"Wladimir is in superb shape; the best that I've seen him in a long timeÂ…You won't be able to tell if the Emanuel thing is bothering him until he's in the fight. It doesn't seem like it is though. My thinking is that he's going to stop Wach early. I would really be surprised if it gets into the late rounds. Wach seems way too nervous," stated world-class trainer James Ali Bashi, who talked about Wladimir Klitschko upcoming title defense this weekend against Mariusz Wach. Check it out!
PC: Its fight week my man. How have everything been going with Wladimir?
JAB: Ah man, Wladimir is in superb shape; the best that I've seen him in a long time.
PC: So you don't think Emanuel's passing will have a residual effect on him for this fight?
JAB: You won't be able to tell if the Emanuel thing is bothering him until he's in the fight. It doesn't seem like it is though. My thinking is that he's going to stop Wach early. I would really be surprised if it gets into the late rounds. Wach seems way too nervous.
PC: When you say he's way too nervous, what do you mean?
JAB: He was extremely nervous at yesterday's press conference. Dude missed his mouth while he was attempting to drink a glass of water (laughing). Him and his team are totally out of their element and when they get in that 16,000 seat arena, I think he's going to fall apart; especially after he gets hit.
PC: So you feel the moment may be a little too big for him and his camp.
JAB: I don't feel that this guy is ready. I feel that they should have waited another 6 or 7 meaningful and educational fights against solid fighters that would prepare him for a Klitschkol, if there is such a fighter out there.
PC: Obviously you have been in these situations before, but how do you feel his trainers are handling this big stage?
JAB: His trainer, Juan Deleon, who is the brother of former cruiserweight champion Carlos Deleon, and he used to train Joe Mesi, he is, in my opinion, much braver than his fighter, overzealous if you will, and I have seen this so many times before leading up to a Klitschko challenge. They bury themselves in a bunch of unrealistic hype and nonsense. Wach's trainer kept referring to Wladimir as Vitali. I kept asking myself, "What is this guy thinking?" Wach's best chance is the same one that every challenger has coming in to fight Wladimir and that is to go out and play the heavyweight lottery and swing for the fences while he's fresh, and after that doesn't work, run for the fences (laughing).
PC: You sound very confident.
JAB: Listen, our team is solid and we have the champion in superb shape, like I said earlier, and really ready to fight, man. Everyone will see that this champion, and I can say that proudly, will do his former trainer and mentor Emanuel Steward's memory a great justice in that ring come Saturday night.
PC: Sounds good my man. It sounds more like you feel Wladimir will do this one for Manny Steward as opposed to fighting down in his absence.
JAB: All of the nonsense about Wladimir not being the same because of the death of Emanuel is totally misguided. If anything, Emanuel's absence will spur him on. Everyone has to remember that Wladimir's dad died not too long ago too. He understands who he is and what has to be done. He actually loves his job, unlike most fighters that I have encountered over the years (laughing). He loves cracking heads (laughing). We had some great sparring for this fight and quite possibly the best training camp in the 9 years that I have worked with the champion. We had Deontay Wilder, Ricard "Towers" Hayles, and Jameel "Big Time" McCline. They all gave us fantastic work in our preparations. Incredible the chances these guys took while standing up to the champ, and man, there were some hot firefights going on. And this dude Wach has Julius Long as his chief sparring partner to prepare for Wladimir Klitschko (laughing). I can't begin to try to explain the logic or what the hell those guys are thinking (laughing).
PC: I appreciate your time because I know things are busy right now. Best of luck to you out there and is there anything else you want to say before I let you go?
JAB: It's gonna be very difficult to beat Wladimir, and that goes for anybody! I do believe that Wach could be good if this fight doesn't destroy him. But I do feel that, given a little more time, Wach could be a frontrunner.