Any Geto Boys fan and Houston rap aficionado will tell you, Willie D is a bad dude. But there’s six professional boxers and a certain Hip-Hop legend who got “The Message” first hand. That’s because Willie Dennis brought the same energy he’s brought to the mic for the last 17 years, into a short, but celebrated stint in the boxing ring.
With a major weekend ahead for fight fans and enthusiasts, AllHipHop.com thought we’d get the opinion from one of Hip-Hop’s experienced boxing analysts. This feature chronicles the golden-gloved career of Willie, his former regiment, and the reason why he left it all behind. As a friend of both Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather, you’ll get an unbiased preview of the fight, and some Geto Boy boxing history. Lace up the shoes and gloves, but one love!
AllHipHop.com: If I were interviewing Master P right now, I’d ask him who likes in the NBA. But with your boxing career, I gotta ask who you’re feeling right now?
Willie D: I look at consistency, and I’m a fan of heart, passion, and catalog. Meaning, I’m looking at the body of work – not, “Oh, this cat is hot today.” ‘Cause you can be hot today and not tomorrow. I like ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Mayweather. The boy got heart – and he got nuts too. Meaning, he’s a f**kin’ man! You can have heart and no nuts. He got [both]. He knows his history too. If you sit down and talk to that mothaf**ka about boxing, he gone’ dig up s**t like Mike Tyson do.
AllHipHip.com: People sleep on Floyd too. They think he’s flashy, and they try to lump him with a lot of the dudes who talk.
Willie D: Everybody they own man. See, with boxing, people don’t like s**t-talkers. Boxing, especially boxing experts, they like, “Mothaf**ka, don’t talk, just get your ass in there and fight!” I remember, I was whoopin’ on this mothaf**ka in Austin, [Texas]. I’m like, “Yeah motherf**ka, you want some more? BAM!” Every time I talked to him, I’d hit him. I’m fightin’ this dude. First of all, I was fighting the flu when I took the fight. So I go in, the first two rounds, I hear my boys screaming, “Stop playin’ with him. Knock that mothaf**ka out!” I got it under control. I’m dancin’ around. [Willie dances around the room and spars]. By the third round, all this s**t [in my lungs] started cavin’ in from that flu. My s**t started slowin’ down, and that mothaf**ka started hittin’ me – I could see the punches comin’, I just couldn’t get out the way. That’s a bad feeling! I was f**ked all up.
I lost the fight. I threw away the fight basically though, because I was talkin’ s**t to the mothaf**ka, and the judges don’t like that s**t. They basically called it a draw just to teach me a lesson. I got on his ass. The fourth round was a draw. The third round, he got me. The first two rounds, I shut his ass out. I should’ve won the fight, but they took the fight from me to teach me a lesson. That’s how it is, man. That’s how life is too. If you gonna do somethin’, do it. You ain’t gotta talk that s**t. Still, having said all that, Ali was a s**t-talker, and now they look at him as the greatest to ever do it.
AllHipHop.com: What do you think of Muhammad Ali?
Willie D: I ain’t like Ali. When he fought [Leon] Spinx, I was so happy Spinx whooped his ass. “Whoop that mothaf**ka’s ass!” I was happy when [Larry] Holmes whooped Ali’s ass. [laughing] S**t-talking takes a lot of energy out of you too. Just imagine what Floyd [Mayweather] would do to them boys if he didn’t talk all that s**t. But he don’t talk s**t in the ring – he handles his business in the ring.
AllHipHop.com: Prediction on Mayweather vs. Judah?
Willie D: Let me tell you somethin’ – I like Judah. Me and Judah cool. But, I think Floyd is just too much of a ringer. He just handles that g######### ring. You not gonna distract Floyd Mayweather! He ain’t gonna bring all that bulls**t in the ring. Having said that, either one of them winnin’ would be fine with me, ‘cause I’m cool with both of them.
AllHipHop.com: You had a lyric on “Put The Gun Away” off your first album, “I love to talk blow for blow / Against any hoe / They don’t make my kind anymo’, so put the gun away.’” What’s that lyric mean?
Willie D: S**t, that’s where it all started with me, man. I came up in an era where people were still fighting with their hands. Once in a while, somebody might get shot. But for the most part, people still f**ked with their hands. That’s what that’s about. I feel like people would talk less s**t if they had to fight with their hands. Like a gun, “I’m gonna talk this s**t. If a mothaf**ka run up on me, I’mma shoot ‘em.” Anybody can shoot a gun. There’s five-year-old killers out there right now. Women shoot people. It ain’t hard. But them hands is a mothaf**ka. These rappers talkin’ s**t today, they might not say it if they knew they’d have to see a mothaf**ka.
AllHipHop.com: A friend of mine said that during your boxing career, you always sported a black-eye. Is that true?
Willie D: Hell mothaf**kin’ no. I ain’t never had no black-eye from fightin’. I used to have a black-ass birth-mark under my eye, but I had it removed. That’s what he’s talkin’ ‘bout.
AllHipHop.com: What about Bushwick Bill? Did you two ever fight?
Willie D: We ain’t never fought. I had to [kicks at the floor] a few times, but there wasn’t no fightin’ – no s**t like that.
AllHipHop.com: What was your record in boxing?
Willie D: 6-1.
AllHipHop.com: So you didn’t do it professionally that long?
Willie D: Nah. I really did have my eye set on the title when I first got into it, but I realized quickly on, that my heart was there, but my dedication wasn’t. I couldn’t be dedicated to it. I had already carved out my livelihood – and boxing wasn’t it. I already had big houses and s**t, big ole’ ass cars that drink up gas like they got a hole in the tank, and family and s**t when I started boxin’. My first fight, I promoted it myself, so I made a good bit off that – six figures. Everything else was being promoted by other promoters – motherf**kas was tryin’ to give you a thousand dollars a fight. F**k it. I understand that’s the nature of the beast, but I wasn’t tryin’ to do it. That was a major reason I stopped. It couldn’t sustain me financially. With boxing, if you try to do too many things, you’ll get knocked the f**k out – you gotta be focused.
AllHipHop.com: What was your regiment?
Willie D: I was gettin’ up at 5:00. On the track by 5:30. Back at the house by 7:00. Eat by 8:00. Take a nap and get to the gym by 11:00. Out of the gym by 2:00. At the spa by 4:00. At the house by 7:00. Eat by 7:30. In bed by 9:00 – every f**kin’ day. No f**kin’ – none. None! No jackin’ off or nothin’. People don’t understand what that’s all about. A nut is equivalent to losin’ a pint of blood. You know what it’s like to lose a pint of blood at the doctor’s – you very, very weak. That s**t takes time to rebuild. You gotta rebuild that stamina. You do that before boxin’, you get knocked the f**k out. In rappin’, you can go to the studio, drink a 40 ounce, and write the best s**t in your life. Hell, you can write a song about the 40 ounce! Do that s**t in boxing and watch what happens. [laughing]
AllHipHop.com: This is old news, but can you recap the Hip-Hop boxing event that you, Freddie Foxxx, and Kurtis Blow and others were involved in. It’s often talked about, but we want an official recap. Did you knock out Melle-Mel?
Willie D: Yeah. That’s accurate, Mel! What happened was, the organizers called us in Houston and said they were throwing a celebrity boxing match and wanted us to be a part of it. I was a part of it, Dope E from the Terrorists – who got knocked the f**k out! Boy, Freddie Foxxx knocked Dope E the f**k out! That s**t was funny. He put his hands on him. Kurtis Blow put them hands on some mothaf**ka! LL [Cool J] was supposed to be in it. A lot of people was supposed to be there. Anyway, I remember bein’ backstage in the dressing-room. A reporter asked Mel how he thought the fight would go. Mel was tryin’ to be diplomatic and s**t, “You know, I’m gonna go out there, and try to have a good fight.” Then they came to me, and I was doing some sit-ups. I said, “First, he gonna come out and throw a couple jabs. Then, he gonna take off runnin’. I’mma hit him with a right, then hit him with a left. Hit him with a right, then a left. Hit him with a right, then hit him with a left. And he gonna get carried away.” [laughing] Mel [laughed it off playfully].
We go out, they takin’ bets like in prison fightin’. Me and Mel was the main event. Me and Mel get to the ring. The fight was sanctioned, so we had a real referee. We get to the ring, and I come out, and to be honest, I didn’t go out to really knock anybody out. I was trying to put on an exhibition. We go out, and I throw a couple jabs. Mel come across my head with an overhead right and he raised me. The force that he did it with – he was tryin’ to tear my ass off. The crowd [responded]. Off the bat, I said to myself, “It’s over. Get him outta here.” The ref broke us up. I came back out again. I shot two jabs up to set it up. He fell for it. I caught him with an overhead right, and he went to sleep. I remember, they counted to ten, and Mel was still out. He was doing some Tweety-bird s**t. His eyes was crossed up. I forgot it was sanctioned, ‘cause I asked the ref, “Let him fight.” I wanted people to get their money’s worth, and the fight just started. “Get back over there!” So I returned to my corner. Ten more second passed, Mel still ain’t up. Finally, he comes to – eyes still crossed. One of his boys was like, “Mel, it’s over.” Mel said, “It’s over? Well, who got the belt?” [laughing] That’s what he said! Clear as day, I remember that s**t. I already had the belt wrapped around my waist. Since then, me and Mel talked on the phone a few times. He still wants a rematch.
AllHipHop.com: Still got the belt?
Willie D: It’s on the mantle.