16.12.06 – By Ted Sares: On July 23, 2002, Elvir “The Kosovo Kid” Muriqi (24-1, 14 KO’s) met “Slamming” Sam Ahmad (16-3-3, 7 KO’s) in New Rochelle, NY. Ahmad, not known for having heavy hands, had made his bones fighting at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia and may have been taken too lightly by Muriqi’s camp which included trainer, Teddy Atlas..
The fight turned out to be pure savagery. Within a matter of seconds, a surprised Elvir found himself on the deck compliments of an Ahmad numbing right. Quickly recovering, The Kid shot a right uppercut on the point of Sammy’s chin and dropped him hard. With only a minute and a half having elapsed off the clock, both fighters had visited the canvas.
“That was the first time I had ever been down and I was like, ‘oh, I’m on the floor.’ It was a place I had never been before so I said, ‘get up, get up fast.’ I got up and I never thought about giving up or losing the fight. I knew I had to get up and win.”
“When I dropped him I thought I had him and I was going to finish him,” he said. “(Trainer) Teddy (Atlas) was banging on the floor for me to look at him, but I didn’t, and I forgot that the guy could hit me back again.”
At any rate, Muriqi moved in for the kill and launched a left hook but Sammy got inside it and unleashed his own bomb, another numbing right, that sent Muriqi down for the second time and for all practical purposes, the fight seemed to be over.
Somehow, someway, he did a gut check and got up on rubbery legs ready to be savaged. But “Slamming Sammy” was not up to the task. The vulnerable Muriqi hung on and made it to the bell. Sammy had let off the hook.
In the second, Muriqi was again decked early by a countering right that hit him flush. He wobbled up and held on in desperation once more trying to clear the Ahmad-induced cobwebs out. Ahmad then scored his fourth knockdown in the what had now become a pier six, but the Lion-hearted Muriqi would not fold. Still, Ahmad sensed the end and so did everybody else in New Rochelle, that is, everybody except “The Kosovo Kid,” who took the mandatory 8 count from Referee Santa.
Looking to end matters once and for all, Ahmad moved in to throw the same right that had rendered Muriqi badly hurt earlier. But this time it was Muriqi who got there first with a right to the side of the head and Ahmad amazingly staggered back visibly hurt. Now it was the Philadelphia fighters’ turn to clear the cobwebs. Muriqi pounced on him like white on rice using an uppercut followed by a jack hammer right and then he shoved him to the canvas but it was rightly ruled a no-knockdown. As the bell, ended, Ahmad slowly headed back to his corner.
In the third canter, it was Muriqi who smelled blood and he picked up where he left off. He cracked a lethal right to Sammy’s temple to score his second knockdown. When he got up, Elvir went after him with pure malice and banged him with a right over the top. Ahmad responded by tackling him and both fighters went down in a heap. Again, the referee ruled a no-knockdown, but it was a questionable ruling. The right had started Sammy on his way down. The tackle merely camouflaged the clean hit.
As the incredible brawl continued, Muriqi launched a vicious volley of shots banging Ahmad from pillar to post. Finally, The Kid pounded Ahmad onto the ropes where he sagged vulnerable and dangerously. Referee Santa gave Sammy an early Christmas gift by rushing in and pulling the rampaging Muriqi off him at 2:57 of the third. The courageous Muriqi displayed an uncommon amount of heart to snatch victory from apparent defeat.
You want action, a pier six, ebb and flow? Will a total of 6 knockdowns called and 2 knockdowns not called in 3 rounds suffice?
Had Mickey Ward not met Arturo Gatti, on May 18th at the Mohegan Sun, this fight would have been a slam dunk for Fight of the Year.
The Kid is now 33 – 3 (20 ko’s) and is a hot draw around the Big Apple. I’d sure as hell pay to see him fight.