Super Welterweight contender Nathaniel Gallimore–the eldest member of the Chicago’s The Broke Team–is well on the way to earning his first shot at a world title
Westside Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory houses the training gym for The Broke Team, one of boxing’s hardest working groups of fighters. Over the past 18-months TBT head trainer George Hernandez has pushed his diverse group of young men fully into boxing’s spotlight, and they’re all responding to the challenge.
Capturing a world title first, could come down to who’s first between a pair of one-loss fighters in bantamweight Joshua Greer, Jr. and the no-nonsense Nathaniel Gallimore. Who will be first? The answer is, it could just be a matter of timing. This is boxing.
Nathaniel “No Problem” Gallimore (19-1-1, 16 KOs) accepted an offer to be a replacement to fight confident USBA Super Welterweight champ Justin “The Chosen One” DeLoach (17-2, 9 KOs) back on July 30 at the Rabobank Theater in Bakersfield, California. After signing the contract and Gallimore officially became the new opponent, a week of heated exchanges on social media ensued as the favorite, DeLoach, looked to further capitalize on his momentum gained from his second round knockout of Mayweather Promotions’ prospect Christopher Pearson.
DeLoach possibly sold Gallimore short as he was initially set to face once-promising Fernando Guerrero, a fighter whose four losses are knockouts against fighters with varying levels of success at the world-class level. DeLoach’s sights were also set on securing bigger perceived fights with a top-ranked Super Welterweight contender like Erickson Lubin, or the division’s newer champions Jarrett Hurd and Demetrius Andrade.
Overlooking Gallimore proved to be a costly mistake for DeLoach, as the two fighters engaged in an all-out brawl that resembled to longtime rivals settling a personal matter in a back alley. Heavy Gallimore blows sent Deloach to the canvas once in each of the first two rounds, and a visit to DeLoach’s corner by the referee and the physician resulted in the fight being stopped before the start of round six.
Gallimore may not have emerged as the new USBA Super Welterweight champion, but he does find himself a fight or two away from his first bid for a world title, as soon as the dust settles October 14 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center – a Showtime card featuring all of the Super Welterweight champions. In the meantime, the Chicago area-native spoke with Round By Round Boxing regarding how he’ll stay busy until he secures his shot at a world championship.
Round By Round Boxing: Talk to me about the Premier Boxing Champions July 30 fight with then-USBA Super Welterweight champion Justin DeLoach – a round five TKO win for you. You were a replacement for Fernando Guerrero, a lot of heated exchanges took place on social media, and on fight night the action looked deeply personal.
Nathaniel Gallimore: I was supposed to fight in Chicago on the [July] 29th, and he [DeLoach] was supposed to fight on the 30th, but his opponent pulled out and I couldn’t get any opponent over here because the commission was being an a__. So, we took the call and we said, “Okay, you know we’ll take it because we were supposed to fight before… [inaudible] the opportunity came up, and we were like ‘let’s take it’…” and then we go ahead.
RBRBoxing: Did the comments on social media lead up to a certain approach to the fight for you?
NG: Um, yeah, you know they did because it was some heated moments going back and forth, or whatever, between me and him. He said something on Facebook, because he was talking about Erickson Lubin and how he was going to clean out the division and whatever, whatever. And, I was like, “You have to pass through me first, you know, you ain’t going nowhere until you beat me.”
Then he [DeLoach] starts running off his mouth talking about, “You ain’t relevant, you know, I wasn’t really talking about you but you can get it too”, and how he was going to beat my a__. So I was like, okay you know what, we’re going to see on Sunday, and then we were going back and forth. When I went to California I was at breakfast and he came over running off his mouth call me an old man, and I wasn’t gonna do nothing and he was gonna beat my a__. I was like, you know what, quit all this talking and when we get in the ring, we’re going to find out. He was running off his mouth.
[Once into the fight]
Yeah, it was personal because once you come at me in a certain way, I don’t got no mercy for you, I’m going in there straight to handle business. Point is, I told him. He was the favorite anyway, to win that fight, I had to knock him out anyway because I ain’t gonna leave anything up to the judges. Because the loss that I have on my record, I dropped the dude like three times, they built him up, for a 10-rounder in California and I was fighting on a Main Event card. They robbed me that fight, so from that I was like, I’m not going to leave this up to no judge. So that’s what I did, I ain’t gonna run or anything, I’m just going to take the fight to him and stop him. That was my plan going in there, and I told him what I was gonna do, so you know, that’s what happened.
RBRBoxing: Since the fight you guys are on better terms, I saw online where he proposed a rematch, but it sounds like you’re on to bigger things.
NG: C’mon, yeah, it wouldn’t make no sense, how I stopped you like that. It wasn’t even close, there’s no argument about that, so how are you gonna come up here and ask me for a rematch? For him to get a rematch he’d have to be in title contention, you have to be a world title opponent or a No. 1 contender for my belt. It’s no way in hell you’re gonna get a fight back like that, I dismembered you, it wasn’t even close so that’s not going to happen. I told him that, and now I’m being respectfully, by telling him that way and he understands that. He [DeLoach] was like, “You know what, gotta respect that, go get your gold.”
Because you’ve gotta respect that, you have to honor that, because you know what’s gonna happen.
RBRBoxing: Right as I started writing about boxing I was looking at the major cities on “boxing’s map”, and realized there weren’t many well-known fighters out of Chicago. Soon after several guys rose to national prominence, what’s behind the recent big explosion for The Broke Team?
NG: The success behind The Broke Team, man we have a strong team, man! First of all, R.I.P. Ed Brown. “Bad Boy” Ed Brown, because he was in the mix, and he was about to do it big before that [tragedy] happened to him, you know.
Joshua Greer Jr finishes James Smith on March ShoBox card
But my management team Journeyman Management, my coach George Hernandez, you know just for the whole team man, Joshua Greer, Jr., Eddie Ramirez, Adrian Granados, [Vernon] Meechi Brown, so on and so on… it’s just certain guys in there, that we challenge each other everyday in sparring, in strength and conditioning, we just push ourselves to the limit. We know what it takes and we have a strong team, a management team behind us that support us, and sponsor us in everything we do. You have to have a strong team to make it work, and that’s what we have at the gym.
RBRBoxing: We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of Ed Brown being gone in about two months, I’m sure he memory still serves as a driving force in what you guys are trying to do as a team, does his tragedy help keep you focused at all times? Knowing it could all be over at any moment?
NG: Absolutely. Absolutely man, because my first fight on TV was in Las Vegas, when he passed away a couple weeks from that, and I wanted to show respect to him by wearing his name and R.I.P. on my trunks. Now, every time I go into a fight I wear “R.I.P. Ed Brown”, “Bad Boy Brown” on my trunks. In everything that I do, you know, I wanna be a world champion in his name, I want his name to live on through me, you know, by getting that strap.
RBRBoxing: What’s special about coach George Hernandez?
NG: Man, he got the formula, man! He got the formula, that crazy Puerto Rican, he got the formula! That’s just it, man, he believes in hard work, it’s simple. He believe that nobody’s gonna make it nowhere without dedication and then the hard work behind it. You know, because hard work beats talent. So, if you work hard and you stay grounded and focused, then you’re unstoppable. That’s what George puts in our head everyday. You have to have heart too! A coach can teach you so much, but you have to bring it out of you to make it work.
RBRBoxing: What is on the table for you right now, or what are some potential match ups for you in the near future?
NG: All of the three titles are on the line on October 14th. I’m waiting to see who’s victorious. Then the WBO is vacant and there’s been some talks about that, but no concrete word yet. So, I’m just sitting back training and waiting for the call. My management team will handle the rest while I just train.
RBR Boxing: Do you plan on being in the building [Barclays Center] for those three fights?
NG: I was going to be there, be but a few of my fellow teammates fight on that same day. So, I won’t be there for that fight, but surely I’ll be watching it though. [Some of Gallimore’s comments couldn’t be understood due to the signal getting bad, but the aforementioned Vernon “Meechi” Brown is slated to face Moris Rodriguez in California Friday, October 13. Gallimore also mentioned Greer, Jr. and Granados but neither fighter has a fight scheduled that weekend per BoxRec.)
RBRBoxing: How do you see each of the upcoming Super Welterweight world championship bouts playing out?
NG: On Hurd-Trout: I think Hurd’s got that fight. Hurd’s gonna pull it out, I’ve got Hurd winning that fight.
On Charlo-Lubin: I’m going with Lubin for that one. That Charlo has never really fought no one of that caliber before. I think that’s gonna be the fight to watch because I think Lubin gonna do way better than people expect him to do. Even though, Lubin pulled out three times when I took the fight, but I pick him to win.
On Lara-Gausha: [short laugh] Lara! Lara’s gonna punish him. Gausha is, like, not in this league. Gausha is not good at all, just speaking personally. He’s gonna get demolished, Lara’s gonna stop him.
RBRBoxing: I have to ask, what were your thoughts on this past weekend’s mega-fight between Canelo and GGG?
NG: It was a good fight, I’m not gonna lie. It was an entertaining fight – whoever won. Canelo won the first half, Triple G came back in the second half by getting to him because I think Canelo was a little winded or whatever. In the 11th round and the 12th round, Canelo won the last half of the 11th round, and Canelo won the 12th round – Canelo won the championship rounds. So, it could’ve gone a split decision win to Canelo, but they gave it the draw because, you know, they want that rematch or whatever. It’s more money, so politics. So I feel Canelo pulled it out by one round.
RBRBoxing: Any last words to the boxing fans out there, or those fans that don’t know about Nathaniel Gallimore?
NG: Stay tuned, you know man, because it’s my turn! Those guys are retiring, and I’m here to stay and bring these titles back to Chicago. I’m looking to become a superstar in this sport.
During this interview the cellphone signal made it hard to fully understand some of Gallimore’s comments, and he also speaks with a slight accent, so a minor statement or two might not have the exact interpretation.
However, please be sure to check out the interview in its entirety on the next episode of the Pay Me No Mind sports and entertainment podcast.
Gallimore discussed his favorite all-time boxers, shared some thoughts on the retirement of Andre Ward, and also provided some more behind-the-scenes detail about short-lived rivalry between him and DeLoach.
Header photo provided by Nathaniel Gallimore
Body photo by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime Boxing
Body photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBR Boxing
