“BOXING IS WHAT I LOVE.”
Ring: Was Zayas’ shot the hardest you were hit as a pro? JE: No. I can’t remember who hit me harder than Xander. [Roiman] Villa was kind of strong. I don’t really know who hit me harder. I can’t really say, but I do know I was hit harder than Xander hit me that night. I don’t want to take anything away from Xander. Ring: You can and have boxed yourself to victories, yet you have chosen to slug it out when it was not necessary, as you did in the Zayas fight. Why risk it? Why take chances? JE: I could have boxed Xander and made that fight easier, but I don’t want any fight to go to the scorecards. I want to win on my own. That’s how you truly take a belt from a champion like Xander. I have different modes. I fight how I want to fight. I have boxed to win, and I have slugged to win. There are days in the gym I do box, days when I will come forward, and I feel the ring is mine. I can do whatever I want in the ring. I like to give the
Ring: How have you managed this new stardom? JE: Boxing is what I love. I know there are plenty of fighters out there that do it strictly for the money. I don’t. That’s the difference between myself and them. Boxing is something that I love, something I was raised around – it’s all I have known. When you have someone that is dedicated to his craft, that’s someone who is tough to beat. I love beating people up. (laughs) I love putting on a show. Once I retire as an undefeated legend, I want to sit back and watch the fruits of my labor work for me and take it from there. Ring: Knowing you, your family, your father and trainer, Bozy, boxing is a vital part of your life. You’re not going to be able to walk away from this. You know and I know where you are eventually going to wind up – back in the gym, right? JE: What, as a trainer? Training fighters is hard. I am doing it now a little bit. I don’t want to be a trainer, but I will
fans a different version of me. I don’t want to give fans the same fight twice. My thinking is what if I were out there in the stands and what I would think if I put on a boring performance. Boxing has enough of those fighters. (laughs) I fight. It’s part of me. I always loved to punch on stuff. (laughs) It’s me. It’s all I have known coming up, I just love fighting. I’m a dog. My last fight, I was being a dog. But overall, go back and watch my last three, four fights. I fought all different ways. I want to bring something different every fight. Against Xander, I was in the pocket being a dog. I beat [Uisma Lima] in one round. Before that, I was boxing and moving against Stanionis. I barely got touched. I go crazy with the narratives that I fight a specific way. I know for a fact I can fight these guys any way I want, because they can’t keep up with me. It’s why I fight the way I do. I know these guys can’t do what I do. Once I get into that gear, I kick it up more.
I really, really love to do, and it’s what makes me keep coming right back to the gym after fights. Ring: So, the grand scheme over the next couple of years is to clean out 154, move to 160 and possibly finish your career at 168? JE: That’s it. I would like to be undisputed in all three of those weights and stamp my name in boxing as an all-time great. Legacy means something to me. We’ll see how long this goes. I don’t want to say I want to do this until I’m 37 or 38 and [then] accomplish everything I set out to do when I’m 33.
In his junior middleweight debut, Boots pulverized Uisma Lima.
We’ll see what the future brings. But I do have a clear plan and what I want to accomplish before I retire. Ring: You are arcing toward the Hall of Fame. Do you think you’ve done enough to be inducted in Canastota? JE: I don’t. I feel I have more work to do. I have a solidified career, because there are not too many fighters that can say they were a [two-division unified] champion, and I have done that. I’ve done it at 147 and done it at 154. I want to do it at 160 and 168, too. There are Hall of Famers who were champions in one weight division. I’m aiming to do it in four. Ring: Where do you see yourself in the pantheon of great Philly fighters? JE: I respect Bernard Hopkins, Joe Frazier, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Jeff Chandler, all Philly greats. They are the ones who set the example. They started it. I’m following them. They set the standard of the modern Philly fighter. In all due respect to them, I want to take things to the next level. I want to one day have my own statue in Philly. That’s how big I’m trying to be. That’s how I want to do it.
you never know who is watching you. But I’m the same. I don’t get too high or too low. I’m me. Ring: What don’t the fans know about you that you feel comfortable sharing? JE: I’m getting more into fishing. I’m going deep-sea fishing before my next training camp starts. My brothers got me into fishing. I play basketball here and there. I’m the best player in the gym – by far. (laughs) I have been going to the studio for 10 years rapping a little. I have a thousand songs and I may drop one or two songs. Wait and see. I’m looking to come out with rebranding. Ring: Why hasn’t stardom changed you? JE: That’s because of my mom and dad. My parents are special people. They are loving, caring people who are the reason I am who I am today. They both care more about others than they do about themselves. I remember the times my father would train poor kids in the neighborhood for free. He wouldn’t charge them a penny. Saying I’m like him is a great compliment. I just don’t yell as much as he does when I’m training my fighters. (laughs)
probably be one anyway. (laughs) If I do come back as a trainer, I’ll only train female fighters because they listen more than men. (laughs) I work with a few women now. I want to keep my foot in the boxing game as a trainer or as a promoter. The fighters I work with better love the sport. Like I said earlier, I know fighters, you know fighters who do it for a dollar. I do it because I love boxing. I happen to get paid well for it. I love beating people up. I love knocking people out. Of course you do it for the money; you have to make ends meet. But it’s something
Ring: You have an engaging, approachable personality that you rarely show publicly. We’re seeing more of your personality now. Why are we seeing that? JE: I get it. I didn’t like doing interviews in the past. Yeah, call me old school. I trained, I fought, I won, I went home. Put me in the ring, I’ll get them out. But my fans mean everything to me, and they should get to know me better. They support me, and I owe them good fights and for them to see that side of me. I’m getting more comfortable doing interviews. I want to show them I’m a chill guy, a personable guy, things like that. I know I have to sell myself. I have always been comfortable with the spotlight. I’ve never turned down a selfie or an autograph to a kid. But I won’t put on an act. I’m not the type who will scream and wave his arms at a press conference to build attention for a fight. I am who I am. I don’t get too carried away when celebrities come up to see me. It’s crazy,
Boots defeated Eimantas Stanionis for the Ring championship at 147.
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