by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 157th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with the 28 year old undefeated up-and-coming prospect Joe “The Future” Hanks (18-0, 12 KOs) who is scheduled to face Rafael Pedro (21-9-1, 15 KOs) this Saturday, February 4 at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. Hanks spoke about his upcoming fight, talked about his growth as a fighter, and revealed his future plans and goals in boxing. He also provided his opinions on the current heavyweight landscape and reigning heavyweight champions, brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. Here is a complete transcript from that interview:
JENNA J: Alright well sticking with heavyweights it is time for our first guest of this week’s show. He is an 18-0 undefeated heavyweight with 12 knockouts. He is making his debut appearance to On the Ropes Boxing Radio. We’re joined by Joe Hanks. How’s everything going today Joe?
JOE HANKS: Hey I’m alright. How are you doing?
JENNA: I’m doing well. Okay Joe, you have an upcoming fight on February 4 against Rafael Pedro. You’ll be defending your IBA America’s heavyweight title. Can you tell the fans a little bit about this matchup you have?
HANKS: Oh yeah, I have a fight coming up this week. It’s supposed to be a really big guy, a tough step up fight for me, and my first title defense. I’m getting a chance to get in there with a guy about 6’7”, 270 pounds. So you know it’s not the Klitschko brothers, but it’s going to be a good measuring stick for me to get in there with a guy as big as those guys.
JENNA: Alright now so far in your career you’ve been taking steps up periodically. You fought a guy by the name Johnnie White. You also fought Alfredo Escalera Junior where you won that belt. What do you think about your progress so far?
HANKS: I’m pretty happy with my progress. I think we’re taking the right fights and we’re moving me along at a good pace. Every so often I step up and take a good fight. There have been some undefeated guys in there and some there are some guys with some big records. I’m pretty happy with that actually.
JENNA: Alright now where do you see yourself in the heavyweight division? I mean the one thing is there are not that many American heavyweights that are grabbing big attention. You got Seth Mitchell out there. You got Deontay Wilder. Where do you see yourself in that crowd?
HANKS: I think I should be mentioned amongst those two guys. I think those guys have been doing some great things, stepping up and bringing the beat back over here in America. I want to be a part of that same crowd when you’re mentioning some American guys that are making noise. So I feel as though I’m right amongst those guys, and should be mentioned when it’s time to contend for the title in the near future.
JENNA: Alright now both of those guys have managed to get themselves TV coverage. How important do you think that’s going to be for you to grow your fan base and get more people to really know who you are as a fighter?
HANKS: Well I think ultimately getting on TV is always your ultimate goal. I think personally I would rather be off TV to get all the experience that I can, so that when it’s time to get on TV you guys aren’t just seeing a one-dimensional guy, or a guy who’s really in over his head, or maybe has been exposed too soon. I want everybody to kind of be wooed when they see me come out of the gates and pull the curtains back. So you know, yes I’m ready to get on TV but I’m in no rush. I’m really respected amongst my peers with other fighters out there, so when it’s time for me to get on there it’s going to be a big, big deal. So I’m excited when the time does come.
JENNA: Okay now Joe, seeing as you haven’t been on TV, for the fans out there hearing you for the first time can you describe your fighting style?
HANKS: I think when you see me, you’re going to see a big sized athletic guys that can come, and I can give angles, I throw punches in bunches. I don’t think there are too many heavyweights out there that are the size of me. I think that I can bring it. I can counterpunch. There aren’t too many things I can’t do when I’m in there. So when the TV coverage does come you get to see a little bit of all of that.
JENNA: Okay. Well Joe, we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hey Joe. It’s a pleasure to have you on the show.
HANKS: Oh thanks for having me.
CIANI: Now Joe, you played some college ball back before you became a boxer. As a basketball player, how was that like transitioning into a sport like boxing?
HANKS: Well the footwork, chasing guards around, you know you have to have quick feet and quick hands. So I kind of took that and brought it into boxing. Early in my childhood my Mom put me in a chess program. So I grew up in a rough neighborhood playing chess and it kind of taught me to think ahead. So I took those two skills and I brought them into the boxing world, which is two key essentials that you need when you’re boxing. You have to be able to think ahead, and you have to have quick feet and quick hands. I think it helped out tremendously. I think those two things kind of helped prepare me for what it is I’m really supposed to be doing, and maybe that’s to be heavyweight champion of the world one day.
CIANI: Now can you tell the fans out there a little bit about how you first turned towards boxing?
HANKS: When I first got into boxing my brother was asking me. I was getting pretty big. He was saying as I filled up I’d get back in the gym, just kind of as recreation. I looked up one day and I was about a four or five time Golden Glove champ. So boxing kind of found me, and it became bigger than me. You know in a short period of time some of the things I was able to accomplish in boxing was far greater than some of the things I was able to accomplish in basketball. It was just from him taking me to the gym and just me being a dedicated athlete, and me not wanting to waste that God given ability. I was there and became the person that you see today.
CIANI: Now when you look at the current boxing landscape out there today Joe, who are some of the guys out there in the sport that you most enjoy watching and that you most admire?
HANKS: Today, from today’s fighters, I love watching some of the little guys. I love watching Floyd (Mayweather). I love watching Manny (Pacquiao). You know I love watching more so like the smaller guys who throw punches in bunches and they really train hard and give it their all every time they go out. Some of the older days, I’m a huge Sugar Ray Leonard fan. I’ve had the privilege of being around him and having him come to some of my fights and things like that, and taking some pointers from him. Chris Byrd, who is a mentor of mine, and just some of the greats that just came before, you know Sugar Ray Robinson, and Jack Johnson, and I love all of the old thinkers, and old boxers, the witty guys, Jersey Joe, and guys like that. Those are the guys I really admire and those are the guys I really try to take a piece of their style and try to incorporate it in mine. If I can take it and put it in my big 250 pound frame, hopefully something special could come out of it.
CIANI: Now Joe, you’re 28 years old. 2012 is just kicking under way for you on February 4. What would you ultimately like to accomplish in your progression as a boxer this year?
HANKS: I would like to really stake my claim, not just as a prospect,but as a legitimate contender this year, and to really get people to start to look over here and say Joe Hanks is a force to be reckoned with. And I’d just be the best kept secret, or some guy that you hear about through the grapevine from diehard boxing fans. I want to come out and let people have the chance to see who I am and be a real force in the division.
CIANI: Now if you could create your own path here, and you could land one big fight before the end of this year—what would your dream fight be if you could make something happen that you think would help showcase yourself to the fans that might not know a lot about you out there?
HANKS: Well honestly, me being from New Jersey, when I was coming up I thought one of the biggest things for me to be able to do would be to go back home and fight at the Prudential Center, and Tomasz Adamek has the Prudential Center sold up. I mean he’s like huge over there. So I think a big thing for me would be to get back home maybe by the end of the year at the end of 2012, or somewhere around that timeframe. I want to go home and maybe fight Tomasz Adamek for the right to call the Prudential Center home because right now he’s King of the Prudential Center. That would be a dream fight for me to go home and fight amongst all the great Polish fans and all the great people that are right there in my community who watched me grow from a young kid, standing out there waiting for the bus as a young kid. I think that would be a great dream fight for me at some point in time.
CIANI: Oh yeah, I’ve been to a lot of Adamek there at the Prudential Center and you’re right. He sure does pack those Polish fans in there. But one of the questions Joe that I like to ask all of the guests we have on the show, and I want to ask you right now. The story about how you first got your boxing nickname, in your case “The Future”—how did that come about?
HANKS: (laughs) Well when I was boxing in the gym, some guys that were hanging around the gym were saying, “That kid’s pretty good now, but you know in the future that kid’s going to be something. Just wait until you see him in the future!” That was always the thing that always followed me. People would say I had tremendous talent, but just wait until I get the experience, and just wait until I’m around. So the name just kind of started popping up everywhere. “Hey that kid’s the future!” It was like okay I’ll go with that, and it just kind of stuck. It was catchy.
JENNA: Okay Joe, well let’s move things back to the heavyweight division and right now there is kind of a two-headed champion. You got Wladimir Klitschko. You got Vitali Klitschko. They’re two brothers that will literally never face each other. What do you think about them and what they’ve accomplished in this division?
HANKS: I think it’s remarkable what they were able to do, two brother to come out and really take over the division and rule the division for so long. It’s a big thing to go out and win the title once, but these guys have come out and they’ve unified them all between the two of them. I think it’s a good thing, for them anyway, but I think it’s a great chance for a young guy from the States to come up and have an opportunity to hit a homerun out of the park if they can dethrone those champions. I’m a fan of what they were able to accomplish in the sport.
JENNA: Alright now Joe, do you see any threat out there to either of the Klitschko brothers that can legitimately have a chance with them now?
HANKS: You know in boxing, in the heavyweight division all it takes is one punch. So anybody has a puncher’s chance. I mean it’s going to take someone as big as them maybe, and has to be athletic, and have had the pleasure of boxing Wladimir for years, and see, and watch how he trains, and watch different things. You can probably get away with some things, some things you probably can’t. It’s going to take someone really big and athletic, and you have to have the moxy to get in there because you’re going to have to walk through hell to get to him, because he’s very talented, he’s very smart, he’s a professional, he doesn’t take any days off—actually the both of them. They don’t take any days off. But the beauty of it is you are heavyweights and one punch can change the dynamic of any fight. So anybody that goes up and fights them, anybody has a puncher’s chance. But to really get up in there and get down for twelve rounds, it’s going to take an athletic big guy and somebody who’s going to have to be willing to walk through hell to get to them.
JENNA: Now Joe most boxers are their own biggest critics. When you look at yourself and your talent set, is there anything particular you see that you can improve that you’d like to improve in 2012?
HANKS: Yeah you know I want to be a big guy that’s known for bringing a lot of output each round. I want to be able to keep the punch count up. I don’t stay a heavyweight only throwing 20 punches a round. I want to keep my output up and stay busy. Just stay active, stay busy, and keep piling them up. 2012 for me is just a year to keep pushing forward, keep challenging myself, and keep putting myself in uncomfortable positions and situations. Whether that means fighting some of the top guys over here, or some of the type guys over there, whatever that is going to be. That’s my goal for 2012—to keep challenging myself.
JENNA: Okay now before I mentioned both Klitschko brothers. They each have heavyweight title fights coming up and I just want to get your views on both of those. You have Vitali Klitschko against Dereck Chisora, and you have Wladimir Klitschko versus Jean Marc Mormeck. Do you see either of those guys giving a test to either brother?
HANKS: I mean I think both of those guys are going to show up to fight and every fight is going to be a test. From where I’m standing I would hope one of them can dethrone a brother. You’re talking about Mormeck who’s about 6 feet on a good day and Klitschko who’s 6’7” or 6’6”. I mean for guys who are coming up, we are hoping maybe the little guy could pull one off. Watching the way that those guys train everyday and watching the effort that they put in, it’s going to be really hard for those guys to get to them. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but they’re going to have their work cut out for them.
JENNA: Okay Joe. You have some fans out there and I’m sure you have some new fans after this interview. Is there anything you want to say to all of them?
HANKS: Yeah I just want to thank everybody for their support. Continue to look out. I’m going to go out there and keep giving you 200%. Just be on the lookout—Joe Hanks!
JENNA: And finally your prediction! What is your official prediction for your fight with Rafael Pedro?
HANKS: My prediction is that it’s going to be a good fight. You’re going to be able see a big guy that’s going to come out and give you all kinds of things that they say big guys can’t do. No big knockout predictions, you’re just going to see a guy who’s going to come in there and work hard and do Jersey proud.
JENNA: Alright well Joe it’s been a pleasure having you on the show, and we wish you all the best going forward in 2012.
HANKS: Thank you so much. Thank you guys for taking the time out.
CIANI: Thanks Joe. Best of luck!
HANKS: Thank you guys. I really appreciate it.
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For those interested in listening to the Joe Hanks interview in its entirety, it begins approximately twenty-two minutes into the program.
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