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44 Year Old Manning "The Spoiler" Galloway Steals the Show

By Danny Serratelli, ringside

Karriem ABdAllah’s Productions presented ESPN2’s Tuesday Night Fights from Essex County College, in the Renaissance City, Newark, New Jersey last night. Once again in New Jersey it was evident how difficult it is to put together a small show. There were a lot of empty seats, the show started late and it was hot, but by the end of the night it turned out to be time well spent.

For the first fight Dhafir Smith, 13-6-2, 3 KO’s arrived from Philly and saw his opponent, Newark’s own Eric Graham 10-2-2, 5 KO’s and then he decided he didn’t want to fight, at least that’s what the ring announcer said. The first fight to take place turned out to be the co-feature a battle of the southpaws featuring Morristown, New Jersey’s Said Ouali 14-2, 8 KO’s against an opponent with an appropriate nickname, Colombus Ohio’s own Manning “The Spoiler” Galloway, 61-17-1, 14 KO’s.

In what turned out to be the fight of the night, Galloway frustrated the less experienced Ouali throughout the eight round bout. Galloway displayed an awkward style, and a nice right jab, complimented by a subtle but effective defense as well as excellent endurance for a guy that has had 80 professional fights and is 44 years old. In fact Galloway made his professional debut back in December of 1978, just about six months after Said was born. It was evident during the fight that Galloway has probably forgotten what Said hasn’t leaned yet.

Despite a game effort by Said, who lost two points for head butting and for holding, Galloway had an answer for most of what he had to offer. In the end it was a unanimous decision for Galloway, who pulled off his 3rd upset victory in a row, after beating Byron Mackie 22-10, and former Olympian Ricardo Williams, 9-1 in his last two bouts. Even with out the deductions, Galloway would have still won the fight by majority decision. A lot of fighters can learn a lesson from the veteran Gallery who explained to the Ouali fans as he exited the ring, “I was just doing my job”.

The main event featured Paterson New Jersey’s Omar Shieka 25-6, 17 KO’s taking on “The Harlem Hammer” James Butler 20-4,12 KO’s. Butler who had former champ Iran “The Blade” Barkley in his corner is remembered by most boxing fans as the guy who punched Robert Allen after he was declared the loser by decision and the gloves came off back in 2001, after which he was arrested. After a two year absence from the ring he had returned early this year and was 2-1 in that time. Shieka who has been seeking bigger fights took this fight after Butler called him out, but had mentioned that he was looking for bigger fights.

It appeared that the first couple of rounds were a feeling out process for Shieka, however he never seemed to get going. Shieka pawed with the jab while Butler shot his. Butler jabbed and stepped inside after any action smothering Shieka’s wide shots. Butler controlled the action early, while Shieka attempted to come on late, but had difficulty landing anything with authority. There were many close rounds in the fight; as it appeared Butler controlled the tempo, but Shieka, especially late in the fight, was the aggressor. The question would be was it effective aggressiveness?

When the verdict was announced, a split decision the crowd was unsure and opinions were varied. Shieka was the man everyone came to see, but Butler appeared to have the right style to make Shieka look bad. Butler seemed to control the tempo and fight his fight, but did he do enough? After watching the fight I thought Butler won it, but when I tallied my scorecard I had it 96-95, surprisingly for Shieka, The judges came back with 96-94 Butler, 96-94 Shieka, and 97-93 Shieka. Shieka and his people must have breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the final judges score, which probably preserved his chance for a bigger fight to come. In fact, after watching this fight there may be a lot more guys in the division interested in fighting Omar Shieka.

Jersey Fighters to Watch (in Attendance)

Olympian, Super-middleweight prospect Jerson Ravelo, 13-1, 9 KO’s

Junior-Welerweight prospect Julio Aquino, 14-2, 13 KO’s

And

WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Arturo Gatti, 38-6, 29 KO’s