Prospect Spotlight: Q&A with Gabriel “Tito” Bracero

Story by Mariano A. Agmi
Photo courtesy of DBE

Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (17-0, 3 KOs) returns to ShoBox on Friday, October 21st to face Daniel Sostre (11-4-1, 4 KOs) in an all-Puerto Rican showdown at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket Connecticut, in a 10 round bout for the vacant NABF light welterweight title.

Bracero, 30, was a stellar amateur boxer whose professional career was almost derailed by a 6 year stint in prison. Since resuming his career in 2009, Tito won 12 straight bout and has knocked out his last two opponents. The Brooklyn-based fighter eagerly anticipates winning a regional title and being ranked in the top 10 by the world sanctioning bodies.

In Bracero’s last ShoBox appearance in April, he scored the biggest win of his career, shutting out former Olympian and previously undefeated Danny O’Connor over 8 rounds to win a unanimous decision.
Bracero recently spoke to Fightnews about his career, his upcoming bout against Daniel Sostre and his efforts to raise diabetes awareness, a disease that has plagued several members of his family:

Tell me about your last appearance on ShowBox against Danny O’Connor

A lot of people looked at me as the underdog going into that bout, and I went over there, rose to the occasion and did what I had to do. I don’t take anything away from Danny O’Connor; he’s a pretty talented kid. He was out here fighting regularly and had it good while I was in there sitting in a can just waiting for an opportunity. He didn’t really know too much about me and how hungry and serious I am, and how bad I want this. I showed that he was a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Since this is now your second fight on ShoBox, which is probably the best platform for a young prospect, have you noticed a significant change in how people view you?

Definitely. I’ve been getting a lot of love and I’m very grateful for it. I’m a hard worker, I’m dedicated and I’m humble. This opportunity was given to me and I’m not letting anyone take it away from me. This right here is destined. It was something that I prayed about everyday for 6 years while I was away. I’m going all the way with it.

You always have a huge fan base that come to support you, especially in New York City, so are you handing out many more red “Tito” Bracero t-shirts now that you’ve been featured on national television?

As a matter of fact, it’s funny because the shirts come out tomorrow, so my father has to run around handing out the shirts before everybody heads out to Connecticut. So we’re doing the same thing with the new shirts, and the fan base is growing and I’ve gotten a lot of love from people I didn’t know before that are reaching out to me through facebook and over the internet in different ways.

You’ve always had an exciting style, but now it seems as though you are upping your KO percentage and even when you’re not knocking people out, you’re hurting them and dropping them. Do you attribute that to growing into your weight class, better technique, or are you sitting down on your punches more?

When I first came back I was a little rusty, but keeping busy and fighting every two months, I’m getting the rust off and I’m getting the feel back in the ring, so I’m starting to become a complete fighter. I’ve also put some strength and conditioning into my work with a guy named John Schaeffer from Winning Factor, so I’m putting everything together and it’s working pretty well.

I’m gaining more experience and I’m getting more and more comfortable in the ring. I’m learning a lot more, I’m sitting down on my punches and I’m throwing punches like I want to hurt guys now, that’s the difference. Danny O’Connor is lucky that I didn’t have the experience that I have now, because if I were to fight him now I probably would knock him out.

After being away for 6 years, which was probably a terrible experience, you seem to be more mature than other fighters and determined to make the most of your opportunity, whereas other fighters who are young and up and coming a lot of times take things for granted – you don’t seem to be that type of person.

Not at all. I’m grateful and you have to respect the game, respect the sport. I’m just working hard and as far as what I went through, everything in life happens for a reason, I got to learn. I basically grew from a boy to a man, and I embraced the experience that I went through because it made me into a better person. Maybe if I didn’t go through what I went through, I probably wouldn’t be boxing right now. I’d be lost somewhere, so it bettered me as a person all around. I’m thankful that I went through that, because look at where I am now.

What do you know about Daniel Sostre? Is there anything about him that impresses you or that you are looking out for?

I’ve seen Daniel Sostre fight once a few months ago against Raymond Serrano (an 8 round decision loss) on ESPN2. To be honest with you, there is nothing about this guy that I really care about. Bless the guy, he’s good and a talented person, but my training camp went well and I’m ready to do whatever I need to do to win the fight. If I have to box, that’s what I’ll do. The fight is already won, and I’m not trying to be cocky, I’m just confident. I trained hard, I’ve been through a lot in life and I’m not letting this kid get in my way. I’m not letting him stop me; it’s not going to end here. He’s just an obstacle in my way right now that I have to get over.

The kid is good, but nothing out of the ordinary and nothing impressed me. I’ve been boxing since I was 9 years old and I’ve sparred and fought against a lot of good people. I hope he’s good, because the better he is, the better he’s going to make me look, so I hope he comes with his ‘A’ game.

Tommy Gallagher, your trainer, recently stated that he feels that you’re at the stage where the days of your team picking your opponents are over and that you’ve graduated and you guys are ready for whoever your promoter brings to you. What do you think about that?

Tom is absolutely right. He took me from when I was a Golden Gloves champion as a kid, all the way into the pros. He’s been with me my whole career, so he knows what I’m capable of doing. There was a time where Tom believed in me more than I believed in myself. Tom is the man – whatever he says goes and if he’s says that I’m ready to fight someone now, I’m 100% ready because his word is golden and he’s 100% accurate.

How did training go for this fight? Where did you train and for how long?

I train at Gleason’s with Tommy and my father. I’ve been training for the past 2 years. I’ve been fighting every 2 months for the past 2 years, so I probably take a 4 or 5 day break before getting ready for another fight, so I always stay in the gym. Staying in the gym is my therapy – it’s what keeps me out of trouble and it’s my life. I’m always ready.

This fight is for the NABF title, so a win gets you ranked. When do you and Tommy project that you’ll be ready for a world title shot or a fight against one of the top contenders?

We’re looking to face one of the top contenders as soon as next year. We’re looking into getting ranked after winning this title, and then shooting for one of the contenders next year.

Looking at your division, which is probably the best in boxing right now, you have either the opportunity to fight one of the big names who are titlists: Erik Morales, Amir Khan, Tim Bradley and Marcos Maidana, or, since many of them are talking about moving up, you might get a chance to fight a top contender for a vacant title. Based on those 4 titlists, who are all very different, is there one that you are targeting more than the others based on your style?

I adjust, so I’d be able to face any one of those guys. As soon as my team tells me that I’m fighting one of them, I’ll start preparing for them. It doesn’t matter: I could fight a boxer, a puncher or a brawler, I’ll be ready regardless. I’m not one of those fighters that gets in there to exchange punches. If I need to box, I stick and move. I don’t just go in there and I adjust pretty well.

Would you be interested in an all-Brooklyn showdown against Zab Judah? Maybe at the new Net’s Arena in Brooklyn?

Wow – that would be nice. An all Brooklyn showdown against Zab Judah, I would love an opportunity like that. Everyone from Brooklyn would come out and spend some money. I like Zab Judah – I’ve known him for a very long time, but for the right price we can make it happen. We’re all trying to make money here.

You’re of Puerto Rican descent – how important is it for you to fight in Puerto Rico or at Madison Square Garden, which has been a great venue for Puerto Rican fighters the past few years?

Madison Square Garden is something that we’re looking into in the near future. We could bring out all the New Yoricans from around here. We need another New York Puerto Rican star, and I could be the one to fill those shoes. I would also love to go to Puerto Rico and have a big fight there.

One of your sons and one of your parents have diabetes, and you are dedicating this fight to raising awareness for diabetes. Can you comment on that?

I’m glad you touched on that topic. I fight on October 21st. October 23rd is the national diabetes walk here in New York. I’m trying to do what I can to raise diabetes awareness, and I’m going to walk on the 23rd. My son, Tyson Bracero, is 12 years old and has diabetes. He has to be injected 3 to 4 times with insulin to stay alive. My mother also has diabetes and so do others in my family, so it hits home for me. I made my own team, Team Bracero, and I’m encouraging people to go out there and walk or make a small donation to diabetes.org/bracero. I’m going to be wearing the shirt in the ring and I’m going to be dedicating the fight to diabetes awareness. I will be walking two days later and I encourage people to come out, walk and support this cause.

Anything else you want to say to your fans?

I want to thank my fans for all the love and the support that they’ve given me so far, and thank my team, Tommy Gallagher, my father and everyone at DiBella Entertainment that gave me the opportunity. And most of all, I just want to let everyone know that everything that is happening to me and the success is not because I’m just lucky. It’s something bigger than me and the success is destined. I’m going to be the next success story. I work hard, I’m dedicated and I feel like I’m blessed. I believe that God is giving me these blessings for a reason, and I plan on carrying out my blessings to the best of my ability and being a blessing to others. This is a dream that I’ve been having since I was a kid. When I was rock bottom, I didn’t give up on my dream and I was fortunate to have people around that believed in me. There is not a day that passed when I was in jail that I didn’t pray. I kept my faith alive and I believe that in return, God is blessing me. So I will be the next NABF title and there is a purpose behind it all. I thank everyone for their support and I look forward to putting on a good show after this fight.