Jessie Robinson is a dreamer that dreams big dreams. His motto: "persistence is the key to my life. The word quit is a dreamer's suicide. I will never quit."

Jessie is the chief trainer and advisor of NABO heavyweight champion Andre "Tombstone" Purlett, but there is a lot more to this man, who has dedicated his life to the sport of boxing in many capacities.

He has worked with the likes of Emanuel Steward and Don King. Robinson earns kudos for having discovered female fighting star Christy Martin. It was Jessie who banged out her first contract with Don King, a $5000.00 per fight four year deal which Martin was all too happy to sign.

It was while training Michael Moorer in June of 2000 that Robinson met Purlett, who had come in as a sparring partner for Moorer. Jessie was impressed with Purlett's talent and after Moorer injured his hand, Robinson was asked to came aboard as Purlett's head coach and advisor in January 2001. Less than ten months later Andre had won his first title, the NABO heavyweight belt and a respectable #6 ranking with the WBO.

We had an opportunity to talk with the ever cordial Jessie regarding his young champion and the upcoming January 4th bout against Eliecer Castillo. This is what we talked about.

BRC: How is Andre's training going?

JR: Andre is right on schedule, he is ready to fight tomorrow, if that were the case. We just want the opponent to know we are coming to fight, it's going to be an excellent fight, a turf war, and hey, best man wins!

BRC: He has been sparring eight rounds this week?

JR: Oh yeah, we have already been up there, we are going to be ready for anything.

BRC: Next week, will he be doing light workouts?

JR: Light workouts, finishing up right on schedule. We're going to make it to the gate right on time, right on schedule, right on weight and whatever is in front of us, gotta go down.

BRC: Your thoughts on Eliecer Castillo?

JR: Castillo is an excellent fighter, he is a good fighter for "Dre" at this moment, it's a good Miami show and like I said, let the best man win. We're bringing to the table what we got, and he is bringing to the table what he got and it won't be no negotiations. It's going to be war and somebody gotta go down.

BRC: What's the plan for Andre after this fight?

JR: We wanna fight all the top guys out there. We ranked in the WBO at #6, with a lot of guys that aren't going to be fighting the champion, normally it would put us at #2 or #3 but we're looking at fighting Wladimir Klitschko but if one of the other guys calls, we ain't turning no calls down and we wanna fight the best.

Jameel McCline looked excellent, we would like to fight him. Fres Oquendo looked fine, we would like to fight him and we ain't turning down no calls.

BRC: What do you consider to be the best quality that Andre brings to the ring?

JR: Confidence. He is definitely a very confident fighter. His precision, his accuracy is excellent. He has 29 knockouts out of 32 wins and that's a substantial record, 97% knockout ratio and ain't nothing going to change. We're ready to do whatever it takes to put on anybody's tombstone and that's what he is bringing. We bring the tombstone, they can bring the flowers.

BRC: What is it that he needs to work on the most?

JR: Well, you know, level of fights bring the best out of any fighter and we want to keep him at a high level of fights. Castillo is an excellent fighter, he's been out there, he has fought some of the best and it's a great test. Every fight from now on, it's a test, his whole career has been a test. We've been put down and this and that, hey, put up or shut up. That's the game we're in, we're in the fight business.

BRC: How disciplined is Andre in the gym?

JR: Oh, he is very disciplined. He's an excellent fighter, clean cut, a family man and he don't back up from nothing. It's time to go wherever it is we need to take him and whatever the name we bring across the board, he don't deny anybody. If we were to say, we're fighting Tyson next week, he'd say bring the papers, I'll sign them.

BRC: Is Noah Lazes (Ark Promotions' CEO) still involved in Andre's career?

JR: Yes, Noah and Ark Promotions, we are a team, and we are working with them direct; but for this fight "Sugar" Ray Leonard is promoting the fight, it's going to be at the American Airlines Arena and we're looking forward to satisfying the Miami fans and the home base.

We are building an army to go to Las Vegas. When we head for Las Vegas we want the whole Miami crowd to be there for us; we need their support.

Team Purlett consists of David Cypress, (manager), chief trainer and advisor Jessie Robinson, and trainer Herman Caicedo, Noah Lazes and Ark Promotions (promoter). This talented and tightly knit team calls Warrior's Gym in Hollywood, Florida their second home. We will be bringing you more on Warrior's Gym, a top of the line, state of the art facility that has to be seen to be believed.