"I'm ready to fight anybody. If it would be Donaire, then I would have to get ready; just be ready as I did for the last fight against him. I prepared myself 100 percent, but just the whole change of going overseas affected me. If it was in the United States, it would be a whole different story," stated 115-pound contender Raul Martinez as he talked about his upcoming fight with Gabriel Elizondo, his ongoing comeback from a 2009 loss to Nonito Donaire, and much more. Check out what he had to say!
TH: Saturday, June 26, you're going to be fighting in your hometown of San Antonio Texas. How has training camp been going so far?
RM: Everything is right on track. I'm good on my weight, I've just got a few pounds to lose. I'm normal, you know, on what I have to lose at this point in my training camp before the fight. I feel right on track and ready to roll.
TH: What do you know about your opponent, Gabriel Elizondo? Do you know a lot about him as a fighter, and have you studied him?
RM: I've known him ever since I first started fighting. He was the guy that was coming up in San Antonio, the Olympic hopeful when I first started as an amateur. When he turned pro, I was the next guy in line to be the Olympic hopeful for San Antonio, you know, being ranked number 1 and being in the national team. So now, fighting him as a professional, I know that he's a tough fighter. He has great experience, amateur and professional, so it's gonna be a good fight.
TH: I was listening to you on the Boxing Truth Radio show the other night and they'd mentioned that you and Gabriel have a friendship out of the ring. How do you see that playing out in the ring?
RM: Of course, you think of it like, I'm going to fight a good friend of mine since I've known him all of my boxing career. Once you're in the ring, you forget about it. It all comes down to who wants it more. It comes down to business and who wants it more in that ring, and after the fight, you go back to being friends again. But in the ring, you've gotta forget about it.
TH: This fight still falls into the comeback stage, following that loss to Nonito Donaire last year. How do you see your comeback coming along? Has it taken longer than you've expected or is it right on track as you see it?
RM: I feel good, I mean, I've got two wins already and I'm going for my third one. I'm just taking it fight by fight, hopefully getting closer to another world title shot. I feel I'm ready. I feel, hopefully, this fight goes good for me and I get the victory and something good happens for me in the near future.
TH: How many fights are you expecting before you're in the conversation of a title fight again?
RM: I'm hoping if I win this fight, I can go for one right away. I mean, I'm ready; I'm ready to go. The thing about the fight with Donaire, I had to drop to 112, and then fighting overseas. A lot of things didn't go my way and I learned from it. I learned from it and it was a great experience, so now it's time to look ahead and I'm ready for a world title shot any time they're ready to give it to me.
TH: In terms of the weight and going over to the Philippines to fight, do you feel like that was overlooked, and the fact that you lost was the focal point?
RM: Yeah, I feel like people don't see the details. And I've said it before, trying to make the 112 weight limit and the time change; I think it was like 13 hours. And being there only the week of the fight, of course I needed a few more weeks to adjust to the whole change. But if you go out there and you're fighting a great champion like Donaire, you're not gonna beat him. You have to be at the top of your game to beat someone like Donaire. I wasn't at the top of my game, and that loss doesn't really affect me mentally as it should. I know that I lost to a great champion and I wasn't 100 percent. And now I've just gotta look ahead to the future.
TH: Looking ahead to the future, considering if you do get back into title contention, if Donaire is still around at 115, would a rematch be something you would be interested in?
RM: Definitely. I'm ready to fight anybody. If it would be Donaire, then I would have to get ready; just be ready as I did for the last fight against him. I prepared myself 100 percent, but just the whole change of going overseas affected me. If it was in the United States, it would be a whole different story, but at the same time, you've got to give him a lot of respect because he did what he had to do. I know he would want to do the same thing, so I'd have to train even harder.
TH: Alright, I'm going to get you out of here on this. Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans across the world, and especially in San Antonio?
RM: Yeah, definitely. I just want to tell everybody to head out to the Alamodome in San Antonio to see it live, or order it on Pay-Per-View on June 26, "Latin Fury 15". Check me out and root for me. Support me in getting closer to another title shot.