Interview Dated January 2006 Cruiserweight Chris Henry Chris Henry is one of the top young prospects to emerge on the Houston Boxing Scene. Since turning pro in January of 2005, the 24-year-old has piled up an impressive record of 11-0 with 10 knockouts. I caught up with him before his recent devastation of Shannon Miller (20-35-8) at 2:27 of the first round at the Coushatta Pavilion in Kinder, Louisiana. HBS - You're from Beaumont? CH - I started boxing in Beaumont. I'm originally from Orange. Born & raised there. But started boxing in Beaumont so that's where I really started my career. HBS - How'd you get started boxing. CH - This friend told me about it. I just went out there to the Salvation Army, checked it out. Man, after that I quit football, quit every other sport and stuck with boxing. Ever since I've been doing it. HBS - Why? CH - I just like the one-on-one competition. The man on man, and I just like the enthusiasm in it. It just hypes me up. So that's why I love it. That's why I gave up other sports. HBS - Tell us a little bit about your amateur career. CH - I've got two National Championships. I had over 80 amateur fights. I would have went out for the Olympics but that didn't come through like it was supposed to. This pro thing, I've got people helping me out and I've got some good people behind me so it's been good. HBS - You train at the Main Gym in Houston? CH - Yes sir, that's where I train and I've got the best out of Houston, down South. Bobby Benton, Cameron Park, the best trainers I have. HBS - Why do you like working with them? CH - They keep me rolling. They stay on me. They get me in in shape. No joke, man. They take care of their business. The main thing they want to do and they stay up with it. Trainers, pushing you to do this, do that, that's them and they push me to get where I need to go. HBS - What can you remember about your first pro fight? CH - It wasn't really... (chuckles)... too much of a fight. I say it maybe lasted 30 seconds. There ain't too much memorable about it. He just got caught with an uppercut and he laid it down. You know it was a lot of memorable fights I had with a lot of veterans I've been fighting. Like tonight I'll be fighting a pretty good veteran, a young veteran, and it's just some more experience that I need. HBS - What was your most difficult fight so far? CH - The one I went to decision with. ( vs. Vincent Harris of Orlando, 11-16-2, last July at Coushatta). This guy stayed in there. He knew how to have his defense up. He stayed up on the ropes. Just the whole point about him trying to survive. That's his whole point about him getting in there. He's a good survivor and he messed up my knockout ratio so he did that and I learned a lot of things. How to take my time, not just go out there...... The knockout's going to come so that's what I learned. It was probably my toughest fight. I don't plan on having no more of them. He'll go to sleep next time. HBS - Why do you think you have such a high knockout ratio? CH - I've got a lot of power. I have heavyweight power. These light heavyweights right now, they can't really take all them heavy shots. Nine out of ten I will be knocking somebody out. Whatever happens. One decision I've gotten, I learned how to take my time and relax and the knockout will come whenever I just catch the opening. HBS - What do you know about this guy you're fighting tonight? CH - I don't really know too much about him. I heard he's a pretty good fighter. He fought almost everybody: Tate, Rodney Ellis, and pretty good fighters, you know? He stepped in there and went decisions with the guys and Thomas Tate, he went decision with Thomas Tate back in the day and he's a pretty good guy so it's going to be an alright fight. He's tough but he's probably not tough enough when he gets in there with me so we'll see how everything works out tonight. HBS - You have any particular game plan against him? CH - Just take my time, relax and whatever comes, comes. If a knockout comes early, it comes early. If it comes later on in the rounds then it comes later. I'll just go ahead take my time, pick my shots and make everything count. HBS - How good are you? Are you ready to fight for a world title? How do you think you stack up against the top fighters in your division? CH - The guys in the top ten, I'm right there with them, man. I'm side by side with them. I don't know who's got the title right now. Tarver, he went up to heavyweight and he might fight Tyson, I don't know who's got the title but I think I'm about ready. I'm just ready to step up, man. Later on, my manager and my trainer, we're going to sit down and get everything together with them. Hopefully everything will work out, God willing, that everything do happen real soon because I'm ready for it. HBS - You have a pretty nasty scar there on your left eye. What happened there? CH - That was my second pro fight in Tennessee. He was a pretty tough guy. Came up with a head butt. It wasn't too bad, it wasn't too nasty. That was the last time I plan on getting cut. HBS - What goes through your mind when you're in the ring, let's say first round, getting ready to go in and fight? CH - Mind's thinking clear. I'm just going out there hungry, man, trying to do what I do best. Go out there and put somebody to sleep. That's what I do. As soon as I step in the ring it's time to work. HBS - Any skills or techniques you've been working on in the gym lately? CH - This guy here, he holds a lot, so I've been working on trying to slip out of them holds and bumping and slipping and moving out of the way from him grabbing. That's the main thing I've been working on. Everything else, I've got my left hook A-1 now, and just little basic things I need to step up and do tonight. After that I won't have no trouble.