KENNY KOST: A CHANCE AT GOLD
By: Ramon Hough and Jesse Kelley
Over the last six months,
three Minnesota fighters have had opportunities to enhance their reputations
in televised-bouts. But all three were beaten convincingly: Matt Vanda
was knocked out by Armando Velardez on Showtime in August; Wayne Martell
was down five times in a TKO loss to Zab Judah on a pay-per-view show
in October; and Mohammed Kayongo was on the wrong end of a 1st round knockout
on Showtime in November.
This Thursday, White Bear Lake's "KO" Kenny Kost (8-0, 5 KO's)
is hoping to break that trend and make a name for himself against 2004
Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (1-0, 1 KO) on Fox Sports Net's Best
Damn Sports Show Period.
"A win would skyrocket his career," said Kost's trainer, Jesse
Garza. "I feel real good about this fight because I've seen Ward
and I wasn't that impressed."
In his pro debut, Ward TKO'd Chris Molina in the 2nd round of an HBO-televised
bout. While Garza and Kost were unimpressed by Ward's knockout win, they
both say Kost has to force a street fight because of Ward's superior hand-speed
and boxing ability.
"I want Kenny to jump right on him and work that body. Take those
legs away and that'll slow (Ward) down," said Garza.
"I'm not going to be able to outbox him. He's the best in the world,"
Kost said."I'm going to go in there and try to hurt him, rough him
up and get dirty if I have to."
Garza said that he's heard rumors that Ward is underestimating Kost. He
also believes Kost's advantage in pro-experience could make a difference:
This will be Kost's ninth pro fight and only Ward's second pro fight.
"(Ward) has a lot of amateur fights and that helps him, but so does
Kenny (125 amateur fights), and Kenny has been six rounds (twice). Andre
never has," Garza said.
The 25-year-old Kost said he's confident going into the fight. But he
also said fighting the 1st American boxer to win an Olympic Gold Medal
since Oscar de la Hoya in his 1st televised-bout is unexpected.
"Not an hour goes by during the day that I don't think about (the
fight)," Kost said.
But Kost also says that the pressure is really on Ward.
"My biggest edge is that I have nothing to lose. (Ward) does, he
has a lot of money behind him," said Kost. "I have my whole
life outside of boxing. Boxing is all he's got, so I'm going to go in
there with all I've got, like I do in every fight."
The undefeated Kost says he's in the best shape of his pro career, but
he and Garza know the odds are against them. Garza even said he expects
his fighter to be "robbed" if the fight is close.
Whatever happens, this is the kind of fight Kost has been looking for
and he knows that even if he loses, he really might win in the end.
"I just don't want to take a bunch of nobody fights," said Kost.
"If I get in there, make a good showing and lose the fight, it still
helps my career."
---The Best Damn Sports Show Period begins at 7 PM CST on Fox Sports Net---