Rhonda Luna interviewed March 12, 2007 by Katherine Dunn by phone while Luna in a car on the way to the airport in L.A. for a flight to San Francisco. (Transcript edited for length)

KD—I wanted to talk with you about your upcoming fight on March 22nd. You’ve just had one fight since March of last year. Do you think you’re ready for this?

RL—Most definitely. Yeah, definitely. Most people would think that the time off would be a negative thing. But for me it was actually what I needed. It gave me an opportunity to decide whether or not I still wanted to pursue the sport. And training for the fight in February was perfect. Everything just fell back into place. The whole plan was to have one fight and then look for something really big and this fell right into my lap so it couldn’t come at a more perfect time.

KD—Your brother tells me that you had in mind that you would eventually fight Kelsey Jeffries.

RL—Yeah. I knew pretty much from day one, since I started boxing and decided that I was going to be fighting at this weight class that all roads led to Kelsey Jeffries. My main goal in this sport is to be the best and to be the best you’ve got to beat the best. I have a lot of respect for Kelsey and I know that she’s been in this sport for a long time so I knew at one point in time if I kept rising in the ranks that we’d meet.

KD—How do you juggle boxing and your masters program?

RL—I juggle it like I juggle everything else I do. I don’t think you’ll meet anyone who multi-tasks their life more than I do.

KD—Are you teaching at the same time?

RL—I’m a guidance counselor, yes. My masters program is a weekend program so that helps out a lot. It’s only Friday nights and all day Saturday. I work around it. I get up early before work to do my running and I train after work and I go to school at the weekend. I just make it work.

KD—The last information we had was that you were teaching high school English and coaching softball.

RK—That has changed. I transitioned to getting my pupil personnel services credential and my masters in educational psychology. But I was lucky enough to gain a position as guidance counselor at one of the local schools where I live, simultaneously while I’m getting the degree. I live in San Francisco currently.

KD—But you come down to L.A. to train with Mr. Valenzuela?

RL—Yes. Luckily the position that I took as a guidance counselor is a part time position only on Tuesdays through Thursdays. I share the position with a woman who just had a baby so I kinda just helped her out. I can be there on the days when she didn’t want to be there. So I’m there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, basically training on my own. I get a little bit of help from some of the locals and then on Friday afternoon I fly to L.A. and I’m with Victor on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and then fly back.


KD—Who makes your fights for you? Victor or your brother?

RL—For the most part Victor and my brother work together. My brother tends to deal with the logistical things. Victor makes the majority of the boxing decisions. Fights most of the time are presented to my brother and then he’ll bring them to the table with myself and Victor. We all sit and talk and make decisions together.

KD—It is a team sport in a way.

RL---Yeah. It’s only individual once you’re in the ring, but leading up to the fight…I’ve learned that so much since I’ve been doing the commuting. I wouldn’t be able to survive this if it wasn’t for my family and the people who support me. Everyone’s just been so great. Everything from picking me up at the airport, to getting me where I need to be, to making sure the right type of food is in the fridge and checking in on me. All that contributes to success on that one night. I can’t imagine being successful without any of them.

KD—I have not had a chance to see you box. Could you give me your assessment of what your style is like?

RL—My style? I say this very confidently, I have brains and I have brawn. I’m a smart fighter. Depending on the style of the other fighter I know what type of style I need. But I have a lot of strength so I tend to use that to my advantage. I’m very strong. I tend to start fights like a lot of fighters do, a little tentative, feel the fighter out, see what they’re going to come to the table with. And with me kind of realizing that they can’t hurt me I come straight forward and throw punches. But I can move and I can box and I can stick in the middle of the ring or I can move around it because I’ve been trained so well to adjust and do both.

KD—How will you approach the Jeffries bout?

RL—I’ll approach it like any other fight. I have my own game plan. It doesn’t really matter who I’m fighting. I respect everyone but I don’t fear anybody. I don’t go into a fight fighting the way that they’re going to make me fight. I have my own game plan. I go in hoping to dictate the fight the way I want it to go. I’m gonna meet her in the middle of the ring and go from there.

KD—Have you been involved in a televised card before.

RL—I fought for Golden Boy Promotions for my first seven fights. The majority of the cards were televised cards. My fights were not televised but I fought on the under cards of Marco Antonio Barrera and Paulie Ayala. I fought numerous times at the Grand Olympic on HBO Latino. The women’s fights weren’t televised but they were all big huge TV productions.

KD—So you’re accustomed to the timing problems.

RL—Oh definitely. My second fight at the Grand Olympic I was in the locker room for five hours. I adjusted to that a long time ago. I’ve used this pun since I became a boxer because everybody knows it. You just roll with the punches.

KD—This show is going to be a pretty big deal.

RL—It is. It’s a very big deal. Especially because the women just don’t get as much exposure as we would like. So when we’re given an opportunity like this it’s a great thing.

KD—Three bouts, three title fights, each one involving skilled sets of opponents.

RL—It’s good for women’s boxing. It really gives us an opportunity to show the public in general that we can fight. It should be a great night of boxing.

KD—When do you leave for Albuquerque?

RL—We leave that Monday, which I believe is the 19th.

KD—Any idea how you’ll deal with the altitude?

RL—I’m not too worried about the altitude. I’ve done a lot of training in Big Bear. For some reason, maybe if I’m not thinking about it, it doesn’t effect me. But I don’t have an issue even when I trained in Big Bear. But we’ll be there with enough days to do a little bit of running outside and maybe some shadow boxing outside just to get used to what it’s going to feel like. But we’re fighting inside so I’m not too concerned with it.

KD—Can I ask about your last fight? What weight were you for that fight?

RL –129

KD—And is this 126 contract going to be any problem for you?
RL –No I’ve been fighting at this weight for my entire career and I already fought for another title at 126 as well. So I’m pretty used to being at this weight. And this time around has been great. I’ve been at weight for a week and a half now. The last fight was so close to this fight that I just took a few days off and then got right back into the gym. I actually used that last fight as training for this fight.

KD—Which one of Jeffries’ titles is on the line for this bout?

RL—I believe it’s the IFBA Featherweight.

KD—Did you work with Mr. Valenzuela for your amateur fights as well?

RL—yes, I’ve always been with Victor from the beginning to the end.

KD—And you had 14 amateur fights?

RL—I had 12.

KD—But You won the Blue and Gold Tournament.

RL—Two years in a row, at 126 and then at 132.

RL—I really wanted to include that I’m really excited to be fighting in Albuquerque, particularly because it’s such a large latino based community. And that’s really big for me, in terms of being supported by my own.

KD--Thank you and good luck.

 

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