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Talking Boxing with Jason "School Boy" Pires
TUE, April 21, JAMES STILLERMAN - Last month on March 6th in Plymouth, Massachusetts Jason “School Boy” Pires defeated Louie Leija in dominating fashion as he won virtually every single round on his way to pounding out an eight round unanimous decision by way of scores of 80-72 twice and 80-71. With the victory, the thirty-four year old orthodox welterweight upped his record to 22-3 with 9 KOs and it was his second win in a row after a four and half year layoff.
During the time off, Pires became a police officer in his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts as well as earning a degree at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth. Now Pires who has fought the likes of Rocky Juarez, Oscar Leon, and Arthur Johnson is hungrier than ever to garner a world title shot before he hangs up the gloves. I was lucky enough to speak to Pires and together we discussed his last two fights, his time away from boxing, and what he wants to accomplish before he retires. Now here is what he had to say on these topics and more.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: What did you think of your performance in your last outing?
Jason Pires: I was really proud of my performance. I though I did really well especially since I was fighting a tough fighter who gave me a lot to handle. I boxed well, took some good punches, and was able to land my own fair share of shots at Leija. I`m getting better and better in each fight and as each round goes by the more and more of my skills are coming back.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: Did you think you were going to beat Leija as badly as you did?
Jason Pires: I trained really hard for two long months for this fight and did a great deal of running, honing in on my boxing skills, and sparring with some good opponents so I was more than ready for this fight. I did well and I expected to do well because I don`t doubt my own performance. I know what I can accomplish and I know I can do big things. I expect to win each fight and do so in impressive fashion and that is what I did against Leija.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: How does it feel to have your second fight in less than four months after being out of the sport for the last four and half years?
Jason Pires: It feels good. I feel even better than I did before I left boxing. I’m faster and stronger than I was before and I`ve also grown more mature and confident as a fighter over the years. I box as a way to make money and to do that I`ve to prove I`m the best and that is what I`ve started to do in my last two fights.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: During the time off you graduate from college and became a police officer, can you talk about your break away from boxing and did you enjoy it?
Jason Pires: I was a good move for me to leave boxing for a while. In the time off I accomplished two of my goals and that was to go to college and earn my college degree and become a member of a law enforcement agency. So, I graduated from Umass Dartmouth and I became a full time police officer in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I really enjoyed school and learned a great deal but I`m also glad it is over because it tough doing all the school work and working. Now that I got those goals out of the way I can concentrate on work and boxing and without all the school work and classes it allows me more time to work on my boxing skills.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: What do you need to do to get back to the pre retirement days when you were close to a title shot?
Jason Pires: I just need to stay focus, train hard, and fight good quality opponents because the better they are the better it makes me become. I`m fighting the right guys and with my age I really can’t waste my time on opponents that are not that good. I`m always training and I take one day at a time and hopefully I can get a couple of more fights in and then go for a title shot. Each victory I get gets me one step closer to a title fight.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: What are you plans for the rest of 2009 and how many times would you like to fight?
Jason Pires: I want to fight another four or five times before the year is out. I think I might be fighting again in July in Plymouth where I fought for my last fight. After the July fight hopefully I can go after a small minor title and slowly work my way up to a title shot by the end of next year.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: Is it tough balancing work and boxing?
Jason Pires: It`s really tough to balance the two together but that is what I`ve to do. I work the midnight to 8am shift as a police officer, do my running, go to bed and after a couple of hours get up, go the boxing gym, and then back to work. It`s a grueling schedule but I just take it one day at a time. The problem is I can`t make enough money boxing, so being a police officer helps and despite the tough schedule I still enjoy doing the two careers at once.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: Would you like to stay at 147lb or would you like to drop down to 140lb?
Jason Pires: I want to fight for a world title fight at 140lb which is a weight I can easily make. I weighed in at 143lb for my last fight and I`ve a really good diet and conditioning program which helps to keep my weight down. However, I`ve no problem fighting anywhere between 140-147 lbs but 140 is definitely my more comfortable weight.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: How did you get the name “School Boy”?
Jason Pires: I was watching this fighter, Danny Van Horn fight and he had the nickname “School Boy” and I like the nickname and at the time I was going to school, so I thought it was the perfect nickname to have.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: You are 34 years old, how much longer do you want to fight for?
Jason Pires: I`m not sure. I love the sport and I want to be part of it for as long as my body is able to hold up. I feel good right now and I feel can fight until I`m 40 or 45 years old but I`ll have to wait and see. I don`t want the sport to take me out instead I want to leave the sport on my own terms. I don`t want to continue to boxing if the sport is going to cause me to have bad health for the rest of my life and I don`t want to still be fighting when I can`t see any of the punches. I`ll have to take it one fight at a time and whenever the time is right I`ll retire. Nevertheless, I want to fight for a world title before I walk away from the sport.
James Stillerman, TalkingBoxing: Any closing thoughts?
Jason Pires: I just want to give a shout out to my dad, Allen Pires who was a boxer, who came from a boxing family, and owned a gym in Wareham, Massachusetts. He gave me my start in boxing when I was a little child and I owe everything I`ve accomplished in boxing to him. Thanks Dad.
I want to thank Bob Trieger for facilitating the interview and to Jason Pires for taking time out of his busy schedule to allow me to ask him some questions about his life and boxing.
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