by David P. Greisman
He is a heavyweight. He is undefeated. He is American.
Those are three criteria that get attention for boxing prospects, particularly heavyweight prospects. Joe Hanks is one such undefeated heavyweight American prospect, 18-0 with 12 knockouts, a 28-year-old originally from Newark, N.J., and now living in Los Angeles.
Hanks initially picked up the gloves when he was 12, then played basketball in high school before coming back to the ring, to an arena where, at 6-foot-4, he wouldn’t necessarily be undersized.
He will be the smaller man in his next fight, Feb. 4 against 36-year-old Rafael Pedro, who is 6-foot-7 with a record of 21-9-1 (15 knockouts).
Hanks spoke to BoxingScene.com about his next fight and about whether he sees himself as being an American heavyweight who truly deserves attention.
BoxingScene.com: You’re an American heavyweight in a sport that’s always seeking American heavyweights. Where do you see yourself in the division, both right now and down the line?
Hanks: “Right now I think I’m one of the bright prospects. I think I should be mentioned with the other American heavyweight prospects. Going forward, I’d like to believe that I can be a real strong force to be reckoned with in the division, and it’s my turn to get up there and take my test.”
BoxingScene.com: I see that your nickname is “The Future.” When will the future become the present?
Hanks: “I think I’m about 12 months from really being right there to kick the door down.”
BoxingScene.com: And what do you need to do to get there?
Hanks: “Just keep developing, same way I’ve been doing, trusting my people to get the right fights to allow me to develop and show my talent and gain experience, that’s all.”
BoxingScene.com: For people who might not be familiar with you, what’s your story? What kind of amateur background did you have?
Hanks: “I come from New Jersey. I fought in the amateurs representing NJ and had about 25 amateur fights. I turned ‘open’ really early in my career, after around three or four amateur fights I went into the open class and got entered in tournaments and ranked as an amateur.
“As an amateur, I actually boxed Wladimir Klitschko and Chris Byrd [in their training camps]. I was in the ring with them before I had a pro fight. I got a lot of experience boxing those guys, and just kind of watching how they conducted themselves as professionals. I watched their work ethic and all those different things, from nutrition to just showing up on time and being consistent.”
“The first time I boxed with Wladimir, he was going to fight for the world title. I’ve been with him numerous times after that while he was champion. Chris Byrd, Jameel McCline, Sultan Ibragimov while he was champion — I’ve been in camps with all these guys, just soaking up the experience and being in deep waters with these guys and seeing if I can swim. I’ve boxed all these guys and been doing it for years now.”
BoxingScene.com: That must’ve been a real confidence builder.
Hanks: “Yeah, it’s a huge confidence builder, when you’ve finished boxing the heavyweight champion of the world and you go back to an amateur fight. It’s almost like you’re cheating.”
BoxingScene.com: What do you feel you need to be working on now, to fine tune or develop?
Hanks: “Bringing the things that I do in the gym, bringing them to the arena. That’s about it. I mean, people who watched me at the gyms and over the years at different camps and sparring and being in with these big-name guys, they all felt like they’re seeing something special. I want to keep developing and bringing it to the ring. You’re going to see something special, real remarkable.”
BoxingScene.com: When you say “special” and “remarkable,” what are your attributes? People describe one fighter as this or another fighter as that. What is Joe Hanks?
Hanks: “I’m a big guy that can move. I’m a counter-puncher that can bring it to you. I’ve got very quick hands. I can run off a five-punch combination. I think all the athletics I brought in from basketball, some of my earlier days playing all different sports, I bring it over to boxing. It’s able to bring out the best of me when it came down to being a big guy, not being a traditional big guy, one-punch, two-punch. I can move. I can come. I can go.”
BoxingScene.com: What do you know about your opponent coming up on Feb. 4, Rafael Pedro?
Hanks: “I really don’t know much. I don’t really do a whole lot of homework on the guy I’m fighting, because I don’t really expect anybody to fight the same way. I expect everybody to get better, just like I’m trying to. So I just know he’s a big guy. I’m boxing somebody that’s about 6-foot-7, about the same height as Wladimir or Vitali, so I think it was good practice. That’s about as much as I can tell you about him. No disrespect to him, it’s just never been my thing to sit down and study these fighters.”
BoxingScene.com: I know you don’t know much about your opponent, but what are you predicting will happen? Are you thinking it’ll end early?
Hanks: “I hope it ends early. They’ll give me a check early if it ends early. But I’m expecting to go out and just do all the things that we work on in training, just going out and executing. And when the coach says, ‘Alright, it’s time to go get him,’ then I’m going to go do that.”
BoxingScene.com: Do you see a need to start stepping up the level of competition you’ve been facing?
Hanks: “Yeah. I think all my fights have been gradually stepping up. Sometimes we’ll go up and take a nice test, then we’ll go back and work on some things with other guys. I think my progress has been right on time, right on point, when you look at the other guys in our sport. Compared to some of the other prospects that are out there, my opposition is a lot tougher.”
BoxingScene.com: Is there somebody specific you want after this?
Hanks: “Honestly, after that, whatever the promoters and my agent, whatever those guys want to do, then I’m all for it. Let’s go do it. I’m game for it all.”
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com