Tony Jeter: Ready for a Boxing War Saturday Night

Exclusive Interview by Marc Anthony

“The first fight was a war!”–Tony Jeter

Local fan favorite Tony Jeter, 11-2-1, 9 KO’s, in the Maryland area is set to make a splash in the boxing world. Coming in undefeated since 2008 and highly motivated to keep climbing the boxing ladder, he is set to face Darrett Crockett on August 27th at the DC Star club in the DC area. The full fight card was announced on RSR by our very own CEO and Publisher “Bad” Brad Berkwitt.

Although Tony only has had 15 professional fights, he has a very extensive amateur career. He’s had over 800 fights which have helped him hone his craft. Never shy to speak his mind, RSR catches up with Tony to discuss his upcoming fight.

MA: You’re set to fight Darrett Crockett on August 27th at the DC Star Club. What are you anticipating for this fight?

I anticipate a good fight. The first fight was a war! He came out, I dropped him, and he dropped me. I got back up and I finished him off. I anticipate him coming out to fight. He is an A class opponent. He is not just going to lay-down. He is a good fight for me at this point in my career. He is a good step forward as I keep progressing and get more experience.

MA: Not inside the ring, what has been the most memorable boxing moment?

Me and my wife own a gym: Club One Fitness. We have Paul Williams train in our gym. That whole camp works out at my gym. Probably the nicest gym in the east coast by far. 26 thousand square feet, it’s like a Bally’s with a boxing ring in it. Every good Pro in this area trains there. The list is crazy: Nick Kisner, George Armenta, Brandon Quarles (who fights on the card), Dwayne McCrae (who fights on the card), Dushane Crooks, and Jeremiah Wiggins. The list goes on. That being said, going to see the Paul Williams fight the last two times. I saw him fight Martinez and then I saw him fight Lara. You know it’s cool going to a big stage like that. It was the first time I have really been to a really big fight. And we knew a ton of people. The boxing community being as small as it is. It really is a tight community though. We could go to another state with a big show like that and I would still know a ton of people. So it’s cool. It was memorable.

MA: Any moment that showed you how boxing can really be unforgiving at times?

Yeah, when I was stopped by Shedrick. I was ahead winning every second of every round and I just got caught. In the last round, like a minute left of the fight. By far that is the most unforgiving moment. To be ahead and be a minute away from a win and you get stopped. I got stopped pretty badly, it was a good knockout. So, it goes to show because I have a great chin, that anybody at any given time, I don’t care who you are, can get knocked out. We all have brains, chins and so forth. It’s a crazy sport when it comes to something like that.

MA: Moving to the positive side of boxing, what part of it made you love it?

It’s the one on one. Of course, I have a corner and I have people outside, my wife, the people I train with and so forth. But, at the end of the day nobody can fight for me. Only I can fight for myself. That alone makes me love the sport so much, that aspect of it. I can either get it done or I can’t. That more than anything I think people gravitate towards boxing. It is a one on one sport and it goes back to that basic human nature where it’s either sink or swim. I think other people would agree with me on that.

MA: What’s the current boxing scene like in DC?

I think overall boxing in this area has declined. The state of Maryland, You look at three years ago, you can probably look at the numbers. Three or four years ago, it was one of the most active areas. I am just saying Maryland in itself. DC, Maryland, Virginia. You come now full circle to 2011, we had 3 shows. DC has had one or two; I think overall it has dropped a lot.

MA: Not good to hear but what do you think is causing it?

It’s sad; we went from one of the most active states in the Country to now having three shows this year. And I promoted 2 professional shows myself. In 2008, we did two shows. It costs a lot of money. I think the way that, I wouldn’t be politically correct in saying this but I will be honest. I think the commission in the State of Maryland has been tough to deal with. It costs a ton of money to run these shows. Say you have a guy who is going to sell a ton of tickets, at the end of the day you need to make money to do the shows, maybe not the greatest fighter with a built up record and you want to get him a good win, You want to keep the kid winning and you want the crowd to come back and you want them to leave with a smile on their faces. It’s a nightmare to get this kid an opponent, anywhere else in the country you are able to make a fight for this kid but in the State of Maryland, there are issues. Why you can’t make that fight. Anything from the guy has a losing record this or that. I think that is one of the main reasons.

This is not something I am just telling you. You can look at how many shows the State of Maryland did three or four years ago and look at what they have done this year. They did 36 or 40 shows, even 20 but to go from 20 to 3, what are we? 8 months into 2011? That’s a big drop off. You can say the economy or this that or the other but I don’t think it’s the economy as much as I think people don’t want to come and deal with a commission that’s going be difficult to deal with, especially when you are putting so much money out to make the shows.

MA: What does the final week before a fight consist of?

It’s just making weight. A week out from a fight, if you are not ready, you won’t be able to get ready in a week. If I am not technically prepared, mentally prepared I am not going get that in a week. Basically, you are trying to cut weight and slow down the training and that’s it. The last week shouldn’t be a crazy hard week. It should be a week of pulling back on the training.

MA: Having fought at the Patriot Center, what’s the atmosphere like there?

I fought there three times and I had knockout of the year in 2010 there. The Patriot Center is the closest thing to a major, big level fight. The Lange’s, JD Brown being the matchmaker, Jonny Lange and Jackie being the promoters they just run a top flight show. Jimmy Lange, I am talking about a great, let me emphasis a great person and boxer for this area. He brings so much to the sport. Every time he fights, he gives 8 to 10 other guys the opportunity to fight too, which is a big thing. Jimmy fighting allows a bunch of other people to fight too which is a good thing.

I wanted to fight in his show this time but for one reason or another I wasn’t able to get on but I love the Patriot Center, the people are awesome. They love me too, last time I fought there I had a six round decision, and they had a bunch of wounded Veterans from Walter Reed. They always do benefits. They had about 20 or 30 wounded Veterans and we went over there I signed autographs, took pictures for like 30 minutes and it was one of the most fulfilling things, I would say that’s probably the most memorable thing in my career. Just going over there hanging out with the Veterans and talking to them we were there probably more than half an hour. I had a cut over my head. It was a great, great, feeling for me to know that I made some guys that are out there protecting you, me and everybody else, that I made them happy for that one moment. That was awesome. So I will say that’s my most memorable moment. There is no way you can beat that one.

MA: A lot of people feel in terms of MMA and boxing, the age has gone up, where it used to be considered old to fight but now it’s the norm, why do you feel that change has come from?

Its 2011, people are living so much better than they were 20-30 years ago. The vitamins the exercise, the food, I think we have evolved as people. We are just in better shape and we are able to compete at a later age. I am 35, although I did have 7 years of inactivity fighting, which I did think has helped me, just for the fact that I haven’t taken a ton of punishment but I think that’s the biggest thing, the way people are living now a days. Look at Bernard Hopkins; he probably lives a perfect life. When you are living that way you can compete obviously at 46 years old.

MA: With the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz, I liked to hear what the pro’s think, how do you see that fight?

I think a lot of people are sleeping on Victor: He is big and he is hungry. I think he is going give Floyd all he can handle and he is left handed. I think Floyd will probably come out winning but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a close fight. I think Victor is going to brawl him. I think he is going give Floyd a fight. I really do, I don’t think Floyd is going walk out there and blow him out.

MA: Final words to our RSR readers?

Yeah there is something, I haven’t gone public yet but there is a boxer Jessie Nicklow who is 22-2-3 as a pro. He is a good pro who has fought Fernando Guerrero on Showtime. There is a lot of buzz in this area; he called me out a couple of times. I want Ringside Report to know, I haven’t come public yet. Nicklow said that he would fight me for free. Its personal, he wants to win. There should not be any reason this fight cannot be made.

They can’t say I Jeter wanted too much money; Jeter wanted this or wanted that. This fight is going to be one the biggest fights in the Maryland, Baltimore area. The last 20 years. The last big fight was when Pettway fought Eddie VanKirk. It’s a done deal on my side and of course I have to win this Saturday. Barring nothing happens Saturday, you never know. God willing I will get this win. It’s not personal with me, this is all business. Beating him (Nicklow) will erase the seven years of inactivity. There are a lot of local fighters that have big records 22-2 and they were active when I wasn’t active but I am better then them.

If I win this Saturday I will be 12-2-1, you beat a guy with 22 wins? That’s a legitimate win. That is a career changer that will move me forward. It will be in the Du Burns Arena in November. The buzz is out. All we need is the contracts.

But of course I am not looking past Darrett. I know he doesn’t have the greatest record but anybody who gets in the ring has a chance. You just never know. You get out there and you get clipped with something crazy and you just lost to the guy.

I also want to thank Renee Aiken of Diva-Rize-N promotions who is running this show Capital Punishment on Capitol Hill, She is doing a great thing and I wanted to say I am really happy to be a part of it.

Tony Jeter
Nickname:“Mo Better”
Division: Middleweight
Professional Record: 11-2-1, 9 KO’s
Date Opponent W-L-D Location Result
2001-01-25 Ervin Fuller 1-1-0 Glen Burnie, USA W TKO 1
2001-02-07 Donald Beynum 0-1-0 Washington, USA W KO 3
2001-03-30 Curtis Wilkens 1-5-0 Dover, USA NC NC 2
2001-06-29 Richard McCombs 1-0-0 Washington, USA W TKO 1
2001-10-05 Kwame Bumpus 1-0-1 Philadelphia, USA L UD 4

2005-10-07 Lawrence Frisby 3-8-0 Millersville, USA W TKO 2
2005-12-02 James Shedrick 3-4-0 Millersville, USA L KO 4

2008-04-18 Pete Guthy 1-3-2 Pikesville, USA W TKO 1
2008-09-19 Chris Cook 3-14-1 Millersville, USA W UD 4
2008-11-14 Darrett Crockett 6-20-0 Millersville, USA W TKO 2

2009-09-26 Keith Gross 3-1-0 Fairfax, USA W KO 1

2010-4-02 Vincent Robbins 3-8-2 Washington, USA W KO 2
2010-07-10 Lawrence Jones 3-8-2 Fairfax, USA D TD 1
2010-11-10 Adrian Redmond 4-7-1 Washington, USA W KO 2

2011-03-12 Mike McFail 12-41-2 Fairfax, USA W UD 6