"First I was told late September, then October, and now we're told November. I don't know. I'm just in the gym working, but we were told Provodnikov's next fight, we will probably be the co-feature...If they find a good fight for me at 54, I'll make it. If they find a good fight for me at 160, I'll make it...I think I'm still top 10-15 by the WBA and the WBO. You got Andy Lee and Daniel Jacobs there. It's a bunch of fights that can be made. I'm willing to fight any of them," stated middleweight contender Willie Monroe Jr., who talked about his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: Just checking in on you to see how things are going. How are you, man?
WMJ: We were supposed to be back on HBO on the undercard of Provodnikov's next fight is what I was told. First I was told late September, then October, and now we're told November. I don't know. I'm just in the gym working, but we were told Provodnikov's next fight, we will probably be the co-feature.
PC: I'm sure the idea after suffering your first defeat wasn't to stay out until November. Are you willing to take something on short notice?
WMJ: I'm definitely willing to take a short notice fight because I have been training hard. The only thing we haven't been doing is sparring. We been in the gym. I went to the Bahamas with my wife for our year anniversary and then I got right back in the gym. I was in the gym before my week long vacation and then I was right back. I've been in the gym solid, so I'll be ready for anything that comes my way.
PC: Last time we spoke, you were kind of in the middle. You didn't know if you wanted to go back down or stay a middleweight. Are you any closer to a decision on where you will compete?
WMJ: Whatever weight is feasible. If they find a good fight for me at 54, I'll make it. If they find a good fight for me at 160, I'll make it. Obviously at 160, I'll be able to eat a little bit more (laughing). Making 54 is a struggle, but if I need to make it, I will.
PC: Is there anyone in particular on your radar?
WMJ: Anybody they line up. It don't look like I will be on a PBC card. I would love to. I would love to fight on one of those PBC cards and fight another top middleweight, but we can't be quiet about it. We know boxing is split down the middle with promotional obligations and network obligations and the side that I'm on doesn't look like I'm going to be on a PBC card as much as I would love to be. I just want to fight, whether it's one side or the other, you know what I mean. I think I'm still top 10-15 by the WBA and the WBO. You got Andy Lee and Daniel Jacobs there. It's a bunch of fights that can be made. I'm willing to fight any of them.
PC: You're one of those fighters that's really alert to the things said on social media about you, both good and bad. Sometimes I could see it reaches a point with you where you really get a little heated behind it all.
WMJ: It's sad. I try to keep my cool, but at the end of the day, I'm human too and I'm a humble person. It's funny how people are morally correct when it's convenient for them. It's always damned if you do and damned if you don't on social media and in life now. They asked me to fight the dude, I went and fought him, I gave a good effort, and now you got people making it racial and everything. It's just sad, and then people are quick to try and be morally correct like, "Why do you just not pay any attention to it?" When people antagonize you and inbox you and constantly mess with you, no matter how high of a level a fighter you are, you got feelings too. And people quick to hit me with the, "You believe in God, you should this and you should that." If people really know the truth about the bible, they would know why I fight back. If I gotta fight back to keep people off of me verbally, then that's what I will do. People have a misconception about what being a man of God is and about what being humble is. I even said one time, "Man, I just block people." And they said, "That shows that you are weak if you block people. Why don't you just ignore them." And I said, "Since when did being smart become weak?" People have a huge misconception about what's real and what's not.
PC: I think fans and media are the worst at giving fighters titles or labels. We put labels on you guys and expect that every time out. There is nothing like seeing a fighter grow, evolve, and even change it up from the norm of what we expect from them, but sometimes I feel with these labels passed out, we criticize fighters when the fight is signed as opposed to seeing it played out in the ring.
WMJ: I'ma tell you this, man, social media has a lot to do with that. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were looking at a tweet that Michael Jordan put out. Michael Jordan said Lebron James is the best basketball player right now. He said the difference between him and Lebron James is the fact that he had a "by any means necessary" mentality on winning. The reason why that's not Lebron James' attitude, I'm going to tell you why and you tell me if it's real; back when Michael Jordan was playing basketball, there was no social media. All of the negative stuff that they say about Lebron, they said it about Jordan. Jordan didn't have to see it. I'm sure Lebron James shut his social media outlets down around game time. You know he's getting screen shots from friends on what people are saying. I mean, how many people do you think Lebron James have blocked on social media? People don't realize that feeds into a person's mentality because America right now is so sensitive. America is the only country where you could sue somebody because you called them fat over social media. Now they can get out and get a lawyer and sue you because you hurt their feelings. It's like, that person is depressed and they can't lose weight. Come on, man, let's be real. So right now, Lebron James has every tool to be just as good or better than Jordan, but he has to face the world every day. Jordan didn't have to face that. He could damn near just focus on basketball 24/7. I put a tweet out there the other day and I said the stuff on social media doesn't bother me because I was grinding way before I had it. I'm years ahead of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]