Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – Welterweight Vinny “Lion” O’Brien is set to make his professional debut on Saturday night March 5 against David Navarro on the undercard of the vacant IBF junior lightweight title bout between Zab Judah and Kaizer Mabuza. O’Brien was the winner of the 2010 New Jersey Golden Gloves Championship where he was named “Outstanding Fighter of the Finals”. O’Brien spoke about his upcoming fight and future aspirations in the sport. Here is what he had to say:
On how he feels about making his pro debut against David Navarro on March 5:
“I’m very excited. I’ve been asked that a lot and people are like the nerves must be getting to you and all of that, but it’s a great feeling. I know I put in the work right now. I’m just fine-tuning some things and I’m feeling good and I’m feeling excited. I’m anxious. I just can’t wait to get out there because I know there are some doubters out there and I want to prove them wrong, and I know there are some believers out there and I want to show them what they believe in. I’m just super pumped.”
On winning the 2010 New Jersey Golden Gloves Champion and being named Outstanding Fighter in the Finals:
“The Golden Gloves is going to be something that is embedded in me for the rest of my life. I know I’ll be involved in amateur boxing for the rest of my life too, and the reason being that I went into the Golden Gloves in 2008 and I lost in the Finals by one point. I fought my way all the way up and I did all I could in that tournament. Then I went and to go ahead and get a second crack at something and put my heart and soul into it like I did in 2008, but to actually pull it off this time and get what I wanted and get my dream. I got it. The feeling was incredible. I still remember that night. I still remember giggling like a little kid. When I got home and I was sitting in my chair I was like it really happened. I dreamed about it for so long and finally it came together which was amazing.”
Regarding the best asset he brings with him in his transition from the amateurs into the professional ranks:
“I think I bring the intensity. I bring the intensity. I bring a lot of character. I definitely want to bring class to this sport. I have a lot of features I feel boxing is in need of right now. I feel like I get into that ring and it’s all business. It’s not all about dollar signs and marketing and all that stuff. At the end of the day, yeah you got to do those things but when I get into that ring it’s about me versus you and I’m going to bring a fight no matter whether you like it or not.”
On what he believes will be most difficult about his transition into the pros:
“I chase. In my amateur career I changed as a boxer. I’ve actually toned down. I’m still working on a few things but for the most part me and my coach both feel I’m at the place I need to be, but in the amateurs I chased a lot. You know what I mean? I was just trying to get those points out there. You needed those points, you needed those points, you needed those points! So the whole thing with that was with the chasing and now I kind of toned that down to where I stalk more. I still push the fight and work my game but at the same time I’m not exposing myself out there the way I did in the amateurs. In the pro game you have to slow things down a little bit.”
On whether he is doing anything fundamentally different in his physical and mental preparations for his first professional fight:
“Yeah, actually I added people to my team that I didn’t have last year for 2010. I added Felix Erazo from Semper Fitness. He’s my strength and conditioning coach and he’s an awesome guy. He’s just like my coach, hard-nose, military background, he has a get it done kind of action guy. I push myself to the absolute brink and I know with these guys there they push me that little extra bit to get me over that wall which is a great thing to have. I’ve added him and I’ve literally seen my body transform. I’m doing anything with crazy heavy weights. I don’t think I’ve lifted anything above 90 pounds so it’s all functional training. At the end of the day I’m not just sitting there and benching some weights. I’m doing exercises that are out of the box, unique, and sport specific to what I have to do to my perfection. As for the mental part I also added a kid who has been in the martial arts game for awhile and he’s my stretching coach the things he does for me, we’ll spend twice a week for about two hours and we’ll do stretching and he’ll stretch me to the point where I know I can’t stretch any more, and he’ll do something and make me flex, and do a little trick or whatever, and then boom, three more inches I got. That’s great and we’ll spend about a half hour on meditation and focus meditation on just kind of all my goals and everything I want and relaxation and things like that. Leading up to the fight there are a lot of nerves and that kind of stuff. It helps having those kinds of tools behind you.”
On how he first became involved in boxing:
“It’s actually funny because people are kind of amazed by it, but my Mom actually kind of got me into boxing. I loved boxing my whole life and I wish I did it earlier than this. I kind of got wrapped up in wrestling. That was an aggressive sport that I needed, I guess. I got into it about 20 years old and my Mom and my family friend who is my coach right now, she was talking to him about boxing and everything like that. She knew I loved boxing and was very dedicated to sports. She got me to meet him and he set me up with another coach because unfortunately at the time he couldn’t do it. He had just bought a new house and had a new job that he was doing so he didn’t have the time which was completely understandable. He set me up with a guy who we thought was good at the time. It’s unfortunate. In this game when you get one good person you get about 25 bad people in this game. I got put up with a guy who really didn’t know boxing and I used my heart and my drive to kind of bring me all the way to the Finals in the Golden Gloves. With him I went ahead and the first time I put on the gloves he kind of threw me in there with the wolves. I was boxing for maybe about a month and he put me in against a kid who was 3-1 or something. He was a strong kid and he put me in there and it was my first time sparring. The kid wacked me good like three good times. I stayed up. I didn’t go down or anything but it definitely woke up my eyes. Come the second round I landed a nice little body shot right to the solar plexus and I put the kid on the mat. He was on the mat for five minutes. We stopped sparring right there. I knew right from that point on that I wanted to be a boxer and do and do whatever I could do to be great in the sport. It’s what I love. It’s my life right now.”
Regarding some of his favorite fighters to watch both past and present:
“I watch a lot of old school film. I’ve downloaded them on my computer and stuff. I love Joe Louis. I love Marciano. I love the heavyweights. I like seeing those guys. I like LaMotta. I like seeing Duran. You know Duran was actually one of my favorite fighters him and his lightweight days. I loved him his whole career because he just had that intensity, that heart that most fighters don’t have that you see. Growing up the guy that really did it for me was Oscar De La Hoya. I love boxing because of him. He went into the Olympics and did it the right way. He got it done there and won it for his mother and got into the sport and just presented himself well. He wasn’t like these other guys yacking off with his mouth. He did his business in the ring and did his talking in the ring and he was definitely a guy I idolized growing up. Right now, the fighters I like, I like Pacquiao. He’s in my weight class but he’s an ambassador for the sport. Our sport as only looked at through the public by the boxers who are in it. So if you act like an idiot people are going to think all boxers are idiots. I really like how he holds himself and how every time he comes into the ring it’s business time. Enough talking, you’re either going to sit there and bark all day or you’re going to bite at the end of the day.”
His official prediction and what he would ultimately like to accomplish in his pro debut:
“I definitely want to go out there and I want to look good. At the end of the day my ultimate goal is to pull out that “W”. So if I don’t look as good as I could, hey it is what it is. I definitely want to look good. I want to go out there and please all of my fans and I want everybody who sees me, Vinny O’Brien, to believe what I believe that I’m going to be an up and comer and someone to be reckoned with in the boxing world. So my official prediction is a second round knockout.”
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