Tom Yankello, even after three decades of experience, can\u2019t be prepared for every detail on fight night. Atif \u201cLord Pretty Calvo\u201d Oberlton, Yankello\u2019s top current pupil, has an eye for flashy ring attire.<\/p>\n
The 55-year-old Ambridge native and owner of Tom Yankello\u2019s World Class Boxing Gym appreciates that Oberlton, who is from Philadelphia, attempts to weave his fight kits into the fabric of the city he is fighting in. Oberlton\u2019s getup for his last bout in Detroit paid tribute to Carhartt, a company founded in the Motor City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing I think is going to make Atif a star is not just ability, it\u2019s marketability,\u201d Yankello said. \u201cHe has that it factor. When he comes to the ring, he has a tremendous entrance. Every fight he has a different outfit that he designs. He always surprises us. He\u2019s a good dancer and he dances a lot. He\u2019s entertainment coming to the ring. He doesn\u2019t let anyone down. He always puts on a show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oberlton, who is 15-0 (13 KOs) and the seventh-ranked light heavyweight in the world according to the World Boxing Association, will next fight Steven Sumpter at the Gateway Center in Atlanta in an event held by Salita Promotions.<\/p>\n
The event will stream on DAZN and start at 8 p.m. May 9.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Oberlton came to his open workout Monday in Ambridge sporting silver leather pants, a gold eagle necklace and a well-worn Def Leppard sweatshirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take me long. I\u2019m a real creative person,\u201d Oberlton said. \u201cI have a quick turnaround. I have to hurry up and get inspiration. Sometimes, I have to ask myself what am I inspired by? Things that inspire me are things that I wanted as a kid but I couldn\u2019t afford. When I get inspired by those things, I want to bring it to light and bring that art into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Yankello is benefitting from fashion lessons, he is helping Oberlton how to climb the championship ladder. Oberlton has won his previous seven fights by KO or TKO. Yankello believes Oberlton\u2019s speed makes him impossible to touch.<\/p>\n
Oberlton has trained with Yankello for three years. He said the biggest difference from Yankello\u2019s coaching has been with his approach in the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing relaxed and seeing the game differently,\u201d Oberlton said. \u201cEverything is slowing down for me now. I\u2019m real comfortable in there. There are little small details and tricks that I\u2019m doing in my game that the casual fan can\u2019t see and pick up on. I know what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oberlton last fought in February and he captured the World Boxing Council USA light heavyweight championship under bizarre circumstances.<\/p>\n
Oberlton\u2019s opponent, Joseph George, passed out in his corner following the end of the first round. The two had a clash of heads early in the fight, but the match continued.<\/p>\n
Yankello, who said Oberlton wants to become the world pound-for-pound champion,<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys who would be somewhat of a letdown because he didn\u2019t get to show his stuff,\u201d Yankello said. \u201cAt the same time, it wasn\u2019t his fault. He took it in stride.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oberlton is ready to get back in the ring. After only having three minutes to show his skillset last time, Oberlton is ready to demonstrate his panache in another city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always stay in the gym,\u201d Oberlton said. \u201cI live in the gym. There wasn\u2019t nothing else that was different. I knew something else would be coming up quick because of how tragically that ended.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Yankello, even after three decades of experience, can\u2019t be prepared for every detail on fight night. Atif…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-603764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}