Jamal James: “It’s good to be back“
Tonight, on Fox Sports 1, Jamal James takes on Thomas Dulorme, the toughest test of his career. In a virtual press conference with PBC, the two went back and forth on their fight this evening.
Jamal James Ready For Boxing
Jamal James is just happy to be back at boxing. Since the pandemic, there’s been a lack of the sport and now, things seem to be rolling well again.
“It’s good to be back. On Saturday I’m going to give everyone the fireworks they’ve been waiting for. I’m glad to have this opportunity to be in this first main event back.”
While he wishes he could have fought in his home town of Minneapolis as originally planned, But the opportunity to fight on the stage is still a blessing on the young fighter.
“It would have been nice to have been able to fight in my hometown, but I’m more blessed to have this opportunity on this stage than I am disappointed.”
Looking forward to the competition, Jamal James knows how tough Dulorme is and is excited to test himself against such an opponent.
“Dulorme and I have both fought really good competition. He’s fought some guys with slightly bigger names, but once we get in there Saturday we’re going to find out who has the best skills. That’s what it’s going to come down to.”
While he’s been out of fighting since the pandemic, Jamal James has not stopped training. During the lockdown, he’s stayed training.
“We always stay in shape. We just slowed down the intensity of training once it was postponed because we didn’t know when we’d be back on again. But even in normal times, I stay training in between fights. This is a full-time job for me. Once we got the word that we were back on, we just turned up the heat a little bit.”
Jamal James knows he’s got to come out and perform not just for this fight, but for all of his marches. He knows at this point in his career he has to win convincingly.
“It’s important to be at your best every time you get in the ring, no matter where it is. I was blessed to bring world class events back to Minneapolis, but I’ve fought all over. This is a big fight, but the reality is, every fight before was just as big. If I didn’t get past them, then I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now.”
James knows how tough his opponent is. He knows the tricky style put in front of him. But he says don’t think he has some tricks of his own up his sleeve.
“He’s a strong fighter and I know that he’s got his own style and tricks, but I have my own too. That’s what makes these fights so exciting, because you have to tune in to see which style will prevail. I’m not underestimating him, I know he’s going to be at his best, but my confidence is so high because of how I trained.”
As for fighting with no fans in attendance, James isn’t concerned with it. He has never paid attention to the crowd.”
“When you get in the ring, your main focus is on your opponent and what your corner is saying. The crowd is like white noise. Having no crowd on Saturday, I don’t think it’s going to affect me. I’m going to be able to hear my corner and zone in on what I’m trying to do.”
Thomas Dulorme Looking Forward
Thomas Dulorme knows this fight with James is incredibly important. He knows the win will put him a step closer to his goal.
“Every fight is important and a win on Saturday will get me closer to what I want. I’m aiming for the world title and I’m going to keep working to get there.”
While Dulorme has had some career setbacks, there wasn’t a specific moment he know things had to be changed up. He just knew it had to happen.
“There wasn’t any one specific fight that made me know I had to make adjustments in my career. But I knew that I had to make changes to reach the peak of my abilities and I think I’ve done that and it’s shown in recent years.”
Thomas Dulorme knows how big the task in front of him is. He isn’t underestimating his opponent and plans to bring the show.
“Jamal James is a good fighter, obviously his talent has got him to the position where he is now. But I don’t think that it’s going to be enough to get him through all 12 rounds on Saturday night.”
His dream is a world title, of course. Dulorme wants to make his home country of Puerto Rico proud.
“It would mean so much to win a world title, not just for me, but it would mean a great deal to the whole island of Puerto Rico. It would mean so much and it’s much bigger than me. That’s what I fight for.”
Dulorme has had to adjust his camp in the pandemic. But he doesn’t think that’ll change the outcome of tonight’s fight.
“Me and my coach, Joel Diaz, made a few adjustments this camp. I never went back to Puerto Rico during the pandemic, I stayed in California the whole time. We didn’t stop training, we just slowed down a little bit and then built it back up once we knew when this fight would happen.”
Dulorme thinks he and James is just the right stylistic matchup for fans as well. He plans to bring it and knows his opponent will as well.
“I think James’ style is going to make this a great fight. He likes to stand there and throw a lot of punches. It’s possible that he’s changed up his style, and we’ll be ready for anything he brings, but I think that it’s going to be a very entertaining fight.”
As a matter of fact, Thomas Dulorme thinks training in California has made him better than ever.
“Training in California has helped me a lot. I can focus better than ever being here. There’s also a lot of different styles of fighters here in the US, more than in Puerto Rico, and I learned a lot being around these fighters.
“I’m very happy and excited to be here. It’s going to be a great fight for all the fans that will be watching. I can guarantee a great fight.”
TGB Promotions
The promoter of TBG Promotions, Tom Brown, is happy to be back doing what they do best as well.
“We’re thrilled to be back on FOX, FS1 and FOX Deportes headlined by this great main event in one of boxing’s hottest divisions with these two welterweights.”
Brown is excited to see James in a great fight and expanding his audience to other markets.
“Jamal James’ last four fights have been in his hometown of Minneapolis and he’s built a great fan base there. It’s too bad that we couldn’t have him fight in front of his hometown fans. Prior to the pandemic, this was a fight that I was really looking forward to, so it’s great for this to be our featured fight coming back.”
While he’s behind Jamal James, he knows how good of a fighter Dulorme is and is part of what made him so excited to make this fight.
“Dulorme has proven to be a force in the welterweight division and has fought the top level of competition throughout his career. I’ve heard great things coming from his training camp, so this should be a great battle with the winner putting themselves in a prime position in the division.”
Brown knows better than most the struggles of promoting in a pandemic. He says the fighters are the reason they’re able to do what they do.
“You really have to applaud the fighters and everyone who has been involved in getting these fights back going again. It’s going to be nonstop action and a lot of excitement for everyone watching on Saturday night.”
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