411mania Boxing Interview: Jose Celaya
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 01.22.2008
As he prepares for his Feb. 9th showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., welterweight Jose Celaya sits down with 411mania's boxing editor Ramon Aranda to talk about his career, training camp and his upcoming fight.
No one said the road to the top would be an easy task and welterweight contender Jose Celaya (31-2, 16 KOs) has certainly had his fair share of peaks and valleys in what started out as a very promising career. However, the Salinas, California native now has the biggest opportunity of his career when he battles Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (34-0-1, 27 KOs) on February 9th in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. Certainly a win over the highly touted "Son of the Legend" would catapult him back into contention and reinvigorate his career which had stalled after a tough loss in 2005 on ESPN's Friday Night Fight's against another top contender in James "Spider" Webb. Now Jose Celaya prepares for his toughest challenge to date as he headlines a Top Rank PPV titled "Latin Fury" that is sure to provide many fireworks. We recently had a chance to speak to Celaya in a one-on-one interview as he took a break from his rough training regiment to talk about all things Chavez, February 9th and his boxing career.
411mania: Hello Jose, thank you for calling in and taking a break to give us the opportunity to speak.
411mania: First of all, tell us a little bit about training camp. How's that coming along for you?
Jose Celaya: Training camp's going great. I have three more weeks left in camp and we're pretty much ready to go. I'm just maintaining within 9-10 pounds of my fighting weight. The runs in the morning, the training in the gym, everything going fine. We're just getting ready to go to Mexico on the 30th and make our way to Guanajuato Hill.
411mania: Have there been any changes in the way you've been training for the fight? I know you've had some weight issues in the past so have you changed anything to help you maintain the weight?
Jose Celaya: No not at all. Everything's the same it's just the running's a little more intense. My weight is coming down fine, I'm happy where I'm at. I should make weight within ten days.
411mania: What do you currently weight?
Jose Celaya: I weigh 154 pounds, so I'm about 6 or 7 pounds above and the rest is just water weight.
411mania: I know you hadn't been training with Sam Garcia for a while, so how did you to get back together?
Jose Celaya: Oh well, this is the biggest fight in my career and Team Garcia is one of the best boxing teams in all of Northern California and top 5 in all of California and they've got their schedules and regiments online man. They've got nutrition going, conditioning going and I just called up Sam and we hooked up and he brought up a plan for me and we went up to Big Bear for a couple of weeks and we came home and now we're finishing up at home.
411mania: Is there anything in particular that you've been focusing on in the gym as far as your skill set?
Jose Celaya: Just working on combinations, throwing a lot of jabs. We're focusing on just boxing Chavez.
411mania: Since that loss you had against Spider Webb in 2005, you've won five straight and three of them were in '07 so you've kept yourself pretty busy but do you feel that a fight of this magnitude is a bit too soon or is this something [a big fight] you've been looking towards in '08?
Jose Celaya: Oh no, not at all. I've been looking for these kinds of fights for a long time. I know Chavez has had about 10 fights. He's been real active but he's been coming up from about 133 pounds and just turned pro in 2003 I believe. I think this fight is a great opportunity for me and I've been training real hard and may the best man win.
411mania: So how did the fight come about? Did they come to you first or did you contact Top Rank?
Jose Celaya: No, no, they contacted me.
411mania: Now you're set to headline your very first PPV, are you feeling any butterflies?
Jose Celaya: Not at all, not at all. I think I have enough experience in the ring so I mean, PPVs or being on TV doesn't mean anything. At the end of the night it'll just be my style against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the ring.
411mania: Going into the fight, you're coming in as the underdog and most in the media are picking Chavez to win the fight so tell us in your own words why Jose Celaya will be victorious on February 9th.
Jose Celaya: I'm going to be fast, very motivated in the ring and I'm going to take it one round at a time. I know it's going to be a very difficult fight but I'm going to pull it off by outboxing Chavez Jr.
411mania: You know I had read somewhere that one of your favorite fighters of all-time is Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.
Jose Celaya: Yeah!
411mania: So of course now you'll be facing his son in Leon, Guanajuato in front of what's sure to be a rabid Mexican crowd with Chavez Sr. at ringside watching you two fight. Now, is that kind of bitter-sweet with Sr. there watching one of your fights but you're there to beat his kid?
Jose Celaya: [Laughs] You know it's funny but back in '92 when I was in the 4th grade in elementary school, I told one of my friends that one day I was going to fight him [Chavez Jr.] as I'd see him in the corner [for his dad's fights] and I just talked to Chavez Sr. the other day and we were laughing ‘cause now I'm actually going to face his son; it's for real now.
I mean, I don't know it's a good feeling getting to meet his dad and you know he's real. It's been a blessing.
411mania: So I take it no words of advice from Chavez Sr.?
Jose Celaya: [Laughs] He's just great people. I've met them both and they're good people.
411mania: Now for our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into the sport?
Jose Celaya: I got into the sport back in I believe September or October of '91. They opened up a boxing gym here in my hometown [Salinas, CA] and some of my friends invited me to the gym and the moment I walked into the gym I feel in love with the sport. I've been boxing ever since, and haven't stopped.
My dad would take me to the gym everyday, five days a week…
411mania: And you just couldn't stay away huh?
Jose Celaya: No, no, I loved it, I loved the sport and it kept me away from the streets. I just love boxing and I've met a lot of great people along the way, it's beautiful.
411mania: You had a pretty successful amateur career and you own wins against some well known fighters, but what would you say was your greatest amateur accomplishment?
Jose Celaya: Getting to the Olympic Trials. Just getting there was very tough, I had to defeat Anthony Thompson; a very, very good fighter. At the beginning it was tough and beating the guys along the way was difficult.
411mania: It must have been something just to be there am I right?
Jose Celaya: NBC, live national TV; that was big, that was huge.
411mania: Speaking of the amateurs, we all know that Chavez Jr.'s amateur career is basically taking place in the pros. He's learning on the job as they say. So do you feel that your extensive amateur background will serve as a major advantage for you?
Jose Celaya: I think so; I mean it's a big advantage having an amateur career. He had a tough fight in his last bout against Ray Sanchez, a guy who had a good amateur career but he's a smaller guy. He's a guy that started out at 120-125 pounds and Chavez was already in at 140 pounds when he started as a pro. So I'll probably be one of his biggest opponents at this point.
411mania: Yeah, Sanchez was a smaller guy but with all of that experience, he definitely gave Chavez all he could handle.
Jose Celaya: You know it was a good fight and it was close and Sanchez was ahead on the scorecards….
411mania: Yeah, and I had Sanchez ahead on my scorecard as well..
[Note: Chavez knocked out Ray Sanchez in the 6th round of a scheduled 10-round fight]
Jose Celaya: He was outboxing him but he was just too small. I mean, he was doing good but he couldn't take his punching power. He stood right in front of him and just got hit with the left hook.
411mania: Aside from beating Chavez Jr., what would you like to accomplish in 2008?
Jose Celaya: Just to keep winning, keep racking up victories and hopefully get in the top-10 in the world and get a shot at a world title.
411mania: Is there anyone in particular you'd like to face within your own weight class or…
Jose Celaya: No, not at all. I mean whoever they have in front of me, that's who I'll fight.
411mania: Ok Jose, well is there anything else you'd like to say to your fans or the city of Salinas which is surely behind you?
Jose Celaya: Just want to thank my wife and kids for their support and the Lord for helping me get through this tough camp. My wife is due at the end of February; we're set to have another girl and thanks to all the fans and the Garcia family for all their support.
411mania: Ok Jose well thanks once again for calling in and we wish you the best of luck!
I want to once again thank Jose Celaya for taking the time out of his busy training schedule to phone in as well as publicist Mario Serrano for putting the whole thing together for us.
