DonYil Livingston Fights Thomas Haines on November 5

By Ryan Maquiñana

Middleweight prospect DonYil Livingston looks to continue his undefeated streak on Nov. 5 against Thomas Haines at Thunder Valley Casino in Rocklin, Calif.

In a battle of unbeaten 160-pounders, Livingston (6-0-1, 3 KOs), from Palmdale, Calif., took a unanimous decision over Kurtiss Colvin on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson undercard two Saturdays ago.

Now the 27-year-old Livingston travels to the Sacramento area to take on Haines (5-9, 3 KOs) of Vallejo, Calif., who took Tyrell Hendrix the distance last month in a six-round unanimous decision defeat.

BoxingScene spoke with Livingston on his latest victory and his goals to close the year.

ON THE WIN OVER KURTISS COLVIN:

“Especially after my last fight, coming off a draw, I knew I really had to make a statement.  Being that it was two undefeated prospects, that someone’s ‘O’ had to go, it’s a fight that could make you or break you.  Colvin was 6-0 with five knockouts, and he was strong.  With the stage as it was, it was awesome to showcase my skills and come out with the win.  We weren’t prepared to let our ‘O’ go.”

ON PREPARING FOR COLVIN:

“With this fight here, Colvin’s last fight was at Morongo [Casino & Resort] in July, the same card I fought in.  I watched him fight, and it was only obvious that we’d end up meeting, but I just didn’t think it would be so soon.  I saw a lot of things he did in the ring.  He had a decent jab and good right hand, so we had to break his will and establish the jab, and that’s what we did.”

ON HIS AUGUST FIGHT WITH ROBERTO YONG THAT ENDED IN A SURPRISING SPLIT DRAW:

“I’m not going to take anything away from Yong, but I kind of underestimated him.  It was my first time going six rounds.  I came in with the mindset that I was going to take him to deep water, and then I was going to drown him, which was the wrong mindset.  I didn’t get my hands going until the third round, and it was a mistake.  I nearly gave up the first three rounds.  I learned that regardless of how many rounds there are, I have to establish the fight from the jump.”

ON HIS GOALS FOR THE HAINES FIGHT AND THE REST OF THE YEAR:

“We just want to continue to progress.   We’re really not trying to rush anything, but we’re not in a position to sit back and wait.  Day by day, we’re sharpening our tools, and coming off the draw, people were a little skeptical about Livingston, but taking on an undefeated prospect like Colvin and winning big the way I did, I think I was able to ease people’s minds in that the last fight before that was just a bad day.”

ON WHETHER THERE’S A GRADUALLY GROWING SENSE OF URGENCY TO STEP UP THE LADDER GIVEN HIS AGE OF 27:

“I don’t think it’ll take a long time to get to that level.  A lot of these pros that have a lot of fights in the pros don’t have a big amateur background.  My amateur background plays a big part in my professional development.  I don’t think it’ll take that long before I end up on ShoBox or ESPN.  My whole focus right now is just staying sharp and trusting my handlers to take care of business as far as keep me moving up.”

Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel.  E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.