by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s forty-eighth edition of On the Ropes featured exclusive interviews with Andre Ward and “Iceman” John Scully. Highlighting this episode was the very interesting interview with Super Six tournament participant, Andre Ward. Andre is slated to take on WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler this Saturday in Oakland, California. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On his preparations for the upcoming fight with Kessler:
“It’s training as usual, it’s hard work, it’s sometime monotonous, but I’ve fighting long enough to understand that you got to pay the price now to celebrate later.”
On his fight with Edison Miranda:
“It was a twelve round fight that was very hard fought. Even though Miranda didn’t win many rounds, it was very physical. We just showed ourselves well in all the necessary categories, but I definitely don’t think that’s the best Andre Ward that the world will see. November 21 will be the best that everyone has seen so far..”
Q: On having home field advantage in his fight with Kessler:
“I don’t really put too much stock into how much of an advantage it’s going to give me. At this point, if we were fighting in his home town, my home town, or a neutral territory, my intensity and focus would still be the same.”
Q: On Carl Froch’s split decision victory against Andre Dirrell:
“My personal thoughts and feelings are that Andre Dirrell should have got the nod and that he should be the new WBC super middleweight champion.”
Q: On Arthur Abraham’s twelfth round stoppage of Jermain Taylor:
“I don’t know if I’d say I was impressed, but Abraham did what he had to do.”
Q: On knowing who his opponents will be in the 2nd and 3rd round of the tournament:
“I’m literally eating, sleeping, and drinking Mikkel Kessler and the WBA championship belt right now. That’s as far as my mind can stretch right now.”
Q: On his upcoming fight with Kessler:
“He’s a decorated champion and I take my hat off to him, but I just believe I’m going to be the better man November 21. That’s the bottom line. I don’t know if it’s going to come down to who wants its more, who’s more skillful, who made the right adjustments. I just don’t want to leave that arena without that belt. That’s all that’s driving me right now. I didn’t come this far to get set back.”
Q: Regarding Carl Froch’s claim “On the Ropes” that it would be an all-European final:
“I really have no personal response to Carl Froch. Carl Froch says a lot of different things that I really ignore, because some of them don’t make sense. I’m not ignorant, I understand most people are planning for an all European finals, but I have something to say about that. Now I have 36 minutes to speak come November 21, and again, I’ve been here before. I was the last man standing in the Olympics with the whole United States, I felt like, was on my back. It’s pressure, but it’s a great pressure. I thrive from it.”
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Next up we were afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with the “Iceman”. John Scully spoke about a wide variety of topics, including on Manny Pacquiao and the prospects of a showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from the show:
On Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Miguel Cotto:
“The old adage has always been a good big always man beats a good little man, but he’s (Pacquiao) destroyed that time and time again now, four fights in a row.”
On the prospects of a mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather:
“The only fight in boxing that matters now, there’s only one fight, and that’s Mayweather and Pacquiao”
On Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach:
“For the last few fights, Freddie has not only trained him and orchestrated a brilliant fight plan, but he’s laid it out. He told people ahead of time how it was going to go and what they were going to do, and he called it perfectly, so you have to give Freddie Roach a lot of credit.”
On Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“ A lot of people I find they don’t like Mayweather personally so they don’t like him as a fighter, but that’s very ignorant to do that. It’s like with Ali. Chances are, the people that think he wasn’t a good fighter also think he’s a draft dodger. They confuse the two hates.”
On his working relationship with Matt Godfrey:
“So far I think we’ve really worked well together. We have a good relationship and he understands boxing.”
On Tomasz Adamek moving up to heavyweight:
“Could that guy take the best punch of Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko? If I was to guess, I would say no.”
On his experiences sparring with Roy Jones Junior:
“One of my proudest things in boxing is actually the fact that I was called back repeatedly to spar with him in training camps.”
On the short term future of boxing:
“Boxing hinges probably on one fight, and that’s Pacquiao and Mayweather.”
If you missed last week’s special edition of On the Ropes, be sure to tune in and listen now!
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