Exclusive Interview by James Slater – Former amateur standout and 2004 Olympian Jason Estrada of Providence, Rhode Island, 16-2(4) is set to face IBF cruiserweight champion/heavyweight campaigner Tomasz Adamek on February 6th.
Massively pumped up for the fight he sees as a big opportunity, the man known as “Big Six” is sure he will win; maybe even by stoppage.
Very kindly taking the time to speak with me about the big fight yesterday evening (UK time), the 29-year-old gave the following answers to my questions:
James Slater: It’s always great to speak with you Jason. First of all, is the fight with Tomasz Adamek officially a go?
Jason Estrada: Oh, yeah – it’s a done deal. It’s signed, the contract has been made. So, hoping that nothing goes wrong, the fight will be Feb. 6th in New Jersey. I can’t wait for this fight – I really, really hope everything goes well..
J.S: When will you begin training for the fight? Or are you always training anyway?
J.E: I’m always training anyway, but camp for this fight will actually start on Monday. The reason I had a short break is because I was in New York last night, to support a friend who was fighting, Jaywon Woods. I worked the corner with my dad.
J.S: Obviously, the Adamek fight is a big opportunity for you – it’s a test for him, as he’s still a question mark at heavyweight – but do you see yourself out-boxing the guy?
J.E: Yes it’s a big opportunity for me, but the way he’s been looking lately, I think I could stop him. I mean, he’s getting up there in years and the time comes for everyone when it catches up with you. Adamek’s had some tough, tough fights, and lately he’s been having a hard time in his fights. Up until he managed to come back and get the knock out, he’s been wobbled and hurt. I saw the Bobby Gunn fight, and that was a tough fight for him early on. I know Adamek’s tough, but that was at cruiserweight and at light-heavyweight – I’m not sure he takes a great shot as well as he used to. Also, I don’t know what else he brings to the table – he’s not faster than me and he’s certainly not stronger than me. He beat Andrew Golota, but Golota was an old fighter who’d been through a lot. But back in his day, when he was fighting guys like Riddick Bowe, I think Golota would have killed Adamek.
J.S: You sound as though you are pumped up for this fight already, Jason!
J.E: Oh, man, as soon as I heard about this opportunity, I said, “let’s take it!” I’m more hungry now than ever before. Also, this is the most time I’ve ever had to get ready for any fight – and I mean ever. Usually, I get around three or four weeks to get ready. This fight is still eight weeks away. The things I can do in eight weeks! The quality sparring I can get. I’ve had okay guys to spar with before, where I spar a straight 24 minutes, a minute a time with a guy. But I’ve been stopping guys [in the gym] with body shots and head shots, because I’ve worn them down. Now I have the time to get great sparring. I’m trying to set that up now. But some guys, they think I’m getting millions of dollars for this fight, and they’re asking for crazy money – I can’t afford that! But I’ll have a great camp for this fight.
J.S: I never knew that. Even for the Povetkin fight you had less time than you have for this fight?
J.E: Yes. The Povetkin fight, I had like four weeks when the fight finally came down and was a definite go. By the time they’d finally agreed to the fight, that’s all I had to get ready – but I still had a great camp. But I can’t really understand why they’ve [Team Adamek] taken this fight with me. I thought they’d take another two fights against slower guys before they took a fight with me.
J.S: Do you think they’ve looked at your record and seen you have just four KO’s, and have gone solely by that?
J.E: Well, people look at the numbers and say I can’t punch. But you have to pay attention to the guys I’ve been fighting. I’ve not been in with guys with 4-16, or 1-12 type records or anything like that. I’ve been in with fighters who had .500 records or better, and some of them were ex-champions. It can be hard to knock guys like that out. You know, they can look to survive, not even try to win anymore, and make the fight look ugly.
J.S: It’s interesting you saying you think you may KO Adamek – I was expecting you to say you’d look to out-box him, for sure. Will you jump right on the guy, seeing as how he’s been hurt early in fights and seems to take time to really warm up?
J.E: It’s always a possibility, but at the same time, I won’t get out of my game-plan. But if I hurt him, yeah – I’ll look to take him out. I won’t let him get that second wind. I’m not too worried about him; he’s a little guy – no more than around 214-pounds – whereas I’ll come in at around 240. He won’t be able to push me around like guys he did at cruiserweight. If that’s his plan, it’ll be either a long night for him, or it could be a short night for him. His pressure worked down at cruiserweight and at light-heavyweight – but it’s a totally different story now, at heavyweight. Like I say, he’s been in a lot of wars. He’s not old at age 33 – but with the amount of wars he’s had he is a lot older than me.
J.S: It’s a great fight for you. If you beat this guy, you can shout out for a world title fight – is that your mindset?
J.E: Yeah, exactly. This is a great opportunity and any world title shot it might lead to, I’ll take it. And the good thing about this fight is it’s in the U.S, and on the east coast. I have a lot of family there, I’m a native of New York. I’ve travelled to other countries before, and it’s no problem, but this is great, this fight being on the east coast. Also, I was a fan of Adamek, back when he was a light-heavyweight. I don’t take anything away from the guy, but when he fought my guy from Connecticut, Chad Dawson, I had to pull for Dawson. I’m looking forward to this fight, it excites me, but I’m not looking past it – I’m so focused, more than ever before. This fight is so close I can taste it!
J.S: With the fight taking place in his adopted hometown of Newark, are you concerned about whether or not you’ll get a fair shake if the fight does go to the cards?
J.E: Nah, I’m not worried about that. I have a lot of fans and friends who live there, too. And we are fighting for a vacant belt (Jason told me the fight will contest an IBF belt of some sort, although he wasn’t sure which one – maybe a “step up” belt, he said.), so it’s not a case of “you have to really take the title from the champ to beat him.” This fight’s a problem for him, not for me.
J.S: Well, I want to thank you for your time, Jason. It’s always great speaking with you, you are always a great interviewer. You are a good talker, you’d make a good analyst when you’ve retired.
J.E: Thanks. That’s something I’ve thought about. I’m glad you brought that up. I want to stay in boxing in some way when I’m retired from fighting, but I know I can’t do corner work. That’s real tough.
J.S: Well, Shannon Briggs is doing a good job at commentating, even though he’s back fighting now.
J.E: Yeah, he fought last night.
J.S: Of course he did, he won easy, didn’t he? (against Marcus McGee)
J.E: Yeah, that body shot [that finished McGee off], it didn’t look right to me. Anyway, Shannon spoke to me, and he told me he’s seen me fight and that I have “crazy combinations.” The thing is, I’ll fight anyone, and I sometimes forget that my name is out there as well.
J.S: It sure will be in a big way of you beat Adamek! Best wishes for the fight in February, and thanks again.
J.E: Okay, call me any time.