by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former two division world champion Cory Spinks (39-6, 11 KOs) who is scheduled to have a rematch against IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius K-9 Bundrage on June 23 in Hollywood, Florida. Spinks spoke about his upcoming match and reflected on their first fight. He also discussed his latest victory over Sechew Powell, and shared his opinions on a variety of other topics including Jermain Taylor, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather Junior versus Miguel Cotto, the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, his amateur career, his future plans, and more! Here is what Spinks had to say:
Regarding how he feels about the opportunity to get a rematch against Cornelius K-9 Bundrage in June:
“Oh I feel great! I know the first time I wasn’t Cory Spinks. You know everything has to be right in your camp, I mean as far as your trainer, your manager, and everything. You know. I got all this fixed and everything has been going great and I’m just looking forward to great things happening. So it’s just going to be another stepping-stone in my way, and I’m going in and I’m going to take care of business.”
His views on what went wrong in his first fight against Bundrage:
“A lot of people don’t know I have Chron’s Disease, and I had a flare-up the week before the fight. Not only that, I wasn’t trained properly and everything and I was sick. What Chron’s does is it affects your limbs and your muscles and everything. I shouldn’t have fought, but you know how naïve boxers can be. I tried to correct it but I didn’t get all of my mechanics back. I couldn’t move. I can barely punch and things happened. I’m not taking anything away from the guy because he did what he was supposed to do. But that will never happen again.”
Regarding his lack of consistent activity in recent years:
“You know like I was saying with the manager thing, it wasn’t right. I fixed that. So I’m starting to get back to being busy and everything and get what’s due to me. I got the right manager in Scott Hirsch and I got a great trainer. It’s just that things happen.”
On his most recent performance when he overcame the odds to beat Sechew Powell:
“Like I was saying I’m back to working hard, and I’m back to rededicating myself to the sport I love. I went in there and did better than the first fight that I had with the new manager and the new trainer and everything. You know I’m back to being slick with a little more pizzazz. I don’t have to move around so much. I’m a slick boxer. I can fight any way that I want. He thought that I was going to move around and try to stay away from him, but I brought the fight to him, but with skills and I made him miss. I think that surprised him and I came out with the victory.”
Regarding his amateur career and the transition into the professional ranks:
“When I was an amateur I was on a roll. I had like a little bump in amateur career when my best friend that was boxing with me got killed and then my older brother Leon got killed. I stopped for like two years. Then my Mom and my old coaches Charles Hamm and Kevin Cunningham were trying to get me to come back, because my brother Darrell Spinks was still fighting. He was pro. So I came back as an amateur and the first tournament I fought in, the first real tournament was the Golden Gloves, and I ended up winning the Nationals and everything. Things started to really happen. Then I won a couple of more local tournaments in St. Louis, and I fought in the national tournament. I won that and Top Rank came after me. They offered me something I couldn’t refuse and I turned pro before I can even fight in the US Championship or even make the Olympics. The guy that I beat in the PAL National Finals, Dante Craig from Cincinnati, he ended up making the Olympic Team and I beat him so bad. But it was perfect timing that I did turn pro and my pro career has just been phenomenal. I’ve accomplished my ultimate dream. I became undisputed champ. The dream is just to become world champ, but I had the opportunity to become the undisputed world champion. I can’t complain about my boxing career, but I have unfinished business in mind and that’s what I plan to do.”
On whether coming from a famous boxing family ever gave him any added pressure to succeed:
“Oh of course, because you know from what my Dad and my Uncle have accomplished. You know I know I have the last name, but people want to look at me and see if I have the talent of them. So I had to prove to people that I also had the talent and that I also had the big heart that they had, and I think I achieved that because I have won multiple world championships.”
On where he currently sees himself in the 154 pound landscape:
“I see myself right at the top with all of the other fighters. I know the media and the commentators and everyone probably doesn’t think so, but I know my talent and I know when Cory Spinks is right I can beat anybody and right now I got my head on straight and have rededicated myself back to the sport. I’m just waiting to show the fans and the world that Cory Spinks is one of the best boxers in boxing.”
Regarding when he challenged Jermain Taylor for the middleweight championship and whether he would have stayed at 160 pounds had he beaten Taylor:
“Well I think I probably would have fought at 160 and 154, because I would have been undisputed at 160 and it’s never been done—there has never been a two-division undisputed champ, but I might have defended the belt a couple of more times. But my main focus was 154. That was just an opportunity that came about. He didn’t have anyone to fight and we weren’t fighting anyone, so we put it together. I knew Jermain through the amateurs because Arkansas always came to St. Louis to fight in the Regionals and we all used to go to the Nationals as one big team. You know this is the sport of boxing. It’s just like a basketball game. Friends want to fight friends so we just put it together and fought each other.”
On whether he was surprised that following his fight with Taylor that Jermain would lose 4 of his next 5:
“It seems like I always expose people. Just like when I fought Mayorga, everybody thought he was unbeatable and everything. When I fought him and when I beat him, he started to lose every fight afterwards. The same thing happened with Jermain. People said I really won it and then after that he just started going downhill.”
His views on whether Jermain Taylor can still be a force at 160 pounds:
“Well it all depends on how Jermain can take a good punch. We haven’t really seen him take a good punch yet. But if he can do that I think I can be a force at 160 because you know he’s a veteran and he’s been to the top. So you can’t count him out. He had a taste of what it’s like to be undisputed. I just have to see him in there with a real opponent. He didn’t look too good in his last fight. He did what he had to do. You know he’s been out of the game for awhile but he did what he had to do to win the fight.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Junior and Miguel Cotto:
“I think it’s going to be a better fight than people think it is, because Cotto is going to be much, much stronger. He’s younger than a De La Hoya and I think he’s going to be relentless. I think Cotto’s going to wake-up and really try to go at Floyd. But you know Floyd is a master at what he does and you never can count that guy out, because his talent is unbelievable. I look at Floyd like me. I didn’t have to learn how to box. It was just a gift from God, and I think God has blessed him, too. So it will be interesting, but I think it’s going to be a tougher fight than people think.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“You see other than myself Manny is my favorite fighter, and it’s because he’s not scared to face anyone. That’s the reason why. He reminds me of myself and plus he’s a southpaw. So I got Pacquiao dominating Timothy Bradley. I just got him dominating! I know Timothy Bradley is going to come in there to fight, but I got him dominating! I think he wants to make a statement from the Marquez fight. I think Pac-Man is going to make a statement.”
His views on what Zab Judah has been able to accomplish since moving back down to 140 pounds:
“Well when we fought it was at 147, but you know he just needs to get over that hump and get that title back. Zab has looked good and he seems like he’s found his home at 140 and I take my hat off to him because in his last performance he looked terrific!”
On whether he ever sees himself going back down to 147 pounds if the right opportunity ever presented itself:
“Oh no! If the opportunity comes than I don’t know, but right now—no! It’s like I’m really made to be big. My Mom was a big-boned woman and my Dad is big, but I’m the smallest child my Mom had. I think I’m going to leave 147 alone. If the opportunity comes though, I’ll be there.”
On how he would like to be remembered by boxing fans when his career is all said and done:
“I just want to be remembered as a guy who really knew how to box. I want to be remembered as a guy that’s not scared to fight anyone, a guy that can box, a guy that can either fight you or move forward and box. I just want to be remembered as someone to add to my Dad and them as one of the great Spinks fighters.”
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For those interested in listening to the Cory Spinks interview in its entirety, it begins approximately twelve minutes into the program.
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This article also appears on East Side Boxing
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