He graciously agreed, and we decided to talk after the last fight, since Nate was there not just to check out a possible future opponent in Joel Casamayor, but also to cheer up a friend, Edner Cherry, who went to war in the last bout of the evening.

This is what we talked about...

BRC: Is the story about you not wanting to give up your job at Winn Dixie true?

CAMPBELL: It's true. I have three children, and that was a 'for sure' paycheck. I was going to get paid whether I hit somebody in the head or I cut the top off a box; but it was for sure money I got paid at Winn Dixie.

BRC: Who convinced you to leave Winn Dixie and try boxing?

CAMPBELL: It was a friend of mine, Jeff. Jeff has got to be the sweetest person in the world but he has got to be the most brutally honest guy on the planet. He told me that "you don't need to be in here," and he would tell me that all the time... and, he is a white guy, and he told me one night that he was tired of seeing me boxing and beating guys around in the place and a lot of guys thought it was a racist statement, but it wasn't...It was just his way to get me to understand what he was saying. His exact words were: "Nate, get your black ass out of this warehouse because you've got too much talent." A lot of guys took offense to that remark, but there was something in his eyes that told me that he cared about me; a lot of people don't understand that. He told me: "I don't want you to be here; fifteen or twenty years down the line, making $14, $15 dollars an hour when you could have been making a million dollars a fight. You have all the ability to do it."

BRC: Did you have an amateur career at all?

CAMPBELL: Yes I did. I fought 36 amateur fights in three years, and I won 30 of them. I had my last amateur fight in 1999, and my first pro fight in February of 2000.

BRC: So, when did you quit Winn Dixie?

CAMPBELL: Before I went pro, in 1999. I walked away from that job, took my 401K and God knows I didn't know how I was going to make it; I had three babies to feed, I had a car note; I said, I don't know how I'm gonna do it. I took a job working at K-Mart, odd jobs just to make ends meet; started my own business installing and selling stereo equipment, I was doing OK with that, I could make ends meet.

I realized that I could that job on the road, I had it set up where they would ship me anything I needed it in one day, so I took my show on the road, basically. I fought on the road, and every time I fought I would send my purse money to my kids, all but about $50 bucks of it. And I would sleep on the front seat of my 1978 gray Chevy Caprice Classic, and since I was working with stereo equipment, I bought scratched and dented TV, speakers and put them in my car. So basically, I had a house on wheels, TV, VCR, everything; I had all my clothes neatly stacked on my back seat, and I slept on my front seat when I couldn't find a room. I bathed in convenience store bathrooms and I mean, I would install a stereo to have food to eat and I've eaten some of the best and worst sardines, and I have bathed in some of the worst and the best convenience store bathrooms in all of northeast, southeast Florida, but I just believed that I could do it.

BRC: There is talk of Joel Casamayor gunning for you next...

CAMPBELL: You know what? If they are willing to agree to some terms, first of all money; and I'm not going to fight him in Miami; it doesn't make sense to fight him in Miami, I mean, I will... but I want to be treated fairly. I don't believe he will out box me; if you look at my record, nobody out boxes me. People think that I am just a puncher but that's not the case. I want to fight, he wants to fight; right now, I really can't talk about it, because I don't have a contract on it, so I can't say yes or no, but I'm hearing the talk, I heard a lot of it tonight because I'm in his neck of the woods.

BRC: Are you interested in fighting Joel?

CAMPBELL: Oh, I am so interested, I am sooo interested! I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

BRC: Do you think he would outclass you in terms of...

CAMPBELL: (Jumping right in) How many fights does he have? How many? Let's me and you talk about this...

BRC: Okay, let's; tell me your point...

CAMPBELL: I have 23 pro fights, have won 21 by knockout. Check his opposition and check my opposition; there is not that much difference in them. Even though he won the title, when he won it, who did he win it from? Let's really be honest about it, yes he had a big amateur career, all that means is that he is used up, if you wanna know the truth, if you want to know how I feel about it. This is the pros, and I've been a pro since the day I fought my first fight. I've never changed my style; my style has been the same since the amateurs, I've refined it...

BRC: So, the thought of fighting Joel Casamayor doesn't bother you...

CAMPBELL: The things that I would do to any man, at 126, 130, 135, wherever they want to put me...The things that I would do to them, would amaze the masses; but all I want is the chance to prove it. I'm not asking them to give me anything that I didn't earn. I think I've earned a fight with Casamayor, actually... I think they should treat me fairly, I think I should be treated fairly; I don't think they should try to underpay me, or treat me like I am some nobody. Everything I have, I've earned, nobody gave me anything.

If you look at my record, I came to Miami as an opponent in many occasions, and many guys retired because of it. So when it comes to boxing, I have no qualms about telling you that I am the best at my weight; and I am truly not afraid of any man at 126, 130 or 135 lbs. My thing is, I don't have a particular reason to run from Casamayor or anyone, my record stands on its own. If I've lost ten rounds in 23 fights, that's too many, how many has HE lost? I saw him run and lose to Freitas, and I guarantee you that I will hit him a whole lot more, a whole lot faster and just as hard if not harder than Freitas and on top of that, I ain't scared. I can box from the gate, I came to the fight game as a boxer, so when these guys say he is going to out class me, I ask, HOW? I want the people to understand and know, he might beat me, but he won't outclass me. If he beats me, he beats me, but there won't be no outclassing me.

What's going to happen when I hit him with the same kind of shot I hit Daniel Alicea with? What are you guys going to say then? Will you reporters give me my just due then...

BRC: Oh, I give you your just due now! I have nothing but respect for you and what you have accomplished, and I told you that when I approached you about doing this interview....

CAMPBELL: Yes, you did, but I want the masses to understand this... There are two things I am willing to do when I step in the ring, you know what they are? I am willing to kill and die. I mean that with everything in me; when I step in the ring, I pray, I ask God to protect me, ask Him to bless me, but I also told Him if I don't make it out, that's OK. I've made myself right with God before I go in the ring. I am willing to kill or die in there. If Casamayor is just doing it for the money, he got the wrong opponent this time, because I am doing it because I love it, and I don't mind hurting my opponent.

Check out Nate Campbell's record here