Fast rising prospect Jerry “The King’s Son “Odom took time to give an exclusive interview to Fightnews. The 20 year old from Bowie, Maryland has had five fights since his pro debut in October 2012. In a manner reminiscent of young Mike Tyson’s early rise all five have ended within the first round. Total ring time in five fights being 6 minutes 23 seconds. Odom has risen from a troubled youth in the Paradise projects of Washington D.C. to a Golden Gloves champion. At 14, he stood in a D.C. courtroom in front of a judge he knew was tired of seeing him. It was Jerry’s third time there. . The youngster was looking at serious time. His uncle proposed a last-ditch solution: He would take Jerry. Ken Williams, a home builder, asked the judge to let Jerry live with him and his parents in Bowie. It is in this environment that Jerry received the opportunity to turn his life around. He has fully grasped this opportunity. The super middleweight has drawn a lot of attention from community for his natural knockout punching power. He has recently signed with GH3 Promotions and is scheduled to fight September 13th at Newark’s Robert Treat Hotel in his first bout outside of the D.C. area.
Boxing Interviews
The latest boxing interviews from boxers all over the world
Vince Cleverly: “Nathan will KO Kovalev 100%”
Cleverly Snr and Kovalev’s trainer, John David Jackson, discussed their fighters’ preparations last night on a conference call ahead of the massive showdown at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena on Saturday 17th August, live and exclusive in the UK on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546).
Cleverly defends his WBO World Light-Heavyweight title for the sixth and most dangerous defence yet against the undefeated Kovalev who’s knocked out 19 of his 22 opponents with 18 coming inside three rounds.
But Cleverly is adamant that his son will retain his title and will even knock out the fearsome Russian.
WBA # 13 Blake Caparello eyes big fight!
Undefeated Australian light heavyweight Blake Caparello 17-0-1 is starring down the barrel of some big fight offers after his impressive display against Daniel McKinnon 21-5 last month.
Caparello put on an old school boxing display of hit and don’t get hit as he cruised to a points win over tough kiwi Daniel McKinnon.
I caught up with Team Caparello at training and manager/ trainer Sam Labruna had the flowing to say; “I was very happy with Blake’s performance against McKinnon, Daniel is very experienced and he used every trick in the book to get Blake off his game and make the fight messy.”
I asked Blake what he thought about the fight; “I though I fought a smart calculated fight, I thought I landed the decisive blows and the cleaner punches and hardly got hit.
Interview with “Fast” Eddie Chambers
Chip Mitchell: Eddie, let’s first talk about the decision to move down from heavyweight to cruiserweight? Was part of the decision it based more on size or more opportunities in the division?
Fast Eddie Chambers: It is a combination of all that. But honestly when you thing about the opportunities in cruiserweight it’s almost in some ways just as difficult because you see a lot of these champions sitting on belts. At least in heavyweight division you’ve got one guy saying ‘Look I’m going to try to rule the division’.
In the cruiserweight division we have four different champions and they’re all sitting on belts. And they are like ‘I don’t want to pick and choose’ and the promoters have to do this and that. Like Kathy (Duva) was saying a little earlier, they talk about having this other fight already made or that other fight made, so they’re not really thinking about getting anybody a shot at taking their title. They are thinking of keeping their belts and sitting on them.
Exclusive Interview – Omar Figueroa, Jr. & Team Arakawa
The co-main event for Knockout Kings II will feature Texas’ own Omar “Panterita” Figueroa against Japan’s own Nihito Arakawa.
Figueroa is expected to be the fighter that Texas will be cheering on during Saturday night as he’s the one with the momentum between the two fighters. Arakawa is seemingly unknown to the mainstream fan. Could this fight be more competitive than we think? Team Arakawa certainly thinks so.
I had the opportunity ask both Figueroa and Team Arakawa some questions to shed some background and expectations to the viewers that don’t know much about them. Figueroa, though in his early twenties, showed maturity for his age as a fighter and person. Team Arakawa showed optimism for the upcoming bout as they recognized their opponent’s strengths and opportunities.
Willie Nelson: The Fighter
Rising light middleweight contender, Willie “The Great” Nelson (20-1-1, 12KOs) is a born fighter who knows how to battle adversity and come back stronger. As a young child, he survived on the tough streets of East Cleveland, Ohio without any parents, who were dealing with substance abuse issues, living with one family member after another, until his older sister, Raviele took custody of him, when she was only 17 years old. Even after Raviele became Nelson`s guardian, life was still extremely difficult, as they struggle daily to make ends meet.
“I owe a great deal of my success in life to Raviele who sacrificed her life, so that she could take care of me and my younger siblings and that is why every time I step into the ring, I’m not only boxing for myself but I’m also fighting for my four children and my siblings,” said Nelson. “God only know where I would be in life if Raviele didn’t take custody of me, but I know I wouldn’t be where I’m, if it was not for her.”
Gennady Golovkin – Matthew Macklin Full Interview Transcript
Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Middleweight Championship Boxing After Dark Triple Header Conference call. Today we have WBA and IBO defending middleweight champion, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin with a record of 26 and 0, 23 knockouts and his challenger, top rated middleweight contender and former World Title challenger, Matthew “Mac the Knife” Macklin with 29 and 4 and 20 knockouts.
We also have Tom Loeffler, president of K2 Promotions, Golovkin’s promoter and GGG’s head trainer, Abel Sanchez. For team Macklin, we have promoter Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, co-promoter, Brian Peters of Brian Peters Promotions and head trainer, Buddy McGirt. The HBO Boxing After Dark triple header begins at 9:45 pm Eastern Time and Pacific Time on Saturday, June 29 and takes place at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods.
Iran “The Blade” Barkley Speaks: 25-Years After His Stunning Upset KO Of Thomas Hearns
Just over 25-years ago, Iran “The Blade” Barkley, he of the mean streets of The Bronx, met Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, he of the equally tough neighbourhoods of Detroit – and a sensational middleweight title fight was witnessed.
Hearns, by 1988 already a living legend, has just made history by becoming the first ever four-time “world” champion in boxing (welterweight, light-middle, light-heavy and then middleweight). Barkley, who had been handily out-pointed by the talented Sumbu Kalambay in his only other world title challenge, was a pretty big underdog entering the ring at The Las Vegas Hilton that summer’s evening. Still, sage boxing people knew Barkley was as tough as he was dangerous. To the shock of millions, Barkley showed just how tough and dangerous he was, after taking a most ferocious beating at the hands of the champion.
Exclusive Interview: Adonis Stevenson
“If I fight Andre Ward at 168, I can go fight in his home town. Then we can have a rematch at 175 and he can come to my home town to fight. That’s what I’m proposing.”—Adonis Stevenson
Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (21-1, 18 KOs) made a huge statement when he scored an explosive first round knockout against “Bad” Chad Dawson (33-3, 17 KOs) to become the new light heavyweight king. This dazzling display of sheer strength and power catapults Stevenson into the spotlight of an already interesting 168-175 pound landscape, which includes Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and living legend Bernard Hopkins to name a few. Stevenson suddenly finds himself in a unique position where a slew of lucrative opportunities are likely to surface. I was recently afforded the opportunity to speak to Stevenson about his championship winning performance, his future in boxing, and his opinions of some of the other big names who reside in and around his weight class. Here is what the new champ had to say.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello boxing fans. This is Geoff Ciani from East Side Boxing, and I am joined here today by the newly crowned light heavyweight champion of the world, Adonis Stevenson. Adonis, first of all, congratulations on your outstanding victory.
ADONIS STEVENSON: Thank you very much.
Audio:
Atlantic City’s Light Heavy weight Lavarn “Baby Bowe”Harvell on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights from West Orange, N.J. on June 14th
This past week I was given the opportunity to interview via telephone Atlantic City’s rising light heavyweight prospect Lavarn Harvell as he prepares for his June 14th bout against Paul Vasquez from Martinez, California.