Shamrock's Coaches Speak on Ken's Big Win
By Scoop Malinowski/BoxingInsider.com
Ken Shamrock's spectacular KO over Kimo at UFC 48 was due in part to the boxing coaching of Battalia Balamoundo of "Battalia Olympic Fitness" in Yorba Linda, CA. Battalia is a three-time Olympic boxer for Italy who competed at middleweight in 1976 in Montreal, 1980 in Moscow and 1984 in Los Angeles. Here's what coach Battalia had to say:
Boxinginsider.com: Were you pleased with Ken's performance boxing-wise?
Battalia: "Well, his boxing is very good. When I met him in the beginning, his quickness was too slow. Last fight with Tito, he was too slow. He wasn't moving well, his condition was terrible. I changed his diet, nutrition-wise, worked on his quickness. Got him to jump rope. And we worked on some technical things like he used to close his eyes sometimes when he punched. Against Kimo, his boxing was excellent. And next fight it will be even better."
Boxinginsider.com: What can still be improved about Ken's boxing?
Battalia: "If he fights Tito in October, you're gonna see a lot of boxing in that fight. His right hand is very strong. But he needs to twist his hand and shoulder a little more - to make it harder. I tell him, when he twists it, he can knock ANYBODY out."
Ken's shoot fighting coach Erik Paulson said:
"Ken totally changed his strike game. He's actually ten times better now. He did tons and tons of padwork. Tons of different drills. He knows all the different drills now, he can go right through them...His right hand - at the end of training - nobody wanted to spar with him. He broke two noses and had three knockouts. And that was with 18 oz. gloves. And I had a bruised leg for two weeks after a leg kick. I think his striking is actually going to get better...I was really content with his performance against Kimo. We trained for seven months for that fight. He really trained hard. He really sacrificed a lot for this...For him to end the fight with that knee like that was just wonderful. We worked for almost seven months to get his standup back. Our whole plan was to keep the fight standing up...He did 100 rounds a week, I'm not exaggerating about this, he did it."
Boxinginsider.com: So you think the new and improved Ken might beat Tito Ortiz...
Battalia: "Easy. If it's boxing, easy. The first fight he wasn't ready. If he fight him right now - after Kimo - he beat him easy. I guarantee it can be easy. Now we have months to get Ken even better...I was very upset at what (Tito) did after the fight. It's not only Ken's fight, it's gonna be my fight. I boxed in the Olympics, I don't like any athlete talking like that, attack him like that - especially after winning. This fight is not only Ken's fight, it's my fight."
To contact Battalia's Olympic Fitness in Yorba Linda, CA for training information and rates, you may call 714-524-6330.
Good stuff. He has been working hard it seems. Can't wait to see him KO Ortiz.
Its always this kind of stuff that gets me hopeful about Ken closing his career on an awesome note.
Paulson rocks, he engineered Ken's win.
I just don`t see Ken beating Tito at all.I know he somewhat rocked Tito in their fight,but I still see Tito beating Ken again.
pretty confident tito would beat him again. ken wont be able to stop tito from putting him on his back.
if they fight at HW, it'll be a totally different fight.
Ken is unruly strong and powerful, I couldn't believe what I saw in that TIto fight. NOt that Tito couldn't win but how he muscled him around( he didn't even do it that bad to Mezger). However, now that its out that Ken's ACL was torn and he worked almost all on standup it makes sense. He still gave Tito a close call for the takedown in the beginning of the fight and Tito had trouble initially taking him down even though he gassed after 30 seconds. His ACL being torn cannot be discounted, how can you shoot properly or defend the takedown with that torn? You can't explosively push forward am I right?
Anyway, Tito could win, but if the Ken that showed up against Kimo with continued improvement and imporoving his submission and wrestling roots I don't see Tito taking him down, hurting him, or anything. I see Ken taking the fight where he wants it, if he wants it standing he will KO him, that one punch almost did in the first fight but he had nothing to follow it up with or to do it again. If he wants he can take him down and GNP him, I don't know about submitting him, but its possible.
Ken amazed me, Kimo may be old and a veteran, but he has legit BJJ skills, high end power, and descent striking and Ken pushed him around pretty good. Kimo is way bigger too. If Fujita and Kimo can't take a descent Ken down and get KOd by him(almost by Fujita) then Tito is in for a long night.
If Ken really continues to improve(I agree with what he said about being way too slow for the Tito fight, he looked great now) he may be top 5 again. Nog, Fedor, maybe Arlosky and a few others could probably still take him, but he could compete against anyone. Cro Cop may be the best fight for him out of the top 5.
Ken Shamrock = 100% pimp, what's this BoxingInsider site?
Tito is too quick for Ken.Tito wins pound and ground.
The same will happen..
All the boxing is nice, but if Ken can't stop Tito's takedowns, its going to be a replay of the first one.
Tito knows he will be 215 at fight time. Tito also knows Ken can't cut weight like he can.
It sucks that Tito would challenge a 182 lb fighter and offer to come down to 200, while he insists Ken comes down to 205. The way I see it based on Tito's challenge to Murray, Ken should have to come in below 220.
Of course, Tito wants everything his way and will pull all kinds of charades to get it.
Tito why not fight Ken at 210 or 215? What are you afraid of?
agreed, Tito why dont you fight Ken at heavyweight? He already came down once for you
If they fight at LHW it would suck a big one. 3 rounds, heavyweight. What is Tito afraid of?
I'll be rooting for Ken. But i think Tito will win, although it will be much more competitive this time around.
LOL at all the armchair fighters telling Tito what weight to fight Ken at.
Fight him at whatever weight you two agree on,Tito. It's fun to watch the haters bitch about your ability to cut.
Tito wants Lee Murray to come up in weight to fight him, but he doesn't want to fight at his own natural weight against a 40 year old man.
Even a weakened and injured Ken still dropped Tito with a right hand. Now that he has a good boxing coach and is healthy, imagine that same punch landing at heavyweight. It will be Lee Murray all over again.