Minnesota middleweight champ Anthony Bonsante (31-9-3, 17 KO's) returned to action last month in Hinckley, MN. Bonsante looked sharp despite being out of action for nearly a year as he outclassed Illinois brawler Ted Muller.
Bonsante, 37, continues to refuse to act his own age as he defies onlookers by fighting with the same intensity and skill that he has displayed throughout his career.
Bonsante took the time to chat with MinnesotaBoxing.com about his performance against Muller. Bonsante also shared in detail his thoughts on rumors of a super fight showdown with Zach Walters and his interest in facing hot middleweight Andy Kolle...

You looked good against Teddy Muller in your last fight. Can you recap the fight and give us your thoughts on your performance?
At the weigh in he was ripped cut, he looked like he was ready to fight. His trainer told me he had been in training camp with Kelly Pavlic, getting him ready for his last fight. The contracted weight initially for Carl Daniels (Bonsante's original opponent) was 165 and then Daniels got hurt. I was told Muller couldn’t make 165 so we had to bump it up to 168. Myself, I don’t like going that high. So then he comes in at 164 and I’m thinking we’re in trouble. Muller came in to fight and landed a couple nice shots. But my jab was working real well, my right hand worked and the uppercut was always there. If you’re in there with a boxer you punch, if you’re in there with a puncher, you box. Muller was more of a puncher, he likes to get inside, so I just stuck that jab in his face. I was actually very pleased with my performance I would have given it probably a B. It went well.

Let's get right to it. You read the interview I recently did with Zach Walters. What are your thoughts on him wanting a fight with you?
I think what happened is Chucky Horton ultimately wants Kolle to fight me, but he wants to test me against Walters first. Say I beat Walters, he’ll say okay Kolle isn’t ready for Bonsante, rather than putting Kolle up first. Which would draw a lot more because it’s a natural match-up, two middleweights. Why in the hell do I want to fight a light heavyweight bout. I think Horton actually is a little tentative to put Kolle in against a veteran like myself. Because if Vanda can knock him down, I can knock him out. Taking nothing away from Matt, but if Vanda can knock him down, I guarantee I knock him out. He had a good fight against Jonathan Reid. From what I hear, he won all the rounds but they were a little closer than what the judges put them at. And Reid’s past his prime as they probably think I am. I think I proved on Friday night a couple weeks ago that I still got a lot left in the tank. I felt pretty good, I had the endurance
and I was just testing him out. Zach had mentioned that he had knocked him out in the 3rd round and I had knocked him out in the 5th. Well, Muller never put me to the canvas, not even close. And if I recall correctly Muller put Zach to the canvas twice, didn’t he? And if I remember correctly, that fight was held up in Duluth or Superior. From what I was told from fans at ringside is that if it was not a home town ref and judges, they would have stopped that fight when Muller knocked him down. But of course you have a hometown ref and they let it go. As soon as Muller goes down, the guy gets up at 6 and they call it. I’m not taking anything away from Zach but there’s a lot of suspicious things going on there. I believe I had a convincing victory over Muller. Muller looked a lot better against me than he did against Zach Walters. And I think Chuck Horton wants me to fight Zach first and then if I beat him I’m never going to get a shot at Kolle rather than giving up Kolle first.

So is a fight with Walters something you will consider?
Oh yeah if I have to kick Walter’s ass to get to Kolle, I will. But why the hell would I want to fight a light Heavyweight, Jesse? I don’t. You know, but if that’s the only way I can get to Andy Kolle, I might have to think about it. You know, Zach is 6’3”. He’s got 6” of height on me, his reach is probably about 6” on me. But I don’t think the guy’s got that much pop. Chuck Horton said he’d bring 1000 fans down to the Target Center. He brought about 300 fans to the Target Center and Zach got his ass whooped by Hugo Pineda. I mean he just dropped like a tomato can.
I’m not going to guarantee anything but with my attitude, my guts, my determination, even at 38 years old, I’m going to win. I’m going to win. I still have the moves. I still can slip and bob and weave. I still have some pop left to my punch. And fights like that just bring me up anyways. I don't understand why they would even consider fighting me because it’s not going to look good if Zach loses to a guy that’s 38 years old who’s a natural Middleweight and he’s a light heavyweight. Not at all. Obviously the fight to be made in MN is Andy Kolle. He’s got the NABA Middleweight title. He has a win over Jonathan Reid who by the way is younger than Tony Bonstante. But I guarantee I can beat Kolle.

Zach mentioned the fight being at 168. Would that weight be good for you?
Oh no, if they want me that bad, they’re going to come lower than 168. It’ll be a catch weight of 166 give or take a pound. And he can make it. When we first got the commission back in November it was Andy Kolle, myself, and Zach Walters at a press conference. Zach said to me “Did you ever think about going down to Super Middleweight to fight me?” I said why in the hell would I want to fight a light heavyweight that’s 6’3”? What does that give Tony Bonsante in a match? It doesn’t give me anything. So I would have to make him come lower. And if he really wanted the fight, if he wanted it that badly, I’d consider the fight at 166 give or take a pound, so max he could weigh is 167. and I sincerely don’t want it in Duluth because they have the referees and judges in their back pocket. And they were bragging in that interview, that they can put 3500 people at the DECC. Well we draw more than 3500 people in Minneapolis. If you put it at
the Target Center, that’s 9000 people. Why not put it there? Logistics and income and all that tell you to put it at a venue that’s going to hold more people and put on a card. The ideal card to me is Tony Bonsante vs. Andy Kolle, Zach Walters vs. Phil Williams, Matt Vanda vs. Kenny Kost, and then you get Caleb Truax on there, and you get maybe Allan Litzau or Jason if they could afford Jason, but that’s a lot of money. That would be an ideal card, all about Minnesota. And I know ESPN would put on Bonsante vs. Kolle and Walters vs. Phil Williams, but you and I both know Chuck Horton doesn’t want me to fight Kolle and he doesn’t want Zach Walters to fight Phil Williams. I mean you saw Phil’s knockout of that guy who’s 8-1. That was devastating. I mean Phil’s got so much pop to his punch, he’d knock Zach Walters out inside of 5 rounds.

Have you had anything else in the works or do you have anything else coming up?
There’s no definite dates yet, but I know something is being considered for August. We had an offer to fight Sebastian Demiers but they didn’t want to pay enough money. I think it was for July 12th. Which I think I’d do fairly well in that fight simply because I don’t know that Sebastian Demiers has a whole lot of power and Vanda just went 12 rounds with him. I hear Vanda got in pretty good shape. It wasn’t a blowout. Matt always comes to fight, he’s a tough son of a bitch

POST INTERVIEW NOTES:
A showdown with Walters and Bonsante may have to wait, something Walters stated he didn't want to do as did Bonsante. But the latest rumor flying around the message boards is that Anthony Bonsante will be facing Canadian southpaw Adonis Stevenson (11-0, 8 KO's) on August 1st. The Boxrec.com schedule also has this fight listed. I am still awaiting Bonsante's word on if this fight is happening and will keep you updated when I can confirm.