Unbeaten Robert Terry heads into OTX Boxing semifinals with his eye on the prize

As a trainer and manager, Bobby Rooney has a lot on his mind heading into fight night. One thing he doesn’t worry about is whether his star pupil Robert Terry is doing his roadwork.

That’s because the unbeaten junior middleweight makes himself seen on the streets of Bayonne, N.J., doing his six mile runs in the afternoon, shortly after waking up following his overnight shifts as a loss prevention specialist. First responders working in the area often let Rooney know that they see the fighter running up and down Kennedy Blvd., without any need for a prompt.

Now, Terry (12-0-1, 4 knockouts) hardly needs any additional motivation to put in the work as he approaches the biggest fight of his career so far this Friday, August 30, as he faces Andreas Katzourakis (13-0, 10 KOs) at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Ga.

The ten round bout will be a semifinal match in the OTX 154-pound tournament, which will earn the winner a $100,000 bonus, plus a promotional contract with the Overtime Boxing platform, which brings with it significant visibility on DAZN and social media. The winner will also become the mandatory challenger for the WBC silver title, a vacant belt which is set to be contested for on November 22 in Paris when Bakary Samake and Wade Ryan meet in a 12-round bout.

“Definitely more motivation for sure,” said the 31-year-old Terry of Jersey City, N.J., whose fight will be shown live on the DAZN platform, with the card beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

“I just gotta stay consistent and proceed to do what I’ve been doing. Once I get going, that’s gonna be it for me. It’s extra motivation but I just need to stay focused.”

Terry showed he was more than just a local area prospect in his last fight, easily outpointing the rough and strong Estevan Villalobos in his last bout in May in the opening round of the tournament. The fight was his first ten round bout, demonstrating the versatile boxer-puncher could maintain his conditioning over the course of a longer fight.

He’ll need to be in ideal conditioning against Katzourakis, a 26-year-old native of Greece who now makes his home in Los Angeles. Katzourakis was also stepping up in class in his opening round bout in May, defeating Kudratillo Abdukakhorov by majority decision. Both fighters were hurt in the bout, but it was Katzourakis who was able to close the fight stronger, earning him the victory.

Terry sparred several times with super middleweight contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko in Brooklyn to prepare for this bout.

“I think he’s good, it’ll be a good challenge. He comes forward, I think he’ll be aggressive,” said Terry, a 70-fight amateur veteran who was a 2017 National Golden Gloves finalist.

“He’s a tough fighter, he’s a come forward guy. He’s gonna want to keep the fight at close quarters. He’s kind of like a pressure fighter I would say, loads up with big shots, throws a hard jab,” added Rooney, who himself was a pro fighter between 2003 and 2011.

“One of Robert’s best things is his counterpunching ability and his reflexes, which allows him to make a lot of guys miss and counter.”

As if Terry needed any more motivation, he may have one of his biggest supporters in the house to cheer him on. Lester Green, better known as Beetlejuice of The Howard Stern Show fame, lives in Atlanta and is also managed by Rooney. Depending on Green’s schedule, Beetlejuice may be there to cheer him on.

The winner of the Terry-Katzourakis fight will then face the winner of Friday’s other semifinal bout between Brandon Adams (24-3, 16 KOs) and Francisco Veron (14-0-1, 10 KOs) in the final.

The OTX platform has brought a lot more attention to Terry’s career. Now he’s just a couple more wins from reaching a whole new level of visibility in the sport.

“I appreciate all the support and things like that. I don’t really be on social media like that but I do appreciate the people that support me, so that’s big for me,” said Terry.

“[This tournament will] lead me to a world title, definitely.”