Photo: Chris Cozzone |
IBF super
featherweight champion Robbie Peden spoke to Fightnews.com from
his training camp in hot, humid St. Petersburg, Florida, where
he is preparing to face WBC 130lb. champion Marco Antonio Barrera
on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Peden (25-2, 14
KOs), who is making the first defense of his IBF crown, has a
long history with Barrera, having helped "The Baby-faced
Assassin" prepare for numerous fights. However, that hasn't
happened since Peden broke Barrera's rib in February 2002, causing
Barrera to postpone his second fight with Erik Morales for three
months. Peden says he and Barrera are still friends, however on
September 17 he says Barrera "will be my enemy for 36 minutes."
Team Peden will break camp on September 11th and head to Los Angeles
for a press event, then it's on to Las Vegas for fight week.
Here's what
the IBF champion had to say.
You're
no stranger to Barrera...
Yeah, he's a good friend and we had about three or four camps,
maybe five camps together. I used to fight southpaw for him for
the Hamed fight. I got him ready for that fight. I got him ready
for a few fights. The Jesus Salud fight, Morales 2 and one other
fight.
Do you think all this experience with him will be a big
advantage for him in this fight?
I really think that it will be an advantage and a disadvantage
for both of us, we know what to expect. I have to be in tremendous
shape to last twelve rounds and he does too.
Of course, you were involved in the famous sparring event
when you broke his rib, forcing a postponement of the second Morales
fight.
I'm not sure it was broken, but I know he was pretty
badly bruised. It actually happened halfway through the round
and he finished with the rest of the round and said that was enough.
You can tell that he's a very strong guy mentally and really he
puts a poker face on. I didn't even know that he was hurt.
Do you think that that's a weakness that he has, you might
go to the body and hurt him again?
I think that both of us are strong body punchers and
we'll be in perfect shape to last the rounds. I think the advantage
I have over him is that he's been in a lot more wars than I have.
That's an advantage and that's not disrespecting him. He's a legend,
he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Do you think that he might be a little long in the tooth
now?
He could be. People would think that, but the way I'm preparing,
I'm preparing for the Marco Barrera of the 122-pound division
and 126-pound division. The guy who was young, vibrant but he
feels like he's a prospect coming up now and he's training like
that so, I've got to read into what he says and believe him because
he's an honest guy and he always gives the fans what they want
and that's a war.
Have you sparred with him since you broke his rib?
No. We avoided it after that.
Do
you consider yourself to be friends with Barrera?
We're friends, I actually, at the press conference that they had
in Vegas at the Hopkins-Taylor fight, I had the pleasure of meeting
his mom. She's a really, really nice lady....[Barrera] will be
my enemy for 36 minutes.
Is it hard to get into the ring with someone you're friendly
with and then have to fight him?
No, not really. The way I see it, he's been for four or five years
one of the best damn pound-for-pound fighters in the last decade.
He got four losses out of 59 fights. He's definitely a legend.
I want my turn. I want to be in the position and have the respect
that he's got, so for me to do that, I'm going to beat him.
Have you thought about any future fights after this?
Barrera is the deal, the [biggest fight] of my career. This puts
me into the picture, this puts me into the big money fights.
You're definitely in the division for big fights.
Like the third, fourth or fifth pound-per-pound fighters are Barrera,
Morales and Pacquiao, all 130-pounders. Then you have myself,
you have Barrios, the kid from Venezuela, Mosquera, and Juan Manuel
Marquez coming up, there's a lot of good fights, Chavez, Hernandez,
there are ten fights there that could fight anybody and that would
give the public what they want, a war!
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