Manager/Trainer Kevin Cunningham chats with B-Talk
GL: Most of us were unable to see the fight, can you give us some thoughts on Cory's successful defense against Rodney Jones the other night?
Cory Spinks' manager/trainer Kevin Cunningham: "Cory put on a dominating performance. As you can see by the judges cards, he won practically every round. Rodney Jones was game and he put on a fight did what he could to try and win the title, but Cory did what he needed to do to dominate and keep his title."
GL: Everyone who follows Cory knows that Team Spinks has been dying to get this mandatory out of the way. Now that you have ample time to make a voluntary will it be full steam ahead to make the biggest fight available?KC: "Absolutely and the biggest fight that we can make with Cory would be against the greatest Puerto Rican fighter of all time, Felix Trinidad."
GL: Have you already had discussion with Don King to that effect and have they been productive?
KC: "Definitely. Things have been productive and me and DK are on the same page. It's all up to Trinidad being on board."
GL: And just to refresh our viewership, Spinks is willing to move up to 160 at the Garden or anywhere else, y'all just want the fight.KC: "Definitely. I think Trinidad-Spinks would generate more money and excitement than any fight in 2007 except for Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather."
GL: How soon can Cory be back into the ring?KC: "We want to be back in the ring by May, no later than June."
GL: If you can't get Trinidad, who are some of the other options that you'd be willing to explore?KC: "We want to fight someone who has a marquee name or a big fight win on their resume. It's simple as that. I don't have to be calling out the same names over and over again, these guys know who they are."
GL: He might not be your first choice, in fact he might be closer to your last resort, but Kassim Ouma came on the record again saying that he would like to fight Spinks for the title. How do you feel about that fight?KC: "And we would love to give Kassim Ouma a shot at the title if the money is right."
GL: I imagine that fight would be pretty big in St. Louis.KC: "It would be huge in St. Louis. And if Vargas is unable to fight Mayorga and he's looking for a real fight, Spinks-Vargas sounds good to me at middleweight."
GL: Is there anyting you'd like to say in closing?KC: "The reason that MMA and that other stuff is catching up to boxing is because the so called best are looking for non-difficult fights. They want to call themselves pound for pound but they want the easy ways out. Cory is and has always been about fighting the best out there, we don't make excuses, we sign contracts. And Shane Mosley is going to get his ass beat this weekend. He ran from Cory back down to welterweight and now he's going to get his ass beat by Collazo."
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