Undefeated Edgewood Boxer Fighting for Fame

All eyes in Head Bangers' Gym in Washington shift to the two boxers in opposite corners. As the bell sounds, the two chiseled fighters approach each other and meet in the center of the ring.  

Wearing a yellow head protector and matching gloves, 27-year-old Lamont Peterson, of Washington, fires the first punch. Peterson's piston-like left jab thuds against the face of his 20-year-old counterpart, Emanuel Taylor, who wears red headgear and gloves.  

As the two spar, the veteran Peterson gets the best of his younger foe, a circumstance most apparent when a blistering right hand whacks the left side of Taylor's body with a sound that resonates like a flat board striking a hard surface.  

Nevertheless, Taylor, of Edgewood, stands his ground—a testament, he says, to his work ethic.  

"I do 100 sit-ups a day, so I really don't feel his body shots that much. If he lands a good body shot, I just eat it and shrug it off," says Taylor, a 2009 graduate of Edgewood High School. "I know that he's a world-class fighter, but his punches don't really bother me. In the real fights, I just block them and I just keep coming forward."

So it goes over the course of the first of their six fast-paced three-minute rounds.

"People think that I'm crazy for bringing him out here,” says Taylor's barrel-chested 50-year-old trainer, David Sewell. “Manny's in there sparring with a world-class fighter. You see how he's standing in there and giving as good as what he's getting? I mean, he's more than handling it. 

He's got that 'it,' you know?" Sewell continues. "Some people got 'it,' and some people don't."  

The intangible that Sewell described is why he believes Taylor will have little trouble securing his 11th victory without a loss–perhaps even his ninth knockout–on Friday night. That’s when Taylor fights 33-year-old Guadalupe Diaz (5-8-3, one KO) of Chicago in a scheduled six-round, junior welterweight (140 pounds) bout at the Maryland Sportsplex in Millersville, Anne Arundel County.  

"I think that Emanuel Taylor is just as good, if not better than, most contenders right now. And he's still learning, and that's the frightening thing about him," says Peterson's trainer, Barry Hunter. "You've got a lot of guys fighting on HBO and Showtime, and on pay-per-view. Some deserve to be there, some don't. But this young man here, not only does he deserve to be there, but in a very short amount of time, I know and expect that he will be there."  

Nearby, Taylor removes his sweat-soaked red tank-top to reveal a tattooed chest that reads, "Est. in 1990."  

"That's the year that I was born," Taylor says. "That's the year that my parents created the monster."  

Across his abdomen is the word "Tranzformer," a gift from a friend two days earlier.

"That's my fighting name, and I've always wanted to get it. This one only cost me $25 because my homeboy did it for me," says Taylor. "This represents who I am. Tranzformer means that on the streets, I'm sort of quiet. But in the ring, I go all out and there's no holding back. I transform, and I let my hands do the talking."  

Taylor is coming off of October's six-round, unanimous decision over Puerto Rico's Laureano Laracuente (7-4-1, two KOs) that was contested at the Martin's Valley Mansion in Cockeysville, Baltimore County, a win that ended Taylor's streak of three straight knockouts.  

For evidence that Taylor has "it," as Sewell contends, look at a bout last May in Huntington, NY. Back then, a 19-year-old Taylor walked into what amounted to the hometown of rising, 24-year-old Ayi Bruce of Albany, NY.   

A fighter who had scored nine straight stoppages after debuting with a six-round decision in November 2006, Bruce sported a gaudy mark of 15-1, with 10 knockouts, when he met Taylor at Oheka Castle in Huntington. 

"In New York, when I fought that dude who was 15-1, I know that I was brought in to be an opponent. But I stopped him in the third round with a body shot. Nobody thought that I could do it, but I did it," Taylor says. "I know that I was brought in to be an opponent, but I never worried about that or the crowd or anything."  

With the victory over Bruce, Taylor rose to 8-0 with his seventh knockout.  

"People asked me, 'Why are you taking that fight [against Bruce]?'" Sewell recalls. "I said, 'Because I know what I've got.'"  

On Monday, his regimen included 15 minutes of rope jumping "to get the heart rate going," according to Sewell. Then it was four, three-minute rounds of shadow boxing, followed by the sparring sessions and four rounds on the heavy bag.   

Before he became a trainer, Sewell was a fighter. The former cruiserweight (200 pounds) out of Pensacola, FL retired in December 1995 with a mark of 15-4-1 that included eight knockouts.  

Sewell then turned to working with boxers. He assisted legendary trainers such as the late Eddie Futch and Georgie Benton, and was in the corners of world champions such as Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr., Riddick Bowe and Oliver McCall.  

When he moved to Baltimore eight years ago, Sewell met an old Army buddy, Maxell Taylor Sr., whose two young sons already were boxing at the city's UMAR Boxing Club.  

"Max started telling me about his two kids. I think that Manny was about 11 or 12 years old. I trained Manny's brother, Maxell Jr., as well. But Manny's more adapted to my style and we've bonded. So now, I've been training him for about seven, eight years," says Sewell. "When I first got Manny, he wasn't no slickster. He more or less came straight forward.

"But as he's gotten older, I've had him slipping and sliding more. So he's a capable boxer, which is his foundation," he added.

Unlike his 26-year-old sibling, Maxell Taylor Jr. (15-3-1, six KOs), who is a southpaw (or left-hander), Emanuel has displayed a penchant for finishing off his opponents.

"A lot of good fighters, you know, they can get tied up in the streets," says Sewell. "But I want Emanuel to put Baltimore on the map, and to let people know that Baltimore does have some good fighters."  

Baltimore has crowned former world titlists such as welterweight Vincent Pettway and heavyweight Hasim Rahman. And sharp-shooting junior welterweight Tim "The Pit Bull" Coleman (18-1-1, five KOs) is considered a star on the rise with blinding footwork and speed.  

"My dream for this kid is to become a world champion, and to invest his money well, and to ride off into the sunset," says Sewell. "That's what I want for this kid. I want him to make it. That's any trainer's dream for his fighter."  

Taylor is confident he will be the area's next belt-holder.  

"It's an honor to get in there and be in there with a guy like Lamont Peterson because that just makes me more determined to push forward and to keep fighting and to push toward my goal," says Taylor. "I want to be in the top 10 of my weight class by the end of this year, if not the next.

"I plan on winning the title within my next five or six fights," he continues. "So by the time I'm, like, 15- or 16-0, I should have a world title. That's what I'm planning on."  

Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs), likewise, has become a believer in Taylor, having watched him grow over the course of their past few years of grueling encounters.

"We've been sparring with Manny for about a good three years now, and he's moving along well," says Peterson. "They bring him up on the regular. I've had fights that he's helped us out for."  

It bodes well that Taylor has gained the respect of Peterson; Peterson’s only loss was in December 2009, in a decision to WBO and WBC king Tim Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs).

"The fact that he can get in there and go with me, at this level, you know, it just says a lot about Manny," Peterson says. "You know, this just lets you know that Manny's the real deal."  

Taylor "has got everything that it takes to be a world champion," Peterson says. "Manny's got power, he's got speed, he's disciplined, and he listens to his corner. He's a hard worker and he learns fast.

"If Manny stays at around 140 [pounds]," he continues, "I would say two years at the most before Manny can start contending for a world title."

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