The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER reeling off five consecutive six-round victories since moving to Verona, New York, a year ago, light heavyweight Ryan ‘Big Youth’ McKenzie will step up to fight in his first eight-round affair on August 8.

McKenzie, who stands at six feet, will be putting his 13-0 win-loss record on the line when he takes on six foot, two inch Brooklyn resident Hamid Abdul-Mateen, who is 3-4-2, at the Frontier Field in Rochester, New York, home of the Rochester Red Wings minor league baseball team.

“It’s a step up for me because recently, I’ve only been able to get six round fights,” McKenzie said. “From here on in, I should be fighting more eight-rounders and then 10-rounders. It’s a big step up for me, but I’m looking forward to it.”

In preparation for the fight, McKenzie said he’s not doing anything different but train as usual. “If it was two rounds, four rounds or six rounds, it would still be the same,” McKenzie said.

“I still train just as hard as if I’m doing 12 rounds. I think right now with the way I feel, if they bring back 15 rounds, I will be ready to go. So there’s not much difference. Lately, I’ve been putting in the extra workout on top of the extra workout. That’s what you have to do if you want to win. And right now, I really want to continue winning.”

This is McKenzie’s first fight since he won an unanimous six-round decision over Steven Tyler at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, on March 29. But he said he’s not going to let the inactivity deter him.

“I feel like I’m in the best shape that I ever could be in,” he said. “I’ve been down here for a while just training, so mentally I’m looking forward to it and physically I’m definitely ready for it. I’m going to go in there and handle my business as usual and if I can take the guy out, I will take him out.

“But I watched the guy in a few video-tapings and he looks good. That’s what I need in preparation for me to move forward. I want the best guys out there so that they can give me a challenge. I had a few guys who I was supposed to fight, but one guy who was 14-2, who pulled out, another one who was 15-7 also pulled out and another guy who was 8-4 pulled out too.”

As he has done in his 11 knockouts so far in his career, McKenzie said he’s going to “take every guy seriously” because as long as they step in the ring, they have a chance to fight.

“I kind of figure out my guys by watching them inside the ring. Until he gets hit, I’ll see where his mindset is,” McKenzie said. “The last guy I fought, when I hit him he kept coming forth, so I know it was going to be a long night against him. He took the punch. So it depends on how he takes the punch.”

In any event, McKenzie said he’s just looking forward to having a good fight and eventually he will keep his winning streak intact.