Anthony Bonsante: I'm Bringing The Belt Back To Minnesota!
By Jesse Kelley

Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante (24-3-3, 13 ko's) will finally get his long awaited high profile fight this Friday on Espn2's televised main event as he challenges Peter Manfredo Jr. (20-0, 10 ko's) this weekend for Manfredo's NABO crown. Bonsante won the vacant IBA Middleweight title over Tony Ayala Jr. in April of last year. In most cases, winning a world title leads to bigger and better things but Bonsante says it has made it harder to find big fights because nobody wants to take the risk in fighting him now. Bonsante believes that a win over Manfredo Jr. will put his name up there with the top names in the Jr. Middleweight division. Here is what Bonsante had to say to....

I want to start by talking a little about the fight with Tony Ayala last year. That is really the fight people bring up when talking about you. Would you say that was the best performance by yourself as a professional?

Bonsante: Yeah, to date that was the best performance I have turned out. We were obviously a 10-1 underdog going in. It was in Oklahoma which is about an hour from San Antonio where he was from. So he was considered the hometown kid. We went in there with a game plan. We knew he was 40 years old and couldn’t go the 12 rounds. I knocked him down early in the second round and knew I had him from that point on because my jab was just sticking him. I won about the first five or six rounds and gave one away I think in the tenth. I took that round off and forgot to tell my corner. So they say to me "what the hell are you doing?" I told them I took the round off! So in the eleventh round he gained some momentum from the previous round. I hit him with a short little uppercut that dazed him and I took him into the corner and knew that if I poured it on that he wasn’t going to be able to go. I even had him earlier in the fight but I knew that I couldn’t spend too much energy because I knew he was tough. So we got him into the eleventh round and I put it to him and the ref stopped it. I told the ref your lucky you stopped it because I would still be punching him!

So it sounds like you stuck with this plan to go into the later rounds throughout the fight.

Bonsante: Exactly. I wanted to box, stick and move and not get into a punching contest with him because he would have won. The guy has tremendous power in his left hook. I knew I had to stay the hell away from him. I danced on the outside and fought a perfect fight.

Does it bug you when people say you are tough but don’t talk about your boxing skills?

Bonsante: Yeah but if they would watch the Ayala fight they would see that I can box. I mean you have been to a couple of my fights. Guys that I know I cant out punch I sit on the outside and box. I am hoping this kid does think I’m just a puncher.

Ok, After such a big win, can you talk about why you think it has taken so long to get another big fight like the one this Friday?

Bonsante: I think a lot of people expected me to lose that fight. Then when I won, I think people were afraid to take the chance. We got an offer from Jermain Taylor but they were only going to pay me like $15,000. He’s rated number three in the world! Its on HBO and I know the difference between Espn money and HBO money. I feel that I could have beat him. Supposedly he is the next Bernard Hopkins, the next up and comer. The fact that people think I cant box is fine. They can underestimate me and I’ll go in there and box their ass off!

You have fought most of your career at 160 or higher. Recently you have been fighting at around 154. Is there a weight you prefer or is it more about fighting at whichever weight has the most attractive offer?

Bonsante: Well yeah if someone offers me 100 grand to go up to 165 I would seriously consider it. My strongest weight is 154. It has always been my strongest weight but I was never able to get any fights at 154. Hopefully when I win this NABO belt it should put us in the top ten in the WBO which is their organization. See Manfredo is rated number six right now and they think with a win he will be in line for Daniel Santos who is the WBO champion. But he is not going to win.

Do you plan on defending your Middleweight title in the future?

Bonsante: No because I would have to fight between 160 and 168. Technically it was considered a supermiddleweight title but they deemed it a middleweight title because I was only 161 pounds.

What do you know about Peter Manfredo Jr. and what do you see happening in this fight?

Bonsante: He does have skills, he has potential and he is only 23 years old. If you look at his opposition you will see that the credibility of his opponents has not been the greatest. I mean Sherwin Davis who he fought and won the belt is 17-0. But then you look at his record and see that he hasn’t fought anybody. And the fact that the kid wont fight out of the east coast. I mean all 20 of his fights have been in his backyard. I am going to his backyard and will be his toughest test to date. Manfredo has never been in a war so I am just going to put it to him. We are going to give it our best shot and hopefully come out the victor.

Are you worried at all about the fight being in his backyard?

Bonsante: Yeah a little bit just because of what happened here with Matt Vanda and Sam Garr. Garr, in my eyes won the fight. I gave Vanda maybe one or two rounds. Its just the fact that we don’t have a commission here. The promotor hired that ref and those judges. It was a bad thing for Minnesota boxing because now Espn doesn’t want to come back here. After they see me fight they will want to come back hopefully.

How did the partnership between you and Scott Ledoux come about?

Bonsante: Well originally he is from my hometown. Even when I fought with my old trainer Bill Kaehn, Scott would help me out. He got me a fight in Philadelphia one time. Because of the inactivity and I wasn’t getting the fights and because I am getting older, I’m 33 now and not getting any younger I thought it was time to make a change. Not that Bill did anything wrong. He is a great trainer and did everything he was supposed to do with me but at this point in my career I was at a crossroads. I felt I had to make a change. With Scott’s name and notoriety, he just knows everybody in the boxing world. He works for Espn 2. Plus he’s from my hometown. I approached him and asked if he would be my trainer. He said sure but wanted to let it be known that it was my idea and not his. He didn’t steal me from Bill. I talked to Bill about it and he was a little bit upset. Hopefully in time he will understand why I did what I did. I still wish he was part of our team as our cut man. He is a great cut man and a great trainer. Scott has taught me quite a bit in the last four months. We have been able to work the pads and stuff. Nothing that Bill couldn’t teach me but just stuff that he did. I respect both of them. I have had three trainers in my career and have been boxing for 23 years.

Are there any specific things you have been concentrating on in the gym for this fight that you are able to share?

Bonsante: Conditioning. When I was training before we would run three of four miles a day. Now I am running four or five on days we train and on days we don’t train, I am running eight or nine. Besides the fact that I am 154 pounds and I’ve been 154 for about a week. So I have been able to train at this weight. I feel strong, I mean you saw me today, I feel good. This should have been my weight from the get go but we couldn’t get fights. It’s no fault of anybody’s, we just could not get the damn fights! We tried to challenge Matt Vanda. I have nothing against Vanda. I had a problem with his promoters. Now that he is not with them anymore, the fight does not intrigue me as much. I wish the kid the best of luck, I know he has some legal problems that I hope he can get out of. The kid has got potential and he can draw a ton of people.

Do you see the possibility of the two of you working together to put on a show here in Minnesota someday?

Bonsante: See that is what I would love to do. We have four solid boxers in this state. Well five with Mohammed Kayongo but I doubt they will put him on a card with me, Vanda and the Litzau brothers. But if we could get me, Vanda, Allen and Jason Litzau all on one card fighting different people, we could easily draw 15,000 people at the Excel center. I don’t care who the headliner is, Vanda can be the headliner, I would fight in the co-main event. Allen, Jason, Leo Moreno, Kenny Kost. Showcase the talent here in Minnesota at Minnesota. It just makes sense.

How much longer do you think you will be fighting for if everything goes as planned?

Bonsante: Well Bernard Hopkins is 39 years old. He didn’t break into the big money until he was 35 or 36 years old. Right now, physically, emotionally and mentally I am in the best shape I have ever been in and I’m 33 years old. I feel like I can go until I am 38 years old if the right fights come along and I am not getting hurt. If I am getting punched then it is my trainers job to let me know I’m taking too many shots and maybe we should think about getting the hell out of this. I think I have four or five good years left. Especially when I upset this kid!

In most of the reports I have read, the feeling I get is that you are viewed as the underdog Nationally and that Manfredo is the featured fighter. Does this bother you that some people are looking at you as the opponent?

Bonsante: No, not at all. I have nothing to lose. I am the underdog. He has everything in the world to lose with this fight. He is 23, they have all the money behind him. Supposedly Vinny Pazienza has passed the torch to him to be the next east coast kid or whatever the hell he is. I have been the underdog my whole life. I’ve got two beautiful kids, I’m divorced. Even when I was an amateur I was the underdog and I won five uppermidwest titles. Coming from a small town in Minnesota and fighting all of these inner city kids and kicking their ass! I love that. A small town kid, you cant beat that. Manfredo may have more skill. I don’t believe that but everybody else says it. The one thing that he doesn’t have that I do, he will never be able to take from me is that I have twice the heart this kid will ever have. Twice the determination, twice the courage and twice the pride. I told my mom and dad this, in order for this kid to beat me he’s going to have to kill me. And I am ready to go! I mean if I am bleeding like a stuffed pig, nobody is going to throw the towel in. I am going to the end. It is going to be a war. And if its a war, the Bullet is going to beat the Pride of Providence. One thing I would like to add is that I am dedicating this fight to my old amateur coach Tom Herron and his family. He passed away this past December. He was a great man. Come rounds eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve when I think I am tired Ill look up and know he is watching. I am just going to poor it on.

Is there anything you would like to say in closing?

Bonsante: I would like to thank you for coming down and giving us the chance to get interviewed, and taking some shots. I think your website is great. How it keeps everybody in Minnesota informed with what is going on. We are going to give it hell and bring the belt back to Minnesota!