"Just line them up and I will fight them, man. I don't say, 'Okay, I want to fight this person or that person.' I want the number one spot. When you want the number one spot, there is no one specific. I want to be number one. That's my goal," stated jr. middleweight contender John Thompson, who talked about his surprise victory in the Boxcino tournament, his future plans, and more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on winning the Boxcino tournament. How does it feel to come into the tourney on late notice and be able to win it all?
JT: It feels great. I'm a world champ right now. It's something I have been aiming for and I got it. I still have other goals that I have to obtain, but I have accomplished one.
PC: You immediately thanked your father for getting you involved in boxing and showing you the ropes. How important has he been to your career?
JT: He is my father and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have a career. He gave me the inspiration to be a boxer and I give all thanks to my father and God. My father is the one that got me involved in this sport at a young age and kept me in it.
PC: You suffered a knockdown in the 1st round. I personally didn't think it was a knockdown, but it was scored as one. Did you feel it was a legitimate knockdown?
JT: It's two sides to that as far as being legitimate. It depends on your definition of legitimate. The thing is, I mean, even the ref himself apologized and was like, "Hey, I had to because he touched you on the way down." In Cali, if somebody touch you right before you fall down, then technically it's a knockdown, so I understood what it was and I knew that him hitting me wasn't the cause of me falling or anything, but technically speaking, it was a knockdown because he touched me before I touched the floor.
PC: You remained composed after the knockdown and you didn't fight like you were scared after it was scored, but you also didn't fight like you had to get that point back right away. You showed great patience. What was going through your head when you got up?
JT: What went through my mind was, I knew he believed in himself that he had knocked me down, and I knew he was just going to waste energy trying to knock me out, which I believe was his goal from the beginning. That being said, I just thought to myself, "By the 3rd or 4th round, he's going to be done punched himself out." I was just relaxed. I wanted to take my time and just pot shot him if I had to and just keep countering him and keep my composure. I just focused on not using all of my energy at any aspect of the fight.
PC: He is a strong guy and he depends on that strength a lot. Was the game plan going in to wait his flurries out and catch him walking in when his volume slowed down?
JT: I actually think I'm stronger than him. My only thing is I'm not a brawler. So I looked at it like, why brawl and make the fight difficult when I can just box him and make it a lot easier? I'm in there to box, and it's not just about applying pressure. You can't knock everybody out. Just because your punch may have hurt this guy a certain way doesn't mean it's going to hurt another fighter the same way. I have a chin. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people see me get hit one time and I went out, but it was a surprise. Things happen in there, but in the same essence, you have to remember that everything happens when they are supposed to.
PC: Did you sense the end was near once you hurt him or were you trying to preserve a little of yourself so you wouldn't punch yourself out trying to finish him?
JT: I had two things going through my mind at that point. Once I caught him with the right hand and then the left hook, he was totally off balance, so I said to myself I was going to go for it. It was early in the round, so I actually had time to get him out of there as opposed to when you catch somebody with a shot like that, the bell rings, and then boom. I felt as though it was still early in the round and I could get him out of there. The ref jumped in to save him and give him an 8 count the second time and I thought to myself, "Woo, (laughing) he's kind of getting carried away." I had a little more energy to actually try to get him out of there. I knew I would be okay because I was in shape to go into the late rounds though.
PC: Sometimes when guys like that get hurt, they become more dangerous too, so I'm sure that was in the back of your mind.
JT: Yes, yes! I knew in the back of my mind that sometimes when people are in danger, sometimes they clinch up and sometimes they fight back. But I seen that once I started hitting him with combinations and punches in bunches, his idea was not to attack, but to defend himself and his defense was to cover up.
PC: You did a painting that eventually came to fruition. Tell me about the painting my man.
JT: When I painted that picture, it was in 2013 when I won the WBC Latin American championship. I painted it and actually I didn't want it to be...I wanted it to be more of a memory than paint it as realism. So I painted it more as an impression; kind of like when they go to your shows and it's like, "Once upon a time this happened." It was like a story type of picture, you know.
PC: I gotcha. Since the Frank Galarza fight, three wins in a row and the Boxcino crown. Did you make any changes to what you were doing or was that Galarza fight, in your mind, just something that happened?
JT: I mean, I definitely have made changes as far as my performances and everything, but as far as what happened against Frank Galarza, it just happened. There is nothing that I could have done to prevent it from happening. It could happen in the future, probably still can, but the thing was the guy caught me with a surprise shot and that was that.
PC: I like the amount of young talent in the 154-pound division. Is there anyone in particular you would like to fight or just whoever they line up in front of you?
JT: Just line them up and I will fight them, man. I don't say, "Okay, I want to fight this person or that person." I want the number one spot. When you want the number one spot, there is no one specific. I want to be number one. That's my goal.
PC: When you look around the division, what's your take on the landscape of the division?
JT: There are a lot of great fighters actually in my weight class and surrounding my weight class; 147 and 160. This is where I want to stay at. I believe the hardest fights are right here; the toughest fighters and boxers are here in these weight classes, so I'm going to stay around here and I want to fight the best. I can't call myself the best if that's not who I'm fighting.
PC: Willie Monroe just got a huge opportunity to fight for a world title after winning the Boxcino tournament and although it didn't go his way, you can definitely use his experience as a motivation and inspiration.
JT: Definitely! After winning that Boxcino tournament and winning the WBO and WBA, it put me at top 10 in the world somewhere up in those brackets and I know that I'm in a position to be number 1 and get that opportunity and once again come out victorious.
PC: Do you remember what it was like to get the call that you would be in the Boxcino tournament?
JT: (Laughing) Yes! First they told me about it and they was saying that something was going on with Brandon Adams. I was supposed to fight Alex Perez. They said he had to take his medicals over and immediately after that, they told me that I wasn't fighting in it. I still was training and then two days before the actual weigh-ins of the first fight, they said they still wanted me there just in case, so I just made sure I stayed in shape and kept my weight close. We was driving up there without an opponent and they said, "We have a guy that's overweight." We were actually on our way up there when they told me the guy was overweight and I immediately started looking at Ricardo Pinell videos on YouTube and trying to get ready. I had a days notice to get ready, so.
PC: That's crazy. I enjoyed the fight and congrats again on stepping into that thing and doing what you did. Best of luck moving forward. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
JT: I just like to say that my golden life was set therefore I call it my destiny.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]