[PilotMan]

Second week of July, 2007

Fight Night -

My man is back in action. It has been a long, long road to get back to this point be he is finally ready to go again. Of course, I am speaking of none other than Lawrence McFarlane. It has been the better part of a year since he lost his fight to George Kings. Kings incidently has gone on to win two other fights, is currently ranked #5, and scheduled to fight Mike McCallum. If not for Leavander Nolan, he would have to be a close runner for FOY at the halfway point of the year.

Anyway, back to the fight. His opponent tonight is Shinji Takehara. Takehara, hasn’t fought in almost a year as well, and his last fight was a loss to Calvin Lewsey. He was ranked in the top 10 before the loss, and now finds himself just on the outside looking in to the title hopefuls. He has good skills and his stamina is going to be in question as well. I am telling Lawrence to be very patient with this. On paper he should have the advantage, however, I remember how well I though that the matchup against Kings was going to be. Look for Lawrence to start slow, and try and conseve his energy a little bit better. Hopefully, he can fight well enough to build a lead and then try and go for the kill if he gets the chance. I look for Takehara to come forward, but still to be mindful of Lawrence’s power. He looks nervous. I am trying to calm his nerves. The last thing I need is for him to be worn out before he even gets in the ring. Lawrence is the favorite at 8/13, while Takehara is at 11/8. I gotta think big for this one.

Other fights of interest this week:

Former Light Heavyweight Champion Virgil Hill 49-4-1(25) #3 v. Will Cripps 19-3-2(11) #4

Think of this as the young vs the old. Hill is still a wiley vet, even though he lost his title to a virtual nobody. Now in his effort to regain his crown he is fighting Cripps. Cripps is on a 3 fight win streak and actually has the ability to outbox the old boxer. He is going to be a tough opponent, but his confidence is not up where is should be. Hill is the favorite at 4/6, while Cripps is 5/4.