GL: In your last fight you captured the NABF trinket, while becoming the #1 Contender in the WBc. Can you give us some thoughts on your peformance? "It was a great fight. I knew it was going to be tough because I fought her before. I trained very hard for the fight and I was out there with Jimmy Montoya for about a week and I went to New York City and I stayed with Maureen Shea, who fights at 130. I sparred out in New York with some of their best fighters."

GL: What was the sparring with Maureen Shea like?

Monica Lovato: "It was great. She's an awesome person and it was very good work for me. She's got awesome skills and I believe the experience has taken me to another level."

GL: You're managed by Grant Elvis Phillips, how did the two of you hook up?

ML: "Of course I had seen the Grant gloves, but I had always worn Cleto Reyes and I've always wanted a pair of Grant gloves. I looked on the internet and couldn't find them, but I saw all of the superstars wearing them. One day I was just searching the web and I came across his website and I ordered a pair of gloves and I loved them. Then a friend of mine put on the first boxing show in my little town of Espanola, New Mexico. I got in touch with Elvis, who I never knew as the owner of Grant Boxing. I've never been a student of the game, I knew Tyson and the big names, but I was never a boxing fan from the start, I fell into the sport.

"I kept getting in touch with Elvis more and more because I wanted more gloves to match the uniform. Then one of my teammates told me, 'you're talking to Elvis Phillips? He's the owner.' I didn't know what to say, and the next time I talked to him I was a little nervous, but we've become really good friends and he asked me if anyone was working with me. I told him I had problems in the past and I had different issues with people who wanted to manage me before. But we got together we've built a friendship and he we are today."

GL: Your story has always been showcased on ABC and CBS, can you briefly explain your story to Boxingtalkers?

ML: "To make a long story short, I started boxing when a long time boyfriend of mine passed away. We were back and forth with each other for many years, and other than being my boyfriend he was my best friend and he passed away in a car accident. I moved from my old town of Espanola to a bigger city in New Mexico. When I was looking for a job there was a boxing gym next to the place I was getting interviewed. At first I just started training to get my mind off things and to lose a little weight. She convinced me to take an amatuer fight, I did and I won the fight and I was dying when I got out of the ring because I really didn't learn that much. I thought I could do this and from that day forward I fell in love with the sport. I got into boxing because I was soul searching and I felt like I was looking for something and I found boxing. I never planned on being a boxer, it was just to get my mind off things. I've always been scrappy and I got into a lot of fights, but I just played basketball and softball."

GL: How do you feel about the state of womens boxing? It seems to be at an all time low.

ML: "I plan on continuing to make great fights like the one I just fought two Saturday's ago. I think we need more fights like that being televised so people can see what women fights look like. I've seen fights that aren't that great and those fights put it down. With girls like Laila, Maureen Shea and myself, I mean there's a lot of great girl boxers out there and they just have to be recognized. I'm going to do my part and show the promoters and fans that I can put on an exciting fight just like the guys. I know the people who come to my fights love them. I think we need to open the promoters eyes to let them know that there's a lot of great female fighters out tehre it's just time to show them we can put butts in the seats like the guys can. The question is, can a womens fight fill a venue? If they were to give it a chance and put some good women fights on I think we can put on some good events and sell those tickets also."

GL: You're already ranked #1 by the WBC, when do you expect to fight for the world title and are you hoping that's a fight that gets nationally televised?

ML: "God willing this world title fight will be televised. I'm not sure of the date but I leave that to my manager Elvis to decide. He told me we're looking at May or June with a couple of tune-ups before that. I will be going in for surgery (yesterday) to have surgery on my gall bladder. I went into my last fight with an infected gall bladder. I was throwing up before the fight. Some of my crew thought I was just nervous, I knew I was sick, but I fought anyway. Last Wednesday they found out my gall bladder was bad and I plan on recuperating from that very quickly and returning to the gym next week."

GL: Is there anything you'd like to say to the fans in closing?

ML: "I'd like to thank you Greg, thanks to Boxingtalk. I would also like to thank my peeps in Espanola. They support me 100%, my friends, the mayor, they're all good to me and I love them."

M

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