Interview Dated November 2005 Kareem Day Kareem Day is one of the up-and-coming young pros on the Houston Boxing Scene. After a distinguished amateur career, the speedy 21-year-old junior welterweight suffered a setback in losing his pro debut earlier this year. He is set to realign his career as he fights his second pro bout in Chicago next month. I caught up with him after a recent workout at the Savannah Boxing Club. HBS - How'd you get started boxing? KD - I came to Houston and I got bad grades in school and my dad put me in the gym and I got another bad grade. He told me I couldn't fight unless I bring up my grades. I love to fight so I had to bring up my grades. HBS - What is it that you enjoy about the sport? KD - I like the competition. I like everything. I'm a true boxing fan inside out. HBS - Tell us a little bit about your style, how you perceive yourself in the ring. KD - I'm a boxer-mover. I like a lot of foot movement. Footwork, finesse. That's how I see my style. More or less out of the smoothness and get the job done. HBS - You have pretty fluid motion. Tell us about your amateur career. KD - I think I had about 56 fights. I lost about 7. I was really doing a lot of other things so I really didn't get into it that deep. But I did fight. I'm a busy dude, I do everything, try to put my eggs in everything. HBS - What are your interests outside the ring? KD - Right now I'm working on my double major in school, accounting and pre-law, and also trying to get a clothing line. I working on that and hopefully it'll come out in February. HBS - You think you might want to be an attorney at some point? KD - Hopefully. That's what I'm working on. It's pretty hard but I'm going to stick with it and I'm definitely going to get it done. HBS - What is it that you've been working on in the gym? Any particular skills or techniques? KD - As far as being a little bit more aggressive and throwing my punches right, digging, body shots, stuff like that. HBS - Were there any particular boxers that you looked up to growing up? KD - Sugar Shane Mosely, that's like, number one. Shane Mosely, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard. I like the Sugars. I'm a big Sugar fan. I grew up on Shane Mosely, like every day, I still like Shane Mosely. HBS - What do you think of the fighters around Houston? KD - They're pretty good, but me myself I know if I come though and be aggressive just like I'm supposed to do with my movement and my skill and my speed, really to be honest I don't think nobody can stand up to it. I'll be myself. Not to be cockby but that's just how I feel. HBS - You had your pro debut not too long ago. Tell us about what happened there. KD - I took a loss, point blank. There were a lot of things on my plate. It just made me hungrier though. I kind of thank God that I lost because it made me really realize what's really going on and that this sport is serious and it just made me hungrier, so more humble and I want to get in there and I won't stop until I'm a champion. HBS - So it was a four-round decision? KD - Yeah, I fought some dude in Louisiana. A lot of people was expecting a lot from me so I let a couple of people down but I know I'm going to bounce back. It wasn't even an exciting fight or nothing like that. HBS - Maybe first fight jitters had something to do with it. Very few people wind up undefeated as pros. Do you know anything about your opponent that you're facing coming up? KD - I don't know anything about him but I know I'm fighting in Chicago. I'll just take it from there. Everything now is serious so I'm not stopping at all.