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March 14, 2001- Cityview Paper: Tye Fields is voted Best Boxer in Des Moines, IA with Marcos Ramirez as the runner-up.
TYE FIELDS CAN KICK YOUR ASS Former Des Moines Dragon switches to the ring and takes aim at the heavyweight title.
Cityview, December 6, 2000 By Jon Gaskell
A man walks into Room 205 of the Polk County Convention Complex and takes a few jabs at the air in front of him in a mock shadow-boxing routine before pointing at the imposing figure standing in front of the stage. "You're gonna kill 'em Tye," the man says, cupping his mouth with a hand. "You're gonna absolutely kill' em." Tye Fields looks at the ground before nodding and quietly telling the man thanks. The former center on the Des Moines Dragons semi-professional basketball team, Fields is fast-rising star in the world of professional boxing. He's 6-foot-9, 280 pounds, and at the end of his enormous reach are a couple of canned hams. He's got about zero percent body fat to go along with a 17-0 record, with all victories coming by knockout. He's a true monster. A champion in the making - in the Clubber Lang ruffian mode. "Like anyone," Fields says, "I want to be the best, and I'm doing whatever I can to make that happen. I think about it every minute of every day. It's a visualization. It's like a single-consciousness kind of thing." Fields is the Iowa heavyweight champion, as well as the newly crowned Midwest heavyweight champion. And his appetite for more success and recognition in his profession is flourishing.
That's Mr. Fields to you Andy Sample ain't no sissy. No how. No way. He's a 6-foot-4, 235-pound dragon slayer and a four-time Kansas Golden Glove Champion. In most fights, this owner of a 27-2 professional record would put a hurt on anyone. But next to Fields, as the two posed together at a press conference last week before their Midwest Heavyweight title fight at Meskwaki Bingo & Casino in Tama, Sample looked like lunch. "I didn't come here to lay down," Sample said - without even winking at anyone. "This is going to be war." And his trainer kept telling the assembled crowd he and his fighter weren't going home. But it'd be tough to see why they'd have stuck around, unless they wanted to play craps or blackjack. Because Fields did to Sample what he has done to all his other opponents - including one whose ribs he broke in the first 13 seconds of the fight. He simply got in the ring and mowed him down with such brute force that many were surprised buzzards weren't circling. Fields knocked Sample down twice in the first few minutes before abruptly finishing him off at the close of the first round, causing one bystander to wonder out loud why anyone would get into the ring with Fields. "I've never thought for even one single moment that I would lose a fight," Fields says. "I've always known I was going to win. You can't think that anyone can beat you." He mentions Lennox Lewis, among others. "I can see myself beating him," Fields says. "And I can see myself as the champ. Anyone can be knocked out, and I don't think there's anyone out there who can kick my ass." "We're looking at just a couple of years from now before the really big fights start happening." Fields almost always lets his fists do the talking - really. He holds up one, then he holds up the other. When asked a question about a particular fight, he says, "That's a question for these guys." One question his fists don't answer is what kind of training it takes to become a champion. "It's a commitment to a routine," he says. Fields' includes waking up at 7 a.m. and promptly downing a protein shake. Then it's off on a five-mile jog that ends at Hy-Vee for breakfast. "I usually only have four eggs, six pieces of bacon, two English muffins and four pieces of French toast," he says. "That type of deal." Following breakfast, Fields puts in an hour and a half of extensive weight training and then heads off for a buffet lunch. "I like the buffet because you get a lot more," he says. "I do my meats, like broiled chickens, and then do the starches and then the greens." After lunch, he's off to the gym for two hours of boxing followed by one hour of yoga. "I just do what I can to stick to it, to keep the visualization of me being the champ going. It's all about keeping focused on what is going to be waiting there for me when I'm done." And after the gloves have come off for the final time? "I'd like to continue to work in boxing in some capacity, because I love this sport," he says. "But what I really want is to come of this career a winner as a person. The money, the winning and all that is great. But it's what's inside that counts the most." I believe in myself so much, and it's just an added bonus when there are other people out there who believe in me, too.
Boxing takes center stage at Casino Newton Daily News, Thursday, November 30, 2000
Friday nights are a big one if you're a sports nut. There's local girls' and boys' basketball games being played - the best sports value anywhere. Where else can you go out and watch a bunch of good athletes putting their heart and soul into a contest just for the sheer desire of competing? But if you are looking for something different to go to, head over to the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel tomorrow night near Tama and Toledo to catch some boxing action.
A must-see bout The co-main event will be an IBF Midwest Regional Heavyweight title match between Andy Sample and Tye "The Railroad" Fields. Fields is a former Des Moines Dragon and San Diego State basketball player. He's a mountain of a man at 6-foot-9, 280 pounds. He's had 16 pro fights, has won all of them, and all of them by knockouts. His last fight was Oct. 13 when he flattened Nick Flores in just 34 seconds. Seeing Fields fight in person is worth the price of admission alone. It's awesome to watch a man of that size move around the ring with agility of a middleweight. This guy is no freak of nature. He's a solid athlete. He averaged 11 points and 3.9 rebounds a game as a starting forward at San Diego State during the 1996-97 season. Fields possesses power in his punches, and his reach is phenomenal. Fields' opponent Friday night, however, is no bum. Samples, who hails from Topeka, Kan., has a pro record of 27-2-2 with 16 knockouts. He was the National Junior Olympic Champion and a four-time Kansas Golden Glove champion with a 78-8 amateur record. It should be a great match. But there are two matches on the card that local fight fans will definitely want to see.
"The Smooth-1" Grinnell's Jimmy "the Smooth-1" Crawford will be on the card as the co-main event. Crawford is currently rated 12th by the NABF and 10th by the IBF. This Fight will be a tune up for Crawford as he heads to Germany Dec. 16 to take on Svan Ottke for the super middleweight title. This guy is the real deal. There hasn't been an Iowa boxer with a legitimate chance at winning a world title since Michael Nunn. According to a Capital Promotion press release, Crawford is in the best mental and physical shape of his career. Who can argue with that? If you aren't a boxing fan, go see Crawford fight just once. You'll quickly turn into one. The guy is like a piece of steel in the ring. He has cat-quick hands, and they pack a wallop.
Up and Comer Tony "TNT" Fann of Marshalltown is what they call in boxing circles an "up and comer." He's a junior middleweight who has built a 16-4-0 professional record. I saw Tony make his professional debut a couple of years ago in a match at the Des Moines Ice Arena. The thing that impressed me about Tony was that look in his eye. He wasn't scared. He wasn't nervous. He was confident. Tony, like Crawford, has a huge fan following - better than any other boxer I've ever seen. Boxers like Tony will tell you having great fan support is an important reason why they are successful.
Respectability Boxing has taken a public relations beating lately. It's too bad, because boxing is a great sport. But boxers like Crawford, Fann and Fields are doing everything they can do to bring some respectability back to the sport. They're not ex-cons, drug addicts or thieves. That's why it's imperative to support these kind of athletes. They make for great models for kids. They epitomize what can be accomplished with a lot of hard work and dedication. Check these guys out Friday night. You won't be sorry.
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