Exclusive Pre-fight Interview with Joey ‘Minnesota Ice” Abell

By DeBorah Bowen & Mario Cabrera, Jr

On July 17th cement fisted heavyweight Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell is going for revenge against upset specialist Aaron Lyons in a ten rounder at the St. Paul Armory in St. Paul MN. Joey was a touted prospect who was literally demolishing his opponents until met, who else, Aaron Lyons

A stunned crowd watched as Lyons stopped the then unbeaten Abell in less than a round, scoring one of the most shocking stoppages that year. Joey has since scored knockouts in all but one of his victories, including a win over the unbeaten Teke Oruh on Showtime. This rematch will be quite interesting as well, especially considering the fact that Lyons has never been stopped in any of his defeats and Joey almost exclusively relies on the knockout.

Joey Abell took time out of his training schedule to speak with the Boxing Republic on Tuesday evening, for a 1 on 1 exclusive interview. These facts emerged

DB: Good Evening Joey, how are you? My name is DeBorah Bowen and I write for the Boxing Republic;

JA: Good evening DeBorah; I am doing well

DB: First I just want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to speak with us. I’d like to begin with asking you a few questions. Can you tell us who is on your team? Do you have a manager, trainer and a promoter?

JA: Yes, my managers’ names are Wayne Zebeaumis and Richard Skill. My head coach is Ron Lyke .

DB: What made you decide to get into boxing because fro what I read about you, you use to be a football player?

JA: Yes, that’s correct; I was a football player but originally I started boxing at an early stage. Growing up my self-esteem was very low and because of this I was picked on quite a bit. My dad thought it was a good idea to put me in boxing. I have been boxing since before high school right into college. Once in I entered college I had to stop because I started playing football for MN State University. After college I started to pursue an NFL career; although the school I played for was a great team, they did not have the right connections for me to get the opportunity to make it. So I decided that if I were going to bring myself up in the athletic world I would have to do it another way.

DB: Joey, have you ever had the opportunity to spar with any top contenders and if so can you name a few?

JA: The only three topped ranked fighter I sparred with were, John Ruiz and he had requested that I come down and spar with him for a week or two. And then Michael Moorer, who was my head coach for about a 3-month period. I went down to Florida to train with him for 3 months; we worked together and he taught me a lot as he was the first left-handed fighter to be a champion. Also  Eddie Chambers I sparred with him also we helped each out.

DB: Excellent! What weight class do you currently fight at?

JA: Heavyweight

DB: The heavyweight championship uses to be the most prestigious title to win in the boxing; do you know what happed to change this?

JA: I’m not sure but maybe it may have to something to do with the quality of boxers that came through. Back in the old days in the 70’s and 80’s the fighters fought to live because the believed that they had a chance to become great champions. Back then it was kind of a win–win because if they didn’t make it they could go on to do something else and if they did they would go straight to the top. Also they stayed in the gym constantly to make sure that they were in top form condition and be the best that they could be. I also think the UFC has a lot to do with the lack of interest

DB: When you were growing up, and as you said your father was the one who introduced you into boxing, were the any boxier that admired, followed or you looked up to?

JA: You know, I admired a lot of different boxers through out, but more so the ones who were extraordinary with their craft such as Mohammed Ali, even thought he is a different kind of boxer from me he was a finesse type boxer even though he talked a lot of mess to him opponents he could back it up. The other fight is Evander Holifield because he the work ethic that I’d like to consider myself to have and I think everyone should have, because if they all had Holifields’ work ethics boxing would not be in the state its is now.

DB: Joey, can you describe you fighting style? I’ve read that they call you the All American Heavyweight “Southpaw”

JA: (laughs) It means that I am a left-handed hitter; but I am also have an advantage because I am ambidextrous my right hand is just as strong or stronger than my left, but when it comes to fight I can hit just as hard with my right too.

DB: You have a fight that is coming up on July 16th, who would like to fight next?

JA: You know my has a couple a guys in mind, not necessarily the very next fight maybe 3 or fight more fights. I want to fight guys that are in the top 20. In boxing you are fighting guys that are ranked below you so that you can gain experience and increase your rankings. I want to fight guys that are ahead of me so that way I can keep moving up in the rankings. I don’t want to have a fight and then when I look at my ranking I see that I haven’t moved up that I’m not going anywhere. Regardless to whom I fight I always learn a lot and I think I’m ready to make that move forward. There are a lot of heavyweights right now that I watch on fight nights and I know I have something that have something that they don’t have and I have the ability to beat a lot the guys. First I’d like to be on TV because want others to see me fight and to see it on the TV is exciting to the people who can’t be there. They knockouts and the like the activity that goes on.

DB: Yes I have to agree with you there, I love being ringside and watching the fights live and I have also watched from my TV at home; but when its televised you not only have hundreds that are in the arena watching but also thousands of people that are sitting around their TV’s watching, your every move, this builds momentum not only for the boxers but for those who are watching and waiting for that knockout punch that will send the crowd into a cheering frenzy.

DB: How close do you think you are to fighting contention? You mentioned earlier that you no longer want to fight boxers who are ranked below you.

JA: I know how close I could be, but unfortunately in the boxing world and I have learned this in the past couple of years as a boxer that they have a plan for you and then things go wrong for example my manager had a plan to where I was going to get a shot at fighting for a title but I wound up breaking my leg when I was play another sport just for fun; I have since then been smart about than. In order to me to able to get a shot at the title I need to be ranked within the top 20; which my manager and coaches strongly feel that I can be.

DB: Joey, how often do you train, during an upcoming fight or when you do not have a scheduled bout?

JA: For a particular fight; like the one I have coming up on July 16th I have been heavy duty training now for the last week; its usually about 4 to 5 weeks of heavy duty training but I don’t ever stop training. I have been training steadily for the last 7-8 months; which usually consists of being in the gym for about 3-4 hours each day.

DB: What does the upcoming fight on July 16th against your nemesis Aaron Lyons mean to you in regards to your career/

JA: It means everything to me, however this is a fight I normally would not have taken. He has beaten me once before when I was 9-0, all were first round KO’s. I was told that I needed to fight rounds for the experience so right away I clocked him a little bit he went down and I backed of. He came back swinging and the fight was stopped. It was kind of controversial and the only reason we are taking this fight is to get back one of my losses (4). After the fight Lyons went straight to the media telling everyone how easy I was to beat. That I wasn’t what the people thought I was. It really went to his head and in turn it went to my head too. If Lyons actually thinks this way about my fight ability then I need to show him and everyone else.

DB: I look forward to watching your victory. I would like to contact you again a few days after for a post fight interview; would that be ok?

JA: Yes I would like that.

DB: Joey, it has been an absolute pleasure speaking with you and we at the Boxing Republic just want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to speak exclusively with us. Good luck on the 17th

JA: Thank you, you’re welcome.