Return of the Puncher

"It's getting to be make-or-break for me."

by Mike Newall

The other afternoon, the boxer Gerald Nobles took a deep breath, shuffled his feet a bit and began to punch the 80-pound heavy bag hanging in the Marian Anderson Recreation Center boxing gym. Gerald is a professional boxer out of South Philly who has long owned one of the most destructive left hooks in the heavyweight division, so it is something to watch him punish the bag. 

"I'm 36 years old. It's getting to be make-or-break for me," Gerald said. The gym was quiet, with only one other boxer working a speed bag. Gerald's punches echoed through the room like hammer blasts. "The clock is ticking on me," he continued. "Right now, pretty much if someone wants to fight me I'll take it, whoever it is."

Gerald should not be in this position, having to settle for whatever fight he can get, not at this point in his career. He has 26 professional wins against only one loss. He made his reputation only about 15 years ago, as a tough sparring partner for Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and James Thunder. In his own bouts, he beat whomever was put in front of him, usually in a couple of rounds. He fought Maurice Harris when Harris was still someone to be looked at. Harris hit him with a big right and Gerald didn't go anywhere. He responded with a left hook and uppercut. Harris' body went limp and he was out for nearly two minutes. USA Boxing ranked it the No. 3 knockout of 1996.

Gerald has been knocked to the canvas only once, and that was when a former heavyweight champion named Bruce Seldon caught him with a wild left hook one night four years ago in Vegas. Gerald got up at the count of six and began to open up with hooks of his own and when it was over, Seldon quit with fractured ribs, a broken nose and jaw, and a collapsed eye socket.

Next came the bout with the 7-foot-2, 325-pound "Russian Giant," Nikolay Valuev, in front of 30,000 fans at the Big Box arena in Germany. Gerald was ranked 10th in the world then. Don King sent Gerald to Germany with only two weeks notice and without ever telling him exactly who his opponent was.

Gerald got his first look at the Giant at the weigh-in.

"Just more of him to hit," smiled Gerald into the microphone.

At 6 foot 3, he was nearly on his toes to hit Valuev's chin. Still, by the fourth, Gerald rocked him with three big hooks and everybody knew the Giant was in trouble when he started lifting up his legs in pain whenever Gerald went to the body, including the ref, who disqualified him on a bogus low-blow call.

The Giant went on to win the World Boxing Association Heavyweight title, while Gerald went home and waited for his phone to ring. Gerald was promised title shots. But boxing is all about promoters finding their fighters easy paths to the title, and no one cared very much to fight a heavy puncher with little widespread name recognition. King shelved Gerald for two years, concentrating on other boxers. A slew of lesser fighters got their title shots while Gerald got fat. He threatened to sue King before he released him from his contract, and now's he fought only two fights in the last four years, both against journeymen. Lately, Gerald's taken to sitting ringside at local heavyweight bouts, talking trash and waving bills, unsuccessfully trying to goad fighters into making matches with him.

Outside the ring, Gerald is a polite man. He speaks clearly and his movements are fast, the only sign of his age being a small gray patch in his hair.

"You can't count out an old horse with good legs," he likes to say.

A few weeks ago, Gerald got a call from a promoter asking him to fight on a card in the Vegas Hilton. Gerald immediately agreed and now wears a wet suit in the gym, to help sweat off the extra weight.

"This is an important fight for us," Gerald's manager, Elvin "the Reverend" Thompson, was saying the other evening. "We got some serious money people who are looking at Gerald right now, and whoever they put in front of us, we have to shine. It's show and tell time."

The fight could lead to more bouts, said Thompson, a promotional contract, a ranking and, eventually, hopefully, a title shot.

"It ain't too late for me," said Gerald. "I'm a puncher and a puncher always got a chance."

(mike.newall@citypaper.net)