"I think there is a little blueprint there, you know what I mean? I remember Jose Cotto, who was a natural featherweight, fucking rocking Canelo bad and hurting him bad on the Mosley/Mayweather card, so we're not fighting some indestructible guy here. Talented? Yes! Good? Yes! Strong? Yes! Unbeatable? Hell no! The thing is, Jose has really come into his own. He is truly confident in himself and what he can do. People are discounting us and saying we have no shot; that's fine. Keep saying that because those were the same idiots saying that going into the Victor Ortiz fight," stated Henry Ramirez, world-class trainer of Josesito Lopez, who talked about the intriguing September 15 showdown with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Check it out!
PC: Josesito Lopez has been keeping you busy, huh my man?
HR: Yeah, yeah! He is on a good little run right now. First of all, I want to tell him Happy Birthday, because today is his birthday. He makes 28 today. It's funny because he came to my house yesterday and we are talking about...just the circumstances that the dominoes fell into place for these fights to happen. First Kendall Holt pulled out of a fight with us; we went from ESPN to the Showtime main event with the Ortiz fight. Then Ortiz was next in line for Canelo, who had the unfortunate situation with Paul Williams; the tragic accident. And then James Kirkland, for whatever reason, monetary or whatever it was, he pulled put. Then Ortiz was the third choice and made all the sense in the world to be in there from everybody except for us. It's just crazy how everything fell into place.
PC: After the Ortiz win, we talked about all of the possibilities this opened up for Jose at 140 and 147. Who would have ever thought an opportunity would come at 154. Do you guys bring in a strength coach to put the weight on or has he been working with one already?
HR: We have a strength coach who he's worked with for the last year. The thing is, we are not trying to bulk him up to 54. We're gonna have him come in wherever he's comfortable at, 47 or 48, somewhere around there, and the night of the fight, he will be about 157 to 160. That is what he will weigh in on the night of the fight. The weigh-in will reflect about 148, maybe 49. It's just one of those things. It's a great opportunity for us and an opportunity we couldn't pass on, to be honest.
PC: You have been training fighters for a long time. How monumental would this be if Jose is able to pull this off in September given what he's already done against Ortiz?
HR: It would be huge. Listen, is Canelo a good fighter? Yeah! He is strong, good, young, talented and a good fighter, but when is the last time he was in with a live body? No disrespect to Shane Mosley, but Shane Mosley has been done for 2 or 3 years now. Kermit Cintron, I don't even think he tried. Before that, it was Matthew Hatton. Who the hell is Matthew Hatton? The last guy he was in with that gave him some trouble was Alfonso Gomez and I think Lopez is better than Alfonso Gomez. Gomez gave him some trouble. Yeah, he got stopped, but I think there is a little blueprint there, you know what I mean? I remember Jose Cotto, who was a natural featherweight, fucking rocking Canelo bad and hurting him bad on the Mosley/Mayweather card, so we're not fighting some indestructible guy here. Talented? Yes! Good? Yes! Strong? Yes! Unbeatable? Hell no! The thing is, Jose has really come into his own. He is truly confident in himself and what he can do. People are discounting us and saying we have no shot; that's fine. Keep saying that because those were the same idiots saying that going into the Victor Ortiz fight.
PC: Jose is confident in taking these high risk fights, but you also have to be confident in your fighter to put him into these types of fights.
HR: Yeah! He is high right now and we are gonna ride this wave. His name is out there, and obviously his popularity has grown and his profile has grown. The guy is still working hard and continues to work hard. We are just going to leave it all out there on September 15th.
PC: When will you guys start camp?
HR: We have already started. Obviously there are a lot of media requirements. We are actually gonna start sparring the first week of August. We will probably get 5 good weeks of sparring. He was back in the gym 10 days after he fought, so he never got out of shape. He was back in the gym 10 days after the Victor Ortiz fight and has been in there since, so there hasn't been a lot of time. It's been less than a month from the Victor Ortiz fight and we are already 8-9 weeks out from the Canelo fight. He's already in training and, like I said, we will get 5 good weeks of sparring and September 15th will be knocking on the door real soon.
PC: His win over Ortiz, and even being lined up for this fight against Canelo, has brought a certain amount of attention to Jose. How has he handled that and how do you keep him reeled in?
HR: Jose is a humble guy anyway. He is a very humble guy. I told him during training camp...actually, I told him and his girlfriend, "When you beat Victor Ortiz, your life is gonna change." And it's funny because his girlfriend was like, "I had no clue, but you were right." It has changed. He is getting pulled in a million different directions. And I tell him, "Remember, you are a fighter first. None of this shit matters without boxing. You are a fighter first and everything else is second." Grant it, it is going to be a little more difficult because there are a lot more media requirements going into this fight, even more so than the Ortiz fight and the aftermath, but like I said, he is a humble kid, very grounded, and it's a big opportunity for him again and here we are. He looks like he's going to have his second Rocky moment.
PC: Keep me posted on how camp is going. You know we will be speaking often leading up to the fight. Is there anything you want to say before I let you go?
HR: Thanks to the people that continue to support Jose and Chris. And I gotta tell people that read your website, Percy...FightHype got some great sources my man because literally, you were the first person to text me. And I want you to print this because you were the first person to text me on the 4th of July. I was drunk having a BBQ and I get a text, "Wassup with the Canelo fight?" And I hadn't heard shit about it and you're like, "I heard it's 99% done." I remember I texted you, "I'm 100% sure I haven't talked to anybody." Within 48 hours of you texting me that, the Canelo fight can happen for us. But you knew before anybody else. You knew before I did. You got some great sources, bro. It's funny because I was thinking, "I wonder if Percy thinking I'm jerking his leg." But I really didn't know anything. The name hadn't even been brought up to me until you texted me (laughing). You do a good job Percy, man, keep it up.
PC: Thanks my man, and you keep it up too. You're finally getting some well-deserved credit.
HR: I appreciate that, Percy. Thanks.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]