Prince Badi: A little more info about jones jr's latest opponent

www.fightnews.com

May 30, 2006

By Rick Scharmberg


Photo:Rick Scharmberg
Prince Badi Ajamu (25-2-1, 14 KOs), ranked #5 by the WBC, will face future hall-of-famer Roy Jones Jr. on July 29 at the Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho. In Ajamu, who is known as "The Boxing Prince", Jones will be facing a tough, credible opponent as he looks to return following three consecutive setbacks. Ajamu hails from Camden, NJ, but has cut his teeth in the gyms of Philadelphia, PA after turning pro on January 12, 2001. Prince has sparred with Bernard Hopkins, and was Antonio Tarver's chief sparring partner for Tarver's rematch with Glen Johnson. As a student of the game, Ajamu has followed the career of Roy Jones, and never thought he would be fighting him. "I've always been a fan of Roy's and I find it almost mystical that I'm now fighting somebody I've admired so much. I never thought I'd be fighting Jones. I thought I would be fighting Glen Johnson or Antonio Tarver instead," he said.

The doors started opening for Prince after he began training with Antonio Tarver prior to Tarver's successful rematch with Glen Johnson, which took place about a year ago, on June 8, 2005. What is interesting is the way he was selected to work with Tarver, which was a great opportunity for Ajamu. Prince won an impressive bout with Fred Moore on July 27, 2004, stopping Moore as soon as he had Moore in trouble in the tenth round. This performance did not go unnoticed by the Tarver camp. As Prince tells it, "I was told that Antonio Tarver requested me to come to camp with him for his rematch with Glen Johnson. I said all right, as long as the pay was there and that I could bring my trainer Denny Brown with me. They said they would get back to me. About 30 minutes later, they called and told me that my trainer could come.

"I became Antonio's chief sparring partner after they sent 3 other people home," continued Ajamu. Prince was self managed throughout his career, and was also a promotional free agent at the time. Unknown to Prince, his sessions with Tarver were being scrutinized by a man named Jim Rider, who would soon become Ajamu's manager.

According to Prince, Mr. Rider told him, "I watch everyone who boxes Antonio. When I was watching you, I wasn't able to tell who the champ was and who the sparring partner was." Rider and Prince went to dinner where they discussed Ajamu's career to that point, and his goals.

Things began to happen for the hard-working Prince, which, incidentally, is his real name. "Jim told me about a new promotional company, a kind of boxing alliance that was starting up," he said. Prince was referring to Silverhawk Boxing, an entity that would soon become a promotional force. Ajamu explained, "After talking to Jim, I went back home and spoke to Lou DiBella about signing with him. We had been talking before I went to Florida to work with Antonio. But they [Silverhawk and Rider Boxing] kept calling me. They flew me and my attorney out to Las Vegas, and we met with their attorneys. They gave me what I thought was a fair deal. They offered me a promotional deal with Silverhawk and a management deal. I made sure that I would still have control of the direction of my career, and the deal was made. I was the first fighter they signed, me and Stevie Johnston. Then they signed the Mitchell twins, Sherman "Tank" Williams, and William Guthrie."

When you work as hard as Prince Badi does, good things will eventually happen. Now he had a promoter and a manager who would get him the shot at Roy Jones. There was an added bonus to signing with Silverhawk Boxing. "Jim told me that Silverhawk was hiring Buddy McGirt to train all of their fighters," said Prince, who is as loyal as they come. "I told them I wouldn't push Denny (his longtime trainer Denny Brown) aside. I don't do business like that. They told me Denny could work with Buddy. They would pay Buddy, but I had to pay Denny, and that was cool with me."

According to Prince, the arrangement couldn't be better. "We all worked together for my last fight in Atlantic City (a TKO 10 win over Galen Brown.). It was nice not having to give my trainer up. It didn't make sense. It would be like a woman leaving you for someone else with more money. I have my integrity. The deal almost didn't come off because of that, but it worked out." It was those qualities, integrity, loyalty, and patience that kept Prince a free agent all this time. He didn't rush to sign a contract with a lesser company, a decision that has led many a fighter astray. Now he has the best of both worlds.

Prince is at the point in his career where a trainer like Buddy McGirt can make little suggestions to improve his game. No major adjustments are needed. He said, "I was in the gym shadow boxing up on my toes. Buddy saw me and started cheering me on, saying that I had some Ali in me. Then he put me on the heavy bag and said to get up on my toes and show him Ali. Then he told me to sit down on my punches. He got me to be meaner. During my bout with Olando Rivera, he said "Olando isn't stronger than you." He told me to throw the uppercut and we can go home early. In the next round, I threw that uppercut and the fight was over right then. It's the little things like that that help me."

Prince also got some help from his sparring sessions with Antonio Tarver, and the man Tarver will face next month, Bernard Hopkins. "He's threatening," said Ajamu of Traver. "He's a threat to anyone who steps in the ring with him, and not just Roy Jones. He beat Montell Griffin, knocked out Eric Harding, beat Glen Johnson. He's a serious guy and very underrated."

He also has an opinion of Bernard Hopkins, of course, who is ranked #2 by the WBC at light heavyweight and just three notches ahead of Ajamu. "I've been in the ring with both Bernard and Antonio. Bernard will do well against anyone he faces. I have great respect for both of those guys, and I can't pick one over the other," said Prince. "Bernard has always given me a certain look. One day he said that I was trying to pick his mind and studying him. Maybe he realized that I look up to him and Roy. I emulate those guys, and it's just a matter of time that I am on that level."

Should he get by Roy Jones, he would be in a position to fight Bernard Hopkins. Would he fight him? "Being the man that he is, he will keep the promise he made to his Mom about retiring. If he breaks that promise, I'd be glad to fight him," stated Prince.

There are also some experiences in the ring and out that helped shape and mold Prince into the fighter he is today. "I got hurt right before my fight with Greg Wright. It was on a Monday and the fight was on a Friday. I went running in freezing weather for about 25-30 minutes. My knee swelled up afterwards because I ran on concrete. I fought hurt that night and I shut him out. God saw me through that fight. I fought that fight on one leg. That fight told me what was inside me. I keep praying and working so that come July 29 the world can see what people like you have seen in me all along. That's the person I want to show up," said Prince.

On October 4, 2002, in his 15th pro fight, Ajamu experimented and dropped down to super middleweight (168 pounds) and faced Midwestern strong boy Anthony Bonsante, who was 20-3 at the time, and would become a future star on The Contender. In that fight, which took place in Dover, Delaware, Prince ended up fighting Bonsante's fight by brawling with him on the inside. The bout ended up in a disappointing draw. Prince took it well, and learned two things. First, with his sculpted physique and strength, he belongs at light heavyweight. Second, with superior hand speed and technique, he is the one who should be dictating how the fight is fought.

Immediately after the Bonsante bout, Prince handled the result with class. He admitted that he fought the wrong fight, and said that the draw was a fair verdict. It wasn't until four years later that Prince revealed the distractions that led up to the fight. He said, "The day before the fight my aunt put my baby brother, who is 12 and I love like a son I never had, on a bus home. He missed his stop and my aunt had no means to get him. The bus driver had no choice but to bring him to the police. I had to go home to Camden and get him and bring him to my sister. Then, my fight was supposed to be televised," Prince continued, "But the bouts kept switching around. I warmed up and cooled down several times, but our fight ended up being the last one of the night. I was disgusted with myself. My fight wasn't on TV and I got a draw because I was flat."

Two fights later, Ajamu got his televised fight, a 12 rounder against Rico Hoye in Hoye's hometown of Detroit with a minor title at stake. The bout was televised on Shobox. Ajamu floored Hoye early in the bout, but he inexplicitly went into a shell and lost a wide decision. Prince said, "I dropped him in the 2nd round. All of a sudden there was a melee in the crowd. My other brother, who is older, was in the crowd and was getting moved on. Here was Hoye getting an 8-count and I'm watching this go on. Once again I was distracted by something in my family. No excuses, but there was always something. I won't make excuses because they were setbacks. It was the same thing with Otis Grant. I hit him with a shot in the third round, and it looked like he didn't want to fight any more. The referee convinced him to go on and he ended up winning a majority decision in Canada. Those setbacks taught me when I see blood, to go and get it like I did in the Fred Moore bout. I told myself that it's not going to happen again. When I had him hurt I went after him."

There were other setbacks, like the time he tore up his calf muscle in a motorcycle wreck. That was nothing compared to two recent losses he suffered outside of the ring. First, his close friend and stable mate at Shuler's Gym in Philadelphia, Tybius Flowers, was murdered in Philadelphia. Flowers was assassinated for agreeing to help the prosecution in a murder case. As if that wasn't enough, another stable mate, Najai Turpin, who won viewer's hearts on The Contender, committed suicide. Prince describes the pain he felt as such, "Those were setbacks, man. I like to consider myself a Shuler's [Gym] guy. Najai and I sparred a lot. With Tybius, I felt a special closeness with him that he didn't show with others. That really took a chunk out of me. Also, I didn't want to see Buster [Percy Custis] in such pain and agony anymore. I miss their comradarie." Percy Custis was and is like a father figure to all of his fighters. Although Prince has new handlers, he remains close to Custis and other Shuler's Gym members such as Yusaf Mack.

Like the Bible says, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and Prince Badi Ajamu is the living proof. He places himself right up there with champions like Tarver, Jones and Hopkins. He said, "It feels great to be able to step up to the next level. I feel like it's been a long time coming. I've had no downtime in my career. Look at Tarver's record and then look at my record. I've had just as many fights as Antonio. I fought eleven times in my first year."

According to Prince, his career is going much better than even he expected, in spite of his setbacks. "Things have gone better than I planned. Silverhawk looked at my resume and saw how busy I was in my first year. I fought for regional titles wit no promoter. There are guys with 18-20 fights who never fought for any title with a promoter. They took that into consideration when they signed me. They gave me certain promotional rights of my own that I know others didn't get. Being able to have Denny Brown and Buddy McGirt is like a dream come true. They way everything came together to gel is something that doesn't happen every day. At this point it's a Godsend. Everything came together smoother than you can plan it.

Naturally, Prince won't give up his game plan for Roy Jones ("Whatever Buddy tells me to do, I'll do"), but he does have a trick up his sleeve. "I'm bringing Ray Berry to camp with me. When I fought Ray, in the first 3 or 4 rounds he did stuff Roy used to do. I found out later that Ray was one of the guys in Roy's camp for 7 years!" He added, "I expect my fight with Roy to have no dull moments, because once you start posing with him, he'll pot shot you to death."

Prince has set the following long term goals for himself. "I want to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world and become a real estate tycoon! I also want to lead a happy and beloved life."

In closing, Prince wanted to thank a personal friend who, until now, remained largely anonymous. "I thank my secret weapon behind the scenes, Walter Rosborough. God sent him to me. He's helped me out in many ways throughout my career. I talk to him every day. He always believed that I can do it."

:coolclick: Good read.

Jones is most likely going to lose this one...again...I hate to say it...but I believe that he will.

thanks wacko, clicked ya back

to be honest i know very little about this prince badi fighter...

im torn on jones jr....he needs to be beaten in order to realise he should give up, but then again i loved him in his prime and dont want to see him continue his run of defeats....

boxing is tough sometimes :-\

You'd think seeing that video of the G-Man would change his mind

got a dodgy message about karma there :-\ click ya later, wacks

jones sure as heck doesnt need the money, its the pride and ego playing its part now....

dangerous stuff

With the way RJ goes down at this late in the game, could he end up like Gerald McClellan if he were to fight the wrong guy? It seemed to me like the G-Man was fine before that 1 fight did him in, don't wanna see it happen to Roy :(

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Originally Posted by raleights

With the way RJ goes down at this late in the game, could he end up like Gerald McClellan if he were to fight the wrong guy? It seemed to me like the G-Man was fine before that 1 fight did him in, don't wanna see it happen to Roy :(

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:coolclick:

Let's even that score: +61/-61

Agreed 100%.

I'm a huge RJJ fan that get's boat loads of criticism from other members here because I don't want him to fight again...you just summed up the reason.

In all honesty...I felt that the Johnson KO was going to end in the same results.

Jones looked DOA to me after that lying there in the ring.

I'm ready for him to be done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by miles

got a dodgy message about karma there :-\ click ya later, wacks

jones sure as heck doesnt need the money, its the pride and ego playing its part now....

dangerous stuff

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after the 2 KO's he should have stuck with commentating....I wish him luck..and I'll be pulling for RJJ....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigragu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by miles

got a dodgy message about karma there :-\ click ya later, wacks

jones sure as heck doesnt need the money, its the pride and ego playing its part now....

dangerous stuff

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after the 2 KO's he should have stuck with commentating....I wish him luck..and I'll be pulling for RJJ....

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i will be too...but he should just enjoy retirement, no need to continue...

yeh i'l b pullin for him 2. He doesn't need 2 be goin out on 4 straight losses. But then again if he rolls back the years and puts on a dynamite performance i'l stil only believe he's winning to get knocked out again once he steps back up to the very top.

Actually the worse he fights the more we're aware of the fact he's waaaayyyyy past it, thus the losses to Tarver and Johnson have less impact if he could lose to a nobody like this. As much as I don't wanna see him fight at all much less get knocked out, the worse he looks now the better his legacy looks, considering SRL kept fighting past his prime being defeated by opposition that aren't even the beginning of a pimple on his ass. When people talk about SRL they refuse to mention the fights with Terris Norris and Hector Comacho because he was clearly past it. Same should go for RJ and Tarver/Johnson. Those losses are just as irrelevant as Norris/Comacho...

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Originally Posted by wacko3205

:coolclick: Good read.

Jones is most likely going to lose this one...again...I hate to say it...but I believe that he will.

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You disapoint me Wacko. You have very little faith in your favorite fighters. Perhaps I have too much faith sometimes, but I'd rather it be that way, than give up on my fighters any time they approach a reasonable challenge. This article paints Prince Badi Ajamu as being much better than he actually is. I have seen the guy fight at least 2 or 3 times. He is like a LH Jameel Mccline. He is very unsure of himself, inactive, and mediocre really. A 39 year old journeyman was outboxing and outworking him b4 Ajamu finally caught up to him and TKO'd him in the 9th or 10th. Roy Jones is very capable of defeating this guy and ending his career on a win. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wacko3205

:coolclick: Good read.

Jones is most likely going to lose this one...again...I hate to say it...but I believe that he will.

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Ill admit...jones has fallen far from what he use to be but i dont think he will lose to this bloke. This seems to be more of a confidence fight for him so im guessing they know roy can beat him easily. I hope he retires if he beats him and if he loses...i hope he retires.

Does anyone have any pics of this guy? I'm trying to think if I have seen him fight before.

What do the critics say about Roy if he wins???I sincerely don't know,were does he go after that and who does he fight??