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09/08/2004 Archived Entry: "Al "Speedy" Gonzales Primed and Ready to Rumble, Says Manager Pat Doljanin"
AL "SPEEDY" GONZALES PRIMED AND READY TO RUMBLE, SAYS MANAGER PAT DOLJANIN
By Juan C. Ayllon
(Highland Park, Illinois): It’s Wednesday, September 8th, just two days away from Al “Speedy” Gonzales’ (14-1-1, 7 KO's) return to a boxing ring in Chicagoland. On Friday, September 10, he will be fighting against Derrick Moon (5-3-1, 1 KO), who will be looking to make a name for himself and knock his head off on national TV. Gonzales’ last fight here, a controversial technical split decision loss to Demetrius Hopkins on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights left such a sour taste in his camp’s mouth that they vowed never to fight again in Chicago. However, as time passed, they reconciled themselves to the idea of fighting again in the Windy City, where he has a large fan base.
Having trained six weeks in Southern California with famed boxing trainer, Jesse Reid, Al arrived at O’Hare today feeling ready for Friday night’s fight. Uncomfortable with conducting interviews himself, Gonzales asked his affable manager, Pat Doljanin, to do the honors. Doljanin gladly accepted and granted the Cyber Boxing Zone this exclusive interview.
On Al Gonzales’ Mindset and Preparation:
He’s great! Al’s staying with me. The kids are all excited that he’s staying with me. Al doesn’t like answering questions. When we did the press conference for the Hopkins fight, Al had me sit next to him, as he felt uncomfortable speaking to reporters. I respect it, but want to get the word out.
Preparations have been fantastic. I just talked with Jesse Reid. He just had six tough weeks out there. One particular tough guy was Mark Suarez who was fought on the undercard of Cory Spink’s title defense last weekend and stopped his guy in the sixth round. He’s currently 20-2 against a lot of top notch former world belt holders. Referring to Al, he said, “Where’d you find this guy? He’s a tough dude!” Al’s sharper, he had better sparring for this fight than he did for the Hopkins fight.
One of the things Jesse’s been working on is his defense. Al can take a hell of a punch, but he doesn’t shrink away from showing that. He likes to remind you of how good a set of whiskers he has. He’s proved it plenty of times; he doesn’t need to display it for us. 
Gonzales (L) got frustrated vs. Hopkins (R)
That and patience in the ring. He needs to be more patient. He got frustrated with Hopkins—the running and the grabbing—and it took him out of his game. You need to evaluate the situation and react to it accordingly.
They worked on that in preparation fort the Hopkins fight and they worked on it more for this fight. That’s one other thing they’ve been concentrating on.
On Speedy's Possible Next Opponent:
We’d love Courtney Burton, the guy who got the bogus decision over Emmanuel Augustus. We’ve been trying to get this fight. I think it makes all the sense in the world. Personally, I think Al would tear him apart. Courtney's higher on the food chain; the only way you move up the food chain is fight guys higher up!
Gonzales (L) shown here bombing Hopkins on the ropes, would probably tear Burton apart, according to Doljanin
As we work our way up, we are looking to focus on the ‘fan friendly’ fights—Gatti-Ward kinda fights where guys are displaying their heart and will. The Hopkins fight was anything but that; he was more interested in running and holding. A Burton-Gonzales match would be fantastic because the style of the two fighters; Courtney’s not affraid to mix it up and Al’s certainly not afraid to mix it up; From where I look at it, Al would beat him easily. From a local perspective, regional perspective, I think it would make perfect sense, Burton being from Michigan and Al being fro Chicago.
Oscar Diaz is another 140 pound guy 17-1. If a Courtney Burton fight would be a good fight, this would be fantastic! This would be a phone booth fight. You could hold the match in a phone booth! That would be a fight that the Duvas have expressed that they would be interested in. We want to keep working our way up with the young prospects and working our way up the ladder.
I don’t want to look too far past this; I don’t want to show disrespect for the guy he’s fighting. We’ve shown respect for all the guys he’s fought. The guy’s coming to win.
On Lining Up Friday’s Fight:
The subplot should read “Nightmare on Elm’s street.” We went through two dozen potential opponents getting ready for this fight. I worked with [8 Count Productions Matchmaker] Jerry Alfano trying to get an opponent.
One guy we looked at closely was Isaac Mendoza (11-0-0, 5 KO's)…Another was Miguel Figueroa who’s had over 30 fights; he’s a Continental America rated fighter; he turned it down because he didn’t’ have enough time to prepare for the fight. It’s been a frustrating experience to get someone locked down and staying committed. The other guy [who originally was slated to fight Gonzales] got injured and fell out; Derrick Wilmore had to pull out; he had an existing injury. His manager or trainer never bothered to let us know that!
Jerry should get the 'Prince of Patience' [award] for this because he did a fantastic job of staying at it and trying to get an opponent, a frustrating experience that I hope we don’t have to go through again soon.
On Internet Coverage of Fighters:
We always thank Cyber Boxing Zone for helping get the word out. My level of frustration with trying to get Michael Hirsley [noted boxing writer for the Chicago Tribune] to do a piece on Al knows no bounds; but it’s not his responsibility; ultimately, it’s the Sports Editors decision. They prefer write ups on high school bands and things of that nature. The Internet sites are the lifeblood of boxing. The only news you’ll get in the mainstream media is who got kicked in the groin by Mike Tyson.
On The Effect of Boxing Being a Marginalized Sport to Boxers:
I don’t know any other main stream sport that the athlete works a full time job in addition to their sport. Does [Chicago Cubs baseball pitcher] Matt Clement work a full time job in addition to baseball?
Concluding Remarks:
We look forward to a good show on Friday and to keep stepping up the ladder and make some noise in the 140 pound division. Al’s in great spirits; physically he’s in great shape. I hope this show is everything we hope for on Friday.
Gonzales' Manager Pat Doljanin looks forward to "Speedy" making noise in the 140 pound division
Al Gonzales will be fighting at a televised event dubbed the “Mexican Independence Brawl” put on by Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions and Bob Arum's Top Rank Incorporated and featured in the Solo Boxeo/Telefutura Friday Night Fights series.
Held at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero, Illinois, the official main event will be pit junior welterweight Omar Weis (36-4-3,16 KO's) and Arturo Morua (18-6-1, 13 KO's). Also appearing on the card will be Illinois State Middleweight Champion, "Macho" Miguel Hernandez (12-1, 7 KO's), junior middleweight Rudy Cisneros (1-1, 1 KO), middleweight Carlos Molina (3-0-1, 1 KO) and three time Chicago Golden Glove Champion Don "Da Bomb" George making his pro debut.
The Hawthorne Race Course is located at 35th and Laramie on the Chicago/Cicero border, just minutes from the Eisenhower and Stevenson expressways. Tickets, starting at $25, are available by calling 312-226-5800. Doors open at 6pm, with the first bout scheduled for 7pm.
Al "Speedy" Gonzales photos by Edward Zajac
Pat Doljanin Photo by Juan C. Ayllon
