Burchfield likes Estrada-Oquendo fight!

By James Alden

30/06/2006

Burchfield likes Estrada-Oquendo fight!

JA: What’s the latest Jimmy? "Very busy Jim with the show that we have coming up in the Cape on July 7th. We wanted to be in an area like Cape Cod for a while, the 4th of July fireworks will continue to fly at the melody tent in Hyannis. We have eight big fights that night Jim and this may sound weird but for me this is exciting, this is one of the reasons why I got into promoting fights were for nights like the one we are going to have down at the Cape. Words can’t describe how pleased I am."

JA: I know you signed some new fighters to your stable, tell us some of the fighters that will be making there debut on the 7th of July?

JB: 4th of July is independence day for the U.S and what I wanted to do was get different countries involved on the card. We have Agnaldo Nunes from Brazil fighting on the card. I am really looking forward to see what the fighter who represented Sweden two years in the Olympic, Benjamin Kalonovic. I think that he is a good fighter that can be a great fighter with Buddy McGirt, his trainer. We have two Irish fighters on the card; we have Joe Rea who is trained by “Irish” Micky Ward. In the main event we have Joey Spina against Jay Pina; all in all we are looking forward to a great night of boxing.

JA: How are ticket sales going Jimmy?

JB: Ticket sales are going dynamite. We have a hotel that is involved with the fight; we worked a great room rate if you mention that you are going to the fights that night. A lot of people from Providence and Boston are making the trip a vacation.

JA: You know that I talk to the Estrada camp on a regular basis and they wanted the fight with Jason Gavern. After Jason Gavern losing Wednesday night, the fight seems to be out of the question right now. What type of steps are you looking at for Jason Estrada’s next fight?

JB: I read Boxingtalk every day, I keep up with what is going on in the boxing world every day through your site, and I think you are paving the way on how boxing websites should be run. The fight the other night with Gavern was if he won and he looked good we would take the fight in a New York minute. The problem with Jason Estrada is that he has so much talent and so much amateur back ground, he is a special fighter who is ready to fight the best fighters in the world right now. We can't make Jason Estrada fight six and eight round fights because he has too much talent for it. The fights that stick out in my mind are two fights, Vinnie Maddalone and Fres Oquendo.  I know that you Jim did an interview with Fres Oquendo a couple of days ago and he is looking for a fight, well why not Jason Estrada? The Estrada camp have already gave me the go ahead to make the fight a reality, the only question is does Fres want the fight. When we call out fighters like with the caliber of Yanqui Diaz or Fres Oquendo, we are not bluffing just to make publicity because I have better things to do with my time than to make fights that I don’t think we can win. We are dead serious about fighting Fres Oquendo.

JA: A lot of people may think that Jason would be going over his head by fighting Fres Oquendo right now…

JB: [Cutting In] That is understandable and I appreciate your question because it is a good one. Jason has fought over 300 amateur fights, made the Olympic team and in his last fight shut out a guy that went to war with DaVarryl Williamson, and a guy who fought Audley Harrison. In Fres last fight, he fought a guy in Javier Mora; well with all due respect, Jason Estrada is no Javier Mora. I think that this a fight that the fans would love, I think that this is a fight that HBO would fall in love with this fight because you know why, Jason Estrada will come to fight, and I know Fres will come to fight too.

JA: Does it frustrate you that guys who fight on National television doesn’t put the performance forth to deserve a spot on TV and does it frustrate you that guys like Jason and Matt Godfrey get overlooked? 

JB: It frustrates me but with fighters who are 23-24 years old, such as Matt Godfrey should be on Showtime so does Estrada. I know that Showtime and HBO want to help develop some of the up and coming prospects in the world. Matt and Jason are not prospects, they are contenders! There are very far and in between heavyweights that don’t have the talent that Jason and Matt have, and they still get on the networks. We will keep plugging away and I know sooner or later the networks will give the young fighters at CES a chance.

JA: So if the fight doesn’t get made with Fres Oquendo it won’t because you guys turned the fight down?

JB: Not at all. We will sign the contract tomorrow.

JA:  When would you like discussions begin?

JB: As soon as possible. As soon as this hits the site, we want to start negotiations. I think the date they were looking at was July 29th. If the fight comes about we will be ready for it. I think that Jason is ready for this opportunity on the big network like HBO. I know one thing, we wont fall flat on our face like a lot of other Heavyweights that have been given the opportunity. I don’t like to talk about any fighter because who ever steps in the ring is a special person. Jason is a special person and some of these fighters have looked so bad when they been given the opportunity on the big stage. I will guarantee that Jason Estrada will not make a fool out of himself when given the opportunity and he will be the new man on the block, I guarantee you. 

M

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