Fred Tukes: “There is no doubt I beat Ben Capps the first time”

 
FRED Tukes will be looking to right the wrongs of his draw with Ben Capps after the pair agreed to square off once again.

 
This time they will fight for the vacant IBO Oceania super welterweight title on Barry Michael’s “Under the Dome” card at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne on Friday night. The fight will be the semi main event to the Zac Dunn vs. Beibi Berrocal IBO super middleweight world title eliminator.

 
The 42-year-old Tukes spoke exclusively to Aus-Boxing about his last fight with Capps, his love for Australia after migrating from the US with his young family, and his experiences sparring some of the best fighters in the world.

 
Fred Tukes has quite a remarkable boxing pedigree. The American who hails from Atlanta, Georgia, has sparred some of the best names in the business.

 
Here is a who’s who Tukes has sparred over the years. The list includes Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto (Tukes worked with Cotto for Pacquiao), good friend Vernon Forrest, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, and Billy Dib, although the list does go on.

 
For a man with that wealth of experience, Tukes has now concentrated on his own career having captured the Australian welterweight title back in February 2013 defeating Samuel Colomban while sporting a healthy record of (12-1-2, 6 KOs) heading into his rematch with Ben Capps.

 
The two combatants squared off in December of last year, only for the fight to end in a split draw. The slick southpaw totally refuted the decision saying he felt like he won the fight comfortably.

 
“I won the fight, I felt in my heart I won,” Tukes explained. “It was tough being on the end of that sort of decision,”

 
“Afterwards, I had a lot of comments from people in the crowd coming up to me sympathising with the decision. As my family, manager and friends walked out of the building that night, we all had our heads held high knowing we won in our minds”

 
Tukes says he has been training especially hard for the rematch with Capps, saying he has put in a solid eight week preparation with another two to come. What was interesting to note, was that Tukes took the first fight with Capps on just three weeks notice.

 
“My preparation has been really solid – last time I took the fight on short notice – I think it was maybe 3 weeks,” Tukes added. “My strength and conditioning team at Enterprise Fitness here in Melbourne have been working extremely hard over the last eight weeks to reach peak fitness,”

 
“To get a full preparation in has been really good. I even ran a marathon not long ago and got through that really well, so come March 6th there will be no excuses, I feel fantastic and I will be more than ready come fight night.”

 
Tukes also works full time at Fighting Fit in Port Melbourne as a boxing coach and Personal Trainer and with the new addition of baby boy to his family he has certainly done well to be able to put so much into his preparation.

 
He has now been in Australia for around two years with his wife, Heather and two other children and says he feels very okay with now calling Australia home.

 
“I just love it here,” said Tukes in closing. “The people, the weather, the city of Melbourne everything has just worked out really well for myself and my family,”

 
“We found it tough when we first came here but through my sponsors that have come on board and guys like Barry Michael and my manager Lee Azfar believing in me, it has made the transition well worth it, and to be honest, I really don’t think much at all about America,”

 
“Everything has worked out and we are loving it here in Melbourne.”

 
 
Words: Dan Smart (Follow Dan on Twitter @dansmart76)
Photo: Marty Camilleri/Marty’s Knockout Photography