At Patriot Center, veteran Reid shows fight, but can’t hang with Lange
There wasn’t much defense Saturday night when Jimmy Lange and Jonathan Reid met at George Mason University’s Patriot Center, which made their fight for the WBC USNBC Super Welterweight championship all the more entertaining.
Recommended Stories
For nine furious rounds, Lange and Reid landed thunderous blows, snapping each other’s heads back and bulling one another into the ropes. When Reid’s corner called it at the end of the ninth with blood pouring from Reid’s nose, none of the fans voiced their disapproval. It was exhausting even to watch.
With the 21st knockout of his career, Lange improved to 31-3-2 and remained undefeated in eight bouts at Patriot Center. With his 11th loss in his last 12 fights, the once-promising Reid, 36, fell to 34-12.
“A lot of people overlooked him. He obviously came to fight,” said Lange, 34. “I made a lot of mistakes, looped my punches a little, a lot. That’s what we’re working on. That’s what we’ll get better at.”
Lange needed to summon his best stuff after surviving the fifth round. Reid caught Lange with a combination, then staggered him with a straight right to the chin. Against the ropes, Lange was a sitting duck, but he stayed on his feet.
“He caught me with some good shots on the ropes,” said Lange. “I don’t belong on the ropes. I have to go back to the drawing board and work on it.”
When the bell sounded for the start of the sixth round, Lange bolted out of his corner, charged across the ring, and regained the momentum.
With Lange landing flurries, Reid’s left eye became swollen. In the seventh round, Lange had Reid against the ropes and drew a standing eight count, but Reid answered at the end of the round, putting Lange back on his heels.
Lange ended the eighth round by knocking Reid down for the second time in the fight with a right cross. The ninth was just a question of when as Reid looked dazed and beaten, but gamely fought on.
“I don’t know if it was a real blood-and-guts fight,” said Lange. “There was a lot of back and forth. I think it was more of a chess match than it looked like.”
Even in losing, it was a revival of sorts for Reid, who joined Lange in “The Contender” reality show in 2005. Reid, a 13-year veteran, won the first 27 bouts of his career before running into Silver Spring native William Joppy in 2000.
So what’s next for Lange?
“We’re gonna look at what moves Jimmy to where he wants to go – that’s a world title,” said Lange’s father and manager, Johnny Lange. “To do that, we’ve got to fight guys with reputations who’ve been there or are already there.”
Lange’s well-known trainer Don Turner sounded as if Lange needs more work before moving up.
“He’s trying to prove that he’s potentially a champion. That will come in time,” said Turner. “He’s got to learn to put five or six punches together.”
