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Team Mayweather
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 21,200
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The Official Boxing Forum Interview with Iceman John Scully - 5/19/08
Iceman John Scully Interview - 5/19/08
Have you seen anyone recently that you thinks will definitely reach the top of the sport in the future?
ICE: I never say definitely because so many things can cause a guy to get derailed. The only guy who I ever saw turn pro and really felt for sure he would make it to the big time was Roy Jones Jr.
How long do you plan on training fighters and what made you want to become a trainer?
ICE: I plan on training fighters for as long as I am alive on this earth. I knew from age 14 that I was going to be involved in boxing forever and since I actually despise the business of boxing there is no room for me as a promoter or manager. The only thing I want to do in terms of boxing is train the fighters and continue to spar with them for as long as possible.
I've heard you've worked with Chad Dawson. What are your thoughts on this young champion?
ICE: Chad has a very deep skill set and a ton of natural talent and instincts, too. With his height and reach and reflexes as well as his skills, if he can continue to stay disciplined in and out of the ring it will be very hard to defeat him. He's still young and if he doesn't get a big head and stays getting better and more mature then he could eventually be a dominant light heavyweight champion. The Johnson fight was very close, I thought he slightly edged it, and it was a huge learning fight for him. If his chin and focus hold up, he's the man to beat.
What's it like fighting abroad? Is it more difficult, and does the fact the judges probably won't favor you play on your mind and make you change your strategy?
ICE: The fact that fighting abroad really made me realize how much of a business boxing really is played on my mind, definitely. It didn't go down the same way I imagined it would when I was a kid. Fighting for the world title wasn't as glamorous as I imagined it would be. I knew that my opponent was a superstar there and that there was too much money involved for him to lose his title to someone that wasnt a big player in the division, like a Jones or a Hill were at the time. I also wasn't a one punch KO artist so I knew deep inside that it was going to be a futile situation.
Who was the best boxer you were in the ring with?
ICE: So many come to mind. I have been very lucky to have been in with so many very good fighters as both an amateur and as a pro as well as in the gym sparring. Roy Jones and James Toney come to my mind first. Henry Maske and Mike McCallum were impressive, too. Michael Nunn, former bantamweight champion Julian Solis. Lamar Parks was a very good boxer as well as a huge hitting puncher. Too many others to name here.
What are your thoughts on the current state of boxing?
ICE: It's hard to say. I mean, it isn't exactly one of the Golden Era's of boxing right now but there are some very god fighters and very good potential fights to be made with them. I think one big thing that needs to be rectified is the way in which boxing is promoted. I think it has lost something in the media and because of that the great potential fights, like Cotto and Mayweather, are taking too long to make. There is no public outcry for them to fight because nobody knows them. Back in the early 1980's the result of Holmes-Cooney, Leonard-Hearns, Leonard-Duran and Ali-Holmes were on page 1 of the newspaper. Not just the Sports section, but the front page of the actual newspaper. Now, in 2008, Floyd versus Cotto might not even make your local paper anywhere.
If there is one fight out there currently that you could see as a fan, what would it be?
ICE: I guess you have to go with Cotto and Mayweather. By the time they fight it might surpass Floyd and Oscar's first fight in terms of anticipation and interest.
It looks like the next mega fights are Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquioa vs David Diaz. How do you think they'll play out?
ICE: Well, I said that I would like to see Cotto fight Floyd but Antonio could certainly derail that plan! I think it would be an upset but right now at this moment I think I would pick Margarito to win that one ( Lance's Edit - It sounds like he meant to say Cotto, but Im going to check and make sure ). I actually haven't even seen David Diaz fight since he was an amateur so I couldn't really tell you about his fight coming up.
Who is the best prospect that you have right now?
ICE: Well, Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey is probably more than a prospect right now, he's a top ranked cruiserweight, but he is the fighter I train that I have the highest hopes for at the moment.
Do you plan on doing anymore broadcasting like you did on some ESPN classic fights?
ICE: I would LOVE to do some more and I have gotten quite a bit of good feedback from fans who watch the Classic fights and listen to me. I have had some people in the business talk to me about possibly catching on to a network doing live fights but so far nothing is secure for me. I am up for it, though, if anyone wants me on their station!!
We have many 16 year olds at our forum that are just starting to box. What are some things that you would like to tell them?
ICE: I tell everybody and anybody one simple piece of advice that I think lasts a lifetime. You may not be the fastest, sharpest, slickest, strongest or hardest punching guy in the game but you can be the most well conditioned. So when you are in the gym train harder than everyone there. Do more sit ups, more push ups, more rounds on the bag, more miles on the road. Run faster, train harder, focus harder on every aspect of preparing for your matches. It's the one aspect of your game that you really can control.
How did you get the nickname Iceman?
ICE: Unofficially I tell people, especially kids, I was named that because I am the absolute coolest person they will ever meet in the lifetime. the search is over, the coolest guy is standing right here in front of you. Officially, though, the story is that when I was in junior high school some of my friends said that my head was square and when they would go to my amateur fights they would yell out things like, "Come on block head! Get em' Ice block!" Eventually the Iceman named derived from that insult that Albert Graham bestowed on me back around 1982.
You only lost one fight in your career by knockout and it was extremely late in your career and it was by tko. What was that experience like? A lot of boxers don't like to talk about this. A lot of people that have never boxed I think need to know what that is like.
ICE: Well, actually that was a technical knockout. I am nitpicking there but it has always been a pet peeve of mine that they claim all fights stopped are knockouts. Some fights are stopped on cuts, some on injury, but they are always considered a knockout. I hate when someone says I was knocked out in that fight because I was never even close to being KO'd. I had actually, in my mind, retired before the fight. I was at the point in my life where I just hated boxing. I hated losing weight time and time again for fights and for that one it was particularly hard. I was mentally, physically and spiritually depleted well before I ever entered the ring that night. I actually came close to leaving my hotel on the day of the fight and going home. I went through with the fight, tough, but didn't fight back hard at all. By the 7th round the ref - a guy who knew me since I was 16- was as perplexed as anyone as to why I was so lax in the fight and he stopped it with me against the ropes not punching back. I could have went 100 rounds that night and never gotten knocked down or out. I just want there mentally and the fight was stopped. It's one of the biggest regrets of my entire life. I NEVER SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT THAT NIGHT.
I understand your a fan or Roy Jones, which I named my son after him. Roy Jones has alot of haters because of the steroid scandal and his post heavyweight experience. Can you give us your thoughts on Roy Jones, pre and post Heavyweight champion?
ICEMAN: Roy Jones in his prime, prime for prime, punch for punch, was and would have been more than a handful for any middleweight, super middleweight or light heavyweight in the history of the game. People who dismiss Roy Jones are people who do not care for his sometimes aloofness, his cockiness, his style. They are being foolish, though. If you don't like him then say so but to say he would get drilled by every great champion in history just because you have a problem with him personally is very ignorant. No one can watch him fight his best fights and tell me he wasn't a match for anyone in his weight class from any time in history.
Now lets play a game, I'm going to say a word or phrase and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
Boxing.
ICE: The one sport that everyone wants to be at. More big stars turn out for the biggest fights than they do for the World Series and Super Bowl combined. There's a reason for that.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
ICE: The Roy Jones of his era. Unappreciated. Maybe a bit over the top with his out of the ring actions and words but in the ring he has more than proven himself.
Favorite Brand of Glove.
ICE: "Rival Boxing Gloves," made in Montreal by Russ Anber. Available through the Title Boxing Catalogue. They practically form to your fist like a tight body suit would. Very comfortable.
Andre Berto.
ICE: Very good prospect. I would slow down with the premature predictions for him, though. It's unfair to him. He's quite a ways from Margarito, Cotto and Mayweather but some people would practically have you believing he's better than all three combined. This is professional boxing. Let him grow and mature and get seasoned without all the blown up predictions for him. Too much expectation is a tough thing for a fighter to grow properly under.
Mike Tyson.
ICE: Definitely misunderstood. Definitely not quite the monster that people would have you believe. I have met him and, more importantly, know several people who know him well and have dealt with him and he is no angel, not saying he is, but there is definitely a side to him that people would really be surprised to see.
Joe Calzaghe vs Roy Jones ( now )
ICE: I'd give RJ a much better shot now than I would have a couple years ago. He seems to have recaptured some of his spirit.
Joe Calzaghe vs Roy Jones ( prime )
ICE: On his best night, nobody beats RJ at 168 pounds in his prime.
Favorite fighter of all time.
ICE: Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali captured the world like no athlete ever has. His fights with Frazier and Foreman literally shook up the world. Most big fights today can barely shake up Cleveland.
Dream matchup.
ICE: Ali and Louis would have been so big. Leonard and Robinson at welterweight. How about Jones and Archie Moore or Bob Foster at 175.
Favorite Food.
ICE: Favorite foods, plural. Cannot just name one. A really good cheesecake. A really good pizza. A really good ice cream. A really good steak.
Your most satisfying moment in the sport.
ICE: I have three that always come to mind. As an amateur I defeated a guy who previously defeated me. I waited 18 months to fight him again and when I scored a knockout in the second round I thought I would die from excitement. Then to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 1988 I beat the world champion, Darin Allen. Darin was practically a superstar in the amateur ranks and someone who I had followed for a long time. Defeating him was the most amazing thing for me.
As a pro it would have to be losing what many say was a bad decision to Michael Nunn. Win or lose I was very happy with the way I fought because it finally showed that I could compete at a level that high.
"Ice"
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The Official Boxing Forum Interview with Iceman John Scully - 5/19/08
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