By Lorne Scoggins, 8CountNews.com
Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton joined 8CN to talk about her upcoming bout on March 27th. Ana, (6-1-1, 1KO) will be facing Lisa “Bad News” Brown (16-4-3, 5KOs) for the vacant WBA title. Ana, who has been called the female Manny Pacquiao, currently holds the IBA and WBO super bantamweight titles. Her fight on Saturday night gives her the opportunity to become the first Filipina to be an undisputed world champion. As I spoke to Anna, I found that she's more than just a talented young lady. She also has the endearing personality of a true champion of life outside the ring.
8CN: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Ana. How you doing?
Ana: I’m good. How are you?
8CN: I’m fine, thank you. You have a big fight coming up with Lisa Brown for the vacant WBA title. I know you've been working hard with Nonito Donaire Sr. in training camp. How are you feeling going into the fight?
Ana: I feel great. I’m actually very excited. We have less than a week to go and I wish that it was happening sooner. I’m really excited; not only about the fight, but also for the exposure we’ll be having for this. I’m excited about having female boxing featured in 90 countries all over the world, and hopefully it will also be shown in the United States regularly, and that’s one of my biggest goals.
8CN: I know that you’re not just interested in promoting yourself, but you’re also interested in promoting female boxing. Talk a little bit about why fans should be interested in female boxing.
Ana: You know, it brings a different light to the game. You have shorter rounds. You have girls that will be more aggressive. They’ll throw more punches because of the shorter rounds, and a lot of these female boxers are very competitive. Whenever you see a fight, it’s very exciting, and they now want to be able to showcase that. Everywhere around the world, female fighting has been showcased as main events, and I think the United States will catch on fairly soon, which will make the sport itself a lot bigger.
8CN: I know you were involved in trying to get female boxing in the Olympics in the past, and now that looks like it’s finally going to happen.
Ana: Yeah, it’s exciting. It’s going to happen in a couple of years. I’m a product of that whole process. I remember going into the amateurs in my first national tournament and I ended up having to fight a girl who had over 60 amateur fights only because she was getting ready for the 2004 Olympics. My whole amateur career was about being able to face off with girls who had 50 to over 80 amateur fights. You always had to be prepared.
8CN: You’ve been thrown in there with the best of them from the very beginning, haven’t you?
Ana: Yeah, it’s been quite a learning experience. (Laughs)
8CN: (Laughs)
Ana: But I’m very thankful for it. I think it’s one of the biggest reasons that I was able to capture 2 world titles in less than 10 fights as a professional. You know, tough training and tough experiences lead to success, so I’d like to go out there and continue on and hopefully be even more successful.
8CN: Tell us about your opponent. What do you know about Lisa Brown?
Ana: Lisa Brown, she’s a world champion and that should say a lot about her. She’s very tough, she’s very experienced, and she’s a southpaw. I’ll be going out there to Canada, which is her hometown. I think it’s something that will bring a lot of excitement to female boxing. You’ll have 2 girls who are at the top of their game go out there and not be afraid and showcase their talent in front of a large boxing audience base. I’m looking forward to the fight and I really can’t wait to go. I’m really thrilled about the whole thing.
8CN: In general, what's the game plan against Lisa?
Ana: You know, the main thing about the game plan is sticking to the game plan and as long as I do that I feel like I’ll do well. (Laughs)
8CN: You have a lot of Filipino fans supporting you. I was in Dallas for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight and…
Ana: (Breaking in) Oh... (Laughs) Oh yeah that was 51,000 people. There must have been parties all over the street...must have been non-stop.
8CN: It was great. I lost count of how many times I heard your name mentioned by fans and journalists.
Ana: Oh really!?
8CN: Oh yeah. You've got a big fan base.
Ana: Wow...
8CN: So this is an opportunity to win your 3rd world title belt. You have all these people looking up to you and looking forward to this fight. How do you deal with that kind of pressure?
Ana: Well the pressure, I kind of feel like that's something that happens in anything that you do. You know, whether your at school, you're at work, or you're at one point in your life where you go through a roller coaster... There are all sorts of different pressures in everything that we do and I kind of feel like that's just the nature of the sport. For me to have this opportunity and to get all this attention, you know I'm going for this world title fight and I can either deal with it or not, and I choose to deal with it because I feel like that's the best route. So for me, I'm fortunate that I have a good team, I have a good surrounding, everyone around me is positive, and we all have the same goals. We're all sacrificing and spending our time, all for the same thing, and I think that helps out a lot. If you want to consider that pressure, I feel that it brings more inspiration for me to go out there and do my best. So with pressure, I take it like a grain of salt. I feel like it's part of the sport and I feel like I'm doing fine.
8CN: There are some other big fights coming up. What's your prediction on Mayweather vs. Mosely?
Ana: Wow...well, I personally got to see Shane Mosley train when I was at the Wild Card. He came down there a couple times with his father to hit the mitts. He's a true athlete, he's very fast, he's very quick, and you can tell he still has a lot of talent despite his age. He's very experienced. With Mayweather, one thing I can say about him is he's a focused guy. He's a focused boxer. If there's a game plan, I feel like he'll stick to it no matter what happens. So I think it's a tough fight. If you're trying to get a prediction out of me, you know, I'm a difficult kind of person because I think whenever you train, it's only a certain amount of the percentage of what's going to show in the ring because it all depends on that day. You can have a good day or you can have a bad day, so I think it kind of depends on the fighter. It's kind of hard for me to say because I'm a fan of both. I feel like Mosley has the athleticism, he has the speed, he has the charisma...I think he has the gifts to go out there and do really well. But I also feel like Mayweather is just so intelligent in boxing that he'll stick to a game plan and sometimes that's the hardest thing to do whenever you're in a fight. So I just kind of feel like it just depends on what kind of day they get. It's hard to say.
8CN: I agree...
Ana: I hope that helps you... (Laughs)
8CN: I agree with you. It could go either way very easily. You talked a little bit about your amateur career. What inspired you to start boxing?
Ana: I'm a martial arts teacher and I teach kids, teenagers, young ladies to help build confidence. Our school is very traditional but they wanted to incorporate something more sports oriented so we chose boxing and in order for me to teach it I had to learn it. My first couple of lessons I had to jump into the ring with a couple of guys and I had to start sparring them. It just kind of took off from there. Everything that's happening right now, it all happened by chance. I feel really blessed that I've had this opportunity and everything happened the way that it did. I definitely didn't think as a child that I wanted to be a boxer. (Laughs) I hated boxing when I was a kid, but it turned out the way it did.
8CN: Who are some fighters who have inspired or do inspire you?
Ana: You know there's a lot of great boxers out there but the ones I'm affected to the most are the ones who have great stories behind them. Like Joe Louis, for him to be so successful at the time when he was boxing, he's one of the fighters I look up to. Manny Pacquiao, of course, is someone I look up to. I feel like he opened a lot for Filipinos across the globe. He was able to put us on the map. And other fighters like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, they all had a story...Alexis Arguello...I kind of like some of the old school boxers. I like the boxers who go out there and try to help people with all the hard work that they do and provide a much more positive environment for everyone. That's the way that I look at boxing. I feel like it's more than just punching and slipping and weaving. I feel like it's a lifestyle and I truly look to those who took boxing in a way where they can create respect in and outside the ring.
8CN: What has been the greatest moment of your career?
Ana: I think the greatest moment is when I won my first world title. My 2 fights prior to that, a draw... Then the next one I had my first loss. That's when I was going out for a title fight in my rookie year as a professional. I had a tough fight. It was a split decision loss, and I was heartbroken from that. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to continue or not but I felt like I wanted to test myself again. That's when I got to fight Kelsey Jeffries who was considered a legend in the sport. She had over 40 wins and I only had 4. It kind of reminded me of my amateur days of just being able to go in there and fight someone with a lot more experience than me. I was considered a 2-1 underdog and when my hand was raised I felt like my life practically changed from then on. I'd say that's one of the biggest highlights of my boxing career so far. I learned a lot in not only with developing a certain boxing style that works for me, but also being around good people and having a good team. And also being able to have a goal in this game because it can be...it's tough, you know? So I feel like it's the greatest moment, but I also feel like it's one of my biggest lessons.
8CN: To all the fans who are looking forward to watching you on Saturday night, what would you like to say to them?
Ana: Thank you so much for all the support. I have fans out there, especially in the Filipino community, in the Bay Area community who rooted for me back in the amateur days, and to this day they're still out there and they're rooting for me. I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful for everyone up in Canada to give me the opportunity and giving a stage for female fighters out there to go and showcase their talents. I want to say thank you to Orion Sports and Allan Tremblay for putting the fight together and I really look forward to meeting everyone out there. I just want to go out there and bring some excitement and I hope everyone can check it out on March 27th.
8CN: Thank you so much for talking to us. Good luck next Saturday night and God bless you.
Ana: Oh, you too. Thank yo so much.
Contact Lorne: lscoggins@8countnews.com
Source: 8countnews.com
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