had three big fights, in January, at 16-0-1 you won a SD over 12-1-1
Richar Abril (who holds a lightweight title now)
"Yup," he added.
April
that year is when you beat up on 18-0-1 Tyrese Hendrix. (I don't know if
he remembers I met him prior to that fight at a gym in South Philly. I came out
of the gym and everyone was standing in front of one of the rings. I was told
it was Hank Lundy sparring with an Olympic Alternate. After the sparring,
where Hank looked great, he stood in the ring ranting about how he was Philly's
Best. I loved it. I liked the attitude he exuded. A day or two
later I'm in the locker room and I hear, "Hey" and it's Hank Lundy. He was the most personable
guy. I told him that I was a writer, and he gave his number. I watched him beat Hendrix that night and
called him and left a message "Contrats, Champ. They should have stopped
it, you beat him up pretty bad."
You
gotta understand, There's Hammerin' Hank, and Hank Lundy. And What
separates him from others is that he knows the difference. He's a funny,
intelligent, nice, family man but there's the other side.
"August
2010, same year, 3rd fight, you're 18-0-1 on TV vs a 20-1 John Molina Jr.
It was a 12 round fight, in the 11th round you were up on the scorecards
98-91 twice, and 97-92, even though you went down in the 8th you were winning
easy. The end of the 10th you started to exchange, and continued to in the
11th. You did not have to, but you did," and he cut me off with, "as
I always would." I continued with, "and all of a sudden the
ref comes in and stops the fight? I never understood, what was your take on
that?"
"Molina
Jr? Molina again," he says, as I can
feel his head shaking back and forth - you can feel that this bothers him. "I
schooled him, I did a good job, shut him out, they took the fight away
from me standing on my feet, If I got my hands on Molina Jr
today I'd destroy him. After that fight? I wanted to get back into the
ring right away to show everyone that was not the end."
I
told him how I enjoyed watching that fight and how I loved him holding the
ropes with his left arm, throwing a spinning punch and he told me he grew up.
" That was a younger guy, he told me, speaking of himself.
"I'm more mature."
"The
next month you beat 14-1 Omri Lowther and in April 2011, you beat 20-3 Patrick
Lopez, and then you get the opportunity to fight 36-3-1 former Lightweight
Champion David Diaz. This guy stopped Santa Cruz, retired Erik Morales,
got KO'd by Manny Pacquiao and beat Jesus Chavez . What was your mind
frame going into the, as it's called, 'Lundy vs Diaz War' - we got to see a
different side of you that night."
"It
was his home town. I had to go and stop him. I was going for the
Knockout. He was set up to fight Marquez for 250 K, I had to knock him out.
I retired him."
Then
Lundy would beat a 21-1 Dannie
Williams and box Ray Beltran, coming out with a MD Loss. Right after he moved up to Jr
Welterweight and even though he
cleary beats Viktor Postal he comes out with a Unanimous Decision Loss. He would stay at 140 and in July 2013 shut out 31-1 Ajose
Olusegun (who Lucas Matthysse beat, that was AJose's only loss prior)
"You
beat him easy at Jr welter."
"They
went to war, him and Matthysse, Ajose told ESPN I'm a better fighter, I got in
that ring and displayed how you can't beat Hammerin Hank."
"Then
you go back down to Lightweight."
For
those unaware, Angelo Santana was once the second coming at lightweight but he
lost a fight. Hank Lundy was part of his comeback trail, which I told
Hank, even Steve Farhood said was a bad idea. He was the second coming, I
this to Hank, as he remembered the
14-1 Angelo Santana.
"You schooled him and dropped him,
even. He never fought again. Do you feel bad?"
"No"
he said, laughing for a second but then getting very serious, "When
you call my number you better be ready. I'm coming"
"I was
looking forward to getting back in the ring and showing what Hank can do."
I
read off some names on his resume' - "Jason Cintron, Richar Abril, Molina Jr, David Diaz, Ray
Beltran, Viktor Postol, Ajose, Angelo Santana, and then..."
"HBO
called me about Dulorme. I signed with Jay Prince. I can make both
weights easy and was ready for Dulorme.
I was strong, that's where I belong." He pauses, then, "Dulorme is a Frontrunner,
comes out strong and fades. I won that fight. If it was a 12 round fight
he woulda been KO'd. HBO had me winning. One more round he woulda been KO'd."
"It
was like watching two different fights. The first half and I forget what
round it was exactly, but your trainer said...."
"Barry
said," he cuts me off with, "You want
me to stop the fight?" and I said,"What? Why?" and he said,
"Listen, this man ain't gangsta like us. This if for your daughter." There's
some silence.
You
went out there and physically broke him. He was intimidated, gassed, he
could hardly stand up..."
"Mention
my daughter ," he says, "I thrive off my
kids," then, "So I took it to another level."
That fight came down to a Split Decision, one judge
having it right for Lundy. Other two for Dulomre who HBO was promoting which
set up Crawford recently knocking Dulomre out.
Since
I had some time, I asked Hank some questions.
"So you been training with Porter...."
"Yeah."
"And you trained with Broner prior to the Maidana
fight."
"Yes."
"So prediction?"
"If Shawn go in there and impose his will and listen to his
corner, Shawn . If Shawn loses focus, it may go other way, I do see shawn
winning, Shawn, you gotta live the life, you can't be partying, drinking, Live
the boxing life."
"What do you make of Garcia saying he wasn't stripped of his
title and he's fighting Pauli now?"
"I want the winner of Matthysse vs Postol. And as for
Pauli? Don't sleep on Pauli. He's a hard guy to fight."
"What was up with you and Mayfield?"
"I dunno, I'm not fighting him now. When I win a title I'll
beat him up."
"What did ya think of the Molina Jr rap song he made dissing
you, and I think, Broner? remember that?"
"What? No. Was it good?"
"No, it's was horrible. I don't think he did it, someone else
did it for him. It was funny, 'The Gladiator.' Who would win in battle rap? Not a boxing match, a battle rap - Garcia vs Broner."
"Garcia."
"Goddammit.
Will you beat up Mickey Bey for me?"
"I been calling Bey out for years, he don't want none. He
didn't win that title. I'm a jr welter now. Unless it's for a title
I'd go to lightweight."
"Moments?
Regrets? Goals? Predictions? Advice on life?"
This fight, you'll all see explosive Lundy, I'm coming in there.
Remember," he says, "it was Broner, Crawford,"
Pause. "and Hank on ESPN." The volume of his voice picks up. "
You'll remember why I'm still the man. I'll show it. I don't blame
nobody, it was supposed to go this way, it's not some gift, Overlook me? I roll
with the punches, I got no bad stuff to say about nobody. They lookin at me now
and..." Pause."Man."
I never
understood why Hank would (even going from 135 to 140 and having the Matthysse
fight fell through, go to the
Ukraine to fight a guy who lives there and is undefeated? You couldn't win if
you won, which he did) So after Hank said, "The phone wasn't ringing," was after he told me he was managing himself because his ex
manager was not just staealing but screwing with his fights outside of the
ring.
I did
tell him about how after listening to Herrera he seemed like a good guy, and
had nothing bad to say, wasn't bitter,
and was down to earth. After a few moments he said,
"No promotion," and then a pause, "But," he
said, voice picing up, "When it came to Herrera." Pause.
"Herrera," he said
again, "signed to Golden Boy."
During another pause I realized how personal this is. "I ain't going there to lose. Knock him out or win on the
Cards."
I asked
of Mauricio's punching power and I heard genuine laughter, "Who's punching power?" he laughed. Then he got serious, "Listen, I'm gonna keep it real. I've been in there with it
all. Herrera says he's a teacher? How you gonna school a guy
whose seen it all? Herrera," he said, as if talking to Mauricio,
"You can 't show me nothing,"
then, raising his voice a bit, with an almost like moment of clarity, "Herrera," he said. "I'm really gonna hurt this guy."
I think of a quote by Bret Easton Ellis.
"...
a bridge strung across a path through the mountain will take you to any point
beyond that you need to arrive at, because behind that mountain is a highway
and along that highway are billboards with answers on them – who, what, where,
when, why – and I’m falling forward but also moving up toward the mountain, my
shadow looming against its jagged peaks, and I’m surging forward, ascending,
sailing through dark clouds, rising up, a fiery wind propelling me, and soon
it’s night and stars hang in the sky above the mountain revolving as they burn.
The stars are real. The future is that mountain.”
"My
pleasure," I tell him.
"My pleasure,"
he says.
I
tell him something after I say, "off the record."
