Dulac native taking a jab at Golden Gloves tourney

Dulac boxer Jonathan Guidry had already left for the evening after a light training session.

His coach and second cousin, Elzie Verdin, had other fighters to work with when an epiphany came to him.

“You want to see the video of Jonathan knocking that guy out?” Verdin asked.

The knockout of Quincey Palmer at the Golden Gloves Mid-South Regional Championships on Feb. 4 propelled Guidry into next week’s National Tournament of Champions, May 4-9 in Salt Lake City.

Enter Verdin’s son, Bradley, who lost in the finals of the 1992 National Golden Gloves Tournament, with an HP notebook computer set to play the video.

The other fighters and Guidry’s brother/trainer/sparring partner, pro boxer “Smilin” Martin Verdin, gather around to watch the carnage.

Early in the second, Guidry dropped the taller, bigger Palmer for a standing eight count. However, it is the next knockdown that was special.

Guidry slips several jabs and connects on a crushing overhand right. Palmer goes face first into the mat on such a perfect trajectory, one must fight the urge to yell, “TIMBER!”

“That was a good knockout. It was nice,” Guidry said matter-of-factly.

This will be Guidry’s second trip to the Golden Gloves national tournament. In 2007, he lost on day two to top-ranked super heavyweight Jonta Willis in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Guidry will have to win three or four fights depending on the number of competitors in his weight class.

“I think I have a better chance this year because last time I was younger,” Guidry said. “I was in awe of being there. It was beautiful, I could never imagine myself being there. I was looking up to everybody. Now, I think it’s time everybody looks up to me.”

Guidry is a natural at the sweet science. As an adolescent, he would go to different gyms to watch his older brother box. However, Guidry did not get serious about the sport until four years ago.

“He used to come to our gym and spar with the other little kids, not to fight, just to do something,” Elzie Verdin said. “He learned a lot just by watching.”

“Martin was like my father figure. I was always around him, watching him box from outside the ring. I just love the sport. I love fighting. I did it off and on for so long, when I finally got serious, it was part of my instinct.”

Since getting serious about the sport, Guidry has won the state Golden Glove tournament four times, including last month in Lafayette.

At 5-foot, 10-inches and 220 pounds, Guidry is usually 40 pounds lighter and gives up several inches of height and reach to his opponents. Being light on his feet and his variety of power punches help him overcome those disadvantages.

“He has a great left hook, an overhand right, footwork, and he’s very agile and quick, which you don’t see in a lot of big guys,” Verdin said.

“I’m always the underdog. That’s what I like because they always underestimate me,” Guidry said.

For him to be successful this year at the national tournament, Verdin is going to work a lot on his defense positioning.

“He gets away with leaving his left hand down because he moves a lot,” Verdin said. “But that gets you in trouble when you face better fighters.”

Verdin also wants Guidry to move more laterally instead of always bobbing and weaving to get inside. To help him with that, Guidry has been sparring against six-foot, seven-inch Cuban fighter Raphael Pedro.

“I want him to be like the early Mike Tyson,” Verdin said. “They both have the same build. What made Tyson great was he was so quick, he could sidestep his opponent’s punches and deliver his own.”

But Guidry believes his biggest advantage in the ring is being able to adapt to his opponent’s weakness.

“I can fight either aggressively or defensively,” he said. “So I try to fight the guy in the style he doesn’t want to fight.”

Whichever way he fights in the national tournament, Guidry knows this is a chance he can’t afford to waste.

He dropped out of Ellender Memorial High School after hurricanes Gustav and Ike completely destroyed his family’s Dulac home last September.

“We lost everything,” he said bluntly. “Gustav blew the roof down and the walls collapsed; then Ike finished it off when the water came in. This is the easy way to try and make it big.”

After staying with another brother, Timmy, Guidry is currently living with his dad, Paul, in Dulac.

With no job and no other means to support himself, this may be Guidry’s best shot at getting into the upper echelon of the sport.

“If I win this tournament, that would be a big accomplishment. I would probably be ranked, and then I could get a contract. Some of the best amateurs get picked up by really good promoters like Golden Boy Productions (run by former five-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya) or Showtime. That’s my goal.”

Dulac amateur boxer Jonathan Guidry spars with his trainer and brother Martin Verdin in preparation for next week’s Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions in Salt Lake City. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF