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Teenage Dream: Adam Maca, 17, Relishing Opportunity To Shine On Madison Square Garden Debut
INTERVIEW
Matt Penn
Matt Penn
RingMagazine.com
Teenage Dream: Adam Maca, 17, Relishing Opportunity To Shine On Madison Square Garden Debut
He might only be 17 years old, but Adam Maca insists he's ready to fight the very best in the world 'tomorrow'.

Matchroom announced the signing of Maca, who will compete as a bantamweight in the pro game, last week after much fanfare over a glittering amateur career which saw the Brighton-born teenager win multiple Junior European and national titles.

His manager Sam Jones described Maca as a 'freak of nature' in a conversation with The Ring. When that characterisation is put to Maca, he smiles.

"Since I've been young, a little 10-year-old kid boxing, I've tried hurting people, I've tried knocking people out," he tells The Ring.

"Then when I got older, 14 or so, in sparring I started knocking kids out and I started hurting people in fights...even with head guards and big gloves I was doing the same. So I think that's why [Jones] said that. We've even got clips of me stopping kids at 8 years old, actually.

"I feel like [some amateurs] haven't got that spite, when they hurt someone, they don't want to get on them. They get behind their jab, the minute I've hurt someone, I'm on them.

"Look, people don't want to see jabs and moving. There's a slim percentage of boxing fans who enjoy that. The rest, they want to see the knockouts and excitement."

Maca will be trained by his amateur coach, Dan Woledge, who guided Moses Itauma out of St Mary's ABC in Kent to his sixth professional fight in the paid ranks.

Itauma set his sights on becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion in history at the age of 20, a record set by Mike Tyson when he destroyed Trevor Berbick in two rounds just under 40 years ago. Though Itauma has worked his way into the No. 2 position with the WBO, he missed the Tyson deadline earlier this year.

Maca will be hoping to go one better than his former England camp team-mate, and although he hasn't set a target date, he feels he could fight with world champion-calibre fighters immediately.

"I'm ready to go with anyone now," he adds. "It's down to my team and stuff for the right guidance. I'm going to have my two years learning, hopefully get some bigger fights and get to 10-0 or 12-0 and get some good fights in. But I'm ready to go with anyone in the world tomorrow.

"Multi-weight champion [is the aim], bantamweight, junior feather, feather, all of them."

If you're looking to measure Maca's confidence, Naoya Inoue, The Ring's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, and Junto Nakatani, No. 7 on the same list, are current champions in and around those weight classes.

Big words deserve a big stage to prove it and Maca has that in the form of a New York City fight date.

He'll make his debut on the undercard of Richardson Hitchins' IBF junior welterweight title defence against George Kambosos Jr at Madison Square Garden's little room on June 14.

One of Maca's early inspirations at The Garden in the 1980s, though it wasn't heavyweight phenom Tyson in his match-up with Mitch Green or Puerto Rican legend Hector Camacho, who retained his WBC lightweight title with a split decision win over Edwin Rosario.

It was Rocky Balboa, who fought Clubber Lang, the antagonistic character brought to life by Mr. T, in the third instalment of the 'Rocky' franchise at boxing's Mecca.

Growing up, the Rocky movies were as far as Maca's interest in watching boxing on television extended. That and tapes of Arturo Gatti.

"Rocky and Arturo Gatti," he laughs. "They were the two. I don't watch much boxing, to be honest. A Rocky film I could put on any time, and an Arturo Gatti highlight reel.

"Otherwise, I'm not actually the biggest fan of boxing. Obviously, now I go to the events and stuff, I was at the Eubank-Benn card, I was at the Jack Catterall card [in February]. I feel like when you're around it so much, in your free time, you just want to be away from it.

"People send me photos from the TV and I'm just on my phone or something. At home, because my dad loves watching boxing, he'll call me down and say 'come watch the boxing' and I think 'oh no, I'll come down for five minutes'. Then I'll go back up."

Hitting the Big Apple for his first pro fight, however, is definitely something which excites Maca.

"I don't think it's really kicked in yet," he said. "Maybe on the ring walk it will. My first time in America it'll be.

"To be fair, Madison Square Garden is literally the only place I've ever said 'I want to box there'. And I'm doing it on my debut."

As far as nerves go, Maca doesn't feel them. His interests away from the boxing ring are 'playstation' and 'chilling out', like the majority of Gen Z babies. Fight week will be like any other, but once boots make contact with the canvas, his kill-switch engages.

"Before my fights, I don't like to think about fighting," he says. I'll be doing anything that's going to keep me away from thinking about boxing.

"When the bell goes, it's like I've got a switch, it turns on and I'm ready to fight. Expect all-action and fireworks."

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