"I remain doubtful that either would want to face Kid Galahad anytime soon...Santa Cruz is a taller fighter with a superior reach, so he would obviously present a very different challenge than Mares. In truth though, I am confident in my own ability with either of them. I have a style that would give them both nightmares and I also have an ability to adapt, as I showcased in my last fight...I train very hard and it's the hard work and dedication that separates the good from the greats. I am not just dedicated, I am obsessed," stated featherweight contender Kid Galahad, who talked about future fights with some of the biggest names in the division. Check it out!
PC: Kid, how is everything going my man?
KG: All good. Just finished my morning session of training, so going to wind down, have some lunch, and rest before the afternoon session back at the gym. How are you?
PC: I'm great! No complaints. Thanks for asking. Obviously you were an interested spectator of the fights on Saturday night featuring Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares, although you do seem very skeptical that either guy will fight you. Tell us about what you thought of their performances and any probability that they would actually fight you.
KG: I assume you mean I seem skeptical whether they will actually fight me? They both went to work and did what they had to do; got their respective wins as expected. Santa Cruz was in with a kid who had been stopped in 3 of his previous 5 bouts, so I don’t think anyone was surprised at the result. Mares was in with, on paper, a tougher opponent and the scorecards before it was stopped due to an injury were very one-sided. Congratulations to them both for their wins, but I didn’t learn anything new about either of them. It seems like they will now be looking to arrange their rematch, so I remain doubtful that either would want to face Kid Galahad anytime soon.
PC: How do you see fights with you and both of those guys playing out if they were to ever come to fruition?
KG: Santa Cruz is a taller fighter with a superior reach, so he would obviously present a very different challenge than Mares. In truth though, I am confident in my own ability with either of them. I have a style that would give them both nightmares and I also have an ability to adapt, as I showcased in my last fight.
PC: The division is actually full of talent. It seems that Lee Selby and Joseph Diaz Jr. is up for a fight with you. Do you have any preference on which one of those guys you would like to get in the ring with?
KG: Selby and Diaz are two on a list of featherweights I would love to face. I was reading tweets from Selby and Frampton and both were suggesting they want to fight, but something about getting past the whole “warmup fight” episode first. It seems too many fighters like to make excuses nowadays to make a fight, so I took that problem away from them by suggesting we all enter a World Boxing Super Series style tournament where we eventually will have to face each other. Only Selby and Diaz, to their credit, responded saying they were game. Frampton did respond, but was too busy trying to have banter and then when I won that exchange, he went quiet. So, it's just Selby and Diaz who have replied so far. Out of the two, I have no preferences. Obviously Selby has that world title strap, so their is always that attraction, but Ive been in this game since I was a kid. I want to be in there with the best and when you beat the best, I feel us fighters have a duty to the fans by setting an example and defending titles versus the best. Diaz and Selby are both amongst the best in the world, so I would have to see 'em both in the center of the ring one day. It makes no odds to me which of them I see first.
PC: And last but not least, when it comes to potential opponents, you have your statesman Scott Quigg out there or the only guy to defeat him, Carl Frampton, who you mentioned earlier. Any interest there?
KG: Quigg has been a fight I’ve been interested in for a long time; first at bantamweight. I wanted the fight, but then he went running up to featherweight. Now, I am at featherweight too, but he seems to have run even further all the way to the States. So I am just taking it easy on him before he runs further away and wears himself out. He was in fact one of the fighters I reached out to via Twitter to come join a Super Series style tournament. He seems to have lost his voice though. Frampton is a class operator and I would love to fight him down the line. As I mentioned before, I would love to mix it with the best and Frampton and Selby are both two of the best domestically and internationally. I am still waiting to hear back from Carl though. He said he loved the idea of a Featherweight World Boxing Super Series, but didn’t think I was a top 8 featherweight in the world. If thats the case, I would happily be one of the unseeded entries and he should have no problem picking me for a showdown.
PC: What do you feel separates you from the other featherweights?
KG: I think I have a unique style and an ability to adapt. When you look at Frampton-Santa Cruz 2, it was probably Carl’s lack of adaptability that cost him that fight as he had no answer to Leo dictating the distance. Me, I have adaptability ingrained in me. When I was 13 and met Prince Naseem Hamed at the local mosque, I told him I wanted to be like him. He told me to go to the Ingle Gym in Wincobank and find a guy called Brendan Ingle. He said that Brendan would know if I had what it takes to be a world champion and would turn me into one. The next 13 years of my life have been spent in that gym and that place is a champions chamber. We're cut from a different cloth! I've been mixing it up with lightweights, welterweights, and above ever since I was a kid. I have always had to adapt, to move quicker, and to carry power. I train very hard and it's the hard work and dedication that separates the good from the greats. I am not just dedicated, I am obsessed.
PC: You've stopped your last 5-opponents. Do you see the same fate for any of the top featherweights that we mentioned above? Do you think you could stop any of those guys or at least beat them convincingly?
KG: In my last two fights, I have had to deal with a last minute change of opponent and on both occasions, I adapted and found a way to get them out of there. I respect the champions in the division, but do I believe I am equipped to beat them? Of course I do. I wouldnt approach the fight thinking I could stop them, but over the course of the bout, I will always find a way to pick them apart and do a convincing job on them, and if that ends up in a stoppage, then so be it.
PC: You last competed in July. Is there any tentative date scheduled for you next fight?
KG: We are currently working on a date in December, so hopefully I will have an official announcement to make in the coming weeks.
PC: What do you feel you have learned the most about yourself over the course of your 23-fight professional career?
KG: I have learned that there is no substitute for hard work and that boxing can be a cruel and lonely sport. Time waits for no man, so I make every single day count in my journey to the top. Whilst boxing can be a lonely sport, I am blessed and fortunate to surround myself with a great team and great family who share the same ethics as I do. I have also been lucky to have so many champions to learn from in the gym and under Brendan and Dominic Ingle's guidance, I really have learned to do it “The Ingle Way."
PC: I look forward to seeing you in the ring. I hope you're able to secure a fight with the names mentioned above. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
KG: Thank you Percy. Firstly, a thank you to all the fans. I appreciate the support and read your comments and love on instagram and twitter @KidGalahad90. Keep tuned in as we are only getting started, but we about to set this featherweight division on fire! And to Jo Jo Diaz and Lee Selby, it’s good to see you come back on Twitter and say you fancied a world boxing super series style tear up. But if you're serious as your tweets suggest, then have your team call mine and lets get this on. I am ready when you are, gentlemen!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]