BARRY HUNTER EXPECTS NO RING RUST FROM LAMONT PETERSON; VOWS TO BE IN 147 MIX WITH WIN OVER AVANESYAN
By
Percy Crawford | February 07, 2017
PC: Lamont Peterson is very close to his ring return. What's it been like to have him off for this extended amount of time but keep him in the gym?
BH: You know just as well as the majority of people know, that's what we do. We love to fight. We were just talking recently about the times we used to drive up and down the road going to the Nationals and going to different fights and all over the place. That, at that time, was what it was all about, man; just the combat.
We didn't get into this game for fame or fortune for the most part. We got into this thing because we love what we do. And if we had our choice, man, we would fight once a month (laughing). You feel me? But realistically, you can't do that, but nevertheless, we like to be in the ring as much as possible. But I got so much faith and trust in Al and his plans of what he does. If it takes us to wait as long as we had to wait, knowing what Al has done for us, I mean...come on, man. I'm a ride or die type of guy and that's alright with me.
PC: Most fighters say that ring rust is real. Lamont told me that he's been in the gym so much, he doesn't think it will be a factor. From what you have seen from him, is being rusty a concern for you or are you comfortable with where he is at?
BH:
If ring rust is present, the average boxing eye wouldn't know it, but we'll know it. It'll be to the point where it will look like everything is normal, but I can always tell when he's like a half a second or a split second off. I don't think it will be a huge problem because Lamont and his brother are very, very rare. They are like a throwback to the days of old. They recognize and understand that boxing is their life and just like you and I, they go to work every day. That's what they do. They get up every day and that's their job and it's what they do.
PC: Are you the film guy, Barry, and if so, what do you think of David Avanesyan?
BH: I got a rare gift I have to thank the creator himself. I don't look at hours and hours of film. It only takes me 30 minutes to an hour and I'm good. I can look at a few minutes, max an hour, and that's stretching it, and
I can look at a few minutes and understand that most fighters are very comfortable with a certain way of fighting. Even if they try to come with a game plan, when the fight heats up or they take a turn that they not accustomed to, they tend to go back to what they started off with in the first place; their comfort zone. For the most part, I'll look for that thing that they love to do and love to do more than anything else is what I key in on. But if they make an adjustment, we have the ability to adjust to any fighter.
PC: With this time off, you guys have had the opportunity to sit back and watch the welterweight division come together. What do you think of how the chips are falling within the division and where does Lamont fit in this thing?
BH:
Well, we're right in the middle. When I think of true welterweights and now that Lamont is finally moving up to welterweight...you know, Lamont got a certain skill set and ability to fight several different ways. He can box, he can bang with you, he can dog it out with you; the whole nine. When he was a little kid, and I was a huge fan of Ray Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Benitez, and I used to feed him this type of data. We used to watch the tapes and we used to go over certain moves in the gym. Therefore in his case, he understands what a true fighter is. You go back to the fighters of yesteryear and you know and I know, if you saw Ray versus Hearns or Hagler versus Hearns or Duran versus them all, these were legendary fights, man. And the skill sets were off the chain. Now I can't compare the fighters today to the fighters yesterday. I'm not taking nothing away from the fighters of today, but I think the fighters of yesteryear was just taught better. Today, the fighters are better athletes. I'm not saying that they can't be taught the skill set. If we are the teachers, then we have to teach the skills.
PC: A lot of fighters and trainers have been pointing out the fact that there are less teachers in the game and more mitt holders. Would you agree with that assessment?
BH:
I absolutely believe that because think about this, Percy, how many sports that you know, that you can just look at one day, or a videotape, walk into that sport or arena the next day and all of a sudden you can get a certification to be the head trainer or cornerman with no history in doing so? So let's go a little deeper! When I came through, I knew my place. Even in my heart of hearts, I thought I knew more than a lot of the coaches that had been there for awhile, but I understood the place that I was in. I waited my turn. I had a chance to get advice from "Ham" Johnson, which is Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson's father, Adrian Davis, Mr. Dave Jacobs, and people like Amir Angelo, he gave me some advice. And also Emanuel Steward gave me advice a lot and I miss him so much because he was not only a mentor, I looked up to him. So I had a chance to be around people like Mr. George Washington, who I had a ton of respect for in New York. He trained Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson. He trained some legendary fighters and I had the luxury of coming up under people like that while understanding my place in the game. I didn't jump ahead. I didn't go from first grade to college. I took all of the classes in between. I didn't jump right into the pros. No, I took kids from the juniors to the open class to the Pan Ams to the Olympic Trials. I walked these kids through elementary, junior high, high school, and then college. Now I'm working on my masters. Only a fool will say he knows it all and the wise will say he knows nothing.
PC: What type of statement are you looking for Lamont to make in this fight?
BH: With me and Lamont, we always like to say we are constantly learning. I don't know it all. I think I know enough to get by. And I've done some things in this sport that can't nobody take away from me. But we don't know it all. We are still learning.
What I'm really really looking for is sharpness. I'm looking for his brain to work along with his physical abilities. Because a lot of times, you can be right physically, but mentally you're off or vice versa. You have to work both of those things in conjunction with one another. So I'm looking for that and I'm looking for him to receive the messages from the corner; his reaction to us. A lot of times, when you go and you're not in sink and you're delivering a message, but the athlete is not receiving the message. We've only had that problem a couple of times in our career. For the most part, I can give him an eye signal or a hand signal or a facial expression and he knows exactly what I want to do. That's what I'm looking for in this particular fight and just to get back into the swing of things. We are not overlooking this guy at all. He got a title and I'm pretty sure he wanna keep that title, but we like the taste of being a champion. So that's what we're going to try and do.
PC: You also have Rau'shee Warren out there. How is Newt looking in preparation for his first title defense?
BH:
Newt been sharp, man. He's prepared for war. He said to me when we left the gym the other day, "I'm ready to go now. I can't wait!" When they start talking like that, you know it's time. It's funny because him, Lamont, Anthony, and several other kids that we've had together, Mike and I, came up on the circuit together. A lot of times Mike used to look for Rau'shee and he would be in the room with us. When he finally track him down, he say, "Oh, he's at home. He's good," and they leave him there. I've been working around with Newt since he was 11 or 12 years old. We also got Eric "Baby Face" Washington; he's up here doing his thing and he's getting ready to do combat on, I believe, February 11th in Biloxi, Mississippi. I talked to Shannon Briggs the other day and Shannon is on his way. You know how it is, man, it's a jam session down here.
PC: When I look at Rau'shee Warren, he's already such a gifted athlete. How do you add to someone who is already so physically gifted?
BH:
Look, a knife is a knife; you use it several times and it may get a little dull. Well, you don't throw the blade away, you just keep sharpening it up. Mike pretty much did all the work, you feel me? I may add a piece here or a piece there if I see something in an area that I see him lacking in. I'll go to him, we correct it, and go from there. But pretty much Newt is already a made man. He is a rare, rare athlete and the only one of his kind being the only member in USA Boxing Team history to go to 3 Olympics, he was a world champion in the amateurs, and he won every national title in the amateurs several times from the juniors to the open class. And on top of that, he's a world champion as a professional; 2 times. That's outstanding, bruh. And what I did one day, because it puzzled me to know, how can you, after all these years and literally whooping ass all over the world, how do you keep yourself up to the task? You know what he said to me, Perc? He said, "Its simple. I love what I do." And it's crazy because I watched him in either vicious fights or vicious sparring matches. I mean, legendary sparring matches. The thing that's rare about him, after he get out of the ring, he's over there in the corner with the person that he just got finished going to war with giving them advice. He's a special kid, man!
BARRY HUNTER EXPECTS NO RING RUST FROM LAMONT PETERSON; VOWS TO BE IN 147 MIX WITH WIN OVER AVANESYAN || FIGHTHYPE.COM
