"I'm glad that I'm able to inspire someone as well and myself. The whole thing is about inspiring other people, never giving up hope, and believing in yourselfÂ… Ain't nothing cool about being locked up over a quarter of a century; nothing cool about having your future taken away for a few years and you could've really did something with yourself legally and still make millions of dollars...That's what the moral of the story is about. Don't let nobody tell you what you can't do. Don't let nobody kill your dreams. I don't care who it is. It took me over 32 years to prove my innocence," stated Dewey Bozella, who recalled what it was like to have his first professional fight following his exoneration from prison after serving 26 years for a crime he didn't commit. Check it out!
PC: First off, thanks for taking the time out to talk to me. You are truly an inspiration my man. How are you?
DB: Things are pretty good, you know. I go around and I do public speaking around the world and that's how I make my living.
PC: When people hear your story, it is truly an amazing story of determination, will, and perseverance. What is the reception like when you go speak and people hear your life story?
DB: Well, I look at it where it's inspiring to other people and I'm glad that I'm able to inspire someone as well and myself. The whole thing is about inspiring other people, never giving up hope, and believing in yourself.
PC: Losing 26 years plus of your life for a crime you didn't commit is unexplainable in itself and would make most men crumble, no matter how mentally strong you are. Was giving up ever an option for you and you just thought things were coming to an end?
DB: When you say "coming to an end," what do you mean?
PC: Never thought you would be acquitted and justified and definitely not having one fight as a professional boxer.
DB: I'm gonna put it to you like this, I never thought I would be able to fight on the Bernard Hopkins/Chad Dawson undercard, if that's what you mean. That was an exception and something that was way out of my range and something that I never thought of. I thought it would be a small club fight where I would be competing as an amateur, getting my last amateur fight and that would be the end of that. I hadn't fought in over 20 years. But after I won the ESPY Award and it was announced that I would like to have one pro fight, then I received a phone call from Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya. It was very different. It was an eye-opener and they wanted to help me out. So that was the beginning of change.
PC: And it was chronicled and they put you through hell to make that pro debut. Obviously, like you said, you hadn't fought in 20 years. You were 52 years old, so I understand they had to be sure you were fit, but what you had to go through was extreme. Would you do it all over again or is that a process you are glad you got it over and you're good now?
DB: I'm over it. But at first, I didn't think they were fair. I was very, very angry and very upset because they used my age against me. I knew why they used my age against me because I was 52 years old and I was fighting in a sport where you should have been retired at that age. But I wanted to prove to them that I was an exception, and part of me being an exception is because I never abused myself by getting high. I wasn't doing things that was inappropriate with my body, so just give me a chance; be fair. I knew I had enough to at least win one fight; at least one. So that was the difficult thing, trying to prove to them that I was qualified to do that, but they put me through hell.
PC: On the ESPN special, you could definitely see the frustration setting in.
DB: It set in because this was a week later, after I did what I did. I thought that I would receive a warm reception like, "You passed your tests," and instead, it was the opposite. It was like, "Okay, we're not giving you your license." I was like, "What do you mean you're not giving it to me? I was up for 17 hours." I was up for 17 hours, man. New York time, I left at 3:00 in the morning. I got there on their time at 2:00 in the afternoon. I barely got any sleep. I'm doing all of this traveling and then when I get out there, I do 5 hours of testing. 5 hours! When I'm leaving out of the ring, you can see the bandaid on my arm. You can see it because after doing the MRI and taking the blood test and all that, they put me through hell. They made me do 2 MRI's, not one. They did it two times and I still passed everything, and then they gonna tell me, after all that, I gotta do 5 minutes on the heavy bag, 5 minutes on the speed bag, 5 minutes on the jump rope, and then 5 minutes of mitts, and then I gotta spar with a heavyweight that has 10 pro fights. I got none and he sitting there waiting on me. He even said, "Y'all sure y'all want me to do this, man?" They said, "Listen, you just do your job." And then I looked at him and I said, "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna do it, man." And then after I did the 3 rounds with him, I dazed him. I dazed him after all that and then you gonna tell me a week later that I failed because I was taking too many punches. I'm like, "Shit, what the hell do you expect after all of the work that I did and he fresh. If you would have put him through the same thing that I did and then me and him go spar, I probably would've dropped him or knocked him out. But he coming out fresh and you talking about why am I getting hit with so many punches. Wait a minute, first I gotta understand what kind of fighter he is and then I gotta break him down and then I gotta be able to do all of these things before I can take it to him. And he's fresh." So that's what they did.
Then after that,one of the ladies who is the head of ESPN got in contact with Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya and they got involved. And once they told me that I got another test in 30 days, I was working with Bernard Hopkins and his trainer that takes care of his hands, Danny Davis. They had me working with him and so I worked with him and he busted my ass. He didn't give me no slack. After the first week, he had me sparring with pros. One of the guys I was fighting with, I can't remember his full name, but he was getting ready for a title shot and Danny had me sparring with him after I just finished running 4 miles, and I did 4 ½ rounds with him, so that was good. And I learned a lot from him, you know what I mean, because I sparred with him two times. It was real good. It was a real good sparring session. It wasn't nothing bad, take my word for it. I learned a lot from him and it was very, very good for me and a great learning experience for me. That's what made me truly understand the difference of an amateur and a pro. And he had me working with them ever since after that. That's what got me ready for the fight.
PC: And before your fight, you received a call from the President, right?
DB: Yes, I got a call from President Barack Obama and he congratulated me on my accomplishment and on getting out, and then he asked me a question. He said, "You sure this gonna be your first and last fight?" And I said, "Yes, I'm sure this will be my first and last fight." We talked for a few minutes and I hung up and the first thing that came to mind was, you talking about pressure. He wanted to be a pro basketball player, so for me to do this at my age, I know it had to give him something to think about. Even though he is the President of the United States, he has to be saying, "He's doing this at this age and he never gave up and he went for it at his age." And then going out there to win. That was the whole thing and I was offered a couple more fights. Bernard Hopkins offered me a fight on his card in Atlantic City and I turned it down. He could never understand why I turned it down. I turned it down because...let me give it to you straight, my hip was messed up. If you look at the fight, you can see me limping as I'm going back to the corner. I was switching with my hip. But not only that, my arm was messed up. And not only that, I had a torn retina in my eye. But I didn't tell nobody because that's how bad I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight that bad and if it meant losing my eye, the hell with it. I'm gonna lose my eye, the hell with it. I went and got an operation after that. And now man, I got 20/40 vision in my left eye and 20/20 in my other eye.
PC: Do you still work out now?
DB: I still train of course. I'm over here at 290 Broadway in Newburgh, New York. I be over here working with some of the pros, getting them in shape and doing conditioning with them. I go to other places just to stay in shape.
PC: The thing I love most about you following your story is that you never seem bitter towards anyone. How did you keep it together like that?
DB: Well, first and foremost, I realized that I can't walk around mad and angry at people because if I do, I'm only hurting myself. I'm gonna take it out on the wrong people; people that ain't did nothing to me. So if they didn't do nothing to me, I gotta get over it and let it go. In order for me to let it go, it made me a better person. It made me understand the value in other people as well as myself. Do I value myself? Hell yeah! If I value myself, I gotta get better and let this go because you will end up back in prison or somebody going upside your head and killing you because you walking around here mad and angry. They are gonna see it and know that you are dangerous, and what's the first thing they gonna do? They gonna take ya head off. So let that shit go, man, so that's what I did. You know what I mean?
PC: That's amazing, man.
DB: Yeah man, it was easier to let it go than to walk around mad and angry and be mad at people and mess my life up and mess other peoples' lives up and end up back in the penitentiary or dead. So getting control of the situation was easy; let it go.
PC: I know you are working on a book, an autobiography. When can we expect the book to be out?
DB: The book definitely should be out this year. I think towards the end of the year; somewhere between October and December. I have the possibility of a movie being made on me as well. These are the things that are happening. And I'm a public speaker, so anybody who would like to come through and do some public speaking for them, I have no qualms with that. Just contact GT [Greater Network Talent - www.greatertalent.com]. That's what I do and that's how I make my living, so they could make arrangements.
PC: Any actor in particular that you would want to play the role of Dewey Bozella if a movie was to come to fruition?
DB: Well, they were talking about the guy who just played Nelson Mandela [Idris Elba]. They want him to do me. The other one I was thinking about was Terrance Howard. I think Terrance Howard can play me, but they wanted Idris to play me. He just did the role in the Nelson Mandela movie and they were looking at him to play the part. But I think all of 'em are very interesting and either one of them can get the job done, and just the fact that they are mentioning something like that is pretty cool.
PC: It's an honor to speak to you, man. I gotta thank my man Amir Mansour for making it happen. I've been trying to get you for awhile now, so I appreciate it and I want to give you an open mic, man. Anything you want to say right now? Talk to me!
DB: Don't worry about it, man. My thing is to try and save someone's child from making the same mistake I made, and that is to think this code in the street shit is what's happening. Ain't nothing cool about being locked up over a quarter of a century; nothing cool about having your future taken away for a few years and you could've really did something with yourself legally and still make millions of dollars. It's how you think and what you do with yourself, man. Education and what kind of trade you pick up can really make your life a better place to live. And that's what they truly need to understand. What they truly need to understand is that you don't have to sell drugs and bust people upside of the head and rob people to make a decent living. That's what this is about. That's my story, man. Don't let people tell you what you can't do. You can turn your life around, man, but you got to be dead serious. You can't be bullshittin' and that's the key. My thing was I was dead serious. When people say, "Yo, I'm willing to die for something." I said, "I would rather die in prison rather than admit I did this crime. I love boxing so much that I'm willing to risk part of my life and die for it." That's the reason why I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it if I think I was gonna die; no, I did it because I knew I was qualified enough to do it and win. That's what everyone has to understand. They have the qualifications as well. You don't have to do what I did on the physical part, but you can do the same thing as far as the mental part. You can still become helpful to society and to yourself.
That's what they need to understand. That's what the moral of the story is about. Don't let nobody tell you what you can't do. Don't let nobody kill your dreams. I don't care who it is. It took me over 32 years to prove my innocence; 32 years precisely to prove my innocence. My whole thing was in that 32 years, I had to find out what was more important, this or this. I would rather die in prison than to tell you I did it. That was important to me. That was real important to me. I couldn't walk around, man, with them telling me I did this and I know I didn't do it. And it was so much inside of the story, so much of the in between the story stuff that a lot of people will never understand. That's the whole thing. I suffered along the way, but I had to find a way to get over the pain, the agony, and the frustration in order to make me a better person. So what I did is I went and got an education. I went from a guy who dropped up out of school and went and got 52 certificates, went and got a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in New York Theological Seminary and Professional Studies. Listen, if I can do it, you can do it and that's they key. My motto is, never let fear determine who you are and never let where you come from determine where you are going. That's my motto and I try to teach that to everybody. Never let fear determine who you are and never let where you come from determine where you are going. That's what I want to give to the world and to the people.
PC: If we had more people like you in the world, man, it would definitely be a better place to live.
DB: Thank you! Yes sir. Tell Amir I said thank you, and thank you too.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]