Richie "The Mountain" LaMontagne has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Hard Copy and Extra and appeared in a number of feature films including A Civil Action, Urban Relics, Moon over Miami and Flawless. He has also done ad campaigns for Versace, Joe Boxer and Everlast, advertisements for Reebok, Naturalizer Shoes, Naked Fish and was Spokesman for MacPherson Men for one year.

A Sagittarius, he comes from a family of six, with three brothers that are close but "were always killing each other" when they were young. In addition to boxing he played football throughout high school, (fullback on offense, inside linebacker on defense), leading the state on punting average and was offered a scholarship to go to University of Massachusetts in Boston. But in order to support a new family, he started a landscaping company instead and began to focus very seriously on boxing.

At the age of seventeen Richie started carving out a stellar amateur boxing career, winning several important regional and national Golden Gloves titles. He went on to achieve world recognition competing for the U.S. Olympic B Team in Sweden, after which he was ranked number three in the U.S. He turned pro in 1993, achieving a record since then of 19 knockouts in 27 fights, with 23 wins and just one loss. He is currently the U.S.B.F. Cruiserweight Champion, a title he won in 1995 with a knockout in the ninth round.

What's the best thing about being a boxer?

Controlling my own future. If I want to be a champion I train like a champion, I dedicate myself, make sacrifices and do what's necessary to win. In other words if I train to win, I can win, I've got the skills to be a world champion.

How much of boxing is psychological?

Boxing is at least 90% mental, 10% physical.

Is it more about figuring the other person out or yourself?

Actually it's yourself. I don't care about the other guy. When I train, I'm training myself, and I do it the best I can, so it's up to me. I can make it an easy fight for myself or make it a hard fight.

Do you have to psych yourself out in a match?

A lot of champions will say 'a calm fighter is a great fighter'. The calmer you are the better you'll do. You're more focused, and you can see everything clearly. But there's a balance and you've got to go into the ring totally focused on winning. You almost need someone to get you mad, get your blood pumping.