Local Boxer Jimmy Lange Wins WBU Championship

In the late 1980s, a scrawny, 6-year-old Jimmy Lange hit the gym daily in hopes of one-day winning a world championship in boxing. Saturday night, more than two decades later, Lange (37-4-2, 25 KOs) finally earned his shot at achieving that childhood dream. The local fighter and Raul “El Toro” Munoz (22-15-1, 16 KOs) squared-off for the “World Boxing Union” (WBU) title-belt in front of several thousand fans at The Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

After seemingly falling behind after two rounds, Lange gained momentum and poured on the punches in the following four rounds to eventually lay-out Munoz three times in round-six to become the new WBU Jr. Middleweight Champion of the World.

“It’s a great, great feeling for me. I love it. A lot of hard work has paid off,” said Lange after the fight regarding his new title. “But it’s also a lot of luck. I’m no fool—I had a lot of help to get here.”

Munoz came out strong in rounds one and two, forcing Lange against the ropes and landing a barrage of straight rights and uppercuts onto his opponent’s chin. Yet, Lange seemed content to take the punishment and began to play “rope-a-dope” late in the second round, all the while staying collected. Mid-way through the third, Lange saw that Munoz had tired and went back to sticking his trademark jab to the jaw and forehead of Munoz. Still, Munoz seemed ahead on the card two rounds to one. But in the fourth, Lange’s strategy started paying off as Munoz became frustrated, looking to his corner for help.

“I have patience and I’ve trained myself to have patience. If you keep going at something, it will work,” Lange said. “As soon as he throws me out of my plan, he wins. So, I stayed patient, stuck to my plan, he started breaking down and my jabs started getting through.”

A solid jab knocked Munoz’s mouthpiece out for the second time in the fight and the referee deducted a point from the Mexican fighter for stalling. The tide changed and Lange grew aggressive. The Leesburg local threw three jabs and drove inside to pound the body. Munoz soon lost his legs, no longer able to attack. Lange put an end to the misery of his opponent in the sixth round when he threw a two-punch combination followed by a left hook to Munoz’s jaw, which sent him to the canvas. He regained his composure somewhat and the ref allowed the match to continue. But Lange smelled blood and knocked him down twice more within a minute. Munoz gathered himself by the count of seven but looked as though he could no longer continue and the ref stopped the fight.

The Patriot Center crowd gave the newly crowned champ a standing ovation as he paid tribute to his fans. Lange admitted his opponent was “a strong puncher” but felt secure in his plan of attack. Now that he has reached his life-long goal, what is in store for Lange next as he must defend his title not only in America but throughout Europe as well?

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I just want to go get a drink of water.”

Deservedly so.

For more information on Lange, visit: http://jimmylange.com/