BOXING Richardson eyes 22nd victory

He will fight tonight in the Ringside National Boxing Tournament.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LENEXA, Kan. -- Youngstown's Durrell Richardson takes a 21-4 record into tonight's Ringside National Boxing Tournament.
Richardson, 23, is the son of Chester and nephew of Greg, a former World Boxing Council bantamweight champion.
Richardson had a four-fight sweep to the 147-pound national crown at the University of Denver Arena last June.
In the title bout, he won a unanimous decision over Maxwell Taylor (114-11) to become the first Youngstown native since Earl Lewis to win a national crown.
Jack Loew trains Durrell at the Southside Boxing Club, and coached the Cleveland team at Denver.
Most participants in the national meet were younger than 20, and had at least 100 fights. Durrell's Denver opponents had more than 400 bouts.
The family
The Richardson name is well known in the area as Greg's parents, Ollie and his wife Virginia, had nine children -- five girls and four boys. All of the boys became fighters.
Greg was the best known, winning 300 of 315 amateur bouts, including a 112-pound crown at the national tourney. Greg went on to hold six pro belts, including the WBC bantamweight championship.
Many believe Chester, the oldest brother, was the best of the Richardson family. He fought more than 200 amateur fights, and won five Golden Glove titles in both Youngstown and Cleveland. Chester retired after 18 professional lightweight fights.
Early training
Durrell wanted to fight at age 7, but his mother wouldn't allow it, saying his only reason was to emulate his father. At 13, Chester took him to the Southside Boxing Club.
Durrell won his first fight in 1993, but then lost a one-point decision that soured him on the sport. He graduated from The Rayen School in 1997 and went to Columbus for two years to work. He came home in 2000 and decided to go back to the gym.
"I was watching a fight on ESPN and decided I was better than both of the guys fighting," said Durrell.
Ranked fifth in the nation in his weight class by USA Boxing, Durrell runs at least five mornings a week and is in the gym sometimes six days.
His only ring action since Denver was August 8 at Mountaineer Park on a pro-am, where he put down an opponent for two eight-counts in round one, and stopped him the next round.