Ron Gamble is a big, powerful, athletic man who can fight.
That gives him a ticket to one of the great raffles left in sports — an American heavyweight championship fight.
At a time when we remember the 40th anniversary of the epic fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier — when the heavyweight championship was the greatest title in the world with powerful symbolism — boxing has all but disappeared from this nation’s sports landscape. Ukranian fighters Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko hold three of the heavyweight titles. England’s David Hayes is the other recognized titleholder, although he’s not recognized as such in America, where heavyweight title fights aren’t even shown on television anymore.
All it may take, though, is one impressive, talented American big man to capture the imagination of the public again. So if you are a big, powerful, athletic American man who can fight, there is gold to be harvested in the ring.
The problem is all the big powerful men in America stopped looking to boxing as a way to make money several decades ago. But the opportunity remains there. It is the path that undefeated Brandywine, Md., heavyweight contender Seth Mitchell (21-0-1, 19 knockouts after a second-round KO of Charles Davis last week), a former college football player, has taken.
Gamble, from Arnold, Md., will be taking a small step toward that opportunity Saturday night when he faces Abodurin Akinyanju in a four-round heavyweight bout at Patriot Center, part of the undercard of another Jimmy Lange show.
Lange (34-4-2, 24 KOs), a fan favorite who always puts on great shows, will face Jimmy Holmes in a 10-round middleweight bout. Lange is coming off an impressive 10th-round knockout of Joe Wyatt in November.
The co-featured fight matches former WBA middleweight champion William Joppy against Cory “Black Ice” Cummings — a rematch of their Nov. 6 battle that ended in a majority draw at Patriot Center.
Gamble, even though he is 32 and in just his second professional fight (he won his pro debut with a second-round knockout on a Nov. 10 card at the DC Star Night Club), is intriguing for two reasons:
He is a former football player turned boxer, and he appears to be the only hope for an American heavyweight champion. He played one of his four seasons at the University of Connecticut for new Maryland football coach Randy Edsall.
“I’m hopeful that boxing can lead somewhere for me,” said Gamble, who works full time in local law enforcement. “It seems like heavyweights are hard to come by. I am playing catch-up skills-wise since I didn’t start until I was 28, but I am a fast learner and a hard worker.”
Gamble is 6-foot-2, 255 pounds and fought as an amateur for several years. It was because he was a hard worker and fast learner that Gamble likely was able to adapt to the coaching style of Edsall, who came to Connecticut in his senior season. He is curious how Maryland players will respond but believes Edsall will ultimately be successful at College Park.
“He was a great coach, but I don’t think the team took to his coaching style right away,” Gamble said. “I think he will do great at Maryland.”
Who knows? He may be coaching a future heavyweight champ.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
