Lanardo "Pain Server" Tyner

From the "Most popular with judges/immune to losing decisions: Saúl Álvarez, Danny García, or Jessie Vargas?" thread:

Needless to say, it didn't feel necessary to me to wait for anybody to second the motion.

Quick overview of his métier:

• debuted in 2004, racked up a 19-0 (11) record over the next four years. Nice record but nothing too special on it, his best wins in this period coming against Kenny Abril, Gilbert Venegas and Marteze Logan (dealing the high-level journeyman - who even then had a sub-500 record but fought top caliber opposition consistently - just his third stoppage defeat in 56 bouts at that point)
• took his first big step up in class and made his national TV debut, headlining ESPN2 FNF and challenging Mike Arnaoutis for the USBA 140lb title. Competitive but clear points loss.
• very next outing, six months later, took on 25-0 (12) prospect Lamont Peterson on an even higher-profile stage, televised on a Top Rank PPV (Donaire vs. Mthalane undercard) for the interim North American title. Another competitive but clear points loss.
• kayoed a couple of stiffs and then one year after Peterson, took on 29-0-1 prodigy Saúl Álvarez, who already had Mexico abuzz, with boxing writers comparing him favorably to Julio César Chávez Jr. and saying he looked destined to be the great one out of the two. Gave still-teenager Canelo his first stiff test and quite arguably earned a draw with him, else a very close defeat. Not what the official verdict read.
• beat a couple more stiffs in the Houston metro area to build up confidence, and then co-headlined on ShoBox to score his biggest victory to date, a mild upset TKO and overall shell-shocking of 18-1-1 (10) grunting whiz (and decent prospect) Antwone Smith.
• came upon, then, some lean times. A couple of draws (one an ugly one against Cristian Favela with over two dozen losses already by then!) sandwiching a SD loss.
• undeterred, found himself a new adviser, followed by a new promotional team, who secured him a comeback fight with Vivian Harris, defeating him over ten. His achievement is dulled somewhat by the fact that Harris was coming off three consecutive stoppage losses, but consider who dealt them: Lucas Matthysse, Victor Ortiz and Jessie Vargas. At this point Harris wasn't yet shot to bits, and still had upsets over Danny O'Connor and Jorge Páez, Jr. in his future.
• four months after triumphing over Harris, back to work, taking on 19-0 (17) loaded weapon Wale Omotoso. Took his young thunderous-punching Nigerian opponent a hard eight, and took a competitive but clear points loss.
• LESS THAN ONE MONTH AFTER OMOTOSO, hopped in with 16-0 (12) eventual world title challenger Kevin Bizier in the latter's backyard in Quebec. Another competitive but clear points loss - as with Omotoso, never going down.
• two months after Bizier, said "bring it" and was brought 17-0 free agent (soon to be snapped up by Arum for a stretch) Jessie Vargas. As with Canelo, Bizier and Omotoso, made his mark and left the younger man knowing he was in a fight, but lost wide nonetheless.
• just shy of three months after Vargas, returned to Canada to face another Canadian with hometown advantage, Dierry Jean, on a few days' notice when originally scheduled opponent Cosme Rivera failed to obtain a visa. Competitive. Yet clear. Points loss. Still, at this point, having never so much as tasted canvas. Nary a glove touching down. A lot of moderate to very good punchers in the rearview mirror already.
• three months after Jean, had a cross-state showdown with 17-0-1 (12) fellow Texan and son of the event promoter (**** you not), Charles Hatley, and scored a massive TKO1 upset. I sure hope Lanardo got paid before fight night on this one, because when the guy that's putting on the card sees his own progeny KTFO by the cherrypicked fellow with eight losses...whoo, boy...
• alternated between Michigan and Texas whooping a few stiffs to fend off rust (including a repeat engagement with ol' Marteze Logan, improving on the original result with a TKO1 in the rematch) before landing a minor title shot (WBC United States welterweight) versus 21-3-1 southpaw Tyrese Hendrix, resulting in Tyner's first ever victory in a scheduled 12-rounder, stopping Hendrix with just thirty seconds left in the match.
• sat on the shelf for an eight month layoff, incredibly long by Tyner's standards, and then headlined a non-televised card in Detroit, beating tough Angel Hernandez in a second consecutive last-minute stoppage victory, only to have the result inexplicably appealed successfully and overturned as NC on the grounds that he stopped Hernandez at the same exact second as the bell...or something.
• met with some more bizarre luck just a few weeks later, except this bit going "his way", sort of...getting badly robbed against the Al Haymon fighter Chris Pearson only to have the result overturned when both of them failed a drug test...for marijuana (quite possibly having smoked up together before they fought, at the Mayweather gym, along with Luis Arias who also fought on the card but popped for peeing dirty for weed and getting slapped with a No Contest himself)
• three months later, first professional trip outside North America...robbed in Poland against 20-2-1 mediocrity-on-two-legs Łukasz Maciec.
• three months later, fought 30-3-1 (23) heavy-handed former champ Antonio DeMarco. Another competitive but clear points loss, but there was a knockdown - and not scored by the heavy favorite DeMarco. Tyner dropped Tony in the first, but couldn't dust him off and went on to lose the following nine rounds, but taking a grueling toll on DeMarco, who looked increasingly poor in his next three outings - going 0-3 after snatching the Pyrrhic victory over Tyner.
• retired for 2½ years.
• reemerged one year ago with a TKO1 blitz of a Hungarian trial horse in home away from home, Detroit.
• two months later, fought a second time in a row in Michigan, and suffered his first ever career knockdown but survived to score an upset 8-round unanimous decision over Colombian glass cannon Luis Eduardo Florez (if that name sounds familiar, it ought to. He's the guy by whom Miguel Berchelt was KTFO in under two minutes, in El Alacran's only defeat to date...)
• three months later, third time unlucky, as he extended his Michigan homestand and lost a UD to 13-0 (8) local middleweight Winfred Harris, Jr. Not televised, but dollars to donuts it was a robbery, going by the wide range of scorecards.
• six months later, third time, even unluckier, as his first visit to Canada since Jean went far more disastrously than his previous two. Buried deep on the ringtv.com stream of the Billy Joe Saunders vs. David Lemieux undercard, 20-1-1 (17) light middleweight switch-hitting banger Steven Butler apparently did the unthinkable and finally cracked Tyner's chin, scoring a second round knockout according to BoxRec. There is footage on YouTube, which I'm just about to see for the first time myself...

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Ugh. Yeah, going by his RBR posts in the Saunders vs. Lemieux thread @CST80 made, it sounded like a case of a much bigger, younger guy just catching a teak-tough vet punching above his best weight and past his best with a shot or two he no longer had the reflexes to dodge or durability to withstand, and that is exactly what happened. Tyner even in his prime would've been vastly outsized (dude is truthfully a natural light welter, but has just been a willing road warrior and fought wherever he's asked, in whatever division, floating between 140 and 154lb his entire career), and while the jury is out as to whether Bang-Bang is world class he certainly does look the part in terms of his power, at least. Throw in a huge reach disadvantage, plus the legs of a forty-something, and Tyner was kinda doomed in this one. Brutal ****ing uppercut, hate to see a guy like Tyner lose his "never been stopped" merit badge in such violent fashion.

I'm not sure if he can mount another streak of positive results or spring too many upsets anymore, but I'll be rooting for the Pain Server every time out until the gloves are hung up for good, that's for damn sure.

 

Headlining a small hall card (banquet hall, actually, 1000 seat capacity) in Warren, MI on February 23rd, opponent TBA.

 

Plus he's the kind of guy that, for anyone that has followed televised boxing for the last decade and change, isn't even all that obscure. His face is a familiar one to most in that demographic, and most would agree his fights always entertain. He's the sort that people in the industry, like trainers and other pros, all respect. Probably a monster in sparring, etc. But to future historians, they'll have no idea the value of a win over Tyner (or the right skepticism as to whether or not it was deserved, or a case of shady business) on somebody's record without having the right context in which to place it.

 

Good stuff...how long ago was that, do you recall? One of Mayweather's "recent camps"?

That would be fantastic to see if anybody ever uploaded footage of it...two contemporaries, old crafty vets putting on a show for the young bucks...one the biggest star in the sport and the other not a household name but holding his own and commanding mutual respect with pure game.

 

Oh damn, forgot about that...

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Agreed. That is among my favorite kind of fighter - scions of the legendary Alabama Kid.

 

Oh wow, you don't have video by any chance do you? (of course that would've been way before the smartphone era, so not holding my breath..)

Sounds like a fun watch.