Boxing Biofiles: Benn, Holyfield, Lewis, Klitschko's, Steve Collins and David Tua

Boxing Legend Biofile: Nigel Benn By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: Former WBC Super Middleweight champ. BORN ON: Jan. 22, 1964 IN: Ilford, London. RESIDENCE: Majorca, Spain (via Beckingham, Kent). FAMILY: Wife Carolyne; sons, Conor, Dominic, daughters, Sade, Renee, India. CHILDHOOD HEROES: Mike Tyson, Marvin Hagler and Bruce Lee. I love martial arts. I did martial arts for six years. NICKNAMES: The Dark Destroyer, The Mean Machine, Nigel "Rambo" Benn, The English Hagler, Mr. Punch. HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Going to church. Christian counselor. Training my two cousins. Music, deejaying. CHILDHOOD DREAM: To be somebody. I knew I was going to be somebody. My mom wanted me to become a chef. EARLY BOXING MEMORY: Back in the Army in Germany, I stopped a guy when he broke his hand on the top of my head (age 18). FIRST JOB(S): In the Army, labourer and security guard. FUNNY BOXING MEMORY: Doug DeWitt fight in 1990 in Atlantic City. DeWitt walked over to me in the ring and said, 'You're going down.' I replied, 'I might be going down, but you're STAYING down!' PRE-FIGHT MEAL: Fish and rice or fish and pasta. Half a jar of honey. Very good for you. Gets in your blood real quick. PRE-FIGHT FEELING: Confident. I knew I trained two and sometimes three times a day. I knew my body was ready for the fight. The hard part was the training, the fight is the easy part. I was good at peaking for the night of the fight. I never had any fear of my opponents. I was nervous, but never afraid. TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Gerald McClellan. Robbie Sims was the strongest. Stronger than (Chris) Eubank and (Michael) Watson. I had to watch out for his body punching. Nicky Piper was able to absorb heavy punches. Henry Wharton was one of my toughest fights. I never came out of the ring as bruised as I had after that fight. I had to undergo hospital checks on my kidneys. HARDEST PUNCHER: Gerald McClellan. Man, I didn't know where I was. I didn't know a guy could hit that hard. Knocked me straight through the ropes in the first round. And in the third round he hit me with a body shot. I never felt a body shot like that before. CLOSEST BOXING FRIENDS: I try to stay away from boxers. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: Whipping Doug DeWitt for the WBO Middleweight title. Three knockdowns in the 8th round. I'd never seen a man take so much pain. DeWitt saved every punch with his face. Both his eyes were split. His ear was so smashed it turned blue. My eye was split as well. And I broke my wrist with the very last punch of the fight, a left hook. MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: The McClellan fight. Inflicting that kind of damage does something to you. I'd wanted to win, sure. But not at that price. On that night, my heart went out of boxing. BIGGEST REGRETS: Looking back, I had a pretty full career. 14 years, starting in Germany in the fall of 82. I won every tournament I was in- in the Army, I was number one in Europe in the Army. I was supposed to turn professional in 1985 but I had some unfinished business with Rod Douglas, I reversed my only loss the following year and even turned down an opportunity to turn professional on a Tyson undercard at MSG (Madison Square Garden) so that I could win the ABA's. I knocked out my first 21 opponents, picked up the commonwealth cup and made a name for myself. I won two world titles, my overhand right smash took Iran Barkley and Gerald McClellan to their knees in title defences. So what I'm saying is I'm just happy that I did something with my life, happy that I put something into boxing, you know most of my childhood friends are either dead or in jail. You know? FAVOURITE MOVIE: Scarface. FAVOURITE TV SHOWS: Discovery Channel, learning about history. Game shows, The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, The Pyramids. MUSICAL TASTES: Garage music. FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT: Caribbean. FAVOURITE BOXERS: Mike Tyson. I really love that guy. My type of guy. Not so much his out of ring conduct. I met him in Las Vegas during Leonard-Duran III, at a club. He was sitting down. He knew of me. Outside, I was acting real cool. Inside, I was excited, Wow, I just met my hero! Love him to death.

Comments (10)

Thanks for the wonderful responces. JUYJUY (BoxingScene's best)

20y ago

Famoso_Matador

Wladamis FUNNY BOXING MEMORY was funny as shit. Thanks for the info i thought it was really interesting.

20y ago

Subwayboy

o wlady wlady wlady, for breakfast u like cottage cheese and strawberry, and u get so scared that a hot chick wants to bang u u knock the guy out in the first round so she doestn see u in the second? my my my That is the best post i have seen on any forums ever :D

20y ago

AintGottaClue

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Biofile: David Tua By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: Heavyweight contender. HT: 5-10 1/2 WT: 244 BORN ON: Nov. 21, 1972 IN: Western Samoa RECORD: 37-1-1 (29 KOs). NICKNAMES: Terminator, The Destroyer, Sleeping Pills ("For putting guys to sleep."), Good Night Nurse, The Tua Man. PREFIGHT FEELING: I do a lot of praying. Not only for myself, I pray for my opponent. Sit down, stay calm, think about all the days, the nights, the mornings of running, the hard work preparing for the fight. Think about my family. When I climb through them ropes I have to bring on the beast. That means I have to keep my eyes on (the opponent) at all times. Don't lose focus. He's gonna try to steal my dreams. EARLY BOXING MEMORY: I didn't like boxing when I was younger. I remember trying to lift up the gloves when I was five...just too heavy. Then, as life goes on, my father (Tuavale), who owned a convenience store, used to call the grown-up guys and told them to spar with me. If they hurt me, he'd reward them with a sweet. And I got a strap. It was because of that I didn't want to do boxing anymore. We moved to New Zealand in 1984, for a better future. It was then that I started liking boxing. My dad probably saw something good in me a long time ago. He saw I could become what I am today. CHILDHOOD HEROES: Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali. HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Try my best to listen to God's words. Read the Bible and communicate with him in prayer. Spend time with family, friends and loved ones. Write poetry, lyrics, play guitar and shoot pool. FAVORITE MOVIES: The Ten Commmandments, Ben Hur, The Three Stooges, Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep." MUSICAL TASTES: "Country, Dwight Yoakam, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Jerry Clark, Christian choir music. I appreciate all music. Because it all has a little message inside that can make a difference in my life or anybody's. FAVORITE MEAL: What my mom (Noela) cooks. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Vanilla. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: It will be when I fulfill my destiny and become heavyweight champion of the world. FAVORITE BOXERS: I like to watch everybody. Everybody has a different style, a little something to offer I can learn from, to help me. Deep inside my head I know what fighters go through. I appreciate them all and the pain barriers they go through to accomplish their goals. FUTURE AMBITION: To become heavyweight champion of the world. It's my destiny.

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Biofile: Steve Collins By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: Former two-weight world boxing champion BORN ON: 21st of July in Ireland YEAR: 64 RESIDENCE: Ireland FAMILY: I've got a big family CHILDHOOD HEROES: Rocky movies. My boxing family. My Uncle Terry as an amateur beat Reggie Kray and Brendan Ingle back in the old days. My Dad was a boxer too. And my Uncle Jack was a good one. NICKNAMES: The Celtic Warrior, 'Irish' Steve Collins, Stevie. HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Polo. CHILDHOOD DREAM: Heavyweight champion of the world. But my main goal when I was a kid was to eventually become Irish champion like my Uncle Jack, I mean in the seniors (amateurs). EARLY BOXING MEMORY: Punching myself out in the first 30 seconds or so. I was a fat boy and I almost died. I was like maybe eight years old and I think it was my first fight. FIRST JOB: Worked at the Guinness brewery when I left school. FUNNY BOXING MEMORY: Freaking out Eubank (laughs). McChris McEubank (laughs). I got into his head and played with it (laughs). PRE-FIGHT MEAL: I'd eat bowls of pasta after the weigh-in. I used to starve myself to make weight. PRE-FIGHT FEELING: Looking forward to it, happy. My problem was I wanted to spar, spar, spar in the gym and not work on anything, just fight, fight, fight. So when fight time came around, boy I was happy about that. Yeah I was happy you see. You know something, when I stop him or when the 12 rounds are up then that's like the come-down. It's upsetting. So I was happy about the fight (laughs). I was more nervous about the fight being over than getting in there and fighting (laughs). TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Eubank by far. Go past the monocles and the canes and the riding boots and you have a tough, tough, tough man who was born into a South London ghetto and had to fight and steal to survive in his younger days. HARDEST PUNCHER: Nigel Benn by far. It was like he had bricks in his gloves, but the pain was gone in a split second. CLOSEST BOXING FRIENDS: Well, my brother Paschal if that counts? GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: Eubank on St Patricks Day, quite obviously. That was right up there with Barry's (McGuigan) win over Pedroza as far as legendary nights for Irish boxing. That was a memorable night at Mill Street. Best night of my life. MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: Nigel Benn's punches. BIGGEST REGRETS: My biggest regret was out of my hands really, I tried everything to get Roy Jones into the ring with me but nothing worked. So put down my biggest regret as not busting Roy Jones' eardrums. I'd rather fight Roy Jones than Roy Keane, atleast Keane has guts. FAVOURITE MOVIE: Raging Bull. FAVOURITE TV SHOWS: (laughs) Coronation Street because my mate Keith Duffy (laughs). MUSICAL TASTES: Oh, alsorts. From David Bowe to Frank Sinatra. FAVOURITE VACATION: Florida. FAVOURITE BOXERS: Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler. I am a friend of Marvin Hagler's.

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Biofile: Wladimir Klitschko By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: WBO Heavyweight Champion HT: 6-5 WT: 238 BORN ON: March 25, 1976 IN: Kiev, Ukraine CHILDHOOD HEROES: I had very many heroes. Bruce Lee, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, my brother (Vitaliy), all the best boxers, so many people. Max Schmeling. He's my idol. He's 96 now and still very strong. He has a great personality. He was a successful boxer and businessman. I met him three years ago with my brother and his mind is still sharp. We talked a long time with him. He was 93 then and remembers everything. And speaks clearly, not like Ali. Max Schmeling is a great example that a boxer should get out of the game with their health. Boxing can be a brutal sport. HOBBIES/INTERESTS: I like my doctorate work. Computer, surfing the Internet. I like to wakeboard, snowboard...it's so fun. I have a helicopter pilot's license. Languages...I'm from Ukraine. I now live in Hamburg, Germany. I speak very good German. My English is not so good now but I know I must learn how and I hope soon I can do much better. CHILDHOOD DREAM: I dreamed about everything as a boy...military man, doctor, spaceman. But not boxing. EARLY BOXING MEMORY: We drove away to a tournament in Kazakhstan (age 14). About 40 boxers were there. I wait for my first fight. I wait, wait. I wonder, what happened? Where's my opponent? (Tournament official) says, 'You win. You don't have an opponent. Only you here in heavyweight division.' My first championship and I don't have an opponent . After that, my first amateur fight, I lost (on points). And after my first fight, I win everything that I can. FAVORITE MEAL: I like desserts. Every kind of dessert . I like good food...Italian, Chinese, Japanese, French. FAVORITE BREAKFAST: Cottage cheese and strawberries. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Vanilla. FUNNY BOXING MEMORY: In Germany, we have two round card girls per fight. Before one of my fights, one of the round card girls started talking to me...'I love you, I'm really a big fan.' A beautiful girl. But she was a little bit too forward. And she said, 'I will give you the keys to my house when I come into the ring between rounds.' I thought she was joking. But I was scared she would really do it. But I scored a knockout in round one and I never saw her again . PREFIGHT FEELING: Concentrating and calming down. Caaaaaalm. I think about my fight. And the very many people looking at my fight. I've been waiting for this moment. And I know only one can leave the ring as the champion. And I want to be the champion. FAVORITE BOXERS TO WATCH: All boxers. From every boxer, one can take the best from him. Having the best style needs the best styles to learn from. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: Olympic Games as an amateur. The Olympic Games I had a dream to go as a child. Then I have gold medal around my neck. After three days, I got home (to Ukraine). Then I see the interest from the people...the parades for me, attention from TV. And winning the WBO title from Chris Byrd. MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: My fight with (Ross) Purrity. I lost to myself (TKO 11 in '98). I win all rounds. And after round nine, I'm tired. No stamina. I learned not to do too much hard punching. I was too young for that fight, didn't have enough experience. It was an important and big experience for me." FAVORITE MOVIES: I like action movies...Matrix. The Mummy. Titanic is not so bad. Rocky's really interesting. Terminator. Running Man. MUSICAL TASTES: Classical, Mozart, Beethoven, jazz, pop, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins. FAVORITE ATHLETES TO WATCH: Difficult question. A part of Ali, a part of Holyfield, a part of Tyson. (Formula 1 racer) Michael Schumacher. Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Marat Safin. Anna Kournikova . FIRST JOB: I am a school teacher and I teach biology and physical culture. But I have too much work in boxing now. PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED: People who have good character, strong character. A will. And a wish.

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Biofile: Vitaly Klitschko By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: Heavyweight Contender HT: 6-8 WT: 246 BORN ON: July 19, 1971 IN: Kiev, Ukraine CHILDHOOD HERO: Muhammad Ali - the best boxer, all times. NICKNAME: Iron Fist. CHILDHOOD DREAM: Spaceman or astronaut or do karate like Bruce Lee . HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Wakeboarding, jet skiing, scuba diving, table tennis, study, training. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: It is coming next year...in the year 2001 when I box Mike Tyson . MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: None of them. (The most difficult part of boxing is the) preparation, the training. It's a long time, always the same every day. No changes. How do you say it...boring. And I have a lot of easy fights. FUNNY MEMORY: Five years ago in England. It was an amateur fight. After a heavy knockout, the opponent came back to me and told me, 'I will come back. Then I will show you how good I really am.' It was a very strong, heavy knockout. He was laying down for a long time. A strong hit. I wondered, next time I have to hit him harder? Is my arm too light ? FAVORITE MOVIES: Rocky - very nice movie. Excellent. Many movies. Discovery Channel - very interesting to me. MUSICAL TASTES: Old music, classical, jazz, pop. Big fan of Cher, The Beatles and Eagles. My favorite song is 'Hotel California.' FAVORITE MEAL: Italian. FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: Not cereals, more yogurt and fruit. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Cranberry. FAVORITE ATHLETES: Dynamo Kiev soccer team. Women's gymnastics - so agile, they look so beautiful to me. Andrei Medvedev and Nicolas Kiefer (tennis). WORST INJURY: Broken right hand in the semifinal at Russian national amateur championships ('94). Still I won the match but couldn't fight in the final. PREFIGHT FEELING: Nothing really special. Dress and concentrate on the fight. (Upon entering ring) I'm watching the opponent...without sending signals. In the eyes of someone you can see the mirror of the inside...how he's concentrated, how willing to fight he is, if he's strong or not, if he's nervous or whatever. I'm reading them. FUTURE AMBITION: Together with my brother (Wladimir) to have every heavyweight championship belt in the world, in the family. We promised our mother (Nadia) that we will never ever fight against each other. We never have fought or sparred. It's the closest a brother relationship can be.

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Legend Biofile: Lennox Lewis By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: 1988 Olympic gold medallist and two-time Heavyweight Champion. HT: 6-5 WT: 250 BORN ON: Sept. 2, 1965 IN: East London, England NICKNAMES: Lennie The Lion, Lennox 'Lethal' Lewis, The Gentle Giant, Rough & Rugged, Cool & Deadly. CHILDHOOD SPORTS HERO: Muhammad Ali. HOBBIES-INTERESTS: Basketball, football, watching movies, playing chess, tennis, video games, ping pong, billiards. CHILDHOOD DREAM: Fireman. PREFIGHT FEELING: Very focused. You mustn't let your mind wander on to anything else when you're boxing. If you're not concentrating 100%, you're courting disaster. There's a man across the ring trying to take the top of your head off. The only fear I have is the fear of losing. I don't feel fear or pain or fear of my opponent, because I have prepared myself to deal with anything that happens in a fight. Boxing is the life I've chosen and the risk I've decided to take. People climb Everest and then suddenly five of them fall off the mountain and die. And people are asking, Why, why, why? Well, just because - because we're human beings, and we test ourselves with challenges. FIRST JOB: Shoveling snow in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I was an entrepreneur . FIRST CAR: A big, old boat, I don't know what it was! EARLY BOXING MEMORY: When I was a kid and I was running I would sometimes fantasize about boxing. But in an odd way, I was never Muhammad Ali. It was always me fighting his fights. On those runs I must have knocked out George Foreman and Joe Frazier a hundred times in my imagination. But it was always me doing it my way, never Ali doing it his. FAVORITE MOVIES: Scarface, Raging Bull. MUSICAL TASTES: Reggae, rap, Bob Marley, dance music. FAVORITE MEAL: Caribbean, french fries and apple pie ala mode. FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: Wheaties or Raisin Bran. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Rum raisin or chocolate. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: In Canada, when I was going for the 100-mile run and I'd seen her. There she was. She was beautiful and I waved to her. That was a Kodak moment . MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: I'd have to sit down and really think about it, but I don't have too many. FAVORITE HOLIDAY SPOT: Jamaica. PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED: Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King.

20y ago

JUYJUY

Boxing Legend Biofile: Evander Holyfield By Scoop Malinowski STATUS: Four-time heavyweight champ. CHILDHOOD HERO: Martin Luther King. He was a great man, a Christian man. Good for the people. He tried to take the people to the Promised Land. NICKNAMES: The Real Deal, Warrior, Commander Vander, Chubby (as a kid). HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Bowling, helping people, listening to music, all sports. EARLY BOXING MEMORY: Well, I started at the Boys Club, eight-years old. My first fight, I became the Boys Club champion. I fought a guy by the name of Premium Raytcher. I hit him one punch (a right cross), he started crying and they stopped the fight . PRE-FIGHT FEELING: I feel a strangeness. Kind of nervous. Always visualize a lot before you get there that night. (Once in the ring) I look at my opponent...for weakness. Right in his eyes to see if he's confident or not. And to let him know he's in trouble . FAVORITE MOVIES: The Ten Commandments, Rocky III. MUSICAL TASTES: Gospel, love ballads, and a little rap. FIRST JOB(S): Vendor at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. I was also a lifeguard. And I pumped gas at the airport. FIRST CAR: 1973 Pontiac LeMans. LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Perfect attendance in high school. GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: Making the 1984 U.S. Olympic boxing team. Being a representative of the United States. I was doing it for more than myself. I got to represent my country. To do it for all the people in the U.S. CHILDHOOD DREAM(S): To be a fireman, football player or boxer. PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED: People the best at what they do. Being the best, you get a chance to energize people, touch people's lives. So that if they find something that they can do real well, and they put the time in to develop it, it will bring them to success. Boxing is what I do best. I find myself surrounded by people who are good in other things too. They'll allow you not to be envious of somebody. Hey, I got something I do well, too. You spend all your time writing. I spend all my time training. So I can respect you and know why you're good. And not be envious of you because you write better than me and you put words together better. Everybody should have something to hang their hat on. And that allows you to have that joy and love for everybody. What you do best can bring you joy at any time. FAVORITE MEAL: Black-eyed peas, cornbread, collard greens, yams and banana pudding. FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: Tony the Tiger . FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR(S): Neopolitan. I like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. FAVORITE BOXERS TO WATCH: Trinidad, Floyd Mayweather. TOUGHEST OPPONENT: My first fight with Bowe was the toughest. FAVORITE FIGHT: Leonard-Hearns I. STRATEGY TO DEFEAT MIKE TYSON: Tyson might frighten you. But he doesn't scare me. This is my game, my trade. I've been everywhere he has, except prison. You can't just outbox him. You have got to be prepared to fight. The point is, to beat a guy like that, you've got to fight him. To get his respect. And then box him. If he puts you in a corner, you have to fight. If you have space, then you box. You have to do both. And if a guy can't fight, he's not going to win. We all know what fear is. And Tyson knows I've never been afraid of him. He knows I've been through a lot of adversity, same as him. But all big punchers are affected when they get hit. They're used to doing the hitting. And I don't think Tyson's the sort of guy to get up when he goes down.

20y ago