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Highlights of Juan Laporte vs Billy Costello in a Middleweight fight on FOX Sports Net
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00:00With a little family revenge.
00:02I fought my brother Vinny many, many years ago, you know.
00:06And he beat my brother Vinny, so I said, well, I can't let him with me.
00:10I'd be like, if you beat both of us in the same thing, I can't do that.
00:13I beat his brother. His brother, to me, is a better technical fighter than he was.
00:19I mean, Billy, Vinny goes boxing.
00:23Billy has got to come in there to fight.
00:25I mean, and I like guys that come to fight because I don't want to be facing anybody.
00:30So I think it's going to be a good fight.
00:32Billy's got to stick up to his words. I've got to stick up to mine.
00:35I'm going in there to win.
00:38Back to the Crown Coliseum here in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
00:42Earlier tonight, a fight in the middleweight division between Juan Laporte and Billy Costello.
00:47And it's interesting to see these two, Rich, fighting in the middleweight division.
00:50Well, it's hard to believe that they actually are.
00:52But if you take a look at their weights, 154, 159.
00:56And Laporte was anywhere from a bantamweight to a featherweight in his best fighting days.
01:01He would fight as light as 118 pounds.
01:04And here he is fighting in the junior middle and middleweight ranks.
01:07And Costello, although he was a junior lightweight, Barry, has been really walking around at better than 190.
01:13Yeah, as a matter of fact, as recently as four weeks ago, he was at 195 pounds.
01:18Hard to imagine.
01:19And, of course, he weighed in at 159.
01:22And fighters oftentimes will weigh in at one weight.
01:25And then when it comes to fight night, be at a very different weight.
01:27And I'm sure that's the case tonight with Billy.
01:29Well, it'll be interesting to see if Billy then can go 10 strong rounds because he's lost so much weight
01:34in such a short amount of time.
01:36He had a really fine record as an active fighter, 39 and 2.
01:40And he was a world champion in the 140-pound division.
01:45So that's a look at Billy Costello.
01:47Laporte, on the other hand, as Costello is introduced to the crowd.
01:52Laporte is a guy who also, much like Costello, known as a warrior.
01:56You can see he's been training outdoors wearing a t-shirt.
01:59There's no question about that.
02:00He comes in with a record of 40-16 with 22 knockouts.
02:06He's a warrior, probably the best way to describe Laporte.
02:08Well, you know, I really liked Juan Laporte when he was active as a fighter.
02:12He gave us some great fights constantly.
02:14He was on national TV a lot in the late 70s and the early 80s.
02:18And the hallmark of his fights were always action fights.
02:22And it was no exception tonight either.
02:24Round number one, Laporte coming out very aggressively.
02:27Well, I thought he was the more sharper of the two fighters, Barry.
02:31And he proved that early as Costello was sluggish and rusty in the early going.
02:34And look at the combinations.
02:36And that one staggered Costello right off the bat.
02:38And it staggered him right at the end of the round.
02:40And Billy Costello was very fortunate.
02:42You can see going back to his corner really on rubber wheels.
02:46Yes, he was very shaky after the good combination in the right hand by Laporte.
02:50He was exchanging combinations with Laporte.
02:53But that was the big punch and maybe the biggest punch of the fight, that right hand.
02:57And Laporte spent a little too much posing time right there.
03:00Instead of going right after his man, I think he could have run right in after him.
03:03Right here, look, he's just walking and letting Costello get away.
03:07Moving ahead now to round number three.
03:09And once again, really the story early in the fight was Juan Laporte.
03:14Well, he was just sharp or early.
03:15It took Costello quite a while to get going.
03:18And again, falling victim to that right hand.
03:20Sharp combinations from Laporte.
03:22Much sharper punching from Laporte earlier than Billy Costello was able to show.
03:27Costello actually had to work off the ring rust as the fight wore on.
03:31Moving ahead to round number five now.
03:33And finally, it seemed that Billy Costello might have been getting on track a little bit.
03:36Yeah, he did much better in this round.
03:37You saw that left hook as the round got underway from Costello.
03:41Fighting in here at close quarters and not giving Laporte a chance to get off with those real sharp combinations.
03:47Trying to push the action, lean on his opponent.
03:50Remember, he's a lot heavier, really, in natural weight.
03:52And you have to figure that Costello put on a lot of weight between the weigh-in and fight time.
03:56Yeah, very conceivable that he could be fighting almost as much as 170 pounds.
04:00That would not be unusual.
04:02So, a very real difference between these two.
04:05Move ahead now to round number six.
04:08And once again, the warrior in Laporte really started to show itself here.
04:12Well, Costello continuing to try to crowd him.
04:14Keep the pressure on.
04:16Not give Laporte any punching room.
04:18Work to the body if he can.
04:19But look at Laporte fight off of the ropes rather than slide off or clinch.
04:23And he hurt Costello in that exchange.
04:25And Costello, again, a little bit wobbly as Laporte landing the sharper punches.
04:32And negating completely the reach and the height advantage of Billy Costello.
04:37Take another look at it here, Rich.
04:39Laporte, when he's in trouble, maybe at his best.
04:41And it seemed as though he was landing the cleaner shot.
04:44And Laporte, I'm surprised, Barry, that he was able to actually, on a couple of those occasions, to hurt Costello.
04:50Moving ahead to round number seven now.
04:51Both boxers starting to wear down just a little bit.
04:54But still, we overused the word warriors, perhaps.
04:57But I think in this case, it's applicable.
04:59Yeah, they were at this point pushing their punches just a little bit.
05:03But when they would exchange, then the sharpness, I think, of Laporte would come out.
05:08He was a little bit sharper tonight than Costello.
05:10Although Costello was consistently moving forward.
05:13But again, you see that big exchange as the round comes to an end.
05:16Tenth and final round.
05:17And they have an idea of things still in doubt.
05:19We don't need to be laying inside with him.
05:21We don't need to be doing that.
05:22He's tired.
05:23Oh, my.
05:23Second.
05:24Oh, my.
05:24We know he's just shaking that he's tired.
05:27It really got Stella for an honest list.
05:28And so am I.
05:30So it was time to suck it up for one final round here.
05:34And try to give it their all for the final three minutes with the decision certainly very much in doubt.
05:40And both fighters really looked like they still did have a little bit left despite the great weight loss by
05:46Costello and the ring rust.
05:48And Laporte on the other end had a gain weight that comes in here rather won Laporte rather than Laporte.
05:55And Laporte trying wide swinging punches there.
05:57Was beaten to the punch on a couple of occasions by Costello, who had a pretty good tenth round with
06:02the fight maybe on the line.
06:04Look at this exchange between these two guys.
06:06Listen, you won't see guys 20 years their junior coming up with exchanges like this a lot of times.
06:12That was a good one to end the fight.
06:13And right now, here was the decision as we take it to the center of the ring.
06:19Ladies and gentlemen, we have a split decision.
06:28Judge Donald Thomas scores the bout 97-95, Costello.
06:37Judge Bill Clancy scores it 96-95, Laporte.
06:48And Judge Joel Dovenbarger scores it 96-94 to the winner by split decision, Billy Costello.
07:07Well, I think the most surprised person in the place was the winner of the fight, Billy Costello.
07:12Did you see that take that he did?
07:14On the other hand, Juan Laporte can do nothing but shrug his shoulders and just kind of smile.
07:20And earlier, John Saraceno talked with a gracious winner.
07:23All right, Billy, you looked very surprised when they announced the decision.
07:26Why was that?
07:28Well, first of all, I'd like to give praise all to Jesus Christ.
07:30Well, I made this weight in less than four weeks, so I came down from 195.
07:36And I've got to give it to Juan.
07:36He's a tough warrior.
07:38And, you know, to me, truthfully, it should have been a draw, if anything, because it was a close fight.
07:43And he was pressing hard.
07:44I mean, he was tired, but he wasn't as tired as I was.
07:46And I take my hat off to him.
07:48He's a tough warrior.
07:48Juan Laporte is a tough warrior.
07:50Now, if I was strong and I had more time, I shouldn't have been in the contest.
07:53But I've got to say, it was a very close fight.
07:55It should have been a draw.
07:56That's my truth of opinion.
07:58Well, thanks for the honesty, because in boxing, that's very rare to hear that from a fighter.
08:02And me, I'm official, so I'm going to call what color it is.
08:04I can't cheat it, because I know he trained just like me, you know.
08:07And to me, it should have been a draw, because, truthfully, if I would train like I was supposed to
08:11train,
08:12I had the right time.
08:12There's no way a featherweight can beat me.
08:15No way possible.
08:16But he put up a hell of a fight.
08:17He's a strong kid, excuse my French.
08:19And I think he should have been a draw of anything.
08:21Early in the fight, it looked like you had a hard time getting off the first couple, three rounds,
08:26just trying to get yourself back into things.
08:28When did you feel like you were starting to get back into the flow of it a little bit?
08:31About the third round, I started picking the flow.
08:33You know, it took you off so long, you know, boxing in the ring and the gym in the ring
08:37is a complete different thing.
08:38It's been two years since I've done it.
08:39I mean, what happened, your mind tells you you want to do it, but your body just don't go that
08:42way.
08:43It looks easy, but it don't work that way.
08:45It's very, very hard.
08:46It takes time.
08:47Where can you go from this?
08:48You won this fight.
08:49Is this something now you're going to get back in the gym, and now that you're going to have more
08:52time,
08:53where you can continue to come back and maybe fight in another Legends fight?
08:57If I have the correct amount of time, sure, I'll be mentally and physically prepared for it.
09:01But this, I wasn't 100%.
09:03I wasn't physically and mentally prepared for this fight.
09:05But, you know, a warrior, a true warrior, he's going to take the fight anyway, regardless of what happened.
09:09Because that's what his heart tells him to do.
09:10And once you become a fighter, it's very hard just to say you're not going to fight anymore.
09:14Because it's in you.
09:14It's like a drug.
09:16Well, a refreshingly candid interview with the winner, Billy Costello.
09:19Split decision over Juan Laporte earlier tonight.
09:22Greg Page on a seventh round TKO over Tim Witherspoon.
09:26A reminder that you can watch the fights every Sunday night.
09:28It's Sunday Night Fights on Fox Sportsnet.
09:31They come your way at 7 o'clock.
09:34Still to come, our main event as Larry Holmes and Bonecrusher Smith get ready to do it again 15 years
09:42later.
09:53Welcome back to Sunday Night Fights on Fox Sportsnet.
09:59Welcome back to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
10:01Just about set for our main event.
10:03You can watch the Sunday Night Fights every Sunday night right here on Fox Sportsnet.
10:07We'll see you next time.
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