29.03.06 – By Per Ake Persson: Renowned Irish trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick is back in Europe after nine years in the US and is currently residing in Berlin. Paddy is working with a team of fighters signed to Elite Box Promotion who will have its inaugural show in Potsdam on Friday (March 31). Among the fighters are Latvian Edgar Kalnars, a former journeyman heavy, Swedes Tonton Semakala and Vatche Wartanian, both back after long layoffs and Mathias and Andreas Kempe, both former amateur stars (Mathias went 3-0 in the pros back in 04). Paddy also trains Sauerland Event signed lightheavy Kai Kurzawa, who will fight Stipe Drews for the EBU title May 26 in Munich.
Q: How do you like Berlin?
A: It´s nice, very cosmopolitan, we live right in the center of the city..
Q: What made you leave the US?
A: Well, I wanted to return to Europe and my wife and I have a newborn, I also have a two kids in England and being here makes it a lot easier and I don´t have to go on the road with fighters.
Q: So what do you say about the Elite team?
A: It´s a fantastic team, we have a lot of talent here! Kai Kurzawa is of course with Sauerland Event and will fight for the EBU title He has been trained by a more defensive minded trainer than I am. I try to get him to be more agressive, he has very good eyes, uses his jab very well and holds a high guard.
Then we have the Kempe twins, Mathias and Andreas, for Andreas it will be his pro debut while Mathias is 3-0, both are good talents.
Kalnars? He improves very fast, fact is I have never seen a guy make so much progress so fast. He can punch and at European level his relatively small (around 200-210 lbs) size won´t be a problem.
Tonton Semakala? He is doing good, working on combinations, I´m surprised by his power, I mean he is 15-0 with only four stoppages but I found out why – he tends to slap with his punches in sparring. He never changed his style from the amateurs to the pros, he has good speed but must learn to listen, if he don´t I could be Jesus and it still wouldn´t help him. I expect him to be ready for the EBU title in 3-4 fights.
Vatche is doing good, he´s coming off a long layoff.
Q: What your own background?
A: I´m from Ireland, and was an amateur boxer and stayed involved in the game. I was doing mitts with an amateur fighter on Channel Island and Freddy Roach saw it, that was in 97, and he asked me if I was interested in working with him and I was and moved to LA. I came back to the UK to train Glenn Catley. Then me and Freddy parted, it was no big deal, just two stubborn Irishmen (laughs). I moved to Vegas and worked with Justin Juukko. I have also worked in the Buddy McGirt team. Buddy is my man, a good guy and a great teacher. I worked with Michael Moorer. Lamon Brewster and Virgil Hill. Virgil was in Berlin last week and he and Falco Behling (Elite Box Promotion´s boss) had some talks.
Q: Speaking of Brewster, you were that famous man with the bottle in the Klitschko fight, how did that come about?
A: I tell you the story! First of all I believe Wladimir wasn´t over the Sanders fight. It may feel good in training and so but I´m sure when he felt how hard Lamon can punch – and I know how he can punch on the mitts – he reacted in a bad way. I don´t mean scoring punches, I mean just the feel of the power. Then there was an incident in the dressing room. I checked the hand wraps on Wladimir and noticed they had put tape on the skin from the knuckles back to the wrist and that isn´t allowed under WBO / state of Nevada rules. I allowed them to finish one hand and begin with the other before I began to question it and Wladimir looked up and asked if I was an attorney. I wanted to get him upset. As it was they had to do it all over again and I could tell Wladimir was upset. He punched himself out and there was no bottle.
Q: Are you still with Laila Ali?
A: It´s a tough one now that I´m here and she is there and have a lot of personals appearances, TV and so on to take care off. She is now training under Dub Huntley, a good old school trainer.
Q: You also trained big German heavy Timo Hoffman, but didn´t work out so good (L 12 to Paolo Vidoz), what´s your take of it?
A: Timo has a lot of ability but he also is so tense and stiff, we had him for 3-4 weeks and a new fighter emerged but changes take time and we didn´t have enough of that.
Q: That brings me to the next question, US style vs the European, how do you see it?
A: The European style is more safety first, they are more defence minded and it seems to me they make a difference between offence and defence like they are two separate things. I want a fighter to be more of a boxer/puncher, attack, defence, good jab.
Q: What about conditioning?
A: Over here it seems like they work more like teams, everybody´s doing the same thing, it´s almost like a military camp sometimes. I have my guys coming in at separate times and they do different things.
Q: Any final words?
A: I want to thank my partner in the gym Detlef Schulze, he is a great guy and we work well together!