If Sheriff Wyatt Earp had gunslinger “Doc” Holiday, then Kauai boxing coach Ken Oki has Jimmy “The Doc” Stamm, a fighter who packs just as many guns.
Of course, there is a difference.
Holiday was a dentist and Stamm holds a doctorate in electrical engineering.
But like the infamous gunslinger, “The Doc” pulls a snapping left hook and a booming straight right from his holster that’s similar to what Lewis used to rattle Tyson in Memphis last weekend.
Stamm is a boxer who just happens to be an electrical engineer at P.M.R.F., Barking Sands. Stamm did all of his boxing while serving in the U.S. Air Force. He was a light heavyweight on an air force boxing team which competed with other armed services boxing teams.
Stamm was never a registered boxer with the U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation, since after being discharged he started working towards his Phd. at various East Coast universities.
But he loved boxing and haunted eastern arenas such as Joe Frazier’s gym in Philly, home of the “Philadelphia fighter,” a kind of boxer known whose principal weapon of choice is a crushing left hook, like the one Frazier threw that decked Ali so long ago.
Stamm’s attraction to the “sweet science” probably stems from the fact that boxing is brutally realistic as a sport. He says, “If art imitates reality, boxing enhances it.”
That’s the Phd. in him talking.
The coach regrets not video taping Stamm’s sparring sessions with the likes of Mark Ozaki at the Hanapepe boxing gym since some of the punches were well worth seeing again and just as effective as that million dollar right cross that Lewis landed on Tyson in the eighth.
Stamm is interested in entering an amateur boxing tournament to be held at the Veteran’s Hall in Lihue next to the airport on July 26.
It promises to be great fun since injuries will be held to a minimum. Protective head gear and bigger than normal gloves will be mandatory. The event will be held under the auspices of Fite Nite, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated towards advancement of boxing on Kauai with an emphasis on kids. Proceeds will go towards registration fees, travel expenses and etc. for boxers from Kauai both young and old.
Tournament application forms are available at Oki Diner. Anyone can enter: Police officers, guys with rap sheets a yard long, inmates (if they can get out), Ph.D. and etc. so long as they are strictly amateurs. Anyone matched up with Jimmy “The Doc” Stamm will first checked to see if he is capable and more than able. The matches will be three one minute rounds (special conditioning not really needed for a normally healthy male). Prizes will given to winner and T-shirts by Nuff Said will be given to all competitors. Call Mark Ozaki at 635-0767, Vincent Buza Sonoda at 639-4610, or Ken Oki at 823-0668 for more information, application forms, rules of engagement and etc. Volunteer Ring card girls will be needed, please call A. Ozaki at 635-0767.
Admission will be $20 and $15, $15 and $10 (prepaid) for all spectators. For boxers, apply as soon as possible since the number of applicants will be determine if the show will go on. If so, tickets will be available for prepay in July. A Lihue native, Romell Balpen has been going to Hilo for similar tournaments and has gone undefeated in four fights. Romell who never boxed prior to his four wins in expecting to win again in June and is wondering where is he going to put all of his boxing trophies!
