Interview with boxer Albert Onolunose

Albert “The Punisher” Onolunose fought this past weekend at the “Rumble In the Hood” in Calgary, Alberta. The super middleweight from Nigeria went into the fight with a 5-0 record and came out victorious with a win over late substitution Keith Sonley of Warren, NY. He is trained out of Bowmont Boxing by Doug Harder. I sat down to talk to him in his store, Advantage Hip Hop in Calgary.
What happened last night with Joseph Brady?

He came in overweight by 20 pounds so they had to look for somebody else to fight me.

Why would he do that?

I don’t know, I guess he’s undisciplined.

His last fight was with John Duddy?

Yah, I think so

Were you surprised?

I was kind of surprised. You know 20 pounds is way too much. I wanted to take the fight anyway, but the boxing commission said no. They said he had to be within 4 to 5 pounds.

What is the boxing commission like here? Are they easy to work with?

Yah they are very nice people. They are good people to work with. They are very friendly and pretty honest.

Was it a hard fight for you last night?

Yah, that’s why it is not good to underrate people, I didn’t really underrate him. His record is not bad, he’s been around a long time. He started to fight pro before I even started. He came to fight. He didn’t come to lose. I guess I did enough to win.

When did you come to Canada?

I came to Canada in 2001.

Why Canada?

I chose Canada because when Doug first heard about me, I sent him some of my tapes and pictures and he wanted me to come down here.

How did he hear about you?

From my brother. The one in the States. (Eromosele “Bad Boy” Albert, 13-1, former 2 time Nigerian Olympian)

Did he used to live in Calgary?

Yes, he did, and then he moved to Miami.

Is he still trained by Orlando Cuellar?

Yes.

Orlando Cuellar also trains Glen Johnson?

Yes

Is he doing well down in the States?

Yes, right now he’s the IBA Continental Champion at 154

Do you think it’s harder to fight down in the States?

Its not harder, but right now I’m just trying to build my record, you know 10-0 or 12-0 and then find a good promoter, someone to sponsor me.

What kind of promoter are you looking for? Top Rank or someone like that?

Yes.

How hard do you think that will be?

Everything depends on me. If you give your fans what they want, like what happened last night we gave them a good show. That’s what people came to see. They came to see people fighting. If Top Rank or Bob Arum know that your hometown fans want to see you, that’s why Jermain Taylor is making a name for himself. You have to give people what they want, as soon as people start to recognize you and know who you are then the sky will be the limit.

What do you think of Doug Harder as a trainer?

Doug is a really good trainer, but he gets nervous before a fight. He worries. I have to say, “you’re not even the one fighting, take it easy”.

You came here to Calgary because of your brother and because of Doug. Did you stay in Calgary because of Doug?

A lot of people ask me why I chose Calgary, why didn’t I choose Toronto or Vancouver or one of the big cities. You know, Doug is one of the reasons why I came here and Doug is one of the reasons why I’m staying. I’m not going to betray him and go to a different city where I have a different coach after all the work and help that he has put into me. I don’t want to let him down. I try to do everything to make him feel like….he’s like family to me now.

How do you explain three brothers in boxing? Your older brother Eromosele is a pro boxer in Miami and former Olympian. Your younger brother Jegbefumere “Bones” is an amateur in Vancouver and former Commonwealth gold medalist for Nigeria.

My dad is a retired boxer, amateur and pro. Always when we were growing up, we would see pictures and talk to him about boxing, like, oh when I grow up I want to be a boxer. My dad never wanted to be a coach, he was doing other jobs, so one of his friends, Julius Odion’s dad, asked him, how come you don’t want to have anything to do with boxing anymore? And he said, sometimes in life people have to change. But he thought it would be fun to have a boxing team, so that’s how he started coaching. We didn’t start with them at first, they started with the big guys, but they would be in for training today, and tomorrow they wouldn’t show up and they got frustrated and decided to start with kids from the elementary school so that’s how we got involved. When you are a kid, your parents and your family try to encourage you. You want to do it because you don’t want to let them down. We try to do everything to make our dad happy because he’s a big boxing fan. Our Mom didn’t want us to box, she wanted us to go to school, to be Doctors, but I liked boxing. I started when I was 8 and never stopped.

Were you a pro when you moved to Canada?

No, I was still an amateur. I wanted to get onto the Canadian team but I changed my mind and decided to go pro. I didn’t want to wait, time is not on my side.

Is there a rivalry between you and your brothers?

Yah, my brother in Miami, I would say we are at the same weight class. We never fought as professionals but we fought as amateurs for the Nigerian championship.

And what happened?

I lost to him.

Who has been your hardest fight to date?

The guy I fought last year during the Stampede was pretty tough, (Ferenc Lankonde) and the guy from last night was tough. I was supposed to fight this guy from last night before but it was cancelled because he had been suspended by the Commission. I think he had been looking at my tapes. He knew a lot about me.

What do you like most about boxing?

Boxing, like any sport, once you are into it, and you love it, it is very hard to quit because it is something that you are used to, something you do everyday. It’s like falling in love with a lady. You know it’s going to be hard for you to say look I don’t love you anymore. I don’t think I’ll ever quit boxing, even when I’m old I’ll still go to the gym.

Would you ever consider coaching?

No

Why not?

Too much work.

What do you like the least about boxing? Does the fact that it has a history of being a corrupt business affect you?

No. Some people let things bug them, I don’t let things bug me. It’s all about personality. If you have a good personality, promoters will respect you.

What’s your next move?

I’m just waiting right now to get my record somewhere. I’m looking forward to go to 12-0, 15-0, then I can start to make a little bit of noise, to see what happens, to get into a good promotional company.

Would you ever sign with a Canadian promoter?

No. I don’t want to sign with anyone in Canada. In boxing there are politics. Like what happened to Dale Brown when he fought O’Neil Bell. Dale Brown won that fight, but he lost. You don’t want things like that to happen to you in boxing. Because he didn’t have people to play the game for him, you can win but you might not win.

What is the future of professional boxing in Calgary?

The future is bright. It depends on the people of Calgary. They go to hockey games. That is the only thing they know right now, but there are other things like boxing where you can go and have fun. Things like boxing can put Calgary high in the world. People like Jermain Taylor, the people of Arkansas come out to see him and they associate him with their home. If you have people like Jermain here, if we can get to the top, definitely I will say “The Punisher” from Calgary.

Do you like fighting outside of Calgary?

I will go anywhere to fight.

Last night, all your friends were chanting and yelling in the audience when you were fighting. How much does that affect your performance?

It helps. That keeps the crowd going, and keeps the fight going, you don’t want the crowd to be bored. As long as nobody’s fighting outside the ring then it’s good.

Does it make you fight better?

It helps yah, because you don’t want to let them down. You want to do everything to win.

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to FightNews Canada.

Thank you.