This Thursday, May 2nd, Thompson Boxing Promotions and Banner Promotions will present a special night of boxing that will emanate from Corona, California and be televised on ESPN “Friday Night Fights”. The special edition of boxing will feature Riverside’s Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (18-3, 7KOs) versus South Korea’s Ji-Hoon “The Volcano” Kim (24-8, 18KOs) in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.
Herrera, whose record recently suffered two losses in a row, looks to set the record straight as it relates to his boxing abilities.
Read below to see what Mauricio Herrera had to say about his upcoming match against Ji-Hoon Kim.
Q: How has training been going?
A: Training has been going well. Before this fight was offered to me I was in decent shape. I had been staying in the gym and sparring with Omar Figueroa and Timothy Bradley, so I was really well conditioned to start training for a fight.
Q: How has camp been going for this particular fight?
A: I am doing really good in my training camp. I have been sparring a lot with different fighters and mixing it up with all of them. A couple of my sparring partners have been Hector Serrano and Freddy Hernandez.
Q: What have you done differently in training to prepare for Kim?
A: I have been using my basic style in training that has been working for me. In my last two fights I was listening to too many people in the gym. Everyone pushed me to be more aggressive and hit harder. But it wasn’t me. I gave it a try and it didn’t work. The one thing I am doing different from my last two training camps is that I am fighting the way I know how, using my boxing ability, using my jab a lot more and making sure that I don’t get hit as much.
Q: You are coming off two losses. Where do you see your career at this point? What does this fight mean to you?
A: This fight means a lot to me. I have a lot on the line. I have to win impressively against Kim, who is a solid opponent, in order to remain on the networks.
Q: If you do well against Kim who would you like to fight next in your division?
A: I never look ahead of my opponents but if all turns out well I would love to fight against Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado (again) , Adrien Broner or Danny Garcia. They may choose me as a tune up fight but I would take that as my opportunity and be ready.
Q: You went professional at the age of 27. Why begin your career so late in the game?
A: My original trainer, Rudy Garavito, was like a father figure to me and my brother, we were very close. He took care of us very well but was so attached to us that he didn’t want to see us get hurt so he would hold us back from us going pro. Although I felt bad about it, I finally had to turn away from him, it was either that or turn old and don’t go pro.
A while back ago, I ran into an acquaintance who also trained with Garavito. He was watching a boxing match and happily commenting about how he had fought some of those fighters that went on to be professionals. At that moment I knew that I wouldn’t be content with just the experience of being an amateur and that no matter how much I respected Garavito, if I remained with him I knew that would be my fate.
