By Lem Satterfield
When Terrell Gausha enters the ring for Saturday’s 158-pound catchweight clash with southpaw Joey Hernandez at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, it will have been 14 months since the 2012 Olympian’s unanimous decision loss to then-WBA 154-pound champion Erislandy Lara, a 35-year-old Cuban southpaw who floored him in the fourth round at Barclays.
But Gausha (20-1, 9 KOs) hasn’t sulked in defeat. Instead, he’s gotten off the canvas and literally “handled his business” outside of the boxing in order to be more focused inside of the ring.
“I think after my last fight, I've grown as a person and as a fighter. I'm very competitive, and I don't like to lose, so I've tightened up the loose ends and I'm a lot more focused and hungry,” said Gausha, 31, who has a 10-year-old daughter, Ty’era.
“I also got married to my beautiful wife Christa Gausha, so now I have a whole lot more to fight for. I like to stay busy for the most part. I took some time to get some things outside of the ring together. I’ve been working on real estate and things of that nature, setting myself so that I’ll be straight after boxing.”
Gausha returns to the site of his last fight and loss against the 34-year-old Hernandez (27-4-1, 17 KOs), who has won three straight by stoppage after having lost three of his previous four.
Gauaha-Hernandez supports a deep card featuring WBC 154- and WBC interim 160-pound defenses by the 28-year-old Charlo twins, Jermell (31-0, 15 KOs) and Jermall (27-0, 21 KOs) on FOX (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
“The Iron Man” is after his fourth defense and fifth knockout in six fights against Tony Harrison (27-2, 21 KOs), and “The Hit Man” Jermall, his first defense, fourth straight stoppage and 20th knockout in his past 22 fights against Russian southpaw Matt Korobov (28-1, 14 KOs).
Gausha’s been as dedicated to his training as he has his out-of-the-ring life, having sparred several rounds with unbeaten left-handed WBO 168-pound champion Gilberto Ramirez (39-0, 25 KOs) to prepare for Hernandez, over whom he has advantages in height (5-foot-10-to-5-foot-7) and reach (72 inches-to-68).
“Manuel Robles is my head trainer and Edgar Jasso [his assistant.] I've brought my amateur coach, Reynard Safo, back into the picture because I feel I got a way from some of the basic fundamentals that got me here,” said Gausha, who trained in Los Angeles at The Legendz Boxing Gym.
“Reynard keeps me sharp and on point. Plus he knows how to push those buttons in the corner to make me dig down deep when needed, so I don't think ring rust will be a factor. Fighting is what I do. It's like riding a bike. Now it’s time to put my foot on the gas and get back into title contention, one fight at a time. I have a lot more left in the tank.”
Gausha is being joined on the card by his 6-foot-7 Olympic teammate Dominic Breazeale (19-1-0, 17 KOs), who will battle 6-foot-6 Carlos Negron (20-1, 16 KOs) in a heavyweight clash.
“It's always a pleasure to share the night with an Olympic teammate, especially when you two are from the same stable,” said Gausha, who shares Robles with Breazeale.
“We train together ever day. He's my brother. We talked about things like this back in our Olympic days, and now we living it.”
Two years after his father, Melton, died of heart faiure, Gausha was introduced to boxing as a 10-year-old by Bob Davis at the Glenville Recreation Center in Cleveland. Davis became Gausha’s male role model to help him navigate the crime-ridden neighborhood while his mother, Taretha Jones, instilled discipline and perserverance.
Gausha won five Cleveland Golden Gloves titles and a pair of amateur national crowns, representing the United States in the 2012 Olympics in London.
At the Olympics, Gausha scored a third-round knockout over Armenia’s Andranik Hakobyan in the first round of the games before being eliminated, 16-15, by India’s Vijender Singh, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist.
Davis died of an illness in 2015. That same year Gausha won four bouts to improve to 17-0 with eight knockouts as a professional. A 2005 graduate of Glenville High School, Gausha credits Davis for saving his life.
“One of the main things Coach Davis taught me was defense, which has played a major role in my career. I haven’t taken a lot of punishment, which I attribute to longevity,” said Gausha.
“Coach Davis always told me I could be one of the best fighters out there, and I just thank him for all of the things that he taught me. I think he would be proud of where I am, now. I can’t wait to get into the ring, because I’m ready.”
