Darrell "Head" Provo is one of Houston's top up-and-coming young heavyweights. After dominating the city's tough man scene for years, he has displayed devastating power in his last two pro bouts, which together have lasted a total of three minutes and 45 seconds. He now has a record of 2-1-1. Nicknamed "Head" since childhood for what has apparently always been an unusually large cranium, Provo is the first boxer on this website to refer to his astrological sign. He might one day become a top ten contender, or he might not. But one thing is certain: Along the way, "Head" will undoubtedly be a class act.
 

HBS - You're from Houston right?
DP - Born & raised right here in Houston.
HBS - How did you first get interested in boxing?
DP - As a kid I've always loved the sport. My dad was an ex-fighter so I've always loved the sport coming uu, yeah, always been around it.
HBS - Tell us about your amateur career and when you first started working out.
DP - I first started training when I was about 17, in and out of the gym, your typical kid, running the streets and just got serious about boxing as I got a little older. Got serious about boxing when I turned like 20, 21.
HBS - So you had an amateur career. How many fights did you have?
DP - Actually I didn't have an amateur career. I had a tough man career. I had like 30-something fights in a tough man competition.
HBS - How did those go?
DP - Oh, man undefeated, won the title. Won the tough man competition locally right here in Houston. Yeah, as a matter of fact my good buddy and sparring partner Billy Willis and I, we were cream of the crop. Yeah, we ran the whole show.
HBS - You turned pro when?
DP - I turned pro at 24.
HBS - How long ago was that?
DP - Four years ago. I had a little layoff due to some manager problems. My manager and I wasn't seeing eye-to-eye and it cost me a lot of time here in the gym but I recently got hooked up with some good people. My good trainer Gary Simon and some new guys that are putting fights together for me so the thing has really turned around this last couple of years.
HBS - Your last fight against Brad Bowers was a pretty short-lived contest. Tell us what happened.
DP - I stopped Brad in the first round. Brad's a good guy, hell of a fighter. Big puncher. But I think my boxing skills just kind of overshadowed his punching ability.
HBS - You had him hurt and then you finished the job. Tell us about what goes through your mind at that point.
DP - My coach was telling me in the corner that he was a little lazy with his jab and just come over with the overhand right when he throws his jab. Just come with the overhand right and I executed and caught him perfectly and that hurt him and he kind of tied me up so fortunately when the ref stepped in and broke us up he hadn't recovered so I just opened up, attacked and everything just went my way. Yeah, put the punch combination together and he went down.
HBS - What is it that you enjoy about the sport, that keeps you in it and doing all this hard work?
DP - Ah, man, I love the contact of the sport. I love the contact of the sport. It's not enough just to have heart. You just have to have a love for this, I mean, just to be able to just get in here with these guys, man, and stay in top-notch shape and when you're in that ring it's mano-a-mano, you know. You don't have a team to rely on, you don't have a partner to tag in with, it's just you, mano-a-mano and I just love the contact of the sport man and that's what keeps me motivated.
HBS - You're a pretty good-natured guy who smiles a lot, always seems to be in a pretty good mood. How do you change around and get in the ring and be prepared to hurt somebody?
DP - It's all a big mental game. I mean, the guy and I were just talking earlier. It's not enough just to be in there in the ring and fight with a guy, box with a guy. You've got to be able to be on a professional level also and have a good attitude after the fight. I mean hey, let's get in here, let's give the people what they want. Let's fight our hearts out and after the ring, outside of the ring we can be the best of friends. I mean, because it's a profession as well as a job so I mean, you have to be professional in your job. And that's how I look at things, you know, you've got to be real professional.
HBS - How do you though go about shedding your good-natured personality to again, be able to inflict punishment and pain?
DP - I like to smile. I think a lot of people take my good looks and my big laugh for granted. You know, I'm always laughing and joking and smiling, but hey, when they get in the ring with me they realize, hey, this guy can punch and this guy can box. He can really box. Outside of the ring I'm laughing, jokey-jokey and that's just my nature. I'm a Gemini so it's two sides to me...(laughs)....Yeah, definitely it's a good side and a bad side. The good side is outside of the ring. I think that Gemini kicks in when the bell rings.
HBS - I'm assuming you've had some other jobs aside from being a professional boxer.
DP - By trade I'm a truck driver. Yeah, I have a Class A CDL. I love to get out there and drive, man because that also gives me the peace of mind. When you're just, you know, behind the wheel of a vehicle that's just you and yourself and your thoughts and that gives me a lot of time to concentrate on boxing. It's different from working in a crowded work atmosphere. It just you and yourself, you know, when you're behind the wheel of a vehicle and that give me a lot of time to prepare mentally for things. I get to think a lot. Boxing is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical so I'm just grateful that my job frees up the time to be by myself and not distracted by a lot of things and really just think hard.
HBS - What are you working on now in the gym technically?
DP - Speed. Speed, I love working with smaller guys. Those Johnson boys, (Marcus & Jim of Killeen), they're some hell of a masterful boxers. I like working with guys that are smaller than me because I look at it like if I can box with those guys which are smaller than me and way quicker than I am, when I get in with a guy that's my size, hey, my speed'll kind of overpower him. I think that's how Kirk Johnson trains..... (laughs).
HBS - What's on the horizon for you? Any fights line up?
DP - I fight at the end of this month. We were just putting a fight together yesterday so we should have an opponent here in the next week or so and we'll be ready, we'll definitely be ready.
HBS - Where's that going to be?
DP - We don't know yet. We're looking towards Vegas. But it hasn't been inked yet......