"I seen his last fight with Fidel Maldonado and he's a real tough dude. He is solid, man. He gonna come to fight, but I just gotta stick to my game plan and hopefully I get him out early...I want to show my promoters, Golden Boy Promotions, that...I know they have been going through a lot of things with the Al Haymon split; they lost a lot of their good fighters and I want to show them that in their stable of fighters, I'm their next superstar. So with this fight, I definitely want to send a statement showing my promoters I'm the next superstar in the stable," stated jr. middleweight contender Ke'andre Gibson, who talked about his upcoming return to the ring on Fox Sports 1. Check it out!
PC: You're back on FOX Sports tonight against Nelson Lara. How was camp for this fight?
KG: Camp been going great. I'm out here training in Las Vegas where I'm getting a lot of good sparring and good work. I'm training with a new trainer now, Kenny Adams. I'm learning a lot of new tricks from him. He's just taking me back to the fundamentals of boxing and doing things the right way. I'm just excited to be getting back in the ring to show off some of the new things I'm learning.
PC: Kenny is a great old school trainer and a great boxing mind. How did you hook up with him?
KG: Man, where I'm from in the boxing world in St. Louis, Kenny Adams is a legend. He helped a lot of cats where I'm from become world champions, like Freddie Norwood and Ed Cook; a lot of guys. And on top of that, he's trained other world champions. It's always been a dream for me to come out here to Vegas and train with Kenny Adams because I know he could take me to the next level.
PC: How important was it for you to get out there to Vegas because, as you said, the work out there is limitless?
KG: It was very important, man, because in St. Louis, it's a lot going on, man, and boxing is dying out in St. Louis. It was important for me to get into a city where boxing was really important at and a lot of people do boxing here. Vegas was the best place for me.
PC: Do you know a lot about Nelson Lara or will you be getting your first glimpse of him tonight?
KG: I seen his last fight with Fidel Maldonado and he's a real tough dude. He is solid, man. He gonna come to fight, but I just gotta stick to my game plan and hopefully I get him out early.
PC: You are coming off of a real tough fight against Jose Hernandez. Psychologically, are you feeling any residual effects from that fight or have you cleared the hurdle so to speak?
KG: I have definitely bounced back. I made that fight harder than what it should've been and what I want to do for this fight is don't make the guy look better than what he really is. I made a lot of mistakes in my last fight, even though I still came out with the W. I made a lot of mistakes just sitting there with the guy and giving him a lot of opportunities to come back and stand and fight with me when I could have easily outboxed him. I would get my shots off and then let him get his shots off, but this fight is going to be totally different. I'm going to stick to the game plan and stay focused and do what I have to do.
PC: You had 3 fights last year. Are you looking for the same pace this year or a little more activity?
KG: I definitely want to pick up the activity, but more importantly, I want to start getting the right fights. After 2 more fights, I want to start getting these guys that's up there. I think Golden Boy is building me up right and giving me the right exposure, so I think I'm on the right pace right now.
PC: You said in your last fight you made your opponent look a lot better than what he was. Are you putting any pressure on yourself in this fight to look a certain way?
KG: It ain't that I'm putting pressure on myself. I just know what I'm capable of and a guy that is athletic like me shouldn't have a problem with guys who just come to fight. I should be making fights like that easier than what I have been. And that's no disrespect to the guys I have fought because they are tough fighters, but I just feel I have too much ability to be going toe-to-toe with these guys. I should be able to choose when I want to fight and when I want to box. That's what I want to do in this fight. I just want to be able to dictate the pace more.
PC: Is that the statement you are looking to make in this fight, just not to keep a guy around that you feel you can either get out of there or make the fight easy on you if that's an option?
KG: That's exactly what I want to do. I want to show my promoters, Golden Boy Promotions, that...I know they have been going through a lot of things with the Al Haymon split; they lost a lot of their good fighters and I want to show them that in their stable of fighters, I'm their next superstar. So with this fight, I definitely want to send a statement showing my promoters I'm the next superstar in the stable.
PC: When you see everything going on behind the scenes, like you just mentioned the split, is it difficult to focus on the task at hand sometimes or do you let the outside of the ring stuff sort itself out and you deal with the in the ring business?
KG: Yeah, exactly. I'm just letting it take care of itself. It really didn't have nothing to do with me. Like I said, with them having the split, it was a good thing and a bad thing for me for what I know about it. It gives me an opportunity to showcase who I am and what type of fighter I am. I'm just going to do my job in the ring and that's what I will do tonight; show that I am one of those guys who is up next!
PC: Gotta love the exposure you have been getting as far as being seen on television.
KG: Yeah it is because I didn't know who Keith Thurman was until they started putting him on HBO and Showtime. I didn't know who a lot of these guys were until they were 20 fights or better into their careers. Golden Boy gives people a chance to see me before I even make it to that level. I take my hat off to them and they are really doing a good job at getting people the right exposure.
PC: What are your goals for the year?
KG: Just to stay undefeated and get a big name before this year is over. That's my game plan for the year.
PC: I wish you the best of luck tonight. We will speak afterward and give Kenny my best. Is there anything else you want to say before I let you go?
KG: I just want everyone to tune in tonight. It's going to be a good fight.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]