I had the pleasure of talking with Sarah Goodson on Friday evening about her boxing career, Manny Pacquiao, Teddy Atlas, Bernard Hopkins, and various other topics. In 2006, Sarah became the first Filipina to ever win the WIBF Strawweight title. Sarah is trained by her husband, pro boxer Stacy ?Goodnight? Goodson. The Goodson family lives in Paris, Arkansas.
Lorne: Hi Sarah. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. How are you doing?
Sarah: I’m doing fine. How are you?
Lorne: I’m doing well, thank you. Are you planning to fight again anytime soon?
Sarah: I want to get back in it again and give myself another chance. I fought in Hungary last November 28th. I lost a 10 Rnd. Decision with a Hungarian girl?the hometown girl. It sucks because the referee always seen my side, you know, what I did wrong. He kept warning me. I said, ?what the heck is this all about?? When you’re the underdog, it’s really a mess.
Lorne: I know your husband, Stacy is a professional boxer. What made you decide to try it yourself?
Sarah: I don’t know, I just love the sport. You know, when we were dating, I saw him training other girls but he would never let me do it because he thinks that I’m little and there’s nobody in my weight class, because I was like 100 pounds. Then some fight came along and I trained for less than a month, but I wanted to do it and give myself a chance. You know, I didn’t have enough time to train, really. We wound up fighting (Nina Ahlin) like 4 times. I believed that I won the 2nd time, but they gave it to her in the decision. But I’m always the underdog. Always, always, you know?
Lorne: Were you a boxing fan before you met Stacy?
Sarah: No. Not at all. I don’t even know what boxing’s all about before I met him. But then I put a pair of gloves on and then I love it! I love the sport right now.
Lorne: Ok. Looking at your record, It looks like you started off slow, but you didn’t give up. You didn’t win until your 10th fight. It’s amazing that you didn’t give up.
Sarah: If you look at my record, I got 3 losses agains Deanna Nance, but when we fought for the 4th time, I won. Then they said, ?Oh Sarah’s getting good at it now.? I enjoy being a boxer, but you know, I know it’s not an excuse, but most of the girls that I fought, that’s all they do is work out every day. They don’t have kids, they don’t have a job. That’s all they do pretty much every day. But me, I’ve got a job. I’ve got kids that I need to take care of. But hey, for a little girl like me, I’m tough.
Lorne: What kept you from getting discouraged when you first started out? What inspired you to keep going?
Sarah: Because I wanted to win! I wanted to win and I wanted to be good at it, you know?
Lorne: Ok. Then you started winning. What did it feel like to become the first Filipina to ever win the WIBF title?
Sarah: It feels really good. I was on ESPN2 that night. It was on Wednesday Night Fights. Oh, it was so good. But the only thing that scares me is, you know how…what’s his name? The commentator… Teddy Atlas?
Lorne: Yeah.
Sarah: Yeah. You know how he is. He is so negative about mostly everything. That’s why I asked, ?Please, just don’t be so mean and rough with me on TV, because everybody in the whole world will see me. Even the people that I work with, they will be watching me.? I told him that, you know? But you know what? He was pretty decent. He wasn’t really giving me a hard time. He was pretty nice to me on TV. He is rude, though. You know that. He’s just a negative person. That’s what he is. I think that’s why he does that because that make him famous, I guess.
Lorne: Since Stacy is a trainer, do you ever get in the ring and spar with the boys?
Sarah: Yes, I spar with my nephew. But he is bigger than me now. He’s a hundred and forty pounds. Sometimes I sparred with another kid that was around a hundred pounds, just like me. He’s a good amateur. But then I couldn’t get nothing from him because at first, he’ll trade punches with me, you know? But the 2nd time, he just run away from me, like hit and run, and I can’t get nothing out of him. They get scared because I hit back. I hit harder too.
Lorne: Who are your favorite boxers?
Sarah: Manny Pacquiao! I love him. He is awesome. I like his style. You know the way that he boxes is kind of awkward…the way that he does things, you know? He throws his jab, then all the sudden he will spin around. They can’t figure him out because he spins around. There’s something special about him that… I don’t know. That’s why he’s unbeatable.
Lorne: Do you think Manny can beat Floyd Mayweather?
Sarah: Oh yeah. Mayweather he didn’t really wanna box, he just wanna run, you know? Stick and run. He don’t want to go toe to toe. He don’t want to get in there and trade punches with them, you know?
Lorne: Do you think Manny Pacquiao has opened the door for Filipino boxers to be more appreciated and recognized?
Sarah: Yeah, he’s being recognized big-time. And plus he’s a good person. He’s a very down to earth person. I haven’t met him in person, but you can tell how he is. Other people, when they get money behind them already, they change. But he still remembers where he came from. That’s the good thing about him. You know how other people are. If they’re so poor, then all the sudden they become rich, they think like they’re all there. Like Hopkins… I met Hopkins personally at one of our fights. He’s a piece of crap. He told these kids, these disabled kids, that he’s gonna sign autographs. He never did! He lied to them. Nobody wanted to bother him! We were just happy to see that he was there at one of our fights?a local fight in Arkansas. That is wrong, man! That is so rude!
Lorne: How do you think he’ll do tomorrow night against Roy Jones Jr.?
Sarah: I think he’s gonna get beat. Roy Jones is really good, but I think in boxing too… that it’s like, if it’s your night, you might do really good. If it’s not, you can do really bad. Boxing is really unpredictable.
Lorne: It all depends on how you come to the ring on that particular night, doesn’t it?
Sarah: Yeah, and plus, if you don’t stick in your game plan, like me… if something goes wrong I get thrown off and I don’t stick to my game plan. When I fought (Krisztina Belinszky) in Hungary, I had been working 10 hours a day. Then I had to come home and do sparring and get ready for my fight. But I didn’t stick to my game plan. I know I could have beat her, because she’s not really a puncher; she’s just a boxer. You know, I’m a puncher. She figured me out so she was just counterpunching me. That’s all she does. I seen her fight with Melissa Shaffer, and she traded and fought with her, but with me she never did. I threw my game plan out. I’m studying that thing that she did before and she do different things. It threw my game plan out. Especially when she pushed me in the first round, and I landed on my butt. When I spar, I do really good, but when I get in the ring I get so excited everything’s gone in my mind! I just do whatever I want!
Lorne: (Laughing)
Sarah: And the referee was really bad because he was always warning me for doing something. If I threw my overhand right, he said he was gonna deduct points. I said ?Why? We’re professionals. We’re not amateurs.? He never warned her, whatever she did. When she pushed me down, he never warned her!
Lorne: Ok Sarah. What would you like to say to your fans?
Sarah: Thanks for supporting me. You know what I’m hoping for before I retire? I want to fight in Pacquiao’s undercard.
Lorne: That would be cool.
Sarah: Yeah! That would be cool. And I will work my tail off! I would be honored and privileged to be there in an undercard, you know? That’s what I’m hoping for before I retire.
Lorne: Alright. That’s a great goal.
Sarah: You should put that in there so they can see it!
Lorne: (Laughing) Ok, I’ll put it in there.
Sarah: (Laughing) I’m a crazy Filipina, huh?
Lorne: Sarah, thank you so much for talking to me. God bless you.
Sarah: Thank you, and you too!
