By Ryan Burton
Renown St. Louis trainer Kevin Cunningham talks to BoxingScene.com about Devon Alexander's training camp and about fight strategies for his upcoming junior welterweight unification clash with Juan Urango. Cunningham, a former policeman is confident that Alexander will come out with the victory and doesn't see anything really special about Urango other than that he can punch hard. See what else Devon Alexander "The Great's" trainer had to say in this exclusive interview.
BoxingScene.com: Give us your thoughts on finishing up the Las Vegas training camp.
Kevin Cunningham: Well we had a tremendous training camp. It was one of the best training camps I have ever had. I have had training camps in Vegas before but this was Devon's first training camp that was his own. This was his first training camp out there that was totally focused on him. Cory (Spinks) has had several training camps in Vegas and Devon has trained in Vegas but this was the first that was totally focused on him. To train in Vegas and run at Mount Charleston, it was perfect to get him ready for the fight.
BoxingScene.com: What was it like to stay at the house Mike Tyson stayed at for his Las Vegas training camps?
Kevin Cunningham: It was great. This is a house that Don King owns and it is the house Tyson used to stay in when he was a 21 year old champion. We called it the house of greatness and hopefully it gives Devon that much more inspiration to do some great things.
BoxingScene.com: Originally this fight was scheduled to be in Las Vegas and then the venue was changed to The Mohegan Sun in Conneticut. Do you look at that as a plus to help expand Devon's fan base out east?
Kevin Cunningham: I like the idea of fighting on the east coast. We would have loved to have fought in Vegas but I like the idea of fighting on the east coast as well. The east coast has some of the greatest boxing fans in the world plus with us training out in Vegas and running at 8000 feet above sea level at Mount Charleston and then coming over here where everything is at sea level, Devon could go 20 rounds if he had to. He is lighting fast and could go non stop. He is in excellent condition and I think the training at altitude will help him tremendously.
BoxingScene.com: I assume that if all goes as planned and you unify the titles that Vegas is a place you guys would like to fight at in the future since most of the mega fights are held there.
Kevin Cunningham: Oh yeah most definitely. If you want to be king you have to play Vegas.
BoxingScene.com: We know Juan Urango isn't the quickest guy out there but he has heavy hands. What is the key to not getting caught by one of his bombs?
Kevin Cunningham: The key to not getting caught by the big shot and the clean shot is for Devon to stay focused and stick to the game plan. Pretty much use angles and use the rhythm and timing of what we are trying to do. Just execute the game plan. I don't want to elaborate too much on what we are going to do and how we are going to do it right now. We have our ways of keeping him from landing big shots and basically us putting our hands on him and keeping him from putting his hands on Devon. We want most of Urango's shots to go in the air and Devon will be getting his off clean.
BoxingScene.com: Without going too deep into the game plan are you guys looking to start fast or to feel out Urango for a round or two?
Kevin Cunningham: Devon is not in the feel out business. Devon believes in going out and establishing himself as the superior guy immediately. He is going to go out and let Urango know that he is the boss. He is going to dictate the tempo and dictate the way that this fight is going to go. He is going to go out and establish that immediately.
BoxingScene.com: Did you work on doing anything different that Urango probably hasn't seen Devon do on the tapes he has surely studied?
Kevin Cunningham: The thing here is Devon is going to be in range and out of range. What I mean by that is Devon is going to be in Devon's range but out of Urango's range. We are not going to be standing in front of Urango but we are going to use subtle movement. Just enough movement because we are planning on dishing out a lot of punishment Saturday night.
BoxingScene.com: Is there anything at all that you are concerned about that Urango can do? Have you told Devon to look out for anything in particular?
Kevin Cunningham: Not really. The fact of the matter is Urango is always in great shape and he is a strong fighter. He has a pretty good punch but there is nothing special about him. We know what we are dealing with and we are just going to execute our game plan on how we feel best to deal with that particular opponent. I don't see anything abnormal or special about Devon that Devon should be especially looking out for. We put a game plan in place and we are going to go out and execute it. He is throwing looping left hands and wide right hooks. He is opening up on his shots and he is coming forward trying to wear you down. Basically that is what I see in him. What they are hoping for is that they apply continuous pressure and that Devon wears down and then slows down and they can execute what they are trying to do.
BoxingScene.com: What are the fans going to say Saturday night?
Kevin Cunningham: I think on Saturday night the fans will really get a chance to see how talented this kid is and really see that he is truly if not the best 140 pounder in the world then one of the best 140 pounders in the world.
