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[excluside] wilders latest interview "im gonna take splizkas heart and ko him""
http://www.fighthype.com/news/article22934.html
PC: You put in work during the New Year holiday. It's crunch time for you. No breaks at all I'm assuming.
DW: That's right. Time to put in work.
PC: Artur Szpilka is next up for you on January 16th. He's a tough guy, a southpaw, but obviously you feel like you are a level above him.
DW: Most definitely! Artur Szpilka is tough for the first couple of rounds and then when somebody brings the fight to him, he tends to lose heart. I'm coming to take his heart in the first couple of rounds anyway. I'm coming to knock him out very nice and in great fashion. I even wanna get that knockout where I buzz him and I be able to do a finish move. I got a great finish move that I wanna do for him. This is my year, 2016. I keep saying it because I mean what I say. I want to send a message to all of the heavyweights in this division starting with Artur Szpilka. In 2016, Deontay Wilder is not playing.
PC: When I spoke to Artur, he said he didn't feel like you had faced any quality southpaws. Do you put a lot of stock into the southpaw/orthodox thing or do you think it is somewhat overblown?
DW: To answer his question, I really haven't faced any quality southpaws. He's definitely right about that. It's only so many southpaws in the division. Most of the guys in this division are orthodox, so he's right about that. But the whole southpaw/orthodox thing could be kind of tricky, if you allow it to be. For me, I love fighting southpaws. There are two things in boxing that I love, southpaws and a guy that likes to pressure me. With the southpaws, it's all about the positioning and it's always going to be about who is the smartest. I love southpaws, so he is going to see very quickly that this fight is not going to go the way he's planning on it going. I'm looking forward to showing him what it's like to be on the elite level. He's right in saying I have never fought a quality southpaw, but I can promise you this, he's never fought a quality orthodox fighter. He's never been in the ring with a nice orthodox fighter that had speed, skills, power, and athleticism. I'm the total package in one. When a guy goes into camp to face me and they are trying to gather all of their sparring partners, they can't just find just one sparring partner for me. You're going to have to go get a sequence of guys in bits and pieces. You're going to have to go get a guy that has speed and nothing else. You're going to have to get a guy that has height and nothing else. You're going to have to have to get a guy that has power and nothing else. You're going to have to get a guy that has athleticism and nothing else. You're going to have to get bits and pieces to put together the puzzle that is Deontay Wilder. There is no one like me with my God-given ability and talent that I have, man. There is no one with my awkward style. But I'm looking forward to the fight and I don't care what Artur Szpilka has to say because you gotta promote the fight. You gotta talk and have confidence in yourself. You gotta speak positive things about yourself because if you don't have confidence and you don't speak positive, how do you expect these other folks to believe in you or your people in Poland to believe in you. Boxing is big in Poland, so you gotta have something to say.
PC: When I talk to boxing people whose opinion I respect, the consensus is that you may be the most improved in-fight fighter of the last year or so. They feel like your growth in the ring is apparent. Do you feel that way as well heading into another year?
DW: Most definitely! But the things I've been doing is the things that I have known that I can do. The only difference is that it's the next level for Deontay Wilder. I'm at a level where I perform to the best of my ability. Back then when I was coming up, of course I was better than those guys and I didn't have to bring out all of my arsenal. I didn't have to bring out everything that I know to beat those guys. I beat those guys just being me and doing the things that I'm capable of doing on any given night. I automatically was just doing things. My right hands were strong and I was hitting these guys with full power. Now, they gonna see that my power… my last few fights, even though I had to show other things that I definitely improved on, the biggest improvement is I've added body shots, fighting on the inside, and I can take a punch and just things that we've been knowing I can do. So it's no surprise to me at all. But I broke my hand in the Stiverne fight and it hasn't been 100% after that fight, but now it's back. But after a year, my hand is back and I'm ready to test it against Szpilka throwing 100% power at him. But to answer your question, I have definitely shown people improvements, but this is just the beginning.
PC: You are an ex-football player, so I will use a football analogy for you. When the Carolina Panthers lost their first game to the Falcons, the experts felt the pressure was off of them and now they could just play football. You were drawing comparisons to Mike Tyson when your 100% knockout ratio was intact. After going the distance with Stiverne when you won the title, did you feel like all of the pressure was off and you could just fight without that tag or label flying over you head?
DW: Yeah, definitely! When I first fought 12 rounds with Stiverne, that was probably the best thing I ever done in my career. I think that was better than if I would have knocked him out because people were used to seeing me knock guys out. It became old to them and they wanted to see more. So when I was able to show them that not only was I fresh in the 1st round, but I was also fresh in the 12th round, that brought my market up a lil' bit and it not only brought confidence in myself, but people grew confident with me and I gained a lot of fans from that as well. People were like, "Ah ****, not only can he take a punch, not only can he box, but he can also go the distance as well too and still look fresh late." It was good to go rounds, and from that fight on, I've been putting in good rounds. Even though I have been knocking guys out and stopping them, I have still been going rounds and showing them that I like to have fun in there. But I think it's time for me to get back on my early knockouts and that's what I'm looking for on January 16th.
PC: Are you expecting a rough and ugly type of fight or do you think he will pick the times carefully of coming inside against you because he has to go through the blades of the helicopter so to speak to get on the inside?
DW: Right, I'm definitely looking for a rough and ugly fight on his behalf, but I'm not going to play into his game. I'm not going to let him dictate. I'm going to make him fight my fight instead of me fighting his fight. My awkward style will play a part. We both have awkward styles, but my style is long and awkward. He's going to see that he won't be able to get in like that, and if he do, it's only going to be for a matter of seconds before I get him back out. My inside game is going to be brutal on him as well. So I'm looking for him to bring an ugly fight, but it's not going to work. Nothing that he's going to be able to do is going to work, that's for sure. When I bring my A game, which I am gong to bring my A game because this is for my title, this is for my baby, and "Sophia" is not ready to leave me, nor will she ever be ready to leave me. So I gotta honor the princess and protect the castle and she staying home with daddy.
PC: You were the last Olympian to medal. Before I let you go, I wanted to let you say a few words in honor of a former gold medalist, Howard Davis Jr., who recently passed away.
DW: Ah man, I want to tell the family that I am sorry for their loss and I hope they are able to come together closer as a family. I know there will be mourning and sadness and sorrow and you just gotta think about, he is going to a better place and he don't have to worry about nothing else on earth. We all hope that when we pass away or one of our relatives or siblings pass away, they go to Heaven and we hope that he made it to Heaven and I know that he is probably smiling down right now and saying how he lived a great life. They have nothing to hold their head for. He was a great man and he did a lot of great things throughout his life and that's what they should be proud of.
PC: Well said champ. Best of luck to you in a couple of weeks. I look forward to the fight and we will speak afterwards. Anything else you want to say before I let you go?
DW: Most definitely. I would just like to tell my fans as well as my haters because you gotta put fans as well as haters in there because you really can't live without both; they both add something to the mix. Without the fans and the haters, I'm still irrelevant. But both talk about me, both do their job, and so that makes me relevant and I'd like to say that I love you guys so much from the bottom of my heart. 2016 is mine, baby! January 16th at the Barclays Center on Showtime, don't miss it! It's going down baby…BOOOOMB SQUUUUAD!!!
PC: You put in work during the New Year holiday. It's crunch time for you. No breaks at all I'm assuming.
DW: That's right. Time to put in work.
PC: Artur Szpilka is next up for you on January 16th. He's a tough guy, a southpaw, but obviously you feel like you are a level above him.
DW: Most definitely! Artur Szpilka is tough for the first couple of rounds and then when somebody brings the fight to him, he tends to lose heart. I'm coming to take his heart in the first couple of rounds anyway. I'm coming to knock him out very nice and in great fashion. I even wanna get that knockout where I buzz him and I be able to do a finish move. I got a great finish move that I wanna do for him. This is my year, 2016. I keep saying it because I mean what I say. I want to send a message to all of the heavyweights in this division starting with Artur Szpilka. In 2016, Deontay Wilder is not playing.
PC: When I spoke to Artur, he said he didn't feel like you had faced any quality southpaws. Do you put a lot of stock into the southpaw/orthodox thing or do you think it is somewhat overblown?
DW: To answer his question, I really haven't faced any quality southpaws. He's definitely right about that. It's only so many southpaws in the division. Most of the guys in this division are orthodox, so he's right about that. But the whole southpaw/orthodox thing could be kind of tricky, if you allow it to be. For me, I love fighting southpaws. There are two things in boxing that I love, southpaws and a guy that likes to pressure me. With the southpaws, it's all about the positioning and it's always going to be about who is the smartest. I love southpaws, so he is going to see very quickly that this fight is not going to go the way he's planning on it going. I'm looking forward to showing him what it's like to be on the elite level. He's right in saying I have never fought a quality southpaw, but I can promise you this, he's never fought a quality orthodox fighter. He's never been in the ring with a nice orthodox fighter that had speed, skills, power, and athleticism. I'm the total package in one. When a guy goes into camp to face me and they are trying to gather all of their sparring partners, they can't just find just one sparring partner for me. You're going to have to go get a sequence of guys in bits and pieces. You're going to have to go get a guy that has speed and nothing else. You're going to have to get a guy that has height and nothing else. You're going to have to have to get a guy that has power and nothing else. You're going to have to get a guy that has athleticism and nothing else. You're going to have to get bits and pieces to put together the puzzle that is Deontay Wilder. There is no one like me with my God-given ability and talent that I have, man. There is no one with my awkward style. But I'm looking forward to the fight and I don't care what Artur Szpilka has to say because you gotta promote the fight. You gotta talk and have confidence in yourself. You gotta speak positive things about yourself because if you don't have confidence and you don't speak positive, how do you expect these other folks to believe in you or your people in Poland to believe in you. Boxing is big in Poland, so you gotta have something to say.
PC: When I talk to boxing people whose opinion I respect, the consensus is that you may be the most improved in-fight fighter of the last year or so. They feel like your growth in the ring is apparent. Do you feel that way as well heading into another year?
DW: Most definitely! But the things I've been doing is the things that I have known that I can do. The only difference is that it's the next level for Deontay Wilder. I'm at a level where I perform to the best of my ability. Back then when I was coming up, of course I was better than those guys and I didn't have to bring out all of my arsenal. I didn't have to bring out everything that I know to beat those guys. I beat those guys just being me and doing the things that I'm capable of doing on any given night. I automatically was just doing things. My right hands were strong and I was hitting these guys with full power. Now, they gonna see that my power… my last few fights, even though I had to show other things that I definitely improved on, the biggest improvement is I've added body shots, fighting on the inside, and I can take a punch and just things that we've been knowing I can do. So it's no surprise to me at all. But I broke my hand in the Stiverne fight and it hasn't been 100% after that fight, but now it's back. But after a year, my hand is back and I'm ready to test it against Szpilka throwing 100% power at him. But to answer your question, I have definitely shown people improvements, but this is just the beginning.
PC: You are an ex-football player, so I will use a football analogy for you. When the Carolina Panthers lost their first game to the Falcons, the experts felt the pressure was off of them and now they could just play football. You were drawing comparisons to Mike Tyson when your 100% knockout ratio was intact. After going the distance with Stiverne when you won the title, did you feel like all of the pressure was off and you could just fight without that tag or label flying over you head?
DW: Yeah, definitely! When I first fought 12 rounds with Stiverne, that was probably the best thing I ever done in my career. I think that was better than if I would have knocked him out because people were used to seeing me knock guys out. It became old to them and they wanted to see more. So when I was able to show them that not only was I fresh in the 1st round, but I was also fresh in the 12th round, that brought my market up a lil' bit and it not only brought confidence in myself, but people grew confident with me and I gained a lot of fans from that as well. People were like, "Ah ****, not only can he take a punch, not only can he box, but he can also go the distance as well too and still look fresh late." It was good to go rounds, and from that fight on, I've been putting in good rounds. Even though I have been knocking guys out and stopping them, I have still been going rounds and showing them that I like to have fun in there. But I think it's time for me to get back on my early knockouts and that's what I'm looking for on January 16th.
PC: Are you expecting a rough and ugly type of fight or do you think he will pick the times carefully of coming inside against you because he has to go through the blades of the helicopter so to speak to get on the inside?
DW: Right, I'm definitely looking for a rough and ugly fight on his behalf, but I'm not going to play into his game. I'm not going to let him dictate. I'm going to make him fight my fight instead of me fighting his fight. My awkward style will play a part. We both have awkward styles, but my style is long and awkward. He's going to see that he won't be able to get in like that, and if he do, it's only going to be for a matter of seconds before I get him back out. My inside game is going to be brutal on him as well. So I'm looking for him to bring an ugly fight, but it's not going to work. Nothing that he's going to be able to do is going to work, that's for sure. When I bring my A game, which I am gong to bring my A game because this is for my title, this is for my baby, and "Sophia" is not ready to leave me, nor will she ever be ready to leave me. So I gotta honor the princess and protect the castle and she staying home with daddy.
PC: You were the last Olympian to medal. Before I let you go, I wanted to let you say a few words in honor of a former gold medalist, Howard Davis Jr., who recently passed away.
DW: Ah man, I want to tell the family that I am sorry for their loss and I hope they are able to come together closer as a family. I know there will be mourning and sadness and sorrow and you just gotta think about, he is going to a better place and he don't have to worry about nothing else on earth. We all hope that when we pass away or one of our relatives or siblings pass away, they go to Heaven and we hope that he made it to Heaven and I know that he is probably smiling down right now and saying how he lived a great life. They have nothing to hold their head for. He was a great man and he did a lot of great things throughout his life and that's what they should be proud of.
PC: Well said champ. Best of luck to you in a couple of weeks. I look forward to the fight and we will speak afterwards. Anything else you want to say before I let you go?
DW: Most definitely. I would just like to tell my fans as well as my haters because you gotta put fans as well as haters in there because you really can't live without both; they both add something to the mix. Without the fans and the haters, I'm still irrelevant. But both talk about me, both do their job, and so that makes me relevant and I'd like to say that I love you guys so much from the bottom of my heart. 2016 is mine, baby! January 16th at the Barclays Center on Showtime, don't miss it! It's going down baby…BOOOOMB SQUUUUAD!!!
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