Bundrage returns Friday!
“Come Friday you will see K9 again.
The dog is coming, arh arh arh!”

March 26, 2008

By Antonio Castro

Cornelius “K9” Bundrage (27-3, 16 KOs) will look to make it back to back weeks of upsets for participants of the hit reality show “The Contender” when he faces former IBF jr. middleweight titlist Kassim “The Dream” Ouma (25-4-1, 15 KOs) during this week’s ESPN2 Friday Night Fights at the Seneca Allegheny Casino and Hotel in Salamanca, NY.

During last week’s FNF telecast, season three alum Brian Vera pulled off a shocking TKO victory over the previously unbeaten Andy Lee.

Bundrage had mixed feelings about the outcome.

“I’m with The Contenders, but Andy Lee is a stable mate. That fight reminded me of the Mike Tyson/Buster Douglass fight. I was shocked. You’ve gotta be prepared to fight everybody the same. You have to look at every fight as a championship fight,” Bundrage stated last weekend on the KNR2 Boxing show.

That is the approach Bundrage is taking for his battle with Ouma. After only having 3 weeks to prepare for his last fight on ESPN2, Bundrage has had a full camp to prepare for Ouma. “I look at this as a big stepping-stone. I’ve had enough time to train. There are no excuses. May the best man win,” Bundrage confidently said.

Bundrage was stopped by rising contender Joel Julio in the eighth round the last time he was showcased on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. He asserts that he took that fight on short notice and regrets the decision.

“I shouldn’t have taken the (Julio) fight on three weeks’ notice. I wasn’t even training. I was about to eat pizza with my family when they called me. People say that you can play basketball, but you can’t play boxing, but it’s hard not to. People will call you out of the blue and ask if you want to take such and such fight. It’s hard to say no when you come from the ghetto and don’t have a lot,” explained Bundrage.

With Ouma being a former titlist, he will be the biggest name that Bundrage has fought.

But on the other side of the ring, Ouma has lost back to back fights, thus will be looking to get back into the win column and into the Top Ten.

“K-9” knows that Friday is the time to attack!

“Kassim Ouma has a big name,” declares Bundrage. “He’s a former champion. That’s why I took this fight. I’ve had enough time to train, and that is what I’ve always wanted. I have an opportunity to show that I can do the things that other people can do, and that I’m a good fighter.”

Bundrage is not taking Ouma lightly. “Just because he’s lost his last two fights doesn’t mean that he’s not one of the best. I’m taking this fight serious. I had to lose 35 pounds in 3 weeks for my last fight on ESPN. I was K8 in there, but come Friday you will see K9 again. The dog is coming. ARH! ARH! ARH!”

There is also a misconception that Bundrage is just a guy with a lot of muscles but not a lot of boxing ability. He would like to put that to rest as well. “I want people to see that I’m not just a guy with muscles. I’ve got a lot of skills also and you’re going to see that, along with the muscles on Friday,” said Bundrage.

A win by Bundrage could line him up with some of the other big names in the division. With Cory Spinks defending the IBF title against Verno Phillips on Thursday, Bundrage will be watching closely. “I would love to fight the winner of Spinks-Phillips. I just want to fight the best in the world. I don’t want to fight guys that are up and coming.”

Having won four of his last five bouts, a victory Friday night would put Bundrage in a good position to take on more of the best in the division.

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