Contender's runner-up, "Hollywood Hino."
Scott Duncan photo
Probably one of the most fun loving of those involved in The
Contender would be Ehinomen “Hollywood Hino” Ehikhamenor. After his fight with
Troy Ross to determine The Contender Champion, Hino said, “Do remember this; if
I win, I win, and if I lose, I still win.”
He carries this attitude through everything he does, and he
has a good reason for that. “Today I’m still having fun. I’m not going to say I
don’t take it too seriously, I do take it seriously, because you can get hurt
in boxing. But I just have that mentally, ever since I was born, like, life is
short. Live for every moment.
“And that’s what people see. Some call it cocky, it’s not
really cocky, it’s just that you never know when’s your last day on this earth.
You want to live every moment of it. I don’t want to make everything look too
hard. That way, it takes a lot of pressure off. And if you can have fun in it,
it doesn’t look like work. I know boxing’s hard, but I make it fun for myself,
that’s why I do it.”
Hino scrapped his way to the finale by going through three
others who stood in his way. The first was Darnell Wilson. When he chose to
fight Wilson instead of Ryan Coyne – someone who many thought he would call out
– people were wondering why. He had said on the show that he felt that Darnell
would give him a better fight, and I wanted to know exactly what he meant by
that.
“Ryan Coyne is still an up-and-comer,” he told me. “Darnell
Wilson is a big name as far as the Cruiserweight division goes. I felt if I
beat him I’d make more of a statement.”
His second stepping-stone was Deon Elam, and Hino handed him
his first loss. “That was a close fight,” he said. “Deon is a very good boxer.
I had to literally out-box him from start to finish. That was a good toe-to-toe,
back and forth…I take nothing away from Deon.”
The final fighter that was between he and the finale was
Rico Hoye. Hoye thought he should have won that fight, and that he got too
complacent. “I don’t blame him for that,” Hino responded. “Rico, of all the
guys, has accomplished more in boxing, and he was one of the favorites to win
the whole thing. I guess that was his mentally going in there, like ‘I’m going
in there with more experience, so I guess I’m going to beat this kid.’ And I
gave him a surprise.”
When I asked him who made him work the hardest, he replied,
“I think I had to beat Deon. He keeps his hands up like a Winky Wright. He
keeps his hands up all the time, and he’s like, 6’4”, 6’5”, he’s a big boy. He
hits that 200 mark right on point. So I had to work the hardest, I had to break
through the defense, land shots at the same time, and get away from his shots.
“And I knew Deon was coming in as an undefeated fighter, so
I had to work the hardest against him.”
As with most boxers, Hino did not think his fight in the
finale against Troy Ross should have been stopped. “I didn’t feel so,” he told
me. “I just watched the fight for the first time; I was against the ropes. I
felt that my hand was under the ropes, too.”
When asked what he would have done differently with that
20/20 hindsight he replied, “I think I would have changed things in that I
would have definitely moved away. It wasn’t a matter of being tired. I was
winning the fight; clearly everyone saw that. I was landing cleaner punches.”
Ross is a southpaw, but Hino had tried to prepare for that.
“It was very awkward, though. The first two weeks of training camp I was
getting beat up every day. But these were good southpaws. I picked the perfect
guys, that fought just like him.”
Hino is exited about the opportunities that might open up to
him, but he has always been confident. “I’ve been excited about my future. I
knew something like this was going to happen, I mean not The Contender, but the
opportunity where I could showcase my fun side and my boxing side. So I knew it
was going to happen, I just didn’t know what time it was going to happen, and
the time is now. Now everybody knows that I’m a cool, nice guy outside the
ring, and in the ring still bringing that fun, and winning at the same
time.”
It is a little too early for Hino to know what is next in
store for him, and that is just fine with him. “I like not knowing what’s in
store. It won’t be bad, so it’s like, I don’t know, but it’s something good.
And even if it is bad, I’ll turn it into something good. It’s just fun NOT
knowing. I like that.
“Good or bad with what the future holds, I still have a day
job, and I’m happy with that. I work at Trinity Boxing Gym, and I have the best
bosses – John and Martin Snow – and they treat me good. They let me take time
off for the sport, and when I come back they let me start any time I want. It’s
a beautiful life.”
Yes, Hino is happy with everything now, but don’t think that
makes him soft. Look for him to have fun, but he will still be the tough,
aggressive fighter he has shown to be, and that he knows he is.
Congratulations to Hino for making it to the finale, and
good luck in the future. Also, many thanks to him for taking the time to speak
with me.
