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Sharing the same trainer but using two different styles, Niagara Falls boxers Anthony Lenk-Casal and Nick Casal nearly achieved the same goal -- a national amateur championship.
Lenk-Casal's 15th straight win, a decision over Bear Richardson of Philadelphia, earned the Niagara Falls fighter the 119-pound title in the 13- and 14-year-old division at the Police Athletic League National Boxing Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., held Nov. 15 and 16.
Lenk-Casal, who turns 14 on Dec. 5, fights left-handed. He took control early in the first round by landing combinations to Richardson's head and body.
In the second, he started doubling and tripling up on his jab. Richardson, working inside, trapped Lenk-Casal on the ropes several times, but the Niagara Falls fighter spun away each time.
Lenk-Casal opened the third with a big straight left hand, then spent much of the rest of the final round counter-punching and slipping Richardson's shots before capping his first national title with a solid left to the mid-section.
While Lenk-Casal, who was named his classification's Outstanding Boxer, spent most of his title fight on his toes in a straight-up boxer's mode, Nick Casal wades in more flat-footed, firing short hooks to the head and body.
That strategy worked to perfection in his 15- and 16-year-old semi-final bout against Chris Trietti of Massachusetts, the 2001 Police Athletic League national champion.
Casal, fighting at 156 pounds, took control early with a strong left hook to the jaw, then worked inside Trietti's wider punches through the rest of the first round. The taller Trietti landed a few straight rights, but they had little impact.
Casal dropped Trietti early in the second with a straight right. After the Massachusetts fighter beat the count, Casal landed several overhand rights and a left hook, sending Trietti reeling.
Casal stalked Trietti to the ropes, feinted with his right and delivered a crushing left hook. Trietti fell forward, trying to hold himself up by grabbing Casal around the waist. But once the referee separated the two, Trietti continued his fall to the canvas and was counted out.
In the finals, though, Albany's Marcus Williams eked out a narrow decision under the electronic punch-count scoring system used in the amateur ranks.
Casal landed the harder shots throughout the fight, but the scoring system makes no allowance for the force or effect of punches, nor does it take into consideration ring generalship or defense.
While Casal had to settle for second-place, he did earn the tournament's Sportsmanship Award.
Both boxers are trained by their father, Ray Casal of Casal's School of Fighting Arts. The Hyde Park Boulevard gym, run by Casal and wife Lesli, was recently accredited as a professional training facility by the New York State Athletic Commission.
Lennox Lewis will never be remembered as one of history's great heavyweights, but he finally has his sense of timing down.
Lewis lost his first title to Oliver "The Atomic Bull" McCall (who deserves mention solely for his nickname) with a huge payday against Riddick Bowe and/or a peak Evander Holyfield looming.
By the time he regained it, both were out of the title picture and Mike Tyson was just starting his attempted adjustment to unsupervised life.
When the limited Hasim Rahman separated him from his equilibrium and his belt with a fifth-round right hand in April, Lewis' chin again picked the worst possible moment to shatter. Having beaten Holyfield, only an early-autumn date with Tyson remained to wipe the McCall loss from his legacy.
Better-conditioned and paying attention this time around, Lewis battered Rahman for the first three rounds, winning every judge's card for each frame. And the climactic left-right demonstrated Lewis' precise finishing ability, a skill he forgets for long stretches at mysterious times.
Emmanuel Steward, Lewis' trainer, says he can do more things well than any heavweight he's seen during a half-century in boxing. Lewis can jab and move, throw hooks and uppercuts with either hand, fight inside or out.
"The problem is, you never know which Lennox you're going to get," Steward said. Tyson, who looked ready for a title fight in crushing Danish myth Brian Nielsen, gives Lewis another chance to continue rebuilding his status among history's heavweights. But fair or not, the Lennox we'll mostly remember is the one trying to get off the floor while McCall, then Rahman, jumped around the ring like Lotto winners.
Best wishes to Lew Ciavaglia as he recovers at home after surgery at Mount St. Mary's Hospital.
Ciavaglia, a former professional boxer, has taught the sport in Niagara Falls for parts of the last five decades. He has worked with hundreds of teenagers and children over the years, including his help in reviving the Niagara PAL boxing program.
Most recently, Ciavaglia developed middleweight Tommy Huff, managing and training him through his amateur career and first two professional bouts.
Ciavaglia is one of the good guys in a sport, and a city, that could use more like him. It will be good to see him back at ringside.