It’s Thursday now, 2 days to the fight. I can honestly say I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in for a fight thus far in my life. I am already on weight! You know someone recently asked me, what’s the difference from fighting in MMA? Why did you start boxing? See in MMA I fought because I wanted to open my own gym eventually, and needed the experience. I never really saw it as a way to make a living or a future. It didn’t matter what the outcome was I just had fun. That’s the difference I guess in boxing. I can see a future; there is something at the end of the finish line. I like that in boxing every fight counts. There is no option but to win.

Since I started boxing one year ago, people have got behind me in a strong way. I am building a huge fan base and most of my MMA fans have followed me out of the cage and through the ropes. I can’t wait till Saturday; anticipation is already boiling in my blood. I truly love to fight, and I love the pressure it puts on you. I love the way the fans come alive with emotion. South Jersey has been great to me since moving down here. I grew up in Perry County, Pennsylvania and after my time in the Coast Guard I stayed down here to train. It’s been six years and a blast and it’s my home away from home.

I have recently got my first sponsor in Maxwell Construction. This is a huge deal for me as I grew up around men working hard to earn a living. I admire how hard these guys who go out and brave the elements all day and sometimes half the night to put food on the table. I reflect often when feeling tired at the gym about my Pop working constantly just to keep the lights on when I was a kid. So when my trainers say,” Troy that’s enough you workout too much” in my mind I think about it and say not as hard as these guys. So it’s great to be able to represent a company like Maxwell construction. They have been great to me and have really helped with training expenses, not to mention the names kind of catchy.

So Saturday night is 2 days away and we just put the finishing touches on my training. The hard stuff is done. Next comes the fun part we get to go in there and throw some punches. All I can say is I guarantee you’ll see , “My trainers teach me how to box with skill, and where I grew up taught me how to fight with will, so come out and you’ll be in for a thrill”.

Troy Maxwell takes on Stanhope’s Todd Eriksson Saturday night at Bally’s in Atlantic City in a four round light heavyweight contest.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to Gardenstatefightscene.com

Training is going great every day starts at 6:30 am. I get up get my stuff together and head out the door to meet the other fighters at All N Conditioning (Virgil Hill’s gym) for road work after. After that we typically do some more conditioning on the boardwalk in AC, maybe some sprints what ever Coach Virgil has in store for us. That’s the cool thing about training with him we never no what we are going to be doing.

The only thing you know that if you are training with him is you’ll be in shape. After my morning workout, I get a little break where I attempt to finish my homework and what not before heading back to the gym at 3 for boxing. This cycle is repeated everyday unless I gotta shoot to school in between workouts.

The training for my upcoming fight (February 27th in AC against fellow New Jerseyan Todd Eriksson) has been the best I’ve ever had. I am finally 100% healthy! We have been training really hard my cardio is unbelievable. The dedication is there as well. Even Saturday in the snow storm I made it to the gym. My car literally couldn’t move, so I bundled up and jogged to All N Conditioning just to train.

Boxing wise, this is also the best I have ever been. Virgil and Mike Hall are wizards when you put them together in the corner! I couldn’t ask for better sparring either. I have been working with Native American sensation Shawn Hawk (20-1). He’s new to Jersey and I have learned a lot by working with him. John “The Eastern Beast” Brown is always around to show me some tricks, he even gets in sparring sessions when he’s training for an upcoming fight. I always make sure to get out of the gym to sparring elsewhere once a week at least so I have a lot of different looks in front of me, as most 4 round fighters don’t have any footage out there.

We are 17 days out from the fight and I am feeling great! These last few weeks of killer (and somewhat unpredictable) training will really put my body to the test. I am lucky to be blessed with world class training and world class team, so I am ready to get to get this started! Can’t wait until fight night.

Troy Maxwell is a 1-0 light heavyweight from Galloway. His fight is featured on the off-tv portion of the Fox Sports en Espanol card that will also feature Paterson’s Kendall Holt.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to gardenstatefightscene.com