TalkingBoxing Interviews
Talking Boxing with ROCKY JUAREZ
FRI August 19, ROGER GORDILLO - Tomorrow night on HBO Championship Boxing, Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez was supposed to have a break out fight. The fulfillment of a lifelong dream was delayed as Juarez’s manager, Shelly Finkel, learned that WBC featherweight champion Injin Chi was forced out of their August 20th championship fight due to an injury to his Achilles tendon.
Finkel now had to break the news to the 25-year-old Houston based fighter that the unbeaten star would have to wait a bit longer to become a world champion. For the 2000 Olympic silver medalist it has been hard news to swallow.
What makes things harder is the fact that a pair of Juarez’s 2000 Olympic teammates, Jeff Lacy and Jermain Taylor, have recently captured world titles of their own. With his teammates now champions looming in the back of his mind, there’s no doubt Juarez, 23-0, is waiting to become the third title holder in the squad. After his impressive gold medal round performance in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games many people viewed Juarez as the most likely to become a future world champion.
Juarez, who was indeed upset in the cancellation of the fight, is confident in his skills and his future. Juarez was excited to hear that the WBC has mandated a match between Juarez and the WBC’s number two rated contender Humberto Soto for the WBC 'Interim' featherweight title, with the winner guaranteed a fight against the champion Injin Chi at a later date.
With that being said, a day before his biggest fight to date, Rocky sat down to speak with TalkingBoxing.com.
TalkingBoxing: Hi Rocky, how’s it going?
Rocky Juarez: I’m doing just fine.
TalkingBoxing: After your fight with Zahir Raheem, it seems like you didn’t get enough credit for that win because of the referee’s actions in the match. What did you think about that match?
Rocky Juarez: Well I thought I should’ve knocked him out. But you know after the fight remembering back, I remember telling my manager Shelly that I would fight him again if he asked. I guess just for the fact that I was upset knowing that there was going to be a lot of criticism. I was upset for the fact that the referee didn’t allow me to fight my fight. At the same time people saw what he did to Zahir [Raheem], but he didn’t allow me to work the inside, where a lot of times when we were in the inside I didn’t have a problem with the holding, it was were I was more comfortable. But the referee was saying break, but that just kind of upset me, but I’ve fought three more times after that and it’s a learning experience for me that’s how I look at it and I’ve gone past it and am just looking for bigger and better things.
TalkingBoxing: From a fans standpoint your fight with Chi was looking to garner you a lot of respect and recognition as most people expected it to be a battle. How much of a let down was it when Chi dropped out of the fight?
Rocky Juarez: It was a letdown knowing that was my shot at a title, I guess any fighter would be preparing himself and feeling that he earned the right to fight for a title. It being so close to the fight you know the big let down was that being told that he was injured, but I was more upset too, that I hadn’t been active in quite some time and I just wanted to get back in the ring and fight. I had been training for quite some time and I was ready so, I’m just happy that now I’m fighting still on HBO still in Chicago and I’m just happy that I’m still fighting.
TalkingBoxing: You mentioned earlier that you fought some primo competition in your last couple fights, you’ve handled some of your opponents better than some of the games top fighters have when you’ve fought similar opponents. Like you did against Rancho Ramirez and [Guty] Espadas, do you think you should be viewed as in the same category like [Erik] Morales, [Carlos] Hernandez and these other guys?
Rocky Juarez: Well, it’s not for me to say, I think that would be for people to say whether I belong in that category; you know I believe that I would earn the right. I would only say that I belong in the category if I was to be given the opportunity to fight them and then beat them then yeah I would say that I do belong there but I think that’s for the people to say if I belong in that category or not.
TalkingBoxing: Who are some of the fighters you are trying to get in the ring with?
Rocky Juarez: At the time when I was told that I wasn’t fighting for a title, I told Shelly I would fight anybody. If they told me to fight Marquez, do you want to fight Marquez in two weeks for a title? I’ll take it. You know, but that’s up to my manager. I think I’m ready this time in my career. I’m ready to fight any opponents out there any champions and I just feel confident in my ability that I can compete in that level.
TalkingBoxing: What are some of the goals you wish to accomplish in your boxing career?
Rocky Juarez: The goals I want to accomplish are definitely to become world champion and win all the belts and just be successful. I don’t think I want to do something that another fighter hasn’t done yet. I just want to achieve my goal in boxing and become world champion and be successful and be the best that I can be and be able to support my family and just come out healthy and okay at the end.
TalkingBoxing: Well Rocky, thanks a lot for taking your time, but before I let you go is there anything you want to say to your fans?
Rocky Juarez: One thing I’d like to say to my fans nationwide is thanks for their support without them I’m nothing, and to definitely stay tuned either if they’re in Chicago to go out and support me and if not just stay tuned on HBO.
TalkingBoxing: Alright then Rocky, Thank you.
Rocky Juarez: Well I appreciate it.
In closing Rocky added that winning a title would erase anything bad in his life at that time. He also feels he has no need to move up in weight having been at this weight since his amateur days and feels strong at 126. Rocky has no problem making weight and looks to continue his career fighting the best fighters out there.
Forum
