I recently had the opportunity to speak with Tom Tsatas, who is the manager of the formidable heavyweight Fres Oquendo (32-6, 21 KOs). Tsatas talked about Oquendo’s upcoming fight with Oliver
McCall (54 -10, 37 KOs). The bout will take place on December 7, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title will be up for grabs. Tsatas also shared his thoughts on the state of the heavyweight division, Manny Pacquiao and boxing in general.
LS: Hi Tom. How are you doing today?
TT: I’m doing okay, sir. How are you?
LS: I’m doing fine, thank you. As I understand, Fres is working in the new 5th Street Gym. That is a place where history has been made. What do you think of the new gym?
TT: The new gym is great. It has a lot of good energy. Of course, Angelo (Dundee) has been out a couple times, and at the opening we had Muhammad (Ali) out, and Ferdie Pacheco, and we had all the news crews. So you know, it was like the old times, with some of the same people. We got fighters trickling in, and slowly, we’re getting the energy in. You know, the energy’s there and we’re getting people in. We’re very, very excited about that. We’ve got another heavyweight following in Muhammad’s footsteps. It’s just a dream come true for both of us.
LS: Is Fres actually being trained by Angelo Dundee?
TT: Yes, Angelo is training him for the fight. Obviously, Angelo is 89, so he’s not going 7 days for 12 hours like he used to do, but he’s gonna work with Fres every week. He’s gonna work with him for 3 days this week. And of course, (Fres) works with me, and I’m Matt Baiamonte’s prot?g?. Dino (Spencer) and I have been with Fres for about 6 years, and his brother is also part of the team.
LS: The Klitschko brothers are dominating the heavyweights right now, along with David Haye. They’re good at what they do, yet on a worldwide level, people haven’t embraced them. What do you think it’s going to take to bring the Heavyweight division back to life?
