HOUSTON, TX, July 20, 2011 – Continuing our interview series for Friday night’s Legacy Fighting Championship 7 event in Houston, we recently spoke to undercard participant Jermaine Anugwom about his upcoming professional debut against Larry Crowe.
The last time we interviewed Anugwom this past April, he told us about his martial arts history growing up in Southeast Houston. Training in multiple disciplines with an emphasis on striking, this fighter prides himself on being a devastating standup fighter on top of being a well-round mixed martial artist. Attaining an amateur record of 3-1, he’ll now make his professional debut against a very tough opponent in 3-1 professional Larry Crowe.
Read on and get Anugwom’s thoughts on tomorrow night’s bout and why he feels confident that he’ll be the fighter to snap Crowe’s two-fight win streak.
Jermaine, the last time we talked you were ramping up and trying to find an opponent for your pro debut. Now you’ve got that fight against Silverback’s Larry Crowe. How are you feeling heading up to Friday night?
I’ve been training hard because I thought I was fighting Ruben Esparza July 29th in Laredo. So I’ve been in Houston working my standup and getting ready for an all-out war. Then I got the call about Legacy from my manager Brett Boyce. We’d been trying to get on this card for awhile with me willing to fight anyone at 185 or 205. Finally Brett let me know about setting this fight up with Larry Crowe at 195. I was so happy. I had a huge a huge smile on my face getting something I’ve been wanting for a long time in being able to fight on this card.
This is going to be a huge card. What have you been doing to prepare for the moment you step into the cage?
I try not to feed into the whole “biggest card in Houston” hype and everything else. Yeah it’s a huge card but to me getting ready for Larry Crowe is the main focus. I’ve been working on my Muay Thai, making sure my head movement is good, and everything else I need to work on in training. I know Larry Crowe puts pressure on. We’ve been working on a lot of wrestling, a lot of takedown defense, and everything so I can be an all-around fighter and ready for anything when I get in there.
What are your thoughts on Larry Crowe as an opponent?
He’s a good opponent. I’m not taking anything away from him. I’ve seen a couple of his fights so I know that he knows what he’s doing. Still, I think it’s going to be a very huge challenge for him when it comes to me. He’s never faced a dynamic striker like myself in any of his fights. I’m interested to see how he deals with it. He might think I’m “just” a striker and that he can take me down at will but that’s not the case. We’ve been working everything so this is going to be one of those fights that’s going to be very exciting.
With a nickname like “Tae-Kwon-Crowe,” your opponent might prove to be a devastating striker in his own right. Does that scare you at all?
<laughs> I’ve seen his striking but I’ve never seen any taekwondo or anything like that. I’ve seen the straight punches coming forward and things like that but taekwondo guys are known a lot for their kicks. Maybe he has that and he just hasn’t shown it yet. As far as who has the advantage if we were just striking, well I don’t want to say anything bad about him by any means but I’ve been training striking and Muay Thai for over fourteen years. It’s hard to try to compare to that, I think. Even if I’d have gotten the JDF fight, I would have walked in there considering myself the better striker. Either way, we’re definitely going to find out when we hit the cage on Friday.
You’ve both fought at 205 and this fight is at 185. Who do you think has the edge in this fight? Who’s bigger, faster, and stronger?
Well, I dropped from 230 and all of my fights have been at 205. I’ll tell you this though.. I’m a lot stronger now than where I was when I was bigger. At 195, I feel even stronger than I do at 205.
How do you plan on beating Larry Crowe?
I don’t really to give predictions and things like that but we’re going to get in there and it’s just going to happen. What will go down is what happens but one thing I will say is that you won’t want to miss it. My hand will be raised at the end. That’s one thing I can say but I’m not going to say I’m going to knock him out or anything like that. My hand will be raised though. I guarantee it.
What are your MMA plans after you make your debut this Friday?
We have a bunch of big plans we have in the works with Brett and Made to Win. He’s really working hard to get us out there so we’ll see what happens. I’m thinking I want to get on that September card for Legacy as well since that card is shaping up to be a Monster. If I get on there, I’d like it to be at 185.
Any last words for the MMA world out here in Texas?
I just want to give thanks to Brett Boyce and the whole Made to Win family. Big thanks to Chico since me and him have been working exclusively one-on-one together even before he went off for his last fight. That’s been a lot of hard sparring and craziness so thanks to him. Big thanks to all my friends, fans, and all my family. Thanks to Windy Sports & Fitness in College Station, everybody here in Houston. Make sure to come to the fights, support the cause, and support Houston MMA. It’s going to be a huge show and a major opportunity for everybody to show the whole national scene what we’re all about so make sure you’re out there and giving your support.
This is going to be a fight with two big guys, both with talent and skill. This one is going to a barnburner, something really special. I think a lot of people are going to be looking forward to seeing me back on the scene since it’s been a while so I look forward to showing everybody what type of fighter I’ve become.
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