Posts tagged Billy Lyell
Billy Lyell: Nobody’s “Opponent” – Part II
Jan 28th
Sam Rossi
(The following is the second in a two-part piece on Middleweight Title Contender Billy Lyell. Lyell was interviewed just a week before his scheduled fight with IBF Champ Sebastian Sylvester in Neubrandenburg, Germany)
Like virtually every fighter to have entered the professional ring, Billy Lyell has long dreamt of the moment he would challenge for a world title. Though he was only given eight days notice, the fighter seems keen on putting forth a championship effort this Saturday night.
“I got a good idea of how to go at it with Sylvester,” said the IBF contender. “I really think I’m a better fighter than him. My speed’s better and I know I’ll show better generalship when we’re in there.”
If there’s one real advantage Lyell holds over Sylvester and other middleweights, it rests in his ability to fight at either 154 lbs. or 160 lbs. on any given night. It’s at 160 lbs. that his speed best compensates for a lack of middleweight power. Lacking the strength of a Sylvester, or Kirkland, or even a Pavlik, Lyell’s punch output at such a weight enables him to build a quiet lead on the scorecards even when a knockout appears out of the question.
If Lyell holds another stealth-like advantage going into this weekend’s fight, it comes in the form of the perceived “short-notice.” The bare truth is that both camps have been in talks for quite sometime now, with nothing ever coming to fruition before last week.
“We were in talks before. I’d been watching films, and I’ve been in shape for a while. Let’s go,” says Lyell just a week before the biggest fight in his career. In fact, he spent much of November and December sparring with Pavlik before his most recent defense, and the fighter feels that any benefit was mutually shared. “I got in some good work with Kelly, and he did the same with me. That’s how it goes.”
No matter what the cards may hold for the young Billy Lyell, his demeanor remains true to his Mahoning Valley upbringing. His mind permits no room for self-promotion and braggadocio. Just days before the shot of a lifetime, he remains the same person he has always been.
“Listen. I haven’t had the flashiest career, I know that. But I always gave my all. Always.”
Then, the contender pauses. Surely looking back on the road that has brought him within a championship’s grasp.
“If this fight shows anything, it’s that if you keep at it and you keep hanging . . . your time will come.”
Indeed, Lyell’s time has come.
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(sam.rossi.1@gmail.com)
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-29356-Columbus-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d27-Billy-Lyell-Nobodys-Opponent–Part-II
Youngstown’s Lyell to fight for middleweight crown
Jan 23rd
Columbus Boxing Examiner
Samuel Rossi
Youngstown’s own Billy Lyell (22-7, 4 KO) has just signed to square off against IBF Middleweight Champion Sebastian Sylvester (32-3 15 KO) next Saturday night in Neubrandenburg, Germany.
A 2002 graduate of Niles McKinley High School and recent graduate of Youngstown State University, Lyell is currently ranked #14 by the IBF. The fighter’s handlers entered a quick series of negotiations yesterday with the Sylvester camp after the Champion’s original opponent, Pablo Navascues, tested positive for banned substances.
Although the fight was made on short notice, Lyell has been in the gym for months in preparation for his next bout. Initially, he had been scheduled to fight next weekend in West Virginia, but a change of plans was in order once greater opportunity came about.
In a phone conversation moments ago, Pat Nelson, the fighter’s manager, said that, “Billy is in tip-top shape and is heading to Germany to win.”
The road to a title shot has been a long one for the Niles native since turning pro in 2003, including a two year stretch that saw him losing four of eight bouts between ’06 and ’08. However, through it all, Lyell has proven to be very game competition against middleweight up-and-comers like James Kirkland and Vanes Martirosyan.
In recent years, Lyell’s career has seen a rejuvenation of sorts that hit its highest note thus far last April when he defeated the previously unbeaten “Irish” John Duddy. That fight was widely viewed as a tune-up for Duddy who was believed to be on his way for a crack at WBC/WBO titlist Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik, also from Youngstown, Ohio. Lyell’s split-decision win not only derailed Duddy’s fast-track to a title shot, but also managed to shake up much of the division’s make-up.
Sylvester secured the IBF championship two months prior to Lyell-Duddy, when he defeated Gaetano Nespro for the vacant middleweight strap. Fellow German Felix Sturm currently holds the WBO version of the title.
Nelson noted that “at five o’clock next Saturday, Youngstown may very well have its second reigning Middleweight Champion.” While such an occurence is a rarity for a city of its size, it will not be the first time that two champions of the same division graced the city streets with titles. Remember, it was just over twenty-five years ago when Valley natives Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Harry Arroyo simultaneously held the WBA and IBF Lightweight titles.
It is obvious that, for Youngstown, an added boost of morale and pride lays ahead should its fighter win.
But for Lyell, the fight brings with it the moment he has been dreaming about since he first learned to punch.
http://www.examiner.com/x-29356-Columbus-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d22-Youngstowns-Lyell-to-fight-for-middleweight-crown
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