Having gone taken part in one of the fights of 2010 Urbano Antillon earned a well deserved break over Christmas having gone life an death with Humberto Soto for Soto’s WBC Lightweight crown. Despite the punish nature of the fight with Soto, Antillon has recovered well from the cuts and other stresses that the fight took out of him and is already back in the gym and keeping himself fit. It’s widely thought that Antillon 28-2(20) will get a rematch that will be chief support to Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley on 7 May live on HBO PPV. That is the sort of platform the rematch deserves where it will be seen by a full house at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas plus millions around the world. It’s just what Antillon wants and he hopes that this time he can achieve his objective and become a world champion.
Hello Urbano, welcome back to 15rounds.com
Anson Wainwright – You recently took part in one of the fights of the years against Humberto Soto, what are your thoughts looking back on that fight?
Urbano Antillon – Immediately after the fight before the decision was announced, I was very satisfied with my performance. Although it would have been great to have won, I gave this fight my all and that’s all one can ask of himself. Of course, there are a few things I would change yet, I won’t beat myself up about it and will continue working on improving.
Anson Wainwright – From your point of view, as the fight was unfolding did you realise you were taking part in such a great fight?
Urbano Antillon – Not during the fight. But I did know that it was a close fight and I had to continue pushing.
Anson Wainwright – How have your injury’s cleared up since that fight? How much time will you rest until you get back to training after such a tough last fight?
Urbano Antillon – I’m blessed to have the ability to recover fast however, eyebrow cuts usually take a few weeks to heal. I can’t stay out of the gym completely, I try to go twice a week and have a very light workout. I also try to run every once in a while.
Anson Wainwright – It has been rumoured that you will fight on 7 May as part of the Pacquiao-Mosley card. Can you tell us if this is true and your thoughts on the rematch with Soto?
Urbano Antillon – That’s the rumour and we are eager to train hard for it. Looking back at some of the great fights of the past like Barrera vs Marquez, Marquez vs Vasquez, this fight can be among the ones named. I am so much looking forward to the rematch and its great that it would be on the big stage shared with Manny Pacquiao.
Anson Wainwright – What do you think you’d do for a living if you weren’t a Boxer?
Urbano Antillon – I really have no idea, I’d probably be in a job field that requires taking major risk and saving lives. I enjoy intensity and challenges. As far as I can recall boxing was it, I never worried about doing anything else. I am truly living a dream!
Anson Wainwright – What are the best and worst parts about being a pro Boxer?
Urbano Antillon – There are so many positives but to name a few… Travelling, meeting great people (some famous, some not), and the flexibility of my schedule. The only negative that I can think about at this time is the intense dieting.
Anson Wainwright – How did you first become interested in Boxing? Did you have much of an amateur career? If so what titles did you win and who did you fight that is now in the pro’s? Also what was your final record?
Urbano Antillon – It was something that my older brother German wanted to do and several circumstances led to my brother and I joining a boxing gym. I had about 35 amateur fights, I won the 2000 National Golden gloves and then turned pro right after. Fighters that I can recall are Paul Malignaggi, Panchito Bojado & Timothy Bradley. My final record was something like 20 wins and 15 losses.
Anson Wainwright – You have fought both Miguel Acosta and Humberto Soto who are currently champions, how do you compare them? Who do you think is the better of the two and would win if they met?
Urbano Antillon – Soto and Acosta are both good boxers. It’s hard to say who is the better one of the two because their both great in different ways. It’s a very hard choice but if they were to meet, I would probably choose Soto.
Anson Wainwright – Speaking of Acosta, he is one of the guys who is quite under the radar at 135, can you tell us a bit about his style and what he does well & what you think are his weaknesses?
Urbano Antillon – Acosta is a good boxer with good head movement. I can’t point out his weaknesses today because I’ve never seen him fight outside of our fight and I wasn’t able to really expose him.
Anson Wainwright – His next fight will be against Brandon Rios on 26 February in Las Vegas, what do you think of that fight and how do you see I going?
Urbano Antillon – It’s going to be a very interesting fight. With Brandon putting on the pressure, will he be too big and possibly strong for Acosta? Guess that’s to be determined.
I think it’s not going to be like the Brandon vs Peterson fight where Brandon is going to run over Acosta. Acosta has what it takes to come out on top.
Anson Wainwright – There are two champions we haven’t mentioned Juan Manuel Marquez & Miguel Vazquez what do you think of those guys? Do you know them?
Urbano Antillon – Yes, I do know them both and I’ve actually sparred with both. Nothing to be said about Marquez, he is one of best in boxing period. Vazquez is a fighter that will throw over 100 punches a round, very difficult style. Their both very good champs.
Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans?
Urbano Antillon – Wishing everybody a great new year!! May this year be filled with plenty of happiness, love, health and over all wealth!!!
Thanks for your time Urbano.
Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com
Weekend thoughts – Seems like Darren Barker & Matthew Macklin aren’t destined to meet at all. First they were scheduled to fight last Septmeber before Barker had to pull out because of continuing probllems with his hip that was opperated on a couple of months previous. It was hoped they would fight in December but that never worked out. Then a couple of weeks back Barker’s promoter Mick Hennessy won purse bids for them to fight for Macklin’s European title. At the start of the week team Barker were hoping to get a date worked out for the fight only for Macklin to decide to go in another direction and sign with Golden Boy & accept a fight with a comebacking Winky Wright. As much as it’s a shame we wont see Macklin-Barker fight until at least the second part of the year, it’s understandable why Macklin decided to go stateside with Golden Boy, if he wins against Wright who’s still a name his next fight would most likely be for a version of a Middleweight title. Here’s to hoping that these two can settle there differences in the ring…Talks are continuing between Giovani Segura and Ivan Calderon, the main stumbling block appears the weight of the contest. Sehura struggles to make 108 and wants it a few pounds heavier. In the first fight Segura agreed to everything team Calderon asked. How about this for a compromise Segura takes the fight at 108 and Calderon comes to Mexico…The IBF Lightweight title fight between Miguel Vazquez & Lenny Zappavigna has received little attention on the 12 March Cotto-Mayorga bill but should be pretty good. Vazquez is probably one of the least known champions in the game and it’s a great chance for him to have a coming out party while Australian Zappavigna is an all action fighter who makes for action fights looked brilliant last time out blasting out the normally durable Ji Hoon Kim in one round in a title eliminator. Vazquez won the vacant title against Kim, though the fight went the distance Vazquez won a near shut out.
