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Brock ready for national exposure
Calvin Brock will have trainer Tom Yankello in his corner
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review
Kevin Gorman can be reached via e-mail or 412-320-7812.
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Try World Heavyweight Champion.
The Charlotte-based boxer, trained by Tom Yankello at the World Class Gym in Ambridge, fancies himself as a heavyweight title contender in need of only the national exposure that will make him a household name.
Brock (20-0, 18 knockouts) will get just that when he fights Terry Smith (20-0-1, 15 KOs) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the DePaul Athletic Center in Chicago.
It is the main event of a Budweiser boxing series to be televised live by NBC, prior to the running of the Preakness Stakes. And it will serve as a preview of sorts for Saturday night's Roy Jones Jr.-Antonio Tarver pay-per-view fight.
"This is going to propel me," said Brock, 29. "This is a highly anticipated, highly watched event. People have been hearing great things about me. They just haven't seen me. This is a great opportunity for me."
Yankello believes that a convincing victory by Brock could put him in contention for a heavyweight belt. Since hiring Yankello as his trainer, the 6-foot-2, 227-pound Brock has won 10 of his past 11 fights by knockout. Even so, he remains unranked by boxing's sanctioning bodies in the heavyweight division.
"This fight will catapult him to HBO, to top-10 fights," Yankello said. "Calvin has the charisma and the credentials, with being an Olympian. He has what it takes to be a heavyweight champion. They're looking for a new superstar to electrify the division."
Brock is confident that Smith, whose only blemish was a draw with Kendrick Releford in October, will meet a similar fate as his predecessors. They fought as amateurs in the first round of the 1998 Golden Gloves national championships, with Brock winning by decision on his way to the national title.
"I beat him all over the ring," Brock said. "I just didn't knock him out. ... That was six years ago. He's a better fighter now, but he's getting into the ring with a future heavyweight champion of the world. He's going to know it when the bell rings."
After graduating from North Carolina at Charlotte with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Brock earned a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, where he lost in the first round at the Sydney Games. He left a position as an operation call analyst at Bank of America - hence, the Boxing Banker alias - to concentrate full-time on boxing.
When his promotional company, America Presents, went bankrupt, Brock took a seven-year hiatus from the sport. That's when he took up tap dancing. After seven months, he had progressed to a five-year level. Now, he's getting ready to turn pro and is booking appearance dates.
"Boxing and tap are totally different fundamentals," Brock said. "But my body never gets stale when I'm not in the ring. I stay in condition. It keeps me light on my feet."
Brock and Yankello first met at the 2000 Olympic Trials. They were reintroduced when Brock worked in the same Charlotte office building as Mark Yankello, who recommended that Brock train with his brother.
Brock said he has improved his conditioning, nutrition and technical development while training with Yankello, who counts featherweight Verquan Kimbrough, lightweight Monty Clay and heavyweight Abraham Okine - who sparred with Brock on Tuesday - among his stable of fighters.
"He can do it all," Yankello said of Brock. "He boxes very well on the outside and he's great on the inside. I think he's a bigger, stronger version of James Toney.
"People will get to see Saturday."
