Javon “Pop” Woodard Jr. is well on his way to a title defense and in relative short order. He started fighting at the age of nine after his father introduced him to the sport. He was an angry kid that was always getting into fights, so his dad took him to the gym one day and he’s never left. Over the weekend, he took on Jayson Velez and dominated him; Woodard earned a seventh-round knockout over the former title challenger who previously faced off against Ryan Garcia. “Pop” was our guest on Out Of Bounds where he got honest about his life and career.
How would you describe your boxing style?
Um, highlight reel. The one where it’s a highlight reel, like, if you want to see excitement, that’s me, it ain’t boring. Like every fight I get into is an amazing fight, fight of the night. I mean, that’s what I feel. That’s my job to put on the best, yeah, to put on the best performance of the night. Like, after you see me fight, you’re going to be talking about, [when’s] the next time Pop [is] fighting.
Where did your nickname “Pop” come from?
You know, it’s crazy. Everybody be thinking, I got it because of boxing. That’s my name. Like, [they say] oh, really, yeah? From, like, Yeah, nah, nah. Like, from [when I was] a baby, it’s actually Poppy, just Pop for short.
What lessons did you learn from your 100-plus amateur fights?
The amateur days, ain’t gonna lie, the amateur days was an experience. You get to see different styles, and you [are] just actually learning the game. You learn the game. [It’s] but the amateurs and pros is a big difference, because it’s [a different pace]. And [in] the amateurs, you only got three rounds, so everything’s just like rush rush. In the pros, you got to slow it down and think in there and make your punches count.
How did you become involved with OTE Boxing?
Um, they reached [out]… they end up reaching out to me. They reached out to me. They gave me an opportunity, and I couldn’t turn it down. And it was a blessing [at] the same time, like I end up fighting in the first overtime in boxing history. So I’m in the history books.
What was your assessment of Jayson Velez as an opponent?
[He’s] game, he [is] game. He [is] a little older, got a lot of experience. So I think he [is] looking at me like, I’m younger and got [less] experience. I think he [thinks he’s going to] use that. I have a lot of experience [too]. Also, like [I] said, over 100 amateur fights. I’ve been fighting since [I was] nine, so like 20 years’ experience, [though] not professionally, as long as him, but I’ve been fighting my whole life for real. Is he a good opponent? Man, I think he’s the perfect opponent for me to showcase my skill. I don’t think he [is] gonna just fall down. He [is] gonna come to fight and it’s gonna make me bring, bring some [stuff] out of [me].
What’s the most challenging aspect of being a professional boxer?
I feel like the career I’m in is, like, probably the loneliest, the loneliest sport you can even get into and [it] take[s] a lot of sacrifices, even when you [are] getting ready for fights. Like [there are] times when my son was born [and] six weeks later, I [had] spent six weeks [with] my son, and then I had to go to camp. I had to leave to go to Vegas six weeks after my son’s birth, and I was gone for about two months. So [there are] times where you gotta be away from your family, your loved ones. If you got a girl, your girl, you gotta be away from everybody and sacrifice. When you’re in [training camp], no family, no girls, you ain’t outside. It could be real lonely, but at the end of the day, it [will] be worth it [in] the end.
What did you think about Gervonta Davis‘ last fight?
It was a good fight. It was a good fight. It [was] a good fight. I feel like a lot of people, like the casual fans that don’t really know boxing, they slept on Lamont Roach. I felt like it was a competitive fight. It was [a] competitive fight. And we [saw the] fans [see] something they’re not used to seeing with Tank, and I feel like [it] just show[s] you how the game is. I feel like everybody you know, [is] throwing salt on [him] now, just because he didn’t win, [but] he didn’t lose either. It’s not what they [are] used to seeing. Absolutely. I mean, so everybody [seems] excited to see a little a little down[fall] for a little slip. [It] just show[s] you how the game is when you come to this.
