Izu Ugonoh Interview: Concluding his revision ahead of the big test

By Boxing News - 07/29/2015 - Comments

izuBy Bryce Wilson: It is just over 8 months ago when unbeaten Heavyweight contender Izu Ugonoh entered into an unusual arrangement living and training with Coach Kevin Barry, his family, as well as his other fast rising protégé Joseph Parker. It has been a hectic time, Ugonoh becoming a regular fixture on the undercard of Parker’s fight while beginning to chart his own way through the ranks of the division.

Coming into the program over a year later than Parker, trainer Kevin Barry has been carefully moving the talented Ugonoh at a different pace, stepping him up to face the unique frame that is the six foot nine inches proposition, Julius Long.

Having passed the test of his first 8 round fight well, coming on strong down the stretch, Izu is now facing the lesser known William Quarrie before looking to take a significant step up in the fight after, currently scheduled for October.

Boxing News: Thinking about your last opponent Julius Long, you’ve had a few weeks now to digest that fight. That fight provided you a lot of good things. It gave you rounds, plus you had to deal with his size and his veteran tricks, how do you rate your performance?

Izu: I feel that I could have done better, stayed a little bit more calm, not get quite so hot headed. He’s a big guy, his weight, he’s tall!

Boxing News: What do you feel you did well?

Izu: I hurt him a couple of times which was good but I feel if I had been a little bit more relaxed I could have gotten off some shots he might not have been expecting.

Boxing News: Do you think that it was because your prompters were forced to switch your opponent at short notice, or was it his experience or was it just one of those nights?

Izu: You know I honestly don’t know, (laughs) it was what it was.

Boxing News: You did go the full 8 rounds though which must have been pleasing, passing the mental test as well as the physical one?

Izu: Yes absolutely. In the 8th round I relaxed and starting throwing more punches. But I think the mental test is the most important part.

Boxing News: I can’t believe you ever made Cruiserweight to be honest with you. Considering you’ve moved up from a division below, to put him down with a really hard shot, you must be pleased with the way your power has translated up to heavyweight?

Izu: Yes for sure, I absolutely am. In my cruiserweight fights I was just so tired. I was losing my muscle because I didn’t have any fat to burn off and it made me way more tired.

Boxing News: I understand you’ve been doing a lot more bodyweight training?

Izu: Yeah, the strength training has been going really well. We don’t use a lot of bars and stuff like that which can sometimes stiffen you up a little bit and cause more injuries.

Boxing News: Power is slightly different from strength isn’t it? You are going to face guys that are bigger than you, that want to maul you in clinches and lean on you. Strength is important for being able to negate these types of things?

Izu: Yeah body strength is really important for that type of thing.

Boxing News: Your next opponent William Quarrie, I guess it comes as no surprise, that he is a smaller guy than Long?

Izu: Well he’s my height and I know he is a tough guy. This is my first 10 rounder.

Boxing News: Without overlooking Quarrie, your coach Kevin Barry has mentioned to me that should you get past him you are looking at your next fight as the ‘step-up fight’ to really give yourself a big test.

Izu: Yes that is what we are looking at. And I’m glad it is this way because first I get to go home (to Poland) for a holiday to see my family, I have been away for 8 months and it does get hard. But honestly the task for me right now is to stay focused, get the job done against Quarrie and then I get to go home.

Boxing News: I guess the trick is to make sure that you haven’t already got ‘one foot on the plane’ as the saying goes.

Izu: Correct. You can’t do that. It’s a fight and all that I know is that I have to get the job done. I wanna stick to the plan, I know what needs to be done, I’ve trained hard and I think that this training camp was even harder than the last one.

Boxing News: I know your training partner Joseph (Parker) has been saying that each camp has been getting better and better. I guess you would endorse this as well?

Izu: This one was even harder; I was like ‘geez, how hard does it get?’ (Laughs) The weather in Las Vegas was extreme, but what it does give me going into a fight is the confidence to know that whatever happens I can handle it. Whatever comes my way I’m prepared. When you train to the point where you feel like dying but you don’t actually die (smiles) that means that y’know , you’re ready.

Boxing News: Are we edging closer to a fight in Poland? I know we often talk about it.

Izu: Yes we have had some initial discussions, but for now we are happy to stick to the game plan we have in place until the end of the year. But I feel like I’m getting closer to getting a good fight in Poland,

Boxing News: Obviously Szpilka is a big name over there……..

Izu: Yes definitely him sometime in the future. You also have Marius Wach who fought Klitschko and there are a few others. Good Polish heavyweights. No matter if I fight a Polish heavyweight or someone else I am going to step up.

Boxing News: Where does boxing rank on the scale of interest in Poland?

Izu: Well it’s getting bigger and bigger. The types of fights you are talking about you could see a crowd of ten or fifteen thousand. Szpilka for instance is very well known, he’s made a big name for himself. He’s was someone that was with in Warsaw training together for 3 years, so I know him, he’s a friend of mine.

Boxing News: How does that go in boxing because I know you’ve also got a strong friendship with Joseph Parker. But in boxing anything goes, friendship is friendship and business is business right?

Izu: Absolutely. In life generally there are not many people that I don’t like. It is what it is, it’s a part of the sport, and it’s a part of the game.

Boxing News: I know you are concentrated on this fight but you and Kevin are both very plan oriented so looking ahead to next year you have some big stuff planned?

Izu: There are a lot of things that can happen next year, but for me it is just about taking one step at a time because this is boxing. But I really believe lots of good things can happen next year and can play out nicely, whether it’s fighting in America or Poland and I’m just having my first 10 rounder. Everything looks good for the future.

Izu Ugonoh 12(9)-0 faces William Quarrie 5(2)-3 at Stadium Southland, Invercargill on August 1st.

You can follow Izu on facebook: www.facebook.com/iugonoh



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