By Jeff Zimmerman
Fightnews.com® caught up with Derrick James, trainer of IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in an exclusive interview just prior to weigh-ins yesterday as they get ready to square off against 4X world champ Mikey Garcia at AT&T Stadium and shown live on PBC on FOX pay-per-view.
On Spence Jr. one day before the mega fight with Garcia
He’s doing good. It’s been 10 years, however long we have been doing it. This is part of the trip, part of the journey.
The big turnout at weigh-ins at AT&T Stadium
It’s amazing. It’s beautiful. You got people coming out from all over the country, the world coming out here. I have my people here, Nate, Big Adrian. Everybody’s out here got to love it. I went to Mayweather’s like last 8 fights and now it’s for us. I never think about it, I just said I want my guy to get to that level and he got to that level really fast.
What to expect for the fight
We should expect a phenomenal performance from Errol Spence. He said it best. He said he wants a one-sided massacre. That’s what he said. I believe he is going to go in there and go get it.
So, a knockout?
I didn’t say that. You can massacre somebody. It’s a contradiction in what I’m going to say [James laughing]. A massacre can be, you can go 12 rounds, real hard ones. We don’t really want that. I don’t want that. You never know.
The fight that could launch Spence Jr. the next level
This is it. From a fan perspective, this is it. This is what it’s about. This is what you get into, this is how you build it. This is what Al Haymon, Errol Spence, Derrick James with everything working, is what it’s about.
That underdog mentality
Everybody is not riding with you. You can’t make people be your fan. It’s cool that people think Mikey could win, that’s ok, it doesn’t bother me. Just got to go in there and be consistent. We have been consistent this far and we’ll show what we’re talking about.
Leonard Ellerbe talked about Spence and his consistency and how he just keeps coming
You got to be able to get him off of you and throwing one or two punches at a time is not going to do it.
And gave Floyd the best work ever
It’s true, it’s true. He’s telling it like it is, that’s good. I’m happy.