04.12.06 – By James Slater: Brian Minto is a crowd pleasing heavyweight currently working his way up to the top of his division. With his all-action style, “The Beast” is a 220 pound warrior fully deserving of a shot at a big fight sometime soon. Ever fearless, Brian even went as far as to publicly call out IBF king Wladimir Klitschko recently. Willing to fight anyone, Minto could well be a fighter who finds himself holding at least a version of the world title in the future. With his fine sixth round stoppage win over the come backing Axel Schulz still fresh, a win that was achieved in the German’s own country at that, Brian kindly took time out to speak with me. Here is what he had to say.
James Slater: Firstly, Brian, I’d like to talk about your win over Axel Schulz, where you went into the lion’s den as it were and got the win. How did that feel?
Brian Minto: That was a very great feeling, to go over there to hostile territory’s, but you know what, it wasn’t really that hostile, the fans were pretty nice and they were respectful people. The only thing I was worried about beforehand was the three German judges, whether or not they would be fair. But you know what, I brought my own judges with me – my left and my right..
J.S: Exactly. Arguably that was your best win yet, do you agree?
B.M: Yeah, it is.
J.S: The way you absolutely destroyed Shulz must have increased your confidence no end then has it?
B.M: Yeah, especially as the fight was actually an easy fight for me. I was well prepared, I knew what I had to do. But I’ve been learning all the time as I’ve been coming up and he (Shulz) was a guy with a lot of recognition but in boxing you just keep learning and I’m getting better and better with every fight.
J.S: The fight was billed as Shulz’s big comeback, was he crazy taking you on right away? Do you think he underestimated you?
B.M: Yeah, I thought it was kind of crazy they way that they (fought me). I mean, a lot of fighters underestimate me. They think I’m an undersized heavyweight, they think I’m not a big, big puncher but I surprise a lot of people. My trainer believes in me and I believe in me, so I’ll just keep on moving up and up and taking bigger and better fights.
J.S: Looking at your stats, you’ve got Sixteen KO’s out of your twenty-seven wins. That’s more than respectable punching power. With today’s heavyweight division pretty much wide open you must feel as though you have as much of a shot as any other contender?
B.M: Yeah, I feel really confident in my ability. I just, you know, whatever comes out of this, hopefully good and positive outcomes. I’m just waiting for a real big fight to come right now. Whether it’s back over there, you know, I’ll go back to Germany.
J.S: Have you no next opponent lined up at the moment though?
B.M: No, were still waiting. There’s a few options with a few opponents that we’ve talked about. Maybe (Dariusz) Michalczewski, ‘cos he’s coming up to heavyweight and he wanted the winner out of me and Shulz, or maybe (Luan) Krasniqi, we’ll see.
J.S: Yeah, they’d be interesting fights. Would you consider fighting in the U.K?
B.M: Yeah, I mean anywhere. As long as the fight’s right and the negotiations are right. Of course it’s a business too, you know.
J.S: Are you a boxing fan, do you follow the sport as well as fight? I mean, as you probably know , we have only a few good heavyweights in Britain – Danny Williams, Audley Harrison, people like that. Would you consider coming over and fighting one of them if the money was right?
B.M: Yeah, heck yeah. Danny Williams is not a bad heavyweight, but Audley Harrison, I just don’t really know about his heart, you know. But yeah, I’d go anywhere, I love to travel, man. You’ve got to fight sooner or later, I don’t think you can duck anybody. As a fighter you should take every fight you can get, you know.
J.S: You’ve been fighting pro for nearly five years now, do you feel as though you should be cracking the top-ten now? Would you like, for example, to fight someone like Shannon Briggs, do you feel like you’re ready for that calibre?
B.M: Yeah, I feel I’m ready for that calibre, but you mention his name (Briggs) and right away Don King pops up. I don’t want any of that, you know. He’s probably one of the most unfair promoters out there as far as. well, I don’t want to get into this and that, but I’d fight anybody right now. If the fight’s right and the money’s right I’ll be ready to go. I think this fight (with Shulz) really gave me the confidence boost and I’m ready to step it up to the top-ten.
J.S: I’ve got to ask you about your two fights with Vinny, Vinny Maddalone. As far as crowd pleasing fights go they were two of the best, certainly the first fight anyway. What are your recollections of those bouts?
B.M: Well, I tell you what, he’s probably one of the toughest guys that I’ve ever fought. He has a chin of granite and in the first fight he hit me and I hit him, I was still learning, I took the fight in only my eighteenth fight and it was a T.V fight, which made me a little nervous with the atmosphere and everything.. But the second fight, I think I dominated it. He fought the wrong fight with me the second time, ‘cos he tried to box, but he wasn’t skilled enough and he wasn’t fast enough. But the first fight, we were just slugging, you know. I was trying to move, but I made the adjustments in the rematch, I wasn’t letting him push me around the ring this time, which had made me real, real tired before. In the first fight, I didn’t think I was going to make it through I was so tired, that’s why I kept going for walks around the ring, to get some air. He just kept coming like the Terminator, he was like Arnold Schwarzenegger (laughs)
J.S: Are you two quite good friends?
B.M: Yeah, were friends now, I’ve talked to him a few times. I think he’s a very respectful person and I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a fighter.
J.S: In your last fight, against Shulz, you weighed 220, is that your ideal weight?
B.M: You know what, my body’s kind of changing. At one point I was real heavy, when I first turned pro, and I think my body’s changing. I think I’d like to maybe be a couple of pounds lighter than 220. I’m on a good diet when I’m in training camp, if I work hard I know I’ll be comfortable, whether it’s 215 or 220.
J.S: You’ve fought much bigger guys than yourself in the past, like Tony Tubbs for example, who beat you on a split decision. Was that a fair loss first of all?
B.M: No, I know I won that fight. He was a crafty, smart guy, no doubt, but in the second round I had him knocked out, so instead of fighting me, from then on he just jabbed me from the outside and when I got close he just held me and walked around the ring. He did use his experience but I pushed the fight and definitely threw more punches. I just think there was a lot of dirty work there, because of the ref. He was friends with a promoter who’s guy I beat – Jeremy Bates, I knocked him out and they all thought I was gonna lose. So the ref (in the Tubbs fight) cheated me all night. Actually, Tubbs should have been disqualified for all the holding he was doing, it was kind of a joke. But still, I did the wrong thing, I left my trainer and went with another. People were getting in my ear about money and I started getting away from what I was doing that made me win in the first place. So I just did the wrong thing, but you know what, I learned from it.
J.S: But it wasn’t the guy’s sheer size you had trouble with? Do you feel as though you can handle the real big guys?
B.M: The main thing for me is I try not to wrestle with them, I lay on the inside instead. Big guys can try and push me around but I won’t wrestle with them. Even back when I played football I was always undersized, but I knew how to handle myself with that and I just carried it into the ring. Big guys don’t bother me, you just have to out-skill them and out-smart them. They can’t match my pace, my fight pace is unbelievable. I run three miles in under twenty minutes, I really push myself in training so I can keep a good pace up. I wear them big guys out.
J.S: I know your something of a crowd pleaser, but do you consider yourself more of a slugger than anything else?
B.M: I’ve been learning to work behind the jab more lately, in the Shulz fight you’ll see I was actually out-jabbing him. But I can get on the inside too, basically just mix it up, you know. I can make the adjustments I need for the opponents I’m fighting.
J.S: I’ve got to ask you Brian, how did you get the nickname “The Beast?”
B.M: It’s more of a personality thing (when I’m in the ring). I ain’t no beast by any means, but it’s because of my determination, you know, what I do in the ring. I’ve just got a lot of heart and I’m in there trying to fight, so I think that’s where it came from. I don’t really pay much attention to that, it’s just hype, you know. But they used the nickname in Germany and they kind of liked it, so whatever sells, sells.
J.S: As I say, the heavyweight division’s pretty much wide open right now, but who do you think is the best today?
B.M: I can break it down like this, the best in the world is Wladimir Klitshcko, but as far as the most talented fighter with the skills and everything, that’s James Toney. I actually like to watch him on film because the guy’s got awesome defence and he’s an old-school fighter and that’s what my trainer likes, he loves that. We watch a lot of old fighters on tape, guys like Archie Moore, Jersey Joe. It’s the defence they had, the way they roll with punches. Jake La Motta I like to watch, Roberto Duran. I’m a student of the game.
J.S: So you’re a student of the game, a la Mike Tyson then?
B.M: Oh yeah, I’ve also got every fight of Tyson’s. I’m that sort of fighter, so I watch what he does with the taller guys. I learn a lot from watching tapes.
J.S: Looking forward twelve to eighteen months, who would your ideal fight be against?
B.M: Wladimir Klitschko. Fighting him for the IBF title. Oh yeah, I’m not afraid of any of them guys. Wladimir’s probably the best and strongest physically right now and I want to fight him. I actually called him out in the stands, in the second row, and you know how little kids act when they’re pretending not to be scared? He was like that. Hey it’s a business man,
you’ve got to get to that point somehow.
J.S: You figure you’d be able to get inside on Klitschko and get to his chin?
B.M: Oh yeah. I think he’s pretty suspect in that department too. I mean, it would be tough, it would be a challenge, But I think I’m quick enough. Calvin Brock is my stable mate and he fought him, but you have to know what you have to do, you have to get on the inside and move your head constantly. Calvin got tired though, you have to be in tremendous shape to fight like that.
J.S: Well I hope you get your shot because I think you’re a fighter who earns it in the ring, what with your style and everything. I want to thank you for your time and good luck to you in the future.
B.M: I appreciate it, thank you for the interview. God bless.