Killer Crossover? KJ Noons on training at Wild Card Boxing Club, Randy Pogue, Nick Diaz going to Boxing and Much More!

Killer Crossover? KJ Noons on training at Wild Card Boxing Club, Randy Pogue, Nick Diaz going to Boxing and Much More!

Interview by John Novoselac, Doghouse Boxing (Aug 21, 2009)

In times where many are looking hard for work, San Diego resident KJ Noons (10-2, 6 Kos) has been working hard to earn his living. He plies his trade inside both the boxing ring as well as the MMA octagon, and this Saturday night he climbs back through the ropes in a junior middleweight bout to face Randy Pogue (8-8-2, 2 Kos) in the Pala Casino near San Diego, California.

In his last boxing outing he faced rugged junior middle weight Enrique Gallegos on May 28th in Houston, riding a first round knock down to a unanimous decisions victory. On the fight he said, ‘Oh it was a great fight man. I trained hard and dropped him in the first round, and then I went the full distance. The guy was tough, man. He came and we talked a little bit after the fight, and he said he never trained harder for any fight. So he was really good, I just feel like he made me better, you know.’

In preparation for this fight, KJ had the luxury of remaining in the town where he currently resides, San Diego. That made for close proximity to the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, where Noons spent much of his camp sparring. On his training he said, ‘I’ve been bouncing, you know just commuting, training out of San Diego, but I’ve been going up like 2 or 3 times a week to get sparring up at Wild Card. Rashad Holloway, a guy named Rob Garcia, these Russians. Mainly just Rob Garcia and Rashad Holloway, good sparring.’

Approaching his next fight, Noons knows little about his opponent. ‘Yeah you ever heard of him? It’s supposed to be at 158.’ On what he does know, he said ‘Not very much, southpaw from what I’ve read, just southpaw. I looked at his record, he’s never been stopped, you know. He’s 8-8. It’s supposed to be a 8 rounder, that’s what I trained for, but maybe a 6 rounder, I don’t know.’ Inquiring as to if he had been in an 8 round fight before, he said, ‘No, I was supposed to go 8 rounds the last 2 times, and they brought me 6 rounders. I wanted to step it up already, you know.’

In regards to his plans for the rest of 2009, and a return to the octagon where he formerly held a title, he said, ‘One more boxing fight October 10th back in Houston, and I believe that’s on tv time also, then jumping back to the MMA ring in December.’ Opponents are still being discussed.

I asked KJ what his thoughts were on the whole MMA vs. boxing debate, and specifically about his former octagon victim Nick Diaz’ move to boxing alongside his MMA career after signing with Hall of Fame boxing promoter Don Chargin last week.

On the 2 sports, he offered, ‘You know, people have tried boxing, and I’ve done boxing since I was a kid. So, I mean I love both sports, but there are a couple cats in MMA like Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia who have tried to cross over and they’re just not successful, you know. Tim Sylvia got knocked out, Andrei Arlovski, he’s trying to move over, but he’s been knocked out in his last couple MMA fights. You know, it’s not an easy transition. People think they can just hop from one to the other. I actually started boxing, so it’s kinda like I bounce back in forth, not like I’m trying to do something that these guys are trying to do. I started boxing, I actually crossed over to MMA, and I’m just going back.’

As far as Nick Diaz goes, KJ said, ‘Uh yeah, he’s an idiot. He wants to win 2 titles, he needs to win 1 title first. He needs to pass a drug test first. I don’t think he’s gonna be too successful because boxers are a little bit bigger, and you’re gonna get guys that are a lot more skilled in boxing than the guys in MMA, that are trying to box with MMA gloves you know?’

“TKO World Championship Boxing at the Pala Casino” is presented by Chet Koerner’s TKO BOXING Promotions, originators of the nationally acclaimed “HOMETOWN HEROES TO WORLD CHAMPIONS” professional boxing series.

For more information on KJ, check out www.kjnoons.com.

Questions or comments,
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John at: jnovoselac@yahoo.com

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