We caught up to Ricky "Show Time" Quiles at Contenders Gym in Hollywood, Florida where he has been training for several months. Quiles, (31-4-3, 8 KOs), will be facing Diosbelys Hurtado, (33-2-1, 22 KOs) this coming January 4th, 2002, in a "Sugar" Ray Leonard promotion from Miami's American Airlines Arena.

ESPN2 will telecast this exciting Friday night card, which will co-feature a ten rounder between Cuban heavyweight Eliecer Castillo, (21-2 11 KOs), and Miami's own Andre Purlett, (32-0 29 KOs) who hails from Georgetown, Guyana originally.

On the line for Quiles and Hurtado a vacant IBA Jr. Welterweight title. This is what we talked about.

BRC: How do you feel? How do you see yourself coming into this fight with Diosbelys Hurtado?

RQ: First, I'm very happy to be fighting for the IBA world title. I know Hurtado is ranked #2 in the world right now, so it gives me an opportunity for big exposure. It's been a dream of mine to fight for a world title and when they presented me with this fight, I knew it was a big chance. I know he is a good fighter but I'm a good fighter too.

I fought just as many good people as he has: Vince Phillips, Goyo Vargas, Cosme Rivera...I've been preparing for the past ten months now, so I knew I was 100% mentally, physically and spiritually. It's going to be a tough fight, it's going to be like a chess game but I believe deep in my heart. I know I'm the underdog, I've been an underdog all my life in my boxing career but I'm going to show everybody who I am and what I stand for now.

I take my boxing career very seriously now; in the past I didn't take it serious 100% but for this fight, I've taken my training to another level. Of course with the help of Norman Wilson, Chico Rivas and José Guzman who have helped me very much with my technique, preparing me with my endurance, to go the distance. I'm prepared to sit down on my punches for more power. I respect Hurtado as a great fighter, I know he is a good fighter , so I have to be sharp coming into this fight, I can't make mistakes. He is #2 in the world, you know, I don't look past him, I look forward to fighting him. I got more speed than he does, he has more knockouts than I do but for the past two years I've been fighting top ten contenders. For the past two years he has been fighting a lot of bums. I can say that I'm mentally prepared for this fight.

BRC: Which has been your hardest fight to date?

RQ: Goyo Vargas. I went the distance of twelve rounds with him, it was a very tough, tough fight. I went down to 135 pounds and I dropped the weight too quick; I was very dehydrated for the fight but I still managed to stay on my feet and go the distance. He got the decision for the WBC title, I thought that was a very tough fight for me; he hit me with some good shots, staggered me, but I fought back and staggered him too...It was a very tough fight, very tough.

BRC: Which has been your best fight?

RQ: I guess beating Vince Phillips. I defended my NABO title against him, I was a big underdog and they said he would knock me out. I came in there prepared to defend my title and I beat him, I went the twelve rounds with him in his hometown, (Lafayette, Louisiana), and they gave me a draw. I kept my title, everybody in the business thought I won the fight, everybody. In fact he was ranked #6 by the WBC in the world, I was #12; after that fight, after I got the draw, I became #6 in the world.

BRC: Considering Hurtado's inactivity in the past year and a half, do you feel stamina will be a problem for him?

RQ: I'm not counting on him not going the distance. I'm preparing myself mentally and physically to go the twelve rounds if necessary.

BRC: If you get pass this fight, what are your plans?

RQ: I know that I'm going to win this fight, I feel very confident about that. The only way I would lose this fight and make this clear on the tape, is that his manager Luis de Cubas is very good friends with Dean Chance, the IBA President and I already heard that he has the judges in his pocket for this fight. I heard by a lot of people that they already have this fight in their pocket., that I'd have to score a knockout to win the fight.

That to me would be a shame, if I do beat this guy decisively and they give the fight to him because of political, or money or whatever. But I feel, definitely I know, spiritually, mentally and physically that I'm prepared and that I will win this fight. The only way that I'm gonna lose this fight is if he knocks me out which I doubt very much or if they steal the fight from me.

The plan after this fight, if I win this fight, is to praise God, to thank Him, to celebrate with my family, my fans, and to go on to bigger fights, more money fights. I would love to get a shot at Kostya Tszyu or any of the top contenders that would be willing to pay me good money now.

BRC: If you had your choice, who would you want to fight?

RQ: Kostya Tszyu, he is the best. It would be a monumental task but I'm always up for a challenge, I never ducked nobody in my career. I would go to a different training camp, I would go train at Big Bear, I would do things differently, although I've prepared myself very well for this fight, but I would go to another level.

BRC: What did you think of Kostya Tzyu vs. Zab Judah?

RQ: Well, I thought that Zab Judah would give Kostya Tszyu all he could handle. But I feel his inexperience, show boating, he went back with his hands down; after the knockdown he jumped back up too quick, so he wasn't mentally together. He was still staggered, so I feel he took himself out of the fight by jumping up like that, and of course, you can't take any credit away from Kostya Tszyu, he caught Zab with a beautiful punch, it was a well deserved win.

BRC: What would you like to tell your fans here in South Florida?

RQ: I'm fighting at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. I'm very excited to fight here in Miami, Florida, to give the Latin people a great show. I'm Puerto Rican, Hurtado is Cuban, we're both Latinos and I know it's going to be a greater Cuban attendance but I got a lot of fans too and I have a lot of people coming down.

But I'm not worried about the people that's going to be there, they're not the ones that are going to be fighting in the ring. I'm the one that's going to fighting in the ring, and Diosbelys will be fighting in the ring. None of them can save either one of us. But I want the fans to know that I'm going to go out there and give it 110% and they are going to see a good show; by the time the fight is over with, the spanish community, and all the boxing fans will know who I am.

BRC: Thank you, Ricky, and we will see you at the Arena on January 4th, 2002.

RQ: Thank you!

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