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After Taming Bailey, Corley Wants Judah
By Johnnie Whitehead (January 5, 2003)
Photo © Tom Casino
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WASHINGTON -- This had the potential to be a fight of the year, because when a puncher meets a boxer it can turn out that way.
This time, it didn't. DeMarcus Corley was right. The Washington native made this look easy. It wasn't always exciting -- especially when compared to Luis Perez's thrilling war and upset of Felix Machado to win the IBF junior bantamweight title in the bout that preceded it -- but Corley paintbrushed the former titleholder by scoring a 12-round unanimous decision televised by Showtime.
"This fight was real easy,'' Corley tells Maxboxing after the press conference. "I thought Randall was going to come out there more aggressive. He showed that he didn't really want to come and put the pressure on me. If he (did) it would've been a more inside fight and I would've been able to land my uppercuts better."
Though Corley would like to face undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu next, that's not the likely scenario. Tsyzu will fight James Leija on Jan. 18 in his adopted homeland of Australia.
So for Corley, there's plenty other options he'll have to consider in the meantime. He says he'd be more than happy to face Vivian Harris, and even Ricky Hatton, who has been his mandatory but hasn't excercised his option for a title shot. The one other name that stands out that Corley really wants: Zab Judah.
Judah (28-1, 21 KOs) has made his willingness to face Corley be known recently. Corley, as well as manager Kirk Cashwell, indicates if Judah's contractual situation can be worked out between Don King Productions and Main Events that he'd be inclined to make that happen.
"I would knock Zab out, unless he run all night," Corley says of the former IBF titleholder who Tszyu stopped in two. " I know Zab, and he's going to try to prove something to New York, that he has a great big heart and he's going to stand in there and try to bang with me.
"It' doesn't matter if I unify, but I want to stay busy," adds Corley, 28.
"Zab wouldn't be awkward to Chop,'' says his trainer, Bernard Roach. "Two southpaws wouldn't be awkard to each other."
Perhaps, but Corley was as tentative and too respectful of Bailey's power, and Judah has an equally good pop and more speed. Corley (28-1-1, 16 KOs) never did enough leading to earn a stoppage on Saturday night, even though he predicted he would get one inside of six rounds. "When the sixth round came I knew I wasn't going to knock him out,'' he says. "I already had my game plan to box Randall and take him to a decision."
Says Roach: "If Chop would've put his hands togther it wouldn't have went the distance."
Bailey (26-3, 26 KOs), a renowned puncher who Corley deemed one-dimensional, was exactly that. He won the first round on aggression alone while the titleholder was in counterpunch mode, but didn't do much in the following rounds. He didn't jab against the southpaw -- a cardinal mistake that almost every conventional fighter makes -- and didn't throw many left hooks. The Miami native didn't cut off the ring successfully, either. He allowed Corley to fight at his pace and dictate the tempo, and what followed was a predictable waltz.
Corley rested two minutes of every round, and when the mood hit him he scored, particularly with right hook counters, to build a commanding lead. Bailey's most opportunistic moment came in the fourth round. He scored with a flush right hand but failed to land another shot although Corley was buying time by hotdogging on the ropes. A right hand missed over the top. So did an uppercut. Nary a bodypunch was attempted, and before the round was over it appeared that a right hook from Corley did the most damage as Bailey walked wearily back to his corner.
"He was moving so well, I couldn't do what I had to do,'' says Bailey. " I couldn' let my punches ago early. I waited too long. I caught him a couple times with the right hand but the hook wasn't coming behind it. I just wasn't able to execute."
The pace never changed, and scattered boos could be heard throughout the second half of the contest. In order to make a case for being the best 140-pounder, Corley needed more aggression. He'd try to get under the right hand to score an uppercut, but he never could get Bailey in range for the payoff. He even led with the right uppercut a few times, but to no avail.
When the tallies were announced to the 3,196 at D.C. Armory, Corley pranced as if he'd accomplished his mission even though the crowd had cheered more loudly for infamous former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry -- even chanted his name in a scene that was more disturbing than surreal.
They were looking for a reason to make noise, and Corley didn't give them much of one.
Contact Johnnie Whitehead at BoxingSoulChild@aol.com
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