That's not because these days he lives in South Philadelphia, a few blocks from the New Alhambra, where on Wednesday he will defend his United States Boxing Association featherweight title in an ESPN2-televised bout
Mtagwa is a Philly fighter because he stands in harm's way. He takes hard punches and gives them back, and momentum changes often in his fights. His bumpy career (21 wins, 10 losses, 2 draws, 15 knockouts) has been as up-and-down as his opponents during brawls. He has stopped guys who have never been stopped before. He has lost controversial decisions. He has been matched against one tough guy after another. Since his first bout in this country, at the Blue Horizon in 2000 against a boxer who was 10-0, Mtagwa's 21 opponents have had a combined record of 322-123.
Now, at age 27, ranked 10th in the world at 126 pounds by the International Boxing Federation, he will fight on national TV with a chance to get the boxing world to pay attention.
"We'd like to fight somebody in the top five and eventually for the world title," says Joe Parella, his manager.
Mtagwa was 12-0 as a pro in Dar Es Salaam and other African venues when his manager there made arrangements with a manager here. Mtagwa remembers getting $1,500 for his first fight in Philadelphia: $750 of it went to the African manager and $450 went to his handlers here (he no longer works with them and didn't want to name names).
That wasn't the worst part. After he was matched against the 10-0 Debind Thapa in his pro debut (and lost a decision), Mtagwa brutally was put in three fights in the space of 25 days, beating a fighter who was 10-3 but losing on points to opponents who were 12-4 and 13-0.
"I thought that's how it is supposed to be [in America]," Mtagwa said this week. That first manager told him: If he didn't like it, he could go back to Africa.
Now with new handlers - Parella as manager, Bobby "Boogaloo" Watts as trainer, Russell Peltz as promoter - Mtagwa is taking less career abuse.
In the ring, well, abuse comes with the gloves. Last time out, in June, he walked through hard shots from 15-2 Artyom Simonyan to knock out the tough Armenian in Round 4. Coming on Wednesday is 26-8 Alvin Brown. Parella this week encouraged Mtagwa to be aggressive and grab attention on TV, not wait for things to happen.
"If you want to wait, go wait for the bus," said his kinder, gentler, current manager.
Undefeated Trenton light heavyweight Chucky Cavallo (9-0) is on Wednesday's undercard, which starts at 7:30. Tickets are $35 to $50.
Punch lines. Announcer Jim Lampley at a recent HBO employee salute to Bernard Hopkins: "I cannot think of any other fighter in the history of boxing whose in-the-ring closing statement was greater than Bernard Hopkins'.".... Everlast was at the Shuler Gym in West Philly last week to photograph four local boxers - Kassim Ouma, Chazz Witherspoon, Rock Allen and Demetrius Hopkins - wearing apparel and gear for the company's catalog. Ouma has a tough bout Aug. 5 on HBO against Brooklyn's 20-0 Sechew Powell at Madison Square Garden... . Showtime tonight (11 o'clock) begins a 16-boxer tournament of super-middleweights that will run through early 2007.
Roy Jones isn't retired - he's just keeping a very low profile. Tomorrow, in his first non-HBO bout since 1993, the 37-year-old ex-champ fights in Boise, Idaho, against Camden's Prince Badi Ajamu.
...........................................................
| Rogers Mtagwa |
| Sex
| Male |
| Nationality
| Tanzania |
| Alias
| The Tiger |
| Global ID
| 015639 |
| Federal ID
| PA056809 |
| Hometown
| Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| Birthplace
| Dodoma, Tanzania |
| Rated at
| Featherweight |
| World Rank
| 69 / 973 |
| Date of Birth
| 1979-03-22 |
| Age
| 27 |
| Reach
| 70” |
| Stance
| Orthodox |
| Height
| 5' 5 |
| Manager
| Joe Parella
|
| W 23 (17 ko's) | L 10 | D 2 | Total 35 |