Ronnie Shields - Hall of Fame Trainer Now Working with Scypion Jr.

by Andre Courtemanche

No one has a better pedigree in boxing than Texas-based Ronnie Shields.

Before becoming one of boxing's most sought-after trainers, Shields was a three-time national golden gloves champ, won the National Junior Olympics and lost to the great Sugar Ray Leonard at the Olympic trials in 1976. As a professional, he was a two-time world title challenger, ranked in the top 10 for five consecutive years, who retired with a record of 26-6-1, 19 KOs.

Working out of his home base for the past 20+ years, the Savannah Boxing Club in Houston, Shields has trained a huge list of world champions and top contenders including Mike Tyson, Vernon Forrest, Juan Diaz, Kassim Ouma, Pernell Whitaker, David Tua, Evander Holyfield and Arturo Gatti.

Recently the super trainer has recently taken on promising new student -- his cousin, Wilford Scypion Jr. (7-1, 7 KOs), the hard-punching son of boxing legend Wilford Scypion Sr.

"I will call him an up-and-comer," says Shields of Scypion. "There is a lot of stuff to straighten out and redo. He's a work in progress. But in the next year or two he'll be where I want him and I expect him to be a contender in about a year and a half.

Shields says the 30-year-old Scypion's greatest strength may also be his downfall. "He's strong. Real strong. That could be an asset but also a  problem because he wants to knock everybody out and get away from what he's supposed to be doing. He runs into shots he's not supposed to."

Shields, who is also currently training over 100 amateur boxers, says his first goal will be to teach Scypion to set up his shots. "I'm helping him develop the jab right now. Once he develops that, he'll be able to do whatever he wants behind it."