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ISMAIL RECOUNTS RECENT WIN
By Jesse Kelley

Hoshang Ismail and Matt Carlson fought one of the most exciting matches of the year in Minnesota on November 18th at the Uppercut gym in Minneapolis. Ismail, who has only been boxing for a year and a half, was a big underdog going into the bout against the much more seasoned Carlson. The White Bear Lake boxer had far less experience and was also giving up eight pounds in weight but surprised everybody by going punch for punch with Carlson to pick up the decision. Ismail answered a few questions looking back at the big win. Here is what Ismail had to say..
(Ismail is pictured in black)

What can you tell us about Matt Carlson as a fighter?
Well all I know is that I had never seen Matt lose since ive been in boxing, and I go to a lot of shows. Everybody said that hes been boxing forever.

How long have you been boxing and what got you interested in the sport?
Ive been boxing for a year and a half and I love it. My older brother Hozan got me into it

So many people around the state are talking about your big win at Uppercut last weekend. Going in you had many disadvantages on paper. Can you talk about why you took a fight with somebody who outweighed you and has so much more experience as you?
For starters everybody knows im not one to back down from ANYONE. So I wasn't about to start that night. And I've been getting way better at learning how to be more of a boxer then a brawler.

I hear it was an action packed fight. Can you recap how you felt the fight went for those of us who were not there?
There was always something going on. Neither of us were ever waiting for the other one at anytime and we both were landing big punches. By the start of the third everyone in the gym was on their feet yelling and cheering. Plus I think everyone was expecting it to be a lop sided fight and it wasn't.

I hear your plan going in was to do more boxing in this fight since Carlson had the size advantage. You started out boxing but soon after decided to war with him. Why did you decide to go to war with somebody that outweighed you?
I knew that Carlson had great speed and I wanted to make him miss his jabs by moving my head a lot and it worked but there were chances for me to go in that I couldn't pass up. In the second I got to sloppy and that's when he caught me and gave me the eight count.

You mentioned the standing eight count in the second round. I've been told you looked ok and maybe shouldn't have been given one. Were you hurt at all and did that change the way you fought afterwards? Was Carlson ever hurt or did you just simply out land him over 3 rounds?
Well he definetly caught me but I was fine and don't think I deserved it. And as for Carlson being hurt, I got a lot of good punches on him and he felt it.

Going into the final moments of the last round the building was just rocking. When you are fighting, do you notice what the crowd is doing and saying, and if so how does that effect you in a fight?
Not really, I always to listen to my corner and most of the time the only voices I can hear are my brothers. In the last moments of the last round he was more tired then me and I never stopped punching.

Like I said, that was a huge win that opened many eyes in the amateur boxing scene. What can we expect next for you?
We'll Im facing him again on December 9th so Im training for that right now and after that I want to have more big fights.

Anything you would like to say in closing to the readers?
I just want to thank my brothers, my coaches, and everyone in my gym for helping me be more of a boxer.