Chicago native Nathaniel Gallimore looks to move into the final bracket of the Super Welterweight division April 7 versus Julian Williams by way of an eliminator televised live on Showtime from Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Six nights before Nathaniel Gallimore (20-1-1, 17 KOs) enters the ring Saturday evening to face Julian Williams (24-1-1, 15 KOs) in their IBF title eliminator, the world will have already known the fate of the dark-horse Loyola-Chicago Ramblers’ exhilarating Final Four run. Along with that of the team chaplain and the sports world’s favorite new barely-nonagenarian Sister Jean.
Just last July Gallimore created his Cindere… err dark-horse moment when he crashed the Super Welterweight contender party by savagely bludgeoning the rising Justin DeLoach in a five round alley fight. In the lead up to that bout DeLoach mocked the more unknown Gallimore with a couple of weeks’ worth of brash posts on social media. Gallimore reserved most of his aggression for fight night, dropping DeLoach in each of the first two rounds.
Nathaniel Gallimore breaking down Justin DeLoach on his way to an upset TKO July 30, 2017 on FS1 at Rabobank Theater in Bakersfield, CA.
Leading up to the biggest fight of his career, Gallimore seemingly struck first on social media, showering Williams with a series of posts highlighted by “J Pebbles” mentions.
Last July DeLoach’s tweets were a bit out of character, and on fight night he barely resembled the boxer fans witnessed in his previous two fights. We had the opportunity to catch up with Gallimore during his final two weeks of preparation to see whether his recent relocation to the West Coast has sprouted a starving thespian, or that come April 7 we should expect one half of the self-proclaimed ‘The Hungry Boyz‘ to have no problem.
Round By Round Boxing: Have you watched Showtime’s new series The CHI which is based in your hometown? And if so, how did the show’s creator Lena Waithe do?
Nathaniel Gallimore: Oh yeah I did, I checked it out. It’s a pretty cool show. You know it’s a show, so they’re not going to touch all bases and stuff, you know. I really liked the story-line, it was a good story-line – I messed with it.
It touched base a little on the violence, a little bit on the culture or whatever, you know how the people get down in Chicago.
RBRBoxing: A former top 154-pound fighter, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, is in the news spotlight now with a growing performance enhancing drug problem. I noticed on BoxRec that you’re not VADA enrolled, and I wondered, what are your thoughts on the presence of these substances in the sport? And, what are your concerns of being in the ring with a guy that’s using PEDs or banned substances?
NG: You know I’m big on that, I don’t really like that. That’s cheating. The game is already bad anyway, so if you’re going to cheat you’re going to make it even worst – that’s not right. Those fighters, they’re not really fighters, if you’re going to take some stuff to enhance your body or your performance. You’re not a real fighter.
I’m not big on that, I’m against it 100 percent. That’s not right you know, that’s for cowards, you know if you’re going to take something, that’s for cowards. You shouldn’t be in boxing, you should be in comedy flicks or something. Go do some movies or something! This is somebody’s life, you’re gonna go in the ring and you’re gonna go against somebody. This is a life and death situation, and if you’re gonna cheat that’s not fair, you know. I don’t like that.
Nathaniel Gallimore working the mitts March 29 at the Los Angeles media workout. Photo by Scott Hirano/Showtime
RBRBoxing: You seem like a hard-working blue-collar guy that wouldn’t even consider going down that road, but testing isn’t universal in the sport, so is that a concern of yours going into any of these fights?
NG: You know it’s always a concern, but it don’t really startle me like that. At the end of the day I know what I have to do. Me and that opponent gonna be in that ring, and when he’s facing me, I’m a no-nonsense kind of guy – I’m going in there to kill. So, I don’t care what he taking, it’s not gonna stop me from killing him, you know what I’m saying.
It’s good for his confidence, he can feel good about taking something, but that’s not gonna save him.
RBRBoxing: You had a big moment in 2017 in your handling of Justin DeLoach in a televised bout, but did the rest of the year play out to your satisfaction?
NG: Yes, you know I had offered to fight ‘J Pebbles’ before the 2017 had went out, but he took another route by fighting Ishe. That would’ve made 2017 the best year of my career, but things happen for a reason. This is 2018 you know, my first fight back, so you know it was supposed to happen in 2018 – not 2017. I’m happy with that, I’m fine.
RBRBoxing: So now you’re based and training out of Los Angeles, correct? With Buddy McGirt, I’m reading?
NG: Yes, L.A., and no my primary coach is John Pullman, and Buddy McGirt is assisting in my camp.
RBRBoxing: You know The Broke Team, and its rise in 2017, was a great story. I enjoyed learning about coach George Hernandez, watching Adrian Granados’ big year, and the rest of the guys. It seemed like the unit was built on a bunch of phenomenal bonds, what forced you and Joshua Greer, Jr. to reexamine things and move on from coach Hernandez?
NG: I don’t want to uh, you know… You know, we departed and I wish them the best. But you know, I had to step up because it’s my career. I left that, you know, in the old. And you know The Broke Team, I had to separate myself from The Broke Team because everybody want to come to the gym and call themselves The Broke Team, and everybody is not like me and Josh.
So, we came up with, we’re The Hungry Boyz because in this game, you can’t be comfortable. You can’t get too satisfied. Because, I’m not satisfied! We can’t keep on having goals and goals and goals, you know – it’s not an end to my success. We call ourselves The Hungry Boyz because the level that we going on right now, and the things that’s happening right now, we have to be hungry. We have to be more hungry than our opponents, more hungrier than everybody to get where we need to get. It’s just me and Josh Greer, right now – The Hungry Boyz.
RBRBoxing: Walk us through when you get the call, and Julian Williams is the opponent.
NG: Hmph, J. Pebbles! You know, don’t be saying his name, his name is J. Pebbles, it’s not no Julian to me. I don’t know no guys like that, the only guy I know is J. Pebbles.
So, I know this call was gonna come, it was a matter of time. I was prepared and I was braced for this call. This call, eventually, we know was gonna happen. We know what to expect, and what to bring to the table, because he never faced anybody like me. I’m a different type of fighter.
Nathaniel Gallimore on the heavy bag at the Los Angeles media workout March 29. Photo by Scott Hirano/Showtime
So he’s gonna think, “yeah, I’m gonna come in here and do the same…” Nah, trust me, I’m a totally different fighter, and I’m hungry, and I’m vicious. And, I’m a no-nonsense guy, and I don’t play around with nobody. So I’m just excited for this fight to happen, because I know what I’m gonna present to the world. The world gonna know my name – April 7.
RBRBoxing: J Rock’s been stopped once, in the 5th round by Jermall Charlo, and now he’s come back, earning a decision versus Ishe Smith. You’ve got to respect every opponent, what are the stronger parts of J. Rock’s game in your opinion?
NG: I don’t have no respect for none of my opponents. None! At all! To tell you the truth. Know what I’m saying, I don’t care what they bring to the table. I don’t care. I just don’t, that’s Nate. They don’t get no props from me. None at all! None! Not even the crumbs, I don’t give them nothing.
And those two fights that he fought coming back from 14 months, that dead guy, that was scared of him. And Ishe Smith, a 39-year old, old Ishe Smith, c’mon man. They’re gonna compare those fights to, talking about he fought somebody – c’mon, get out of here. He don’t get no respect from me. None at all!
RBRBoxing: What’s it mean to you, for yourself and your career, to be a participant in this unofficial – if you listen to Stephen Espinoza – Super Welterweight tournament being put on by Showtime?
NG: Right now, you know uh, I can think about that later. But right now, my team and me, I’m focused on April 7th right now, what I have to go do damage to J. Pebbles. There’s nothing else on my mind, just April 7th, what I’m gonna do to J. Pebbles. Nothing else! I’m not worried about, I’m not thinking about nothing else but April 7.
Gallimore also went on to speak on the main event ofnApril 7, the highly anticipated Super Welterweight unification bout between Erislandy Lara and the younger power-punching “Swift” Jarrett Hurd. The winner of that bout will hold the IBF title and thus has implications for the Williams-Gallimore winner. Lastly, Gallimore was asked about his thoughts on the contrast between his path towards a world title and Hurd’s often televised road to world champion status. The interview, in its entirety, will be posted on the Pay Me No Mind YouTube channel before the beginning of fight week.
This Premier Boxing Champions event is headlined by Erislandy Lara, the longest reigning world champion at 154-pounds, clashing with undefeated champion Jarrett Hurd in a highly anticipated 154-pound world title unification bout. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and also features super middleweight world champion Caleb Truax in a rematch against former champion James DeGale.
Tickets for the show, which is promoted by TGB Promotions and Mayweather Promotions, are on sale now and available by visiting AXS.com or the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas Box Office.
Header and L.A. media workout photos by Scott Hirano/Showtime
Gallimore-DeLoach photo provided by Nathaniel Gallimore
