Adam Richards

It is no doubt a testament to the quality of the training and the overall atmosphere at the Savannah Boxing Club that fighters come there from all over the world to train. Such is the case with Adam Richards of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, near Nashville. After an extensive amateur career, Richards turned pro almost five years ago, but has been plagued by injuries. Now having recovered from a hand problem, he is training in Houston for his next fight in February in Mississippi. I caught up with him as he took a short breather during a recent workout.

HBS - Tell us a little bit about how you first got interested in boxing.

AR - My father took me to the Smyrna Police Athletic League when I was about eight years old and it all started from then and just a love for the sport I guess.

HBS - Nashville/Murfreesboro area, big boxing scene over there?

AR - Locally but they've never had any world champions that have come from there so hopefully I'll be the first in about two years or so.

HBS - What is it that you enjoy about the sport?

AR - Just the aura. Just fighting another man. There's no team in it besides your coaches and it's just you and him.

HBS - So you had an amateur career?

AR - Yes, I've won a world title, a national titles, I beat Mike Tyson's knockout record in Junior Olympics. He had 7 knockouts and I had eight within a two year period in this tournament so I'm in the amateur hall of fame so it's a great accomplishment. I also beat his record by knocking out a Russian in the first round.

HBS - What was your record as an amateur?

AR - It was well over 200 fights. I had about eight or nine losses so it was pretty well.

HBS - So you turned pro when?

AR - When I was 19. I turned down a scholarship to go to Marquette, Michigan University and box for them and I turned it down because I got beat in the Olympic trials. I got beat in the finals by like one point and everybody started calling me and I just decided to turn pro.

HBS - How old are you now?

AR - I'm 24. I'm just getting over a hand injury I broke my hand about a year ago, a year and a half ago and it just took some time for it to heal. I broke it pretty bad but it's fine now.

HBS - So you're 3-1 and you mentioned that you got a rib broken in one of your fights.

AR - That was my third fight. I went into it with a cracked rib and then it broke.

HBS - So how did you hear about Houston and the Savannah Boxing Club? What draws you here?

AR - Well Chris Rolan is a good friend of my coach and they talked and they said it was best for me to come down here for a couple of months and get my whole boxing turned around so it's on another level.

HBS - So you never worked with Ronnie Shields before?

AR - I haven't. I've heard a lot about him. I know he's one of the best coaches in the world and that's why I'm excited to be down here.

HBS - So how long have you been training here for?

AR - This is my second day. So I've got until February 19th.

HBS - What's it like working with Ronnie?

AR - It's a huge difference. It's a huge step up. We've only worked about ten or 15 rounds today and you can see how wet I am and I'm not used to this at all. I'm used to coaches where me and the coach are real good friends. I mean me and Ronnie are real good friends but it's just a different atmosphere, a different level.

HBS - Anything in particular you're working on?

AR - Everything right now.

HBS - You mentioned you have a fight in February probably near Tunica. Do you have any idea who you're fighting?

AR - Not yet. I know I'm on the card but I don't know who I'm fighting right yet.

HBS - It's a pretty competitive division and a competitive sport obviously and a lot of injuries can come along the way. Obviously you feel pretty confident you think you have a good shot, you've got a good amateur record.

AR - Right, I do. Everybody's got a shot. I just hope I'm one of the fortunate ones.

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Heavyweight Adam Richards

Adam Richards is on a roll. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native arrived in Houston earlier this year, after recovering from an of injury that has slowed his progress during his five years as a pro. He has been a steady presence at the Savannah Boxing Club, and as a result he has slimmed down, toned up, all while cutting through his class of the heavyweight division like a hot knife through butter. He now has a pro record of 8-1 with seven knockouts.

HBS - Tell us a little about what you've been up to since you arrived at the Savannah Boxing Club in January.

AR - I took two months of training when I first came down here. This is my fifth fight coming up. I've had two second round knockouts, two first round knockouts so everything's improving. My strength, my skills and everything.

HBS - Tell us about your last fight. (Against Joseph Harris on July 23rd in Tunica, Mississippi).

AR - It wound up being about two minutes and 24 seconds of the first round. He came in swinging hard. I slipped in, give him a left hook, dropped him, hit him with a right hook, dropped him, and then stopped him with a left hook.

HBS - That's a pretty quick fight. What was the guy like?

AR - He was muscle-bound, cut up, I just out-powered him I guess.

HBS - You look like you might have lost a few pounds since you first came down here.

AR - Ronnie and Jay, my boxing coaches, they've got me working real hard in the boxing ring. And then Brian Cardwell, my strength coach, he's got me on a certain diet, running every day, six, seven days a week and then stairmaster. I mean everything's just tied in at once. It's just getting me in good shape. I mean I've dropped probably 25, 30 pounds since I've been down here.

HBS - How much do you weigh now?

AR - About 235. I came down here about 265, 270. My goal was about 225, 230 and real toned.

HBS - Summer in Houston. Not exactly a whole lot of fun. I know it gets fairly warm in the Nashville area in the summertime but probably not like this.

AR - No, maybe a couple of weeks out of the whole summer it gets as warm as it does here. The heat and humidity, I'm not used to it. I'm still trying to get used to it. It's rough.

HBS - Tell us about this diet you're on. A lot of people are trying to lose a few pounds and might like to know what you're doing to cut so much weight.

AR - They've just got me watching my fat. I don't eat any greasy foods. All grilled or baked. No breads. And then the heat. The heat's a big part of it, the sweating all the time. Working out as hard as I am it's just coming off.

HBS - You're sparring against some top-notch guys. I don't know this guy you were in there with today, he's just huge, but then you sparred with Dominick Guinn some and he's a top-rated heavyweight. What's that been like and how have you changed since January?

AR - I've been working with Dominick, I've been working with Billy (Willis), after this fight I fly back down here and I start sparring with Evander Holyfield. I have never really sparred any top-notch guys until I've come to Texas and I mean there's more heavyweights down here than I could ever think about working with so I mean it's a great honor to get to work with these guys and learn a lot. I've learned so much just from working with Dominick and I can't wait to spar Evander.

HBS - Tell us a little bit about what you would say are some of the top one or two lessons you've learned.

AR - Keep my hands up, move, always bobbing and weaving and then never stand in front of a man. You always try to give him different angles.

HBS - Tell us about your upcoming fight.

AR - They've tried to match like five different guys with me and they finally got a guy out of Biloxi, Mississippi that's going to fight. He's 6'4", 6'5", probably 270, 280, record's like 4-25 I think so it's a six-rounder. I'm just going to be careful and catch him if I can early.

HBS - You're coming along pretty nice and slow but tell us about your career and how you see it progressing.

AR - I'm 8-1 with seven knockouts. I lost my first fight due to a rib injury. I got my rib broke in the fight and my coach had to stop it. It was my first rib right by lung and it was something that couldn't be helped. But I tried to rematch that guy since then. He won't fight me. But seven knockouts out of eight wins so that's not too bad.

HBS - You've really been quite busy since you've been here.

AR - I fought every month after those first two months when I came here so I've been busy.

HBS - Tell us how you envision your career progressing.

AR - I won't take anything less than a title fight. I know it's going to be hard work. If I keep training the way I am here, keep everything dedicated the way it is I shouldn't have any problems.

HBS - So that's your goal is a title shot?

AR - I won't take anything less than that.
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8-07

Adam Richards is one of the hottest heavyweights fighting out of Houston today. Originally from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the 26-year-old slugger has racked up a string of 16 consecutive wins in compiling a record of 18-1 with 13 KO's. He trains at the Savannah Boxing Club.


HBS - Your last fight against Billy Willis went pretty well for you. Tell us what happened there.

AR - I just went out there and boxed a little bit. I caught him with a left hook in the fourth round, stopped him. But he's a great fighter. I just tried real hard for that camp. Coming from Holyfield, so everything was just perfect that night.

HBS - You've done some sparring with Evander in recent months.

AR - I've been his chief sparring partner for this last three fights.

HBS - So that's got to be good on several levels. The workout and the learning must be pretty amazing.

AR - Oh, it is. Just working with him my skill level has just went up so much. At my level you can't do nothing but grow and get better so working with Ronnie (Shields) and Holyfield you can't ask for no better than that.

HBS - What do you think are some of the principal things you've picked up in doing that?

AR - Moving, throwing a lot of punches, working my jab more than everything else you know, throwing two and three jabs at a time, that's the most critical thing to do.

HBS - It's amazing how it always comes back to the simple things like that, just working the jab and staying with it.

AR - Oh, definitely, the principles are the basic thing in boxing. It all comes down to the jab.

HBS - Let's go back to the fight before Billy Willis. What happened there?

AR - That was my first eight-rounder (against Earl Ladson (12-16-17 KO's), on March 17th in Corpus Christi). It went the distance but he held the whole fight and I got real frustrated because in sparring and training I've never experienced anybody that would hold until actually it was like latched on. I couldn't get him off and it had me real frustrated. But I had hurt him in the first round and I guess he just didn't want to get knocked out that night. But I needed to go the distance, it was a good win. I learned a lot by it. I learned you've got to be a little bit more physical but I grew after that fight.

HBS - Then before that?

AR - I fought a guy in Tunica (Willie Palms, (10-5-1) on January 20th) and had a six-round knockout which was good too because we've been working on trying to keep my strength through the rounds. So I've been more conservative, boxing more and then when I see that shot I throw it.

HBS - You really do look like you're in a lot better shape than I've seen you in quite some time. I don't know if you've lost weight but you've probably redistributed it some and it just shows in your face that you've really conditioned down. Tell us a little bit about what you've been doing.

AR - Before I'd go home after the fights and I wouldn't do anything just take that time off. Three fights ago I hired a strength coach for Tennessee too, so when I go home, I fly home on a Sunday and I'm back in the gym on Monday. Not boxing, but strength and conditioning. My eating habits haven't changed. I'm eating real well. Usually I'd come back to camp about 270. Now I'm coming to camp about 234, 235, which I don't have to lose a lot of weight before a fight. That's what I weight now. So I just maintain to keep my strength so everything is just where it's supposed to be right now. Brian Caldwell my Houston strength trainer, wants me to come in for this next fight about 230.

HBS - What do you know about your next fight. (Against Rafael Pedro (20-6-1, 14 KO's) on September 7th on ESPN).

AR - He's 6'5", he just fought Chris Henry. He's suppose to be a pretty big guy but I'm just going to do everything I've been taught, see what happens.

HBS - It won't be the first pretty big guy you've fought.

AR - Oh, no, I've fought guys 6'5", 6'6". It's good because I have a lot of head movement. I work the body.

HBS - So you've got to feel pretty good about the way things are going for you. Assuming you win against Pedro you'll be looking for something bigger soon.

AR - Right, hopefully by the end of this year we can fight for maybe a U.S.B.A. or N.A.B.A. title or something like that. I want to get my name on the map.