Calvin Brock: “I will become the heavyweight champion of the world come November 11th!”
 INTERVIEW By Benny Henderson Jr - A.K.A "Big Dog" (Nov 1, 2006)
Twenty-nine consecutive victories, twenty-two knockouts, one hundred and twenty-seven rounds… After a span of five and a half years undefeated heavyweight contender Calvin Brock 29-0 (22) finally gets his opportunity at a world heavyweight title. So what does the ‘Boxing Banker’ have to say on his bid on the world championship heavyweight hardware? “I will become heavyweight champion of the world come November 11th!”
Standing in his way of the heavyweight prize is the 6’6” towering Ukrainian IBF heavyweight champion superstar Wladimir Klitschko 46-3 (41), and the two ring warriors will meet November 11th at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden in a scheduled twelve round IBF & IBO heavyweight championship clash that will be featured live on
HBO at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT
The North Carolina native, who earned a degree in finance and is an avid tap dancer, sees this title shot as a dream come true, and not only that, also as his destiny given to him by a higher power.
“This is a dream come true,” explains Calvin. “It shows that God is a keeper of His Word. I mean, He told me that I would become heavyweight champion of the world and here’s my chance, and I am going to become heavyweight champion of the world come November 11th.”
Brock’s boxing quest began at the age of twelve and in his time as an amateur Calvin compiled a record of 147-38 and competed on the 2000 US Olympic team but fell short of his goal, losing out in the opening round. In February 2001 Brock made his pro debut knocking out his opponent in the third round. Brock continued on his winning ways exactly one month after his debut, knocking out the 3-0 Benjamin Garcia in the opening round of the bout. In June of ’03 Brock squared off against Jim Strohl laying the ‘Steel Chin’ to sleep at 1:40 of the first round.
Brock moved on defeating all in his pathway defeating the usual suspects and in the spring of 2005 Brock waged war with the then undefeated Terry Smith, defeating the Arkansas native via unanimous decision victory. 2005 opened up with a bang with Brock traveling to Houston, Texas taking on the Clifford Etienne knocking out the ‘Black Rhino’ in the third round and getting TV exposure on ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights. Just three months later and Brock was in the ring with former sparing partner Jameel McCline. The 6’6” 265-pound McCline dropped Brock for the first time in his career with a 1-2 combination in the seventh round, but despite the knock down Brock went on to win the contest with all three scores in his favor. After the hard earned W Brock spoke out on his first ever knockdown: “Soon as my back hit the canvas I was all right, I wasn’t dizzy, I wasn’t dazed. It was no big deal, that is a part of boxing. It kind of hurt my pride being put down, giving him the satisfaction of putting me down, but I got up and brought the pain to him.”
Brock earned the IBA heavyweight strap in late ’05 by defeating David Bostice and in his last outing Brock handed out a one-sided defeat to the then undefeated Uzbekistani Timor Ibragimov in a twelve round lackluster show.
In his time as a professional Brock hasn’t tasted defeat, the journey for Brock has been a flawless one with great success thus far, and now with his efforts he is set to get his title shot
“It has been a good journey,” explained Brock. “I haven’t lacked anything, God has supplied me with all my needs. I knew that everything was according to God’s timing, and now that it is time I will become the heavyweight champion of the world come November 11th. It has been a no regretful time to the title shot.”
Brocks’ opponent is undoubtedly one of today’s top combatants in the fistic family. The younger of the Klitschko duo, Wladimir, earned Gold in the 1996 Summer Olympics as a super heavyweight, and as a pro ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ has wreaked havoc on his foes. Utilizing his speed, size and power, Klitschko pounded his way to a heavyweight title by dethroning then IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd this past April with a few road blocks in the way. But despite Klitschko’s colossal arsenal and huge reputation, Brock isn’t too concerned about the outcome of their championship clash
“I think Wladimir is a good boxer, he is very talented and skilled,” explained Brock. “But I really don’t see any tough obstacles, I never had problems, in all my wins I won by wide margins or by knockout. So I don’t see it being close in this boxing match, I am going to win this boxing match with no question.”
Not lacking confidence going into what is projected to be his toughest opponent so far in his career, Brock states that he has a winning ingredient in this match-up. “The winning keys in this match-up are my overall skills and abilities, they are elite,” Brock continued. “I will win this championship and still continue on to be known as an undefeated heavyweight.”
Brock has the power to put Klitschko to sleep, but can he get past the pinpoint jab to do so? One thing for certain with sixty-three knockouts between the two it would appear that somebody is going to see stars. Will Brock continue his winning ways and dethrone Klitschko to become the new IBF heavyweight champ, or can Klitschko disrupt the W’s and hand Brock his first L?
We will end the article with Brock’s closing comment: “I just want to thank the public for tuning in to the fight so they can watch the new star that will rise November 11th.”
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