By Jose Aguirre

Top junior middleweight contender Sechew "Iron Horse" Powell sat down with krikya360.com to discuss his shocking knockout loss to Deandre Latimore, failing the post-fight drug test, his return to the ring and more.

krikya360.com - Sechew, what's the latest with you?

 

Sechew Powell - Not much, just been in the gym getting it together. Fixing up where I went wrong. I feel good about my return. I just have to come back strong. I know what I can do and I think that the boxing public also knows too. Again, it's for me to prove that my last fight was, not a fluke, but just a shortcoming of mine and that I'm a better fighter than that."

 

krikya360.com - What went wrong in that fight for you?

 

Sechew Powell - What went wrong? I think it started with preparation. I had some issues with my promotional team. Financial issues that may have played a part in my lack of focus. Most of all it was my not taking this guy as serious as I should have. I knew he was a tough kid. We knew he was rugged, hungry and all of those things.

The fact is we were looking for a name opponent. Somebody the fans could recognize in the one hundred fifty four pound divison. We couldn't find anybody. He was the only guy tough enough that I could find. So yeah, I knew how tough he was I just didn't bring myself up to the challenge like I should have. That was the mistake I made. Big mistake that cost me major. I'm feeling good though. I know exactly where I went wrong. Exactly. It's not like I was lost or that I needed to take time out to see what happened. Upon receiving the final call I pretty much knew what was wrong with me that night. It's sad but one bad performance can set you back in a major way. I'm still here."

 

krikya360.com - Sechew, I have to ask you. There were reports that you tested positive for marijuana after the fight. Can you elaborate on that?

 

Sechew Powell - Well, I could say that I put myself in situations where I shouldn't of put myself in. I probably been around enviroments that were not fit for an athlete such as myself but as far as taking a direct usage of marijuana, I never did that. I didn't do that but I did put myself in unhealthy situations. A guy like me, I shouldn't of put myself in those situations or in that kind of enviroment. But you know, again, another error I made. It shows I'm human. Does it make me a bad person? I guess that for the fans and the people reading this to decide. Another error I made that I plan on not making again.

 

krikya360.com - So when can you expect to be back in the ring?

 

Sechew Powell - Right now I'm just trying to get my license back. They do have me on record testing positive for marijuana. On the eleventh my sixty-day suspension is over. Also, on top of the sixty-days I have to produce a clean sample to the Athletic Commission. Once I get my license back, I have spoken with my promoter, Leon Margules. In fact me and my manager have been in contact.

As soon as we get that good news and I got my license back the first thing they're going to do is get me a lucrative fight. We were actually in the process of trying to work a fight like that out. It was an HBO situation where they were trying to put together a fight between me and Alfred Angulo for early October. The last information that I got from my people was that the fight was a no go. It looks like HBO is not interested in the fight for whatever reason. So, we're just looking for a good fight to get back in there and try to get back into the position I was in before the bad night happened to me in June.

 

Pretty much Deandre (Latimore) hit the lotto. He got very lucky. He came, ready, rolled the dice and he hit the jackpot. And I take nothing away from him. Nothing away from his effort. He fought a good fight but believe me, that fight was more about what I didn't do as opposed to what he did do.

 

krikya360.com - But you weren't capable of doing those things because you seemed tired early. Was that the case?

Sechew Powell - Truthfully, I was in a real bad situation the night before. You know me krikya360.com, I don't make excuses. I was in a real bad situation the night before with something I rather keep off record. It was a mistake on my part. Call it Murphy's Law. Call it what you want. I was in a bad situation and it just ended up being a bad night for me altogether.

 

krikya360.com - So what do you say to boxing fans, media and all those on the message boards and forums that say these sound like excuses?

 

Sechew Powell - Well you know what? I say excuses are just excuses and they have a right....I respect the people who are going to take that position. I respect that and that's why from this point forward what I plan to do is just let me hands do the talking. I could sit here and preach you a great story about how I'm back, I'm better than ever, this won't happen again, blah, blah, blah, so on and so forth.

My hands are going to do the talking krikya360.com. I'm just going to go in there and I'm going to show the people what I'm really made of. I know where I'm at today.I know today as I sit here and talk to you I'm twenty lengths ahead of the person who fought and lost on June eleventh. But again, it's just talk and talk is cheap. To some people talk is the only thing and the only way they have to express themselves but me I'm going to let my two hands do it. 

I know the fighter that I am and I'm sure there are other people out there in the boxing world who also know the fighter that I am. I'm just going to prove to everybody who thinks that Sechew is finished or Sechew is not really that good of a fighter. He's just a B class fighter. All those things are lies. I'm an A class fighter. I AM A WORLD CHAMPION. I'm just going to shoot forward and let my hands do the talking."

 

krikya360.com - Sechew, as always I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, thanks again. Before I let you go, as you know 2008 is an Olympic year. Any words of encouragement for our Olympic Boxing Team out in China?

Sechew Powell - I just want to tell them I am rooting for them. I'm rooting for every last one of them especially Sadam Ali from Brooklyn. He's a good friend of mine and I'm so proud of him. Brooklyn is proud of him. Everybody from the boxing community is proud of him. We want to see him do well. If he can bring that gold home more power to him but whatever he does out there I'm proud of him. Whatever results he comes back with is good enough for me. He has definitely gained my respect."