Back in the mid-2000s, Calvin Brock was making a name for himself as a heavyweight to be reckoned with. Athletic, powerful and having earned a ton of experience as an amateur, Brock was awarded a title shot in November of 2006 when he faced Wladimir Klitschko in New York.
Brock lost that one, and with it his unbeaten record, but he was still very much looked at as a fighter with a promising future. Sadly, due to a detached retina in his right eye, Brock was forced to retire at the age of just 32 after a close, debatable decision loss to Eddie Chambers in late 2007.
Here, the 43 year old who exited with a 31-2(23) record speaks exclusively with ESB:
James Slater: You had a fine amateur career, is that the backbone needed for any fighter to become a contender or champion at pro level?
Calvin Brock: “Yes it is. Look at Deontay [Wilder], a decorated amateur. Look at Anthony Joshua, a decorated amateur. I think it’s important how, today, they have gotten rid of the computer scoring system in the amateurs, that and they have no head-guards. You need that work, that experience, to make the move into the pros. I expect to see more good heavyweights emerge from the amateur ranks over the coming years.
“I had almost 200 amateur fights. One of the best fighters I met at that time – in fact one of the best amateur fighters ever – was Antonio Tarver. I fought him as a light-heavyweight. I gave him a good, competitive fight but at the end it was clear he had won. I was just 19 years old at the time. That was in 1994 in Miami at The US Nationals.”
Q: You built up a good pro record as you made your way to a world title shot. Who were the best, toughest guys you met then?
C.B: “I’d say Jameel McCline, he gave me a very difficult boxing match. And then of course when I got my shot, I fought Wladimir Klitschko. He was hands down the best fighter I ever fought, amateur or pro. I knew then (in 2006) he was good, but I thought I’d beat him. After the fight (a 7th-round stoppage loss for Brock) I knew there were no fighters out there capable of beating him or his brother, Vitali. And sure enough, he had a long, long title reign. He was just phenomenally strong physically. I’m a strong guy myself but you just could not move him in a clinch. If he grabbed you and held you, that was it, no way could you push him back. And he was hard to hit and if you did hit him he was like a rock. He’d box you, make you miss, wrestle you, and then, in the mid-rounds when you were tired and almost done, he was still fresh. And he went on to do this to the best of the best throughout his reign.”
Q: Were you shocked when he lost to Tyson Fury in 2015?
C.B: “I wasn’t, because no matter how great any fighter is, if he stays around for too long he will slow down. It was just the right time for Tyson Fury and then for Joshua. I think if Klitschko had been in his prime when he fought them he would have won. But that fire, that hunger, all that success, it had gone, or it had diminished, by the time of those two fights. Sooner or later, any fighter will slow down and become beatable. By the time of those fights, Wladimir was not the same fighter as the one I and all those others faced.”
Q: Talking about Joshua and Wilder, who do you rate as the best?
C.B: “Wilder is good. His power is incredible, look at his KO ratio. His right hand is wicked. I think he has the most wicked right hand in boxing history. He works his left jab real well. But I do think Anthony Joshua is a little bit better out of the two. I think Joshua is the full package, better all-round [than Wilder]. If I had to pick between the two, I’d go for Joshua, I really would. It has to happen, it’s just a waiting game, like it was with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. I think the fight will happen.”
Q: Was it hard for you to have to walk away from boxing at the young age of 32, due to the detached retina?
C.B: “It was extremely tough. I can accept it a little better because not only was there the problem with my eye, but in the Eddie Chambers fight I injured my shoulder – in fact I fought that fight with an injured shoulder. That needed surgery so I would’ve been out for around a year with that if I had boxed on. I knew that was going to be my last fight. I had actually injured my eye in the gym before the fight; I knew then that something was wrong with my vision in my right eye. And I look at it like this: if I couldn’t beat Wladimir Klitschko, then what was the point in continuing, really?”
Q: Did having an education to fall back on make it easier to leave boxing? You are now involved in real estate in a big way?
C.B: “That came later. It’s not so much having an education that gets you by, you need to work and earn a living; you need work experience. When I got into real estate, it was right in the middle of a recession, so everyone was having it tough. But today, yeah, it’s going well.”
Q: Back in 2006, you scored The KO of The Year, against Zuri Lawrence. Did you always consider yourself a power-puncher, or more of a technician?
C.B: “I was a power-puncher and a technician. I knocked guys out in the amateurs like that, so I always knew I had one-punch KO power in either hand. I knew if I caught anyone right, at the right time, they would go. Yes, I had a good night against Lawrence. I guess that was the best KO I scored in the pro ranks.”
Q: Your final fight, the split decision loss to Chambers, was it a fair decision?
C.B: “I beat that guy. Chambers, his friends and family, they all felt he had lost that fight. I had the shoulder injury and the eye problem and yet I still beat him but wasn’t awarded the decision. All in all, as that was my last fight anyway, it doesn’t really matter. Still, I would have preferred to have had just the one loss on my record – to one of the greatest heavyweight champions in history.”