Jamie Moore: "Ryan Rhodes Can’t Break My Will"
By Terence Dooley
Salford’s Jamie Moore allowed BoxingScene.com exclusive access to his final hard day of training ahead of his showdown with Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes. Rhodes challenges for Moore’s European light-middleweight title at the Bolton Arena next Friday night. The contest is a make-or-break showdown between two of Europe’s top 154lb boxers and it should give the winner a nice ratings boost – the contest is also a WBC world title eliminator.
However, Moore is still coming to terms with the news that Julio Cesar Chavez Junior has been elevated to #1 in the latest WBC rankings. Jamie put questions about the Rhodes fight to one side for a moment to discuss the Chavez situation.
“It sends out the wrong message,” said Moore, currently ranked at #3 by the WBC. “The WBC said that Chavez is ranked so highly based on his popularity and ticket sales. What does that mean for fighters who have worked their way through the rankings over the past few years?”
“It means that you can put in all that work only to see someone else jump the queue,” he continued. “I’ve got nothing against Chavez but I do think that he should have earned the position on merit and not just on his name or popularity.
“I’ve got a feeling that the fuss made over Chavez’s ranking might see the winner of my fight made mandatory or, if they are still pandering to Chavez, they might put me in with him as a final eliminator. If he pulls out of a fight with me, and I think he would, they’ll make a fight between me and Kermit Cintron [#2] – who is talking about going back down to welter. Though I still think that I’ve got a good chance of being made mandatory if I win this Rhodes fight. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.
“Maybe I should start crying over it and to get somewhere by acting like a prima Donna. They’ll probably do something daft like making Chavez mandatory and putting me into an interim fight. At least I’d fight Cintron if that came about, in America if possible. Chavez has not beaten anyone of stature. He is improving but not to the point where he should be made number one contender.
“I’m stuck as I’m not ranked with any other organization. I always made it clear that I wanted to fight for the WBC title. I’ve worked hard to get a ranking and am there on merit. I grew up watching the likes of Mike Tyson and Nigel Benn, they always held the WBC so I wanted that title, and I still do.
“[WBC title holder] Sergio Martinez is good but I know for a fact that I’d give him nightmares. He wouldn’t like the pressure. Cintron is one of those fights where you might not know that you’ve lost until you wake up! But look at who Cintron’s recent fights. Antonio Margarito overwhelmed him with pressure. I’d bring that pressure and the southpaw stance that Martinez brought when he drew with Cintron.”
“I know that I will perform at the higher levels,” stressed Moore. “I’d be razor sharp and those natural sensors would be switched on. I’ve always said that I’ve got more chance of losing out of complacency than someone being better than me. I perform better when there is danger.”
We cannot talk about what Moore worked on in today’s session, for obvious reasons, but we can reveal that the fighter is primed ahead of the Rhodes showdown. Most people are told to avoid the dangers of the main road; Moore, however, is heading into a fight with a still-dangerous Rhodes.
“I’m glad that all the hard work is done now,” said Moore. “I just want to get in there and fight. Oliver told me not to push it past the point where I’m ready. He could feel that it was all there today: the sharpness, the freshness and the fitness. I’ll have a day off and sharpen up on the pads for the rest of the week. I’m close to the weight and I’m buzzing. Two-months of hard work has gone into the bank. Rhodes was British champion when I turned pro so it is a nice little story as well.”
Indeed, Rhodes has had a stirring Indian summer: blasting aside Gary Woolcombe for the British belt, successfully defending the belt against Jamie Coyle and then out-boxing Vuma for the WBC International title. Moore, though, believes that Ryan will be unable to last the course in their fight; consequently, he believes that Ryan will have to go for broke.
“I don’t think he will try to out-box me, for the simple reason that he won’t be able to stay away for twelve rounds. I think they are going to gamble on knocking me out. They’ll be trying to make me walk onto a big shot in the early rounds. I’m ready for that,” declared Moore.
“Everyone knows what Ryan does, and he does it well, but I’ve got an answer for everything he will bring. My pace is probably twice as high as his. I’ll have two more shots in answer to every one of his.
“Ryan dictates fights by being awkward. I force my style on people. I won’t give him the room to think and breathe. I believe that my style is a nightmare for him so his only chance is to put me to sleep.”
Both men knew that the British boxing public were salivating over the prospect of this contest so they put their heads together and made it happen, simple. “I know that Ryan wanted this fight,” revealed Moore.
“At his age and at this stage he needs a quick route to a world title fight. He’s ranked with the WBC [at #7] and it suited us both to make the fight. Christophe Canclaux was my mandatory for the European but he was messing us about – using us as insurance when trying to get a fight Martinez. So we asked the EBU for another voluntary knowing that Rhodes would want the fight. Canclaux was not forthcoming in discussions and the EBU accepted this fight as a voluntary defense.
“You’ve got to remember, as much as this is good for the British public and Ryan’s in with a puncher’s chance, I know 100% that I have the beating of him, and anybody in the world. When the fight was mentioned I jumped at it. It is a chance to build my reputation with the British fans and move up the world ratings.”
Indeed, the ease of the negotiations, coupled with the mutual respect shown by both, led to the assumption that the build-up to this contest would see two nice guys saying nice things about one another and ditching the trash talking that has become the norm. This assumption has played out in reality, although there was a bit of a blip when Rhodes failed to show for the presser last month. Moore, though, was quick to point out that there is no ill will on his behalf.
“I took the day of training, we get there and he didn’t turn up, so I was a bit pissed off at the time,” he said. “Then we found out why he didn’t turn up, his co-manager couldn’t make it, and I thought, ‘Never mind’. A big thing was made out of it for the publicity but there was no bad blood. It is done now and in the past. I know he’ll definitely turn up on the night, no doubt.
“I bumped into Ryan when I was getting my shorts sorted and we had a laugh about it. We’re going to get to fight each other anyway so we could either row about it or be men and shake hands over it. I’m not mithered either way as long as the fight happens so we shook on it. It was nothing.”
Jamie also took a philosophical approach to those who think he will be exposed in this fight, telling me that boxing is driven by differing opinions. “Everyone is entitled to an opinion,” explained Moore.
“People prefer different styles of fighting. The people who prefer Ryan’s style of fighting have a picture in their head of how his style will defeat my style. It is all down to your preference and opinion. People may think he will beat me but I know that I’ll beat him – no matter what he throws at me. I think I’ve got the answers in this fight.”
Moore has been the come-forward aggressor in recent contests, the European title wins over Michele Piccirillo and Roman Dzuman (third and second round stoppage wins) especially, but he can box; he showed his defensive skills in 2007 when defusing the current European middleweight titlist Matthew Macklin over ten pitiless rounds. The recent KO wins may have caused people to forget that Moore can use his head when the occasion fits.
“Exactly,” he affirmed. “I was able to be aggressive in recent fights. There is no other way to look at it. I’m a pressure fighter, that is my forte, and I’m going to apply that style of fighting. I’ve got other aspects to fall back on in times of need – but I’ve not had those times of need in recent fights. I’ve got everything in my locker when push comes to shove. I just need someone good to help me bring it all out.
“I’ve gone into big fights that I’ve been expected to win and made things harder than they had to be. For this one, I know the risks and have trained and dedicated myself to winning this fight.
“Piccirillo fought well against Vernon Forrest a year before he lost to me and I always knew that I could do a job like that. I’ve always had injuries and motivational factors but I went into that one without either problem. I proved that I can perform on a big stage. When the stages get bigger my performances will improve.
“I’ve been sharp and kept my strengths going. The busier the better for me but I’ve not been able to show that in recent years. I’ve been able to push-on this year. This fight is the one that will push me into a world title fight. If I lose this one the world title won’t happen – so I’ve left nothing to chance. Ryan is in trouble on fight night.”
Rhodes’ boxing ability is married to a decent amount of power; the Sheffield southpaw often catches his opponents when they are unawares or moving in. Moore knows that he will have to be on his toes.
“Ryan is a natural puncher, a good counter puncher, so I’ve got to watch out as he’ll try to walk me onto his shots,” revealed Moore. “I am hard to counter because I don’t lead off from long-range. If he catches me clean he’ll hurt me but my being hurt does not necessarily mean that he’ll win the fight, as I’ve shown in the past that I can come back strong after being hurt.
“How many fights has Ryan turned in his career? None. I can’t think of one instance of him doing this. He only wins fights once he gets in front, he doesn’t come from behind to win fights. I don’t think he has that mental fortitude to come through crises and win a fight. I’ve done that, ten-fold in some fights.
“I fought a massive, strong guy who fought at an overwhelming pace in Macklin but came through to win that fight. I’ve also gone into fights lacking motivation and made things hard on myself in those fights but I still won and dug deep to come through. No one can break my will.
“Scott Dixon was the last person to properly beat me [a fifth-round reverse in 2001] in my mind [Writer’s note: Moore dismisses the back-to-back losses he suffered in 2004; a DQ and injury TKO to Michael Jones and Ossie Duran respectively]. Dixon exposed my weight and fitness problems, not my will or boxing ability. I was winning the fight before the end came. Rhodes has not faced those types of problems and come through them to win a fight.
“What Ryan has learned is how to go the distance without getting knocked out. He did this against Gary Lockett and Otis Grant. Ryan can cope with problems in a fight but he has never learned how to turn a fight around and get the win.”
Ryan’s fans point to Rhodes’ impeccable form at light-middleweight – his four defeats came when campaigning at middleweight. Moore believes that this statistic is erroneous; he also believes that it will become history come fight night.
“People say he’s never lost at light-middle but he’s not taking on a light-middle,” claimed Moore. “I’m probably bigger than the middleweights he’s fought and come fight night I’ll be closer to light-heavy in terms of strength and size. He’ll see this on the night and think, ‘What the fucking hell am I dealing with?’
“I just hope that the people who picked Ryan on Boxrec and the forums don’t turn around and say he was old. If I totally destroy him then don’t say he was shot. If you look at his career he ain’t that much older than me [Writer’s note: Ryan is 32-years-old, Moore is 30] and hasn’t taken a lot of punishment, he hasn’t been in the hard fights that I’ve had, so no excuses! There are no signs of him being shot. Ryan has never been battered. Gary Lockett did a good job on him but finished the fight looking worse around the face than Ryan was. Ryan hasn’t been through the mill.”
Moore went through the mill in that grueling fight with Matthew Macklin in 2006. The two men are good friends and Moore feels that Matthew’s recent form has put that win into perspective.
“I think so,” said Moore when asked if Matthew’s recent form had given him a boost. “He’s come on great in the last nine-months. Obviously, the move up to middleweight suited him. I don’t agree with people who think the weight affected the result of our fight. If he was weight-drained he wouldn’t have fought ten-rounds at that weight. I think there is a difference between being drained and absolutely killing yourself to make the weight. It hurt me to make the weight and I don’t think it took away too much from him on the night. I do think he did right to move up and I’m absolutely over the moon for him.
“If the rematch comes we’d both take it. We’ve spoken about it; we are friends but said we’d take it if the money is good. I’d move up in weight out of necessity to make that fight happen.”
For the moment, though, Moore is happy at light-middleweight, where his natural size and strength can come to the fore. Indeed, this strength has been increased by weightlifting sessions with nutrition and conditioning guru Kerry Kayes; critics, Rhodes amongst them, believe that Moore has looked slow in his recent fights. Moore shook his head when asked if the weights could prove to be counterproductive.
“Not at all,” he insisted. “I’ve seen that Ryan thinks they have made me slower, that isn’t the case as I feel more explosive to be honest. I have slowed down in one way but that is out of choice. [Trainer] Oliver [Harrison] told me to slow down and not to rush my work. I was snatching at shots before and not getting maximum power into them. Oliver has made me take my time. My punches might be slightly slower but they are twice as hard and that showed in my last two outings. Ryan will find out that I’m not slow and he’ll also find that I’m too strong for him.
Moore added a rejoinder: “As long as I do the weight right how can I be too big or muscular? If that was the case I wouldn’t be able to make the weight.”
Finally, Oliver Harrison has always believed in Moore; his quiet belief that his charge will one day hold the WBC title has never wavered. Jamie told us that Oliver is a calming influence on him.
“Oliver has had an unbelievable impact on my career,” he confirmed. “He is probably the most influential person in my career. He turned things around after the Scott Dixon defeat. I was really down but Oliver persuaded me to carry on boxing. Oliver is the calm side to my aggressive nature. We are the perfect combination and meet somewhere in-between. That is the key to my style – I’m aggressive but I’m also calm. That comes from Oliver and I thank him for that.”
Harrison proved his worth during Moore’s white-hot rubbermatch with Michael Jones. The Liverpudlian had floored Moore twice in round three; Harrison soaked his fighter down at the round’s end before calmly, and with genuine concern, telling his boxer that he was putting himself, and his corner team, through the mill.
“Yeah,” laughed Moore. “Oliver said, ‘Don’t you dare do that again’. That is him giving me a bollocking!” It worked. Moore won the fight by halting Jones in the sixth round.
Moore and Harrison both hope, and believe, that the fight with Rhodes will not require such intensive corner work. However, Ryan’s pedigree and desire could leave their hopes in ruins. Either way, it should be an entertaining night, and fight, but the real fun will begin when the winner travels to Korea to push his claims at the WBC convention only to find that the organization is too busy championing Chavez Junior to pay any heed.
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