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During our visit to Wladimir’s training camp in the Pocono’s we spoke to Emanuel Steward about Brock, Wladimir’s training and other aspects of preparation.
Emanuel, how’s training camp going?
It’s like most of Wladimir’s training camps. It’s very good, just trying to slow him down to keep Wladimir from overtraining. Today was supposed to be his off day yet he’s still training…over an hour already.
Preparation is coming along good. I feel better to prepare for a good fighter like Brock than prepare for a guy like Shannon Briggs. Not that he’s a better fighter than Brock, but first two-three rounds he fights in kamikaze type style.
When did you start sparring?
We started sparring two weeks ago. Wladimir has sparred close to seventy rounds of good quality boxing.
How different is this training camp from the one you had against Samuel Peter?
It’s a little different. In Samuel Peter we had to prepare for a physically big and strong man. And we had to work on movement and changing directions…lots of movement and technique training. Now we have a different guy who’s coming in but not physically that big or strong.
Some people think that Wladimir is trying to avoid Briggs and that’s why you chose Brock?
The problem with Shannon Briggs was due to contract negotiations. It was going back and forth. And in all honesty the public was not very supportive of Shannon Briggs fight. Many people who were in charge of promotion of it were not excited because Briggs was not considered as credible opponent and the last time he was seen in a major fight was when he got KO by Lennox Lewis. But since then nothing much. It was very difficult for the public to approve of him, even though I did say that he would be very dangerous for the first two-three rounds. But he had not had any good, solid performance against any quality fighters. So many people felt that he didn’t deserve the opportunity to fight for the championship of the world.
What do you think about Brock?
Brock is a very good, solid fighter. He’s good, not exceptionally fast, not exceptionally hard puncher, not exceptionally good pressure fighter, but balanced out and very good in every area. But the thing that we have learned and give respect for Brock is that he doesn’t get hit much, which means he has a good defense. And not only he doesn’t get hit much, also he has good conditioning…he never gets tired.
What type of problems can Brock bring into the ring against Wladimir?
Well Brock is pretty solid, he’s basically good jabber, has good hook and right hand. Not strong in any one of them, but balance out in every area. Also his defense…hitting Brock is not that easy. Calvin gets away from punches easily. If you watch his tapes he almost never gets hit. It’s very hard to hit him.
Is this fight going to be challenging for Wladimir?
It’s going to be a very interesting fight. One of the things that’s going to be the most challenging for Wladimir is that he had such a great performance in his last fight. It was just fantastic. Even thought we prepared well to beat Chris, I expected very different fight. I’ve been watching Chris since he was a kid and I’ve known him most my life. Never have I seen anyone dominate him so much. I never expected that type of dominating performance. So to some degree Wladimir is competing against his own performance in the last fight, not just trying to beat Calvin Brock. People will be watching this fight and comparing him to his last fight.
What’s next for Wladimir?
Wladimir wants to unify all of the championships. It doesn’t matter which one first, but we want to unify all the belts. He feels there should be only one champion. He only took this fight because the politics made it difficult to make a fight with any of the champions at this time. So his hope is that after he wins this fight we’ll be able to fight with Valuev, Lyakhovich or Maskayev. We want to fight champions and not contenders.
Which champion would you like Wladimir to fight next?
Whoever is the easiest to make because of the politics. It doesn’t matter. It’s Wladimir Klitschko and then the rest of the heavyweights. He’s in a class by himself. But Valuev I think would be good, because there would be so much interest due to his size. To have these super big guys both coming from former USSR to fight each other would make it the most intriguing fight out all of the unification fight. Therefore I would like to see that one first, if possible.
Lastly few words to the boxing fans?
I hope you continue to watch Wladimir Klitschko because he’s on his way of becoming one of the standout heavyweight champions. Much like Lennox Lewis was. Give credit to the fact that Wladimir in his last four fights fought three opponents that were previously undefeated – Eliseo Castillo, Samuel Peter and now Calvin Brock. Plus the other fighter was the heavyweight champion - Chris Byrd, who everybody considered as number 1 of heavyweight champions. Wladimir fought only the best that’s been available in his last four fights so give him a credit for that.
Emanuel, how’s training camp going?
It’s like most of Wladimir’s training camps. It’s very good, just trying to slow him down to keep Wladimir from overtraining. Today was supposed to be his off day yet he’s still training…over an hour already.
Preparation is coming along good. I feel better to prepare for a good fighter like Brock than prepare for a guy like Shannon Briggs. Not that he’s a better fighter than Brock, but first two-three rounds he fights in kamikaze type style.
When did you start sparring?
We started sparring two weeks ago. Wladimir has sparred close to seventy rounds of good quality boxing.
How different is this training camp from the one you had against Samuel Peter?
It’s a little different. In Samuel Peter we had to prepare for a physically big and strong man. And we had to work on movement and changing directions…lots of movement and technique training. Now we have a different guy who’s coming in but not physically that big or strong.
Some people think that Wladimir is trying to avoid Briggs and that’s why you chose Brock?
The problem with Shannon Briggs was due to contract negotiations. It was going back and forth. And in all honesty the public was not very supportive of Shannon Briggs fight. Many people who were in charge of promotion of it were not excited because Briggs was not considered as credible opponent and the last time he was seen in a major fight was when he got KO by Lennox Lewis. But since then nothing much. It was very difficult for the public to approve of him, even though I did say that he would be very dangerous for the first two-three rounds. But he had not had any good, solid performance against any quality fighters. So many people felt that he didn’t deserve the opportunity to fight for the championship of the world.
What do you think about Brock?
Brock is a very good, solid fighter. He’s good, not exceptionally fast, not exceptionally hard puncher, not exceptionally good pressure fighter, but balanced out and very good in every area. But the thing that we have learned and give respect for Brock is that he doesn’t get hit much, which means he has a good defense. And not only he doesn’t get hit much, also he has good conditioning…he never gets tired.
What type of problems can Brock bring into the ring against Wladimir?
Well Brock is pretty solid, he’s basically good jabber, has good hook and right hand. Not strong in any one of them, but balance out in every area. Also his defense…hitting Brock is not that easy. Calvin gets away from punches easily. If you watch his tapes he almost never gets hit. It’s very hard to hit him.
Is this fight going to be challenging for Wladimir?
It’s going to be a very interesting fight. One of the things that’s going to be the most challenging for Wladimir is that he had such a great performance in his last fight. It was just fantastic. Even thought we prepared well to beat Chris, I expected very different fight. I’ve been watching Chris since he was a kid and I’ve known him most my life. Never have I seen anyone dominate him so much. I never expected that type of dominating performance. So to some degree Wladimir is competing against his own performance in the last fight, not just trying to beat Calvin Brock. People will be watching this fight and comparing him to his last fight.
What’s next for Wladimir?
Wladimir wants to unify all of the championships. It doesn’t matter which one first, but we want to unify all the belts. He feels there should be only one champion. He only took this fight because the politics made it difficult to make a fight with any of the champions at this time. So his hope is that after he wins this fight we’ll be able to fight with Valuev, Lyakhovich or Maskayev. We want to fight champions and not contenders.
Which champion would you like Wladimir to fight next?
Whoever is the easiest to make because of the politics. It doesn’t matter. It’s Wladimir Klitschko and then the rest of the heavyweights. He’s in a class by himself. But Valuev I think would be good, because there would be so much interest due to his size. To have these super big guys both coming from former USSR to fight each other would make it the most intriguing fight out all of the unification fight. Therefore I would like to see that one first, if possible.
Lastly few words to the boxing fans?
I hope you continue to watch Wladimir Klitschko because he’s on his way of becoming one of the standout heavyweight champions. Much like Lennox Lewis was. Give credit to the fact that Wladimir in his last four fights fought three opponents that were previously undefeated – Eliseo Castillo, Samuel Peter and now Calvin Brock. Plus the other fighter was the heavyweight champion - Chris Byrd, who everybody considered as number 1 of heavyweight champions. Wladimir fought only the best that’s been available in his last four fights so give him a credit for that.
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