“I got shot 5 times” Getting to Know Leo "Paco" Nolan

By icheehuahua
DoghouseBoxing.com l MaxBoxing.com

21.05 - I myself first heard of TeamCannon on the Internet over the last few years. The team’s manager John Carlisle has done impressively well in utilizing the Internet to get the word out on these fighters. Fans have been treated by not only being able to access the progression of TeamCannon over the internet, but also being able to contact and get specific information from the team at their site www.TeamCannon.com.

The team consists of 3 Detroit fighters, Leo Nolan, Rydell Booker and Rubin Williams. I caught up with team Captain Leo Nolan (Heavyweight) via e-mail and he was cool enough to answer a few questions for readers.

Chee (i cheehuahua) : Leo, why a team... most boxer go it alone, but as you are climbing up the Heavyweight Charts... you aren't doing it alone. You have a team known to fans as Teamcannon. Fans know the others in your gang as Rubin Williams and Rydell Booker. In a sport not known as a team sport, you guys are rewriting the rules. So why a team?

Leo Nolan: You know, I didn't like the team thing at first. Our manager (John Carlisle) wanted the team because we had been together since Rydell started boxing. I think he was seven years old then. I never thought about it like a gang. I like that. I really don't think we could of all made it to 19-0 on our own. Once we got up to 10-11 and 0, we started working harder and pushing each other. Basically we just been giving each other a lot of shit about being the first to lose. Our manager makes us all get in the ring and get introduced as a team before each fight. At first we thought that was stupid because boxing ain't about all that team shit. We still don't like it because the announcer says "Undefeated Teamcannon" and unbeaten in so and so many fights. But after walking around the ring we all look at each other and say: "I ain't the one that's gonna be getting caught!" Sooner or later everybody gets caught with some wild shit. The manager says that when one of us loses the team is gone. I don't wanna be the one who causes that.

Chee: Do you feel as a team the rewards are better and do you guys also thrive off each other's performance?

Leo Nolan: The big difference is that we share the main event as a team. But one of us though has to fight tougher than the other two. The promoters in them little club shows usually can't pay for but one good opponent. We know who has the tougher fight and we show support like you don't see in most dressing rooms where each fighter is just worried about his own fight. The night Rydell fought Uriah Grant, Rubin went into Grant's dressing room and saw him all ripped and smoking some mitts. I guess he looked REALLY strong. Well, Rubin walks into our dressing room and walked up to Rydell and gave him a hug! Rydell pushed him off and said like, " What's up with you fool?" Rubin said, "I just want you to know that I love you man." I thought, "Oh shit!" I looked in Grant's dressing room, then me and Rubin walked Rydell into the ring. After Rydell beat Grant, he asked Rubin what all that shit was about before the fight. Rubin said, "I thought he was going to kill you dog! (Laughs)

Chee: Why are you team Captain, and as Captain what do you do for the team?

Leo Nolan: Our manager just said in the beginning that I was the captain. Probably because I'm older and smarter and better looking than them guys.

Chee: How long has your team been together for, and who's idea was it to attack the world of boxing as a team?

Leo Nolan: Like I said the team thing came from John Carlisle the manager. But we was together for all our lives. We're from the same neighborhood and we all learned to box from my uncle, Anthony Nolan. Maybe we were a team and just didn't know it.

Chee: You guys come from Detroit, a city known for top notch and very tough fighters. Do you feel the attitude of the toughness associated with Detroit fighters helps you guys?

Leo Nolan: All the gyms in Detroit are tough. We don't just spar in Detroit. We fight! Some guys turn into gym fighters and never get nowhere. There's a bit of competition between gyms in that nobody likes to get beat in their own gym. But we all go to other gyms for the work and so you gotta be tough.

Chee: Being part of Detroit also ensures you have fans in Canada (Southern Ontario). Are fans on both sides of the border as equally important to you, or do you feel that your main support comes from Detroit?

Leo Nolan: We have some fighters who come to our gym from Canada, but I don't know about any fans.

Chee: Detroit can be a rough neighborhood. Growing up did you ever get in trouble with the law, drugs or anything else that may have ruined your concentration and side tracked you from your dreams?

Leo Nolan: I f--ked up when I was younger. I was hanging with the wrong crowd and one day a guy I was with tried to rob a cop. I got shot five times and got sent to prison for four years. That got my attention and my concentration has been REAL good since then.

Chee: What's your earliest Boxing memory?

Leo Nolan: My uncle Tony would take me to fight Oba Carr every day. Oba was older than me and would beat the shit out of me every day. It took me about six months before I could stay with Oba. He was bigger and stronger than me and it took me about six months to learn how to box good enough to hang with him and other bigger kids. That's funny because I still fight bigger guys. I just gotta outbox them.

Chee: What does "Paco" in your name stand for?

Leo Nolan: Just a nickname that I've always had.

Chee: Are you Married, and if so, do you have children?

Leo Nolan: I'm not married.

Chee: What's your best punch?

Leo Nolan: My jab. I GOT a jab.

Chee: Who is your all time favorite fighter?

Leo Nolan: Thomas Hearns

Chee: Are you going to be Heavyweight Champion of the World someday?

Leo Nolan: I'd be crazy to say no. I ain't real big and I ain't real strong. Some say I can't punch. But I whipped the first 19 that said it. (Laughs) We'll see where it goes. I watch some of the big names and they look too slow to be hitting me. Most of them can't box. I can box.

Chee: If you could change one thing about Boxing... what would that be?

Leo Nolan: When a fighter gets to 19 and 0, he gets a million dollars. (Laughs)

Chee: For young amateurs and fans still in school, what would be your advice for any of them who want to take up Professional boxing?

Leo Nolan: Get in all the amateur fights they can. That experience is something that nobody can take away from you. The boxer has the edge in a fight.

Chee: Your next fight is when, where and against who?

Leo Nolan: June 13. It's on Friday the thirteenth! I still don't know who I'm fighting. Our manager don't tell us. We gotta find out the best way we can. It doesn't matter. I ain't superstitious, but I'll be ready and I'll just hope I don't get caught on Friday the thirteenth. I hope none of us do.

Chee: Good Luck and we wish you and your team continued success.

For More info on Leo Nolan and his team mates, visit their site at www.TeamCannon.com