After getting a late start to his career, light heavyweight contender "Irish" Seanie Monaghan continues to work towards the ultimate goal of getting a world title shot. That goal suffered a setback in 2017 when he lost the first fight of his professional career. Yet Monaghan was able to win his next fight to get back on track and took time out of his schedule to talk with Big Time boxing about his life, career, and the sport he says he owes his life to.
Question: Most fighters get started in the sport when they're children or teenagers but that wasn't the case for you. How old were you when you first stepped into a boxing gym?
Answer: "I think I was 21 or something like that, I was pretty old. I didn't go pro until I was 28. I just had a bit of an erratic amateur career, I went to one gym that closed down, then I was off for a year or two and went to another gym and then that gym closed down. But I wound up coming full circle and ended up back with Joe Higgins who was my original trainer and he's my trainer now to this day."
Q: What brought you to the sport?
A: "Boxing to be honest with you is the only sport I've ever really loved. I've been a giant, giant boxing fan my whole life. My dad and my uncles were huge boxing fans and I just grew up in it. I never really cared for any other sport, I mean I used to watch basketball when (Michael) Jordan played but I kind of lost interest when he left. I was never really into anything else, I was never really a football guy or a hockey guy or anything like that. There was no boxing gym anywhere near me so I never really thought to really get into it. I was kind of in my own little world living in Long Beach and it's a bar town and a party town and there's a lot of fights. I was just doing construction, going out on weekends and getting into fights and I was knocking everybody out. And then I got into trouble, I got arrested and I got a felony and a couple of misdemeanors from this one bad night. I had and a good friend of my said 'Why don't you try boxing man? You're always knocking everybody out, why don't you try it for real?' And this sounds crazy but that never even crossed my mind before, I was like wow that's a fucking good idea man, I never thought of it before. And he took me to the Freeport PAL where I met Joe Higgins and the rest is history."
Q: You've been open about your past use of drugs and alcohol, what was the low point for you and how did you turn your life around, did boxing play a role?
A: "Oh man, I owe my life to boxing. I was going down and wrong road and I just got started very, very young. I was drinking and smoking weed and doing stuff like that. I think the first time I smoked weed I was 11 or 12 or something, it was crazy. Drinking every weekend and then I started drinking a couple days a week as a teenager and just looking for fights, that's how I entertained myself. I had no gameplan, I had no vision for my future or anything like that. In the moment it was fun you know what I mean? But you can only do that for so long before you get in trouble and like I said I got arrested and I was looking at doing some serious time in jail. I was in a situation where a big fight broke out and a police officer got hurt so I got a felony for assaulting a police officer and a bunch of misdemeanors for a bunch of other things. It was my first time being in real big trouble and we had some family friends who went and spoke to the judge and said 'Give this kid one more chance.' And luckily he gave me five years probation instead of jail time. I was looking at doing a couple of years upstate and I got a second chance. That was probably the low point for me because all my friends were off at college or were working on a career and I had nothing, I was a construction worker who just got arrested. I didn't have any money, I didn't have anything, I just had a reputation for being fighter around town. So I got into boxing and as soon as I went to the boxing gym I just fell in love with it right away."
Q: You always seem to have a lot of fans come out to support you, especially in the New York and New Jersey area. How did you cultivate such a large and passionate local following?
A: "I've been really, really lucky with that. We've got a good system, my manager owns a bunch of bars around town and it's funny because when my first gym closed down I was 1-0 and I said I'm undefeated, I did the boxing thing, I'm done with it now. That was as an amateur. It's tough, you've got to sacrifice everything. When all your friends are going out on the weekends and hanging out with girls and partying and doing that stuff and me I was just cutting weight and no drinking, no anything. It was a giant life change and once I thought that could be over I was kind of like it would be nice to go back to a regular life and just eat what I want to eat and get to go out and have a couple of beers. So I was thinking about being done with it and then I got a knock on the door and it was my manager. I didn't even know him at the time, his name is PJ Kavanagh, he owns a couple of bars in town. He said 'Did you get into a fight at the Inn a little while ago?' I'm thinking what does this guy want, to sue me or something? So I'm like, I don't know, maybe, what do you want? He goes "No listen I heard you're a boxer and you're really good, I don't think you should quit. There's another gym that just opened up in Far Rockaway and they'd love to meet you.' I didn't actually even really want to do it but I said I'd go and that's how I got back into it. So as far as my following goes, I guess I had a bit of a reputation around town and we sell tickets out of the bars. We just generated a little bit of a scene and everyone from the bars turns out and we've been very, very lucky with that. I know guys who are really good fighters, guys I came up in the gym with and they can only sell 20, 30 tickets so the promoters don't want to put them on the card. When I first went pro I'd get a couple hundred people to an event and it let me catch up because I was so far behind going pro at 28. I'd fight one week and then two weeks later I could fight again. Some guys are waiting around, waiting around, waiting around for the phone to ring but every promoter on these smaller shows wanted me on the card because they knew I could pack the place out. So that allowed me to be really busy and catch up."
Q: So do you credit your fans with helping to build your career when your first started out?
A: "Oh definitely. Like I said, it's not as easy to get fights as you think. There's so many guys out there and only so many shows. And with these promoters it's not easy to get on, it's not easy to get paid well and when I first started out we made a deal where we'd get a percentage of the tickets and I was making more on ticket sales than I was on my purse from the promoters. I definitely realized how fortunate I was to have that situation, It's been a real blessing for me."
Q: Out of all your opponents who would you say was the hardest hitter you've faced
A: "You know Marcus (Browne) is the only guy to ever put me down so he would have to get the top of the list for that. But it's more of the speed with Marcus. I remember when the bell rang, it was just a weird situation from the first place. I mean, I'm friends with Marcus and it was the only time in the locker room I felt nothing, I felt no adrenaline, no anything. Then five minutes in I walked back with my first loss, it was just a surreal night. But Marcus definitely hits really, really hard and he's just so fast. You know you fight some guys who you really didn't think could hit that hard and they hit fucking hard man. I got buzzed one time, the only time I ever came close to getting put down before that, I fought this little short black dude from Columbia, (Fulgencio) Zuniga his name was. I remember hearing he fought Kelly Pavlik and he dropped Kelly Pavlik and that guy hit me with a hook like 20 seconds into the fight and buzzed the hell out of me. I didn't even see it coming. He was really far away from me and I had my hands blocking the front of my face and I guess the side of my head was open but I was really far away from him so I didn't think he could reach me with a hook and he threw a big looping hook that went right around my hands and caught me right on the chin. I was definitely in trouble for a minute there but I fought through it. That guy Zuniga can crack man. Donovan George can punch too, he caught me with a couple of good hard shots. You'd be surprised man, you know people always say 'This guy can punch, that guy can't punch' and obviously some guys punch harder than others but really you don't even want a 3-year-old kid coming up and punching you in the face, it hurts. Anybody can punch, anybody catches you the right way and you're not going to enjoy it. This other kid hit pretty hard too, Roger Cantell. He didn't make weight though he came in way, way over the weight limit but he can definitely crack that kid."
Q: We've talked about which of your opponents hit the hardest but who would you say had the best chin?
A: "I fought this friggin' guy Billy Bailey one time and I remember I was just getting started out. I don't know what my record was, maybe 10-0, a little more than that and he was like 17-17 or something like that. But that's still a lot of fights if you think about it, that's a lot of experience. One of my uncles, through the grapevine heard from a promoter in Ireland, Brian Peters I think it was. He's friends with my uncle and he spread the word and my uncle called me and said 'Listen Brian Peters says don't fight this guy, he's a lot tougher than you think.' So I was getting warnings about this guy Billy Bailey. He looked like a little fat guy and I said 'I'm going to kill this guy' and I beaned this guy's ass with everything and I actually dropped him in the second round. I went to the neutral corner and it was the first time I was cut really bad, I don't even know what happened. I hit him with a hard right hand and he went down and I went to the neutral corner and next thing I know there's blood dripping down my eye and I'm like 'Oh shit' so I'm wiping my eye and I'm just thinking to myself 'Don't get up, don't get up, don't get up.' Next thing you know he gets up at like two and I'm like 'Fuck' and then he came at me like an animal again. It was only an eight round fight but I was bleeding the whole time and I was hitting this guy with everything and just nothing was working, body shots and everything too. We've had this discussion before with certain coaches, I don't know if it's an advantage or not to have a little extra weight around the midsection when it comes to body shots because I've fought a couple of chubby guys when I first started out and I hit them as hard as you can hit someone to the body and it just bounces off them. But as far as a head, Billy Bailey had a head like a friggin' tombstone."
Q: Is there one fight that stands out as the toughest of your career, was it the Marcus Browne fight?
A: "No man, the Marcus Browne fight was over so fast I didn't even have a mark on me. I went to the doctor after the fight, you have to always see a doctor after the fight, and they checked me out and I didn't have a black eye or a bloody nose, nothing. He just overwhelmed me, he put me down with a shot on my forehead, it didn't leave a mark it just stung me and I didn't even see it coming. I got right up and then he just threw like a thousand punches and that was it. I'm not trying to talk shit but I was fine, he got me no doubt but I wouldn't even say it was that tough, as bad as that sounds. I've had wars with guys where I came home all banged up and those were fights that I won. I've come home banged up plenty of times. I had this one fight with this kid Kentrell Claiborne, I fought him on a Sergio Martinez undercard in Atlantic City. It was only like a three or four round fight, I knocked him out or his corner threw in the towel in like the third round or something. I forget who the promoter was, I think it was (Lou) DiBella, they put me in a smoking room for some reason and I hate cigarettes and my room stunk like cigarettes. I went back with the most splitting headache, I was mangled, I had like two black eyes, I was wrecked. I went back to the smoking room that stunk and my dad was in there and he was drunk as hell and he was snoring and it was just the worst night ever. I had a splitting headache, the room stunk, and my dad was drunk, I didn't get a wink of sleep and I was banged up. On the car ride back to New York the next day my eyes hurt, my hands hurt, my head hurt, that was a rough one. It's a rough game boxing.
Q: You've compiled 29 wins to only one loss. Of those 29 wins which are you the most proud of?
A: "You know what man, I'm still not satisfied. They're all alright, I beat pretty much a bunch of journeymen and a bunch of pretty good guys who were a little bit past their prime I think. I'm still looking for that marquee win to be honest with you, I still haven't accomplished what I want to at all. I mean Donovan George was an IBO world champion, Zuniga was an IBO world champion, I don't know how much credit you give the IBO but it's still a world title. So those were two world champs so technically those would be the best guys. (Elvir) Muriqi was a good fighter too but I'm still not satisfied, I've still got work to do."
Q: Boxing fans love debating fantasy match-ups. If you could fight anyone, retired or active, who would it be?
A: "In my era growing up Roy Jones was like the Michael Jordan of boxing. I think it would be an honor to say you shared the ring with Roy, I think he was just on another planet, he was just completely on another level. I know it would be a nightmare to fight him because he's so good but if I could have Roy Jones' names on my resume that would have been really cool."
Q: Fellow light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson has taken a lot of criticism for the opponents he's defended his title against. As a fighter in his division what do you think of his title reign?
A: "They're definitely not making it very competitive for him all the time, but he does have some really good wins on his resume and he seems to rise to the occasion when they put him in with someone tough. I sparred with Tony Bellew years ago and I was surprised that Adonis just ran right through him like that. I know Tony personally and he was having a hell of a time, he's the cruiserweight champion now, he was having such a hard time making the weight and I think that was part of the problem. Stevenson, the one thing about him, people love to hate him but if that guy catches you with that straight left hand it's a wrap. He probably has the single best weapon in the light heavyweight division, besides every punch that (Artur) Beterbiev throws. Anything he hits you with is like a sledgehammer. But Stevenson has the speed. I was up in camp with Beterbiev sparring about a year ago and I was talking about Stevenson with Marc Ramsey and he respects Stevenson a lot. He said the thing he is really good at is he kind of lulls you, he has really long arms and he'll throw a little bullshit jab but he won't fully extend his arm so you think that's the range and get comfortable and then he fires that left hand like lighting and it reaches two feet past where his jab was going and you just get blasted. He knows how to use what he's got and he's got a helluva straight left hand. Anybody who beats him is going to have to get away from that left hand. I don't see anybody in the light heavyweight division being able to take that, except maybe Beterbiev and that guy's a tank."
Q: Not too long ago there were rumors swirling around that you might be one of Adonis Stevenson's next opponents. What ever happened to that fight?
A: "I was actually supposed to fight him man. When I fought Marcus I did six weeks of training camp for Stevenson, which was kind of good because I was sparring lefties the whole time. And then Stevenson announced on Instagram that he was fighting (Andrzej) Fonfara and I was like 'Damn.' Then like a week later they offered me the Marcus fight and I took that. We were waiting for the contract the whole time, they gave me an offer for the money and told me the date and everything and I was like 'Where's the contract?' They said 'It's coming, it's coming' and we were waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and my sister sent me a screenshot from Instagram and it was a picture of the two of them saying they were going to fight."
Q: Describe what it would mean to you and your career to finally get a world title shot?
A: "Oh man, it's what all fighters dream of, to be on that level. We were negotiating back and forth with Juergen Braehmer when he had the world title and he was milking that thing in Germany for a long time and that one got away from me. Top Rank was great, I loved Top Rank and still have a great relationship with them but when I signed with Top Rank like five years ago that's when Al Haymon first popped up and he signed all the top light heavyweights. So I was with Top Rank for years and years and years and I was ranked in the top five and I was just fighting whoever they had. They couldn't get me a world title shot. Stevenson had one, Bernard Hopkins had one but he was with Golden Boy and them and Top Rank hated each other. So Top Rank didn't have any availability to any of the world titles except for Braehmer, that could have been made because he was with Sauerland Promotions in Germany. They said 'Yeah, yeah, yeah' a couple of times and even one time he was supposed to fight Tommy Oosthuizen and Tommy pulled out of the fight on short notice and I was already in the gym so I texted Top Rank and said 'Yo Tommy just pulled out' and they said they were doing everything they could and they were going to make it happen. But then Braehmer, somehow, someway, was allowed to defend his world title against a guy who wasn't ranked, who he beat already, who had been fighting at 168 for his last five fights. I was like 'Goddamn' I thought I was never going to get a world title. It's tough man, like when the Stevenson fight fell through, it's a lot of fucking politics."
Q: Since you just mentioned the politics of the sport, if you could change anything about boxing what would it be?
A: "I think fights should be based off the rankings more. I mean I was ranked in the top five for like two years and couldn't get another fight with a guy ranked in the top 10 or a champion or anyone near me. They should do it more like the number 10 guy fights the number whatever guy, like the top 10 guys should all have to fight. A champion is supposed to fight the number one contender but they can just pay them step aside money to get the bigger name in the division, and I get that, that's business, you have to make more money. But with a guy like Stevenson, he's been paying Eleider Alvarez step aside money for one or two years, for a long time. We're trying to get a fight with Alvarez now but the date is coming up and it's looking like it might not happen. We were in talks with them about fighting on the undercard, I'd fight Alvarez on the undercard of Stevenson vs. Badou Jack. But that's five weeks away now and we were supposed to hear by Monday so it's looking like that's not going to happen. I'm number seven, or six now, I moved up a spot, I don't even know why I moved up a spot I didn't even have a fight and moved up. The rankings should mean more. I was so happy when I got in the top 10 and then nothing happened for two years and I was winning fights and still nothing was happening. I could name 100 fights that should happen that haven't happened because of politics and promoters."
Q: Since it's something all boxing fans are talking about right now, what are your thoughts on all of the drama surrounding the cancellation of the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez?
A: "I see everybody bashing GGG right now and I see people saying things that just aren't true. First of all anyone mad about anything should be mad at "Canelo" for failing a drug test. Second of all you need to understand, is GGG going to fight a killer on four weeks notice? Everyone's saying he's ducking Sergey Derevyachenko but they're not going to get anybody that's going to make the crowed happy because everyone's already pissed off. They're throwing a couple of names out there that are just crazy. I heard Vanes (Martirosyan) but his last fight was a loss at 154 so I don't even know why he'd be considered. But if you think about it from a business standpoint they have this lottery ticket that they're waiting to cash with the "Canelo" fight so the money people behind him aren't going to risk him losing to some guy that they throw in on four weeks notice. I don't blame GGG personally but I think they should just move the date back."
Q: Boxing fans love to argue about who the greatest fighter of all-time is. Who do you consider to be the greatest boxer to ever step in the ring?
A: "It's very hard to say a name, I mean there are different classes of being the greatest. Like who do you think would beat all the other guys is one classification and then you've got like who do you think had the most legendary career. Muhammad Ali is a legend but do I think Muhammad Ali would have beaten any other heavyweight in the history of time? I don't know, it depends which Ali you're talking about. The Ali that laid on the ropes and did the rope-a-dope and stuff like that, I think he would have a hard time with some of these big guys that came on after him. I hate to say it but even Rocky Marciano, everyone loves him, all the Italian guys love him and listen the guy was a legend but he was like a big light heavyweight. He couldn't beat fucking Shannon Briggs probably, you know what I mean? I'm serious, Shannon Briggs is a fucking monster! I made my pro debut on a Shannon Briggs undercard and I never saw a bigger guy, I was like 'Holy shit he's a fucking beast.' If you think about it Rocky Marciano was about my size, so good luck. I know Rocky Marciano is a legend and went 49-0 but the size of these guys changes. I don't know but I think you have to give it to "Sugar" Ray Robinson. He's up there, he had losses but came back and won. I wasn't a fan of Floyd (Mayweather) but what he accomplished is pretty sick. And Muhammad Ali obviously is the most legendary guy in boxing. My favorite guy who I thought was probably pound-for-pound the best was that guy (Ricardo) "Finito" Lopez. That guy was incredible man, if you watched that guy he was just like a fucking master. That guy was so good. The thing with me for Floyd is Floyd could be the best defensive fighter ever. I was never really blown away with his offense, but when he was younger he had better offense before he got bad hands. He just had a way of not getting hit that much and winning a decision and as smart and as careful as he was inside the ring with his defense, they were equally as smart matching him up. He waited a long time to fight certain guys and he avoided certain guys. I saw (Antonio) Margarito go up to him and punk him at a press conference and Floyd look shook. I'm not saying Margarito would have beat him, but he could have given him hell. Especially with cement in his gloves."
Q: We've talked about who the greatest fighter of all-time is but who would you rank as the best fighter right now?
A: "Right now I really, really like (Vasyl) Lomachenko. I think Lomachenko is fucking something else. People always talk about how he's only 7-1 but you put any guy in their for his first or second pro fight against (Orlando) Salido, who has every dirty trick in the book, Salido must have hit him in the balls 15 times and the ref never called it. And Lomachenko never even complained about it, he just kept fighting. But if they fought again, forget about it, Lomachenko would smoke him. Lomachenko to me definitely seems really, really above and beyond everyone else. Errol Spence is my boy, Eroll Spence is fucking unreal man. He's really, really good but he's a dog. He's very good technically but he's a dog, he'll get in there and fight and he doesn't mind rumbling. Who else do I like? Mikey Garcia is very good. Everyone hates Deontay Wilder and I'm not saying he's on my pound-for-pound list but if that guy catches anybody they're gone. I'm kind of leaning towards him with the Anthony Joshua fight. I know Anthony Joshua looks like a big muscle man but he looks stiff to me. I think Wilder might be the baddest guy in boxing right now, he's the biggest, baddest guy out there for me. He's wild and he throws haymakers but the thing is with Joshua is that he's very technical and doesn't come out fast paced and Wilder's going to come out throwing some shit and you better be ready. It's like a fight in a playground, you better be ready for chaos right away. If Anthony Joshua fights Wilder there's going to be some shit thrown in his direction and he better watch out."
NOTE: This interview was done in April before the fight between Eledier Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev was announced. The interview also took place before Vanes Martirosyan was finalized as Gennady Golovkin's next opponent.
Question: Most fighters get started in the sport when they're children or teenagers but that wasn't the case for you. How old were you when you first stepped into a boxing gym?
Answer: "I think I was 21 or something like that, I was pretty old. I didn't go pro until I was 28. I just had a bit of an erratic amateur career, I went to one gym that closed down, then I was off for a year or two and went to another gym and then that gym closed down. But I wound up coming full circle and ended up back with Joe Higgins who was my original trainer and he's my trainer now to this day."Q: What brought you to the sport?
A: "Boxing to be honest with you is the only sport I've ever really loved. I've been a giant, giant boxing fan my whole life. My dad and my uncles were huge boxing fans and I just grew up in it. I never really cared for any other sport, I mean I used to watch basketball when (Michael) Jordan played but I kind of lost interest when he left. I was never really into anything else, I was never really a football guy or a hockey guy or anything like that. There was no boxing gym anywhere near me so I never really thought to really get into it. I was kind of in my own little world living in Long Beach and it's a bar town and a party town and there's a lot of fights. I was just doing construction, going out on weekends and getting into fights and I was knocking everybody out. And then I got into trouble, I got arrested and I got a felony and a couple of misdemeanors from this one bad night. I had and a good friend of my said 'Why don't you try boxing man? You're always knocking everybody out, why don't you try it for real?' And this sounds crazy but that never even crossed my mind before, I was like wow that's a fucking good idea man, I never thought of it before. And he took me to the Freeport PAL where I met Joe Higgins and the rest is history."
Q: You've been open about your past use of drugs and alcohol, what was the low point for you and how did you turn your life around, did boxing play a role?
A: "Oh man, I owe my life to boxing. I was going down and wrong road and I just got started very, very young. I was drinking and smoking weed and doing stuff like that. I think the first time I smoked weed I was 11 or 12 or something, it was crazy. Drinking every weekend and then I started drinking a couple days a week as a teenager and just looking for fights, that's how I entertained myself. I had no gameplan, I had no vision for my future or anything like that. In the moment it was fun you know what I mean? But you can only do that for so long before you get in trouble and like I said I got arrested and I was looking at doing some serious time in jail. I was in a situation where a big fight broke out and a police officer got hurt so I got a felony for assaulting a police officer and a bunch of misdemeanors for a bunch of other things. It was my first time being in real big trouble and we had some family friends who went and spoke to the judge and said 'Give this kid one more chance.' And luckily he gave me five years probation instead of jail time. I was looking at doing a couple of years upstate and I got a second chance. That was probably the low point for me because all my friends were off at college or were working on a career and I had nothing, I was a construction worker who just got arrested. I didn't have any money, I didn't have anything, I just had a reputation for being fighter around town. So I got into boxing and as soon as I went to the boxing gym I just fell in love with it right away."
Q: You always seem to have a lot of fans come out to support you, especially in the New York and New Jersey area. How did you cultivate such a large and passionate local following?
A: "I've been really, really lucky with that. We've got a good system, my manager owns a bunch of bars around town and it's funny because when my first gym closed down I was 1-0 and I said I'm undefeated, I did the boxing thing, I'm done with it now. That was as an amateur. It's tough, you've got to sacrifice everything. When all your friends are going out on the weekends and hanging out with girls and partying and doing that stuff and me I was just cutting weight and no drinking, no anything. It was a giant life change and once I thought that could be over I was kind of like it would be nice to go back to a regular life and just eat what I want to eat and get to go out and have a couple of beers. So I was thinking about being done with it and then I got a knock on the door and it was my manager. I didn't even know him at the time, his name is PJ Kavanagh, he owns a couple of bars in town. He said 'Did you get into a fight at the Inn a little while ago?' I'm thinking what does this guy want, to sue me or something? So I'm like, I don't know, maybe, what do you want? He goes "No listen I heard you're a boxer and you're really good, I don't think you should quit. There's another gym that just opened up in Far Rockaway and they'd love to meet you.' I didn't actually even really want to do it but I said I'd go and that's how I got back into it. So as far as my following goes, I guess I had a bit of a reputation around town and we sell tickets out of the bars. We just generated a little bit of a scene and everyone from the bars turns out and we've been very, very lucky with that. I know guys who are really good fighters, guys I came up in the gym with and they can only sell 20, 30 tickets so the promoters don't want to put them on the card. When I first went pro I'd get a couple hundred people to an event and it let me catch up because I was so far behind going pro at 28. I'd fight one week and then two weeks later I could fight again. Some guys are waiting around, waiting around, waiting around for the phone to ring but every promoter on these smaller shows wanted me on the card because they knew I could pack the place out. So that allowed me to be really busy and catch up."
Q: So do you credit your fans with helping to build your career when your first started out?
A: "Oh definitely. Like I said, it's not as easy to get fights as you think. There's so many guys out there and only so many shows. And with these promoters it's not easy to get on, it's not easy to get paid well and when I first started out we made a deal where we'd get a percentage of the tickets and I was making more on ticket sales than I was on my purse from the promoters. I definitely realized how fortunate I was to have that situation, It's been a real blessing for me."
Q: Out of all your opponents who would you say was the hardest hitter you've faced
A: "You know Marcus (Browne) is the only guy to ever put me down so he would have to get the top of the list for that. But it's more of the speed with Marcus. I remember when the bell rang, it was just a weird situation from the first place. I mean, I'm friends with Marcus and it was the only time in the locker room I felt nothing, I felt no adrenaline, no anything. Then five minutes in I walked back with my first loss, it was just a surreal night. But Marcus definitely hits really, really hard and he's just so fast. You know you fight some guys who you really didn't think could hit that hard and they hit fucking hard man. I got buzzed one time, the only time I ever came close to getting put down before that, I fought this little short black dude from Columbia, (Fulgencio) Zuniga his name was. I remember hearing he fought Kelly Pavlik and he dropped Kelly Pavlik and that guy hit me with a hook like 20 seconds into the fight and buzzed the hell out of me. I didn't even see it coming. He was really far away from me and I had my hands blocking the front of my face and I guess the side of my head was open but I was really far away from him so I didn't think he could reach me with a hook and he threw a big looping hook that went right around my hands and caught me right on the chin. I was definitely in trouble for a minute there but I fought through it. That guy Zuniga can crack man. Donovan George can punch too, he caught me with a couple of good hard shots. You'd be surprised man, you know people always say 'This guy can punch, that guy can't punch' and obviously some guys punch harder than others but really you don't even want a 3-year-old kid coming up and punching you in the face, it hurts. Anybody can punch, anybody catches you the right way and you're not going to enjoy it. This other kid hit pretty hard too, Roger Cantell. He didn't make weight though he came in way, way over the weight limit but he can definitely crack that kid."
Q: We've talked about which of your opponents hit the hardest but who would you say had the best chin?
A: "I fought this friggin' guy Billy Bailey one time and I remember I was just getting started out. I don't know what my record was, maybe 10-0, a little more than that and he was like 17-17 or something like that. But that's still a lot of fights if you think about it, that's a lot of experience. One of my uncles, through the grapevine heard from a promoter in Ireland, Brian Peters I think it was. He's friends with my uncle and he spread the word and my uncle called me and said 'Listen Brian Peters says don't fight this guy, he's a lot tougher than you think.' So I was getting warnings about this guy Billy Bailey. He looked like a little fat guy and I said 'I'm going to kill this guy' and I beaned this guy's ass with everything and I actually dropped him in the second round. I went to the neutral corner and it was the first time I was cut really bad, I don't even know what happened. I hit him with a hard right hand and he went down and I went to the neutral corner and next thing I know there's blood dripping down my eye and I'm like 'Oh shit' so I'm wiping my eye and I'm just thinking to myself 'Don't get up, don't get up, don't get up.' Next thing you know he gets up at like two and I'm like 'Fuck' and then he came at me like an animal again. It was only an eight round fight but I was bleeding the whole time and I was hitting this guy with everything and just nothing was working, body shots and everything too. We've had this discussion before with certain coaches, I don't know if it's an advantage or not to have a little extra weight around the midsection when it comes to body shots because I've fought a couple of chubby guys when I first started out and I hit them as hard as you can hit someone to the body and it just bounces off them. But as far as a head, Billy Bailey had a head like a friggin' tombstone."
Q: Is there one fight that stands out as the toughest of your career, was it the Marcus Browne fight?
A: "No man, the Marcus Browne fight was over so fast I didn't even have a mark on me. I went to the doctor after the fight, you have to always see a doctor after the fight, and they checked me out and I didn't have a black eye or a bloody nose, nothing. He just overwhelmed me, he put me down with a shot on my forehead, it didn't leave a mark it just stung me and I didn't even see it coming. I got right up and then he just threw like a thousand punches and that was it. I'm not trying to talk shit but I was fine, he got me no doubt but I wouldn't even say it was that tough, as bad as that sounds. I've had wars with guys where I came home all banged up and those were fights that I won. I've come home banged up plenty of times. I had this one fight with this kid Kentrell Claiborne, I fought him on a Sergio Martinez undercard in Atlantic City. It was only like a three or four round fight, I knocked him out or his corner threw in the towel in like the third round or something. I forget who the promoter was, I think it was (Lou) DiBella, they put me in a smoking room for some reason and I hate cigarettes and my room stunk like cigarettes. I went back with the most splitting headache, I was mangled, I had like two black eyes, I was wrecked. I went back to the smoking room that stunk and my dad was in there and he was drunk as hell and he was snoring and it was just the worst night ever. I had a splitting headache, the room stunk, and my dad was drunk, I didn't get a wink of sleep and I was banged up. On the car ride back to New York the next day my eyes hurt, my hands hurt, my head hurt, that was a rough one. It's a rough game boxing.
Q: You've compiled 29 wins to only one loss. Of those 29 wins which are you the most proud of?
A: "You know what man, I'm still not satisfied. They're all alright, I beat pretty much a bunch of journeymen and a bunch of pretty good guys who were a little bit past their prime I think. I'm still looking for that marquee win to be honest with you, I still haven't accomplished what I want to at all. I mean Donovan George was an IBO world champion, Zuniga was an IBO world champion, I don't know how much credit you give the IBO but it's still a world title. So those were two world champs so technically those would be the best guys. (Elvir) Muriqi was a good fighter too but I'm still not satisfied, I've still got work to do."
Q: Boxing fans love debating fantasy match-ups. If you could fight anyone, retired or active, who would it be?
A: "In my era growing up Roy Jones was like the Michael Jordan of boxing. I think it would be an honor to say you shared the ring with Roy, I think he was just on another planet, he was just completely on another level. I know it would be a nightmare to fight him because he's so good but if I could have Roy Jones' names on my resume that would have been really cool."
Q: Fellow light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson has taken a lot of criticism for the opponents he's defended his title against. As a fighter in his division what do you think of his title reign?
A: "They're definitely not making it very competitive for him all the time, but he does have some really good wins on his resume and he seems to rise to the occasion when they put him in with someone tough. I sparred with Tony Bellew years ago and I was surprised that Adonis just ran right through him like that. I know Tony personally and he was having a hell of a time, he's the cruiserweight champion now, he was having such a hard time making the weight and I think that was part of the problem. Stevenson, the one thing about him, people love to hate him but if that guy catches you with that straight left hand it's a wrap. He probably has the single best weapon in the light heavyweight division, besides every punch that (Artur) Beterbiev throws. Anything he hits you with is like a sledgehammer. But Stevenson has the speed. I was up in camp with Beterbiev sparring about a year ago and I was talking about Stevenson with Marc Ramsey and he respects Stevenson a lot. He said the thing he is really good at is he kind of lulls you, he has really long arms and he'll throw a little bullshit jab but he won't fully extend his arm so you think that's the range and get comfortable and then he fires that left hand like lighting and it reaches two feet past where his jab was going and you just get blasted. He knows how to use what he's got and he's got a helluva straight left hand. Anybody who beats him is going to have to get away from that left hand. I don't see anybody in the light heavyweight division being able to take that, except maybe Beterbiev and that guy's a tank."Q: Not too long ago there were rumors swirling around that you might be one of Adonis Stevenson's next opponents. What ever happened to that fight?
A: "I was actually supposed to fight him man. When I fought Marcus I did six weeks of training camp for Stevenson, which was kind of good because I was sparring lefties the whole time. And then Stevenson announced on Instagram that he was fighting (Andrzej) Fonfara and I was like 'Damn.' Then like a week later they offered me the Marcus fight and I took that. We were waiting for the contract the whole time, they gave me an offer for the money and told me the date and everything and I was like 'Where's the contract?' They said 'It's coming, it's coming' and we were waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and my sister sent me a screenshot from Instagram and it was a picture of the two of them saying they were going to fight."
Q: Describe what it would mean to you and your career to finally get a world title shot?
A: "Oh man, it's what all fighters dream of, to be on that level. We were negotiating back and forth with Juergen Braehmer when he had the world title and he was milking that thing in Germany for a long time and that one got away from me. Top Rank was great, I loved Top Rank and still have a great relationship with them but when I signed with Top Rank like five years ago that's when Al Haymon first popped up and he signed all the top light heavyweights. So I was with Top Rank for years and years and years and I was ranked in the top five and I was just fighting whoever they had. They couldn't get me a world title shot. Stevenson had one, Bernard Hopkins had one but he was with Golden Boy and them and Top Rank hated each other. So Top Rank didn't have any availability to any of the world titles except for Braehmer, that could have been made because he was with Sauerland Promotions in Germany. They said 'Yeah, yeah, yeah' a couple of times and even one time he was supposed to fight Tommy Oosthuizen and Tommy pulled out of the fight on short notice and I was already in the gym so I texted Top Rank and said 'Yo Tommy just pulled out' and they said they were doing everything they could and they were going to make it happen. But then Braehmer, somehow, someway, was allowed to defend his world title against a guy who wasn't ranked, who he beat already, who had been fighting at 168 for his last five fights. I was like 'Goddamn' I thought I was never going to get a world title. It's tough man, like when the Stevenson fight fell through, it's a lot of fucking politics."
Q: Since you just mentioned the politics of the sport, if you could change anything about boxing what would it be?
A: "I think fights should be based off the rankings more. I mean I was ranked in the top five for like two years and couldn't get another fight with a guy ranked in the top 10 or a champion or anyone near me. They should do it more like the number 10 guy fights the number whatever guy, like the top 10 guys should all have to fight. A champion is supposed to fight the number one contender but they can just pay them step aside money to get the bigger name in the division, and I get that, that's business, you have to make more money. But with a guy like Stevenson, he's been paying Eleider Alvarez step aside money for one or two years, for a long time. We're trying to get a fight with Alvarez now but the date is coming up and it's looking like it might not happen. We were in talks with them about fighting on the undercard, I'd fight Alvarez on the undercard of Stevenson vs. Badou Jack. But that's five weeks away now and we were supposed to hear by Monday so it's looking like that's not going to happen. I'm number seven, or six now, I moved up a spot, I don't even know why I moved up a spot I didn't even have a fight and moved up. The rankings should mean more. I was so happy when I got in the top 10 and then nothing happened for two years and I was winning fights and still nothing was happening. I could name 100 fights that should happen that haven't happened because of politics and promoters."
Q: Since it's something all boxing fans are talking about right now, what are your thoughts on all of the drama surrounding the cancellation of the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez?
A: "I see everybody bashing GGG right now and I see people saying things that just aren't true. First of all anyone mad about anything should be mad at "Canelo" for failing a drug test. Second of all you need to understand, is GGG going to fight a killer on four weeks notice? Everyone's saying he's ducking Sergey Derevyachenko but they're not going to get anybody that's going to make the crowed happy because everyone's already pissed off. They're throwing a couple of names out there that are just crazy. I heard Vanes (Martirosyan) but his last fight was a loss at 154 so I don't even know why he'd be considered. But if you think about it from a business standpoint they have this lottery ticket that they're waiting to cash with the "Canelo" fight so the money people behind him aren't going to risk him losing to some guy that they throw in on four weeks notice. I don't blame GGG personally but I think they should just move the date back."
Q: Boxing fans love to argue about who the greatest fighter of all-time is. Who do you consider to be the greatest boxer to ever step in the ring?
A: "It's very hard to say a name, I mean there are different classes of being the greatest. Like who do you think would beat all the other guys is one classification and then you've got like who do you think had the most legendary career. Muhammad Ali is a legend but do I think Muhammad Ali would have beaten any other heavyweight in the history of time? I don't know, it depends which Ali you're talking about. The Ali that laid on the ropes and did the rope-a-dope and stuff like that, I think he would have a hard time with some of these big guys that came on after him. I hate to say it but even Rocky Marciano, everyone loves him, all the Italian guys love him and listen the guy was a legend but he was like a big light heavyweight. He couldn't beat fucking Shannon Briggs probably, you know what I mean? I'm serious, Shannon Briggs is a fucking monster! I made my pro debut on a Shannon Briggs undercard and I never saw a bigger guy, I was like 'Holy shit he's a fucking beast.' If you think about it Rocky Marciano was about my size, so good luck. I know Rocky Marciano is a legend and went 49-0 but the size of these guys changes. I don't know but I think you have to give it to "Sugar" Ray Robinson. He's up there, he had losses but came back and won. I wasn't a fan of Floyd (Mayweather) but what he accomplished is pretty sick. And Muhammad Ali obviously is the most legendary guy in boxing. My favorite guy who I thought was probably pound-for-pound the best was that guy (Ricardo) "Finito" Lopez. That guy was incredible man, if you watched that guy he was just like a fucking master. That guy was so good. The thing with me for Floyd is Floyd could be the best defensive fighter ever. I was never really blown away with his offense, but when he was younger he had better offense before he got bad hands. He just had a way of not getting hit that much and winning a decision and as smart and as careful as he was inside the ring with his defense, they were equally as smart matching him up. He waited a long time to fight certain guys and he avoided certain guys. I saw (Antonio) Margarito go up to him and punk him at a press conference and Floyd look shook. I'm not saying Margarito would have beat him, but he could have given him hell. Especially with cement in his gloves."
Q: We've talked about who the greatest fighter of all-time is but who would you rank as the best fighter right now?
A: "Right now I really, really like (Vasyl) Lomachenko. I think Lomachenko is fucking something else. People always talk about how he's only 7-1 but you put any guy in their for his first or second pro fight against (Orlando) Salido, who has every dirty trick in the book, Salido must have hit him in the balls 15 times and the ref never called it. And Lomachenko never even complained about it, he just kept fighting. But if they fought again, forget about it, Lomachenko would smoke him. Lomachenko to me definitely seems really, really above and beyond everyone else. Errol Spence is my boy, Eroll Spence is fucking unreal man. He's really, really good but he's a dog. He's very good technically but he's a dog, he'll get in there and fight and he doesn't mind rumbling. Who else do I like? Mikey Garcia is very good. Everyone hates Deontay Wilder and I'm not saying he's on my pound-for-pound list but if that guy catches anybody they're gone. I'm kind of leaning towards him with the Anthony Joshua fight. I know Anthony Joshua looks like a big muscle man but he looks stiff to me. I think Wilder might be the baddest guy in boxing right now, he's the biggest, baddest guy out there for me. He's wild and he throws haymakers but the thing is with Joshua is that he's very technical and doesn't come out fast paced and Wilder's going to come out throwing some shit and you better be ready. It's like a fight in a playground, you better be ready for chaos right away. If Anthony Joshua fights Wilder there's going to be some shit thrown in his direction and he better watch out."
NOTE: This interview was done in April before the fight between Eledier Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev was announced. The interview also took place before Vanes Martirosyan was finalized as Gennady Golovkin's next opponent.
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