 |
|
|
HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER DANNY WILLIAMS,
FORMER WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION LENNOX LEWIS
Part II
Lennox Lewis welcomed to the call.
Question: Guys like Buster Douglas and Hasim Rahman, although they accomplished some things afterwards, will basically go down as one-hit wonders because they really did not follow up on their big victories over Tyson and Lewis respectively. What did you take from the lessons that Douglas and Rahman gave to the world by not being prepared to come back and follow up on their successes?
Williams: The lesson I learn from that is that once you are victorious, the hard work is not finished. You have got to keep going and train harder because someone wants to take you off the top. That is what I am doing. I am working harder because I like the respect that I got from beating Tyson and I want more. The only way I am going to get more is if I beat Klitschko. So I am training hard and I want to take him out.
Question: Vitali has always fought a more awkward style, which is one a lot of guys are not used to fighting. Can you discuss specifically his style and how he is different from the prototypical heavyweight that might be out there?
Williams: He has that European Russian style where he leans back on his back foot and he waves his left hand in front of you. He is not that fantastic to watch, but it is very effective. I was watching him against Lewis and Lennox had a lot of trouble with that style because it is a really weird style.
Question: So it is not something that you can really prepare for until you are in against it?
Williams: Yes, you are 100 percent right. This is where you have to just encounter it once you get in there. So that is why you need great conditioning and great belief in yourself.
Question: Lennox, you said last week you are happy to be out boxing. What do you do now? How do you spend your day?
Lewis: For me, just sorting out my life really. After boxing, remember that I am not getting paid millions of dollars anymore. So I have started bringing everything together and start my business life and reading a lot of scripts and stuff and doing different things. There are a lot of opportunities now since I am not in boxing. When I was in boxing, I did not really want to do too much to take away from the boxing because if you would go out for a commercial or whatever and then you lose a fight, people say you lost the heavyweight championship just for a commercial. For me, it was not worth it. So I took boxing very seriously. Now, it is definitely a different life, a more business life for me and I am looking forward to it.
Question: What sort of businesses are you involved with?
Lewis: As far as the music is concerned, I am not involved in the music. A lot of people would say, “I thought you had a label” and stuff like that. That is definitely not me. Movies? Yeah. It is just picking the right script that I would really want to get involved with. There have been a couple of different opportunities out there for me to read a lot of scripts and I really have to do something that is really suited for me.
Question: What are your thoughts about Danny and his chances going into this fight?
Lewis: I think it is a great opportunity for him to go out there and show what he has got. It is not an easy task to box Vitali Klitschko because of his size and definitely his reach because if you look at his history and just different people that he has boxed against, they all have found difficulty with him. One of the main difficulties is his size. Second is his reach. Third is his weight and movement. He is not easy to hit. So in one sense, Danny is going to find it very difficult. But I have a lot of confidence in Danny. He knows what he has to go out there and do: Definitely do not waste any time, definitely throw some body shots because European boxers do not like getting hit to the body too much, especially with that type of style. He definitely cuts easy. He has got a weight advantage as well because I think Vitali is like 250. I remember when I was fighting against him and I hurt him, he just threw his weight on me. I wanted to knock him out and he threw his weight on me and I had to push him off and then throw the punches to knock him out, which was real difficult. I believe that Danny can do it but he has to believe in himself and definitely go out there and do it, but it is not an easy task.
Question: Danny, is your mindset any different than it was a few days before the Tyson fight?
Williams: My mind is exactly as I was for the Tyson fight. I am relaxed, calm and ready to rumble.
Question: How much pressure do you feel having to take the belt back to England where you feel it rightly belongs?
Williams: I want to do it 100 percent, but I put no pressure on myself.
Question: Last week, Klitschko stated the Ukrainian presidential race was so mentally troubling for him that he actually thought about pulling out or postponing the fight. Did you know about this and what are your thoughts?
Williams: Yes, I heard about it and I must admit I was shocked and amused that he would come out with these statements. I really do not know what to make of them.
Danny Williams leaves the call.
Continue: Final part: Interview with Lennox Lewis.
 Part I: Interview with Lennox Lewis and Danny Williams DoghouseBoxing
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
|
