 |
|
Photo © Tom Casino
|
Many people were surprised recently when Scott Harrison was awarded the prestigious British Boxer of the year award. Take nothing away from the stone faced Scot, in the last 12 months he’s won three out of three, and all by knockout against a credible bunch of featherweight contenders with the WBO title at stake on each occasion. But did he beat a legend? Danny Williams did, and it could hardly have been more spectacular.
His fourth round knockout of “Iron” Mike Tyson earned him a lot of praise from all quarters, despite pathetic attempts to take the gloss of the victory by team Tyson. It’s debatable as to whether Williams should or shouldn’t have won the annual British prize. But that matters little when you receive the maximum reward - a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world.
Who could have dreamt it when in January Williams lost his British heavyweight crown to Michael Sprott, that in less than an year he would be presented with the opportunity of winning the biggest prize in solo sport. It’s a turn around that even surprised the most experienced onlookers who went away from the Wembley Conference Centre in January wondering where Danny would go from here. ‘Mike Tyson’ or ‘World title shot’, let a lone both, didn’t come close to entering any of their thoughts.
Doghouse Boxing caught up with Danny ‘The Conqueror’ Williams to discuss his forthcoming title challenge against Vitali Klitschko.
Adam Williamson: Ok Danny before we talk about the Klitschko fight I just want to know your thoughts on the British boxer of the year award. Were you surprised that you didn’t win it? It’s not every year a British boxer beats such a legend.
Danny Williams: To be honest I didn’t expect to win it in the first place. Jimmy (Jim McDonnell, Williams’ trainer) was absolutely convinced that I was going to win it and he actually made me think I was going to win it. So when I didn’t win it I was a little bit shocked because Jimmy had me brainwashed!
AW: I suppose the Michael Sprott defeat cost you…
DW: Yes it did. Scott’s a world champion so I think they got the right man at the end of the day.
AW: Danny, the big fight is just a couple of months away now, how have the early stages of your preparation gone?
DW: It’s going very well. I’ve been running with 40lb tyres on my back, pushing cars, doing a lot of sprint work and long endurance work, yeah it’s going really well. I’m really building up some good strength, power and stamina.
AW: How long have you been training for now? 2 weeks?
DW: Nearly 3 weeks now. In all it will probably be 10/11 weeks training for this fight.
AW: You are not over training are you!?!
DW: No, No. We do it in blocks. We’ve got 3 blocks of training, so I train and rest and build up all the different parts and fitness.
AW: I’ve read elsewhere that you are participating in Ramadan. How much will this hinder preparations?
DW: Not one little bit. Ramadan just means that you can’t eat during daylight hours. So I’ll be training in the night time so as soon as I finish training I can have something to eat.
AW: Is Jimmy alright with all that?
DW: Jimmy is cool with it because he knows my religion comes first.
AW: So when Ramadan finishes will that be when you go out to America to step up your training?
DW: Yeah, or possibly just before that.
AW: That would be a bit awkward wouldn’t it? With the time difference…
DW: It might be but I’ve done it before so I can handle that.
AW: Ok, Mike Tyson was the champion of yesterday (or rather the day before), Vitali is the champion of today. Do you see this as a bigger test?
DW: Style wise, yes. Klitschko is very tall, long arms, where as Mike Tyson is shorter and he comes in so you haven’t got to go looking for him, so in that sense I think it is going to be harder. Like the Mike Tyson fight I can see the first 3 or 4 rounds being very dangerous.
AW: Once again you are the underdog. Do you feel that was the key to you being so relaxed when you fought Tyson?
DW: No, because I’ve mastered it now. I used to put myself under too much pressure, and if I were the hot favourite it wouldn’t matter because I don’t put myself under pressure anymore. When I feel under pressure I can’t perform.
AW: Obviously without revealing too much, what are the basic tactics that you will employ against Vitali?
DW: The main one as you can see from our training is stamina and fitness. That is going to be a major part of our game plan. Also having a bigger heart than him, taking him out to the sea and drowning him!
AW: Vitali has taken some heavy bombs from such punchers as Lennox Lewis and Corrie Sanders. What makes you think you can knock him out?
DW: I feel that Lewis wasn’t in shape and he didn’t put his punches together. You saw what I did against Mike Tyson, put 20 odd punches together. And once I get him hurt I’m going to keep throwing and throwing and throwing. Even with Corrie Sanders, Corrie would hit him with one shot. I think the key is to keep getting off with the punches.
AW: Yes and in both cases, Lewis and Sanders’ stamina was poor….
DW: Yes, Corrie Sanders is a really good fighter but his fitness on that night was towards terrible. Coming into a heavyweight title fight in that shape…he thought that he’d win with one punch and go home!
AW: Are you willing to make a prediction?
DW: I wont give a round but I believe that I will win by stoppage.
AW: Late?
DW: Yes, late stoppage.
AW: You are going to Philadelphia to train. What advantages do you have by training in Philly that you don’t get elsewhere?
DW: One of the major advantages is that there are four or five 6ft 5 plus heavyweights all in one place so I won’t have to go out searching for sparring. And we’ve all heard about Philadelphia, and the roughness of the sparring in the gyms so I think that will bring the real Danny Williams out.
AW: Is there anything that you would like to say in closing?
DW: Someone asked me, “You didn’t fight Corrie Sanders years ago because Ramadan came up, why are you fighting Klistchko during Ramadan?” So I would just like to make it clear that I will fight no one in Ramadan, I’m not fighting Klitschko in Ramadan which ends in November, I am fighting Klitshcko in December. I just wanted to make that point clear.
I would like to thank Danny for his willingness to do this interview and wish him the best of luck with the big fight.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
|
Interview by Adam Williamson (October 13, 2004) 
