By Ryan Maquiñana
After a rocky first round where he trailed Jason Lavigilante of Mauritius 5-4, American light flyweight Eros Correa regrouped and scored two standing eight counts en route to a 14-11 decision victory in his opening bout at the 2011 AIBA World Championships.
BoxingScene.com tracked down the unflappable 18-year-old from the PAL Boxing Club in San Jose, Calif., to get his take on his debut on the world stage as well as his thoughts on his next clash with 2009 silver medalist David Ayrapetyan of Russia, which takes place next Monday, Oct. 3, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
BoxingScene: Congratulations on your opening round win. How's Azerbaijan treating you?
Eros Correa: It’s different. We saw a couple cow’s heads in front of people’s houses. There’s a McDonald’s in Baku, and it’s not that close, but we found one. I’ve been eating all the nutritious stuff they packed for us instead. I’m just resting and training right now until the next one. There’s not much else to do here.
BoxingScene: What was going on in your mind before your first international fight? Were you nervous?
Eros Correa: A little bit, but then when I saw some of the fighters warming up, they didn’t look as good as I thought they would be.
BoxingScene: Tell me about the fight with Lavigilante. You trailed by a point early on. What happened in that first round?
Eros Correa: We were just pretty evenly matched. We both fought using our range, just that in the second round I hurt him with a straight right and after the two standing eights, he didn’t want to get so close after that.
BoxingScene: What was [head coach] Joe Zanders telling you in the corner between rounds?
Eros Correa: He told me to start circling to my right after I was letting my right hand go because when I would throw my right, he would throw a hook, so I would bob and weave out to my right.
BoxingScene: Up next is the Russian, David Ayrapetyan, who was the silver medalist at the last worlds. What do you know about his style?
Eros Correa: I know he comes forward. I don’t know much up close because he got a bye, but I saw a video of him in the last world championships, and I think if I move and let my combos go, I’ll be good.
BoxingScene: When you see a guy who's 10 years older than you and has been fighting on the world stage for over five like Ayrapetyan, does that intimidate you?
Eros Correa: Not really. I don’t know. I just don’t care too much about that. I just look at it like he’s just like any other fighter.
BoxingScene: In order to qualify for London, you must finish no lower than tenth. Beating Ayrapetyan puts you in the final 16. How does that feel knowing you’re that close to being an Olympian?
Eros Correa: It’s exciting to know I’m one win away from that. I just want to fight already. I hate how I don’t go until Monday.
BoxingScene: This is your first trip outside North America. What do you miss most so far? Are you keeping in contact with everyone back home?
Eros Correa: I do when I can. I miss my little brother Jerry the most. I just want to say thanks to my coaches, Candy Lopez and especially Martin Nuñez, for taking me to the [Olympic] Trials and believing in me. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have made it.
I also want to thank my teammate Andy Vences’s dad for paying my way up to the Last Chance Qualifier. Oh, and thank you to everyone supporting me back in San Jose. I can’t wait to get back home and bring back the gold!
Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. He’s 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.