"I'm ready to fight. I'm in shape already; I'm ready to go. Hopefully, we can go out there and, if not get a knockout, put in a good showing and keep rolling. I'm always in the gym, even after my fights, within the next couple days. I'm always training, so if I can get another fight in December, I would love that," stated heavyweight contender Manuel Quezada as he talked about his upcoming October 22nd clash with Nicolai Firtha. Check it out!

MJ: Hey, what's going on Manuel?

MQ: Alright. How are you doing?

MJ: Great. Good talking to you again.

MQ: Same here. Thank you for having me.

MJ: So tell us about your upcoming fight with Nicolai Firtha.

MQ: I'm just excited to get back in the ring, brother. I can't wait. I had a good fight, a good win, with Travis Walker back in July. It didn't go too far, so I'm excited to get back in there. Nicolai's a good, tough guy, so we'll see what he brings on the 22nd.

MJ: What kind of fight do you expect from him?

MQ: Honestly, I expect a tough fight. I'm not as big as he is. I'm sure I'm not as big as most of his opponents, especially his last opponent, Tye Fields, who is really big. He might underestimate me and try to bully me for the first couple rounds until I hit him a couple times.

MJ: How is the training going?

MQ: Aw man, training is real good.

MJ: Tell us about your typical day of training.

MQ: I believe it's a little different from other fighters, but I'm going to do what I have to do. I wake up at 6:00 and go running to do my road work. I get back home and have my breakfast, and then I'm back on the road for about two hours at 9:30. I get to L.A. at Joe's Gym at about 11:30, we get ready, and I do my sparring. I leave Joe's Gym at about 2:30 and go back home, relax for a little bit and eat, then hit the gym. I'm actually at the gym now. In the evenings, I hit the gym and do our weights and sit-ups and push-ups and all the stuff we need to do to get ready to fight.

MJ: Wow, that's impressive. That's a full day there.

MO: Yeah and I still have to squeeze in my little girls; so it's difficult, but I do what I have to do. I'm not going to complain because I enjoy doing it.

MJ: Are you one of the guys who watches film in preparation for fights?

MO: Actually, to be honest with you, I really don't watch any film. I think it has to do with back in my kickboxing days. When I was kickboxing, we didn't have any film on any fighters. Back then, it was nothing like that. They would just tell me, "Look, you're going to fight this guy. His record is so and so; just be ready to fight." All I would do was get ready to fight and I'll have them get ready for me instead of me having a gameplan getting ready for them. I make them get a gameplan for me. I go out there and do my fight, even in my boxing career.

MJ: Is this fight going to be televised?

MO: No, I don't believe this fight will be televised.

MJ: Are there any plans in the future to get you on television? I'm thinking you'd be great for ShoBox: The Next Generation or Boxing After Dark. That would be a perfect fit.

MO: Yeah, definitely. We're working with our team, Goossen, and hopefully we can get that going. Hopefully I can come out and get a good, impressive win on the 22nd and hopefully we can get something going, if not this year, then maybe early next year.

MJ: I'll tell you, we need to see that rowdy fan base on TV too. We're calling them the "Quezada Crazies".

MO: Yeah (laughing), that would be great.

MJ: You have quite a following. I'm sure expecting a good live gate out there.

MO: Oh yeah, definitely, I love fighting in Lemoore; that's my hometown and I love it. These people come out and I appreciate everything they do. I know times are hard with the economy, but they do what they can to come out and support us. Hopefully, we'll do what we can to give them a good show.

MJ: Yeah, it's impressive. I wish I had fans like that!

MO: Yeah, it is.

MJ: You're ranked in the top five by the WBC. How does that feel?

MO: It feels great. I know that a lot of people don't know me, but we're working on that. I have my good buddy Mario Serrano working on that, the Goossens working on that, and myself. Hopefully, in a couple months, people will start recognizing who I am and believing that I can fight, because I believe that I can fight. Hopefully, we can get people to see that and keep going in the boxing game and get TV a little bit. But I'm excited to be where I'm from and be ranked so highly. I'm really excited about that.

MJ: Are there any talks of trying to get a mandatory shot for that WBC belt?

MO: I don't know. I leave all of that up to my team. If it were up to me, I would love that. I would fight anybody, to be honest with you. I don't see any heavyweight out there that I would not want to fight. I would fight anybody and definitely the champ.

MJ: How quickly do you plan to fight again after this fight?

MO: I don't know; it depends on how this fight goes. I'm ready to fight. I'm in shape already; I'm ready to go. Hopefully, we can go out there and, if not get a knockout, put in a good showing and keep rolling. I'm always in the gym, even after my fights, within the next couple days. I'm always training, so if I can get another fight in December, I would love that.

MJ: Are there any opponents in mind down the road?

MO: I want to face the top contenders now. I'm ranked in the top five, so I want to step it up. I want to start fighting these contenders to get my shot.

MJ: What did you think about your friend Chris Arreola's fight with Klitschko?

MO: I have nothing to take away from Klitschko. He's a great fighter. Of course, Chris is a good friend of mine. I felt that he couldn't do anything. He went in there and just couldn't get it done. He couldn't get inside and get in work. Like I said, Klitschko is a really good fighter; he went out there and did what he had to do.

MJ: I felt like he put forth enough effort to get another shot down the road.

MO: Definitely, Chris is still going to get his shot. I know that he's a great fighter and he'll change the things he needs to change and he'll be back.

MJ: How is he recovering from the loss?

MO: He's good. He knows that he went in there with the wrong gameplan. He and his team are good. They know that next time they get a shot like this, they are going to take full advantage of it.

MJ: You mentioned earlier in this interview that you have a kickboxing background. How do you think you'd fare against some of those UFC guys?

MO: It's funny that you mention it. I get together with my buddies every Wednesday night and watch The Ultimate Fighter show.

MJ: I watch that too.

MO: As a matter of fact, they are having the heavyweights. My friends all want me to do it; they feel like I can get in there and compete with these guys. I honestly believe that I can. There is no guy in there that I see can give me any trouble, especially that Kimbo guy. I would love to fight him.

MJ: I was even thinking with Herschel Walker claiming that he's going to fight MMA, what about having him open against you?

MO: Oh, definitely, why not? I would love that. I wrestled in high school and when I am not training for my fights, I go down there and roll around with some of the guys here in town and I help them with their striking. I know I can defend myself on the ground; all I have to do is get back up. They'd better watch themselves when I do get back up.

MJ: That would be something to see someone be a boxing heavyweight champion and MMA heavyweight champion at the same time.

MO: Yeah, that would be awesome. I would love that.

MJ: Do you have any words for our FightHype.com readers in closing?

MO: I just want to thank everybody for all the support and for supporting boxing in general. I want people to keep that going. Boxing is not dead like people keep trying to say. Boxing is alive; we have a lot of good fights coming up. The Super Six tournament is going on. I just want to say thanks for the support and keep doing it. Keep supporting the boxers out here.