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CORNELIUS BUNDRAGE: "I AIN'T BEGGING NOBODY TO FIGHT...I'LL BE BACK IN THE RING REAL SOON"

By Percy Crawford | October 24, 2014
CORNELIUS BUNDRAGE:

"I want to fight Canelo, but I wanna fight Oscar more than I want to fight Canelo. I want your boss. I'm a boss; I want to fight other bosses...Oscar responded to something I said about fighting Canelo. He said, 'K9 get in line.' I just want to say to Oscar, he can glove up. I don't wait, I create. I own my own promotion, so I'm a boss out here. I don't wait, I create. I'll be back in the ring real soon, whether it's against Canelo or not. I ain't begging nobody to fight. I'ma make 7 figures in my next fight regardless, whether I fight Canelo, Cotto or Mike Tyson," stated two-time IBF jr. middleweight champion Cornelius "K9" Bundrage, who talked about his recent title-winning performance against former champion Carlos Molina, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!

PC: You went over to Mexico and became a world champion again. How did it feel?

CB: Bittersweet, like cheesecake (laughing). It was mmmm good!

PC: Most American fighters feel they never get a fair shake in Mexico. Was that a concern of yours as well?

CB: When we put him down first, I knew they were gonna take care of us regardless. I co-promoted that fight with my company, K9 Boxing Global Promotions, so it wasn't gonna be nothing fishy in the game. It was gonna be fair and square, so it wasn't no added pressure on me thinking they were gonna try and cheat me or anything like that. And the thing is, I was going for the knockout anyway. I wasn't going over there to spar. Even though Molina wanted to spar me when he came down to Kronk Gym, but I wasn't going over there to spar. I was going to fight. It was going to be a fight. It's just like when I fought Cory Spinks. I was going over there to take the belt.

PC: Boxing is viewed as a young man's sport, but yet here you are in your 40's winning a world title. What keeps you motivated to not only stay in shape, but to remain relevant?

CB: You know, when I was 11 years old, I used to do a thousand pushups a day. I kept that up for like 3 years straight, so my body is not like the average person's body. Nobody did more pushups than me. I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most pushups from 11 years old to 14. Like I tell these cats, I'm cut up like waddup! And the good thing about it too is you can drug test me anytime. I keep it fair. I'm like my man Joe Cortez, I keep it fair but firm. I keep it 100, man.

PC: Molina is a tough dude. What was the game plan going into that fight?

CB: The fight was actually won in the gym. A lot of fighters don't want it hard in the gym, but think they can go out there and fight a hard fight and look good. I make it hard in the gym and the fights be easy. My work in the gym was actually harder than the fight, so when I got to the fight, I was like, man, the fight wasn't nothing.

PC: How did they treat you over there?

CB: They treated me real good. Them Mexicans love me over there. I'm a Black Mexican (laughing). They were barking all during the fight. They loved me. I train like them. I don't play. I train like I ain't never had a meal in my life.

PC: Did you ever feel like once you lost to Ishe, they were gonna try to push you out of  the game?

CB: I kept the faith that I was gonna get another shot. It was actually a blessing not to be a world champ no more because I realized, wow, I was world champ. Because when I was world champ, it didn't feel like I was a world champ because when I was with Don King, I wasn't getting no fights. So it didn't feel like I was a world champion until I lost the belt and that's when I got hungry and I had a daughter and that made me hungrier. It's like, if I don't become a world champ, then it's gonna be harder to get them diapers for my baby, so I had to get that belt back. Plus I don't want to be out here sagging because that's not my style, so I needed me a belt to keep my pants up.

PC: Anyone in particular at 154 that you would like to face?

CB: You know what? Before I got home and ever since I been home, my phone has been ringing like I don't know what. I field calls from everybody. You name it, I claim it. Everybody that you know, they been calling me. I'm just trying to see what's the best call and the best situation. I'm gonna sit down with my wife; she should be manager of the year, too. Please put that out there. Nobody talking about the job that she did. People look at fighters' wives like they only being managers because they want to keep it all in the family, but my wife is a real manager. She made all the calls, she did all the paperwork, and she is real good, man. She is real good. She let Joey Hernandez people know that he had the opportunity to fight me for the #1 spot. They promoter wasn't even gonna let him know because they were gonna go right by him. She called the lawyer and set that up. She has been my rock because she's been with me through the good and the bad. She was with me when I lost my first fight, which was the bad, and she was there when I won my world title. I mean, we do everything together. We go at it in basketball because you know she played high school and college basketball. She take me to the hole and I take her to the hole, but when I take her to the hole, I have to sleep on the couch, so I don't take her to the hole. She make more jump shots than me. I schooled her well because she didn't know too much about the boxing game like that, but her being with me, I taught her the ropes and she be on point, man. K9 Global Promotions, we are the present and the future.

PC: Tell us a little bit about your promotional outfit.

CB: Man, listen, my adviser and my business partner, who is the COO of my company, Bill Waller "Dollar Bill" did an amazing job. He was out there promoting the fight more than anybody. He is the one that sold the rights to the UK and got a partnership with Warrior Boxing, so we got a piece of the pie with ESPN, so like I said, K9 Boxing Global Promotions co-promoted that fight. You have a lot of people say they have their own promotions and stuff, but we really are a promotional company. We promoted the fight for real. You look in the ring, you saw K9 Boxing everywhere. You look on the banner, we had K9 Boxing on the banner and I'm very excited about that. I'm excited because I don't have to worry about not being in on a conversation. A lot of fighters don't know what's going on. I'll give you an example. Someone may call Golden Boy and they will say, "Hey Golden Boy, we got a fight for K9 and we want to give him a million dollars." Golden Boy can call me and say, "Hey K9, I got a fight for you." They know I ain't fought and Christmas coming up and they know my baby need diapers, but they gonna say, "K9, we got a fight for you for $300,000." Most will say, "Man, I'll take it." I ain't fought in a year, so I take it, but really they got offered a million dollars, so where do you think the other $700,000 went to? See what I'm saying? Now that I am a promoter now, I'm sitting right in there and I'm hearing all of what they are saying. "K9, we got a million dollars for you to fight Canelo." Oh okay, I'll beat his butt for free, but yeah, we'll take it. Even though Molina was the champ, I was promoting the fight, so he was fighting against the fighter and the promoter. I felt confident as hell on a higher level because he's gonna get one check and I'm gonna get two checks. And now I'm gonna get three checks because I got his belt too, so now I'm gonna get more sponsorships. Guys like Mayweather and De La Hoya set the bar high. They put the blueprint out for fighters to get paid now and that we can be promoters now, so I take my hat off to them because they doing their own promotional thing. That's good. A fighter should get more than a promoter or the same, you know what I'm saying, because I'm the one in there fighting. Thank God for them. Even though I want to fight Mayweather and I want to fight Oscar, because that's what we do as fighters, I take my hat off to them. I want to fight Canelo, but I wanna fight Oscar more than I want to fight Canelo. I want your boss. I'm a boss; I want to fight other bosses.

PC: Everything you get is well deserved. You have always been a good guy and I wish the best for you. Is there anything else you want to add?

CB: Oscar responded to something I said about fighting Canelo. He said, "K9 get in line." I just want to say to Oscar, he can glove up. I don't wait, I create. I own my own promotion, so I'm a boss out here. I don't wait, I create. I'll be back in the ring real soon, whether it's against Canelo or not. I ain't begging nobody to fight. I'ma make 7 figures in my next fight regardless, whether I fight Canelo, Cotto or Mike Tyson. I'ma do good because I'm gonna get sponsors and all that and I'm going straight to the networks because I'm a promoter now. I don't need Oscar to go to the networks for me. I go to the networks myself. Percy, it's a new day, baby! Let my people know they can reach out to me on my Twitter and Facebook @K9Boxing [barking]! I'ma be hitting you up. One love my dog!



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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