By Thomas Scherr: On Wednesday, July 2nd, Tommy Karpency (11-0-1 with 7 KO’s) will compete in his first televised bout as the co-feature on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights from Pullman Park in Butler, PA. I recently spoke with Tommy’s Promoter, Steve Simons. “Tommy has huge potential, and I think in time he is going to be a household name” says Simmons..
Tommy had a scare in most recent fight, but was able to gut out an eight round majority draw with Demetrius Davis in Baltimore. The fight was Tommy’s first outside of the Western Pennsylvania/ West Virginia area.
“I think the fight with Davis was a good learning experience for Tommy. Davis is a tough veteran and Tommy went into his backyard. Tommy was used to overwhelming opponents with his power and he hurt Davis in the second round, but Davis came back and won the third round. I think Tommy learned that he needs to combine good fundamentals with his power.”
Karpency is trained by his father in Adah, Pa. While Adah may not be a boxing hotbed, Tommy has been willing to travel and participated in world class sparring.
“Tommy was in camp with Glen Johnson for his fight with Chad Dawson. He was down in Florida for about two weeks and performed well” says Simons.
Tommy’s opponent for the upcoming bout is durable veteran Rayco Sanders (15-10-2, 7 KO’s). Sanders has fought many of top names at light heavyweight and cruiserweight, including fights with perennial contender Imamu Mayfield (twice), a split decision defeat to top prospect Chris Henry, and a draw with recent title challenger Danny Santiago. Rayco has only been knocked out once in his career, and will clearly be the toughest fight of Tommy’s career to date.
“Rayco stands right in front of you, so he won’t be hard for Tommy to find” says Simons. “I see this fight going the distance. Rayco is a tough fighter, and he’ll be in there all night” even though the promoter predicts a clear victory for his fighter.
Going rounds may be just what Karpency needs. While Tommy his been involved in the gym with his father for years, he was a wrestler in high school and did not have an extensive amateur career. In response to that, Simons plans to keep Tommy active.
“If everything goes well, we would like to have him back in the ring on July 25th, and again on August 22nd [on Simons cards in Charleston and Morgantown WV]. We would like to have him fight four times in two months.”
Simons believes that if his fighter can stay active, he will be prepared to make a splash in the light heavyweight division in twelve to eighteen months.
“I’d like to see him fight someone like Joey Spina [in 12-18 months] or Jesse Brinkley, and if he wins get ranked [by one of the major sanctioning bodies].” “All of the top fighters at light heavyweight are pretty old, and Tommy will be ready to take over then.”
One look at the Ring Magazine rankings confirms Simons’ thoughts. Five of the top six Light Heavyweights are over 34. Only Chad Dawson stands out as a young fighter at the top of the light heavyweight division. Tommy hopes to take a step in that direction on July 2nd.
Tickets for the July 2nd fight at Pullman Park in Butler, PA can be purchased at (724) 504-6708.