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Hajicek Set For Hernandez!
By Jesse Kelley
"Maddog" Butch Hajicek is set to face Chicago's Middleweight champ "Macho" Miguel Hernandez on January 6th in Illinois.Hajicek is coming off the biggest win of his career when he took the Mn state title from Chris Holt back on December 4th in Fargo, ND. Hernandez will be the hometown favorite but Hajicek says the style of Hernandez could play into his favor. Hernandez is a tough brawler who mostly comes forward. MinnesotaBoxing.com caught up with Hajicek after a sparring session with Shakopees Anthony Bonsante last week. Here is what he had to say..
Could you talk to us a little about your background and how you got started
in boxing?
Yeah, I fought amateur in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I had maybe 50 amateur bouts. Probably somewhere around a record of 25 and 25. I got started in about 1993. I turned professional two years ago.
You had a huge fight a few weeks ago against Chris Holt. You were probably considered the underdog going into the fight. What were your thoughts going into the fight and can you also talk about your game plan going in?
Well I fought Chris as an amateur. He won the fight on a decision. So I know he always comes in shape. Really, my biggest thing was cardio. I knew I had to throw lots of jabs so I worked a lot of double jabs in there. By about the second round I saw that every time he would throw the jab he would be vulnerable for my right hand. If you watched the fight you would see that I through a lot of right hands. I caught him with a couple of them and they got him.
It looked like he came out very aggressive. Was that part of your plan to counter that by taking your time?
I knew he was going to come out aggressive. I've seen him fight in the past and just knew he would. He is a very aggressive fighter. I knew that when I gave him the first standing eight that the fight was not over. There was no celebrating because I knew he was coming back. It helped a little knowing how he was going to fight. I just stayed on my game. Since he is aggressive I knew that if I got caught to not get frustrated because that is part of the game.
I understand that you just had a mixed martial arts fight about a week ago and now you are set to take on a tough fighter from Chicago. Does going from boxing to mma and then back to boxing in such a short period of time hurt you as a fighter or help you?
Well this last fight was a week after the December fourth fight. If they are that close together, it is not a good thing and I don't plan on taking them anymore. John (Hoffman) has been trying to get me to stop when they are so close so that's what I told him (laughing)! It does help some though because its absolute cross training. It's a whole nother cardio with the wrestling to standing. When I do the mma fighting and get the wrestlers to stand on their feet for a minute, they are dead tired.
What do you know about your opponent Miguel Hernandez?
I am going to see film of him and Kenny Kost. I know he is a straight forward fighter. He isn't super slick which is the kind of the style that I like. I guess you can compare it to Andy Kolle. He is not an Andy Kolle fighter, he is more of a Chris Holt type of fighter.
Is this fight for one of the titles?
I think his is, he is the Illinois state champion.
Is your Mn state title on the line?
No, I don't think so because we don't border. The way I understand it is you have to border the state where the fights at to fight for that belt.
Well it is obvious that you have improved a lot since you first turned pro. You mentioned Kenny Kost and Andy Kolle earlier. Are you looking for a rematch with any of those guys?
Yeah I am looking forward to those fights and I know they will happen because I know they are going to want that belt. I am completely aware of that but the difference for me is that they will be eight round fights this time instead of four. And I know they are going to be aware of that too. I just know those will be good fights.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Yeah, thanks to all the people in the Fargo and Grand Forks area because without the fans we really couldn't do this!