About....

Is there a more complete fighter in today’s sport than Joan Guzman? I don’t believe so. I would honestly put him in the same skill category with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Bernard Hopkins.

A fighter blessed with blistering hand speed, great reflexes, a great defence and the list of his attributes goes on and on, his weaknesses are minimal. To be honest in all the years watching Joan fight I am yet to see a glaring weakness of any sort.

The skills I mentioned above have been crafted over many years in the amateur ranks not to mention the countless hours spent in the gym. With an extensive amateur background Joan has fought more than 320 times, only tasting defeat on ten occasions with his most notable achievement seeing him take the gold medal at the 1993 Pan American games.

Turning Professional in 1997, Joan has taken his winning ways with him. At the time of writing his record stands at 29 wins without loss, winning titles in the Super bantamweight and Super Featherweight divisions.

This Saturday could see him become part of an elite group of fighters to become a three weight champion when he fights for the vacant IBF lightweight title against Ali Funeka at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec, Canada.

TopClassBoxing caught up with him this week where he answered some questions about his life in general and his upcoming fight with Funeka.

Here is what he had to say:

RECORD AT THE TIME OF WRITING:
BOUTS	WINS	LOST	DRAWN	KO'S
29	29	0	0	17

 

 

 

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Interview....

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

You had a rough upbringing as a child, Could you talk us through what that time was like?

Man my childhood was rough. I was poor. but let's move on to the next question because im going to start tearing up (Guzman mother passed away a couple of month ago from brain tumour). 

You have had around 320 amateur bouts winning 310, which is quite astonishing, but throughout that time what would you say is your biggest achievement?

When I won the gold medal at the Pan- American games in '96 I had my whole country on my shoulder and I beat all the Cuban's that were causing havoc though every tournament. 

Can you tell us where you train and what the atmosphere is like there?I

I train in Las Vegas where the atmosphere is great except for the mountain lion that watches me run every morning (LAUGHING).  

Who is the fighter you looked up to as a kid?

Sugar Ray Leonard 

Training methods change from  fighter to fighter but could you take us through a typical days training on the run up to a big fight?

I wake up at 5am to have breakfast, at 5:30am I go on a 45min morning run then about 7am I rest till like 11am, where I then have lunch and head to the boxing gym by 12 for a 2 hour workout. I'm back home at 3pm where I have a protein shake and a small snack, then get some rest and wake up around 6pm and head to the 24 hour fitness gym to work on strength and condition for 2 hours. I'm home again by 8pm, I eat then go to sleep or play with my PS3 (laughing)I hope my trainer don't read this.

What are your favourite foods when you are training?

Fish 

For the people who haven't yet seen you fight could you please describe your fighting style? I am a slick boxer, with good movement, that focus on defence and speed. What would you say is your best punch?

My right

PROFESSIONAL CAREER:

Your last fight was against Ameth Diaz in which you won a twelve round unanimous decision, What did you know of Diaz before the fight and for the people who didn't see the fight could you tell us how fight went?

I knew he was tough and he was coming into my backyard to try to beat me, in front of my people 

You will be facing Ali Funeka on the 28th November for the IBF lightweight title. How is training going for the match up Joan?

it's going great, I have some of the best people working along side of me from my trainer on down, I have great sparring in Adrian Mora who is 6'2 Jorge Teron who is 6'1 and Argenis Mendez who is 5'11 

What do you know about Funeka? have you looked at any tapes of him in action and what plans do you intend on executing throughout that fight?

I have studied his mistakes and every time he misses he's going to pay. 

What can people expect from your fight with Funeka?

A tough fight .....We both hungry, we both want that title but only one of us is walking out that ring with it so I expect a do or die type fight. 

Against Nate Campbell you came into the fight 3 1/2 pounds overweight and were reportedly rushed to hospital suffering from dehydration. What was the explanation for the missing the weight champ?

It's no excuse, all I know was that my body shut down on me  

You have beaten some of the worlds best in Jorge Barrios and Humberto Soto and for a long time now I have wished for a match up involving you and Manny Pacquiao or You and Edwin Valero, Would you take on any of these fighters and if so what would be the outcome?

I gave up chasing Pacquiao because he is only looking to fight a fighter that will stand right in front of him, his matchmaker is doing a good job from keeping him away from me. What's funny is that when his promoter went on record to say he cant sell a Guzman vs Pacquiao bout so I wonder how he sold a David Diaz and the Jorge Solis bout. Valero said it clear as day that he don't want to fight me so what can i do?  

Throughout your career you have faced some of the worlds best fighters but which of your wins is your most satisfying and which would you say is as been your most difficult fight?

To be honest I haven't fought a fight that was difficult as of yet and the most satisfying win had to be when I beat Barrios because I wanted to show Golden Boy Promotion that they made the right investment and what better way to show it than in front of HBO. 

POUND 4 POUND:

Who would you say is the current Pound 4 Pound king in Boxing at the moment and why?

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. you have to give the man his props and one day i hope to take that spot from him. 

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION:

The Lightweight division is currently a fascinating place with such fighters as Juan Manuel Marquez, Edwin Valero, Antonio DeMarco and Michael Katsidis. What are your plans if you win the IBF title on the 28th? do you intend on unifying the titles or maybe moving up in weight class?

I will leave that to my manager Jose Nunez and my Promoters. 

Who would you say is your biggest threat throughout the division at the moment?

Ali Funeka.

FUTURE:

What are your future plans for the rest of 2009 / 2010?

To stay active and fight the best out there.

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