17.08.04 – By Wray Edwards: The first time I met Matt Vanda was at the Ledyard Center Arena just before the Casamayor/Corrales II contest. As I took my seat, I noticed a man sitting next to me who was talking with some people about his last fight. He looked at me, as I sat, and said hello in a friendly manner. I introduced myself, and as we shook hands, it was amazing how powerful he was, and wasn’t. By that, I mean that his hand and forearm were so strong but controlled. He wasn’t one of those people who snatch your fingers before the hands are matched. I thought to myself: “Man this guy’s really solid.” We talked a bit until his friends arrived who were assigned away from him but, I moved to accommodate their sitting together.
Months later, at a mountain-top villa, I was watching boxing videos and chatting with Louis DeCubas. The subject of Matt Vanda came up and he was spoken of, in glowing terms, as having great potential. Vanda 25, a native of St Paul, Minn., is scheduled to fight Armando Velardez 24, of the Velardez brothers, from San Bernardino, Ca.
SHOWTIME will televise the Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing and Team Freedom co-promoted doubleheader from Aldrich Arena in Maplewood, Minn., this Thursday evening, August 18, at 11 p.m. ET. Vanda plans to make this his last home-town farewell fight before entering the fray on a national basis.
Vanda has, for some time, been a local hero and journeyman boxer based in Minnesota. He recently left his long-time trainers Tommy & Brian Brunette, who have mentored him since he was twelve, to join Sugar Ray Leonard Promotions and Team Freedom to work with co-trainers Norman Wilson and John David Jackson in California. Wilson is training Vanda in offensive skills and Jackson (formerly a world class boxer himself) is handling the defensive and counter-punching skills. ESB contacted Matt Vanda at his training camp just prior to his departure for St. Paul.
ESB: Good evening Mr. Vanda, it’s good to talk with you again.
Vanda: Thank you; I enjoyed our last conversation very much.
ESB: Your boxing match with Armando Velardez in St. Paul this Thursday is back in your home town. Though you have been a local favorite there in the past, do you consider this one of your last fights at that level before your career takes on a more national flavor?
Vanda: Yes, I really love and appreciate the support of my fans in that part of the country, but I think it’s time for me to branch out and develop my professional career around the U.S.
ESB: I heard you’ve been fighting since you were twelve years old. What ever got a twelve year-old kid interested in boxing?
Vanda: I started because me and my buddy on my football team – I was a quarterback and he was a wide receiver – his father Bill Flannigan was a boxer and they invited me to the gym one day. So we went, and my buddy ended up quitting, but I just loved it so I kept on going and learning to box.
ESB: You just liked to scrap huh?
Vanda: Yeah, I used to get into a lot of fights all the time when I was younger, and this was a way to do it with out getting into trouble, and it was really fun.
ESB: I hear you have two trainers instead of the usual one.
Vanda: Norman works with me on offence you know, throwin’ a lot of punches and doing plenty of work in there, and John David works with me on slipping punches and movin’ around the ring, cuttin’ off the ring and counterin’ a lot. It’s a good combination.
ESB: How’s your counter-punching doing?
Vanda: It’s doing good you see, I’ve always been a counter-puncher you know, actually, but ah…now it’s a lot better. I always try to sucker the guy in and get him while he’s comin’ but I’ve added to that the ability to slip and counter more quickly. Norman likes to see me nail ‘em as much as possible.
ESB: Some people don’t know the difference between a counter-puncher and a guy who just gets crazy and brawls in there after getting tagged. A counter-punch is pretty much a trained reflex which you don’t think about at all, isn’t it?
Vanda: Yeah, it is just a reflex, and I’ve always been able to do that, it makes ya a lot more effective, and I’m pretty fast so I get a lot of shots in there, it works out good for me.
ESB: How’s your hand? I know you had a hand injury last year, is it OK now?
Vanda: Yeah, about a year and a half ago I broke my left hand, and ah actually it’s better than ever. It gets a little bit sore on the index knuckle, but that doesn’t bother me during a fight. I don’t feel the pain until after the fight.
ESB: What’s your opinion of Armando Velardez your opponent in this fight? Have you seen him or studied tapes of his fights or anything?
Vanda: Yeah, we’ve studied a lot of his tapes, he’s got a good right hand you know, he’s there to fight, he’s right in front of you, he keeps coming forward, and ah…I keep comin’ forward too so I think it’s goin’ to be a great fight, I’m sure we’re gonna be bombin’ right from the start. He doesn’t throw a lot of combinations and he’s not very fast…he’s not as fast as me so…I think I’m gonna punch his lights out.
ESB: (laughing) OK, Who would you like to fight next after this guy? You know, sort of on a national basis, are they talking about anybody?
Vanda: You know, I don’t know what they have planned for me. That’s all up to Leon Margolis and Louie DeCubas, but you know…I’m not dodgin’ anyone, I don’t care who I fight, it doesn’t matter to me.
ESB: If you were to go for a title in the next year or two, which one of the sanction champions would you like to go for?
Vanda: Well I know I’m rated number eight or nine in the WBO, and that’s Daniel Santos so I guess I’d probably have a shot at him you know, maybe even after this fight. I’ll fight anybody. It doesn’t matter.
ESB: How do you like the change from training in Minnesota to your new camp the mountains of California. A lot of boxers seem to be training at altitude and away from the city.
Vanda: I love it ‘cause I really didn’t train properly there in Minnesota you know. You know back there in the city I didn’t work and learn enough. Out here I’m away from everybody, up in nature and the fresh air and I’m learning a lot. This is what I really need and it’s bringing my game up quite a bit.
ESB: That’s great. Who have you been sparring with?
Vanda: I have been sparring with Charles Whittaker mostly and Santiago Samaniego (related to Roberto Duran) and ah…they both give me great work. Charles is a great fighter, he’s fightin’ for the IBO intercontinental title September fourth, so I’m helpin’ him get ready and he’s helpin’ me get ready. Santiago’s fighting for title eliminator September fourth too against Wells. So we’re all helpin’ each other and Santiago’s a banger and Charles is a boxer so I’m getin’ a little bit of both you know, so we’re all in real good shape now, and we’re all pretty much a team up here and all like brothers. This is the best work I’ve ever had cause there’s no one to spar with in Minnesota. This is what I need ‘cause I’ve been sparrin’ with amateurs and bums you know, and I’m not a bum fighter.
ESB: How’s your road work and stamina training doing?
Vanda: Well I do my sprints in the morning, but I’m not a runner. I’m a fighter and I do a lot of rounds in the ring every day. We train two or three times a day on a very strict schedule and do eight…ten rounds a day, I’m throwin’ more punches than ever, I’m not gettin’ tired, I use big eighteen ounce gloves, and I throw them for ten rounds like nothin’ so when I get in a fight with ten ounce gloves it’s on, I can fight all night.
ESB: I’m wondering, because of some of the controversial decisions you’ve had up there, whether you would just like to KO this guy and just take the judges out of the decision?
Vanda: Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna knock him out. I’m not gonna try to knock him out, but it’s gonna happen. That’s the whole game plan and I think that’s gonna impress a whole lotta people, because you know a lotta people don’t think I can fight. You can put that in about Sam Garr if you want. I wasn’t trained properly, and if I fought him now I could knock him out in three rounds…no problem.
ESB: Well Matt, we really want to thank you for taking a few minutes to speak with Eastside Boxing and all your fans here.
Vanda: Thank YOU. We are really ready to rock, and I hope to hear from you after the fight.
ESB: Thanks again Mr. Vanda.
This guy is a very personable young man. It remains to be seen how much improvement he has made since changing his training venue and trainers. He has a positive attitude and loves the sport as a fan also. Boxing is his life both in and out of the ring. Thursday night should be a great opportunity to see if there is proof in the puddin’ for Matt. He’s a controversial guy in many ways but is young enough to get over the past and move on with his career. This is a watershed fight for Vanda regardless of his opponent. It is his first chance to enter the ring with his old life passing behind and his future on the line. Win or lose, one cannot doubt his sincerity and dedication to the sport.