By Lee Collier
Top American prospect Tim Coleman, 16-1-1 (4 early), has spent the last few months in England training with his new coach, Lee Beard, but come December the 3rd US fight fans will see Coleman return to his homeland to take on Mike Arnaoutis, 22-3-2 (10 early), in a fight for the vacant USBA light welterweight championship that is being broadcast on the Versus Network.
For Coleman, 25, it will be his first title fight and a big step up in level in taking on the Greek born Arnaoutis, 30, who has shared the ring with the likes of Kendall Holt, Ricardo Torres, Juan Urango and Victor Ortiz.
Boxingscene.com caught up with Coleman during his training camp in Manchester to talk about his upcoming fight.
“I am fighting Mike Arnaoutis, he’s a tough veteran, and has faced the likes of Kendall Holt, Ricardo Torres, and Juan Urango”, revealed Coleman, “it’s a big step up, he’s going to be the first real name I have on my record. I’m not feeling any pressure, I don’t care who you put in front of me - if I am fighting them I am confident I can beat them.”
There is no doubt that Arnaoutis has the advantage in experience; Coleman, however, feels he has Arnaoutis worked out.
“There is a lot of footage of Arnaoutis on Youtube and my manager has sent a couple of tapes. Arnaoutis has a European type style, straight up, comes in on straight lines, they label him to be a boxer but I don’t really think so. His last fight he was really timid standing off so I’m going to use a lot of lateral movement, throw lots of jabs and lots of punches, and if the worst comes to the worst I’m going to turn it into a straight fight,” declared Coleman.
“It’s going to be a good fight. I’ve trained hard, and have been out here with Lee for several months,” revealed Coleman. “We’ve been out to California training at the Wild Card gym and I had another opponent who pulled out so I’ve just been helping Matthew [Hatton] for his fight. Then I got the call for Arnaoutis so I took the fight. It is a great opportunity for me to move up the rankings.
“I’m not nervous, I’ve put the hard work in the gym had a lot of sparring with world champions and former world champions whilst growing up so I feel I have the experience to compete on this level. It’s my time to shine.”
Coleman’s first involvement with the Hatton’s was when he was used as a sparring partner for Ricky Hatton’s fight with Paulie Malignaggi. Since then the fighter has switched full time to trainer Lee Beard and so far it is two wins out of two fights for the new team, who are based in Manchester.
“I train with Lee [Beard] so I train wherever Lee is. If he is training someone over in the States then that’s where I’ll be. I think Lee is one of the top trainers in the world, and I’ve been around some of the top coaches: Freddie Roach, Floyd Mayweather Sr, Roger Mayweather and Don House. In my opinion Lee is one of the top guys in the world and the top in Britain, wherever he goes I’ll follow for sure,” promised Coleman.
During Coleman’s short career, we have seen him fight from 140lbs all the way up to 154lbs. His one loss was to another top prospect, James De La Rosa, at welterweight. The only other blemish on his record is a draw against Martinus Clay at light middleweight, although he beat Clay in a rematch at welterweight. Did fighting for a belt in the 140lb weight category state Coleman’s future intentions?
“I’ve fought at welterweight, at light middleweight, I’m a prizefighter and I’ll fight wherever a cheque is. It doesn’t matter what weight a fight is at, I’ll take the fight,” explained Coleman.
“I had one loss to De La Rosa and I realised as I’m only 5’6” it would be better for me to stay at 140lbs. Just living and training and coming over to England has showed me that you Brits are ahead of some of us Americans when it comes to strengthening and conditioning. I come here to the gym and work hard everyday so making weight isn’t a problem. I walk around at 154lbs, and I slide into weight gradually and the week of the fight I’m probably 2kg out, so making 140lbs will be no problem.”
On meeting the likable Coleman, one thing that shines through is the self-belief and confidence he has in his ability.
“I feel I can become a world champion. I wasn’t the best amateur and I always had more of a pro style, even as a kid I got told I’d be a good pro by people like Floyd Mayweather Sr and Kevin Kelley. I feel I can go as far as I want to go in this sport, as long as I stay dedicated and train as hard as I do then I don’t see any limits as to how far I can go.”
