By Lou McLaughlin: I was given the opportunity to interview via telephone Qa’id “Kid Dynamite” Muhammad. Qa’id from Atlantic City, New Jersey is a bantamweight whose record is 7-0 (6 KO). He is managed and trained by his father Abdur Rahim Muhammad. Qa’id was having a knockout streak having won all 7 of his fights and six won by stoppage. Then in training he suffered a setback breaking his hand. He is scheduled to return to action at Fitzgerald’s Casino & Hotel, Tunica, Mississippi on November 3rd against Jamal “The Mailman” Parram 6(4)-6(3)-1
Q- How did you break your hand? How long have you been sidelined by the injury? And how is it feeling?
Boxing Interviews
The latest boxing interviews from boxers all over the world
Interview with Newark Heavyweight Aaron “The Animal” Kinch
By Lou McLaughlin: As New Jersey recovers from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, Newark heavyweight Aaron “The Animal” Kinch was generous to give me time for an interview. Aaron is in the midst of preparing for his next bout November 10 at the River Edge in Reading, Pennsylvania. Kinch winner of 3 (KO 1) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 1 will be facing Randy Easton of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After a sterling amateur career Kinch at the age of 30 decided to go pro. Although it is a late start Kinch has been fast tracking as November 10th will be his fourth fight in 2012. I have attended two of Aaron’s fights and seen him spar at the Elite Heat Boxing Gym of Newark. His style is reminiscent of James Toney. He has cute defensive moves and is deceptively fast. He is trained by John Thompson III a.k.a. “Brother Ya Ya”. Thompson also trains his son John Thompson IV a Newark Light Middleweight
Q & A interview with amateur star Antoine Douglas as he makes professional debut
By Lou McLaughlin: Last week I conducted a phone interview with amateur star Antoine Douglas of Washington, D.C. who at the time was scheduled to make his professional debut Virginia on October 27th Douglas is scheduled for a quick ring return when he fights on November 10th in Millville, New Jersey. Due to hurricane Sandy I was unable to put this interview out earlier. But the results were Antoine winning in 90 seconds of the first round. Douglas as an amateur had a record of 85-30 and was a National PAL Champion, 2009 Jt. Olympic Champion as well as a Ringside World champion as well as placing third in the Olympic trials, recently signed with managers Bill Mielnicki and Kay Korona and with promoter Greg Cohen.
Javan “Sugar” Hill: “Adonis Stevenson is ready to become the IBF Super Middleweight Champion”
By Joseph Herron – After becoming the mandatory IBF title challenger by knocking out Super Middleweight contender Don “Da Bomb” George on October 12th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (19-1, 16 KOs) is ready to take on the best at 168 according the his friend and trainer Javan “Sugar” Hill.
“Adonis showed me a lot in his victory over Don George,” professes the nephew of boxing legend Emanuel Steward. “Even with an injured left hand, he showed a lot of poise and stuck to the game plan of out-boxing George. Even after he had a lot of good exchanges with Don, he went right back to the focus of boxing instead of slugging it out with him.”
“Even with the injury to his power hand bothering him, Adonis was able to turn it up and get Don George out of there in the twelfth round. Adonis really showed me that he’s ready to fight anyone in the world.”
Although Stevenson is the next in line to face the current IBF Super Middleweight Champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch, the talented young trainer claims that Adonis is willing to fight any of the major title holders in the packed 168 pound division.
“Without a doubt, Adonis is ready for any one of the three recognized major world champions at Super Middleweight; Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, and Andre Ward. Adonis really proved a lot on October 12th. With the pressure of fighting a big puncher like Don George in an IBF title eliminator, and having to overcome the adversity of decisively beating a tough opponent with an injured hand, Adonis proved that he is worthy of an opportunity for a world title.”
Chris Byrd: “I don’t believe Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez will change very much in part four”
By Joseph Herron – With the fourth installment of Pacquiao/Marquez just six weeks away, both men have begun the sparring portion of their preparation for the big December 8th boxing showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While Pacquiao and Roach have boldly stated through various media sources that a knock-out will be imperative to win for a third time, former IBF Heavyweight Boxing Champion Chris “Rapid Fire” Byrd believes that a KO victory against the Mexican legend will be a task that is much easier said than done.
“Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez will always be a great fight,” insists the lifelong boxing proponent. “This is still maybe the toughest fight out there for Manny Pacquiao other than a match-up with Floyd Mayweather Jr.”
“One of the reasons why a fight with JMM will always be difficult for Manny is that Marquez is so smart, he cuts you in half. He uses his footwork in a way that strategically makes a southpaw reach over his body to try and hit him. This ultimately leaves Manny out of position and open for a Marquez counter.”
“JMM patiently picks his shots because he knows he doesn’t have the edge in hand speed. He sets up his shots extremely well and delivers with precision. Because Manny has more to lose in this fight than Marquez, due to his questionable loss to Bradley and his controversial win against JMM, you might see Manny Pacquiao fight with more of a sense of urgency which could lead to more careless mistakes that a smart fighter like Marquez could exploit.”
“Rapid Fire” makes an excellent observation. Manny Pacquiao indeed has more to lose going into the fourth contest with JMM.
Because of Pacquiao’s inability to put away his last five opponents, and due to the controversial nature of his last two outings, the Filipino boxing icon has seen his pound for pound ranking among many fight fans and boxing scribes slip considerably.
Trainer Ronnie Shields: “Emanuel Steward was unbelievable”
By Joseph Herron
– On Thursday afternoon, October 27 th , the boxing world learned the tragic news of the untimely passing of boxing legend Emanuel Steward.
While every boxing pundit felt the loss of the all time great fight trainer, maybe none more profoundly than expert trainer Ronnie Shields. The lifelong boxing proponent initially met Emanuel when he was competing as an amateur boxer at age 13.
After their early encounter, the mutual friendship grew over several decades and was based on a genuine fondness and deep rooted respect for each other.
Ronnie shared his personal feelings on the air during Sunday night’s episode of “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap”.
“Thursday was probably one of the worst days I’ve ever experienced in my entire life,” admits expert trainer Ronnie Shields.
Exclusive Interview with WBO Middleweight Champion Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin
“With Gennady Golovkin I can say he’s a very strong fighter, very determined, but he doesn’t put any fear in my heart at all”—Peter Quillin
Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – I was recently afforded the opportunity to speak with the new WBO middleweight world champion Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin (28-0, 20 KOs) following his title-winning victory against Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (27-1, 17 KOs) last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Quillin spoke about his performance, talked about his future, and gave his views on the current middleweight landscape and where he would like to go next. Here is a complete transcript from that interview.
Audio:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello boxing fans. This is Geoff Ciani from East Side Boxing, and I am joined here today by the newly crowned WBO middleweight champion of the world, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin. Pete, how does it feel to win your first world championship?
PETER QUILLIN: It feels great. It feels good to come a long way to have some kind of achievement to what my hard work has given me. But most importantly I got to know that there’s going to be some more fights in the future that’s going to allow me to show what my class is really about.
CIANI: Now Pete, during the fight, it appeared to me during the first three rounds that you had a little trouble with his rhythm and that you weren’t able to time him maybe as well as you would have liked to. Reflecting back, what was going through your mind during those first three rounds?
Marco Huck: “The fans will witness one hell of a fight!
WBO Champion Marco Huck is looking forward to the action in Halle/Westphalia. His fight against former WBA Cruiserweight Champion Firat Arslan promises to be a real highlight. Ahead of the big fight, the 27-year-old spent some time in Mallorca, Spain as well as in Neuruppin, Germany and will present himself in great shape come November 3. And the team surrounding the prodigy of coach Ulli Wegner is convinced, that they did all they could to enable Huck to defend his title for the tenth time. Huck took some time out of his preparations for Arslan for a Q&A.
Marco Huck, your last fight was back in May. After the bout, it was announced that you would take a longer break, which you did. Was that the right move?
Marco Huck: It definitely was. I didn’t really have a lot of time off ahead of the May 5 fight in Erfurt, which showed during the bout. Now my batteries are fully charged and I cannot wait to get back into the ring. I can feel the itch in my fists. The fight against Afolabi wasn’t easy for me. In my opinion that was due to the fact that I fought for the heavyweight championship just a few months earlier which also was a tough fight. But at the end, I got through it and kept my cruiserweight title. Now my whole focus is on the tenth defence of the WBO Championship.
Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez: “My dream is still to become a world champion”
By Joseph Herron – Every young fighter dreams of one day becoming a world champion once they lace up the gloves for the first time.
But the commitment, discipline, sacrifice, and pain that every prizefighter is forced to endure is enough to turn even the most ardent of athletes away from the ring. Despite recognizing the various obstacles on the pathway to glory, every fighter indeed has a vision; and until they accomplish their ultimate goal, most of these brave warriors will continue to place themselves in harm’s way for our entertainment.
2000 American Olympic Silver Medalist Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez (28-10-1, 20 KOs) still possesses this dream; and it still burns feverishly within him just as the first day he began boxing.
“My goal in this business has always been to be a world champion. I feel like I’ve been right there on the borderline. I’ve come so close and have been in a lot of great championship type fights. I know I have what it takes to do it. It just hasn’t officially happened for me.”
The Rock has certainly come unnervingly close to grabbing championship hardware throughout his storied fight career.
After beginning his professional career with a perfect 23-0 record, the hard punching Houston, Texas native was in line to face the WBC Featherweight Champion In-Jin Chi of South Korea in August of 2005. In what was billed as a possible “Fight of the Year” candidate, the highly anticipated match-up was slated to air on HBO as the co-main event of the Fernando Vargas/Javier Castillejo spectacle.
Nonito Donaire: “I want Rigondeaux to be at his best when I fight him”
(Photo credit: Adrian Hernandez) By Joseph Herron: In less than a full calendar year’s time, four division world champion and pound for pound talent Nonito Donaire (30-1, 19 KOs) has garnered two world titles in the Super Bantamweight division, as well as the WBC Diamond belt and Ring Magazine’s distinction as the man to beat at 122 pounds.
So where does the “Filipino Flash” go from here?
After the 29 year old fighter’s brilliant performance against former WBC Champ Toshiaki Nishioka on October 13th, HBO’s Max Kellerman asked Donaire about a potential meeting with Cuban exile and two-time Olympic Gold medal winner Guillermo Rigondeaux.
While most fight fans were somewhat puzzled with Nonito’s on-air response, the southern California based fighter clarified his reply on Tuesday night’s edition of “The Pugilist KOrner”.