Dallas to fight on Showtime
| Wednesday, Jul 14 2010 09:15 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 14 2010 10:16 PM
Images
Boxer Michael Dallas Jr. of Bakersfield.
Bakersfield's Michael Dallas will put his unbeaten welterweight record on the line Friday night in a three-bout card on Showtime.
Dallas (14-0-1, 5 KOs) faces Philadelphia's Lanard Lane (12-0, 7 KOs) in an eight-round fight to kick off the card which will air tape-delayed in Bakersfield at 11 p.m. The fight card will be at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss.
Dallas, 23, who has amateur wins over current pro prospects Brad Solomon, Jeremy Bryan, Karl Dargan, Raymond Serrano, and Danny O'Connor, splits his time between Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood and a gym in Bakersfield.
While at the famed Wild Card, Dallas put in more than 50 rounds of boxing with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.
"That was a great experience for me," said Dallas, who worked with the Filipino during his camps for Joshua Clottey and Oscar De La Hoya. "I learned a lot working with him. He has an amazing work ethic, and it rubs off on you just being around him."
Dallas knows that he's got a different style than the hard-hitting Lane, who has KO'd more than 50 percent of his opponents.
"I'm more of a boxer," Dallas said. "He's got a little brawling style, but whatever - sometimes the whole game plan changes when they get in the ring with me. We'll see what happens."
Lane, 27, said he's looking forward to stepping into the ring against Dallas.
"In order to be the best you have to meet and beat the best along the way and ShoBox is the place to do it," said Lane, who is a firefighter at the Houston Fire Department. "This is the next step for me.
"Dallas is a good opponent. I knew of him in the amateurs where he did pretty well and he is unbeaten with one draw in the pros. I have to treat him like all the rest, and that's he's just another opponent for me.
"All of Dallas' fights have been in California, so I plan to give him a very rude awakening on what it's like to fight on the road. If he's not taking me seriously, or if his promoters are not taking me seriously, they are going to learn real fast who they are facing and what they are up against."
