Popular
junior middleweight Jonathan “Reid Dawg” Reid returns to the
ring this Friday, February 9th in Providence, Rhode Island, as
part of the “Hearts of Fire” show presented by Jimmy
Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. Reid,
who starred on the first season of The Contender,
squares off against former
Commonwealth light middleweight champion Ossie Duran
(22-5-1).
Reid has not fought since a May
2006 decision victory over Chicago’s Ryan Davis. Reid feels
that a recent change in management will serve him well and keep
him busier during 2007. At the beginning of the year, Reid moved
to Bust Your Grill Management headed by the young and energetic
Matt Yanofsky. “He got in touch with me through MySpace at just
the right time,” Reid says. “It is hard to secure fights with no
manager or promoter. I think it is going to be a big plus to
have a manager who is willing to work hard on my behalf.”
Reid plans to defeat the tough
Duran, who has never been stopped as a pro, and then move back
into title contention. The words “move back” are appropriate
because Reid challenged for the world middleweight championship
in December 2000. Fighting the bout on only a week’s notice,
Reid stepped into the ring with WBA champ William Joppy and lost
in the fourth round.
He still burns with a desire to
avenge that defeat. “Yes, I’d love to fight Joppy again,” Reid
says. “After we win this fight and perhaps one more, we’ll call
Joppy out. We’d call that fight ‘No Excuses Necessary.’ I
understand he’s fighting at 168 right now so we would have to
find an acceptable weight range.”
Reid, who sports a record of
34-4, also wants a rematch with Jesse Brinkley, who eliminated
him from The Contender competition via a 5-round
decision. “Jesse promised me a rematch after that fight,” Reid
says. “Hopefully, we can get together again and make some
money.”
Money remains a priority for
Reid, who believes a fighter with his record should have more
zeroes in his bank account by now. Reid supplements his boxing
income by serving as a personal trainer and teaching mixed
martial artists how to use their fists. Reid – who learned
martial arts at age 9 – works with several fighters in
Murfreesboro, Tenn. He says he even may try his hand at mixed
martial arts after his boxing career is over.
But, the 34-year-old Reid is
100% focused on boxing. He understands that he needs to continue
winning to land bigger and more lucrative bouts. Winning is also
necessary to achieve his pugilistic dream of becoming a world
champion. “My goal is to fight for a world title again, win that
title and then hold the belt for a long time,” he says.
Though he fought for the
middleweight title years ago, the sculpted Reid says he prefers
the 154lb. junior middleweight division. “But, we’d move to
middleweight if the right opportunity comes at 160,” he quickly
adds.
But, Reid is not overlooking his
opponent Friday, realizing he must take it one fight at a time.
He knows that Duran is no pushover. “I’m not going in there to
try to knock him out,” Reid says. “I’m going in there to fight
my fight and win. If a knockout comes, it comes.”
His only prediction is: “When I
fly back home, I will be touching ground with another ‘W’ under
my notch.”
He thanks the fans who have
stuck with him. “I want to let them know that I thank them for
sticking with me. Tell them to stay with me because that belt
will be around my waist soon.”
For those interested in
learning more about Jonathan Reid visit his website at
http://www.reiddawg.com
David L.
Hudson Jr. is a feature writer for FightNews and the co-author
(with boxing historian Mike Fitzgerald) of Boxing’s Most
Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Champs, Chumps and Punch-Drunk
Palookas with boxing historian Mike Fitzgerald.
