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MIKE REED: "I'M GOING BACK TO WORK ON MY COMBINATION PUNCHES"

By John Russell | December 18, 2014
MIKE REED:

"I train so hard that when I was fighting 6 rounds, I knew that I could go 8 rounds. Now I believe that I can go from 8 rounds to 10 rounds fighting and that's the way that we take our training. We want to always be able to go on as the fight goes along and not regress while the fight goes on...I was being asked to throw more punches and shots, and I wasn't doing that. So if anything, I would say I'm going back to work on my combination punches," stated jr. welterweight prospect Mike Reed, who talked about his latest victory, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!

JR: You've already had three fights under the Top Rank banner since signing with the promotion the middle of this year. You have to be happy with that kind of work that your getting.

MR: Absolutely! Before we signed with Top Rank, we had the discussion with them that we wanted to continue to be busy. That was our main concern. As an upcoming prospect and fighter, you don't want to be shelved. I'm very happy with the way they are moving me, and actually, it was two Top Rank cards, because the first one, I wasn't signed yet. But they treat me like family. It seems like a very good fit right now because I'm happy with everything they are doing on their part and they're happy with everything I'm doing on my part.

JR: Not only did you just have your first 8-round fight, but it was your first time traveling to the West coast to fight. How did you think you adapted to both transitions?

MR: It felt like any other transition and I really didn't feel it. Once I'm inside the ring, I have tunnel vision. The most I looked around was when I was walking to the ring and it felt like a sense of accomplishment. I came from fighting on club shows where the audience was 300-400 people max to fighting on a HBO card where you have the big lights and a bigger crowd. It was a pretty good feeling. As far as traveling, I like traveling and that's one of the reasons that I enjoy this sport, other than the fact that I'm pretty good at it to this point for the past 10-11 years. I don't think that I would've ever gone to Omaha, Nebraska [for the Crawford vs. Beltran card] in my life if it wasn't for boxing. As far as fighting 8 rounds, I train so hard that when I was fighting 6 rounds, I knew that I could go 8 rounds. Now I believe that I can go from 8 rounds to 10 rounds fighting and that's the way that we take our training. We want to always be able to go on as the fight goes along and not regress while the fight goes on.

JR: You faced a boxer named Oscar Valenzuela. This guy was undefeated before facing you, won a Texas state title, and had a 41% KO ratio. At any point of that fight, were you affected by his strength and power during the match?

MR: Not at all! He had hitter-like power, but the thing with him was that everything that he did was at the same pace and he didn't switch it up. He wasn't a very strong to me. He hit me with a jab in the first round and I felt he was a bit heavy-handed. From that point on, I just adapted to him throwing his punches the same way. You have to switch it up and you can't punch the same way. I got his timing down and that's exactly what I did by adjusting during the fight.

JR: Even though you won the fight, the scorecards were a little closer than anticipated. When you look back on how you fought him, what do you think you probably could have done more to affect the scoring.

MR: I don't think the fight was that close in my opinion. With that being said, the corrections that I could've made during the fight would have to be just punching more. If you watch the fight again, my dad/coach was saying 3's and 4's, and I was hitting him with pretty much every punch I was throwing. He never took initiative and when he did, he took it only during the first 10 seconds of each round and then got back to dancing with me. In boxing, we score points to punch and I was being asked to throw more punches and shots, and I wasn't doing that. So if anything, I would say I'm going back to work on my combination punches.

JR: I'm hoping you had enough time to go out and see the Crawford vs. Beltran fight. Knowing you, I know you probably not only met Terence Crawford, but you probably even had some time to size him up. Tell me about it.

MR: (Laughing) You know how I am! I got to size people up sometimes from 135-147 pounds because I could eventually fight him. What's funny is that Terence did the same thing to me. Top Rank introduced me to Terence as one of their top prospects. Terence asked me, "What weight class do you fight?" I say, "140". I lie to you not, Terence is sitting down while we are talking, but as soon as I said my weight, he stands up and says, "Oh dang, you little!" So I say back to Terence, "I'm little, but I can go." We shared a laugh about it. It was funny because I have a friendship with guys I've sized up before, so they can get the joke. But with Terence, I'm just meeting him and he sized me up right off the bat and thought it was cool.

JR: When's the next time that we can expect to see you back in the ring, Mike? I'm hearing January.

MR: Well, the pattern I'm hoping is every other month. I have no injuries, so I'll rest the rest of this month and hopefully come back in January or end of February.

JR: Thanks for the time and congrats again on getting the W. Anything you want to put out there before I let you go?

MR: Thanks for the support as always. We've been doing this for a while now and I appreciate it. To all the fans who show love, I appreciate it as well. I met a lot of new people out in Omaha that said they liked what they saw from me. For the people who are not familiar with me or who saw me fight once or twice, continue to follow me because I'm going to make some noise in 2015.



[ Follow John Russell on Twitter @theJ_Russ3ll ]

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