Derric Rossy talks about his heavyweight journey and upcoming fight with Glazkov

By Boxing News - 07/27/2014 - Comments

By Ian Aldous: On Saturday August 9th, Derric Rossy, (29-8) will take on the undefeated contender, Vyacheslav Glazkov (17-0-1) in the main event of the NBCSN televised ‘Fight Night’ card from the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Having ridden the highs and lows of the sport over his almost ten-years as a professional, this fight gives him the opportunity to reach the top of the ladder with a win over one of the highly rated pretenders to the heavyweight throne. Last week, Derric took some time to talk with me over the phone about his career and impending confrontation with Glazkov.

Before he ever contemplated lacing up the gloves, Rossy was enjoying being an athlete of a different kind – football was his game. A successful spell playing football at Boston College was the start of his life’s sporting adventure. “First of all, it was a great time. I started when I was there as a linebacker and they changed up the defences and they moved me down as a rush defence end (because) they wanted more speed. I had a great time, (got a) bunch of sacks, good tackles, made good friends. The atmosphere at Boston College was amazing, you know, Division 1 football as you can imagine. It was good times.”

The switch to boxing evolved from the attitude Derric had to try and improve his football career, although it resulted in him taking up the very discipline he’d chosen to help improve his fitness. “It actually happened kinda by accident. What it was is that I was called a tweener at the time. I was too small to play defensive end but too big to play linebacker, so I made a decision to lose the weight and strictly become a linebacker as far as trying out for the NFL. I was trying to lose weight and keep strength, and my father said ‘Hey why don’t you just do boxing? You’ll get in tremendous cardio condition and you’ll keep your strength.’ So we tried to figure out how to get into boxing gyms, because I wasn’t sure how to get into a boxing gym, like if it was a regular gym where you just walk in and sign up – I had no idea. I called my boxing promoter to this day back then and said ‘Oh I’m just looking to get into a gym’ and he said ‘Yeah come on down and we’ll take and look at you.’ I’m like ‘I didn’t know there was tryouts for a gym (laughs).’ Long story short, I went down and met my first trainer which was Al Gavin who was a famous cutman, he worked with Arturo Gatti, Mickey Ward and Lennox Lewis. He said ‘Do you feel like doing this?’ I’m like ‘Doing what? I’m just trying to lose weight.’ He said ‘You wanna do the Golden Gloves maybe?’ So I’m thinking – why not? It’s gonna get me in shape and I have a while until my next tryout for the next football season, so I said ‘Why not?’ The rest is history and I got bit by the bug and success helps fuel the fire too.” It was clear he’d made the right decision when he then went on to win the 2004 NYC Golden Gloves.

After a successful start in the professional game and a run of 15-0, the Medford, NY native ran into the silky skills of Eddie Chambers. Defeat inside eight rounds halted his momentum and the loss was obviously hard to take. “It was very tough, it was certainly a humbling experience and it just showed my maturity in the sport that you go so far in the sport until you meet that person that makes you try harder or wrap it up, Eddie Chambers made me face that, he realised my shortcomings in the business and what I need to work on and that was just finding my maturity – the comfort level in the ring experience-wise. It definitely was tough but ultimately made me better.” Most fighters agree with the notion that your first defeat makes you a better fighter, and Rossy is no exception.

The definition of circumstance and ‘being in the right place – at the right time’ similar to how his pugilistic career started, occurred once again when he landed the opportunity of a lifetime – just eleven months after his first defeat. It isn’t every day you get to face a legend – albeit a faded one, but Rossy made the most of it and earned a unanimous decision over former world heavyweight champion, Ray Mercer, in the region currently experiencing a boxing boom – Macau, China. “That was unimaginable. I wasn’t supposed to really be matched up in that whole scenario, it was like coincidence because they were doing some other things – I think they were trying to get Riddick Bowe back in the ring and I was just gonna be a sparring partner. He couldn’t make it over some kind of litigation stuff and they made me try to be the fighter over in China because I was there. Basically they needed an attachment, like ‘Why are you here? Why are you gonna fight? Why do the Chinese people wanna watch this?’ So, they basically made me train in the shaolin temple with the monks for three months and that was an experience prior to the Mercer fight to try and really spark the interest of the Chinese (people) to see this fight. I think it was gonna be one of the first heavyweight fights that was able to go off in China, I know in months prior they had (Mike) Tyson but that didn’t work out and things like that. When we finally came to Ray Mercer and the fight in Macau and that whole thing, I know it’s kinda blown up now in Macau with Manny Pacquiao, when we finally got there – it was unreal. The place was incredible and just fighting Ray Mercer in the beginning – I’m not going to lie, was the easy part compared to all the training I went through at the temple. I showed up there and I thought ‘Thank god, this is easy (laughs).’ First of all – he’s a great guy, I’d known Mercer for a while, I used to help him when he was doing his comeback, I used to spar with him and the overall experience was amazing.”

Just last year, Rossy experienced another unique night in the fight game, taking part in the popular UK one-night tournament, Prizefighter. It started well with wins over Ian Lewison and Travis Walker before he ultimately succumbed to Audley Harrison in the final. It’s a tournament that many international fighters seem to enjoy. “It was definitely a different format and going into it for the first time not knowing what it was really about was different (laughs). Basically, the part that was most difficult was we have the short fights like an amateur fight where you’ve gotta be really busy to win. And then you’ve got that little bit of time out (between fights) which I think is the worst part of it, because everything starts settling in, your body (and) your muscles tighten up a little bit. You gotta try and stay warm and it’s a little bit of a trick in-between those fights to not get settled in like ‘It’s over’ and keep that warmth in your body so you can go again. It was definitely fun because it made things different and spiced it up. It was difficult too because I know that sometimes the pick of the lottery kind of helps you, I faced the two hard guys and I had Audley (Harrison) at the end. Audley knocked out his first guy and then he had (Martin) Rogan who was a little tired because he had a big fight in the first match. So Audley – I’m not gonna say he had an easy time, but he had it a little easier than I did!”

A defining moment in the career of Rossy came on May 16th when he faced the untested but once heralded prospect, Joe Hanks, on an ESPN FNF broadcast from the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The importance of the fight was clear when Rossy came in at his lightest weight in two years, whilst Hanks was the lightest he’d ever been as a pro. Rossy outworked Hanks with his jab throughout the fight to win a majority decision. Quite what fight Jean Gauthier was watching when his scorecard of 95-95 was revealed – no-one knows! It surprised everyone, including Derric, as he explains. “Oh my god, it took me a second and I’m like ‘Did I hear that right?’ A blind person could score this right! It’s what’s scary with boxing because you never know what’s going through the minds of judges, and obviously the best judge is knocking the guy out. I was just hoping the other two (laughs) were gonna see it the right way.”

That win was achieved after he found himself in the unenviable position of having lost his last three consecutive bouts. From the outside, looking in – it appeared the writing was on the wall for his career and that the battle with Hanks was in the ‘must win’ category. “You could put it in that category, in my mind I never felt like I was under that pressure for myself – that it’s the last thing I’m doing blah blah blah or it’s the fight to give it up or keep going. It definitely looked that way and probably would have been that way, but in my personal mind I was going in and I’m like ‘I’m gonna have fun with this and do what I normally do’ – that’s fight to win. The best part of it was that I was prepared (for this fight). From the outside – it would have seemed that way because of the situation I was in as far as the last few fights I lost, it looked like I was heading out. I took it (the fight) saying ‘Hey, get ready for it the right way’, everything in boxing is being prepared the right way and it worked out.”

That win has paved the way for a huge fight on August 9th against a man who stands on the periphery of a world heavyweight title opportunity, Vyacheslav Glazkov. The undefeated Ukrainian launched himself into the division’s elite when he outpointed Tomasz Adamek over twelve rounds in May. He’s a fighter that Rossy undoubtedly respects. “He’s a great fighter and he honed his skills as far as his amateur career, and now coming into his pro career he’s really come a long way. His big fight over Adamek showed that he wasn’t a prospect – he’s a contender. Just the fact that the last fight he had led to this is great, and this is another challenge that I’m preparing for. I just know that he’s a sound fighter and he brings an A+ game.”

Glazkov brings an IBF No.2 rank with him to the ring on fight night. If Rossy can overcome the odds and defeat the challenge of Glazkov, then a shot at the IBF belt is surely close for both men. “Oh yes, I think we’re right there in the talks and no matter what, even if it’s not a world title fight – another big TV fight or something to propel me even closer to that dream. I know this is a big fight for both of us, I know he’s always prepared – it’s just the way he is. And I’m very prepared, so I think it’s gonna be an incredible fight because he’s a boxer and he puts that pressure on which is gonna make for a great fight because I tend to be the same way.”

Glazkov Vs. Rossy will be broadcast live on NBCSN on August 9th at 8pmET/5pmPT from the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA. Tickets for the event are available from ticketmaster.com. The card is presented by Main Events, Peltz Boxing and Pushka Promotions in association with Final Forum Promotions and Duco Events.



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