OUMA AWAITS MOSELY-WRIGHT WINNER

02.03.04 – Patience may be a virtue but Kassim “The Dream” Ouma is done waiting. In his next fight, the 25-year old junior-middleweight will get his mandatory shot at the world championship he has long coveted. Ouma earned the IBF number one mandatory spot with an impressive 10th round stoppage of J.C. Candelo in early January, and after having beating five of the top-15 IBF rated fighters, Ouma and the boxing world knows what is next.

“The IBF gave me their word, they guaranteed that I would be the mandatory for the Shane Mosely-Winky Wright winner, and I thank them for that opportunity. There are no more exceptions. I want the IBF belt next. You can’t get away from me. You can’t give me a big enough step-aside fee. I wanna be the world champ right now. My next fight is gonna be for the world title,” Ouma confirmed.

“I beat up everybody they put in front of me. I beat up Candelo, knocked him out which Winky couldn’t do. Even a guy I beat, Angel Hernandez, got a title shot before me. I had to fight Candelo for pocket change. The only reason I fought for pennies was because I knew I would blast him and I would be the next challenger, the mandatory for Winky. But the IBF gave him an exception, which I think was a good thing. Boxing fans wanted to see a united title and Winky deserves a big payday. But now it‘s my turn.”

Unlike current trends in the sport, Ouma has earned his title shot the hard way by beating a long list of quality junior-middleweights in Alex Bunema, Kuvanych Togonbayev, Tony Marshall, Pedro Ortega, Jason Papillion, Michael Lerma, Darrell Woods, Angel Hernandez, Carlos Bojorquez and J.C. Candelo.

“I beat them all. Just line them up and I’ll knock them off. Whoever has the IBF belt, I’m next. No excuses. No ducking. No hiding. You’re holding my belt. And the rules say you got to come and fight me. It’s Dream Time. My turn. No more exceptions. Come meet the Dream,” Ouma said. “I’m gonna be right there ringside at Mosely-Wright waiting. Swallow my spit, ballin up my hands, watching those guys seeing who I’m gonna get next.”

With all the talk of of Mosely fighting Felix Trinidad if he wins, and the possibility of Wright doing the same thing should he win, Ouma remains focused on his world title opportunity.

“If they gotta go run away and make those millions fighting Trinidad, okay but that IBF belt is coming to me. I’ll get that world title and go chase them down. I’m the new man on the scene. They need to meet the challenge sometime. The public wants to see me in that big fight. I know I’m ready to beat the best. They should fight me now cause I’m just gonna keep getting better. Pretty soon it’s just gonna be Dream’s world.”

Ouma’s already extreme confidence has expanded further with the addition of former world champion and defensive specialist Tim Witherspoon joining long-time cornermen and ex-world champ Johnny Bumphus as co-trainer.

“Kassim is the best kind of young fighter, eager to learn, hungry for success. He absorbs and listens because he trusts what I can do,” Witherspoon said. “You will see something different in each fight, something will always get better. He loves being in the ring, he has so much fun. When I was fighting, at the end of the round, I couldn’t wait to get to the stool and rest, get some water. Kassim is so busy having fun, he walks around clapping and smiling to the crowd. He just loves it and he’s always learning. He’s ready for the elite guys, but they don’t want to allow the next great one in that million dollar club. But they can’t Kassim out. He’s too hungry.
“The public and TV are falling in love with Dream. He’ll be the next big champion.”