"It's neither here nor there with that. I just block them out and do what I do. It's about doing what I do. It's their job. They have a lot of time, money, and fans invested into Triple G, so it's their job to big him up. My job is to continue to be "The Mongoose" and stay relaxed in my mind and be ready. All the work is done. The hard work has been put in over the last 8 weeks and now it's time to show up and show out," stated middleweight contender Willie Monroe Jr., who talked about his upcoming clash this Saturday with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin just days before they step into the ring. Check it out!
PC: You have arrived in California. Now that it's starting to become a reality, how does it feel?
WMJ: It's just the same as before, man. I'm blessed. This ain't my first rodeo.
PC: Are you treating this fight as such because obviously the media and fans are treating this fight as something you've never seen before. Are you treating this as a not your first rodeo moment?
WMJ: It's neither here nor there with that. I just block them out and do what I do. It's about doing what I do. It's their job. They have a lot of time, money, and fans invested into Triple G, so it's their job to big him up. My job is to continue to be "The Mongoose" and stay relaxed in my mind and be ready. All the work is done. The hard work has been put in over the last 8 weeks and now it's time to show up and show out.
PC: Has anything in your preparation been different leading up to this fight or has it been a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality?
WMJ: It's a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," you know. A lot of people are trying to make it more than what it is. It's hard work; nothing beats hard work. Nothing never really changes. We calibrate our game plan towards our opponent, but not too much has changed.
PC: I don't know if you've done this with past opponents, so I'm not putting extra emphasis on it because it's Golovkin, but have you watched hundreds of rounds of footage of Gennady or has that never been your thing for any opponent?
WMJ: I sort of stayed away from it. I've watched some of his fights. I watched his fights before the fight was announced. Obviously I was watching him because I have been saying I wanted to fight him since Boxcino, but in camp, nah, not really. I let my trainers do that and I just execute because I'm one of those type of fighters that one minute I might stick to the game plan and then I might veer off and do something totally different, you know.
PC: For sure. They are building this fight as something Triple G has never faced before in a sense that his past opponents have been a little more stationary than what we are used to seeing you be. Do you feel like that's a proper build or do you feel you are more than just a slick fighter?
WMJ: I think I am more complete than just a slick fighter, but I'm okay with that. The less they know about me and the less that they want to take into consideration is better for me. It's the element of surprise.
PC: What does Willie Monroe do between now and fight time to taper down your week?
WMJ: I just stay close to my team and my family. I spend a lot of time on the phone with my wife and kid. I spend a lot of time praying and rehearsing everything in my mind and just reminding myself that everything we did in training camp is right. I had an awesome training camp, a full training camp, and a very hard training camp. I'm confident.
PC: You always wear your spirituality on your sleeve and that's sometimes frowned upon in sports. How important is that to you to keep that intact and always on the forefront?
WMJ: I mean, that's all I know. Everything that I've been through in life and the things that I'm going through in life and past things, I know that it's only God that has brought me through it. I can't sit here and worry about what another human say. There is an old saying that goes, even the best of men at their best are still just men. All of these people that consider themselves higher than someone else because they hold a title that they think gives them the right to judge someone else's beliefs are still just men like me. They have to answer to someone also and I'm just glad that I'm answering to God.
PC: Are you expecting a fast start from Gennady or a measured pace?
WMJ: It can be a little bit of both; you never know. He can come in there and see if he could pressure me and that might be his demise or he may try to go tactical and go mind for mind and that may be his demise also because I'm a very intelligent person. But I'll prove all of that come Saturday.
PC: Do you have any anxiety or anxiousness to get it on or are you relaxed and just letting the week take it's course and be ready come Saturday?
WMJ: I'm letting the week take it's course because it's been a lot going on and leading up to this fight and so much negativity. I'm just glad to be here. You know, the whole WBC thing and the thing with my camp and everything. People have tried to relay a negative persona on Willie Monroe.
PC: You have always seemed to have a strong mind towards the negativity. Has that been the case or have you had to take a step back and really reanalyze things? Are you as cool on the inside as you appear to be on the outside?
WMJ: For me, it's more like here we go again. I tell people to take me literally when I say the odds were against me when I was conceived in my mother's womb. I think spiritually before you're able to comprehend, I think spiritually we make a decision on what you're gonna be. So before my mind was able to comprehend my spirit that we're going to be as resilient as they come, that's the path that I chose spirituality for my mind to comprehend it and that's who I am.
PC: Boxcino was a big deal for you, but it wasn't this stage or this press. How have you handled the media obligations for this event?
WMJ: Like you say, I've been cool, calm, and collected. I'm not going to lie, there are some people I won't give interviews to and I'm not looking to give interviews to because they are looking to antagonize me. I already have a fight on my hands and all of these guys want to antagonize me. But my team has been behind me and they've been screening certain people and certain people will get interviews and certain people won't because we know who is out to antagonize me and who is out to cover good boxing, like FightHype. You guys cover good boxing. That's why you have my personal number.
PC: I appreciate that. I look forward to the fight. Best of luck to you and we will definitely speak afterwards. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
WMJ: Thank you guys at FightHype and thanks to all the fans and just tune-in May 16th, man. It's going to be a good one!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]