For The St. Louis American
On an unseasonably warm late afternoon last Thursday, as the mercury ignored the calendar and made a gallant rally towards the 70-degree mark, a pair of local pro boxers capped their training camps with testy sparring sessions.
There at 12th & Park they threw down against three of St. Louis’ highly skilled amateurs.
With his professional debut looming in one week, DeAndre “Bull” Lattimore stood outside the rec center’s metal doors soaking up the spring-like temperatures and clutching his cell phone with one of his wrapped hands.
Inside the upstairs boxing room, fighters of all ages were warming up yards away from a row of boarded up windows that severed them from Mother Nature’s apron strings and her welcoming arms outside.
A nearly spent light bulb hovering above a trio of striped exercise mats was flickering in a desperate attempt to brighten that area of the room, and as a result the industrial green walls nearby looked particularly queasy.
Lattimore had ascended the steps and was stretching in a corner near a white spit bucket and an old plastic vinegar bottle filled with tap water.
Jerry Brandon would provide Lattimore with his first challenge, and after a double jab, straight left, right hook to the body by “Bull”, it was clear he was trying to deflate Brandon with a pinpoint spike to the solar plexus.
The action drifted towards me at ringside in round two and “Bull” unloaded a concussive six punch combination as I stood two feet behind Brandon’s back, as close to the action as possible without having to duck.
I made a note of Brandon’s weathered headgear with dried blood smudges from past battles, resembling a child’s fingerprints on the lower third of a living room wall.
Lattimore’s digs to the body hurt his opponent in the third, and at the end of the competitive round Brandon draped himself over the top rope and stretched out his aching ribcage.
Lattimore’s night was only beginning, however, as Ty Chatman stepped in and pressed the action. When “Bull” unleashed a series of hooks early, Chatman calmly picked off the shots with his gloves and elbows and then returned a volley containing a pair of hooks downstairs followed by a right uppercut and a straight left to the head.
By the time trainer Jerry Leyshock shouted “Time!” both he and Coach Kenny Loehr were beaming about the quality of work from both fighters.
Next up was pro Leon Bobo, who had an eye cast towards the following weekend when he would hit the road and defend his lightweight title for the first time at the Isle of Capri Casino.
Just 24 hours earlier, Chatman had drawn a steady stream of blood from Bobo’s nose that had sprinkled the royal blue canvas of the same ring and had the champ choking down the rusty tasting runoff.
On this day, after four durable rounds with Robbie Cannon, 119-pound southpaw Jamal Parram climbed in for two rounds against Bobo to punctuate the session.
Bobo turned up the thermostat immediately, but Parram stayed safe in the pocket slipping missiles and eventually scored with a 1,2, right hook, left hook to the body.
In the final frame, Parram continued walking Bobo down around the ring, pestering him like a fly following a guest at an outdoor dinner party.
The action at the end of the two days of sparring had turned the contents of the spit bucket into a murky mixture thick with saliva and crimson swirls, but it also provided stern tests for Lattimore and Bobo by amateurs who weren’t just there to hang.
Hopefully it was a glimpse into the future of three talented young upstarts looking to join their gym mates in the pro ranks.
DeAndre Lattimore will make his professional debut tonight at the “SUPERBRAWL” at The Family Arena in St. Charles at 7:30 pm. The card will also feature light heavyweight Mike Wood and Sam “The Punching Policeman” Hill in title bouts. Ticket info. is available by calling MetroTix at (314) 534-1111, The Family Arena Box Office at (636) 896-4200 or Steve Holley at (314) 495-0820.