Greg Leon: How is everything going in preparation for your October 5th bout on the undercard of Claressa Shields homecoming? What can fans expect to see from you in your first fight in a couple of years? Jacob Bonas: "It's going pretty good, I've been working real, real hard to get myself back into shape. I've had my brother (Joseph) here with me so having him working with me like crazy has made it easy. It's been beautiful, I love being back. I've been waiting for this for so long, to be able to train and know that I have a fight coming up it's great. I've been inactive for years now and it sucks so I love to be back and I can't wait for it to actually happen."

 

GL: What do you plan on coming in at weight wise for this fight?

 

Jacob Bonas: "In this fight we're going to do 152, my promoter (Dmitriy) Salita wanted 152 so that's what it is. I feel like I could make 147, but I'm ok with 52 too though. I trust Salita and whatever he says, so I'm just going to do it."

 

GL: You've lived quite the life for a soon to be 26 year old, how do you feel now versus when you first turned pro as a teenager in 2012?

 

Jacob Bonas: "I literally learned so much, mostly what I take from it is dedication and knowledge. Now I understand the other side of life and what it could do for me. I lived that life and I hate it and don't want to do it anymore. I've got the opportunity to excel in life and I'm going to do that. Adversity is a blessing and if somebody deserves to be world champion, it is me and that's how I feel whole heartedly. I don't understand how I went through all that and remain this calm guy who wants to do positive. I love it though because it's all coming from the heart."

 

GL: Are you 100% that there aren't going to be any more setbacks? Are you going to remain 100% dedicated and boxing oriented and not have any outside distractions f**k your situation up?

 

JB: "Most definitely. I've gotten into enough trouble as a youngin to last me my whole life. I just finally finished parole and it's just a blessing for me. I've kept myself out of trouble and it's a blessing. I never understood how good it feels to be on the other side of life. I don't have to watch over my back anymore, and I would rather die than have to go back to that life style. I go to sleep every night thanking God that he got me through that. I think about prison every day, I think about it every single day. It's just a reminder, I wake up sometimes and can't believe that I've done six years in prison and I'm still able to do what I love after so long. God made this happen for me and I'm going to cherish it."

 

GL: Any idea who you're going to be fighting?

 

JB: "Nope. And I really don't care."

 

GL: How active do you plan on being? Do you feel like you've got to make up for some lost time and go every month? Every other month?

 

JB: "Honestly, I feel like it's God's plan and I'm not going to rush anything. I'm going to stay as active as Dmitriy wants me to be. If he wants me to fight eight times in a year, cool, I'll fight eight times."

 

GL: Closing thoughts for the fans.

 

JB: "The fans will be happy to have a new fighter in boxing that's going to be all about entertaining them. I'm not coming into the ring looking for it, but if I get the knockout all glory to God. I'm going to get in there and do what I know best, which is box and we'll see what happens from there."