Minnesota Boxing News: Jeremy McLaurin vs Ronny Rios

MCLAURIN PREPARED FOR RIOS
BY JESSE KELLEY
2.3.12

Jeremy McLaurin (9-2, 5 KO's) will face unbeaten Golden Boy prospect Ronny Rios (16-0, 7 KO's) this Friday night at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim, California. McLaurin will be an underdog heading into the main event bout which will be televised on Telefura. But McLaurin says he is used to being the fighter not favored to win going in. McLaurin says he was aware that he was not supposed to beat undefeated fighters at the time Darryl Hayes (3-0) , Joel Flores (4-0), and Gary Eyer (8-0) either but the 30 year old had his hand raised in each of those bouts. His most recent fight against Duluth's Gary Eyer is regarded as his best showing in the ring so far as a pro.

" First off I want to thank the lord for that victory. I don't even know where to start with the Eyer fight. I am told he thinks he won and was cheated? Did this dude see the fight yet? If not, it's available online. I must have done a lot of damage to his head if he thinks that he won. He was running scared the whole time. He hit me with four ugly punches during the whole fight. I really think I took him out of his game. Instead of push forward like he normally does, he was running backwards to get away. I was in shape and had a full training camp for that fight. Gary "Stone Cold" Eyer lived up to his name for that fight. He was very stone cold that night! The grasshopper couldn't take the stone from my hand that night. People that know me, know that I am not the kind of guy that runs his mouth. Those other guys that I beat were also talking like they didn't lose. And I just moved on. But Gary Eyer was very disrespectful to me before and after the fight. I try my best to be respectful toward my opponents but Gary said a lot of things about me. That is why I am getting this off my chest like this. I beat him in every aspect of the game. Now that we have that out of the way, I can put all my attention on Ronny Rios."

McLaurin has been in California since Wednesday preparing for tomorrow's bout with Rios. In March of 2011, McLaurin stepped up on short notice to face 10-0 prospect Juan Gonzalez. McLaurin was 10 pounds over his best weight and admits he was unprepared, going on to losing by tko. But McLaurin says the experience showed him what he needs to do to compete at a higher level and may have been a blessing in disguise. Like the Eyer fight, McLaurin has had what he considers to be a great training camp for this bout against Rios. Prior to taking the fight with Rios, McLaurin had already been training for a January 19th bout against 16-1 Jorge Diaz in New York. That bout fell through but left the door open for the bout against Rios, which will be televised world wide. McLaurin will need to be at his best as Rios is a former National champion who brings tons of experience to the fight at the young age of 22.

"This fight is about sending a message" said McLaurin before his flight left for California. "We have a game plan and I know I have to take care of business. I want to show that I can be a force in the feather weight division. I am looking to keep climbing that ladder from being ranked 17 in the US. I don't plan on having any man stand in my way. Yeah my back is against the wall. But really, it's just another boxing match for me."

McLaurin has visited nearly every gym in the Twin Cities area to work with as many different faces as possible in preparing for the bout. Training three times a day including 2am runs in the bitter cold, McLaurin feels like he has given himself the best opportunity to put on a good performance tomorrow night in California. Fight fans can tune in to see the action on Saturday night, February 4th on Telefutura.