Cheers & Jeers » This time, Lange looks to drop the bomb
POSTED October 27, 2008 | 11:00 PM
Tangling with Fontaine Cabell in the first round of a fight last year, local boxer Jimmy Lange got his left arm caught in an awkward position and saw his career flash before his eyes.
“I knew it right when it happened,” said Lange of his shoulder injury. “I thought a bomb went off in there.”
Using one arm, Lange fought on for eight rounds, scoring a TKO of Cabell to win the WBC 154-pound Continental Americas title. Afterward, Lange discovered he had a torn labrum and his rotator cuff was ripped from the bone.
For a boxer with no injury history, it was sobering news.
“It’s such a play-it-by-ear career,” said Lange. “But I never got to the point where I asked myself, ‘Man, am I not going to be able to come back from this?’ or ‘Am I not mentally ready to go ahead?’”
It was a long 17 months, but the Arlington-native finally is ready to return. Saturday night at the Patriot Center, Lange (28-3-2, 20 KOs) will fight journeyman Grover Wiley (30-11-1, 14 KOs).
“I don’t know anything about him, other than he beat Julio Cesar Chavez,” said Lange. “I guess that’s all I need to know.”
Sending the former great into retirement at age 43 is Wiley’s claim to fame. Oddly enough, it is Chavez’s son, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., who now holds the belt Lange relinquished during his recovery.
During his 11-year professional career, Lange has built a loyal local following, fighting 27 of his 33 bouts in the area, including his last five at the Patriot Center. Lange received national attention in 2005 when he appeared in the reality series, “The Contender.”
Along the way, Lange, a father of three and graduate of Bishop O’Connell, has attracted fans by being accessible, articulate, and different. After all, how many boxers are from private schools?
“Those people still exist who question whether I belong,” said Lange. “I don’t even acknowledge that. When you are naked, alone in the middle of the ring — his history and my history — it doesn’t matter.”
2 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Nov 1, 2008
ronkarona@hotmail.com: "Jimmy is one of the toughest fighters i've seen. i have been to all of jimmy s fights except one or two and hes always put on a show. Once in a while people criticise him by saying something like " who has he fought" or " i never heard of any of those guys hes beaten". I can honetly tell you that the guys who come into Jimmys back yard to fight him ALWAYS come to fight. Usually its not only jimmys biggest fight but its their biggest fight of their career. I always thought Jimmy would become a World Champion , ever since he knocked out that guy at the DC armory in 98. Soon he will get his shot. i have no doubt."POSTED Dec 29, 2008
bdthom59@embarqmail.com: "I have known jimmy lange all my life. I have known his father john over 50 yrs. Jimmy is not only a great boxer but a good man and a great citzen. John Lange is my best friend and he would give you the shirt off his back if needed. He has raised Jimmy the same way. Jimmy's chance for a title will come. B. Thomas"