Will Tomlinson – “I’m not over here to build a padded record”

 
COMING off the first loss of his professional career, former IBO super featherweight champion ‘Wild’ Will Tomlinson, who made the move abroad last year in order to chase bigger fights, is in the gym perfecting his craft as he patiently waits for the next opportunity to showcase his skills.

 
“There are plenty of opportunities here, I just have to wait for the call to come.” said Tomlinson in an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing. “There was back and forth talks with Golden Boy about making 128 pounds for a fight with Abner Mares.”

 
“For that type of fight, I’d put in the extra work to make that fight, given it was was supposed to be on the Canelo-Lara card too. Obviously he’s taken the easier route with a blown-up bantamweight in Jonathan Oquendo, but I would’ve taken that.”

 
Tomlinson, 27, who is now based in Los Angeles, has campaigned for the entirety of his twenty-three fight career at super featherweight, but given the vast mix of talent available on Golden Boy’s promotional roster at lightweight – Tomlinson sees a move up in weight as inevitable as he chases the biggest fights available.

 
“I think I’m better off going up in weight, chasing a guy like Omar Figueroa, who has the WBC lightweight title, instead of going down in weight.” he explained. “That would be a dream fight by year’s end, including guys like Nihito Arakawa and Sergio Thompson, basically any of the lightweight contenders that would put me back into the title picture.”

 
“I obviously will fight at super featherweight if it’s a good fight, if its a meaningful fight that leads to a title fight or something potentially bigger.” he continued. “My ambition and goal has always been to win the WBC title and I’ll fight in any weight division, whether it’s at super featherweight, lightweight and even featherweight if I have to.”

 
Given the length of time between Tomlinson’s last fight, a points loss to Jerry Belmontes in March – who was edged by WBC titlist Omar Figueroa a month later – the Australian (21-1-1, 12 KOs) has been able to reflect on his training camp as well as his preparation in the US.

 
“Training is still the same. There was nothing wrong with training camp for the Belmontes fight. It was more a mental glitch on the night. I know and my team knows that I did the right work in the gym and I worked hard enough to win the fight, something went wrong on the night and it didn’t all come together.”

 
“I definitely want to beat Belmontes up and avenge my loss. But at this point, my number one ambition is to win a world title, not to avenge the loss. If I can do that first, I would obviously do that. If he comes up down the line, I’d be up for that too.”

 
Tomlinson openly talks about the pressure he now faces going into every fight. As other Australians Billy Dib and Michael Katsidis can attest to, it’s difficult remaining relevant on the promotional roster of the world’s biggest promoter. Which raises the stakes – and the pressure – for Tomlinson going into every fight from here onward.

 
“I’m gonna do my absolute best effort to try not to put so much pressure on myself. The fight, my last fight, the one I lost, was my debut in the US and on the big stage,” he explained. “I wanted to impress and I thought too much and stressed myself, and created a glitch. I was thinking about other things, other than winning the rounds”

 
“In terms of pressure, nothing changes – it’s going to be the same. There is going to be a lot of pressure, I don’t want two losses back-to-back. I just got to put it in the same basket as all the other fights. I’ve got to mentally prepare and execute accordingly on the night.”

 
“Every fight you have is pressure, no one ever wants to lose a fight. But I’ve felt lots of pressure before, especially when I won the IBO title and defending it too, which I did three times, I was able to deal with it then.”

 
The man who Tomlinson wrestled the IBO super featherweight title from, rugged Mexican Alan Herrera, was recently in action in Las Vegas, flooring Mayweather Promotions’ fighter Mickey Bey in an entertaining non-title fight. When asked if he took anything from seeing a former foe do so well against a top-level opponent – Tomlinson didn’t appear phased.

 
“Yeah, I didnt see the Herrera’s fight against Mickey Bey, I heard he gave Bey a rough, tough fight and dropped him too. I didn’t need to see it to remind myself that I belong with the world’s elite, I believe that, I believe in myself and I haven’t stopped believing. I gotta keep doing what I’m doing and keep working.”

 
“Hand on heart, I’m here, working tirelessly in the gym,” Tomlinson said.

 
“I am literally ready to go at the drop of the hat. I’m waiting on the phone call from Golden Boy, as I said previously. I understand the situation I’m in and in terms of where I sit on priorities at Golden Boy. I’m a little fish in a very big pond and I’ve got to be patient.”

 
“I swear to god, I’m not over here to build a padded record. I’m here to take on names, guys like Sergio Thompson, Ricardo Alvarez, Omar Figueroa, I want these type of fights.”

 
If speaking to Tomlinson gives you any idea of where he is or the direction in which his career is going, one thing appears certain – he won’t die wondering.

 
 
Photo: Peter Politanoff