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The Best China is Right Here In the Good Old U. S. of A.

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It's becoming quite evident that the finest China is right here in the United States of America.

On Friday night in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, heavyweight China "The Dragon" Smith sliced and diced tough Tony "The Italian Stallion" LaRosa into Chop Suey for a little more than seven minutes, before LaRosa's corner stepped onto the ring apron to stop the bloodshed at 1: 23 of the third round. The fight was for the vacant NBA world heavyweight title (which was news to me, since I thought Shaquille O'Neal was the current heavyweight champion of the NBA).

From the opening bell it was target practice for the 22-year old Smith. He hit the chubby LaRosa with combination after combination, one time registering 22 blows in a row before the battered and befuddled LaRosa could answer back with a feeble punch. Although Smith is not a big one-punch banger, the sheer magnitude of his punches finally forced LaRosa to drop to one knee one minute into the third round. LaRosa struggled to his feet and referee Max Parker Jr. let the fight continue. A ten-punch combination and LaRosa sagged to one knee again. And once more, the ref waved the fight to continue. But before Smith could unleash more punishment, LaRosa's trainer Frank Murphy climbed onto the ring apron and told the brave referee LaRosa had been punished enough.

Before the fight, LaRosa, who has fought seven world champions and has beaten the likes of Trevor Berbick and Iran Barkley, said, "I've fought the best in the world. This kid can't show me anything I've never seen before."

Yet, speaking through swollen lips, with puffy eyes and an inch gash under the left eye, LaRosa said after the fight, "The kid's real fast, but I just couldn't get off. I didn't know he was a southpaw until yesterday. He's got a good future because I don't think there's many guys out there who can throw punches as fast as he can."

The 235-pound LaRosa did offer one caveat concerning the 218-pound Smith's future in the heavyweight division. LaRosa said, "One thing he has to do is get bigger."

No offense to a guy who took more punches than Sarasota has white kernels of sand, but bigger is not always better. More weight often means diminished hand speed, and one seasoned fight observer said Smith has the fastest hands in the heavyweight division since a young Cassius Clay; Muhammad Ali to you X-generationers.

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