The Boxing Examiner – Brings you all the Canadian Boxing news in a timely manner!

One-on-One with Hard Punching Eric Barrak

By Jeff Emond Jeffrey
© Photo Courtesy Robert Levesque

 Meet Eric Barrak, a fierce heavyweight fighting from the province of Quebec. With a record of five victories and no defeats, Eric impresses boxing fans with his awesome punching power, earning himself four wins by first round knockout in the process. The Boxing Examiner was lucky enough to catch up with this Canadian heavyweight prospect to discuss how he was introduced to boxing, his recent MMA bout with Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch and his future plans in combat sports.

The Boxing Examiner: Good Afternoon Eric, How are you?

Eric Barrak: I’m doing great and I can’t wait to fight again.

TBE: How did you first became interested in boxing?

EB: I was sixteen years old, a little bit delinquent and I hung around gang members. But, at the same time, I was playing football in high school. So, it was all about making the right or wrong choices in my life and for a while I have made wrong decisions. I dropped out of school, did not work and my life was going nowhere. It’s a good thing my parents had a positive influence in my life, by keeping me away from drugs, for example. One day, my father told me to get serious and I told him I wanted to box. He brought me to the club de boxe olympique of Longueuil, Quebec, and bought me my boxing gloves, shoes, tape for my hands, paid for my lessons and said to me: “Don’t ever say your father wasn’t there for you.”

TBE: Can you tell us about your days in the amateur ranks?

EB: I won the silver gloves in 1997, then the 2000 and 2001 golden gloves by knocking out everyone in my path. Then I won the Canadian amateur championship and went to the francophony games. With only 29 amateurs fight I also beat the Canadian cruiserweight champion Ryan Henney; five time Canadian amateur champion Abash Adam; Anthony Reid; and Troy Taylor, a southpaw from Vancouver. Two of my defeats were against Bermaine Stiverne, by close decisions. I have an amateur record of 24 victoires, 20 by knockouts with only 5 defeats. I never went down in the amateur or pro ranks.

TBE: What can you tell us about your beginning as a pro fighter?

EB: I began in 2005 under trainer Davey Hilton Sr. It was a bad decision, being with him, because of the bad reputation of his children, especially Davey Hilton Jr. Since I was with him, I had many problems getting fights.

TBE: You now have a 3 fight contract with Ringside in the MMA world. Does that prevent you from boxing?

EB: Of course not. I can box as well and look forward to it.

TBE: The Canadian National Championship Committee rank you number four behind Oscar Rivas, Eric Martel Bahoeli, Tye Fields and champion Neven Pajkic. Your thoughts?

EB: I’m very happy about it. Me and Martel are the best heavyweights in Quebec and I hope he will agree to get in the ring with me. It would be an action packed fight. I can guarantee you, nobody hits as hard as me in the heavyweight division in Canada.

TBE: On October 7, 2011, you faced ‘Butterbean,’ a well-known boxer, in a mixed martial arts fight. With an amazing boxing record of 77-8-4, and 58 knockouts, Esch is also a former IBA super heavyweight champion and holds victories over Peter ‘Hurricane’ McNeeley, Louis Monaco and knocked down the legendary Larry Holmes in a very close fight in 2002. How did you feel facing him?

EB: Just being in his presence was overwhelming. I was always a big fan of Esch, especially when I was young; I used to watch him fight on television with my dad. So it was a good feeling to fight him and it can only help me in my career. I first met him at the press conference held by Ringside and I told myself: “This guy is huge!” His hands are twice as big as mine. He also has big bones and very large arms and shoulders. I couldn’t stop thinking I was facing a bear.

I felt his power as soon we shook hands. No wonder Esch has so many knockout victories. I knew it would be a dangerous fight, but I’ll never back down from a challenge.

TBE: Did he intimidate you?

EB: No. But I was impressed by his size and strength. He’s a very nice guy too.

TBE: You fought him in the MMA world, did that bother you at all?

EB: I hesitated at first to be honest. But when you are given a chance to face a boxing legend, you change your mind pretty quick and take the opportunity. But I have to make something clear: I am a boxer and I have such a great passion for my profession. I never watched MMA fights on any level. Butterbean is much more a boxer than a ground fighter to me. He fights standing up and so do I. Plus, his accomplishments in the boxing world speak from themself. So, I knew this bout would look more like a boxing match and it would be a good learning experience.

TBE: Can you describe your fight with him?

EB: It felt strange to be outside of a boxing environment. Being in the octagon, barefoot and with four once gloves is a little unsettling. Then Butterbean entered the ring, looking mean and ready. But I had a game plan and knew no mistakes could be allowed if I wanted to win. After all, Esch also fought in many MMA fights and won 5 tough man competitions.

Right after the opening bell I barely avoided a huge right cross from a 350 pound man. I heard the sound and knew I couldn’t afford to take one of those. So it became a boxing match. I kept him at bay with by jabs and landed two left hooks on the side of the head to take him down in the first round. Then I let my hands go and thought the referee would stop the fight after almost fifty shots, but Esch got up. I knew at that point that I wouldn’t be able to knock him out. In his boxing career, Butterbean has eight losses, but was stopped only once in 1995 by Mitchell Rose.

So I out boxed him and forgot about the knockout victory. In the third round, he came at me very aggressively. By natural instinct, I used his strength against him and took him down on the mat. I was able to make him submit with a choke hold, which is no easy task since that man has no neck. Still, it was a hard fight with a round lasting five minutes. It’s almost twice a boxing round, so I worked on my cardio a lot for this one.

TBE: Did he say anything to you after the fight?

EB: He said he was impressed. By me having only 5 professional boxing matches, he thought he was going to beat me. He told me I had a great future ahead of me and I was fighting like a very experienced fighter.

TBE: Sooner or later, the Klitschko brothers’ era will end. What are your thoughts on the heavyweights division right now?

EB: You said it, the Klitschkos will retire and it will leave the division wide open for fighters like me. You know, the heavyweight division changed a lot in the last ten years. You don’t need 20 or 25 victories on your record to earn a title shot. Take, for example, Alexander Povetkin, he had an IBF title eliminator after 13 fights. With my new trainer Russ Anber, we will work very hard to bring one of these belts to Canada. I will be the heavyweight champion in the near future, I know it.

TBE: Thank you very much Eric and we look forward to seeing you fight again!

EB: No problem, anytime!

Bookmark It