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"My next date should be August or September. As far as names, I really don't want to call anybody out, but if I could pick anybody, they were talking about Chris Byrd fighting Glen Johnson because Johnson doesn't have anything lined up and everybody else in the division has something going on. I would like to get Glen Johnson in there if I had a choice, but I don't think I have that choice yet so we'll see," stated light heavyweight contender Shaun George as he talked about his future plans after his impressive victory over former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd. Check out what else he had to say about his performance and much more.
PC: Congratulations on your win over Chris Byrd.
SG: Thanks man, I appreciate it. It was a lot of hard work and dedication put into that. I was out in training camp for a minute.
PC: You did exactly what you told me you would do and that's make it your night. How did it feel to come through on your word?
SG: It feels great. I know what I can do. Everybody was doubting me and looking past me and thought Chris was going to pass me up, but I know my abilities. I know when I'm focused what I'm able to do so it was a great feeling.
PC: I'm sure you've heard that Chris passed out after the fight. Is there anything you want to say to him?
SG: Sure. I hope everything is good. I think they over medicated him. I wish him and his family well. They are very cool people; his wife, his son, his dad and his mom. His whole team was really cool and I wish them well.
PC: The punch that started the trouble for Byrd was a punch that you hadn't thrown the entire fight and that was a left uppercut. Did you feel him start to lean in a little bit and knew that punch was going to be available to you?
SG: Yeah. Well, I realized I could split his guard and the left uppercut is one of my favorite shots to throw so if you noticed, I worked my way into it. I dipped right and then I dipped left and then I caught him with the left uppercut. All of my weight was behind the left uppercut when I threw it and I dropped the right hand behind it. It was one of my trademark shots. I love that shot and it worked out.
PC: Tommy Brooks wanted you to step up and get Byrd out of there. You were very patient in your attack. What were you seeing in there and did you feel that you would get the stoppage?
SG: I knew I was going to get the stoppage from round 1; even before the round. I was so confident and ready for this fight. I wasn't even nervous in the locker room because I knew all of the hard work I had put into the gym. My preparation…I mean, I've never trained like this before in my life. I was ready for this fight. Tommy, like I said before, my gameplan was to listen to my trainer; stay disciplined and listen to my trainer. Tommy kept telling me to put my punches together, but the problem was Chris was still crafty. I could hit him with one shot, but it was hard for me to catch him with that left hook. When Tommy told me to put my punches together, I had to find different shots to throw so when I threw that left uppercut, that's what happened.
PC: Were you surprised that you dropped him so early into the fight?
SG: No. People underestimate my punching power. In every fight I've ever fought, I've always hurt my opponent. I just wasn't a strong finisher. In training camp, we've been working on that a lot. Tommy told me when I get him hurt…and this has been Tommy's words since day one, that it's a given that I'm going to hurt you, it's just how I'm going to finish. Tommy told me when I get him hurt, not to go crazy; just keep doing what I was doing before, using my jab and my angles. He told me to keep doing what I was doing, just pick up the pace a little more and that's what I did and I got him out of there late.
PC: Tarver was giving you a lot of credit even before the fight started. You must have given him some good work in his preparation for Clinton Woods?
SG: I'm telling you right now Percy, before I went down to camp, I thought Antonio was arrogant. I thought he was…the way he came off, he rubbed me the wrong way. He rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but Antonio is a good guy man. He helped me out in a lot of different ways. We were going at it. He didn't bring me down there to be his sparring partner. People he was taking advantage of in the gym, he was sending home. When it all comes down to it, we were going to war. I learned a lot and I think he learned some things. It was great sparring.
PC: Helping him prepare for Woods, you were in a sense getting some work for Byrd considering Tarver is a southpaw.
SG: It was so perfect. I got to Florida and it was great and then we left Florida and headed to Arizona and sparred with Vassiliy Jirov, another type of southpaw. I was expecting Chris Byrd to do a lot of different things. We know he's a slick boxer, but coming down in weight, we thought that he would try to be super aggressive so we had a slick southpaw in Antonio Tarver and a real aggressive southpaw in Vassiliy Jirov. I was so happy with the training; it was a superstar training camp.
PC: It may have been tough for you to see being across the ring from him and all of the adrenaline going, but did you notice his shoulder was messed up when he got up?
SG: Honestly, I didn't see it at all. I didn't even see how he fell or anything. I didn't realize his shoulder was hurt until I went over to him afterwards and I touched his shoulder and he winced and I was like, "Oh!" That's when I realized it. Chris is a stand-up guy. He gave me some good advice. He told me not to take the fight for granted and he didn't want to see me mess up this opportunity from this point on and I'm not going to mess up. I'm so focused and I'm thinking about when I'm going to get back in the gym again and I want to go tomorrow, but I'm going to wait. I'll probably go running this week and go back to the gym the following week. I'm ready to make the next move and I want to be prepared and focused. I want to make a statement in the light heavyweight division. I want to be the world light heavyweight champion of the world now that I know I'm able to do it.
PC: When would you like to fight again and is there any name out there that you would like to face next?
SG: I want to fight as soon as possible. My next date should be August or September. As far as names, I really don't want to call anybody out, but if I could pick anybody, they were talking about Chris Byrd fighting Glen Johnson because Johnson doesn't have anything lined up and everybody else in the division has something going on. I would like to get Glen Johnson in there if I had a choice, but I don't think I have that choice yet so we'll see.
PC: Cong**** again man. It was a hell of a performance. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
SG: I want to thank everybody for their support. I really appreciate it; like seriously. I want everyone to tune in to my next fight, whenever it may be, so tune into FightHype to see when I will fight again because I'm here. I have arrived in the light heavyweight division and I ain't going nowhere anytime soon.
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