WILLIE MONROE JR. GOES OFF: "THE MANAGER I WAS SIGNED TO TRYING TO STEAL MONEY...I CAN'T GET A FIGHT DATE"
By Percy Crawford | November 03, 2015
PC: What's the latest with you. man? What's going on with Willie Monroe Jr.?
WMJ: I'm Willie Monroe Jr. and I wish I knew what was going on with me. I've been in the gym. I have been in the gym since July when I got back from my one-year anniversary trip with my wife in the Bahamas. I got back with my coach from the amateurs and we started implementing some of the things we used to do in the amateurs. I've been working. I can't get in touch with anybody from the promotional offices. I had a really drag out thing going on with the manager I was signed to trying to steal money from me. I'm glad I caught it, but he actually did steal money from me. It's just sad, man, that in this world of boxing where the boxer, who actually puts in all the hard work, taking punches, getting beat up and beating other guys up for the pleasure of others, are the ones who is left with the crappy end of the stick at the end of the day. It's pretty sad. It doesn't matter how humble of a person you try to be, this boxing world could make you quite vengeful. These people hang you out to dry.
Before I fought Triple G and when I signed for the fight, I couldn't get people off of my phone, and now I can't get in touch with anybody. I can't get a word with anyone. No one knows when I have a fight coming up. I can't get a fight date. I got about 3 phone calls from my people after the fight to talk about how great Triple G is and how great it was for me to face him. Those were the only phone calls I got and I kindly declined those interviews because it's not my job to hype up another fighter, especially an opponent that I lost to. It's sad, but those were the only calls that I really got. With the type of performance I put on against Triple G and the level of talent I possess and the hard work that I put in and how long I have been doing this, I should be going on my second fight by now. This is a business. They see dollars, they see money, and a lot of these people don't recognize talent and work ethic. And the fans are fooled because they think you train hard, you fight hard, and you move up the rankings. It don't work like that. It is very much a business. Sometimes you will have some of the best fighters on the planet and you will never hear about them, and then you will have a guy who can't freaking fight his way out of a wet paper bag and he's held as the next great champion because of the business of this sport.
PC: When we spoke after the Triple G fight, it appeared you were on your way to getting right back in the ring and the network was happy with your effort, and now you're saying you can't even get your promotional outfit on the phone.
WMJ: Yeah man, it's sad. I hear a lot on the social network. I try to stay off of the social networks now because people are very opinionated and very nasty at times. Bu you know I catch the overflow at times and I get a lot of people bad-talking Al Haymon and bad-talking me, but if they knew the reality behind what Al Haymon is doing, they would support it. Al Haymon is making sure these promoters are not allowed to steal from the fighters and that these managers aren't allowed to come in and take from the fighters and he's keeping the fighters busy. I look at a lot of fighters that fought around the same time that I fought Triple G and around the same time I fought Bryan Vera and they have fought 2 to 3 times since then. Even my good friend, and I pray that he gets better and I donated money and I'm part of the campaign that donates towards his recovery, but Prichard Colon is a real good friend of mine. That was his 5th fight this year. And he was a prospect coming up and you have me, a top contender, fighting against the best in the division and laid it all on the line.
I didn't have to fight Triple G, but I figured the opportunity presented itself, who knows when I will get another world title opportunity, and then I put on a great showing against him. I think I did better than his last 3 opponents and they gave me less of a chance than all 3 of those guys. I did better than Daniel Geale, Martin Murray, and David Lemieux, who was the IBF champion and was the guy who was deemed to give Triple G problems. Triple G basically played with him. I gave Triple G all kinds of problems. You would think with me putting my record on the line and the success I was having over the last year on the line and saying, "Nobody else will fight Triple G. I'll fight him. Send me the contract," you would think just off of the courage and heart that people claim no one have in boxing these days, you would think my people would say, "We want to see Willie Monroe again. This kid is 19-1, doesn't have big knockouts, and he was able to step up and face the Boogeyman and gave him more problems than any other opponent had given him." But now it's hard for me to get a fight. Now you don't see me. We're going on almost 7 months of inactivity. How is a man supposed to eat if he don't work, and boxing is my job.
PC: It has to be tough because you were coming from a tournament format in Boxcino, where all of your fights were set up, to world title fight to inactive.
WMJ: It's been very frustrating. Not to degrade anybody, but I see fighters that I slapped around in sparring, fighters that I beat up in the amateurs, and fighters that I just know I have their number, from welterweight all the way up to super middleweight, these guys are getting all kinds of coverage, all kinds of fights and accolades, and here I am just sitting here. I see that there are guys out there who couldn't hold a candle to me and they are getting all of the opportunities in the world. And that's not to say anything bad about them, but this boxing world is pretty sad. I hate to go off like this and I hate for people to think I'm placing the blame on anybody, but I'm bringing reality to the situation. That's why I really appreciate what Al Haymon is doing. People want to talk down about it and talk bad about it, but this man has put on 33 cards this year. When you think about all of those fighters that fill up those cards, that allows people to take care of their families and take care of home. Al Haymon is allowing these guys to move forward with their careers while taking care of home. Social media is bad, man. Most of these people don't even see the fights. They think whatever they post about a fight and how bad its going to be becomes a reality. I've been to a couple of PBC fights. The energy is electric.
Al got these guys portraying boxing to corporate America like it's the great sport that it is. Al makes sure that they wear suits and stuff. It's almost like the NBA and NFL. You know how it's like you can be whatever you want to be, but when you show up to the press conference, you should have on a suit and a tie. He's bringing more relevance to boxing and he's bringing it about in a clean way. I think the promoters that are mad at him or bitter is because he's showing fighters a new way and not allowing these guys to steal money from the fighters. How evil of a person do you have to be to see a man in the ring fighting another man and could possibly lose his life and say it's okay to take money out of this man's pockets, it's okay to take food out of his family's mouth? Guys die and get hurt everyday in this sport. How evil of a person you would have to be as a promoter, as an adviser, as a manager to not want some type of protection for your fighter. It could happen to anybody and anybody can get hurt, but I tell you what, on Al Haymon's side, you're going to make some money. He keeps his guys busy and they are able to fight and make a living. You don't go to your work, you don't go to your job only when you need to pay bills like, "Ah, let me go to work these next few days because I got a few bills due." Al keeps guys busy. It's not like I'm going to give you a fight so you can pay a few bills and then when you run out of money and you really need money, we will call you again with another fight. Al is keeping his guys busy.
Some of the people out here are running their mouth and talking bad about him, but you know what, go to someone that is not a fighter and whatever job they are on, they are there every day. Every day isn't a championship day for you, I don't care where you work at, but it's a day to be there and make money. So a fighter shouldn't have to show up or it shouldn't only be a championship fight for a fighter to make money. That's his job. Every day he gets up and every day he fights is not going to be a championship fight, but he's going to move up that ladder. Nobody went on their job and was boss the first day. You have to work your way up. How did you work your way up? You were busy, you were active, or in the corporate world, you were at work every day on time and it got noticed. That's what Al is doing for these fighters. He's building household names being on non-cable television. I get tired of people saying fighters today aren't like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, and Tommy Hearns and all of this stuff. You gotta pay for everything, and then you get somebody to bring network TV back into it and they are still not happy. I say this all of the time, boxing isn't what it was yesterday and it's not what it's going to be tomorrow, so enjoy it while you have it. It's a sport where guys are putting their life on the line. A lot of guys get hurt in training camp preparing for a fight and you got these fans that will sit back with popcorn and a milkshake, beer in one hand and a slice a pizza in the other hand, constantly downplaying fighters. These guys have never did a sit-up or ran a quarter of a mile in their life, but you know how to judge a fighter. It infuriates me, man.
PC: I appreciate the time. I'm glad you were able to get some things off of your chest and I hope something comes from this. Is there anything else you would like to add before I let you go?
WMJ: I just want to thank my fans and the people that really support boxing. I want to thank the people that really support the Team Mongoose movement and the Brick By Brick movement. I'm a kid from the slum. I came from the bottom. When people hear that song "Started from the bottom now I'm here," that is definitive of me. I know what it's like to spend food stamps, I know what it's like to not have enough food and clothes and the things that people have growing up. But I fought my way up out of there with a positive vibe and positive mindset and I kept a positive attitude about it along the way. And if there has ever been a humble person on this planet, it's definitely me. I give my all, I don't cheat, I don't take no shortcuts. I put my all into this. From the moment I wake up to the moment I lay my head back down, it's about work, patience, and perseverance, so if you're really about that, really support that and understand what it's like to start from the bottom and work your way up, you support Willie Monroe. I thank you Percy for giving me the best interviews that really allow me to express myself and I'm so sorry that I sound angry because people never see this side of me and see me this aggravated, but when you love something so much and you've been doing it so long and you work so hard at it, to see someone who hasn't put in the level of work that you have, or because they have the corporate ties when they can have control over what goes on, it's sad. But keep supporting me and I thank you so very much!
WILLIE MONROE JR. GOES OFF: "THE MANAGER I WAS SIGNED TO TRYING TO STEAL MONEY...I CAN'T GET A FIGHT DATE" || FIGHTHYPE.COM
By Percy Crawford | November 03, 2015
PC: What's the latest with you. man? What's going on with Willie Monroe Jr.?
WMJ: I'm Willie Monroe Jr. and I wish I knew what was going on with me. I've been in the gym. I have been in the gym since July when I got back from my one-year anniversary trip with my wife in the Bahamas. I got back with my coach from the amateurs and we started implementing some of the things we used to do in the amateurs. I've been working. I can't get in touch with anybody from the promotional offices. I had a really drag out thing going on with the manager I was signed to trying to steal money from me. I'm glad I caught it, but he actually did steal money from me. It's just sad, man, that in this world of boxing where the boxer, who actually puts in all the hard work, taking punches, getting beat up and beating other guys up for the pleasure of others, are the ones who is left with the crappy end of the stick at the end of the day. It's pretty sad. It doesn't matter how humble of a person you try to be, this boxing world could make you quite vengeful. These people hang you out to dry.
Before I fought Triple G and when I signed for the fight, I couldn't get people off of my phone, and now I can't get in touch with anybody. I can't get a word with anyone. No one knows when I have a fight coming up. I can't get a fight date. I got about 3 phone calls from my people after the fight to talk about how great Triple G is and how great it was for me to face him. Those were the only phone calls I got and I kindly declined those interviews because it's not my job to hype up another fighter, especially an opponent that I lost to. It's sad, but those were the only calls that I really got. With the type of performance I put on against Triple G and the level of talent I possess and the hard work that I put in and how long I have been doing this, I should be going on my second fight by now. This is a business. They see dollars, they see money, and a lot of these people don't recognize talent and work ethic. And the fans are fooled because they think you train hard, you fight hard, and you move up the rankings. It don't work like that. It is very much a business. Sometimes you will have some of the best fighters on the planet and you will never hear about them, and then you will have a guy who can't freaking fight his way out of a wet paper bag and he's held as the next great champion because of the business of this sport.
PC: When we spoke after the Triple G fight, it appeared you were on your way to getting right back in the ring and the network was happy with your effort, and now you're saying you can't even get your promotional outfit on the phone.
WMJ: Yeah man, it's sad. I hear a lot on the social network. I try to stay off of the social networks now because people are very opinionated and very nasty at times. Bu you know I catch the overflow at times and I get a lot of people bad-talking Al Haymon and bad-talking me, but if they knew the reality behind what Al Haymon is doing, they would support it. Al Haymon is making sure these promoters are not allowed to steal from the fighters and that these managers aren't allowed to come in and take from the fighters and he's keeping the fighters busy. I look at a lot of fighters that fought around the same time that I fought Triple G and around the same time I fought Bryan Vera and they have fought 2 to 3 times since then. Even my good friend, and I pray that he gets better and I donated money and I'm part of the campaign that donates towards his recovery, but Prichard Colon is a real good friend of mine. That was his 5th fight this year. And he was a prospect coming up and you have me, a top contender, fighting against the best in the division and laid it all on the line.
I didn't have to fight Triple G, but I figured the opportunity presented itself, who knows when I will get another world title opportunity, and then I put on a great showing against him. I think I did better than his last 3 opponents and they gave me less of a chance than all 3 of those guys. I did better than Daniel Geale, Martin Murray, and David Lemieux, who was the IBF champion and was the guy who was deemed to give Triple G problems. Triple G basically played with him. I gave Triple G all kinds of problems. You would think with me putting my record on the line and the success I was having over the last year on the line and saying, "Nobody else will fight Triple G. I'll fight him. Send me the contract," you would think just off of the courage and heart that people claim no one have in boxing these days, you would think my people would say, "We want to see Willie Monroe again. This kid is 19-1, doesn't have big knockouts, and he was able to step up and face the Boogeyman and gave him more problems than any other opponent had given him." But now it's hard for me to get a fight. Now you don't see me. We're going on almost 7 months of inactivity. How is a man supposed to eat if he don't work, and boxing is my job.
PC: It has to be tough because you were coming from a tournament format in Boxcino, where all of your fights were set up, to world title fight to inactive.
WMJ: It's been very frustrating. Not to degrade anybody, but I see fighters that I slapped around in sparring, fighters that I beat up in the amateurs, and fighters that I just know I have their number, from welterweight all the way up to super middleweight, these guys are getting all kinds of coverage, all kinds of fights and accolades, and here I am just sitting here. I see that there are guys out there who couldn't hold a candle to me and they are getting all of the opportunities in the world. And that's not to say anything bad about them, but this boxing world is pretty sad. I hate to go off like this and I hate for people to think I'm placing the blame on anybody, but I'm bringing reality to the situation. That's why I really appreciate what Al Haymon is doing. People want to talk down about it and talk bad about it, but this man has put on 33 cards this year. When you think about all of those fighters that fill up those cards, that allows people to take care of their families and take care of home. Al Haymon is allowing these guys to move forward with their careers while taking care of home. Social media is bad, man. Most of these people don't even see the fights. They think whatever they post about a fight and how bad its going to be becomes a reality. I've been to a couple of PBC fights. The energy is electric.
Al got these guys portraying boxing to corporate America like it's the great sport that it is. Al makes sure that they wear suits and stuff. It's almost like the NBA and NFL. You know how it's like you can be whatever you want to be, but when you show up to the press conference, you should have on a suit and a tie. He's bringing more relevance to boxing and he's bringing it about in a clean way. I think the promoters that are mad at him or bitter is because he's showing fighters a new way and not allowing these guys to steal money from the fighters. How evil of a person do you have to be to see a man in the ring fighting another man and could possibly lose his life and say it's okay to take money out of this man's pockets, it's okay to take food out of his family's mouth? Guys die and get hurt everyday in this sport. How evil of a person you would have to be as a promoter, as an adviser, as a manager to not want some type of protection for your fighter. It could happen to anybody and anybody can get hurt, but I tell you what, on Al Haymon's side, you're going to make some money. He keeps his guys busy and they are able to fight and make a living. You don't go to your work, you don't go to your job only when you need to pay bills like, "Ah, let me go to work these next few days because I got a few bills due." Al keeps guys busy. It's not like I'm going to give you a fight so you can pay a few bills and then when you run out of money and you really need money, we will call you again with another fight. Al is keeping his guys busy.
Some of the people out here are running their mouth and talking bad about him, but you know what, go to someone that is not a fighter and whatever job they are on, they are there every day. Every day isn't a championship day for you, I don't care where you work at, but it's a day to be there and make money. So a fighter shouldn't have to show up or it shouldn't only be a championship fight for a fighter to make money. That's his job. Every day he gets up and every day he fights is not going to be a championship fight, but he's going to move up that ladder. Nobody went on their job and was boss the first day. You have to work your way up. How did you work your way up? You were busy, you were active, or in the corporate world, you were at work every day on time and it got noticed. That's what Al is doing for these fighters. He's building household names being on non-cable television. I get tired of people saying fighters today aren't like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, and Tommy Hearns and all of this stuff. You gotta pay for everything, and then you get somebody to bring network TV back into it and they are still not happy. I say this all of the time, boxing isn't what it was yesterday and it's not what it's going to be tomorrow, so enjoy it while you have it. It's a sport where guys are putting their life on the line. A lot of guys get hurt in training camp preparing for a fight and you got these fans that will sit back with popcorn and a milkshake, beer in one hand and a slice a pizza in the other hand, constantly downplaying fighters. These guys have never did a sit-up or ran a quarter of a mile in their life, but you know how to judge a fighter. It infuriates me, man.
PC: I appreciate the time. I'm glad you were able to get some things off of your chest and I hope something comes from this. Is there anything else you would like to add before I let you go?
WMJ: I just want to thank my fans and the people that really support boxing. I want to thank the people that really support the Team Mongoose movement and the Brick By Brick movement. I'm a kid from the slum. I came from the bottom. When people hear that song "Started from the bottom now I'm here," that is definitive of me. I know what it's like to spend food stamps, I know what it's like to not have enough food and clothes and the things that people have growing up. But I fought my way up out of there with a positive vibe and positive mindset and I kept a positive attitude about it along the way. And if there has ever been a humble person on this planet, it's definitely me. I give my all, I don't cheat, I don't take no shortcuts. I put my all into this. From the moment I wake up to the moment I lay my head back down, it's about work, patience, and perseverance, so if you're really about that, really support that and understand what it's like to start from the bottom and work your way up, you support Willie Monroe. I thank you Percy for giving me the best interviews that really allow me to express myself and I'm so sorry that I sound angry because people never see this side of me and see me this aggravated, but when you love something so much and you've been doing it so long and you work so hard at it, to see someone who hasn't put in the level of work that you have, or because they have the corporate ties when they can have control over what goes on, it's sad. But keep supporting me and I thank you so very much!
WILLIE MONROE JR. GOES OFF: "THE MANAGER I WAS SIGNED TO TRYING TO STEAL MONEY...I CAN'T GET A FIGHT DATE" || FIGHTHYPE.COM
