Delray ?The Rainmaker? Raines is no stranger to squaring off with tough opposition, but despite losses to unbeaten David Lemieux and 24-1 Ronald Hearns, his fighting spirit is still intact. In fact, the Paris, Arkansas resident’s confidence level is high.
?I’m prepared to shock the world,? Raines said as we spoke on Friday evening.
His last fight being a 2nd round TKO of David Molton in September, Raines was preparing to face unbeaten southpaw, James Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs), but after being released from a stay in prison, Kirkland violated his parole. The result was a 90 day house arrest that caused him to have to pull out of the January, Las Vegas bout.
However, Team Rainmaker found themselves in the position to face up-and-coming Cuban prospect, Erislandy Lara (14-0, 9 KOs) on January 14, at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. The fight will be the main event of TeleFutura’s “S?lo Boxeo Tecate” program.
The undefeated Lara scored impressive victories over Grady Brewer, Danny Perez, William Correa, Willie Lee and Tim Connors, making him 5-0 in 2010, with 4 of the wins coming by way of knockout.
?He’s pretty salty, but who say’s I ain’t salty?? Raines said. ?He’s got good pressure. He just comes to knock ’em out. He’s got a lot of amateur experience, and everybody I fight pretty much has a lot of amateur experience, so it’s nothing new to the game. The guys that I fight, I take their experience and learn from them. He’s just another fighter, man. Just another Golden Boy fighter who was brought up easy. He ain’t had it as hard as I have. He’s getting spoon-fed, and I’m getting the scraps, so it’s just gonna come down to who wants it more.?
Raines’ trainer and manager, Stacy Goodson is pleased that they’ve had time to prepare for the bout.
?Right now, we’ve had more notice than we’ve ever had for a fight,? Goodson said. ?We have time to think about the speedway before we have to start dodging cars. We know we’re gonna have a right handed jab coming at us. We know we’re gonna fight a guy who’s gonna try to knock us out in the first round. Right now, we’ve got about 3 months in fight mode. I think it’s gonna be okay. I think he’s gonna have the opportunity to surprise people, and that’s what I’m hoping for. Delray is in the best shape he’s ever been in for a fight.?
With no amateur experience, Raines feels that he’s prepared to face the formidable southpaw.
?Since the Kirkland fight fell out, I was training for the lefty on this fight. It’s really been convenient to us. Since that one fell out, we just continued for a lefty. I’m gonna be ready for whatever lefty I fight,? Raines said. ?I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Watch out for me to shock the world. Middle-class American fighters are going to be represented by Delray ?The Rainmaker? Raines.?
