"She's very tough, she's very experienced and this is a big shot for her, you know, a big opportunity for her to go capture a world title for herself. I know I'm in for a fight, but that's something that I'm expecting from her. I've watched her for some time already. That's the type of fights I want to look for anyhow; someone who's willing to go in there, who has a lot of experience and wants to give their best and I think that's what people appreciate. I've worked really hard and I'm up for the challenge and I'm ready to go," stated IBA super bantamweight champion Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton as she talked about her upcoming clash this Friday with Donna Biggers for the WBO super bantamweight title. Check it out!
BT: First and foremost, congratulations on that big win over Kelsey Jeffries.
AJ: Oh, thank you.
BT: What was that moment like, winning your first title?
AJ: Right when they had my hands raised, I felt like I was in shock. Shock in the sense where, you know, it was like, man, all the work that I got done in the amateurs and in my pro career, it all finally paid off. To have everything happen the way it did, it was just amazing for me. It was very shocking.
BT: A lot of people had doubts about your chances going into the fight, but you and your team seemed pretty confident. Does that confidence come from your amateur background?
AJ: Yeah, I think it comes from a lot of different things; the amateur background, being able to work with the likes of Freddie Roach and Nonito Sr., and being able to watch world-class champions train and workout, like Manny Pacquiao, just being around a positive environment, you know, just having such a huge support group and having the community involved. There's just so many factors and I feel very lucky, you know? There's just so many things that kind of went my way that day.
BT: If I'm not mistaken, I believe that win made you the first female Filipino to win a world title.
AJ: People are saying that, but I'd have to look up the research. I'm full-blooded Filipino. I was born here in the States. I remember when I was in the amateurs, I'd be the only Filipino girl in the whole entire national event. In the pro scenes, I don't remember seeing a whole lot of full-blooded Filipino girls who were born in the US going out there trying to go for a championship title. Again, I'd have to do my research. I feel honored to be first; it's such a huge title. There will be many afterwards, but the first is always the first.
BT: I'm sure it's changed a lot, but tell me how your life has changed since winning the title.
AJ: It's been such a roller coaster. It's been non-stop. The demands have gotten so much higher in the sense where I've been invited to do a lot of public speaking and get involved with a lot of different events in the community and helping out with the Typhoon Relief and stuff like that; just going out to different schools and talking to the students, kids from the ages of pre-school all the way up to college. Honestly, it's been non-stop since September 12th and I'm still taking it all in. I've only been boxing for five years and I feel like I'm still very new to all of this. It's definitely a demanding lifestyle, but I'm 'enjoying it. I'm up for the challenge.
BT: Do you think it's more difficult now to focus on training now that you have to deal with all of these other obligations now on top of focusing on the fight? Is it any harder now than it was before you got the title?
AJ: Um, you know, it's definitely a lot more demanding. I think in anything you do, whether it's in sports, your business life or even academics, the higher you go up, the more demands that are placed on you. I understand the lifestyle. It's definitely been a challenge, but I feel fortunate to actually maintain a schedule. I've been working very hard for this fight for the past eight weeks, doing double workouts and things like that. I'll go ahead and schedule things to do with all these different events, but my priority is always going to be training, you know? It's a pretty busy lifestyle, but it's time management and I guess being with the right people and having the proper support group really helps out. I always remind myself that my biggest priority is fighting and going out there in the ring and doing what I'm supposed to do.
BT: Speaking of fighting, this Friday you have the big fight coming up against Donna Biggers for the WBO super bantamweight title. How did training camp go?
AJ: It's going great. I've received a couple more people in the team. I'm working out over in San Francisco at a place called Sessions Training Center with Lauro Doroliat and he's been helping me a lot with my strength and conditioning, which really helped me be a lot more aware of my body and just concentrating on my boxing technique a little bit more. I've had the privilege of working with Freddie Roach my first year as a pro. My last fight, I had Nonito Sr. being in my corner. For this fight, I had the likes of Rick Noble, who's been in many championship fights in all sorts of different fighting sports. I feel like with this team, I think it's the best one. It's been great. Everyone knows their roles, their jobs and no one is really overbearing, which lets me stay in control of what I want to do with my body. I apprecate that as opposed to having someone always just babysitting me. I don't feel like I need to be babysat, you know? I have a job and I know what that job is and it should be self-motivated as opposed to having someone else telling me I need to make weight or I need to wake up early to do a run and stuff like that. I feel like it's been very organized and everyone was really flexible with their schedules too. I think it's been working out so far.
BT: I'm sure you've done your research on Biggers. What do you think of her as a fighter?
AJ: She's very tough, she's very experienced and this is a big shot for her, you know, a big opportunity for her to go capture a world title for herself. I know I'm in for a fight, but that's something that I'm expecting from her. I've watched her for some time already. That's the type of fights I want to look for anyhow; someone who's willing to go in there, who has a lot of experience and wants to give their best and I think that's what people appreciate. I've worked really hard and I'm up for the challenge and I'm ready to go.
BT: Like you said, she's got a lot of experience. How do you see the fight playing out?
AJ: You know, I won't know until the day of the fight. I kind of have to expect anything, for certain punches and certain situations to happen. In boxing, it's a full contact sport and you just gotta be prepared for anything and I'm ready for that. I can't just go in there and just kind of know exactly what's going to happen because it never plays out like that. That's what makes boxing so exciting. I just know that she's game and she's experienced and I know that she's a confident athlete. I'm prepared for all of that, so we'll just have to wait and see.
BT: I won't ask you for a prediction, but do you think there's any possibility of getting her out of there or are you expecting a long, drawn-out war?
AJ: You know, with every fight I get into, I have to imagine it going all the way. I don't like to go in there and kind of look for something because in boxing, there's openings and they'll open up or close up and everything is very situational. I kind of have to assess right at the moment and see what's out there.
BT: I know Manny [Pacquiao] and his success has brought a lot of attention to the Filipino community and I'm sure, because of that, you're getting a ton of attention as well. Does that bring any added pressure to you going into the fight, having so many people looking up to you now?
AJ: Yeah, you know, my first shot at a world title fight, I lost it. I kind of felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself. At that time, I was hanging out a Wildcard often and I was under Pacquiao's fame. I was always underneath his shadows. It was my first year as a pro fighter and just being able to think back on it, I feel like it was overwhelming and I probably let that creep into my mind a little bit too much. But just being able to have that experience, I'm so blessed to have it. I was able to go and take that into my next fight and after reading the articles after my last fight, there was so many elements against me in terms of people's opinions. I've learned that what's going to be important is what I believe and what's in my mind and just to have everyone supporting me, I just feel so blessed that they were there. Even when I was an amateur, what I've learned from the community is that it's like family. They're with you through the ups and downs and I'm sure at the end of the day, they just want to support their fighters. At the end of the day, I'm the one who's going to be sleeping with my thoughts. As long as I'm able to go out there and do my best. I've learned how to separate media, hype, just having the thought of so many people backing you, away from the ring. It's been quite a learning experience. Boxing is a very exciting sport for fans and fighters.
BT: For those fans who have yet to see you fight, let them know what they can expect to see from you on Friday.
AJ: For the past few years, back in amateurs and my pro career, I want to go and highlight women's boxing in general. We have a lot of elite athletes out there and the matchups often times are very competitive. This is a world title fight and what we want to do is attract more attention to it. At least there's been some breakthroughs where you can go into the MMA field and you can highlight two girls, one who has a 1-0 record and another girl who has a 1-1 record, and you can have that on TV. We'd like to have more people actually watching world title fights that go for 10 rounds between two very skilled female fighters. We want to be able to cross over and have that and showcase it and for everyone who comes down on December 4th, we want to be able to continue to do things like that.
BT: I don't want to hold you up Ana. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview and good luck on Friday. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
AJ: Thanks. I appreciate it. For more information, everyone can log onto www.teamjulaton.com and it will have my fan page on Facebook and MySpace and such and it will be updated with things that are coming up in my career.
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