By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Theodore Brown wounded Hilo’s fighting pride, and hometown product Tyler Leopoldino is taking it upon himself to feed that antagonist a knuckle sandwich with a side order of kidney kicks.
After Brown won the Toughman Hawaii 120-pound flyweight belt, he turned into a miniature Muhammad Ali and boasted, “I can beat anybody in Hilo. I’m the best at that weight. That’s why I have the belt. I’ll fight and beat anybody in Hilo.”
The Oahu champion will get his first chance to back up his big talk, putting his belt on the line tonight against Leopoldino at the Toughman Hawaii Challengers, which will feature Ka’u knockout artist Dylan Rush vs. Chris Barnard in the main event for the super heavyweight title.
“That statement he made at the last show motivated me to train harder and prove I’m two steps ahead of him in the fight game,” said Leopoldino, a 2011 Waiakea graduate attending Hawaii Community College. “I thought that was disrespectful. He only fought one time on the Big Island. He didn’t fight anybody close to me. This Saturday we’ll see.”
The 5-foot-6 Leopoldino started boxing as a 12-year-old and transitioned into kickboxing a couple years later. He holds a 5-2 record in kickboxing, and made his mixed martial debut a victorious one last month.
At the Challengers, a boxing ring will be used. It’s 22 feet by 22 feet. In MMA, the octagon’s diameter is 32 feet, with 30 feet of space from point to point. And at first glance, the ring looks spacious with room to run, but that’s deceptive when corners are considered.
Get caught in a corner and it could turn into a torture chamber — something Leopoldino is hoping to employ.
“I grew up in boxing. I fought in boxing over 10 times,” said Leopoldino, whose ring record is 11-2. “I think I fight way better in a boxing ring. There’s nowhere to run in the ring. I like bringing pressure when I fight. I’ll catch him in a corner and he’s not going nowhere.”
Leopoldino, who’s majoring in welding at HCC, said fighting in cages and rings has turned his life around.
“I grew up with the wrong crowd. I was a punk when I was young, picking a lot of fights,” he said. “As I grew older, I looked into the fight game. It’s like an adrenaline feeling, getting that victory, and I started to take it more serious. It’s motivated me. It’s one of my biggest motivations. All the boys at the gym push me to do good, especially my coach (Tony Pagan).
“He sees talent in me and tells me every day I can be somebody. I know I can be somebody. And I’m not stopping until I’m that somebody. I enjoy all of it, boxing, kickboxing, MMA. MMA is my biggest goal to go somewhere in the MMA game.”
Leopoldino trains out of Waiakea Recreation Center, where Pagan runs his AP Boxing Club and Chris Cisneros trains fighters at his Maverick MMA.
He started as a boxing novice, not knowing the basics. Now Leopoldino is going in armed and confident — hunting for his first title.
“When I first started with Tony, I never know nothing,” he said. “I never know how to throw a 1-2 or a left hook. He taught me everything I know with my hands. He’s a real supportive coach, always teaching us to go hard or go home, and when we step in there give 100 percent and go for the win and go for a knockout.
“Everybody knows Chris in Hilo. Chris is the man for kicks. He’s all about movement and head movement and also about training hard, pushing the boys hard. He wants to see us succeed.”
Leopoldino’s normal weight is 135 pounds. He’s been hitting the gym every day. And with Brown’s bulletin-board material, he’s got a surplus of motivation.
“That title is definitely coming back to the Big Island and staying on the Big Island,” he said. “I’ve been training super hard. I cut a lot of weight for this. I feel I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m bringing the heat and the pressure.
“That belt is coming back to the Big Island. He can go back to Oahu with nothing. It’s staying on the Big Island.”
Kickboxing
What: Toughman Hawaii Challengers
When: 6:30 p.m. today; doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Title bouts: Dylan Rush vs. Chris Barnard, super heavyweight; Tyler Leopoldino vs. Theodore Brown, flyweight; Riquo Abadilla vs. Isreal Lovelace, junior lightweight
Tickets: $20 at CD Wizard, Big Island Surf, C-Thru Tinting in Kona; $25 at door
Ringside seats: AP Boxing, Spirit of the White Robe, Average Joes in Kona
Info: 960-4341
