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11/22/2004 Archived Entry: "An Exclusive Interview: Fres Oquendo Says, “The Best is Yet to Come!”"
An Exclusive Interview: Fres Oquendo Says, “The Best is Yet to Come!”
By Juan C. Ayllon
Heavyweight boxer Fres Oquendo (24-3-0, 15 KO’s) is, if nothing else, a competitive athlete whose sense of accomplishment and justice in relation to his God-given potential is rankled. He wants to set the record straight.
At 6’ 2” and an ideal weight of around 225 pounds, he is somewhat smallish by today’s overblown standards. Never the less, he outstripped expectations when he turned professional in 1997, raising eyebrows as he rose through the heavyweight rankings. On his way up, he toppled such names as Phil Jackson, Bert Cooper, Clifford Ettienne, Duncan Dokwari, Obed Sullivan and Maurice Harris.
Then, when he reached the summit, things went strangely awry. For nine rounds, he was beating dangerous bomber David Tua quite handily. That is, until he got caught with big shot that shook him; moments later, the referee stopped the fight. Three fights later, in a fight that many had him winning, he lost a very close and controversial decision to current IBF World Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd. Then, last April in a fight that he was admittedly under-motivated, he fought on at least even terms with WBA World Heavyweight title holder John Ruiz going well into the 11th round. He was nailed by an unexpected shot; in short order, the referee stopped the fight.
Fast forward to November 2004. The heavyweights at the top are a mess. Oquendo is at peace with himself and his competitive fires burn brighter than ever. In a matter of days, he is to meet with Don King to discuss upcoming plans to enter the heavyweight championship fray.
Fres Oquendo granted this exclusive interview to the Cyber Boxing Zone.
JUAN AYLLON: What motivated you to come back to boxing?
FRES OQUENDO: For the glory, for the reason God put me here, to give him glory, mainly for myself to win the heavyweight championship of the world. And, of course my five kids! More than anything they motivate me to get back in the ring to provide for them.
JA: What is your walking around weight right now? It seems that because of your boxing skills and speed-oriented style, fighting around 215 to 200 might be best. What weight do you prefer to fight at?
FO: Right now, 230, 232. I pretty much stay in shape, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I pretty much live a healthy life and a clean life for my kids and my family. I’ve been married since '95, almost 10 years. My ideal weight is like, 225.
JA: What do you consider your best performance?
FO: I had a lot of great performances. The best is yet to come as I’m in my prime right now. The best so far has to be the David Izon fight. That’s a guy known for taking hard punches. Klitschko pulled out for suspicious reasons and I filled in on short notice. I knocked him out in three rounds and I showed the world that I was a heavyweight to be reckoned with. After that fight, it catapulted me to the number one ranking. And actually, I was getting ready for Robert Davis on a Fox show!
One of the toughest that I fought was Maurice Harris, I think I retired him; I knocked him out in 10 rounds.
JA: How did you improve so greatly from the beginning of your career until now? It seemed that there was a big change after your first three years as a professional.
FO: When I was in the amateurs, I wasn’t known for being a puncher. I was the least out of the class of ’96 heavyweights coming up expected to succeed. That included Monte Barrett, Lawrence Clay-Bey, Paea Wolfgramm, Nate Jones—who went to the Olympics in ‘96, and Lance Whitaker. [At about the three year mark], that was when I beat Duncan Dokwari, [the] 1996 Bronze Medalist; I knocked him down twice. That catapulted out of the class of ‘96 heavyweights!
JA: Seeing how Felix Trinidad, Sr. basically retired as a trainer with his son, whom will you now train with? Is it true that you’ll be going out west to train? If so, with whom will you train? Are you thinking of working with guys like Jesse Reid or Joe Goosen?
I’m probably going to the West Coast; I’ll probably train with Oscar Suarez, a trainer who works with Acelino “Popo” Frietas, worked with Prince Naseem Hammed, and he’s currently working with Johnny Tapia.
Actually, Joe Goosen helped me get ready for Dunkan Dokwari in 1999. He had different training methods and I had my ways. So, I went my way and just moved on.
JA: Who is the toughest fighter out there? How would you fight him?
FO: Basically, I say, Vitali Klitschko. Oh, that would be a classic, like David and Goliath! It would be like a classic boxer versus a puncher. Basically, I would box him, outmaneuver him, in and out, give him a lot of movement and of course my jab to set up my power punches.
JA: After three losses to high ranked fighters, why do you still feel that you have a place in the division? Why should you give it another try?
Fres Oquendo (R) visits with Dominic Pesoli at JABB Gym
FO: Oh, that's easy! If you look at tapes of my fights, they’re all controversy. With David Tua, he had me wobbly; they stopped it without an eight count. With Chris Byrd, even Ray Charles—bless him, he was still alive—could see that I was out-pointing, out punching and beating him all statistics wise—with the jab, [and] with power punches.
With Ruiz, first of all, I don’t know if you know about my history: Papa Trinidad retired. He appointed me one of his financial advisors. He did a terrible job promoting not even getting my minimum in negotiating with Don King. That resulted in my distraught state in training for Ruiz. You could tell that wasn’t me with the killer instinct.
I was mentally distraught and I wasn’t mentally motivated for that fight; 80% of my preparation is mental. It’s unfortunate that my mental state wasn’t up to par for that fight because of that situation that I was in managerially.
JA: What did you learn from your losses to Tua and Ruiz?
FO: I learned that you always have people backing you with your best interest, on your best interest, not only in the best behalf of their pockets.
We’re in the process now of probably suing them. I am now my own man; I take care of my own operations; I don’t have anyone taking a percentage of my hard earned money. I’m managing myself; I mean, I have advisors but I manage myself like Roy Jones Jr., and Bernard Hopkins just to name a few.
JA: What makes Ruiz’ style so hard to box against? Why did you not throw more right hands in your fight with him?
FO: It’s just the holding the grabbing, the clinching, the rough housing tactics. Unfortunately, fighters like Golotta and Rahman don’t have lateral movement like I have to beat a Ruiz. The solution is lateral movement and keep him at bay with my jab, like I showed the world.
JA: Do you plan on reinventing yourself as Rahman did recently?
FO: Oh yeah, yeah. One mistake I admit in my Ruiz fight, I should have been more aggressive. But again, unfortunately, my mind wasn’t that motivated for that fight. Now, I turned over a new leaf, I took a breath of fresh air and now I’m focused finally.
JA: What path do you plan on taking to get to a title shot? Is there a time frame?
FO: Definitely, there is a rumor that a fight might be made with Lamon Brewster and that would an immediate shot for the WBO title. That would be my third straight shot for a heavyweight title.
JA: How much longer do you plan on sticking around?
FO: Ah, not too long. I just want to fight for the glory and actually set myself and my kids for the rest of my life, maybe three or four years, if that.
After that, I definitely want to stay in boxing, that’s in my blood. I want to be a trainer and also and advisor to up and coming world champions.
I’m definitely going to come back; the best is yet to come. For those who believe in me and support you, thank you very much!
Fres Oquendo (left) at Ringside with Juan C. Ayllon Last Year
Photo used in triptych image of Fres--as modified by Juan C. Ayllon--and of Fres and Juan C. Ayllon by Edward Zajac
Photo of Fres Oquendo and Dominic Pesoli courtesy of http://www.jabbboxing.com
