Jimmy Lange: Bringing the Super Bowl to the Boxing Ring

Exclusive Interview by Marc Anthony

“It is mano y mano, heart against heart, skill against skill and to put that on the line in front of your peers, your family and put your health on the line: There is something absolutely magnificent about witnessing that in person.” – Jimmy Lange

Jimmy Lange, 37-4-2, 25 KO’s, is set to defend his WBU JR. Middleweight World Championship title against Ruben Galvan, 27-20-4, 10 KO’s, on February 11th, at the Patriot Center Fairfax, Virginia, where Jimmy has enjoyed a huge crowd of fans coming to see him fight. The Co-Main event is Michael “No Joke” Stewart versus Joe Wyatt for the WBU Welterweight World Championship.

RSR caught up with Jimmy during his training camp.

MA: How has training been going for this title fight?

Training is good. William Joppy is helping me. We sparred a lot. He said he “sees some things in Jimmy” and “sees a lot of potential in Jimmy with some minor changes made.” He has stepped up and offered his help in trying to make those changes. Like he said, it’s very minor things, little steps here… It’s like any sport. It’s a game of inches. We have been really tirelessly working. I have always been a hard worker and have always been in shape. He doesn’t have to work at all in that part of it. We are working on a lot of basic technique. He was a world class pro for fifteen years and a champion.

A lot of times, a new set of eyes can make a huge difference and I think it has. I think we have really made some improvements and I credit a lot of that to him, very basic adjustments. The difference with him is that he still gets in the ring. He is very active and very athletic. He gets in there and makes you pay for mistakes. He does not just sit on a stool on the side of the ring and talk. He is a very active, a lot of energy, type of guy and I think he has added a lot to my game in this training camp.

MA Do you feel that your opponent, because this is a title fight, is coming in with even more motivation to notch a win over you?

Absolutely! The days of taking someone lightly are not even a question for me. I know this guy is coming hard and hungry. He has had some good fights and some controversial losses. He has some losses to some real good guys. As far as I am concerned, he is very dangerous and I am coming for him just as hard as he is coming for me.

MA: What would you say is the big difference between watching a live event vs. one on the television?

The big difference is the feel. You are there with the excitement. There is nothing like a live boxing match. I am going to put that on top of any sport. Most people will tell you that the first time they go to a live fight they don’t want to miss any of them. First of all, it’s a fight. Let’s just call it what it is. There is a reason why, in the cafeteria, people line up to see two people fight. It’s interesting. They want to see a fight. They love a fight. It gets in your blood. They want to see mano y mano and who is tougher. And there is nothing like it! The excitement of two men putting everything on the line…alone. They are alone. There is nobody in there. If you get burned by a receiver, there is no pre-safety to back you and cover you. It is mano y mano, heart against heart, skill against skill and to put that on the line in front of your peers, your family and put your health on the line: There is something absolutely magnificent about witnessing that in person.

MA: You guys have a really big and vocal military fan base.

It’s everybody. The military, we are in the DC Metropolitan area, so there is a big military contingency, but it’s everybody. My fans have been so good to me and frankly vice versa. They don’t come out and get disappointed. We put on good shows. I always come to fight. The undercards are always good. I pour my heart out and they appreciate it and I appreciate them. They live and die with every shot. I hear them. You hear fighters say they can’t hear anything in the ring. I hear them pulling for me and it lights me up.

MA: I know you are a Baltimore fan but who do you have Patriots or Giants?

Giants… I am hoping the Giants. Let me tell you a quick story. I have nine year old twin boys. I have one and half year old twin boy/girl and I have a little girl. Well, one of my nine year old twin boys is an enormous Giants fan for no reason at all. He just loves the Giants. We have bonded this year over football. It’s been nothing else but football. We have really bonded. To sit there with him and to watch a nine year old learn and ask questions and pull for a team and to really get into it… it’s great. I was there with the Redskins. I used to love the Redskins. The Redskins…I don’t think they deserve the fan base they used to have. I think they let a lot of people down. That’s why I switched over to Baltimore.

Boxing, it’s always been something his daddy does. We have bonded a lot. I was long winded on that but it’s close to my heart. I am hoping the Giants win because I have had a really great priceless football season. It’s been my best football season I have ever had because of my son.

MA: That would be something if they do win.

It’s going be great. I haven’t even looked at the spread or anything but I would think the Patriots are favored but I don’t know. Anything can happen in the Super Bowl.

MA: Since you have done acting and obviously you train hard for your fights. What do you find harder?

Oh please come on. (Laughter) Let me put it this way. There is no fake blood in that ring brother.

MA: What is it that you remember in the early Lange years that shaped you into who you are today?

I have to take my hat off to my father. My father has been there since the day I was born… he has been everything I could ever hope for in a father. To support me, take care of me and really teach me. I am not talking teach me how to brush my teeth. I am talking about him teaching me the hard stuff…teaching me how to be a man and my father has done that since I am old enough to remember. He has taught me how to hang in there. He has taught me how to lose and get your ass back in there and win the next time. He has taught me how to be tough.

As an extension of my father, the people around me. People like Jose “Pepe” Correa, People like Jimmy Glenn, Angelo Dundee. People like William Joppy who beat the piss out of me as a young kid. They teach you how to take it and come back the next day. Show up the next day and you know what? The next day you might be the one kicking the piss out of somebody else. That is an underappreciated quality: Hanging in there and just keeping it up every day. Because sometimes you don’t get better, sometimes you go for a very long period of time of not getting better, but then, all of a sudden, it clicks, like a light and you get a lot better in a very short period of time. It’s not like a book; you don’t atomically get better as you are going. Sometimes it just clicks because you hung in there and you have done it and you didn’t give up.

I have never quit or have said this isn’t for me. I have taken some blows, mentally, physically in life and in the ring and in the gym. To be able to watch guys to take it and come back… that example that has been set for me by my father, by my peers, by the guys I grew up around in the ring. I grew up around some great guys, some great heroes: DeMarcus Corley…I got to watch since he was an amateur. He is a friend of mine and like I mentioned before, William Joppy. DC had a lot of guys that I was able to watch and do my best to emulate and I hope that I can make them proud and possibly be counted as one of them.

Jimmy Lange
Division: Light Middleweight
Professional Record: 37-4-2, 25 KO’s

Date Opponent W-L-D Location Result

2011-09-10 Raul Munoz 22-14-1 Fairfax, US W TKO 6
2011-06-25 Mike McFail 12-42-2 Virginia Beach, US W UD 6
2011-03-12 Jimmy Holmes 19-1-2 Fairfax, US W UD 10

2010-11-06 Joe Wyatt 23-1-0 Fairfax, US W KO 10
Vacant NABA USA Light Middleweight Title
2010-08-20 Mike McFail 12-39-2 Greensboro, US W UD 6
2010-07-10 Jimmy LeBlanc 12-16-4 Fairfax, US W TKO 2
2010-03-06 Chase Shields 29-3-1 Fairfax, US L UD 12
WBC USNBC Light Middleweight Title

2009-09-26 Jonathan Reid 34-11-0 Fairfax, US W RTD 9
WBC USNBC Light Middleweight Title
2009-05-02 Frank Houghtaling 19-15-5 Fairfax, US W RTD 5
Vacant WBC USNBC Light Middleweight Title

2008-11-01 Grover Wiley 30-11-1 Fairfax, US W UD 10

2007-05-12 Fontaine Cabell 22-6-2 Fairfax, US W TKO 8
Vacant WBC Continental Americas Light Middleweight Title

2006-12-09 Fontaine Cabell 22-6-1 Fairfax, US D SD 12
Vacant WBC Continental Americas Light Middleweight Title
2006-10-07 Thomas Wilt 20-5-0 Fairfax, US W TKO 10
2006-02-18 Joey Gilbert 10-1-0 Fairfax, US L TKO 3
Vacant WBO NABO Middleweight Title

2005-09-17 Perry Ballard 17-0-0 Fairfax, US W TKO 4
2005-05-24 Tarick Salmaci 19-2-0 Las Vegas, US W MD 5

2004-09-07 Joey Gilbert 8-0-0 Pasadena, US L UD 5
2004-05-01 Sammy Sparkman 15-11-1 Washington, US W SD 10
2004-02-28 Gabriel Rodriguez 14-4-3 Washington, US W TKO 7

2003-12-13 Joshua Smith 16-8-0 Washington, US W UD 10
2003-09-16 Homer Gibbins 42-10-0 Lake Charles, US W TKO 3
2003-05-10 Chad Greenleaf 9-6-1 Washington, US W UD 8
2003-03-15 Charles Clark 14-13-1 Washington, US W UD 8

2002-03-28 Gerald Reed 18-34-3 Washington, US W MD 8
2002-01-17 Vincent White 13-3-1 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 5

2001-11-15 Alex Perez 22-16-3 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 1
2001-08-31 Samuel Harvey 12-9-0 Baltimore, US W TKO 2
2001-05-10 James Johnson 7-4-2 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 5

2000-11-16 Ed Goins 15-15-2 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 2
2000-09-21 Kevin Carter 4-9-0 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 3
2000-03-12 Donnie Parker 12-52-1 Washington, US W PTS 6

1999-11-18 Benji Singleton 21-53-4 Glen Burnie, US W UD 6
1999-09-30 Drew Hayes 3-10-1 Glen Burnie, US W KO 5
1999-08-27 Dewayne Holland 0-2-0 Annandale, US W KO 1
1999-07-23 Jason Floss 0-0-0 Washington, US W TKO 2
1999-05-13 James Johnson 1-0-0 Glen Burnie, US D PTS 4
1999-03-25 Andre Gaskins 0-1-1 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 4
1999-02-28 Travis Clybourn 4-9-0 Alexandria, US W KO 1
1999-01-28 Matt Hill 1-0-0 Glen Burnie, US W TKO 1

1998-11-24 Anthony Boykin 0-0-0 Washington, US W TKO 1
1998-03-27 Kevin Collins 2-1-1 Westbury, US L MD 4
1998-03-14 Scott Mitchell 0-0-0 Lima, US W TKO 1
1998-02-22 Robert Hunt 0-7-0 Washington, US W TKO 1