A Newfound Spark for Allan Green
By Chris Robinson
Watching Super Middleweight contender Allan Green move around the ring these days is a sight to see. He floats effortlessly on his toes, he has pure fluidity in every action his body takes, his combinations are crisp, and he is simply a stronger fighter in every area as opposed to the man we saw a year ago against Edison Miranda on HBO. Having seen much of Green in training over the past few years, it’s obvious to tell he’s a new man with a stronger outlook on his career.
 Recently Green had surgery to remove 85% of his paralyzed colon and he will be the first to tell you just how much of a positive affect that has had for him. His colon caused him much discomfort and weakened him overall, to the point he states that medically he shouldn’t have been fighting at all. Now with a full slate of health, Green is calm and relaxed as he prepares for his February 29th fight in Marksville, Louisiana against Antwun Echols. His mindset is focused, if not still a bit frustrated by all of the politics that the sport of boxing puts a fighter through.
Having just finished up another daily sparring session with New York’s Joe Greene, Allan spoke freely about his upcoming fight, the benefits of training down in Florida, the negatives of the sport, and his newfound outlook towards life in general…
No friends…
‘I’ve been good with everything and I am just focusing on my upcoming fight. I don’t know if you know, but Samuel Miller actually pulled out of the fight and we called everybody in boxing to get a replacement. I guess it’s hard to find a top level fighter to step in as a replacement on just two weeks notice so I’m actually ending up fighting a friend of mine, Antwun Echols. Antwun is a former sparring partner of mine and I know everything about him. He is a friend of mine and we are cool but there are no friends coming February 29th.
Like home…
‘I definitely love Florida and it’s like a second home to me. I have all my people down here. My trainer John David Jackson and my assistant Chico Gold are here but I also love the weather. When I train back home it’s hard to not get distracted. From getting sick to running my kids back and forth to school, it just becomes time consuming and as a single parent it’s hard to put 100% into training. Down in Florida everything is calm and it’s a better situation for me. I wake up around 5:30 in the morning and eat a little bit, take a walk, come back for maybe another mid-morning snack, then I get ready to hit the gym. I really can’t focus on any else other than training when I am down here.
Making It…
‘You have to be selfish if you want to make it in this sport. You have to be selfish with yourself; you really do. If you want to succeed at the top level and excel then you have to put your priorities first otherwise you will just be mediocre. If you are a fighter you have to put training and boxing first and just focus on yourself.
Hurting Business…
‘Boxing is a hurting sport in and out of the ropes. The sport itself can very corrupt and a lot of people in the sport don’t do business anymore, they just do favors. You see a lot of guys on big time networks that probably don’t belong on there but that’s just how it works out. A guy like myself, I’ve had to fight on ESPN eleven or twelve times already. I love fighting on ESPN but I’m looking for bigger things. Boxing is so messed up and corrupt that it’s crazy. I was thinking that some type of union would be better for the fighters but I just don’t know if that will ever happen. What keeps me going is the fact that I love fighting and I’m doing this for me.
A different cloth…
‘I can’t say that boxing has changed my life because on September 20th, 1979 a fighter was born. That’s what I’ve always been. I’m cut from a different cloth. One of my trainers, Chico Gold, says that I was born in 1920 because I train like an old school fighter. A lot of fighters these days are just invented and said to be something that they are not. If a guy wins one fight he’s the next Sugar Ray Robinson but if he loses a fight he’s the worst fighter in the world. We need to stop overhyping guys and make it how it was in the old days were you had to fight rated fights to get where you wanted to go.
Brotherhood…
‘I have a lot of friends through the sport of boxing, most of them being fighters. Boxing is like a brotherhood and a lot of us have to stick together. At the end of the day when we stop fighting we want to be able to sit on our lake and go fishing so we all need to support each other.
Other interests…
‘There are actually other things besides boxing that I could see myself doing if I wasn’t a fighter. I’ve always liked acting and I feel I also could have been a football player or a basketball player too. I could see myself doing some broadcasting for various boxing networks too, that’s something I am comfortable doing. I have other interests but for now boxing is my main thing.
His trainer, John David Jackson…
‘The first time I met John was when I was in Vero Beach, Florida helping Antonio Tarver prepare for his first fight with Roy Jones. John was there with Nate Campbell and we just hit it off. I definitely have a strong bond with him. I feel I am more of a puncher than he was but we have a lot of similarities to our styles. We communicate with each other and we see eye to eye with each other on a lot of things. He’s the type of person I can just sit down and talk with, whether we’re talking about boxing or everyday life.
A new spark…
‘For a long time I wasn’t happy with a lot of things and for the past year or so I haven’t been able to get up for my fights. I felt that I hadn’t gotten my just dues in the game and it was hard for me to stay motivated all of the time. That’s why you saw me in some lackluster performances, because it was just the same old thing for me and I guess I was going through the motions. It was getting old to me but for some reason I found a newfound spark and I love the game again. It’s 2008 and if things go as planned I will be a world champion soon, so I’m just excited about everything again. |
