By Rick Reeno (photo by Tom Casino)
When it comes to WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster (32-2, 28KOs), there are two sides that make the man. The one side is an overall nice guy who is well spoken and loves the word of God. The other side is a ferocious knockout artist, who's aggressive ring nature has labeled him with the nickname of "relentless"
Lamon Brewster came on the heavyweight scene in April of 2004, when he upset Wladimir Klitschko by way of a fifth round TKO to win the vacant WBO heavyweight title. In the fight, Lamon showed heart and desire by taking a terrible beating from Klitschko for the first four rounds of the fight and coming back to stop his opponent in the fifth. Feeling the Wladimir had issues with stamina, Lamon's strategy in the fight was to let Klitschko punch himself out. Following the Klitschko win, conspiracy theories over Wlad's lack of stamina were everywhere and because of that, Lamon's big moment was watered down.
Following a flat performance against close friend Kali Meehan in September of 2004, Brewster came back in May of 2005 to knockout Andrew Golota within 52 seconds of the first round. Now Brewster may be up against his biggest challenge as the WBO champion. He will be flying out to Germany to take on hometown hero Luan Krasniqi (28-1-1, 14KOs) on September 28. The date of fight plays an important role as it falls on German legend Max Schmeling's 100th birthday. Lamon knows that the arena, and likely the whole country will be against him in the bout, but he also knows that only Krasniqi can get in the ring to fight.
BoxingScene sat down with Brewster to talk about the fight with Krasniqi, the politics of boxing and his future.
BoxingScene.com: In your last fight, you finished off Andrew Golota quicker than Lennox Lewis did a few years ago. Did you know he was able to get caught cold at the start of the fight by exploited his weakness of leaving himself open in the early going, a weakness only Lennox Lewis was able to previously exploit?
Lamon Brewster: I didn't know that at all. I just come to fight every second of every round. He was coming to take my title and I'm trying to take care of my family. I'm trying to take care of my family and I'm not going to leave it to the judges in his backyard. I'm looking to win every second of every round. When people ask me, it wasn't no fluke. I come to fight.
I felt right and I wasn't right in a long time. I wasn't right when I fought (Charles) Shufford, I wasn't right when I fought Kali (Meehan). I'm right now. I changed my training, I moved on with my life and I'm right now. Not it's going to be really hard to beat me.
BoxingScene.com: Lamon, a lot of people want to know why you are flying over to Germany, to face Krasniqi in his own backyard, on the 100th birthday of Max Schmeling, and I'm sure you know about all of the suspect decisions involving hometown fighters in Germany?
Lamon Brewster: Ultimately, that's a question you have to ask Don King. On my behalf, the way I look at it is, this is a chance for me to do something that other fighters are afraid to do. Which is to travel outside of the United States to prove that I am not only a United States champion, but a world champion. I'll fight anybody, anywhere. I think this wins me over fans all over the world and I get a lot of fan mail from overseas too.
I think this gives them a chance to see my first-hand and appreciate, hopefully the type of fighter that I am and what I have to offer. I realize that there a lot of things that come into play when fighting Krasniki there, but when we are in the ring it will be just me and him. I just believe that if God is with me that night, it don't matter where I am, I will be victorious. With that said, that's what I have to go as my strength going into this fight.
You have to understand that this is on the one-hundredth birthday of Max Schmeling. Being that he is representing Germany. He is going to be up for this fight and I'm hoping that he tries to mix it up with me, but if he doesn't, no matter what he will be in the best shape of his life and will get up more for this fight than any other fight that he was able to get up for. With me knowing that, I have to train and think about my wife, think about my kids, think about my life. I can't let this man take this away from me, this is all I got. I have to train with even more intensity and I know he is.
I hope he's over training. I hope that because the fight is in his backyard, it cause him to make a mistake as all fighters do. He has to feel the weight of Germany on his shoulders, not me. He has to understand that it doesn't matter where you are from in terms of max Schmeling. Max Schmeling was a warrior. A spirit does not belong to one particular place or person. It belongs to God and the universe. I think that if he think the spirit of Max Schmeling is going to come in the ring and help him, well...that is not going to happen.
BoxingScene.com: You don't sound like your 100% happy with having to go over to Germany to fight this guy?
Lamon Brewster: Well, at first I wasn't, because coming off of my win with (Andrew) Golota, you would think that my next fight would be here and would be televised in the United States when coming off of a big fight like that. So then, they got me fighting over here and it's a mandatory fight so I have to do what I have to do. I'm going to go and take care of him.
BoxingScene.com: Andrew Golota is a fighter with nine lives. You knock him out in record time. The fight was over as quickly as it began. Coming off of that fight, he lands a top spot on a major pay-per-view and you are flying out to Germany to fight on a card that will not be televised in the United States.
Lamon Brewster: Hey man, that's called Don King. Same reason I'm heading off to Germany, same reason he was going to be on that pay-per-view. I don't have to tell you, they had me to lose that fight. But God was with me. If God is with me, then nobody can beat me in that ring.
BoxingScene.com: Going into the Golota fight, you were viewed as a heavy underdog. Some people felt that he beat Chris Byrd when they had a draw and beat John Ruiz when he lost a 12 round decision. When you were signed to fight him, most observers thought Golota was finally going to get a title and get marketed towards a fight with Vitali Klitschko.
Lamon Brewster: You know what? On paper, I would have said the exact same thing. If I take myself out of my shoes, I would have said the exact same thing. But you would have to be in the light of Lamon Brewster to know the demons and the things that he had to overcome in order to perform like I did that night. I don't like to knock anybody because everyone has their own opinion. You cant expect people to have sympathy for you when they don't know your story. Everyone has a story.
BoxingScene.com: When are you heading over to Germany?
Lamon Brewster: I should be leaving on the 18th.
BoxingScene.com: How will the time difference affect you?
Lamon Brewster: I hear that the time we are working out in the gym is around the time the fight will start so it should work out pretty good.
BoxingScene.com: How long have you been in camp for the Krasniqi fight?
Lamon Brewster: I've been training for about two months.
BoxingScene.com: Who are some of the guys that you have been sparring with in preparation for this fight?
Lamon Brewster: Umm, I'm working with Tony "The Tiger" Thompson out of Washington, D.C., Kali "Checkmate" Meehan has come in from Australia. I work with an up and coming heavyweight from Africa who is 9-0, with 8 knockouts. I work with this one cruiserweight for the speed and the movement.
BoxingScene.com: The win over Wladimir Klitschko put you on the map, but there were many conspiracy theories surrounding the win. Do you think that now that you have been in the ring a few more times, people are starting to recognize you as one of the top fighters in the division?
Lamon Brewster: Yeah, I think so. It just takes time. Like I told people, there are more than one way to skin a cat. I told people that when I fought Klitschko, I never had any intention of winning the early rounds. So what if a man wins the first 200 yards of a sprint in a 26 mile marathon. I studied Klitschko and knew what would happen to him in the later rounds. It made me look bad to the unsuspecting eye of boxing to people who don't really know boxing. And then behind his criticism, it made me look even more. People were saying "he's a bum, it was luck" or whatever.
So then when I fought Kali, I fought a friend, which was a major no-no and I looked bad then. In the minds of a lot of people, I can understand why they said Brewster this and that. That was cool because I took that. I deserved it as far as my performance with Meehan, but it was strategy with Klitschko.
I got my head together physically and mentally and getting over my trainer and moving on with my career. The Golota fight was the first of many. There is going to be a lot more, a whole line of them.
BoxingScene.com: What is the main fight that you are chasing in the heavyweight division?
Lamon Brewster: Whoever holds the WBC title. Right now the champion is Vitali Klitschko. I don't take anything from him. Anybody that holds and defends the title, it says something about them. I'm not going to sit here and say anything bad about him. I would definitely like to get a shot at the WBC title. And I would like to fight Vitali Klitschko, the HBO poll said that he was the top heavyweight. Even if I had the WBC title, I would still want to fight him.
BoxingScene.com: I take it that you want the winner of his fight, even if Hasim Rahman pulls off the upset?
Lamon Brewster: Oh yeah, to fight for the WBC. Most definitely man. You have to understand, for the past few years, the WBC has been the most prestigious belt to hold. We could go all the way back to Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. To carry that title would feel like you are really carrying the torch.
BoxingScene.com: I know that you and James Toney were good friends, then there was some animosity. Are the two of you still friends or is there still animosity?
Lamon Brewster: There has never been any animosity. We all have roles in boxing. Some guys are going to be trash talkers, some guys are going to be spiritual, some guys are nice and some guys are going to be mean. It's what makes boxing great, you have all of these individuals. James is a trash talker. When I see him we both laugh about it. No matter what he says, he know that I know where we stand. It's all in fun. Even in the gym when I was training alongside with him, under Freddy Roach and for many years, he used to always yell "it's my gym, get out of my gym". You have to learn to laugh. If any man whatsoever intimidates you from getting in the ring so what kind of man are you to begin with.
There are no hard feelings At least not with me and I doubt with him either because he knows the kind of person I am. I have always looked up to him, I make that no secret. I think he is one of the greatest fighters I have ever seen in my life. How could I ever criticize him? I know he criticized me and called me a bum, but I like that criticism because it makes me work that much harder. But if I do something good and you don't want to give me my props, you don't have to do that either.
BoxingScene.com: At one point both of you have said that you would not fight each other. Since both of you are being ducked by many of the top heavyweights, does it make business sense to just fight each other?
Lamon Brewster: Only if they make the money right. I don't know about James, but I'm speaking for myself. I'm not going to fight James unless they make it right for me or him. I'm just not going to do it no matter what they say. I would rather them just take my belt. How do you fight your hero? How do you fight a guy that you were watching at 16 and running to the gym and telling the trainer about how good he is. Many years later, now there is a chance that you and him might fight.
You know more things about this man's fights than he probably knows himself. So how do you turn around and fight this man? Rocky Marciano cried like a baby when he had to fight Joe Louis. He had to fight him because that's what he had to do, not because he wanted to. And if I have to fight James Toney, I will probably cry like a baby too, but I will also take care of my business if it's worth it.
BoxingScene.com: Not to look past Krasniki, but I'm guessing that you want your next fight within the United States and held before the year is out?
Lamon Brewster: I plan on fighting in December.
BoxingScene.com: You already have your sights on fighting again in December?
Lamon Brewster: I would like to. I owe it to my fans here. Coming off of my win over Golota and going over there off-television. It means that I haven't fought on television here since May and that's too long for the American people to wait in order to see me fight. No matter how good your are, if they don't see your face on television they will forget you. They remember Mike because Mike fought frequent. I'm just trying to follow in the footsteps of the great fighters and do what they did.
BoxingScene.com: Are you tired of wasting time with contenders and is your mind now set on fighting other champions in the division?
Lamon Brewster: Yeah, I worked my way up from the ranks. And so I think it's only fair for my career, for my fans and my family, that I would fight the other people at the top so they could truly know who is the number one heavyweight is. It wouldn't make sense for me to fight below another belt holder because that's where I come from. Don't look back, look forward.
BoxingScene.com: I know that you are Chris Byrd are related, close friends and have agreed not to fight each other unless you two are the last two champions standing.
Lamon Brewster: Right. Now I say that because they aren't going to make the Klitschko brothers fight, there is no way they would of done that so let's just see how fair they are.
BoxingScene.com: Would you entertain a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko is he gets by Samuel Peter in the WBO eliminator?
Lamon Brewster: Yeah, I would fight Wladimir again, but he would have to earn it. Even if he beats Samuel Peter, the only thing people are going to say is that Samuel Peter was a prospect and maybe they rushed him. They will say Peter is not on his level. Unless he fight someone like Chris Byrd, gets another title, becomes my mandatory or they make the money right, then of course it makes sense to fight him.
BoxingScene.com: In closing, what would you like to say to the people reading this interview?
Lamon Brewster: I would like to say to them, that I want them to remember that the fighters will fight who the people say. It's the people who hold the power, not the promoters. No matter how great he is, it doesn't meany anything if people are not going to pay to see him fight. People need to learn how to throw their weight around a little bit in order to make these fight happen and not let these fighters duck and dodge.
As long as people are not picking up the phone and not calling Don King's office, not calling Bob Arum's office or calling HBO, they are going to get what we give them. I am also a fan of boxing and I don't think it's right.
I am going to fight in Germany to represent the fans of the United States because you did not pick up the phone and call Don King and tell him that you demand Lamon Brewster fights in the United States or we are going to boycott you. The people got the power.