Tweet
Fanhouse interview of Vitali Klitschko
FanHouse interviewed Ukrainian-born WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (pictured above, at left) from his training facility in the Austrian Alps on Friday concerning his Oct. 16 bout against former titlist Shannon Briggs (pictured above, at right), against whom the 39-year-old will pursue his ninth straight victory and his eighth stoppage in that time during his fifth defense at the 02 World Arena in Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
The nearly 6-foot-8 Klitschko (40-2, 38 knockouts) is coming off of May's 10th-round knockout over Polish-born Albert Sosnowski (45-3-1, 27 KOs), and has not lost since being stopped in the sixth round by Lennox Lewis in June of 2003.
Klitschko earned the crown with an October 2008, eighth-round knockout of Samuel Peter, this after having been out of the ring for four years in what was then a forced retirement due to injuries.
The 38-year-old, Briggs (51-5-1, 45 KOs), who stands 6-4, is coming off of May's victory, when he nailed down his third consecutive first-round knockout in as many straight wins over Rob Calloway. Briggs has stopped a remarkable 30 opponents in the first round, including the first four of his career, 10 of his first 12 rivals, and April's 28-second stoppage of Rafael Pedroa.
With assistance from K2 Promotions' Tom Loeffler
FanHouse: How has your training gone, and what were the sparring sessions like?
Vitali Klitschko: Today was my last day of sparring, and it went very well. Everything is going well. I sparred with four different partners in camp and that also went very well. I have four or five sparring partners. Everyone has displayed some aspect of Shannon Briggs' style.
Some are very fast, some are very explosive, some are big, massive punchers. It was a great camp. I have had more than 120 rounds in preparation time overall in this training camp.
How difficult of an opponent can Shannon Briggs be for you?
Right now, there is a big problem in that there are not enough good opponents out there for me. But Shannon Briggs is one of the toughest and top opponents, and I am, as the world champion and I'm ready to fight anyone. Shannon Briggs has a great record. He must have the Guinness Book of Records for first-round knockouts.
He has knocked out more opponents of anybody in the first or second round. If you look at his record, you could actually say that he has more boxing experience than me. He's very tall and very strong. He has a great knockout record, and that's why this fight will be very interesting.
I more than sure that this fight will be a big battle between two knockout artists. I have a big advantage in that I've got the highest knock out ratio of any heavyweight world champion. Shannon Briggs has a big potential to score the knockout also.
Saturday night will be a good fight the boxing audience. I'm more than sure that this will not go to a decision and that this fight will end in a knockout.
Do you feel that you have ever faced anyone who compares to Shannon Briggs either in knockout power or in height, other than Lennox Lewis?
Well, I fought many knockout artists and guys with big punches. Corrie Sanders was a big puncher. Samuel Peter was a big puncher. Lennox Lewis was a big puncher. I already have the experience fighting against guys who have big b*lls.
What response do you have to Shannon Briggs' taking exception to your calling his asthma symptoms are just an excuse?
You know, if he was really sick, then Shannon Briggs wouldn't be fighting. He has great boxing experience. He goes after the knockouts and he's in great condition.
His story about asthma is a good excuse to say, 'look at me, I'm a sick boy, and, any way, I still fight.' It's just an excuse that he has just in case he loses the fight.
Would you ever consider fighting Evander Holyfield?
You know, what? I don't want to talk about the future. Let's go step-by-step. After fighting against Shannon Briggs I will be discussing my next fight and my next opponent. I am focused on Oct. 16, and then, after that, then I will be ready to talk about this.
Then can we talk about the past and the reference to WBA champion David Haye's assertion that the reason that his negotiations failed with you and your brother, WBO, IBO and IBF king, Wladimir Klitschko, is that you made some changes in the original contract and that he deserved more money?
You know what? David Haye is just chicken, to be honest. He's got a big mouth but nothing more. David Haye is the world's biggest trash talker.
But he's smart enough to understand that if David Haye made the contract with Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko, and he got inside the ring with either one of us, then it would be the finish of his boxing career.
He understands that. It's not important which one of us he fights, but whether it's me or Wladimir, we will knock him out. It would be the last fight for him. We gave David Haye a great offer to fight me.
Wladimir has three titles, and David Haye has just one, yet they were going to split everything, 50-50. So In my personal opinion, it's just fear. David Haye is jumping out of the situation and he comes of with all kinds of stories.
He doesn't want to fight Wladimir, and pulls out for some sort of injuries, but we don't receive the documents proving that he should have medical clearance for those injuries. The second time, when he was supposed to fight against me, he jumped out of it.
To clarify, the contract where he pulled out of the first Wladimir fight and the contract that he pulled out of the fight for me were exactly the same. None of the terms were changed. This last time around, it was a straight, 50-50-deal to fight Wladimir.
That was more than fair as I said because Wladimir has three titles and David Haye only has one. To fight Nikolay Valuev, he had more options placed on him than he did with either myself or Wladimir. So he's not really accurate.
We're ready to fight anyone in the world, and especially David Haye. I would be happy to fight him and Wladimir, he would fight him not so much for the world title belt, but more because it's personal. Wladimir doesn't want to win David Haye's title, but to simply destroy him and shut his mouth.
Would you like to fight in America again?
I am always ready to fight in the United States. I'm ready to fight in a mega fight if the fight will be broadcast on HBO. We will do that. But I'm disappointed with HBO. They make the excuse that nobody understand who is Wladimir Klitschko and who is Vitali Klitschko.
It's not big interest. But they televised my fight against Lennox Lewis, and that was great TV ratings. My fight against Corrie Sanders drew great TV ratings. My fight against Cris Arreola drew some of the greatest television ratings of the year.
We're doing good ratings. We have a lot of boxing fans, and we're ready to fight anyone. The Klitschkos, right now, do not understand HBO. We realize that there are not always great opponents out there. But nobody wants to fight the Klitschkos because it's too big of a risk.
But we're ready to fight in the United States. I love fighting in the United States. I fought in Madison Square Garden and in the Staples Center. The three times that I fought at the Staples Center, it was always sold out. It was always great ratings and a great crowd.
So, yes, I would be happy to do that. So would Wladimir.
If you could map out the remainder of your career, how would it go and who would you fight?
My dream fight would be very David Haye, because he has attacked us. We have, right now, all of the titles except the last one, which is held by David Haye. We want to control the heavyweight division. That's our dream.
We are already the first brothers to be heavyweight champions at the same time. It's great motivation, and it's the biggest motivation for me to fight against David Haye, not because he's a good fighter. He's not a good fighter, but just a good talker. I want to fight David Haye because he has the title.
As far as retirement, nobody knows when I will retire. I feel really good. The injuries that I once had are far behind me now. I feel great. I feel strong. I'm not ready to talk about retirement. I have a lot of power and I'm destroying everyone. I don't see anyone who can stop me.
Has there been any serious talk about you and your brother, Wladimir (pictured at right) fighting each other or is that definitely out of the question?
My brother is not just my brother for me, but he's my closest friend. To fight against your closest friend, that would be very difficult. I understand that there is a very big interest in seeing the two brothers fight.
People speculate who would win if we fought each other. The main point is, I'm afraid to fight against Wladimir because he's too strong, and he'd knock me out.
Are you serious?
Yep.
The nearly 6-foot-8 Klitschko (40-2, 38 knockouts) is coming off of May's 10th-round knockout over Polish-born Albert Sosnowski (45-3-1, 27 KOs), and has not lost since being stopped in the sixth round by Lennox Lewis in June of 2003.
Klitschko earned the crown with an October 2008, eighth-round knockout of Samuel Peter, this after having been out of the ring for four years in what was then a forced retirement due to injuries.
The 38-year-old, Briggs (51-5-1, 45 KOs), who stands 6-4, is coming off of May's victory, when he nailed down his third consecutive first-round knockout in as many straight wins over Rob Calloway. Briggs has stopped a remarkable 30 opponents in the first round, including the first four of his career, 10 of his first 12 rivals, and April's 28-second stoppage of Rafael Pedroa.
With assistance from K2 Promotions' Tom Loeffler
FanHouse: How has your training gone, and what were the sparring sessions like?
Vitali Klitschko: Today was my last day of sparring, and it went very well. Everything is going well. I sparred with four different partners in camp and that also went very well. I have four or five sparring partners. Everyone has displayed some aspect of Shannon Briggs' style.
Some are very fast, some are very explosive, some are big, massive punchers. It was a great camp. I have had more than 120 rounds in preparation time overall in this training camp.
How difficult of an opponent can Shannon Briggs be for you?
Right now, there is a big problem in that there are not enough good opponents out there for me. But Shannon Briggs is one of the toughest and top opponents, and I am, as the world champion and I'm ready to fight anyone. Shannon Briggs has a great record. He must have the Guinness Book of Records for first-round knockouts.
He has knocked out more opponents of anybody in the first or second round. If you look at his record, you could actually say that he has more boxing experience than me. He's very tall and very strong. He has a great knockout record, and that's why this fight will be very interesting.
I more than sure that this fight will be a big battle between two knockout artists. I have a big advantage in that I've got the highest knock out ratio of any heavyweight world champion. Shannon Briggs has a big potential to score the knockout also.
Saturday night will be a good fight the boxing audience. I'm more than sure that this will not go to a decision and that this fight will end in a knockout.
Do you feel that you have ever faced anyone who compares to Shannon Briggs either in knockout power or in height, other than Lennox Lewis?
Well, I fought many knockout artists and guys with big punches. Corrie Sanders was a big puncher. Samuel Peter was a big puncher. Lennox Lewis was a big puncher. I already have the experience fighting against guys who have big b*lls.
What response do you have to Shannon Briggs' taking exception to your calling his asthma symptoms are just an excuse?
You know, if he was really sick, then Shannon Briggs wouldn't be fighting. He has great boxing experience. He goes after the knockouts and he's in great condition.
His story about asthma is a good excuse to say, 'look at me, I'm a sick boy, and, any way, I still fight.' It's just an excuse that he has just in case he loses the fight.
Would you ever consider fighting Evander Holyfield?
You know, what? I don't want to talk about the future. Let's go step-by-step. After fighting against Shannon Briggs I will be discussing my next fight and my next opponent. I am focused on Oct. 16, and then, after that, then I will be ready to talk about this.
Then can we talk about the past and the reference to WBA champion David Haye's assertion that the reason that his negotiations failed with you and your brother, WBO, IBO and IBF king, Wladimir Klitschko, is that you made some changes in the original contract and that he deserved more money?
You know what? David Haye is just chicken, to be honest. He's got a big mouth but nothing more. David Haye is the world's biggest trash talker.
But he's smart enough to understand that if David Haye made the contract with Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko, and he got inside the ring with either one of us, then it would be the finish of his boxing career.
He understands that. It's not important which one of us he fights, but whether it's me or Wladimir, we will knock him out. It would be the last fight for him. We gave David Haye a great offer to fight me.
Wladimir has three titles, and David Haye has just one, yet they were going to split everything, 50-50. So In my personal opinion, it's just fear. David Haye is jumping out of the situation and he comes of with all kinds of stories.
He doesn't want to fight Wladimir, and pulls out for some sort of injuries, but we don't receive the documents proving that he should have medical clearance for those injuries. The second time, when he was supposed to fight against me, he jumped out of it.
To clarify, the contract where he pulled out of the first Wladimir fight and the contract that he pulled out of the fight for me were exactly the same. None of the terms were changed. This last time around, it was a straight, 50-50-deal to fight Wladimir.
That was more than fair as I said because Wladimir has three titles and David Haye only has one. To fight Nikolay Valuev, he had more options placed on him than he did with either myself or Wladimir. So he's not really accurate.
We're ready to fight anyone in the world, and especially David Haye. I would be happy to fight him and Wladimir, he would fight him not so much for the world title belt, but more because it's personal. Wladimir doesn't want to win David Haye's title, but to simply destroy him and shut his mouth.
Would you like to fight in America again?
I am always ready to fight in the United States. I'm ready to fight in a mega fight if the fight will be broadcast on HBO. We will do that. But I'm disappointed with HBO. They make the excuse that nobody understand who is Wladimir Klitschko and who is Vitali Klitschko.
It's not big interest. But they televised my fight against Lennox Lewis, and that was great TV ratings. My fight against Corrie Sanders drew great TV ratings. My fight against Cris Arreola drew some of the greatest television ratings of the year.
We're doing good ratings. We have a lot of boxing fans, and we're ready to fight anyone. The Klitschkos, right now, do not understand HBO. We realize that there are not always great opponents out there. But nobody wants to fight the Klitschkos because it's too big of a risk.
But we're ready to fight in the United States. I love fighting in the United States. I fought in Madison Square Garden and in the Staples Center. The three times that I fought at the Staples Center, it was always sold out. It was always great ratings and a great crowd.
So, yes, I would be happy to do that. So would Wladimir.
If you could map out the remainder of your career, how would it go and who would you fight?
My dream fight would be very David Haye, because he has attacked us. We have, right now, all of the titles except the last one, which is held by David Haye. We want to control the heavyweight division. That's our dream.
We are already the first brothers to be heavyweight champions at the same time. It's great motivation, and it's the biggest motivation for me to fight against David Haye, not because he's a good fighter. He's not a good fighter, but just a good talker. I want to fight David Haye because he has the title.
As far as retirement, nobody knows when I will retire. I feel really good. The injuries that I once had are far behind me now. I feel great. I feel strong. I'm not ready to talk about retirement. I have a lot of power and I'm destroying everyone. I don't see anyone who can stop me.
Has there been any serious talk about you and your brother, Wladimir (pictured at right) fighting each other or is that definitely out of the question?
My brother is not just my brother for me, but he's my closest friend. To fight against your closest friend, that would be very difficult. I understand that there is a very big interest in seeing the two brothers fight.
People speculate who would win if we fought each other. The main point is, I'm afraid to fight against Wladimir because he's too strong, and he'd knock me out.
Are you serious?
Yep.
Comment