Junior defensive tackle sure to keep Cougars’ opponents on their toes

SPRINGFIELD — The hole had opened and a ball carrier was approaching, and suddenly there was a blur and a thump.

Knockdown.

To Landon Feldman, it was more than another play in Springfield High’s opening night victory over Cardinal O’Hara. To the Cougars’ defensive tackle, it was an extension of a family tradition of hitting things hard.

“Oh yeah,” he was saying Thursday, with a smile. “I have heard about it all.”

The 5-10, 240-pound junior is the son of former undefeated heavyweight Damon Feldman and the grandson of Marty Feldman, the late Delaware County ring legend known for his knockout skills and, later, for training six professional boxing champions.

Landon Martin Feldman – the middle name a tribute to his grandfather – had a tackle and a sack and was one of dozens of Cougars to make strong contributions to a 50-6 Week 1, go-to-the-speed-up-provisions TKO. At 16, he has begun to gain attention as a college prospect, with Division III Waynesburg of Western Pennsylvania the first to begin to hover, but something inside is nagging: Even if for one night, he’d like to knock somebody down in a boxing ring.

“I don’t really fight, but I’d like to get one fight because in our family, it’s a tradition,” Feldman said. “Everyone else got one. But I do like the training. I like the training skills. They keep you in shape and they are good for self defense.

“But one day, I would like that one fight.”

If it’s a challenge he craves – physical, mental or otherwise – Feldman knows he is likely to receive one Friday at 7, when the Cougars entertain 1-0 Strath Haven in what well may be an early Central League elimination bout.

“That’s always a great game,” Springfield coach Chris Britton said. “It’s early in the season, but when you play them, you know they are the Judgment Day. If you come out of it with a win, you know you are going to be really good. Because they set the bar every year. And they are good again.”

Springfield has the talent and experience to be in any game, including the still up-and-coming Feldman.

“He’s worked hard all season and in the offseason,” Britton said. “He’s one of our leaders in the weight room. He has always worked hard, and hopefully this is when it pays off, in these kind of games.”

Feldman was raised to be diligent in training, and not just in football. His father, who was 9-0 until a neck injury halted his fight career in 1992, long has been a man about Delco boxing, most famously as a promoter of the celebrity game, but always as a trainer and a boxing teacher. He still works his son out around the ring at Cowboy Fitness in Marple at least twice a week, imparting skills that can have value in a football trench.

“Boxing is needed for anybody in sports,” Damon Feldman said. “I tell everybody that boxing and football mesh because of the speed, the aggression. You need that.”

Damon trained his son to fight, but Landon gravitated to football, first at the Springfield Youth Club and eventually into the Cougars’ defensive line mix.

“The boxing training helps in football, especially with the hand speed,” Landon said. “Especially at my position, defensive line, you have to get those hands off of you. Jumping rope helps with the footwork. And hitting the bag helps with your core.”

Landon has seen some video of his father in the ring, but has had to settle for the stories of his grandfather, who was 20-3-0 as a 1960s middleweight contender before turning to training.

“I know he trained several world champions and was a great trainer,” Landon said. “I know he had Frank ‘The Animal’ Fletcher and Prince Charles Williams. I’ve looked at some of Frank’s fights and at Prince Charles’ records. I like boxing. I watch it, especially the good fights like the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia one. I think Canelo (Alvaraz) is my favorite fighter.

“When I was younger, I tried boxing, but just didn’t want to stay with that. I like football.”

He likes football, so his father – who knows a good show when he sees one – will be in the stands for every game he plays.

“I never tried to pressure him to fight, but I did say, ‘Try one match, just to get it out of your system,’” said Damon, whose brother David had a five-fight welterweight career. “ I told him, ‘You’re part of the Feldman family. You have to fight.’ But he fell into football like I fell into boxing at his age.

“And knowing how dedicated he is and how he trains, for me, it’s really just incredible to watch.”