Hank Lundy Channels Philadephia Roots Ahead of HBO Debut

12/5/2014

Michael Parente

Under the watchful eye of the media capital of the world, Brooklyn, N.Y., the heart of the Big Apple, Philadelphia's "Hammerin'" Hank Lundy drew inspiration from his hometown as he offered one final warning Thursday to Thomas Dulorme in advance of their highly-anticipated junior welterweight bout Saturday at the Barclays Center.

"Guys like us, everything we had, we had to take it, and that's what I'm gonna do," said Lundy, standing alongside fellow Philadelphia fighters Bernard Hopkins and Gabriel Rosado, the latter who is also fighting Saturday on the televised portion of HBO's Boxing After Dark.

The outspoken slugger from the City of Brotherly Love, promoted exclusively by Jimmy Burchfield's CES Boxing, faces his toughest test to date against Dulorme (21-1, 14 KOs), the reigning North American Boxing Federation (NABF) light welterweight champion who arrived in New York late Wednesday and promised to give Lundy (25-3-1, 12 KOs) a "rude awakening" in response to Lundy's recent claim that Dulorme is a "basic" fighter.

At Thursday's press conference, Lundy refused to back down, instead channeling inspiration from Hopkins, a seven-time world champion who earlier this year became the oldest fighter in boxing history to win a world title at the age of 49, and Rosado, who faces David Lemieux in Saturday's main event for the NABF middleweight title, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye of the Tiger Management.

The 10-round Lundy-Dulorme bout, which will air beginning at 10 p.m. ET on HBO, is presented in conjunction with Gary Shaw Productions and CES Boxing. Both Dulorme's title and the vacant North American Boxing Association (NABA) light welterweight championship are on the line.

"When you've got a guy like this coming from Philadelphia, all you can do is lead and try to mimic this man right here, and that's what 'Hammerin'' Hank is all about," Lundy said while pointing to Hopkins, a minority partner with Golden Boy Promotions. "Rosado? That's one of my favorite fighters. Hard work and dedication, just like myself. Nothing was given to him."

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Lundy then turned to Dulorme and said, "Look into my eyes, man. You see death in my eyes. You see war.

"Everything you read, everything you see, I'm the real deal. It ain't no fronting. I'm coming to fight and I'm putting on a show. It's all blood, sweat and tears in there when you're messing with me."

Thursday's animated press conference is just a precursor to what should be another edge-of-your seat bout featuring Lundy, who fought 10 times on ESPN before making his Showtime debut in February with a win over Angelo Santana in Cleveland. As Burchfield noted earlier this week, Lundy brought huge ratings to ESPN with not only his bravado and machismo outside of the ring, but also his endless energy between the ropes.

The 5-foot-7 Lundy is the underdog against the taller, more experienced Dulorme, who has won five consecutive fights since his only career loss to Luis Carlos Abregu in 2012. It's a familiar position for the Philadelphia native, who has thrived on playing second fiddle in the press clippings prior to the opening bell. His trademark, aside from his brash, no-nonsense approach with the boxing media, is his willingness to fight anyone at any given time. The combined record of Lundy's last 11 opponents prior to his bout in May is 232-18-3, which includes wins over former world champion David Diaz and current lightweight title-holder Richar Abril.

"Those two titles, best believe they're coming home to Philadelphia," Lundy said.

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