Dominick Guinn: Homeward bound!
 Interview by Benny Henderson Jr - A.K.A "Big Dog" (Dec 5, 2006)
March 27th, 2004 was going to be a night to remember for the then undefeated hot heavyweight prospect Dominick Guinn, just shy of four years in the pros he had complied twenty-four consecutive wins with seventeen knockouts with ten coming in the opening round. He had destructive performances over some credible foe and the highly touted heavyweight was coming home for the first time to showcase his talents as a professional against a battle tested Monte Barrett. But what the ‘Southern Disaster’ found was just that, a disastrous defeat in front of his friends and family that sparked a downfall that has had his career teeter tottering the past two and a half years, but now the prodigal son is returning home, and this time Guinn plans on a different scenario, and he is looking to turn it all around in front of his hometown crowd.
This Saturday night December 9th at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, all eyes will be on the middleweight championship showdown between the reigning WBC & WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor who will be defending his strap against top contender Kassim Ouma on HBO 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT. But there will be some vast importance in a non-televised heavyweight clash where the former heavyweight standout Dominick Guinn 26-4-1 (18) is looking for redemption, and his sights are set on the Warren warrior Zack Page 12-8-1 (4). The two will square off in an eight round heavyweight bout, but Guinn doesn’t plan on letting it go to the scorecards, he wants his return to be explosive!
Guinn is coming off an upsetting loss to Tony Thompson where he was beaten unanimously last June, Zack Page, all
though his record isn’t up to par with the top of the crop he nearly had undefeated heavyweight prospect Michael Marrone down and out for the count and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over the former world light heavyweight champion Lou Del Valle. Will Guinn find freedom from the free fall in his career with a decisive W, or can Page be the upset artist once more? One thing for certain Guinn is going home and he isn’t looking to let down the hometown crowd, question is, will they be in open arms of their hometown heavyweight? Read on to see what Guinn has to say on his anticipated return, his career, his opponent and the feelings he has on this whole subject in the only way Guinn can say it, candidly! Enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.: Your thoughts on returning home for the first time since the loss to Barrett?
Dominick Guinn: You know what, it is a good felling going back home, like I said I just got off the track today and that is all I have been thinking about everything time I step out on that track and run, or in that gym, I just think about going home and avenging that loss at home in front of my fellow Arkansans. And I am going to avenge this in style; this fight to me is a start off to the New Year for me. I am thinking back to when Kathy Duva called me into he office in 2003 and told me that ’04 was going to be a prosperous year for me and that is how I am starting it off this year. I am going to start it off with a knockout, I am trying to start over and jump-start my career. I am going to start it off with style and go out with style.
BH: Is there any pressure coming into this fight with what happened in the past?
DG: Nah, not at all, like I said I am ready and in tip top shape and I am going to go in here and I am going to bust my ass and let my hands go and I know when I do that good things happen for me. There was no pressure then I just didn’t let my hands go and I had some other demons in the back of my head holding me back, nothing is holding me back now.
BH: What about your opponent Zack Page, granted he’s not this highly decorated heavyweight, he has almost floored Michael Marrone and he just upset Lou Del Valle.
DG: He looks like a good creditable opponent that is coming to beat me. I am pretty sure that he busted his ass in training like everybody does when they come to fight me. I am busting my butt and I am ready to go. Zack Page is coming to my home so I am pretty sure he is coming and he will be ready and he needs to be because I am going out in this fight and I am going to give it my all. I am knocking him out or he is knocking me out so he better be ready for that.
BH: How do you feel the Arkansas crowd will react when you make your ring entrance?
DG: I don’t know, I don’t expect to much because I am not the champ and I still look at like they judge you by your last fight so they might be judging me by my last fight and a lot of them maybe thinking that I am washed up and I am nobody so I am not getting into what people think. I know I still have some Arkansas fans with me, and if you’re not with me then hey, I don’t need you. If you are with me then hey you will be smiling when I finally get to the top which I will become heavyweight champion of the world someday.
BH: Do you feel if you can get a victory in your hometown that will give you the boast to get back and stay on the winning track?
DG: No, I don’t feel that way I just know what I have to go out there and do, and that’s what I am going to do. No matter what I am going to go out there and win this fight convincingly and in style, and like I said start it all over. That is where I got my first loss at home and that is where I am going to start to rejuvenate my career back home again.
BH: Your thoughts on being back with trainer Ronnie Shields?
DG: Great, I left on good terms with Joe Goossen, it was just I felt hey I am in the middle of my career and I felt that I should go home and finish it with Ronnie.
BH: Since the Barrett fight you have had what can best be described as a seesaw career, some would say that you are not the same fighter you were when you tore through Michael Grant, what would you credit that to, your lack of fire?
DG: I am going to credit it to this dirty game of boxing, I really had to sit back and realize that it is in my head and I needed to get it out of my head. I knew it was a dirty game, but I didn’t think they would do me like that. If they f*cked Cassius Clay then who’s to say that they wouldn’t f*ck me, it is just like that. Going into that fight in Arkansas I found out they were f*cking me, and that messed me up and I have been on a roller coaster ride. Ronnie Shields was one of the ones who told me to put it behind me and go out there and fight, it was hard but now that is what I have to do, no matter what I have to put it behind me and go out there and fight. No matter what I have to provide for my family, with whatever they do decide to give me.
BH: Realistically do you still see yourself as a force in the heavyweight division?
DG: Yes, I see myself as a force in the division and if I said I get the right fights and have some of these guys call me out again then I will show it. If not then I will take it one step at a time, if I have to do what Shannon Briggs did and go and win eleven bum fights in a row then that is what I am going to do. Until then I am going to take this fight and then step it up. I have never been the kind to duck someone so if they give me enough notice then I will come to Hell to fight you, if not then I will fight you over here in the US, just let me know what you want me to do.
BH: Do you feel you need a few fights to get you back in the mix of things or if you are victorious you can jump right back in there?
DG: Yes, I feel like I can step in there now, but I have to go out there and prove myself, prove that I am worthy to be in there to even get the challenge with these guys. I understand the game of boxing that I have to win a few fights and put in the work with these guys before I can get a top ten or top fifteen guy.
BH: What would you say to the ones who have just about counted Dominick Guinn out?
DG: Bet on black then, bet against me, if you count against me then bet against me, you will lose your money.
BH: What can the fans expect to be different in Dominick Guinn than the recent few fights?
DG: Like I titled this fight and I will be titling the rest of my fights from here on out, I am either knocking you the f*ck out or they are carrying me out on my back. I am not going in there to look for the decision anymore, I am not going in there to please anybody, f*ck that, who ever they put in there with me I am going to try to knock their f*cking head off, as my friend Tommy who has been gone now for ten years used to say, I am going to try to build a sun roof in a mother f*ckers head.
BH: Anything in closing?
DG: No matter what, thank you for the fans and the people that has stood beside me, I know there are a lot of people that has jumped off the ship. But hey I am going to be there at the end of the day, I haven’t quit yet and I am not a quitter, I still have the fire. I have been busting my butt in the gym since August and after this fight I am going to take a week off and then get back in there because hopefully I can get on that January 6th card of James Toney and Samuel Peter but I already know that Dan Goossen is not going to put me on a card because I lost to Tony Thompson so I know they have me in the backburner and are not going to keep me busy. If I would have won I would have probably came right back and fought, but since I lost the fight that is why I haven’t fought, that is why I had to call my friend Jermain Taylor to get me on this card or I would still be sitting around. And again thank you for everybody that has been there for me and has been praying for me, all the churches that keep me in their prayers, and you will be able to smile with me soon.
I would like to thank Dominick Guinn for his time and thoughts. For more on Guinn’s my space realm: www.myspace.com/thesoutherndiaster.
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