By Rick Reeno
On September 17, live on pay-per-view, two of the top super featherweights in the world will go to war. WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera will face the IBF super featherweight champion Robbie "The Bomber" Peden in unification showdown. Most American boxing fans remember Robbie Peden's spectacular one-punch 5th round knockout over Nate Campbell on Fox Sports Net.
In the fifth round, Campbell had Peden in serious trouble from a vicious bodyshot that was followed by an uppercut. For reasons unknown, Campbell dropped his hands and dared Peden to take a shot at his chin. Peden obliged the request and one left hook put Campbell to sleep at 2.27 of the 5th round. In a rematch which took place on Februaury 23, 2005, almost a year, Peden stopped Campbell in 8 rounds and became the second Australian Aboriginal world boxing champion in 34 years as he captured the IBF super featherweight title.
BoxingScene recently sat down with Peden to discuss his career, the upcoming showdown with Barrera, his loss to Juan Manuel Marquez and much more.
BoxingScene.com: Robbie, I know that you are training for the fight of your life. How is training camp going?
Robbie Peden: It's going very well. I have some really tough world class sparring partners getting me ready for the fight. It is the biggest fight for me against a great champion in a big event. Marco Antonio Barrera is a great fighter and I'm getting myself prepared for a very exciting fight.
BoxingScene.com: For those who don't know much about your amateur background, tell the readers a little about your career before you turned professional.
Robbie Peden: I was a 5-time national amateur champion, my amateur record was 130-15. I won the 1994 Commonwealth Games. I won the 1995 and 1996 Liverpool Cup. I represented Australia in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games. I believe I made it to the quarter finals of both Olympic events. I was signed up with Main Events, that didn't work out. I hooked up with Joe Goossen when he was with America Presents and followed Joe when he went over to Goossen-Tutor.
BoxingScene.com: The low point of your career was when you lost a 10 round bout to Juan Manuel Marquez by way of technical knockout in 2002 (Peden was vomiting in the corner). Did you ever think that you would get yourself back in such a big way, main event fight against one of the best fighters in the world on pay-per-view?
Robbie Peden: Yes, I did. I always knew that I was one of best fighter in the world and I would get myself back up to this point. A lot of people don't know, but I caught a bug while training for the Marquez fight and didn't want to cancel the fight because it was an IBF eliminator for a title shot. I was not 100% for the fight. I take nothing away from Juan Manuel Marquez, he is a great fighter and a great champion. He was the better man that night. If we had a rematch it would have to be at 130 pounds, the rematch wouldn't be at 126.
BoxingScene.com: Was there ever serious talk of a rematch?
Robbie Peden: I don't think I was ever in a position for that to happen.
BoxingScene.com: What happened in the decision loss to John Brown, a fight where you were heavily favored by most to win?
Robbie Peden: It was a tough fight. I hurt my wrist before the fight and in the 4th round I tore my right rotator cuff. I fought the rest of the fight with one hand and finished the fight. At the end, he thought he won, I thought I won. I thought I won the fight, but the judges gave it to him. I'm not making any excuses, he beat me fair and square.
BoxingScene.com: You brought your career back with hard fought wins. You scored a knockout victory over Lamont Pearson and two knockout victories over the always tough Nate Campbell.
Robbie Peden: They were big wins for me, Nate Campbell is a very tough fighter with a difficult style.
BoxingScene.com: How do you see the Barrera fight playing out?
Robbie Peden: I don't know, it's really hard to say. I'm going in to do my best and Barrera is going to do his best. I'm coming to win the fight and unify the titles.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think the Barrera camp might possibly be overlooking you or do you hope they are overlooking you?
Robbie Peden: No, I don't think they are. Marco is veteran, he's been doing this for many years. Me and Barrera sparred many times in the gym. I helped prepare him for some of his big fights like (Prince Naseem) Hamed. He knows how tough I am. He saw me fight, he saw me spar against other fighters in the gym. He's going to be very prepared for this fight.
BoxingScene.com: Not to overlook Barrera, but should you get past this fight, do you want to unify the division or possibly move up for bigger game?
Robbie Peden: I think there are more than enough great fighters in the division for me to stay here for a bit. I have a big fight in front of me so I don't want to look too far ahead. I will fight whoever Dan Goossen tells me to fight. If Dan told me tomorrow to fight James Toney, then I would start getting ready to fight James Toney.
BoxingScene.com: I'm not sure if James will be able to make weight.
Robbie Peden: (laughing) I may have to eat a couple of steaks and go up to meet him.
BoxingScene.com: You would be better than most to answer this question. Why do you think it is that so many foreign fighters never come to America? What causes so much hesitation?
Robbie Peden: Some guys like to a be a big fish in a small pond. The promoters and managers know what their fighters can do, some of them won't let their fighters come over. They want to protect their cash-cow. I think the best fighters, the big networks, the big shows, are in America. I'm always ready to take the big challenge and fight anywhere.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think it hurts a fighter's career when they never cross over to America? We never saw guys like Darius Michalczewski or Sven Ottke make the trip.
Robbie Peden: Yes and no. I knew Sven Ottke in the amateurs. You have to look at it from the opinion of a fan and a fighter. It's easy as a fan to say that a fighter never came to America to fight. Ottke had a great career, retired undefeated and made millions. He must of did something right.
BoxingScene.com: What would you like to say in closing to the fans?
Robbie Peden: I want to thank all of the fans that support me. I hope they watch me fight Marco Antonio Barrera on September 17, it's going to be a great fight. I always have exciting fights and give a great effort every single time. I'm going to defeat Barrera and add the WBC super featherweight title.