"I don't blame none of the critics because that's what makes boxing exciting, people doubting people and people being able to prove other people wrong. That's what makes the game of boxing exciting. It gave me (laughing) so much joy to prove all of the people wrong, man... Johnathon Banks is here to stay, man. To all of the heavyweights, ready or not, here I come. I think I proved to a lot of people that I'm a top heavyweight contender and I'm not going anywhere, so ready or not, here I come," stated heavyweight contender Johnathan Banks, who talked about his future plans after his upset victory over Seth Mitchell. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the win.
JB: Thanks man.
PC: How do you feel about the way everything went down?
JB: I thought everything went okay. I was excited about the fight and I was happy with the outcome. I'm not disappointed about anything.
PC: You have a ton of experience and have fought some good competition throughout your career. I was a little bit surprised that they picked you as an opponent. Were you a little shocked as well?
JB: Well, the thing about it is they didn't pick me as an opponent. I have been going after that particular fight for almost a year now. When they were looking for an opponent for him when he fought in DC on that Amir Khan/Peterson undercard, I heard about it and I told my promoter I will take the fight. I wanted to fight him in DC, so I have been looking for that fight for quite some time now. They picked Timur Ibragimov. So I've been looking forward to that fight for some time now.
PC: I'm not even gonna lie to you, I thought you may have put too much on your plate, dealing with the loss of Manny, training Wlad, and then a week later fighting the biggest fight of your career. How did you balance everything and be able to put on that performance?
JB: A lot of people were like, even the HBO guys were like, "Listen, it's impossible for a fighter to, number one,-train a fighter, number two, get ready for his own fight, and bury a close personal friend who is like a mentor. That's three difficult things you have to do." It's so difficult because it's never been done before and I was able to do it. But me and Wladimir just got a set schedule. He trained in the morning and in the afternoon, so I train earlier than him in the morning and afternoon. I train early in the morning and then go train him in the morning, and then I train in the afternoon and then come back and train him in the afternoon. So it's really, really exhausting, so I got good sleep every single night. I basically passed out every single night, but it worked out.
PC: Not only did the fight go as planned, but I spoke to a few fighters that felt your instruction to Wladimir during the Wach fight was very good.
JB: It was crazy, man. I can't even act like it was a regular situation. It wasn't exciting, but it was like a surreal moment because I'm like, this is the big stage and the highest level in boxing. You got the guy recognized as one of the undisputed heavyweights, and in our history, he is one of the biggest and strongest heavyweights in our history. It was like a surreal moment and I'm just happy that I was able to handle it. I had no doubt in my ability. A lot of people doubted that I could actually train a fighter. Even when camp first started, a lot of reporters asked me, "How can you train Wladimir?" I told them, "I wouldn't be here if I couldn't be here, plain and simple." I would not be there if I couldn't be there. And Wladimir understands me. He has confidence in me to train him. That was a heck of a thing. You got the heavyweight champion of the world with that kind of confidence in you to lead the team so it was cool.
PC: Yeah, I really didn't know how you were gonna pull it off.
JB: Yeah man, you know what? The thing about it, a lot of people when the fight first got signed was wondering why Golden Boy would pick me as an opponent, and of course I just told you they didn't. But a lot of people had
I remember some people had him knocking me out in 5 rounds and thought it would be a quick victory for Seth Mitchell, and that's when they first made the fight. That's all they were talking about. Even Seth himself
well, I don't know if it was him, but some people on Twitter was saying it was gonna be another early night. They had me losing the fight because I even signed the contract for the fight. I don't blame none of the critics because that's what makes boxing exciting, people doubting people and people being able to prove other people wrong. That's what makes the game of boxing exciting. It gave me (laughing) so much joy to prove all of the people wrong, man.
PC: When you started preparing for Mitchell, did you have the mentality of weathering the storm and then coming on? What was preparation like for him and what was the plan going in?
JB: Well, my mindset was
my mindset was just boxing; that's what I do. I box, so that's my mindset, but I always want the knockout, whether it comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or in the last round. I didn't come to him trying to knock him out in the 1st round because this was the first time ever I fought and tried to feel somebody out. The dude had a lot of hype behind him, he had a lot of build-up about him, and Seth Mitchell is a big, strong guy. You can't take that away from him, so my plan was to move around. My coach didn't like it because he didn't know what I was doing, but I was trying to see
see, usually you size a man up at the press conference and the press tours and then the weigh-ins and so forth and so on. I saw Seth one time;I didn't see him. You usually have a lot of things leading into the fight where you see your opponent. I saw Seth one time at the weigh-ins and that was it. That was the first time I had seen him.
PC: So you were truly sizing him up in that 1st round then.
JB: That's what I had to do. After the fight was over with, I told my coach what I did and he told me he understood why I did it, but he just didn't know what I was doing, so he was just doing his job. I told him I wasn't mad at him for doing what he had to do, but I felt I had to do what I had to do because I hadn't seen this guy but once.
PC: When he went down the first time and got up, I looked at his legs and I didn't think it would be much longer. Did you sense that as well?
JB: When I first hurt him, honestly, I didn't realize that that particular shot hurt him simply because I didn't throw nothing with power. I was just going for speed and I knew I could be faster than him. And once I seen his legs were gone, I was like, "Oh, he hurt. Let me get this dude out of here." So I dropped him the first time and he got up. So I was like, "Okay, he about to weather the storm, but let me see if I can still get him out of here." So I'm thinking I'm not about to go for head shots. I'm going to go to the body and then head. I dropped him the second time and I said, "Okay, I'm not letting him recover from this one because I know time is ticking." I didn't know how much time I had, but I knew time was ticking, so I'm thinking I gotta get him out of there. And then the third time he went down
he actually went down four times. The third time he went down, he tried to get back up and he fell and that's the reason the fight got called. He made a statement in the press conference saying his legs got a little wobbly and the ref did what he felt he had to do, and I'm like, "No
when you got knocked down the third time, you tried to get back up and you fell back down."
PC: And you probably could have finished it shortly after the second knockdown, but you also fell down while throwing your shots and it took some time for the ref to come wipe your gloves off and then get back to him to count. It didn't buy him much time, but definitely a few seconds.
JB: Yeah, because that left hand
I don't know how the heck I tripped over (laughing). I don't know how I did that, but I had to hurry up and jump back up.
PC: Switching gears from the fight, when I talk to James Ali Bashir, he talks about seeing you walk in the Kronk Gym as a kid. How tough is it to not only lose Manny, but also see the gym that was a major part of your youth no longer there?
JB: Man, to see the gym go away like that was very hurtful because you got two things: you got the legendary gym and you got the legend. That formed my upbringing as far as the man. I learned so many of the things I learned because of boxing and the places boxing allowed me to travel. I started in a raggedly gym, but it took me around the world, you know what I'm saying? It did me so many wonders, man. Emanuel used to be talking boxing with me and it's really hurtful to have the gym gone and it's not good to have Emanuel gone. My goal now is to continue to stay in constant contact with the family to see to it that Emanuel's dream comes to fruition.
PC: What's next for you my man? Is there anyone in particular that you want to face or you just want them to line them up and you take them out?
JB: Well, I just heard Vitali is supposed to be fighting Povetkin. I just heard that, and Povetkin is kind of one of the guys I was looking at because he has the WBA title. But I mean, I'm just here, man. I'm chillin. I'm gonna relax for another week and a half and enjoy the victory and then get back to training. But as far as fighting again, whenever the phone rings. I'm affiliated with Golden Boy for now, so whatever they bring my way; whatever Golden Boy and my promoter, K-2, bring my way, that's what I will do.
PC: Congratulations again on the knockout. I look forward to seeing you back in there. Is there anything else you want to add?
JB: Thank you! Johnathon Banks is here to stay, man. To all of the heavyweights, ready or not, here I come. I think I proved to a lot of people that I'm a top heavyweight contender and I'm not going anywhere, so ready or not, here I come.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]