by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J) – This week’s 111th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with top ten ranked heavyweight contender Chauncy Welliver (46-5-5, 16 KOs), who is coming off of a fourth round TKO victory against Jimmy Haynes (21-16-2, 10 KOs) last Friday. Welliver, who is the newest co-host for On the Ropes, briefly spoke about his fight and his career with the show’s Hostess, the magnificent Miss Jenna J. Here is a complete transcript from that portion of the show:
JENNA J: You actually got a chance to fight this past weekend. Can you tell the fans out there a little bit about your bout?
CHAUNCY WELLIVER: You know it was something just to shake loose. Me and Joe have been working on a lot of different things. So this was a fight, I’m not going to sit here and say it was the best guy or that he was super tough. It was something just to shake loose and kind of get some rounds in and that’s exactly what we got. Unfortunately, the only place we could do it was in his home town because that’s where the money was. So we fought in his home town. I’m hitting him, he’s going down, the referee’s not counting it, the guy was headbutting me and the guy was calling me for sticking my head in. So I knew I was on pretty dangerous ground as far as officials guy, but when the crowd started yelling at me, throwing things at me, and cursing at me, I said, “Okay, maybe it’s time to get this guy out of here”. So I hit him with a body shot and he went down and he got up and I hit him again and he got hurt. He went down and then the referee stopped it. It was great to shake a little bit of rust off. I did hurt my thumb a little bit and I was actually throwing some hard shots so that’s a good sign. We’re looking forward to possibly fighting in March. We’re scheduled to fight in March. We got to go see the doctor tomorrow about my thumb. Everything looks good but you never know what a doctor sees. Everything looks good and once again, it was great to shake off that little bit of rust that I had. It was only a little, though.
JENNA: Now for this bout you actually weighed the least that you have in your entire career. Can we expect you to become lighter and lighter as you keep progressing?
WELLIVER: You know I was talking with a couple of people and this is kind of crazy. I do need to go see a dietician. I’m kind of thinking 2012. I’m hoping to get a big money fight, a big fight. Win, lose, or draw I would like to be done with boxing. The only fight after 2011—see, I’m getting punchy. It’s time to hang them up right now. But the only way I will fight past 2011 is if it’s at cruiserweight. So we’ll see. If I’m able to make 200, I’m going to fight past this year. So the goal right now is 200 pounds. I might hit 205 and not be able to lose another ounce, so we will see. The plan is to get lighter and lighter but stay strong at the same time.
JENNA: Okay, now you mentioned before that you were going to be fighting possibly on March 4. Who are you looking at as a potential opponent?
WELLIVER: You know we’ve been talking with Lance Whitaker’s people. Everything looks good there. They haven’t sent back the contract which is the most annoying pinch in the world, but at the end of the day we’re ready for whoever. It will be a Lance Whitaker type opponent. We got many offers out there. A lot of guys are saying yes but when it comes down to it I think a lot of guys don’t like that big long flight to New Zealand, that big twelve hours straight, because they always say yes but at the end of the day they don’t do it. Lance Whitaker’s people have said yes. I’m not exactly sure what he’s thinking about it. So I think a Lance Whitaker is actually a decent step up, a great step to be honest.
JENNA: Now if you were to face off against someone like Lance Whitaker, what do you think that would mean for you in the heavyweight division if you were able to beat him?
WELLIVER: A lot of people are seeing me fighting an Odlanier Solis. Well this fight we’re hoping to get on-line that way people can see me. I’m not going to sit here and say I look like Adonis, but my body looks better. I think me not only looking good physically but beating a guy like Lance Whitaker, I think the boxing world will take me seriously and I also think I’ll be able to get an eliminator or a possible title shot. We’re absolutely ready for it and this is the fight that will lead me to the next level because the biggest knock on me now is “Chauncy hasn’t fought anybody”. Okay! I haven’t, but that’s definitely not due to not trying. We have definitely tried to fight everybody and nobody’s accepted. This is definitely a first step in the right direction for the title.
JENNA: Alright now you fought this past weekend and you’re planning to fight March 4. Is this something you plan to continue, to fight once a month just to keep racking up wins until you get an eventual title shot?
WELLIVER: This past year I started working with a manager named Roland Jankelson. I’d like to give him a little bit of a shout out. We started working together and the one thing I’ll say about Roland, he likes activity. At the end of the day, the next day we have a small tradition. We go to the gym the next day after every fight. You know it’s more or less to prove working in the gym every day because we always have a fight coming up. Yeah, I won on Friday. Well March 4 is only like twenty-something odd days around. So we’re always ready. There is no reason for me to say I wasn’t in shape this time or I only had a couple of weeks in the gym. This gives me a reason to stay in the gym and to stay motivated to work hard.
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