Exclusive Boxing Interview: Monte Barrett

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

You wouldn’t know by reading all the boxing press in the media, but there is actually another fight taking place besides the Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz title bout on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. With all the focus on Pacquiao, it may be easy to overlook that two heavyweights will meet for a crossroads fight that can make or break either fighter’s career.

Veteran Monte Barrett, 33-6 (19), has been put in place as a tough “opponent” to prospect Tye Fields, 41-1 (37). Fields’ promoter Bob Arum feels the giant could be the next great American heavyweight and is looking forward to Fields’ step up in competition on Saturday, which could propel him into contender status with an impressive win.

The thirty-seven year-old Barrett doesn’t quite see it the same way as Arum and believes Fields is an “opponent” for him with an impressive victory providing him more opportunities in his future.

Although Fields may have a better record on paper, there is no comparison to the level of fighters that Barrett has faced through his career. Barrett has fought current and past champions such as Wladimir Klitschko, Hasim Rahman and Nicolay Valuev.

SaddoBoxing had the pleasure to speak with Monte Barrett to discuss his career and his upcoming bout with Fields.

SaddoBoxing: Hi Monte, how was your training camp?

Monte Barrett: Training camp was good, I broke camp and now I’m just waiting for the big show.

SB: Did you work on anything specific during camp?

MB: Yes, I worked on a lot of specific things. Tye Fields is just an ordinary fighter, a big strong guy who is relentless throughout the whole fight. I worked on some of my weak points to strengthen up; I’m in a good place right now as far as training and as far as where I see myself after this fight, he is a good opponent for me.

SB: I assume you have had the opportunity to see some of his fights, what do you think of his style?

MB: I actually met Tye Fields a couple of times, he’s a nice guy. His trainer Jesse Reid has been talking the fight for him. I once used Reid as a trainer, I respect his ability to get a fighter ready but there is no way shape or form he is going to hype Fields to get him to do something different than he is already doing.

I have seen every aspect of what Fields can do in all thirty-nine of my fights in bigger and smaller amounts. In looking at the tapes of Fields, he starts round one and ends round ten in the same way, in second and third gear. He is very consistent at what he does in the ring.

SB: Fields seems to have a lot of people do the talking for him; his promoter Bob Arum has been very verbal in hyping him as the next great heavyweight.

MB: I’m not an opponent for Tye Fields; he is an opponent for me. I’m at the point in my career where I have had 39 fights; how many have Fields actually fought? He hasn’t faced probably ten percent of the opposition that I have faced The only thing I can say is that on June 28 I will be victorious and it will be in good fashion, it’s going to be better than my win over Dominick Guinn. I’m so focused and I do good against south paws, I really do; I have two of the best punches against southpaws, a right hand and a left hook.

SB: Not that you are looking past the fight but what would be your plans after this victory? What kind of direction do you see your career going after this fight?

MB: I have two fights that I have my eyes on, Sam Peter and David Haye. I’m very interested in those two fights. After I win this fight I will see how I can get myself in the position as far as any one of those guys interested in fighting me.

SB: In the past few years you have had some difficult points in your career; when you faced Hasim Rahman back in 2005, I believe you were a replacement for Vitali Klitschko who pulled out due to an injury; some of the media criticized the fight due to lack of activity because the two of you were friends; in your own words explain what happened during the fight?

MB: I prepared well for the fight. First of all, I had some personal problems that I brought to the fight with me. Second, it didn’t have anything to do with Rahman and I being friends because me and Dominick Guinn are friends and I gave him his ass. I was trying to hurt Rahman and I’m pretty sure he was trying to hurt me.

The third thing was that three weeks before the fight Don King gave Rahman half a million dollars, that changes the whole ball game. Its financial interest, now the ball has switched, King wanted to get back with Rahman to get him out of his contract with James Prince. It threw so many more dynamics into the situation and gave him interest in Rahman winning.

I don’t want to take anything away from Rahman; I really beat myself in that fight. The fight was there for me to take but I just didn’t execute. I love Rahman and his family. Boxing is the only sport that we try to kill each other than at the end we embrace each other with love.

SB: You mentioned that you brought some personal problems into the fight with you; in those few years since the Rahman fight you were fighting about once a year, did your personal problems contribute to your inactivity?

MB: Well that was business. Personal was meaning I had some situations with my sister the day of the fight. Her boyfriend had stabbed her, I wasn’t supposed to find out until after the fight but I found out before the fight. I also had some quote, un-quote [I hate to say that] baby mama drama the day of the fight. It was a little raggly bringing that situation to the fight but I live and I learn.

I have had four fights with Don King and how many did I win? I was 1 and 3 with him. Now that I’m not under his umbrella I feel like I can breathe. I’ve had two knockout victories since then, I redeemed myself against Cliff Couser and I stopped Damon Reed in the second round and I’m going to do the same thing with Tye Fields. These guys are ordinary fighters, I train hard, and I put a lot into it. I’m an older guy that’s been around the block, I’m much wiser and I’m still beating on these twenty year olds.

SB: One of your fights with Don King was when you had a title shot against Nicolay Valuev; I remember covering that fight ringside and you really never gave up during the fight, but you looked exhausted when your trainer James Bashir jumped into the ring to stop the fight, were you injured during the bout?

MB: I didn’t realize it at the time but it was the first time I ever had a concussion. I went to the emergency room and they checked me in overnight and said I had eight knots on my head. Around the sixth or seventh round I was just fighting on instincts at that point.

I was off for fourteen months. Don King offered me little money for a title fight, I had to take it, I had my back up against the wall, robbing Peter to pay Paul. I went into camp for eight weeks after being off for fourteen months of not knowing when I was going to fight again. I fit everything into one training camp.

This time around I’m staying busy, I had two fights in the last four or five months, just staying busy in the gym boxing these amateurs that are hungry, they don’t care about your name, fighting the pros, just staying busy and being a gym rat again.

SB: What was it like facing someone the size of Valuev?

MB: Valuev is a good fighter, he’s got good balance, and he’s a good basic fighter. It really wasn’t anything fighting him, I don’t look at size. I had spent a lot of time with him on the HBO promotional tour. I never looked at his size as overwhelming; I just looked at him as opposition. I’m a small heavyweight; nine times out of ten most of the guys I fight are bigger than me.

SB: In your last fight under Don King, you met Cliff Couser for the first time and were stopped in the second round…

MB: …it was a second round TKO. It was Cliff Couser’s night. I don’t make any excuses, he caught me and I wasn’t completely ready. I was just going through the motions looking for the bigger fight. I looked right past Cliff Couser. I think he is under ordinary, he’s less than zero, he’s a negative. It’s like Angelo Dundee once said, if you get stopped in the first and second round that doesn’t even count.

I got stopped in the second round, he caught me when I was switching to an overhand right and kind of buckled me and then he caught me with a left hook and dropped me. I made it to the corner and had sprained my knee when I got dropped. In the second round we were trading inside but my legs were shaky and the referee stopped the fight. You have to take the good with the bad, it was his night, I don’t make any excuses he deserved that, he got it and I redeemed myself in the rematch.

SB: You have already had more ring activity in a few months with DiBella Entertainment than you had with Don King; is it more the promoters or is there any other reason that makes it difficult to get fights?

MB: DiBella is doing what he has to do; I think all the promoters are the same. I went with King because DiBella couldn’t get me fights before. After the Dominick Guinn fight I was off for eleven months. It’s the draw of the straw, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. I’m being lucky right now. I’m just fortunate to be getting these opportunities Just in 2004 when I had one of my biggest wins against Dominick Guinn, I didn’t fight for eleven months so I signed with King, so it’s like full circle again.

SB: Looking at this upcoming weekend do you care to offer any predictions for the fight?

MB: I’m in the hurt business; I’m trying to hurt anyone I get in the ring with. The only thing I do promise is that I’m going to be victorious. I do promise that Tye Fields will get exposed. I do promise that he will lose. I do promise that Jesse Reid will apologize to me and say Monte, you are a better fighter than I thought you were.

SB: I know that you have a lot of local support here in New York, I know a lot of people are routing for you, is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

MB: For all my fans all over the world, I appreciate everybody for just sticking in my corner. I appreciate not just my fans but I appreciate boxing fans because they make the world go around for us fighters. I appreciate the reporters, fans and media who keep the excitement going.

The guessing of who is going to do what and who is going to do what to who. I love it all, I love my job and I love everything that comes with it, the good, the bad, the ugly. To my fans I just want to say thanks, keep supporting boxing, keep supporting me. I have a couple more years to go in this game, I’m going to retire from boxing, boxing is not going to retire me and I plan on going out on top.

SB: There is just one more question I have to ask, a few years back I remember seeing you win a trip to China on “The Price Is Right”; how was your trip?

MB: Oh the trip was beautiful (laughing); my wife and I went for two weeks. I didn’t win the Showcase Showdown but it was a great experience I got a chance to meet Bob Barker before he retired. I was his biggest fan since I was a little kid, watching the show with my grandmother. My wife had surprised me when we went out there after Zab Judah fought Cory Spinks after their first fight, we had drove out there, we had a good time.

SB: On behalf of SaddoBoxing, I appreciate your time and wish you the best of luck on Saturday.

MB: Thank you, you have my number, stay in touch.