Dave Coldwell has spoken of the heartbreak in the dressing room after Lerrone Richards lost to Ramirez in Canada by the most contentious of decisions.
Richards dropped to 19-2 (4 KOs) and wept once he’d returned to the backstage area at the Montreal Casino.
The team were due to fly back from Canada to the UK on Friday night, with their shattered dreams left behind.
Coldwell felt the game plan was going to plan and was more than happy with how his fighter was performing.
“Yeah, in my head I was thinking, ‘He’s pissing it,’” Coldwell told BoxingScene. “It’s everything, literally everything that I asked him to do, he was so disciplined, he boxed so well, and he nullified everything that Ramirez had, Ramirez was having to make massive movements all the time when he wants to punch, and that’s what he was having to do, and he was missing, missing, and Lerrone was just brilliant.”
Even so, Coldwell told his fighter as the rounds ticked by that he would be well served with a grandstand finish on away soil.
“You know that you’re banking it [the rounds], but I’ve always said coming here, I never trusted the judges. I never trusted anything over here, and knew they were going to fucking screw him, and I said, when it came to the last round, I said to him as well, I’m feeling with nine rounds, eight, nine rounds up, like out of the 12, I believe he won eight, nine rounds, that’s how I’m feeling in myself at the time. In the corner, I’m very pro the opponent, because I don’t trust the judges, and I said to him, ‘You box absolutely brilliant,’ I said, ‘but do not fucking let them have this last round. I don’t want them to screw you on the draw because they gave him the last round. I don’t want anything like that.’ I said, ‘Go out there and win the last round,’ and that was the only reason why I didn’t tell him to just fucking run in last round, because I thought we were miles in front, but I didn’t trust the judges, and we still got stiffed. I can’t believe it.”
Coldwell is irate, but his forlorn fighter is devastated.
“Honestly, the kid’s the most polite, loveliest human being you’ll ever meet,” Coldwell said. “And he was polite with them, but he got in the changing rooms, and he just cried his eyes out. His career, he’s not earned any money out of the game. He’s not had the big, big fights. His career’s not gone how it should have done for him, and this was his ticket to get the big money, to get the belt, so that he’s got something to bargain with, get in with the big names. Whenever they talk about your light heavyweights, your Yarde’s, Buatsis, and all the big, exciting domestic light-heavyweight weight fighters that we’ve got, nobody ever mentions Lerrone’s name. This was his ticket to get that, to get into that mix, to get mentioned to, get the big fights, get the fans fights, and fucking make some money for his family. He’s got two kids, and he’s made nothing out of the game and this was his ticket and they fucking robbed him, and he just sobbed his heart out.
“They [leading fighters] didn’t want to fight him before that, and now he’s gone and performed like that, they’re definitely not going to fight him, and it’s wrong.”
Asked about the possibility of the rematch, Coldwell was coldly realistic.
“Ramirez, in the ring, straight away, as soon as he spoke to me in the ring, he got my hand, he put his head towards me, and he said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Richards won the fight,’ and then he apologised again. That’s Ramirez. I’ve got all the credit in the world for the kid, because he actually said those words to me. Russ Anber his own corner, they all knew, they all said that, that Lerrone won the fight, but he ain’t going to get a rematch out here, and even if he does, right, let’s be honest, he won the fight so clear, and they still rob you, how does he win it even cleaner, without knocking him out, so literally, you’ve got to come over and knock him out. It’s just fucking this part of the sport is… It’s just dog shit. It ruins kids’ families. He’s what, 32, 33, he’s been in the game since he was a kid, this is what it’s about, but he’s got kids himself, it’s about his family, it’s about changing people’s lives, that’s what we talk about, this sport does it, changes people’s lives, for good, for better, but when they’re robbing people like this, it’s what it does to their life going forward. There’s a massive difference financially.”
The social media fallout has been extreme and while there is some comfort in the for Team Richards, it doesn’t change or fix anything.
“It has meant a lot, it has meant a lot, but people are only saying it as they see it, and that’s how they always should do it,” Coldwell added. “It is great that we see that, but it doesn’t change anything, though, as well, does it? It’s his ticket to the big fights, the big, big names and big, big prizes that’s been ripped up in front of him. That’s what it is, You need something where somebody sees that and goes, ‘Oh, do you know what, fucking hell, let’s right a wrong and give him another opportunity,’ but how often is that happening. When you’ve got somebody that’s got the ability that Lerrone’s got, where he’s got the ability to beat them all out there, who’s gonna voluntarily give him a fucking opportunity? I hope fans get behind him and a promoter does and he’ll land something big, because it deserves it, and even how he reacted afterwards, just, he’s just so polite and just thanking everyone for opportunity and everything, he’s just a nice kid and you just want good things happening to him.”
