"I mean, a year in a half ago, I was a nobody. In a year in a half, I went from being below a prospect status to a contender status. I had a great year last year and I'm looking forward to making this year better than last year," stated middleweight Tony Jeter, who talked about his upcoming clash this Saturday with Victor Hugo Correa. Check it out!
JR: Congrats on your accomplishments, Tony. You have the WBC Fecarbox Middleweight Championship and now you can add a #15 world ranking by the WBC. What does that mean to you?
TJ: It means the world to me. I mean, a year in a half ago, I was a nobody. In a year in a half, I went from being below a prospect status to a contender status. I had a great year last year and I'm looking forward to making this year better than last year.
JR: Last year, you received plenty of accolades by having the "Beltway Fight of the Year" against former Contender star Jimmy Lange. How has winning that fight helped your career?
TJ: Oh, it's helped me a ton. I want to thank Jimmy Lange for him thinking he could've beat my ass because I was able to turn that fight into a super positive for my career. Everybody said don't go to Virginia because that's Jimmy Lange's house, but I said I could beat this guy and it would erase all the years of inactivity. I had a really good year and can only hope to have another good year in 2013.
JR: You're going to be facing Victor Correa of Mexico on May 11th. He has a decent record of 15-5. How do you see yourself matching up with him?
TJ: It's going to be a tough fight. I'm going to be defending my WBC Fecarbox championship and on the undercard is Maxell Taylor, who is fighting Phillip Benson Jackson for a title. Both of these fights could easily be on Showtime, HBO, ESPN, whatever the case may be, but I'm feeling good, I've had great sparring, and God willing, I'm going to get this win and continue my rise in the middleweight division.
JR: Do you feel there's going to be any ring rust being that this is your first fight in 2013?
TJ: Um, it's been about 6 months since I last fought so it could be, but I'll tell you, I won't know until I get out there. I've only averaged about 3 fights a year, so I haven't been the most busy guy. I'm always in the gym and I think I'll be alright though.
JR: For those that haven't seen you fight yet, how would you describe your style?
TJ: I would say a pressure fighter, but I can sort of do it all. If I need to box, then we'll box. I can counterpunch, I can brawl, and a lot of people know me as a brawler, but in the amateurs, I was a boxer. But if I had to say which one I am now, I'm more of a boxer/puncher.
JR: You wear a lot of hats, Tony. You have a full-time job, you have your own promotional company in Jeter Promotions that you have been fighting on, you're married, you train amateur fighters, and you're a pro fighter yourself. How do you manage doing all this?
TJ: It's tough, by far. it's tough, but everything that I do, I just like it. Obviously I have to work a j-o-b and I'm not in the position to focus only on boxing. On the promoting side, I love doing that too. I love helping other people and giving back to the boxing community that's given me so much. I know it's such a cliché when people say "boxing has saved my life." It's true, boxing has helped me a lot. I mean, I met my wife through boxing, so you really can't get much better than that. I feel that wearing the different hats is tiring at times, but it's a good thing. One day, I will move into just promoting, however, at this point, I'm just not there and I'm really still thankful that I'm able to box and box on a decent level.
JR: I know a lot of other factors can take place, but do you eventually see yourself as a full-time boxer? If so, when?
TJ: Well, we're going to see how this goes. I'm on such a good ride right now. A lot of fighters on this planet would like to be in my position. I'm rated in the top 15 and have a chance to move up in the ratings. I just want to continue to ride this out first and see where it takes me. There's a bunch of steps I have to take to get to the next step, which is a world championship, and that's ultimately the goal for everybody. I've had some inactivity in my career and I'm trying to make up for lost timing. So probably in a year in a half, I will just do promoting strictly.
JR: The last time I spoke to you, I know you stated that one of your goals is to get in front of a national audience on TV. What steps are you taking to get there?
TJ: I'm getting close right now. I'm getting calls to fight on ShoBox on Showtime and ESPN, but it has to be the right fight. In one year, I've made myself a contender, so I have to make the right decisions and eventually I'll get a shot somewhere. When I do get my shot, I plan to capitalize on it. It can't be nothing where I'm just happy to fight on national television. If I win this fight coming up, 16-3-1 looks better than 15-4-1 and the networks will probably feel a bit better about that.
JR: Tell us more about Jeter Promotions? Are you looking to sign any fighters under Jeter Promotions or are you taking it in a different direction?
TJ: We will, but right now, we're just trying to position me into bigger fights. I think at that point, I will be in a better position to capitalize on whatever position that I'm in and maximize my opportunity. We are giving 2 middleweights a shot to get world rated on the undercard this weekend and that's something that no other promotional company in the DMV area has done. Jeter Promotions is going to put a world ranking in the hands of a Maxell Taylor or Phillip Jackson. Probably a year from now, I'll be looking to sign fighters.
JR: At one time, you were also in the running to possibly fight Austin Trout. What did you think about the fight with Canelo vs. Trout?
TJ: I thought it was going to be a closer fight with Trout being left-handed, rangy, and having great boxing skills. He has good offense, moves around, and is the kind of guy that most fighters would avoid fighting. But Canelo impressed the hell out of me. I'm a huge Canelo fan right now. The head movement and defense he showed at 22 years old was amazing. I think everyone at 154 should be wary because that kid is a monster; plus he showed good power.
JR: A lot of people didn't know that Paul Williams trained in your gym and is your guy. Has there been any updates regarding his status that you can share with us?
TJ: As far as I know, I've been hearing the same thing as everyone has been hearing. You know that his spine was really swollen and not severed, and he's still going to physical therapy. When they have a swollen or bruised spine, they say it takes a year or over a year for the swelling to go down before they can actually start doing some work with it and get some movement back. There is still a chance that he might regain some mobilitiy, but Paul has a great outlook on life. He's a great guy with a great personality that's trying to live his life to the fullest. I mean, he's going to the movies enjoying life and that's a great thing considering what happened to him. But he's still Paul and his outlook is awesome.
JR: Thanks for your time. Is there anything else you would like to put out there?
TJ: Just 2013 is going to be a good year for Tony Jeter and Jeter Promotions. We're looking to do another show in the summer as early as July featuring the winner of the WBC Super middleweight Fecarbox championship.
[ Follow John Russell on Twitter @theJ_Russ3ll ]