In this last and final part of the Ivan Robinson chronicles, Ivan talks about his fight with Julio Cesar Chavez, the relationship between Ann Wolfe and James Kirkland, and what he thinks about Bob Arum. You don’t want to miss it.
By Boxing Reporter and Writer Chris Cercola
As much as I said I wanted to stay out of the sport of boxing, or I don’t wanna deal with it no more, I just can’t help it, I love it, although it’s not like it was when I was ‘Mighty Mouse’…there was like 60-70 gyms in Philly, now there’s like eleven.
I got thumbed in the Vivian Harris fight early, they took the fight for the simple fact that they knew I’m not a big puncher, and they looked at him like a younger lion, that he’d be able to do what he needed to do, but anybody who know me, know that I’m not a pushover, and that’s exactly what I went in there and did, I showed him that I wasn’t no pushover, but he thumbed me. My eye got swelled, but on the strength of the scoring system, I don’t even know what it was, actually that shouldn’t of been a tie, I should of pulled back, and said let me look at this, let me see what I’m gonna do ‘cause I didn’t really have too many problems about worrying about money, ‘cause I was getting paid good, I was making good money. I should of just re-evaluated my options, which I didn’t but, it is what it is, like I’ll say again, and I’ll say ‘til the day I die, I had a fabulous career, my pay was very good, I couldn’t ask for nothing no better, what else could I ask for? I couldn’t ask for nothing no better, I had just about everything I wanted; I did just about everything I wanted to do.
It was good fighting Leija, I’ll never forget it, even Leija said they brought him in to lose; they didn’t bring him in to win. I’m winning the fight, I wasn’t prepared at all, I think I was looking at it as being on the big stage again, but forgetting that being on the big stage, you gotta perform, and I did perform at my best, but he beat me, but you know, no disrespect to him, he did what he had to do, and that’s the reason he got a big fight after that. I forget what big fight he got after that, but he got a big fight after that which he didn’t win, which I should of been the one in that big fight, and I would of won that fight, but, hey, it is what it is, and I just thank God for giving me the opportunity to be put on that big stage again.
One thing that was missing was, I didn’t train like I was supposed to, and I think one thing you gotta know about people in general, and when I say people, I mean the media, I mean the people that’s looking in on a fighters career, what people in general don’t understand is, when a trainer gets a fighter, the passion that a trainer has for his fighter…I mean the trainer is now part of the family…For instance, take Kirkland and Ann Wolfe, when Kirkland decided to leave Ann Wolfe and take that fight, he got his ass beat. Kirkland was smart enough to say fuck that; I’m going back to my trainer who got me where she got me and where I need to be. Then you see when he went back, and he did all the things that Ann Wolfe taught him to do, and took all the commands…not that he a slave, but listened to all the things she told him to do, then it’s a different story. Now what? He’s back where he’s supposed to be, so the trainer becomes a part of the fighter, just like the fighter becomes a part of the trainer. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand.
I fought a kid from Philly, named Tyrone…I don’t remember his last name, but he’s a cop. He’s one of the Philadelphia local guys, he’s a good fighter, he’s a southpaw, and he beat a lot of guys. I think he had like two or three losses, nobody wants to fight him. One thing about me, I’m real…I knew that I was like…I wasn’t yet…Had a fork stuck in me…But I was pretty much getting to that point, and this kid was still rugged, tough, whatever, he gave me a fight. The promoter down here was having trouble making fights; they wanted to match him up with somebody. Who better to get than local favorite Ivan Robinson? Chavez was looking for an opponent, they didn’t know who to get, they had somebody in line, a kid, Zack…I can’t even pronounce his last name but it started with a P…Me and Zack knew each other since I was known as ‘Mighty Mouse’, so they had somebody to fight Chavez, but the guy they was gonna get to fight Chavez, nobody really knew who he was. They wanted a name for Chavez. Zack told me that if I beat Tyrone, that he would get me that fight with Chavez, I’m not going into the fight thinking about Chavez. I was thinking about Tyrone, because for one, he’s a southpaw, and I haven’t fought a southpaw in years, and southpaws are real dangerous. So you know, come out, first couple of rounds, and Tyrone can’t do nothing with me, and you know, I’m boxing his ass off. Later in the fight, things kinda sink i.e. don’t know, I guess father time was starting to click in, I was getting kinda tired, punches was getting kinda crazy, this that and the other, but it was like, I still had that will to win. I went in there and I punched and I did what I need to do. Alright, I steps out the ring and get to the bottom of the step, Zack says, “You got the fight with Chavez.”, I’m like, “What?”, he’s like, “All you had to do was win.”, so from that time on, it was time to get ready for that fight.
I went down to North Carolina with my man Don Turner, trained for, I think four weeks, but the ironic thing was that Don Turner had guys in camp already, and he had this one young kid, I can’t really remember his name, but he was from overseas, and he was over here trying to make a name for himself. He was young, he had to be like 21, 22, and me and him had a squabble like the night before, the next day was the day for me to start my boxing. Who do I draw; I draw the kid I had the argument with. “You’re old man.”, this that and the other, I’m like, “OK”…I went in there, and I boxed the mess out this kid, beating the bricks off him, but me, you know, being a hot head, I start talking to him, and he caught me with a right hand in my mouth, and I’ll never forget it, my mouthpiece went through my lower lip and my tooth and I had a cut. I had two options, one, either take this fight, and not box for two weeks, or not take this fight and take my ass back home. I’m taking the fight, I’m just not gonna box for two weeks, so I trained the whole two weeks, had a hard training, trained like two times a day, got the weight down, well, I got it down, I was still a little pudgy because I was already big. When I fought Tyrone, I think I fought at 54, 56, something like that, the biggest weight of my career, and I had to get down to 47 for this, so I still had some love handles and stuff, but hey, I wanted that fight and I’ll never forget it.
Walking out to the ring, we had to come from under the tunnel, ‘cause we fought at the Staples Center, and that’s where the Lakers and the Clippers play they ball at, so when we came from out of the locker room from under the bleachers, you know, that’s where the fans at, man, Chavez had so many people there, it was crazy! They was throwing bottles, soda cans, pouring water on me and everything and my dad, ’cause at that time I had my dad back, and my other trainer, man, it was like fighting in hell, I swear to God! It was like me inside the middle of a circle with a bull, that’s how it was though. We went out there and we fought our ass off. My dad and them tell me that I gave Chavez too much respect, but he was a fucking legend. Lot of people was talking about, “You fighting this fight for Meldrick!”, “Hell nah, I’m fighting this fight for me, not nothing about Meldrick!”, I mean, I love Meldrick, we from the same neighborhood, but it’s not about Meldrick, it’s about Ivan Robinson, and we went out there and we fought. Besides the Israel Cardona fight was the only time I been knocked down…My dad kept telling me, and we kept working at it in the gym those last two and a half weeks, “Don’t pull out with your hands out, ‘cause Chavez throws that sneaky right hand!”…I’m hitting him with eight, ten punch combinations, this that and the other, pulling out, getting away from him, but in the fourth round, whew, look out, caught me with that right hand, down I went!!! But you know…Shit, I’d rather get hit and dropped by a legend than get hit and dropped by you! I think he was forty-something by then, fifty…That was a good shot! He could still punch! I’ll never forget it, when he hit me with that left to the body, I almost shitted on myself…! You know what they say, a puncher, always a puncher, so he didn’t lose nothing, he might of got slow, a lot slow, but that left hook is still the truth!
I wanna say, it goes back to what I said earlier…Gatti gave me the opportunity to make money, or make some money, although I know he made more than I did, but he gave me the opportunity to make the money. Pacquiao, Floyd, Shane getting ready to fight ‘Canelo’ Alvarez…Look, I love Shane, that’s my man, we grew up together, we were amateur world team together, we traveled across the world, but my thing is this, let me ask you this, do you really think you gonna beat this young lion, it can’t be? Last guy he fought, he beat the bricks off this dude, can’t think of who he fought, I’m not particular about Alvarez, but I know the fight game, this guy’s fast, and if he’s not fast, he punches pretty well. Shane is 39 years old soon, matter of fact, he`ll be forty, if he ain’t forty already, I know he’s a Pisces just like me, I’ll be 41 on Monday, and Floyd May weather just had a birthday yesterday or today, so you know, we all Pisces together, we all in the same boat together, but um, his legs ain’t there, he’s not doing all that moving around like he used to, I know he’s not…I don’t see all this power punching, now if he knocks this kid out, it’s a different story, but I can’t see itched might beat this guy for one or two rounds, but in the later rounds, I just think this guy is gonna have fresher legs…Unless he shows me something totally different, then you know, I’m with it, but I haven’t really watched Alvarez like that, because there’s no need to, because I’m not fighting him, he’s not really someone on my radar like that you know, so I’m not watching him.
Why is Tim Bradley fighting Pacquiao? Excuse my French, my thing is this, we wanna see great fights…A guy like Bob Arum got money, why ain’t he making a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, honestly to me, I think Pacquiao`s starting to slow down, but Bob Arum is starting to be an asshole!
*At the time of Ivan’s` fight with Emanuel Augustus, Augustus`s name was Emanuel Burton
Real Combat Media wants to thank Ivan Robinson for his lengthy interview. Mr. Robinson was very upfront and honest with everything he said. It’s hard to find someone to speak with his candor. We wish him much success in his future endeavors.
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