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14.06.06:
He
was born in the Dominican Republic, turned professional
in Curacao and now wants to conquer Europe. The talk is
about unbeaten lightwelterweight Cristian Frias.
The 29-year-old fighter, now handled by German manager
Olaf Schroeder, is called ‘La Cobra’ and has
compiled a record of 20-0-2 with 16 knockouts. In this
interview, Frias talks about his plans and dreams as
well as his family and a very un-warrior like hobby:
Sewing his own ringwear! “Cristian has an aura about
him that tells me I’m not waisting my time. I really
think it’s just a matter of getting rid of some
ringrust and then he can mix with the best in Europe,”
says Schroeder. Read on what the fighter himself has to
say! |
You
just had your first fight for your new management Fight
Production, which was also a comeback of sorts after 18 months
out of the ring, winning a 6-round decision in Belgium against
surviver Jozef Kubovsky. How did it feel to box in Europe for
the first time and how do you rate your performance?
Oh,
yeah, it was always my dream to fight in Europe and I thank God
that I found Olaf (Schroeder)
as my new manager. I’m very, very happy. About my performance,
yes, I wanted to do better than I actually did…
Have
you had a look at the European boxers in your division,
lightwelterweight? How would you ulitmately rate yourself
against them?
I
saw most of them on video and I believe I can safely say that
when I’m back to my best, they simply cannot beat me.
You
never lost a fight in the Caribbean and you are now undefeated
in 22 professional outings. Please compare boxing in the
Caribbean with boxing in Europe! Which difference surprised you
the most so far?
Now
the biggest difference is that most top European fighters are in
great condition and shape. However, I think that because they
concentrate so much on conditioning, their technical skills are
often not fully developed.
What
was the hardest part of being a pro boxer on a far-away island
like Curacao?
That
simply on Curacao there are not a lot of boxing programms and
not many shows. I am very famous on the island and the people
really love me very much – but that’s of no help if you want
to fight often and against good opponents.
Which
was your toughest fight so far?
All
this time that I'm boxing I cannot say which one was the
most difficult, but if I have to choose I would pick the fight
with Alric Johnson (2002)
because he had a lot of experience (33 pro fights at the
time).
At
what age and why did you start boxing? What is your best boxing
memory?
I
started back home in Bonao (Dominican
Republic) when I was nine years old, because as far as I can
remember I always loved boxing. My fondest memory is when I
returned to my home city in 2003 and won the Netherland Antilles
lightweight title.
How
come that a Dominican boxer turns professional on the Dutch
island of Curacao?
When
I went to Curacao for the first time, I met Angelique, now my
lovely wife, and we just wanted to stick together and start a
family. We now have three children, a 7-year-old girl and two
boys aged 4 and 2. I also met Luis van Heningen on that first
trip to Curacao, who promoted professional shows on the island.
He told me that he can see a lot of talent in me and he always
said that he knows that someday I can be a world champion. So I
made the decision to stay on Curacao and live with Angelique.
Luis helped me with everything, but he did not have a lot of
connections in the boxing world to make me anything more than a
star on Curacao…
Now
being a father, what does boxing mean to you? Have the
responsibilities of having a family changed your outlook on the
sport?
Boxing
is my profession, my job, and that’s why I train very hard so
that I can always win. My biggest motivation now is my family, I
want to give them a good future. So my outlook on boxing
hasn’t changed by having a family. God and my family actually
give me more strength to fight hard to make my dream of becoming
a world champion true.
Do
you have any favourite fighters, all-time or contemporary?
Without
hesitation, my favourite fighters are Oscar De La Hoya and Felix
‘Tito’ Trinidad.
Your
ringname is ‘La Cobra’, and you actually wear a lot of Cobra
tattoos on your body. Where does that name come from?
I
was a little boy when I started boxing in the Dominican Republic,
but I already hit hard and that led people to call me ‘La
Cobra’. That’s all there is to it and I like the name very
much.
You
wore your self-created ringwear in Belgium, is that a hobby of
yours?
Oh,
yes, I absolutely love to design my own ringwear! Always before
a fight I either create another new one or I change the one that
I used before. At the moment, I have four different sets of ring
dresses.
Anything
you want to say to your new fans? We hear you are very
well-known in the area you live now in The Netherlands!
I’m
very glad to be here and want to thank all those people that are
already my fans and who love me. I am in the Netherlands about
half a year, but when I train at the boxing club in Leeuwarden
there are always a lot of people that watch me training and
especially sparring. It’s true, they have fans coming to the
training every day since I’m there, but my daughter already
makes a lot of promotion for me at her school (laughs),
plus there are some people living around here that know me from
Curacao. The most important thing I want to say to all of them
is, please keep on supporting me and I love you!
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