Joey Spina: "Manfredo, I am going to knock you the @$%& out!"
 INTERVIEW By Benny Henderson Jr - A.K.A "Big Dog" (Oct 11, 2006) Photo © Mary Ann Owen
This Saturday night October 14th at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI, live on ESPN 2, 9:00 PM ET/PT the bickering will cease and the boxing will begin when the undefeated hard hitting super middleweight contender Joey ‘KO Kid’ Spina 19-0-1 (14) will face off against his cross town rival and The Contender superstar Peter Manfredo Jr. 25-3 (11) in a highly anticipated super middleweight clash for home turf supremacy in what has been billed as ‘Put Up or Shut Up’.
There has been a whole mess of disrespecting in a war of the words that has produced a tarn full of bad blood between the two combatants and if the fight is as good as the hype then this throw down will be a barn burning extravaganza, and it is a bout that the twenty-nine year old Spina has wanted for a long time.
Coming off a two win knock out streak over former The Contender competitor Jesse Brinkley (TKO 11) and the previously once beaten Jay Pina (TKO 4) Spina wants to keep the KO streak alive with Manfredo Jr., and he has kept no secrets on his bad intentions in doing so coming into this fight. The WBC, USNBC and IBF Intercontinental super middleweight champion has made his mark making sweet chin music using his fists as the instruments, drumming out win after win stopping fourteen of twenty opponents. Spina has earned the 14th spot in the IBF and 16th place in the WBC rankings and a win over Manfredo in
which Spina vowed to knock his foe out would be a mega W for his five career.
Regardless of who or what caused this no love all hate relationship there is no doubt about it, Manfredo and Spina aren’t going to be comrades any time soon. Spina is expecting a war, a war in which he plans on winning convincingly, and in this exclusive interview Joey gives his candid thoughts to the Doghouse on Manfredo and the expected bad-blooded brawl, enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.: Your thoughts on your upcoming fight against Peter Manfredo Jr.
Joe Spina: I feel it is going to be a tough fight but a good fight, it is going to be a competitive fight that people will want to see.
BH: What has been the bad blood between you two?
JS: It wasn’t personal, I just took a lot of crap money and wanted to fight somebody and make some decent money and that’s how it was, but he made it personal by talking about my personal business and being smart with his mouth. I am not jealous of him or anybody, and I have bad blood with him and his father.
BH: Manfredo stated in a press release that you are a step down for him and that you will realize that he is the real deal when you step in the ring with him, in his own words he said that he was going to embarrass you, your thoughts on his comments?
JS: You know what embarrass me, you know for the first few rounds he probably will make me look a little bad, but eventually he has to stop and punch and then we will see how tough he is when he gets hit by a real 168-pound fighter.
BH: What about Manfredo Jr. do you feel posses a threat to you on this match-up, and what weaknesses do you see that you could capitalize on?
JS: I don’t that he is a real strong 168-pound fighter, he was never a big puncher at a 154-pounds. So he moves up to 168, I am bigger stronger guy and I feel eventually all that pretty boxing abilities will go out the window once he steps in and mixes it up with me, and he is going to mix it up with me.
BH: How has camp been?
JS: Camp is been good, I have some real good sparring partners, just like him I bet he has good sparring partners too.
BH: Thoughts on Manfredo as a fighter?
JS: I think he is a really good fighter, I think he is skilled and a very sharp boxer.
BH: Keys to victory?
JS: My drive and my will to win, my big heart and my big punch, I will keep on coming, if he can out box me and take my punches for twelve rounds than God bless him, he just beat somebody who is real good.
BH: If you could personally send out a message to Peter Manfredo what would you say?
JS: I’m going to knock you the @$%& out! Plain, blunt and straight, I am going to knock you the @$%& out…please excuse my language.
BH: What can the fight fans expect from you come fight night?
JS: You are going to see my heart, dedication and my drive, my will to win, you will see my passion.
BH: Closing thoughts?
JS: I take nothing away from Peter Manfredo, if he beats me then God bless him, he beat a real tough guy that had a lot of heart and a lot of will. My fans will know that I have a lot of heart and dedication when it comes to fighting.
I would like to thank Joey Spina for his time and thoughts.
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