12.06.08 – By Ted Sares, photo by Wray Edwards / ESB – Sechew “The Iron Horse” Powell, 23-1 coming in, was a prohibitive favorite to beat unknown and unheralded Deandre “The Bull” Latimore in a fight held at the Hard Rock Times Square in New York City on June 11 Not only had The Bull, 18-1, fought all of his fights in Missouri, but his level of opposition was dreadful and he was iced by Ian Gardner the only time he really stepped up. That was on January 25, 2007. Since then, however, he put together a 7-fight win streak featuring 5 stoppages.
Powell, of course, is a highly regarded boxer out of Brooklyn who turned pro in 2002 and was undefeated in his first 20 fights before losing to Kassim Ouma in 2006. In 2007, he won a close decision over Ishe Smith and had a KO win over Terrance Cauthen to become the IBF #1 ranked contender. He also holds wins over “Contenders” Cornelius Bundage and Grady Brewer. Clearly, his level of opposition has been light years better than that of the Bull..
The Fight
It was an exciting ebb and flow duke in which both fighters hurt one another frequently, with Latimore counterpunching effectively and Powell pressing the action. At times, Powell played possum only to come forward and take control, but The Bull hung tough. Then, in the 7th stanza, Latimore hurt the Iron Horse and backed him into a corner landing a series of neck snapping shots punctuated by a rattling uppercut and straight right that forced a halt to the action at the 2.11 mark. The crowd was stunned into silence.
In what has been a year of stunning upsets (Andy Lee, James Moore, Mike Oliver, Joey Abell, Aaron Williams, Vernon Forrest and many others), add this shocker to the list. Powell will now need to regroup, while Latimore suddenly appears on everyone’s radar screen. Look for this counterpunching Missourian to appear again on ESPN.