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Ten-year ring veteran Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Lundy unleashes powerful punches for more than prodigious purses.
“I’m looking to show children who engage in sports that they can go from being a ’hood MVP to becoming a world champion,” the 28-year-old pugilist said Friday.
The native of 17th and Dickinson streets will continue to promote diligence tomorrow at Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel, where he will make the third defense of his North American Boxing Federation lightweight title against Raymundo Beltran. If he downs the underdog, Lundy, whom the World Boxing Council has ranked as its top lightweight fighter, will likely land a shot at the governing body’s appropriate crown, a chief step in his quest to add excitement to his vocation.
“I am devoted to hard work and determination,” the Point Breeze product said of his attraction to lacing up gloves and pitting his strength against an opponent’s might. “First and foremost, my goals are to maintain my hunger and to inspire passion for self-belief.”
A 135-pound southpaw, Lundy turned professional in 2006 after a three-year amateur career that yielded a 65-5 record, the ’03 Pennsylvania Golden Gloves prize and the ’05 National Golden Gloves silver medal. His dominance has not waned, as he carries a 22-1-1 record ahead of his first Atlantic City bout and second in the Garden State. His mark includes 11 knockouts, but breaking down foes’ defenses provides only a secondary rush.
“I love giving my fans a show,” the 5-foot-7 brawler, whose six Pennsylvania contests include a Sept. ’09 victory at the Yesha Center, 2301 Snyder Ave., said. “However, knowing I have a family to support inspires me most.”
Father to 11-year-old Jaquan, 9-year-old Aniyah, 7-year-old Amari, 5-year-old Adriana, and 3-year-old Amarah, Lundy realizes the significance of each payout and knows Beltran, the former WBC Continental Americas super featherweight champion, will likewise be seeking the winner’s share for his clan.
“I know he is hungry, and my job is to keep him feeling that hunger by beating him,” he said of his 25-6 opponent.
So that his brood emerges as the happier one, Lundy has been following a training schedule devoid of breaks and abounding with intensity. He splits time between the Marian Anderson Recreation Center, 744 S. 17th St., and West Philadelphia’s Shepard Recreation Center, which his grandfather, Mitch Allen, oversees, but, family aside, he esteems the former location more.
“Marian Anderson has been like a home to me,” he said of the South of South site where he received his nickname after an observer’s comment on his potent fists spawned an irresistible alliterative title. “I always want South Philly to be proud of me.”
The area gained a chance to laud him April 16, ’10, when he scored a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Tyrese Hendrix, which secured for him the vacant North American Boxing Organization’s lightweight title. He suffered his lone setback in his initial defense, becoming a technical knockout victim of John Molina July 9, ’10. Though the 11-round defeat cost him his unblemished tally, Lundy, who battled an illness during the encounter, took a vital lesson from the summer night.
“It reminded me that no matter what, I will fight until I have given my all,” he said.
He rebounded in his next bout and used another unanimous decision to thwart Patrick Lopez April 1, ’01 and snare the vacant NABF lightweight title at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort, also the site of his most recent clash, March 30’s unanimous decision toppling of Dannie Williams.
“My career is in line with where I had thought it would be this many years in,” Lundy, who has prided himself on challenging and pummeling solid punchers, said. “Because I started at a later age, I feel I am still learning when fighting.”
The champion began his boxing bludgeonings at 18, besting a bully who had dubbed him “Little Tyson” while a student at Southwest Philadelphia’s John Bartram High School. Before rocking chins and wobbling legs, he enjoyed football. Extending his love beyond Bartram’s gridiron, he watched late night college games and upon their completion caught fights, including ones with former light-, welter- and middleweight legend “Sugar” Shane Mosley. He soon became a gym fixture, fixating on distinguishing himself as a tireless figure to the point of taking on multiple sparring partners at one time.
“I get my mentality from my football background,” Lundy said of shunning fear and pursuing prominence. “I was always on the field with big guys and wanted to make them feel inferior.”
His progression has proven so steady that Lundy, like Mosley before him, has become a main event staple in the ESPN family, with ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” to air his Beltran date at 10 p.m.
“I have definitely enjoyed the exposure because I feel I am among the few boxers to bring excitement when in the ring,” Lundy said. “As for the fight against Beltran, I’m going to be ‘Hammerin’ Hank,’ which means I am going to be a problem.”
Putting himself in shape has never posed difficulty for the titleholder, who counts a former trainer of middleweight great Bernard Hopkins, who last year at age 46 became the oldest boxer to capture a world title, among his helpers. His preparation nearly complete, he is all but guaranteeing a thumping of Beltran and is hoping to unify titles by taking on and vanquishing either Molina or WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco, who will meet in September. While obtaining success in the ring, Lundy is also pondering placing a ring on fiancée China Carroll.
“It will come right after I unify the belts,” the confident fighter said.
Having heard that many observers consider him a throwback fighter akin to Joe Frazier, Lundy knows his acclaim can be even grander.
“I feel accomplished and have said before that I’m going to be great,” he said. “That means more than boxing, though. It means meshing boxing and regular life.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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