Mike Jones: 'I'm Going to be One of the Great Champions In Boxing'

LAS VEGAS -- Unbeaten welterweight (147 pounds) Mike Jones sat scarfing down his late-night meal at the Strip Steak Restaurant of the Mandalay Hotel, where, about two hours earlier, the 27-year-old Philadelphia fighter had emerged victorious from his second straight unanimous decision scrap with Mexican brawler, Jesus Soto-Karass.

Although Jones (24-0, 18 knockouts) had successfully out-maneuvered Soto Karass (25-6-3, 16 KOs), boxing him bloody over the course of a crowd-pleasing, brutal, 12-round clash that was promoted by Top Rank Promitions, the nearly 6-foot tall pugilist did not escape the evening unscathed.

Dark shades cloaked the raised welts beneath both eyes, and the slight swelling on his bottom lip occasionally muffled his speech -- the result of a number of classic exchanges during his under card bout to a main event featuring former WBA interim super flyweight (115 pounds) titlist, Nonito Donaire (26-1, 18 KOs), of the Philippines, scoring a second-round knockout over WBO and WBC king, Fernando Montiel (44-3-2, 34 KOs), of Mexico, in a bantamweight (118 pounds) unification match.

Jones-Soto-Karass I had taken place on the under card of a unanimous decision win by eight-division king Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) over Antonio Margarito for the WBC's junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt, this, being added to the WBO welterweight crown that Pacquiao already owned.

Judges Duane Ford, Robert Hoyle and Ricardo Ocasio had it 115-113, 116-112, and, 1117-111, respectively, for Jones. FanHouse also had it 117-111 for Jones, who out-landed Soto-Karass, 408-to-226, overall, 226-93, in jabs, and, 182-to-133 in power punches.

Jones spoke to FanHouse about his fight during this Q&A.

FanHouse: When did you come up with the nickname, "Machine Gun" Mike Jones, which was used during the introductions?

Mike Jones: That was first started when I wsa an amateur. I was probably about 15 or 16 years old and had had my second or third amateur fight.

I threw so many punches in the first round that I stopped the guy. I've been Machine Gun ever since, you know? But tonight, I showed that I'm a smarter Machine Gun Jones.

I used the jab and then when I saw an opening, I tried to capitalize on it. I was putting more of my punches together in bunches, and that's what I'm supposed to do. I felt good.


In what manner were you tested tonight?

Mentally, there was a big mental aspect to tonight's fight. The guy tried to get me into his fight. Even at the weigh-in, he was trying to get into my head.

But that wasn't going to happen this time. I'm way too smart for that. Physically, the guy was so tough. He was going to my body constantly for 12 rounds.

I had to endure some body shots and I had to keep my feet moving and my hands moving. I had to keep my punches going for 12 rounds, so I had to remain focused.

It was a tough fight. I had to stay in the fight mentally and physically.


You said that he never hurt you in the last fight, but how about this one?

No. He never hurt me tonight. He landed a few shots. He got me with his head. We actually got each other with our heads. But he never hurt me in the fight.

It was a tough fight, but I bet it was a good fight. I can't wait to go home and to watch it on HBO. I really felt great being in there tonight. I had fun fighting tonight.

I pretty much executed what I had worked on the whole time.



How did it feel being roundly booed from the time you entered the ring until the end?

Coming up, I'm used to being the underdog, and I believe that I came into this fight off of the last fight as the underdog. He was the favorite coming in probably because people saw the first fight between us.

I heard them throughout the fight. I guess that everybody thought that he had a great chance. But I was comfortable going in there and getting booed.

Even when I got hit low and I was taking a little time to recover. They were booing. They were trying to say that I didn't get hit low. But it was a clear low blow.

But I sucked it up and I didn't take too much time out and I went back to work. I knew that if I showed the true determination that I have, that they would love me after the fight.

It was a mixed blessing that they booed me because that means that they saw the first fight. Now, I feel like I have twice as many fans as I did before that first fight.

But I'm always going to have people who love me and I'm going to have people who hate me. It's a blessing in disguise, you know?

So I'll just keep on doing what I have to do and stay on that journey of becoming the master boxer that I'm trying to become.


On a scale of 1-to-10, what rating do you give yourself for your performance in this fight?

I give myself an 8. You know, because therre were times in the fight where I could have stayed in there and stood my ground a little bit better and rode with his shots.

There were times where I should have straightened up the right hand instead of looping the right hand. I went to his body pretty good. I had worked on going to his body and staying to the body.

I could have used the straight right hand, but I didn't do that. If I had done that, I think I could have earned a devastating knockout with that punch.

So I give myself an 8, because I could have done better.


What skills do you believe that you demonstrated over the course of this fight?

I think that overall I demonstrated that I'm a promising young fighter who is coming up. I think that I showed that I have heart. I fought the same tough guy, twice in a row.

I did that back-to-back on big stages and I didn't break down. He kept coming and I didn't back down. I went 12 rounds hard, and this was after going 10 rounds hard with him.

He never hurt me. This time, I showed more of my boxing skills. I showed that I can move and that I can jab and that I can out-box a guy for 12 rounds strong.

I think I showed the people a lot and that they want to see Mike Jones again. I'm an exciting fighter and I'm not just a boxer who is not going to just box and move and not get hit and be a pretty boy.

I'm going to be in there and fight sometimes. I'm going to get my hands dirty and give the crowd what they want to see. Sometimes, I'm going to mix it up.

Then, I'm going to go back to the jab. I'm getting better and better as I go, in and the ring and out of the ring. It's a marathon and not a sprint. I'm a young fighter who is getting more comfortable at my craft.

I'm more comfortable with the media and the interviews and all of that type of stuff too.


If you could line up your next three opponents, whom would you choose?

My next three opponents? There's a lot of talk about me fighting [WBC welterweight champion] Andre Berto, so I guess that it would be him.

And for some reason, I see [WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion] Miguel Cotto in my future, so I might like to fight him somewhere down the line.

I'm not sure who the next opponent would be, but I could see my next opponents being either Andre Berto or Miguel Cotto. As long as my body allows me to do it, I'll stay at welterweight.



But if I see my body is starting to struggle with the weight, then I'll move up. My overall assessment is that I did a good job tonight. I had a hard night's work.

I'm happy. I'm happy with my performance and I was happy to be a part of this big event, and I'm happy that I overcame. I had a lot of people looking down on me because of my last fight.

There were a lot of questions about me. People were saying I may not be what I was made out to be. But I think that tonight proved that I am what I was made out to be.

I'm going to be one of the great champions in the sport and in the world ob boxing.