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GERALD WASHINGTON: "I'M A LOT SMARTER FIGHTER THAN I FEEL A LOT OF THESE GUYS"

By Percy Crawford | July 28, 2014
GERALD WASHINGTON:

"My ring intelligence. I'm a lot smarter fighter than I feel a lot of these guys out there are. I laugh and I joke about this, but I think I'm the least hit fighter in history. I think I get hit less than Floyd Mayweather. I'm not even joking; because of my size and my style, I'm not in there trading punches with these guys," stated fast-rising heavyweight Gerald Washington, who talked about his most recent victory, his future plans, and more. Check it out!

PC: Congratulations on the knockout win over Travis Walker. How do you feel about your performance?

GW: I think it was a real good performance against a ring veteran whose been in there with a lot of good opposition. It was a good stepping stone for me in the right direction and I'm gonna continue to build off of that.

PC: In my opinion, he was the type of opponent you needed on your resume at this point in your career. Would you agree with that?

GW: Yeah, I'm trying to get some guys that's been in there and have some experience. Skip Scott was a good fighter in his own right. He's proven himself with his 16-1 record and now Walker. I just wanna continue to get the type of experience that's gonna help me later on in my career. Me and my team and my trainer, John Pullman, we're constantly working and building and growing and working on specific things every training camp to add to our arsenal. With every fight, we're gonna gain more experience and we're gonna become better fighters.

PC: What did you work on that you wanted to showcase against Walker?

GW: Actually, I really didn't have the chance to get into my game plan. He came out very aggressive. I utilized my defense and when he burnt off the steam a little bit, that's when I started to counter him. I hurt him a couple of times in the 1st round. He felt my power. In the second round, he tried to come out aggressive again and I was able to catch him with a counter shot and I was able to take him out from there.

PC: Being that guys try to close the distance so fast on you because of your size, do you expect to just have guys come right at you and start very aggressive?

GW: A lot of people mistake my ring smarts for weakness and that's where they go wrong. My ring intelligence is very high.

PC: How soon would you like to be back in the mix, because the heavyweight division is definitely heating up again?

GW: I'm fighting again on August 16th at the StubHub Center in Carson and it will be televised, or August 22nd at the Pechanga Casino in  Temecula.

PC: You went right back into the gym then, huh?

GW: I'm in the gym heavy all the time. I want the big fights and I'm signed with Al Haymon as my adviser. He is directing me and leading me in the right direction. All I have to do is keep beating whoever he puts in front of me. I have all of the confidence in the world in him and the fact that he will put me in a position to fight for a title.

PC: Does being with Al Haymon make your job easy in the sense of you only have to worry about training and fighting and not all of the other headaches that come with the sport of boxing?

GW: Definitely! He's definitely taking a part of my career and putting me in great positions. I've fought on TV shows and this will be my 14th fight in just over 2 years. I'm moving at a great pace and I'm very grateful for that. He gets the right fights for you. They are challenging fights. He definitely threw me in the fire a lot faster than a lot of other fighters, but I believe it's because they believe in me and my abilities and they wanna showcase me. I'm starting to get that exposure that I've been looking for and that me and my team deserve, and we have been trying to stay under the radar, but now people are starting to recognize us and our achievements and what we are capable of doing.

PC: They were very complimentary when showing your highlights for your last fight. Does that add pressure on you or do you use it as motivation?

GW: Yeah, they said I was on an accelerated path to a championship or something like that. But you know what? They told me they gonna get me a big name, right? So I'm thinking I'm gonna get a big name. I'm like a kid in a candy shop because I want the biggest and the best and a big dog on top of the division. And they give me a Travis Walker and Nagy Aguilera, who are big names with a lot of experience and a good name to put on your resume. I look at these fights as another fight against an experienced veteran with good boxing skills and something I can take away from this fight. I'm fighting a guy with skills and that's gonna help me moving forward in my career.

PC: When you look around at the heavyweight division and you see all of this young talent, what do you feel will eventually separate you from the pack?

GW: My ring intelligence. I'm a lot smarter fighter than I feel a lot of these guys out there are. I laugh and I joke about this, but I think I'm the least hit fighter in history. I think I get hit less than Floyd Mayweather. I'm not even joking; because of my size and my style, I'm not in there trading punches with these guys. In this division, every boxer in the ring is dangerous. If you get touched once, you gonna walk funny and these guys are gonna jump all over you just as I do in my fights. So I'm very cautious and aware of that. It's not that I can't take a shot; I just minimize the damage put on me to prolong my career. So every time I get in the ring with an experienced guy, it just makes me grow and defense wins championships. I feel like if they can't hit you, they can't hurt you, they can't win. And I'm sticking to that philosophy. It's something I made up and I'm sticking to it because it's helped me and I'm gonna keep rolling with that.

PC: Do you feel you are finally displaying that patience that you told me you wanted to work on because you did kind of let the knockout just happen as opposed to chasing it with one punch?

GW: I have learned that along the way. In the beginning, I was head strong and trying to knock all of these guys out and through experience, I have learned that you can't do that every time. One day, you're gonna fight a guy like Chris Arreola or someone that can weather the storm and that can take those punches and it leaves you tired and gassed out and fatigued and then you're not fighting in the ring as yourself. You always wanna stay sharp in the ring and be crisp at all times; that way you can take advantage of any situation that's out there. If you're out there tired, it's an uphill battle and that's what you don't wanna do. So I just keep myself in a good position at all times and that way I am able to capitalize when the time is right.

PC: Great performance. I look forward to seeing you back on TV and best of luck to you. Is there anything else you want to add?

GW: I'm very proud of me and my team and my trainer John Pullman and our accomplishments. I'm his first professional fighter. We started this thing together and we gonna go all the way to the top. I'm very thankful for Al Haymon and Golden Boy for letting me showcase my talents. I just wanna continue to represent for the Americans and Mexicans. My mother is from Mexico and I was in the United States Navy and I went to school at USC. I speak Spanish, so I want to represent for all of my people and all of my fans that come out and support me. I had the most fans at the last fight in Las Vegas. I was so shocked and honored and humbled by the fact that people drove to see me. It was tripping me out. I'm very grateful for that and I thank God for that and I'm honored.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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