"I'm not coming back and fighting again for him to avenge a loss. I believe 100% if I'm back right and I get a couple of fights and look good, I believe I can beat Nonito again. My style is the perfect style to beat him. A lot of people want to sit back and box him. Just like his last fight, Montiel...I don't know what he was thinking trying to box the kid. You can see he's got a little bit of power, but put pressure on that kid and he's gonna break. I did it and I will do it again," stated comebacking bantamweight Rosendo Sanchez, who holds the distinction of being the only man to ever defeat pound-for-pound WBC & WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire. Sanchez, who plans to have his first fight in over 10 years in October, made it clear that Donaire isn't the reason why he's returning to the sport after a lengthy retirement. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: What's good my man?
RS: Nothing! Just trying to get back in shape and trying to get my guy ready to fight here on June 26th. And then after that, hopefully I will get my first one back after retirement at the end of October.
PC: You haven't fought in a long time and you left the sport on a 4-fight winning streak. Did the politics of boxing run you away?
RS: No, not at all. I just had family problems.
PC: Just for the people reading this that don't know, you will forever hold the title as the first guy to beat Nonito Donaire, and as of now, the only guy. Of course that was back in 2001 and he's evolved as a fighter and increased his status in the game. Do you still see some of the things you were able to capitalize on against him or is he a completely different fighter?
RS: I still see some of those things that can still be exploited. I still see the same guy. He's came up and he's older and more mature. A lot of people just don't know the style to beat him, but I had it and hopefully I will have the style here shortly again, you know?
PC: When I spoke to you in Vegas, you told me your goal was to get him back in the ring. Although he is a superstar now, you feel that he should want to avenge his only loss?
RS: Yeah! I think so. I'm going to say this though; I'm not coming back and fighting again for him to avenge a loss. I believe 100% if I'm back right and I get a couple of fights and look good, I believe I can beat Nonito again! My style is the perfect style to beat him. A lot of people want to sit back and box him. Just like his last fight, Montiel...I don't know what he was thinking trying to box the kid. You can see he's got a little bit of power, but put pressure on that kid and he's gonna break. I did it and I will do it again.
PC: You roughed him up pretty good back then, and from what I understand, he had a lengthy hospital stay afterwards. A lot of people didn't see the fight. Talk us through how it went a little bit.
RS: It's been awhile, but we took the fight. I heard a lot of stuff; that I was overweight and everything. When we signed to fight, it was at 115. Jackie, his former manager, tried to change it up on us with the whole, "You're overweight; you need to lose more weight." The contract stated 115. His dad and manager were all upset. I didn't have no more to lose. The commission said, "You need to try to go and lose some more weight," and I didn't understand why because in the state of California at that time, it was 115, give or take a pound. I came in at 115 and I told them, "I'm here to fight. You guys talked all that shit; let's do it." The fight ended up happening. It went well and I wish it would have been a little bit longer. I had him hurt several times. It was a personal thing for me to inflict as much damage as possible just because of the fact that he was a teammate and I had never had a problem with him. He signed with Jackie and all of a sudden, he got big headed and started talking shit. I've never been a person to talk shit. I let my fighting do the talking for me.
PC: You had put on some weight, but when I saw you a couple of weeks back, you looked good. What are some of the things you are doing to prep for this comeback?
RS: Some of the things I have been doing, like I said, I got a few calls from people and I said, "You know, let me give this another hurrah." I'm 33 years old, my body didn't take any abuse, and I'm running twice a day. I'm in the sauna, relaxing and seeing how my body is feeling. I have my 14-year-old son ready to compete and he gave me the extra drive to come back and give it another go round. I left at the top of my game and on a winning streak and I feel like his name has come up as one of the top pound-for-pound and I'm the only one that has beaten him. I'm not really taking that into consideration, but I'm just looking at it like let me see what I can do and if I can come back to where I was at, and if I'm there, I will give it a go.
PC: I'm sure we will be speaking a lot more leading up to your comeback, and to discuss Tyson Griffin's fight. Give me some closing thoughts my man?
RS: I just want everyone to know that when I come back, I'm going to come back strong. I'm hoping the first fight back is at 122. I'm helping my guy Tyson get ready for his fight and then when he's done with his fight, Ro is back!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]