JA: How are you doing Anthony? "I am doing good. I have no bruises or anything like that, I was never hurt in the fight. Most of all I am just getting more water in me now, I could not believe how dehydrated I was. I know that I should have never stepped in the ring, but I am not going to make no excuses he was the better man in the ring that night and hopefully some where down the line I can get a rematch with him."

JA: Was you hurt at all in the fight?

AM: No not at all, I didn’t have a bruise on my face.

JA: With the way that you were looking at the ref you wanted the fight stopped is that correct?

AM: When I was looking at the ref I was looking at him like “No I am not going to go down but I have nothing left in me”. Before the fight I felt that I had nothing in me but I was trying to tell myself that it was all in my mind, but it wasn’t in my mind it was my body telling me that I couldn’t go. I lost to much weight, I am not making any excuses but it’s the truth. I had to lose 7 pounds the night of the fight. I was sucking on ice cubes while my friends went out to eat. I didn’t have enough energy to put my punches together. I give him credit, he was in shape ready to go, he paid his dues and he deserved to win the fight.

JA: Do you think that if you had a promoter that a promoter would have protected you from this kind of a fight on short notice?

AM: I think so. I just hired a manager, it’s a verbal agreement between us but nothing has been set in stone yet. Maybe with a promoter behind me he would have looked out for my safety and told me not to take this fight. I felt that I had to take this fight, I put it on my self to take this fight because the fight was on Showtime. I even got fined a thousand dollars, I thought that they were going to fine me if I didn’t fight, they took money away from me. The promoters were going to give me a hard time about getting home if I didn’t fight, I didn’t even have enough money to catch the bus home so I was in a lose-lose situation.

JA: You were telling me the other day that you thought that losing the weight was not going to be a problem. Was it in your mind that you thought it was going to be ok to lose the weight when really your body couldn’t handle the shock of losing the weight?

AM: I didn’t think that I was going to have a problem but after I realized I never made close to 135 for two years now so I thought I could jump right back down in weight, but my body was not having it.

JA: I been hearing mixed reports on when you took the fight. Can you tell us when exactly you decided to take the fight?

AM: I took the fight on a week to two weeks notice. My manager offered me the fight and I was telling my manager “Don’t you think that its too soon?, that weight is a little rough”. All I was thinking about was Showtime, this fight is going to be on Showtime and this is my opportunity to do something big because I have not had anything big happen for me yet. I think that I jumped the gun too soon on this too soon thinking that I may not get an opportunity ever again. Hindsight is always 20-20 so maybe I should have waited it out and fought at my normal weight of 140 pounds. I don’t think that I am going to go no lower than 140 pounds again.

JA: If you could redo this whole experience would you still take the fight?

AM: Not at all. I need to rethink some things over but I would love to get a fight with this guy again, but first I have to think about a lot of things first before I get back in the ring. I take my hat off to the guy, he fought a great fight and they detected a weakness and pounced on it.

JA: What do you think of him as a fighter?

AM: I think that he is a good fighter but I have been hit harder in sparring. I don’t want to take anything away from him but I have been hit harder in my six year pro career. I did see a lot of openings but I couldn’t capitalize on it. My mind was telling my body three punch combination and move to the side, by the time I started he was already coming in. I couldn’t put my punches together because I was tired and sluggish in the ring.

JA: When can we see you in the ring next?

AM: They gave me a suspension because I was stopped, I believe that it is a 35 day suspension. I am going to be in the gym early next week and when the suspension is over I am going to fight at the weight that I am most comfortable at. Hopefully my manager will give me a call saying that I have the rematch lined up so I can redeem my self.

JA: How is your body adjusting today?

AM: My body is adjusting very well, I am drinking plenty of water now so I can get my strength back up. I have never drank so much water before in my life, I cant belief how much water I lost trying to make weight for the fight. I am not making any excuses because he came prepared and was in shape and I not taking anything away from him.

JA: Is there anything that you would like to say in closing?

AM: I just want to thank all my fans for all there prayers and support. I just want to let all my fans know that when I do come back I am going to be stronger than ever.

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