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CLEAR Temp: 50 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Tuesday, October 1, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 17, 2002 Daniel Boone Wyatt works over a sparring partner during a recent practice. Wyatt, 16, who possesses a lethal left hook that has floored three opponents, will fight in the national tournament that runs Tuesday through Saturday in Marquette, Mich. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Wyatt heads to nationals packing a wallop The Eagle Point fighter has recorded three knockouts in three bouts this season By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Of the dozens of fighters that Bulldog Boxing Club manager Jimmy Pedrojetti has coached since the club opened seven years ago, no one packs a punch like Daniel Boone Wyatt. The Eagle Point fighter has had only three bouts since launching a comeback three months ago, but all three have ended in bone-jarring, teeth-rattling, nose-bloodying knockouts. Wyatt weighs only 147 pounds, but don’t be fooled: He’s been rigorously lifting weights for the past nine months, turning a once-skinny upper body into a muscular physique. Wyatt has used that extra power to develop a left hook so lethal that it left his last opponent — Houston Gallaway of Lincoln Creek, Idaho — on the canvas and out cold for the better part of one minute. Gallaway was subsequently handed a 30-day suspension to clear out his cobwebs. "He’s like a grown man hitting boys," says Pedrojetti of Wyatt, a 16-year-old, senior-to-be at Eagle Point High. "We’ve got some tough guys in our gym, but that left hook is as hard as anything that’s thrown, to be honest." Wyatt knocked out his only two opponents at the Junior Olympic Western Regional Tournament in Blackfoot, Idaho, last month — both in the first round — to earn a berth in the national tournament that runs Tuesday through Saturday in Marquette, Mich. In his only other fight since his comeback, Wyatt KO’d an opponent in Reno, Nev., in the second round. Wyatt’s thunderous punches are unusual for someone his size, but stranger still is his flurry of knockouts at the amateur level. Amateur bouts last only three rounds, and the fighters wear headgear and use gloves that are heavier than those used at the professional level. The best amateur boxers are usually the ones who connect with combinations of punches and move around the ring. "It’s very unusual to see anyone do what Boone has done," nods Pedrojetti. "And it’s not like he’s fighting wimps. That Gallaway kid is the Idaho state champion at 156 pounds and is supposed to be a real tough fighter." Wyatt came to the Bulldog club as a wiry, 119-pound, 12-year-old four years ago. He didn’t possess nearly the power that he does now, but he was good enough to post a 35-8 record and emerge as a runner-up at the national Silver Gloves tournament in 1999. "The first time Boone ever got into the ring, he was going against a kid with a 6-0 record," Pedrojetti says. "But he buckled him with a hard right hand in the third round and wound up beating him. "Even then, you could see the determination in Boone’s face." Wyatt was one of the best young fighters in the club but his home life was a mess and he quit in 2000. He started to run around with the wrong crowd, skipped school and was nailed with an assault charge. He was likely headed for even bigger trouble when one of his uncles — Mark Wyatt — took him into his home. The elder Wyatt’s first order of business was to get his nephew back in school. "He went down to school and helped me get back on the right track," Boone Wyatt says. "He had some expectations as far as going to class every day and being home at a certain time. "I guess I needed that kind of structure." Wyatt began to lift weights seriously in the fall of last year, often lifting as many as five days a week. His maximums soared to 245 pounds in the bench press, 350 in the dead lift and 400 on the squat rack. He started to gain weight, and the muscles in his arms, chest and abdomen began to gain definition. With his enhanced physique and new purposefulness in life, Wyatt yearned to come back to the ring and finally showed up for his first workout in more than two years in February of this year. An obvious question is whether Wyatt has obtained enough work in the ring during his comeback to win a national title. Three fights isn’t much of a foundation. But Wyatt has routinely sparred with the Bulldog club’s best boxers, such as Ricky Gallegos, who is the same weight but three years Wyatt’s senior, and heavyweight Mike Wilson, the only Bulldog boxer to have won a national Junior Olympic crown. "It’s possible that Boone could get outpointed and outslicked by someone who moves around a lot but still gets in his punches," Pedrojetti says. "But Boone has some maneuverability of his own. "Ever since he was a young kid, he’s had the ability to stay just out the range of his opponent. He’s got a nice feel for range." Wyatt hasn’t entered the ring in any of his three comeback bouts thinking he was going to obliterate his opponent in a minute or two. It’s just worked out that way. "I’m not going out there trying to brawl — I’m just boxing and picking my spots," he says. "When I see the other guy getting hurt, that’s when I go for it." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S