THOM HARINCK praised Hesdy Gerges’ mental strength after the It’s Showtime super
heavyweight champion put his legal troubles aside to beat Daniel Ghita.
Gerges spent nine days in Alkmaar prison close to the fight in Amsterdam after being arrested in connection with
a big cocaine haul in Antwerp.
The 27-year-old denied any involvement from the outset and
came through a punishing contest on fight night, earning the Dutch-Egyptian a pat on the back from his revered Chakuriki Gym
trainer Harinck.
"His
preparation was good beside the nine days he was in jail," said Harinck.
"He trained a little bit there and when he came out he had one
more week.
"The day
after he came out I did extra training with him and he was pretty strong about it.
"You can always say that something is okay, but inside you can
have a feeling that people don’t believe you maybe, saying he is a big criminal and all of these things.
"I’m his trainer, I’m an
old man already. He said he had forgotten about it but you can’t forget about nine days when you’ve been sitting
there while they’ve been saying you did something you didn’t do.
"That is the problem and Ghita is a very strong fighter. But you saw in the
first two rounds that Hesdy made the fight.
"Ghita got an eight count in the second round from a knee, but Hesdy turned his left knee and said he couldn’t
stand on it in the last round.
"He
got a couple of low kicks on it but he made it through. Ghita is very strong, but Hesdy is very strong mentally. Beside the
knee injury he did a good job. He made more points over the three rounds."
Gerges said his time behind bars had messed with his mind, but he maintained his condition in jail
and insisted he was totally focused when the opening bell rang at Sporthallen Zuid.
"I
had nine days away and it was more a mental thing," he said. "Of course you tell yourself it’s nothing and
you want to keep it out of your head, but it makes it spin.
"One night of thinking is the same as one week of very hard training - stress.
"When you have stress it makes you crazy. I did
some push-ups and running and it was quiet over there in Alkmaar.
"People helped me with food and everything and we trained a little bit together
and made the best of it, because people know me.
"I had a little problem but I got through it and on the night I was 100%.
"I don’t make excuses. When you go in the ring you have to
stand there 100%.
"Maybe
my problem was also his problem because he might have thought I wasn’t going to fight.
"It was the same problem in a way but we are both
fighters and this time it was mine."
Romanian Ghita
was given an eight count from a low knee in the second round but came blazing back in the third and final, with Gerges doing
well to weather the storm.
"He is a hell of a fighter, tough," Gerges said. "I
think the first and the second round was mine and he won the third round. Two-one wins every time."
Gerges won the It’s Showtime title by disqualification
in May 2010 when Badr Hari kicked him in the head while he was down, and is not planning to part company with it any time
soon.
"I’m the
world champion and I want to stay the world champion until I quit," he added.
Gerges improved his record to 35 wins, nine losses and two draws with his non-title victory
against Ghita.
