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ALLAN GREEN WANTS PAUL WILLIAMS: "IT WON'T GO TWELVE!"
By Doveed Linderm
DL: What have you been up to since your last fight? "Just relaxing. Trying to get something else going. I wanted to fight Bute , I guess that’s not going to happen. I wanted to fight Froch, I guess that’s not going to happen. I wanted to fight Dawson , I guess that’s not going to happen."
DL: You’re in a division where there’s a lot of talent right now and you just made a big statement in your last fight. Have you had any offers?
AG: Oh, no. Nobody’s knockin’ the door down to fight me. But I mean I’ve contacted a lot of people and there’re a lot of fights I’ve wanted like the names I just gave you. But it seems they’re not in a rush to fight me for some reason.
DL: Where would you rank yourself right now among the other super middleweights?
AG: Out of respect, you have to put the three champions at the top – one, two, and three. But I put myself just under them. I feel I’m the best. But as far as my ratings or whatever… I feel I’m the best in the division hands down.
DL: At this point in your career, you’ve got to be ready for a major fight.
AG: Yeah, I mean it’s long overdue, man. It’s long overdue. I’ve never had a big fight at super middleweight. When I fought Miranda I had to do it at a smaller weight on short notice. I’ve never had a big fight at super middleweight and I’ve been in the top 10 for about three years.
DL: Well, there has been some talk from Paul Williams about possibly giving the super middleweight division a try and I understand that’s a fight that interests you.
AG: Yeah, I mean, no disrespect to Paul. I like Paul. Me and Paul go way back. Early in our careers we fought on a lot of the same cards. I consider Paul a good guy. He’s one of the guys I’m cool with in the game. But if he says nobody wants to fight him and nobody wants to fight me either… It’s nothing personal with Paul, but I feel like we should get a chance to fight. I feel like we should get it on. I have a lot more to lose than he does. If he loses to me, it’s okay. He lost to a super middleweight. He can always go back down in weight.
DL: How do you see this fight playing out?
AG: Paul is awkward. You know, very awkward. I’m not sure how high his boxing IQ is. Obviously, I respect his game. I respect his talent and his skills, but I can’t see him going the distance with me.
DL: None of the big names in the lower weight classes are calling his name. Do you think they’re avoiding him and is the same thing happening with you?
AG: Yeah, and I heard they’re saying how he should fight guys like Bernard or Calzaghe at 75, so my take on it is like nobody wants to fight me, nobody wants to fight Paul, let’s give the fans a great fight at 68. He shouldn’t have a problem coming up to fight Allan Green at 68.
DL: What would you say to the people who believe he might be too small for 168, given that he can fight at 147?
AG: He may be. I don’t know. That will remain to be seen. You know what I’m saying? Who knows? He may come up and fight the right guy at one of these weights and look great and then all of a sudden oh, you know, he’s big enough. And then he might fight me and get stopped and then he’s not big enough. So it’s kind of hard to even say. I mean I don’t know. I never seen the guy fight at a higher weight. I mean I saw when he fought Wright and he looked good at that weight. But at 68? I don’t know. That remains to be seen. Give the guy a shot. Let him try first and I would like him to try it against me. It’s nothing personal against Paul, ‘cause I like Paul. It’s nothing personal. No beef. Nothing disrespectful to say about the man. But like you said, nobody wants to fight him and nobody wants to fight me. If he does come up to 168, I’d like to fight him. If he doesn’t, I won’t say nothing else about him. No disrespect to Paul. He can keep doing his thing at welterweight and junior middleweight. No disrespect. But if he does come up to 168, me and him should hook up.
DL: Outside of Paul Williams, what else interests you?
AG: Bute , Froch, and Kessler - those guys.
DL: The big names?
AG: If you want to call them big names. Well, for super middleweight I guess they’re big names. A lot of these big name guys like Bute - I call the guy out on TV and all of a sudden I hear he doesn’t want to fight me. He’d rather fight Joey Spina. I’m like what the hell is going on? Joey Spina? Are you serious? I mean I don’t know. I’m a man and I don’t like to call another man afraid or scared. But Joey Spina is not even in our class. He’s not. So if they decide, OK I don’t want to fight Allan Green and then go to fight Joey Spina… If you don’t want to fight me or Froch or anybody else what the hell were you at our fight for? I don’t understand it. I guess he had a change of heart.
DL: Any closing thoughts?
AG: Not really, man. Just like I said, if everything goes the way it should I should be at the top of my division by the end of the year. It’s no secret. I haven’t been ducking anyone or nothing like that. I’m trying to get the bigger fights. There are a lot of younger guys starting to come up now, too. You got Ward and Dirrell and a lot of other guys, so it’s time for me to move up to championship status. You know what I mean? When I’ve been in the game a lot longer than a lot of the young guys and they start moving close to my position, something’s wrong.
By Doveed Linderm
DL: What have you been up to since your last fight? "Just relaxing. Trying to get something else going. I wanted to fight Bute , I guess that’s not going to happen. I wanted to fight Froch, I guess that’s not going to happen. I wanted to fight Dawson , I guess that’s not going to happen."
DL: You’re in a division where there’s a lot of talent right now and you just made a big statement in your last fight. Have you had any offers?
AG: Oh, no. Nobody’s knockin’ the door down to fight me. But I mean I’ve contacted a lot of people and there’re a lot of fights I’ve wanted like the names I just gave you. But it seems they’re not in a rush to fight me for some reason.
DL: Where would you rank yourself right now among the other super middleweights?
AG: Out of respect, you have to put the three champions at the top – one, two, and three. But I put myself just under them. I feel I’m the best. But as far as my ratings or whatever… I feel I’m the best in the division hands down.
DL: At this point in your career, you’ve got to be ready for a major fight.
AG: Yeah, I mean it’s long overdue, man. It’s long overdue. I’ve never had a big fight at super middleweight. When I fought Miranda I had to do it at a smaller weight on short notice. I’ve never had a big fight at super middleweight and I’ve been in the top 10 for about three years.
DL: Well, there has been some talk from Paul Williams about possibly giving the super middleweight division a try and I understand that’s a fight that interests you.
AG: Yeah, I mean, no disrespect to Paul. I like Paul. Me and Paul go way back. Early in our careers we fought on a lot of the same cards. I consider Paul a good guy. He’s one of the guys I’m cool with in the game. But if he says nobody wants to fight him and nobody wants to fight me either… It’s nothing personal with Paul, but I feel like we should get a chance to fight. I feel like we should get it on. I have a lot more to lose than he does. If he loses to me, it’s okay. He lost to a super middleweight. He can always go back down in weight.
DL: How do you see this fight playing out?
AG: Paul is awkward. You know, very awkward. I’m not sure how high his boxing IQ is. Obviously, I respect his game. I respect his talent and his skills, but I can’t see him going the distance with me.
DL: None of the big names in the lower weight classes are calling his name. Do you think they’re avoiding him and is the same thing happening with you?
AG: Yeah, and I heard they’re saying how he should fight guys like Bernard or Calzaghe at 75, so my take on it is like nobody wants to fight me, nobody wants to fight Paul, let’s give the fans a great fight at 68. He shouldn’t have a problem coming up to fight Allan Green at 68.
DL: What would you say to the people who believe he might be too small for 168, given that he can fight at 147?
AG: He may be. I don’t know. That will remain to be seen. You know what I’m saying? Who knows? He may come up and fight the right guy at one of these weights and look great and then all of a sudden oh, you know, he’s big enough. And then he might fight me and get stopped and then he’s not big enough. So it’s kind of hard to even say. I mean I don’t know. I never seen the guy fight at a higher weight. I mean I saw when he fought Wright and he looked good at that weight. But at 68? I don’t know. That remains to be seen. Give the guy a shot. Let him try first and I would like him to try it against me. It’s nothing personal against Paul, ‘cause I like Paul. It’s nothing personal. No beef. Nothing disrespectful to say about the man. But like you said, nobody wants to fight him and nobody wants to fight me. If he does come up to 168, I’d like to fight him. If he doesn’t, I won’t say nothing else about him. No disrespect to Paul. He can keep doing his thing at welterweight and junior middleweight. No disrespect. But if he does come up to 168, me and him should hook up.
DL: Outside of Paul Williams, what else interests you?
AG: Bute , Froch, and Kessler - those guys.
DL: The big names?
AG: If you want to call them big names. Well, for super middleweight I guess they’re big names. A lot of these big name guys like Bute - I call the guy out on TV and all of a sudden I hear he doesn’t want to fight me. He’d rather fight Joey Spina. I’m like what the hell is going on? Joey Spina? Are you serious? I mean I don’t know. I’m a man and I don’t like to call another man afraid or scared. But Joey Spina is not even in our class. He’s not. So if they decide, OK I don’t want to fight Allan Green and then go to fight Joey Spina… If you don’t want to fight me or Froch or anybody else what the hell were you at our fight for? I don’t understand it. I guess he had a change of heart.
DL: Any closing thoughts?
AG: Not really, man. Just like I said, if everything goes the way it should I should be at the top of my division by the end of the year. It’s no secret. I haven’t been ducking anyone or nothing like that. I’m trying to get the bigger fights. There are a lot of younger guys starting to come up now, too. You got Ward and Dirrell and a lot of other guys, so it’s time for me to move up to championship status. You know what I mean? When I’ve been in the game a lot longer than a lot of the young guys and they start moving close to my position, something’s wrong.
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