TRAVIS SIMMS: Is he the man at 154?
Posted on | March 18, 2007 | 1 Comment
Travis Simms, is he the man at 154?
By: Matt Yanofsky
Enter “Tremendous” Travis Simms: the man who came off a 2 year layoff to win a title. Simms was billed as the WBA Champion in recess due to the fact he was never officially stripped of his title during his hiatus. I remember seeing Simms at the press conference for the James Toney vs Samuel Peter rematch {Simms vs Rivera was the undercard fight}. Simms did not appear as if he wanted to be back in the ring again. I was saying to myself that Rivera should be able to win the fight easily because of Simms’ long layoff and lack of interest in the contest. I spoke to close friend {and Jose Rivera’s trainer} John Scully, and I told him how I could see in Simms’ eyes that he did not want to be there. But boy was I wrong!
On January sixth, Simms proved that his emotions mean nothing. Simms—the south paw slickster—dropped the tough Rivera twice and completely dominated the fight en-route to a ninth round TKO. The new WBA champion, who improved to 25-0 with 19 KO’s, previously defeated champions Bronco McKart and Alejandro Garcia. Simms left me incredibly impressed and surprised by dominating the battle against Rivera. I now realized this man is a real threat to anyone at 154. After the fight, Simms said he would love to fight another champion, and I think he deserves that. Simms has a potential fight with mandatory challenger Joachim Alcine who is very highly regarded. However, the fight with Alcine may be on hold due to an issue over the venue. Cory Spinks has been running his mouth, and now he has a chance to fight someone who can easily counter his slick boxing style while unifying his IBF title with Simms’ WBA belt.Simms is also very marketable due to his personality. Casual boxing fans can cite Simms due to his striking resemblance to actor/comedian Martin Lawrence. I look forward to seeing Simms fight again hopefully in a unification bout!