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"No way this guy is out-training Harry," he says.
Racich is speaking of 29-year-old Jason Lehoullier, a seven-year pro from Portland, Maine. Lehoullier will fight 30-year-old Yorgey, a five-year pro from Bridgeport, on March 7 at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn.
The stakes have never been higher for these undefeated Super Welterweights.
The match will air live via satellite for ESPN 2's "Friday Night Fights." The winner will be ranked in the top 15 worldwide for the 154-pound weight class by the World Boxing Association.
The North American Boxing Association-a subdivision of the WBA-has Lehoullier ranked ahead of Yorgey. But Yorgey isn't worried. He has never felt more prepared.
"We're gonna bring that belt back home and march down the street," Yorgey says, bouncing on his feet.
As Yorgey warms up for the ring-jumping rope, working the speed bag, stretching his hips-Racich offers his prediction.
"Harry will beat Lehoullier with his angles and footwork," he says.
Racich doesn't think the fight will last more than six rounds, but he and co-trainer Jeff Morgan have been preparing Yorgey for 12 since mid-January.
"We want him exhausted at the end of every workout," Racich says. "Then if he has to dig in the well, it's there."
Yorgey trains twice a day from Monday to Saturday. Each morning, he spends at least two hours with Jeff Morgan at Summit Sports Training Center on the Main Line, building endurance and quickening his reflexes.
"You can just see the difference in his physique," Morgan said in a phone interview.
"He's shredding up. ... The progress that we see is awesome."
Morgan said Yorgey's routine at Summit parallels the Ivan Drago training montage in "Rocky IV," but Summit's equipment is far less archaic. All of their machines are state-of-the-art, Morgan says.
In one exercise for hand-eye coordination, Yorgey, standing in a darkened room in front of a wall 48-inches tall and 65-inches wide, taps randomly flashing lights arranged in five concentric circles. By Feb. 15, Yorgey could hit 67 dots in 30 seconds-a vast improvement over his trial runs.
"I thought I was in the best shape of my life," Yorgey says. "At Summit, they really put me in my place."
Here at Precision Jiu-Jitsu, a mixed martial arts and boxing studio on Church Road in King of Prussia, Yorgey hones his technique with Racich for two hours each night.
At 39 years old, Racich is young enough to keep up with his boxers but old enough to dispense wisdom. He started boxing when he was 18, going 12-0 as an amateur and 2-0 as a pro.
Racich has trained boxers for the past two and one-half years. But Yorgey is his first big-time client, and he's tapping into everything he's learned about coaching athletes to guarantee victory. From his six years as head coach of the Conshohocken Steelers, a semi-professional football team, Racich has adopted a strategy to take Yorgey to the top: film analysis.
After watching 20 rounds of Lehoullier, Racich designed a training regimen to mimic the man's fighting style. In the practice ring, Yorgey faces sparring partners who swing and move like Lehoullier. Racich plays that role tonight, wearing a red padded chest protector and matching mitts. But he says the next session will be even more challenging.
"Tomorrow night he'll spar against five guys who will rotate, coming in fresh with steady pressure each round," he says.
The strategy is brilliant, Yorgey says, because "style makes fights." Yorgey has fought "rugged" boxers like Lehoullier before, and he believes that experience and what he's seen on tape will help him anticipate Lehoullier's punches.
Yorgey says his opponent could prove to be unpredictable, but he's ready to exploit Lehoullier's every mistake.
Just save the spotlight until he catches his breath.
Fight tickets and transportation are still available.
Contact Frank Petac (frankie@harryyorgey.com) for more information.
