JUNE 2005
Poem of the Month By Tom Smario
Cinderella Man
Book Excerpt by Mike DeLisa
Entertaining Fighters and Prospects By Adam
Pollack
Fatty Langtry: Pudgy Pugilist of the Past
By Robert Carson
John Klein: 19th-Century Trainer
Extraordinaire By Pete Ehrmann
Ring Leader By Ron Lipton
Incentives in Professional Boxing Contracts
By Rafael Tenorio
Fight Town
Book Excerpt by Tim Dahlberg
The Regulation of Boxing on Tribal
Lands: Towards a Pan-Indian Boxing Commission By James
Alexander
Spotlight on Cut Man Lenny DeJesus By Sam
Gregory
Dick Wipperman by Pete Ehrmann
Jack Johnson: The Dates, the Events, the Sources
by Stuart Templeton
Touching Gloves with... "Irish" Art Hafey by
Dan Hanley
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SPOTLIGHT ON CUT MAN LENNY
DEJESUS
by Sam Gregory
Lenny DeJesus has been a cornerman for close to 40 years. As a cut man and a trainer,
Lenny has worked the corner with the likes of Angelo Dundee, Eddie Futch, Al Gavin, and
Carlos Ortiz, just to name a few of the greats. Among some of the fighters DeJesus has
worked with are Roberto Duran, Hector Camacho, Wilfredo Gomez, Wilfredo Benitez and, most
recently, Joel Casamayor and Manny Pacquiao.
DeJesus is also one half of the team known as Wrecking Crew Boxing. The other half is Norm
Bagi, a former amateur boxer who can be seen working the corner with DeJesus in the
capacity of trainer to some of the noncontenders or as the third man in the corner,
assisting and advising.
I had the opportunity to get acquainted with both men a few years ago while working on an
article. Since then we've kept in touch. They work and train fighters in gyms throughout
New York City.
Not long ago I had the chance to talk with DeJesus about his work as a cut man and what
goes on in the corner of a professional fighter in general.
Understand that talking with a cut man about how he prepares for a fight isn't much
different from talking to a trainer or a fighter about how they prepare for fights. When
talking about fight preparation in general, DeJesus told me he just comes expecting
anything. Asked if he prepares different for different fighters, DeJesus said: "Not
really, I just come well prepared for all types of cuts and injuries. I know what to
expect from certain fighters based on their history, but I always prepare for the
unexpected."
When I named a few fighters I thought would be more susceptible to cuts because of things
like high cheek bones (Arturo Gatti), or guys with lots of scar tissue, he told me,
"Without giving away any trade secrets, I will prepare for certain things based on a
fighter's history. Other than that, for fighters that are susceptible to multiple cuts, I
will of course work on the more serious cuts first and work down to less serious cuts and
swelling after that."
Just to change gears, I asked DeJesus about talking to a fighter in the one minute between
rounds, and what he feels is important to tell them in that 60 seconds he has to talk to
them: "Different fighters are like different people in general and can't all be motivated
in the same way. So in spending time with your fighter, you have to understand their
psyche. Some people need to get pushed into getting to work; some just need to be told and
some need a swift kick in the butt."
So when you're trying to get them motivated do you tell him or her if they're losing
rounds? DeJesus said: "Of course, if he's losing, it's part of motivating your fighter.
You have to let him know how high the hill is he's going to climb or he might burn out
before he reaches the top. If he's winning, then there is no need to tell him, because
that part doesn't matter and can get him to relax or mentally take a break. If he's
winning I will give him advice for the coming round to keep him ahead and not even mention
being ahead or behind."
Then I asked DeJesus, "How do you get your fighter to stick to a game plan, especially if
he's losing rounds or somehow the game plan isn't working against a particular fighter?"
DeJesus told me: "Working on a game plan is done in the gym, but actually sticking to the
game plan is up to the individual fighter. An experienced fighter knows when a game plan
isn't working and knows how to make adjustments during a round. We've usually already
worked on a plan B or C in the gym, and that, of course, is based on countering
adjustments the other corner is making."
DeJesus continued: "You have to remember, especially in big fights, the fighter you might
have trained for is rarely the fighter you see on fight day. His corner is preparing him
for your fighter. They're working on your weaknesses and defending against your strengths
you in turn are trying to do the same. So adjustments must be made during the fight, or
you will surely end up on the canvas."
"Okay," I said, "I can understand all that, but what if your fighter isn't very
experienced? How do you keep a fighter from getting too excited, losing control? How do
you keep him calm?"
DeJesus said: "I can answer those questions similarly. The first way to calm your fighter
is to lead by example; too many times you will see some fighter's corner lose control
emotionally and be in disarray."
You mean like John Ruiz's corner when he fought Roy Jones?" I blurted.
"Yeah, Sam, like John Ruiz's corner" DeJesus grinned. "Even if the worst infraction has
occurred, we try to keep it together, talk the fighter through it, and try to get past it
and move on. You almost can't do anything about it, so you have to move on."
"Second, a trust and friendship has to develop between the fighter and the trainer. As
trainers, we want to build world champions. As fighters, they want to be world champions.
We're both working toward the same goal; we have to work together or the system is doomed
to fail. So trusting in my advice is as important as my trust in the fighter's ability."
DeJesus finished up with telling me, "Understanding what the fighter is capable of is
part of my job."
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