Article about 140 lbs prospect Jo Jo Dan, for those interested

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Here's my translation, from Romanian:

"...Because he's still not making enough money from boxing, Jo Jo Dan is still working part time; he is a cleaner at a helicopter factory in Montreal. He was breaking his back carrying hundreds of sacks of cement and iron girders in Toronto for 10-12 hours a day, before that...


He left a poor town in Romania dreaming that boxing would help him escape poverty. (picture above). His father was a truck driver; his mother - a factory worker. Together with his brother and his parents, he was living in a two-room flat. In Toronto he was fighting for $600 per fight, half of which was going to his promoter. "To stay alive, I used to work as a labourer on the building sites. Since last year, I'm working as a cleaner at a helicopter factory. I make $CAD 14 an hour and after taxes, I'm left with $CAD 280 per week. It's enough to pay my bills. I got payed a five figure sum for my fight against Balbi, so now, my financial worries seem to be coming to an end."

"I think I'm ready to fight for a title already! I hope to get a title shot next year. All the top 10 guys in the division can be beaten, I think."

"When I enter the ring, I'm always afraid! Not of the opponent, mind you, but of disappointing the fans. When I fight in front of 4000, to me they look more like 20.000! And...I don't want to dissapoint them."

"I was robbed by the Romanian promoter I started out with. He wasn't doing anything for my career and to get rid of him I still have to pay him 10% of everything I make now and for the rest of my career. Thank God for Interbox who saved me."

He is now giving away, from his purse: 10% to his previous promoter, 10% to his trainer and 4% to Interbox.

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Dan KO-ing Balbi in 3, in his last fight:

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Yeah...the poverty is true in this case, it's not just a story. He also said in that interview how he's still annoyed he cannot help his family in Romania more, at this stage.

Anyway...he doesn't have power, this is 100% correct. His style reminds me a bit of Bute's, though...low right included. I think he's trying to model himself on his friend...they started out together as amateurs and they're close.

I'm not sure what's happening next for him but I think they're trying to direct him towards a title shot sometimes next year. I am guessing 2-3 more fights to guide him along and help him go up the rankings and then the fight for the title.

Not sure he's good enough to become more than a contender, though. From what I've seen, he's solid in defence and can box a bit but he's nothing to write home about, at this stage. On the other hand, he has improved a bit recently. If he trained full time, he would be better still, I think. The fact he still has to work part time has to be a hinderance. However, if he's good enough, he should be able to go up the ranks anyway...take Andrade, for example; he was still working part time a couple of years ago too.

We'll see. I am not sure how good this guy is or whether he'll win a belt or not, but I saw that interview and I translated it for those interested (particularly those from Montreal, who have had a chance of seeing him). Perhaps they can tell us more about his chances...

 

wtf kind of contract did he sign that he has to pay 10% to his former promoter for the rest of his career? WTF , damn!

 

:conf

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Apparently he lost a court case with that promoter. This means he's stuck to having to pay him forever!atsch

Must have signed a really stupid contract!:roll:

At least it's 10% and not 50% what Calzaghe has to pay his ex-wife!

Also just read that they're trying to put him in an eliminator for the WBA title shot. Maybe against Maidana??

Either that or wait another year to get him a shot at the WBC...

 

He did. There was a cohort of fairly competent Romanians who started out with Teodorescu. They all left him and seem to have a great deal of resentment toward him. There was Dan, Victor Lupo and Claudiu Rasco.

From what Dan told me when I interviewed him (not the article above), they were 5 year contrats, which became 10 years if they won a title. Any belt!

Teodorescu now only manages heavyweight Greg Kiesla, who's career seems very much stuck in first gear. The only fighter who was faithful to Teodorescu for his old career was solid trialhorse Ferenc Lankonde, who mercifully retired months ago.

 

Thanks for that, mate! I wasn't aware you were in on this scene!

Anything else you can tell us about Jo Jo Dan or anyone else you've spoken with?:think

:good :good :good :good :good

 

Depends on what you want to know. I've seen all his fights, and as a boxing writer I try to throw some support his way because he has always been underappreciated, underused and underestimated (less so these days). If you have any questions, you can ask. I'll try to give my two cents.

 

Excellent, lap! Great stuff! Thank you!:good

I'd like to know a couple of things:

1. How good is he now, given the quality in the division as a whole? When will he be ready to have a go at a title, do you think? How many more fights?

2. Whom do you expect he will fight next? What route to a belt do you think he will take?

3. Is it true that he has only started to improve visibly fairly recently? Do you think that if he became a full time pro he'd improve more?

4. What are his prospects, career wise, in your estimation, given his strengths and weaknesses?

Thanks, lap!

 

1. He might the type of guy that's bubbling under the top 15. But he still has to separate himself form the crowd at that level. There are some beatable titlist at 140. I think he could be in the mix with two more real wins. Maybe a Randall Bailey, after an intermediate win (going from Balbi to Bailey might be too much to ask).

2. He is well ranked by the WBA, so I guess he goes that route. No idea who he will fight next, because it's unclear how much Interbox wants to invest in him.

3. Yes and no. Interbox started to give him interesting fights once he moved to Montreal, improving his training habits (he missed a lot of training time when he was in Toronto because he was uncomfortable in the city's gyms, where Teodorescu has a lot of influence), but he may have been ready for this type of fights even before the move. I think he already trains full time. Having a job on the side can be hard mentally and physically, but it probably does not prevent him from training well.

4. I really like him, but he is in a bit of no man's land, style-wise. He doesn't have much of a jab, or at least does not really use as a weapon, so he can't be a pure boxer, and doesn't have the power to slug. Think of Bute with considerably less power and not as good a sense of distance.

I think the guys who do one thing really well, the good jabbers and the good pressure fighters, might give him hell.

 

Thank you, lap!:good

 

I love this guy stylistically. Great fighter to watch.

 

decebal, where do the pictures and the interview come from? A romanian magazine? a Website?