Mayfield Talks De La Torre Bout, Ward vs Green, More

By Ryan Burton

 

Undefeated Welterweight Karim "Hard Hitta" Mayfield is putting the finishing touches on training for his June 12th show down versus Sergio Joel De La Torre in San Francisco.  Mayfield is a San Francisco native and spoke to BoxingScene about what it means to him to fight in front of his home crowd.  Mayfield also gives  prediction on his friend Andre Ward's up coming Super Six fight with Allan Green and more in this exclusive interview.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Tell us about your upcoming fight with Sergio Joel De La Torre.

 

Karim Mayfield:  He is a veteran of about 27 fights I am told.  I tried to look him up but I couldn't find nothing.  Other than that I am looking forward to fighting.  I have been tr hard and I am looking forward to fighting in my hometown.

 

BoxingScene.com: This is your first fight in San Francisco, your hometown.  How does it feel?

 

Karim Mayfield:  That is a beautiful thing.  I have fought in Oakland and San Jose and that is Bay (Area) love but San Francisco really is like my home turf.  I grew up right by the Kezar (Pavilion) which is where a lot of my friends are at.  I used to play football at Kezar when I was a kid.  Not to mention I won my last amateur fight which was held there for a diamond belt.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Are you expecting a lot of friends and family to be in attendance?

 

Karim Mayfield: Yes for sure.  A lot of people have been asking me about it.  People say they have been seeing the flyers and hearing about it through word of mouth.  A lot of people have been posting it on Facebook so that is definitely a good look.

 

BoxingScene.com:  What do you think is going to be the key to the fight?

 

Karim Mayfield:  I think I need to throw a lot of jabs.  I think using my jab and just displaying my skills and not me just trying to get the guy out of there.  I need to give the fans a great show.

 

BoxingScene.com:  After this fight you will have 14 fights under your belt.  Are you going to be looking to step up the pace being that you are 29 years old?

 

Karim Mayfield:  Yes definitely.  I would like to fight some of these big name prospects like I was looking at fighting Antwone Smith in July.  Obviously I would like to fight a lot of those guys or a guy like Lamont Peterson I would like to fight one of those type of guys as soon as possible.  A lot of people say with me being 29 that I am old but I use Bernard (Hopkins) as inspiration.  I didn't have a whole lot of amateur fights and I haven't been through a lot of wars so chronologically I feel good like I am fresh.  I can fight till I am 40 if I want to.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Last time we talked you mentioned Devon Alexander getting his title shot right before he hit 20 pro fights.  Are you still looking to get a title shot around the 20 fight mark?

 

Karim Mayfield:  I already have been tested a few times.  A lot of guys I have fought still have good records besides their loss to me.  I definitely want to step up my game.  I don't plan on fighting a lot of guys with sub .500 records.  I definitely want to move up in the rankings pretty fast.  To do that I definitely want to step my game up and fight these guys that have good records that can get me close to that title shot.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Your friend Andre Ward fights Allan Green on June 19th.  Give us your thoughts on that fight.

 

Karim Mayfield:  Well Allan Green is a great fighter.  He is very technical but I see Andre coming out with the victory.  Andre is not only a masterful boxer but the guy really knows  how to fight now too.  Who knows what game Dre is going to bring to the table that night but I don't think Allan Green will be able to adjust.  I think that Dre will be able to adjust to anything that Allan does.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Do you see Ward winning the Super Six tournament?

 

Karim Mayfield:  I definitely see him winning the tournament.  He beat the guy (Kessler) that was supposed to win the tournament.  Then we saw Andre Dirrell beat Abraham.  I see the finale being a "Dre Day", Andre versus Andre.

 

BoxingScene.com:  How many more fights do you want to get in this year?

 

Karim Mayfield:  Well I definitely want to stay active.  I want to be busy this summer.  I would like to get five or six more fights in this year as long as I am able to stay healthy.  I want to step up and hopefully get some TV dates.  I have had a few offers from promoters but for now I want to do my hometown thing and see what happens.  My brother has been doing some promotion with Hard have been working with them.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Do you have a message for the fans?

 

Karim Mayfield:  On June 12th it is going to be a good show.  We have a lot of good up and coming guys fighting on the card.  There is going to be a lot of entertainment.  We are doing other things with it as well.  I plan on putting on a good show and having good sportsmanship in the ring.  I plan on giving  my fans what they came to see.