Unbeaten 175-pound prospect eager to take the next step up when he makes his Las Vegas debut this Saturday night against Lionell Thompson on Bounce TV.
Unbeaten 175-pound prospect Earl Newman looks to follow the path of famous champions from Brooklyn. (Lucas Noona/PremierBoxing Champions)
By the time of Earl Newman’s birth, the Brooklyn, New York, native’s boxing idols were nearing the end of their careers.
A 26-year-old 175-pounder nicknamed “The Flash,” Newman reveres former champions such as Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Mike Tyson, Jermaine Taylor and Antonio Tarver.
“Nobody can imitate Roy Jones’ flashy, entertaining style, but I like to be in action-packed fights,” said Newman, who was a year old when Jones earned a 160-pound title against Bernard Hopkins in May 1993.
“As an amateur, I wondered how I’d do in exciting dog fights against Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, trying to please the crowd. I never wanna be in a boring fight, but to dominate in impressive, flashy fashion that people go wild about.”
Newman embraces Brooklyn’s boxing-rich legacy. The city has produced heavyweight champions, Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer and Shannon Briggs, and others like Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Daniel Jacobs, Paulie Malignaggi, Junior Jones, Zab Judah, Kevin Kelley, Mark Breland and Luis Collazo.
"There's definitely a responsibility since Brooklyn has so many great world champions," said Newman, a native of Flatbush. "We come to fight with a chip on our shoulders.”
Newman makes his Las Vegas debut against Lionell Thompson (18-4, 11 KOs) of Buffalo, New York, on Saturday’s undercard to a 154-pound main event between title challenger Julian Williams (23-1-1, 15 KOs) and former champion Ishe Smith (29-8, 12 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan on Bounce TV (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
“I was in Vegas when Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao [May 2015.] The atmosphere was electric,” said Newman. “It’s my first time fighting there. It’s boxing's crème de la crème. Knowing Floyd Mayweather’s the promoter takes this to another level.”
The 6-foot-3 Newman and 5-foot-11 Thompson share a common opponent in Paul Parker (8-2-1, 4 KOs), who sandwiched September’s draw with Newman and a split-decision win over Thompson (February 2016) around a fifth-round stoppage loss to title challenger Sullivan Barrera in April.
Loser by third-round TKO to Sergey Kovalev and split-decision to Radivoje Kaljdzic, Thompson, 32, has won two straight, ending with February's fourth-round KO of Steve Lovett.
“I was supposed to fight Thompson earlier, but he didn’t accept the fight until after I fought Parker. I guess he thinks he’s seen a chink in my armor," said Newman, who faced Parker after a one-year ring absence.
"I was over-thinking, not following the game plan against Parker, but I’m gonna pummel and probably stop Thompson. I’ll take it to him, being the dominant, bigger, stronger man.”
“ There's definitely a responsibility since Brooklyn has so many great world champions. "We come to fight with a chip on our shoulders.” ” Unbeaten 175-pound prospect Earl Newman on representing Brooklyn
Trained by Aureliano Sosa, Newman’s been sparring with Ukrainian Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who became a mandatory challenger to 160-pound champion Gennady Golovkin with his 12th-round TKO of Tureano Johnson in August.
“They call Sergiy ‘The Technician’ for good reason. He brings a vast amount of skills, movement and great work to our sessions. Typically, guys with a lot of knockouts are aggressive trying to impose their power,” said Newman.
“But I’m a boxer-puncher and counter-puncher who uses that aggression against them, making them miss and pay. My favorite power punch is my slip right hand. I love seeing the look in their eyes when they get caught with that punch, which comes like a flash of lightening.”
Newman was 55-7 as an amateur, making his mark in 2013 by earning titles as a 201-pounder in the New York Golden Gloves, National Golden Gloves, National PAL Tournament and World Golden Gloves.
Newman earned one stoppage per month in his first three professional bouts in October, November and December 2014, and went 5-0 with three stoppages in 2015 to improve to 8-0 (6 KOs).
Newman’s biggest win during in 2015 was a second-round TKO of Leosvy Mayedo, a Cuban who was not only stopped for the first time in his career, but entered their September bout at 8-1 with five KOs and had scored 60-second knockouts in his two previous victories.
“Mayedo was aggressive, trying to make it a rough-and-tough fight,” said Newman. “But I got him cleanly, coming in, with a counter-left hook. He was knocked out cold, face-first.”
Newman faced another stiff test two fights later in April 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the site where he had earned his second New York Golden Gloves title in April 2014.
The challenge this time was hard-punching Dustin Craig Eichard, whose mark of 13-2 (10 KOs) included first-round TKOs in his two previous fights, and losses by second-round TKO and unanimous decision to Ahmad Elbiali and Trevor McCumby.
Newman finished Eichard by fourth-round TKO on the undercard of Errol Spence’s fifth-round stoppage of Chris Algieri.
“Dustin could crack. I felt his punching power,” said Newman. “But I timed his jab, baited him in and caught him with a counter-right for a one-punch knockout. Given the platform, that's my most satisfying victory."
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