"Me and Gabe had it out over Twitter at one point. What's funny is I thought Gabe Rosado was a cool guy and he started saying things like I was a groupie and I waited in line to shake his hand when he fought up here in Turning Stone. He was saying how he makes more money than me and I wish I could be like him...He kept going on and he tweeted pictures of me. And I told him to tell his people to get a contract and he never responded. But now he's in a position where he has to fight me, so it's time to light that ass up come September 17th...once I feel disrespected, it's a level of malice that goes into how I'm going to whoop his ass," stated middleweight contender Willie Monroe Jr., who talked about his upcoming showdown with Gabriel Rosado in the co-main event to Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith. Check it out!
PC: You're fighting Gabriel Rosado as the co-main event for the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith card on September 17th. How is everything going?
WMJ: Everything is going good. I've been in the gym. I'm a workhorse. You know that we talk about it all of the time. I pretty much live in the gym.
PC: How did you land on this show against this opponent?
WMJ: At first, they asked me to fight Billy Joe Saunders and I said, "Absolutely; run it!" Billy Joe Saunders' people wasn't really being clear on whether they would fight us or not. Next thing you know, my promoter, Arthur Pelullo, called me and said, "It looks like we're not going to get the fight. It looks like Gabe Rosado is in play." I was a little confused. I was like, "Gabe Rosado? Where the hell did he come from?" I wasn't being rude or disrespectful, but it was like, "How did he jump into the conversation?" But he's with Golden Boy, so it made sense. Then they said it looks like Rosado had the Saunders fight and I was just like, whatever, and stayed in the gym. A few weeks later, I saw that he turned down Gabe Rosado. They were in negotiations and I don't know what happened, but he turned it down. I didn't even get to the negotiations part. It only took them two days and they said they weren't fighting me, so at least Rosado got to the negotiations part. He said he got a contract and had his end signed; I didn't get that far.
But I just stayed working and one thing I told AC, my strategic partner, was that there was some weird stuff going on, man. It was a bunch of weird stuff going on in the boxing business and a bunch of weird stuff going on with things at home. It was so much weird stuff going on at home, I took it as a sign from God. It was some really weird stuff going on here that just put me in a position where I was like, "The only way I can stay away from this crazy stuff is to stay in the gym." I started hitting the gym even harder and I even started sparring like 2 1/2 weeks ago. That's how angry I was. I wanted to punch somebody. I didn't have a fight coming up; I just wanted to punch somebody, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise because they called me last week and said Gabe Rosado was a possibility and asked if I would like to fight him. I said, "Absolutely!" Me and Gabe had it out over Twitter at one point. What's funny is I thought Gabe Rosado was a cool guy and he started saying things like I was a groupie and I waited in line to shake his hand when he fought up here in Turning Stone. He was saying how he makes more money than me and I wish I could be like him. I wanted to shake his hand because I respect him as a fighter, but don't ever get this shit twisted because any day a contract was signed, that would be his ass. He kept going on and he tweeted pictures of me. And I told him to tell his people to get a contract and he never responded. But now he's in a position where he has to fight me, so it's time to light that ass up come September 17th.
PC: I don't think I've ever heard you talk about an opponent like that.
WMJ: I don't usually talk like that. I'm not really a big talker and I don't usually get into that stuff, but once I feel disrespected, it's a level of malice that goes into how I'm going to whoop his ass.
PC: Not saying you need motivation to punch him in the face, but I'm sure it helps.
WMJ: And I honestly think because of his style and my style and the little Twitter beef or whatever you wanna call it, because I don't get into social media like that, but I think our fight is going to be the most exciting fight on the card because of those two factors. And being that the winner could possibly get Canelo in December is added motivation as well.
PC: You were pushing hard for a few guys at one point and those fights didn't happen. Was it tough staying motivated or did you feel a big opportunity would come?
WMJ: Percy, you know me on a personal level. I'm a good person. I don't have an evil bone in my body. I have a couple of mean bones, but you have to when you're a fighter. I think God blesses good people and it's my job to stay ready. I remember praying a long time ago. You gotta remember, when I started my career in 2008 all the way until 2014 when I landed on Boxcino, I worked two jobs alongside fighting; a part-time job and a full-time job, or two part-time jobs. I always worked two jobs while training twice a day while getting ready for a fight all the way up to Boxcino. When I got into Boxcino, I had 16 professional fights. So think about having 16 professional fights over the course of 6 years and I was working two jobs. I told God, "If you let me make enough money to where I can just focus on my craft and the gift that you've given me, I'm going to always stay true to it and work no matter what." So I made a promise to myself, God, and my family, so now that God has blessed me to make enough money to where I don't have to work a job as well to provide for my family; we have a nice roof over our head and two cars and my wife and family is good, so now it's on me to hold up to my end of the bargain and that's stay in the gym even when there is no fight coming up. That's what I mean when people always hear me say, "Walk by faith and not by sight." I really believe that. Even though there are no fights coming up at times, I still have to do my job and hold up to my end of the bargain. I love doing it as well.
PC: You guys have exchanged some tweets and things like that, but one thing about Rosado, you can't let his 9 losses define who he is as a fighter and I'm sure you're not making that mistake.
WMJ: You really have to look at his losses because a lot of his losses, he was winning and it got stopped on cuts or he just ended up getting a raw deal. So all of his 9 losses isn't actually losses. And they were to top level guys. I don't look back and think this guy has 9 losses, this should be easy; I look at who he lost to and how he lost. I don't ever look past anybody, but he's definitely a dangerous opponent because he's a big middleweight. He's 6-foot even, he has power and guts, and he's not just going to lay down. He's going to be there all night. So I'm definitely approaching this fight with more vigor and intensity than I had for some of my other fights. And I'm happy to be back with my coach from the amateurs who has me doing stuff that I did before I turned pro.
PC: Congratulations on this opportunity and I'm sure you will make the best of it. We will definitely speak again before September 17th. Is there anything else you would like to add before I let you go?
WMJ: I always appreciate FightHype and I will always have time for FightHype. You can call me anytime Percy.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]