Mike Dallas. Jr.: ‘I Gotta Win Convincingly’

After losing two in a row, Bakersfield native looks to continue on winning track

By: Mike Sloan: Mike Dallas, Jr. was once a highly touted contender who never lost a fight as a pro. He was throttling his opposition en route to racking up a 17-0 record. If he wasn’t dominating his foes toward a unanimous decision, he was taking them out early. Though he wasn’t yet taking on upper echelon fighters, he looked good and his future was bright.

Then he ran into the tough Josesito Lopez; he was stopped inside of seven rounds.Dallasbounced back with a good performance against Mauricio Herrera and lost a disputed majority decision. He went from promising unbeaten pro to a guy many so-called experts wrote off.

After taking a break for several months and switching things around,Dallasstormed back with a terrific showing against Miguel Gonzalez and won a unanimous decision in February. On Friday, “The Silent Assassin” will square off against Javier Castro, a man fromCiudad Juarezwho has fought outside of his nativeMexicoonly a handful of times. Largely unknown Mexicans are always a risky challenge because they’re usually ultra tough, so SecondsOut.com asked him about that and quite a few other things.

SecondsOut.com: You are fighting Javier Castro, a largely unknown guy from Mexico. Do you know anything about him? Have you been able to watch film on him and if so, what are your thoughts?

Mike Dallas Jr.: I ain’t seen much of him either. What I have seen is a guy who likes to go to the body and throw a hard right hand.

SecondsOut.com: Are you the type of fighter who likes to know everything about your opponent before you step into the ring? Are you big on watching tape?

Mike Dallas Jr.: I don’t really watch too much; I watch a little bit just to get an idea. But not too much.

SecondsOut.com: Why is that?

Mike Dallas Jr.: Yeah I just kinda, you know, leave it up to the coach.

SecondsOut.com: How has your training gone thus far for your preparations for the Castro fight?

Mike Dallas Jr.: It’s going good. I’m just picking up where I started and learning new little things that I’m doing.

SecondsOut.com: How many rounds of sparring have you put in and what’s the number of sparring partners you’ve worked with? How many miles have you run?

Mike Dallas Jr.: I’ve sparred a lot of rounds and I’ve sparred with a lot of different guys in this camp. I’ve done at least 130 or so rounds of sparring. I haven’t run too much over four-five miles (a day).

SecondsOut.com: Before your last fight in February (against Miguel Gonzalez), you were out for almost eight months. This was the longest layoff of your pro career. Was this because it came after your second loss? Were you disheartened by your career and needed a lot of time to clear your head?

Mike Dallas Jr.: I don’t know what it was. It was probably because I lost but I don’t know what the reason was. But it gave me time to work with my coach. That was our first fight together and we were only together for like three-and-a-half weeks before that fight.

SecondsOut.com: That loss to Mauricio Herrera came directly after your first ever career loss, which was via TKO against Josesito Lopez. Which of those two losses was harder to swallow?

Mike Dallas Jr.: The first one was hard to deal with but the second one I felt I won that fight. You know, that all comes with experience.

SecondsOut.com: You looked good against Gonzalez. Did you find it necessary to change up your style a little or your approach to training after that Herrera fight?

Mike Dallas Jr.: I changed a little, to stay more composed. But I think it just (brought) the monster out of me. After that fight, that I thought I won, I don’t anything to be close so I gotta win convincingly, every round.

SecondsOut.com: How closely will you be watching the fight between Josesito and Victor Ortiz, and who are you pulling for? Who will win?

Mike Dallas Jr.: Oh that’s his fight and I ain’t even worried about his fight. I’m just paying attention to my fight.

SecondsOut.com: Moving forward, is there a fear of losing again because it is a terrible thing to deal with, or have those losses actually made you’re a stronger, maybe more fearless fighter who will take more chances because, well, you’ve already lost and you know it’s not the end of the world?

Mike Dallas Jr.: Yeah, that first loss got to me but it gave me more of a pro attitude. I know I gotta take everything serious and that you have to just give it your all and make sure it never happens again.

SecondsOut.com: You had a very impressive amateur career where you won plenty of medals and fought some terrific opponents. One of your more notable bouts was in the US Western Olympic Trials where you fought Diego Magdaleno. He’s turned into a very promising young contender. Have you been keeping tabs on his career and provided you could wind up in the same division, would you want to fight him again?

Mike Dallas Jr.: Yeah I follow it a little bit. But we had fought like nine times and that was the only time he beat me. I was like 16 at the time. They disqualified me. I was winning the fight but they disqualified me. That was the only time he beat me out of nine fights.

SecondsOut.com: What do you expect to happen for you in your career moving forward? What are some short-term goals that you’ll try to accomplish in the next year?

Mike Dallas Jr.: With every fight I just want to get better and get bigger fights. I hope to eventually become a world champion one day.

You can also contact Mike Sloan at www.facebook.com/mikesloan19 or follow him on Twitter @mikesloan19