JA: Congratulations on your big win on Saturday night Anthony over Manuel Bocanegra. Tell us how the fight went down. "It was great. It was a big step up for me; this guy that I fought has been in some wars with Daniel Attah and other tough fighters. He was real strong coming out in the first round, he is with out a doubt the hardest punching fighter thus far, he came throwing some punches that wanted to knock me out, I blocked most of them but some of them got through. I stopped him to the body; I threw a double left hook to the body."

JA: How many rounds did the fight go?

AP: It only went two rounds. He punched so hard that I didn’t want to play around with him because my coach was emphasizing to me that he was a dangerous fight who can punch. I did not want him to hang around in the later rounds and possibly get lucky with a punch, you know this is boxing and anything can happen. So I had to get rid of him quick.

JA: Did you think that he was going to be that tough of an opponent for you?

AP: Yeah I did because I looked at his resume, he stopped really good fighters. I knew that he was a power puncher and coming into this fight I knew that I had to prepare. The skill level was different on my behalf because I was better getting off first. My speed was better, my jab was better; I know that he was more powerful than my self.

JA: Looking at his resume knowing that this is a guy that loves to come in and wrecks people’s records. You must have been saying to your self that I can’t be playing with this guy for long.

AP: Right, right. That is the type of mine frame that this guy has. As soon as he came out he was throwing everything, he was trying to knock me out, I did not panic and I showed my maturity. He went straight at me and through hard combinations and was pretty much saying that I am here to knock you out. I rose to the occasion; I stayed calm and cool under the pressure. I set him nicely; I touched him up stairs to set up the double hook to the body.

JA: What did you learn from this fight Anthony?

AP: I learned that I have a good chin and I have great defense. So if you get through my defense I got a jaw that can take whatever you give me.

JA: You jaw did not get tested in the previous fights?

AP: I wasn’t tested like that. I was tested on speed, people being awkward, he came to knock me out. He did not take a break or come in spurts; he came to knock me out. I defended my self well as a young fighter and I took him out.

JA: You are fighting again on February 17th. Is that something that you want to keep on doing is fighting every month or every other month?

AP: That was one of my missions was to get him out of here quickly, they wanted to get me out of my game plan but it wasn’t happening. I was praying on the early knockout so I could get this extra fight in a few weeks. Like I was telling my coach, I am not naturally gifted like the other fighters. My style is based on text book, this skill that I have is not natural. If I miss a beat with fights I am going to look rusty, I need to stay busy in the gym because I am not a natural athlete or natural boxer. I look at tapes and build from there. I have to work harder because of the fact that it was not naturally given to me. It is all working out though.

JA: Is that a relief for you to know that you can take a punch and handle it well?

AP: It is a relief for me to know that I can take a good shot. He got some real good shots in there that were hard and heavy and I took them well. I ate the punches and told him good shot, my legs never wobbled or never buckled. I took his best shots and stood in there and got him out.

JA: Do you know who you will be fighting on February 17th?

AP: Yeah I am going to be fighting a guy from Minnesota named James Wayka. He is 14-4 with 8 knock outs. It is going to be a good fight and I can’t wait to get it on with him.

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

AP: Like I tell everybody keep GOD first man, with him all things are possible. You know that sometimes bad things are going to come but you can’t let it stop you because you wont want be there for the good things.

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