Johnathon Banks Q&A: "If Alexander Povetkin didn’t have the WBA title, I wouldn’t mention his name at all"
 By Anson Wainwright (Dec 19, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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Over
the past few months, few have had to endure what Johnathon Banks has. It's been
an emotional rollercoaster, having to deal with the loss of close friend,
mentor, trainer and father figure Emanuel Steward. Banks took the reins of heavyweight
champion Wladimir
Klitschko, training him
for his recent defence against Mariusz Wach in Germany, then returned to
America to attend Steward's funeral the week of his fight with hard-charging, power-puncher
Seth Mitchell. Of course, we know how the Mitchell fight played out with Banks
scoring a career-best, second round stoppage over the previously unbeaten Mitchell.
The victory advanced his ledger to 29-1-1 (19), something Steward would
doubtlessly be looking down and smiling about. Word is circulating that
Mitchell will exercise a rematch clause as soon as February, which is just fine
with the 30-year-old Detroit native. Despite having an eye on becoming a
trainer, Banks still has aspirations on winning the biggest prize in sports.
Anson Wainwright -
It’s been a rough and hectic past few weeks for you. Could you take us through
the rollercoaster time with Emanuel Steward passing, training Wladimir
Klitschko in Germany, then stepping in the ring with Seth Mitchell? Of course,
in the middle of all that was Emanuel‘s funeral.
Johnathon
Banks - It’s been a hectic last three months; it’s been a rollercoaster as far
as emotions, to deal with so much going on. The passing of a legend, mentor,
father figure is devastating. It hurt. There will always be piece missing of
him; it will always leave an empty place in all of us. At the time it came, no
one’s death comes at a good time, but especially with the timing of it being in
the middle of training camp. I’ve had three big fights; I had to fight the
emotional rollercoaster of a great individual that I’ve been around and got to
know for a little over 15 years. I had the task of having to train one of the
biggest, most powerful heavyweight champions in history and then on top of that,
I had to fight a big powerful heavyweight myself. It’s been a very tough, up-and-down
rollercoaster last three months and I tell you, I’m happy to sit at home and
take a deep breath.
AW - You stopped Seth Mitchell recently. How much of a difference do you
believe being a boxer through and through whilst he only took boxing up at 25
off the back of an American Football career played?
JB - I don’t like to say I had or have advantage over this man because in
no way, shape, form or fashion do I want to take away from the ability Mitchell
has. At the same time, I don’t want to take away the ability I have either. So
I don’t want to say I had such a huge advantage over him but it’s just a matter
of whoever was the best on that night. As I’m going through the fight, I’m
seeing what he’s doing. I’m moving around; he was faster than what I thought he
was gonna be. He caught me with some good shots; he caught me with a good right
hand over the top. I thought, “OK, I don’t want to get caught with that again.”
I’m just moving around actually trying to feel him out. I never moved around and
felt an opponent out before. You know, I always went for the attack or went and
did my thing. I didn’t know how his speed was going to be. I didn’t know [what
he had]. I knew he had power so I had to feel him out, get his speed down pat
and I took it from there. Then before the second round, coach Sugar Hill was
kind of upset. He said, “Listen, Johnathon, you didn’t throw any punches in the
first round.” After the fight, I explained to him but he didn’t really know at
the particular time. But I came out the second round and was a little more
aggressive because I knew [Mitchell] wouldn’t expect it. You have a guy who
backs every opponent up and pretty much dominates and knocks out his opponent.
He’s kind of used to it, so I figured if I backed him up, I’d have a better
chance of either catching him or making him come forward one to one.
AW - Of course, you’re now in the very different situation of also being a
trainer to the heavyweight champion of the world. You’ve known Wlad since 2004.
What was it like for you to train Wladimir Klitschko and be the head trainer
for his most recent fight?
JB - It was different but I quickly adjusted to it and I was able to deal
with it. When I thought of the opportunity I was left with, I was saying to
myself in training camp that I really have an opportunity to make history. This
has never been done before. If Wladimir gets a win and I get a win, I’ll make
history. That’ll be cool. I was very excited not only about my fight but both
fights. I was excited about his fight and my fight. I just stayed with the program
like I was supposed to [and] get Wladimir ready and myself ready.
AW - Is a fight with Wladimir or even Vitali something that you’re
interested in having, being so close to them for so long and now training Wlad
or would you like to go a different way like Alexander Povetkin for instance?
JB - Those are more so in my avenue. A fight with Povetkin, a rematch with
[Tomasz] Adamek are more in my window than anything else. Being around these
guys for so long, I’ve known them for many years; I don’t think it would be
smart to fight them as of now. I’m their trainer and they’re my promoter so it
would be difficult to do that. I think things would be pretty good for Povetkin
and one of these days, I’d like a rematch with Adamek. I’m not crazy. There’s
no money in it right now. If we do it, let’s do it for something that’s worth
it. I don’t want to fight nobody just to fight them. The only reason I want to
fight Povetkin is for the WBA title. If he didn’t have it, I wouldn’t mention
his name at all. I want to fight for the world title. It’s not [like] I see
someone I want to fight. People only want to fight the Klitschkos because they
got the belts.
AW - So would you say to Alexander Povetkin, “If you fight me and beat me,
you get one of the Klitschkos.”?
JB - I don’t think Povetkin wants any part of the Klitschkos. He was
offered that fight, I want to say, three years back. As a matter of fact,
Povetkin had a tour bus and he was calling out Wladimir, showed up at the press
conference [of one of Wladimir’s fights], calling Wladimir by name all day
long, saying Wladimir was scared to fight him. After Wladimir fought his fight,
he went back and called out Povetkin and Povetkin turned the fight down. I
don’t think Povetkin wants to fight one of them.
AW - We talked about Emanuel’s passing. He touched many lives but could you
talk us through the relationship you guys shared and what he meant to you?
JB - I guess it got to a point when I was 16, maybe 17, we started talking.
I was in the Olympic camp with Emanuel. I think I was training for a tournament
myself. Emanuel said, “Come on up here.” I was up there; we always got to talk.
What he liked about me was I wasn’t raised like the ghetto kids. He liked the
way I carried myself. Me and Emanuel we always got along. We talked so much, so
many times. You know, I’m growing up pretty much around this guy. I moved into
one house he owned with some other fighters. One night, we had a bad snowstorm.
I came over there I said, “Do you have anyone to shovel your snow?” So I shoveled
the snow; it took 2 hours. [Steward] said, “Why don’t you go upstairs and sleep
instead of going over to the house, walking in the snow a couple of blocks
over?” I did that one night and it took me three years to leave! I was living
with him at that point. A lot of times, he’d knock on the door and come in and
we’d be talking. He was such a great figure and good man; he had so much going
on. It was very rare somebody would say, “What’s going on with you?” Our bond
changed from there. I guess you could say being in the right place at the right
time, I just think things are meant to be. Things happen for a reason. I never
knew at that moment but I was excited this man took an interest and I was
surprised yet thankful to be around him. This was a great figure in the sport
and the world and was amazing.
AW - Now that those situations have played out, do you have any plans or is
it a little early still to know or tell?
JB - Just a little bit. Most importantly, I get to relax and I’m very happy
to do that. As of now, no plans, just enjoy the holiday and back to work, make
a phone call, try to figure out what’s next.
AW - I know your long-term vision is to be a trainer when you retire from
professional boxing. Do you have anything set up for this?
JB - It’s a little early. I’m at a point in my life now whatever role or
situation [I’m in], I’m confident I can fulfill that role. As a trainer or
something else, I think I can do it but it’s still early. I’m just willing to
help out whoever needs help and I would love to see Emanuel’s dream kept alive,
meaning the Kronk gym being there, it helped a lot of inner city youth. I know
a lot of guys myself. When I was 15, 16, one guy was sitting on the steps
crying. I was talking to him; I figured what was wrong. Three of his boys got
shot the day before. I said, “Where were you when they got shot?” He said, “I
was here.” He was so happy and thankful having a place to go, having a gym to
go to. That’s why I think it was so terrible and sad for the city to close up
these recreation centers because the kids already had an excuse to do crime but
now they have a bigger excuse. They have nowhere to go; they had pretty much nothing
to do.
AW - You’ve shared a ring with both Klitschkos. That’s a very real way to
see up close and personal exactly their incredible arsenals. What’s it like
sparring with them?
JB - You see a giant! You see a giant coming across the ring; the next
thing you know; an even bigger shadow covers you. Like Muhammad Ali said, when
he fought Joe Frazier, Joe Frazier comes out, starts punching. I start
retreating and the next thing you know, you’re sitting ringside. You get to
think of things like that. These are gifted athletes. They got power; they got
speed and they know their craft. I’ve been privileged to be around them and I
look forward to spending more time with them. It’s a big learning lesson. With
Wladimir, you see this big man with good footwork and great speed and with Vitali,
you see this big man who throws so many punches during the rounds.
AW - Tell us about your interests outside of boxing.
JB - I have a mentoring program in Detroit. I do a lot of work with
different charities. The mentoring program I have, I try my best to guide
whatever children I have. I talk to a lot of people who just don’t know a lot
of things. I say I’m not saying y’all are gonna make it. What I’m saying is
none of you will have an excuse not to make it. That really means a lot to me. I also have an AIDS awareness
program and I teach at the program every Sunday for maybe an hour-and-a-half,
like 9-10.30. I teach kids. A lot of them have AIDS; a lot don’t. I go there to
delegate my time to the community whenever I can ‘cause I believe so much
knowledge is power. You can’t do it without that power and knowledge is that
power. I go to the schools; I try to get different people to donate. If it
wasn’t for education, you could be the best sports guy in the world but if you
can’t read or write, that’s no good. I delegate my time in the community. I get
nothing from it; I put all my money into it but it’s a joy to me to be able to
help out. I thrive on that.
AW - In closing, do you have anything you’d like to say to the heavyweight
division?
JB - Ready or not, here I come!
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