Harvey Park – “I win this one and it’s either the LFA title or Dana’s Calling me”
“FightBot” Harvey Park tells Mika Frankl about how his hand has recovered after his right ring finger dislocated and came out the skin at LFA 53. Park also shares his thoughts on facing Jaleel Willis in the main event of LFA 58, Jan. 25, at the Legends Theater inside the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
MF: Last time I talked to you, you where in the process of having a finger get put back in your hand. How is the ring finger and the right hand?
HP: “It’s good. Healed up. Ready to go”.
MF: What was the recovery process like?
HP: “I mean it looked a lot worse then it was. It was just a dislocation, they (doctors) said it that night, it takes like six weeks to heal. The bone, you know, they (doctors) put everything back in place. It just takes the ligaments six weeks and what not. We tried to stay running. Did some mitts with just the left hand, kept kicking. Really after six-seven weeks we started punching with the right hand. So, after six weeks it was good to strike with. It wasn’t good for grappling, cause the grip strength was compromised. We just continued with mitt work and running. Eight weeks after it happened, we started grappling and wrestling. Back to full strength now.”
MF: What did you think looking back at the fight?
HP: “It’s a good experience. You know, experience, there’s only one way to get it. Some kind of adversity in the fight was good. Definitely had to switch up the game plan right after the first round, but we’re able to make some adjustments. Just the experience of fighting through an injury, having all that adversity in the fight is valuable.”
MF: Looking at Jaleel Willis, what do you think of the challenge in front of you?
HP: “It gets me excited. I want to fight good guys. I want to see what I can do and where I’m at. I’m looking for someone that can test me, and I’ve watched his fights. He does a lot of things well. It gets me real excited to see my skills versus his. Who can make the adjustments and come out on top?”
MF: Whats going to be a key factor in this one?
HP: “Wrestling and cardio. I think he’ll want to wrestle a lot. I don’t think his wrestling will give me any problems unless he can get me tired. If he gets tired, he’s going to be in trouble. I think his wrestling is the kind of style where he’s going to try and wear you out, but if he wears himself out, that’s going to be really bad for him.”
MF: Jaleel is coming down a weight class for this fight, do you expect that to have any bearing on this fight?
HP: “I don’t know, I never met him. He seemed like a good-sized welterweight. The thing about coming down a weight class is it can be super beneficial or detrimental. Without having done it, you don’t know. This is really his experiment and we’ll see which one it is.”
MF: What do you expect for 2019?
HP: “More fights. Bigger fights. This Jaleel fight, I’m going to win this one and it’s either the LFA belt or Dana is calling me. And if those two don’t happen we’re just taking the next fight we can. And we’re going to keep grinding and we’re going to keep working hard.”
ASX TV Main Card @ 8 PM MST:
155: Harvey Park (10-2) vs. Jaleel Willis (9-1)
135: Abel Cullum (21-7) vs. Damacio Page (21-10)
125: Demetrius Wilson (6-2) vs. Joby Sanchez (11-4)
155: Fernando Padilla (11-3) vs. Donald Sanchez (31-19)
145: Luis Gavinho (8-4) vs. Vincent Fricilone (8-1)
155: Sherwin Price (5-1) vs. Flavian Pilgrim (4-1)
170: Maycon Mendonca (6-4) vs. Josh Moreno (4-0)
Prelims @ 6 PM MST:
145: Natan Levy (2-0) vs. Henry Barahona (3-3)
170: Jalin Fuller (0-0) vs. Rocky Rosas (1-1)
125: Javier Cepeda (0-0) vs. Ricky Esquibel (3-2)
Amateur:
135: Calob Ramirez (9-6) vs. Ozzy Chavez (5-2)
