The second fight of the Contender doubleheader had the
youngest fighter in the tournament at 26, Ryan Coyne, going against the
41-year-old Tim Flamos. Flamos came out of retirement for this opportunity,
although he had been gone for about three years from 2003 until 2006, due to
fights not materializing, promotional problems, and the like.
Coyne was ready. The cut he had suffered over his left eye
in training earlier on had healed, and he was full of confidence and ready to
show he deserved to be there. This fight had a lot of action from both
participants, and was quite entertaining to watch.
While Ryan started out by setting the pace, he would
sometimes get careless, and trainer Bray warned him after the first round that
if he continued to jump in and not protect himself, there would be a head butt.
Sure enough, in the second round that was exactly what happened. Coyne suffered
a cut over the left eye this time, and it was a pretty nasty one at that.
In the meantime, while Ryan was scoring with some shots to
the head of Tim, Flamos is getting in some good body shots. While rounds three
and four saw Coyne continue to attack, Tim was fighting back. Flamos had doubts
that he could still fight at his age, but he was showing those in attendance
that he still had it in him. He appeared to get stronger.
In the fifth and final round, Flamos laid it all out there.
When I spoke with Mike Alexander earlier, even he said that Tim really let his
hands go in the last round. And the crowd was certainly behind him. They were
chanting his name louder by the round, and at the end he had made the crowd his
own. His teammates were reacting the same way.
Then came the moment of truth. How would the judges see it? There
was a split decision. 49-46, Ryan; 49-47, Tim; 49-47, for the winner, Ryan
Coyne. Certainly this was a good win for the young Ryan, but the hero of the
day was Tim. All of the members of the Gold Team climbed in the ring and picked
him up, carrying him around and cheering him. I asked him how that made him
feel.
“It was a great feeling,” he told me. “We had a good barn,
and to see them cheer for me like that and to run into the ring afterwards like
they did made me feel like I did my job. It was a good fight, and that’s important
to me, to always fight a good fight for the fans. I felt like I won the fight
because of that.”
I take nothing away from Ryan; he fought a good fight. But
to be honest and let a little bit of opinion slip onto the paper, I thought
that Tim had won, and I said that to him.
“It’s what the judges see, you know what I mean? There was
something they saw that we didn’t see, or we saw that they didn’t, who knows? I
just have to go along with it now, there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I must have had 30 phone calls though, people calling me up
and saying the same thing, that they thought I won the fight. People texting
me, but it is what it is.
“When you get to be my age it’s always in the back of your
head; ‘I hope this isn’t one too many fights that I'm going to have, and it’s
going to end the wrong way’, you know, it’s always in the back of your mind. But
for it to happen the way it did, and end the way it did, and the way the people
felt about me – they thought I won – it’s always a good feeling.”
As far as continuing to box, Tim says he has to wait and
see. “I need to find out what kind of opportunities I get because of the show,
and whether or not I get picked up by the show. Time will tell if they think I’m
marketable.” He does however, continue to go to the gym everyday. Otherwise, he
told me, he gets bored.
As with Mike, Tim had watched the show and wondered what it
would be like to be a part of it. “I’d think, ‘Man, it must be something else
to be on that show.’ And then to get picked to be on, and be a part of that
show, see those doors, the same doors you’ve watched, open up as you’re walking
out into the arena, it was a surreal feeling.”
There was one last thing that we discussed. Tim was aware of
the misconception some people have about fighters. “Some people get the wrong
impression. They find out your a fighter and they think your violent. I’m not
like that. I’m a pretty easy-going guy, a regular guy. All it is, it’s a job.”
The day before his fight, Tim had called his son Steven to let
him know he was fighting. His son, knowing that his father sometimes doubts
himself a little bit because of his age, had a quote for him. It was, “Age is
no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” Wiser than his years, his
teenage son.
So the semi-final matches are made. Next week is Felix Cora,
Jr. going up against Troy Ross. Then there will be Akinyemi “AK” Laleye facing
Alfredo Escalera, Jr. The third week of the semi-finals give us Deon Elam
against Hino Ehikhanemor. The final fight will see both winners from this week,
Rico Hoye fighting Ryan Coyne.
Congratulations and good luck to all of those participating in
the semi-finals. Thank you to Tim Flamos for spending a part of his day to speak
with me.
