"It's going to be hard preparing for me and what I'm going to bring to the table on the 23rd...I do expect him to put up more of a fight than Gerald Washington...whatever adjustment I gotta make in facing Dominic, I'm sure I'll be able to make those transitions very quickly, whether that's pressuring him or backing up and countering...as long as I listen to my corner and do what I need to do, it's going to be a great fight for me. This is going to be a good fight for me," stated heavyweight contender Amir Mansour, who talked about his upcoming clash with Dominic Breazeale. Check it out!
PC: You have your date and opponent locked in. Tell us about it my man.
AM: It's been a crazy last 2 months, man. I've been training to fight like 3 different people, but it's all good, man. I'm really grateful because PBC been trying to get me a fight. Tom Brown works with PBC and they've really been working on keeping me busy. I can't complain. I just fought October 13th and fighting again this month, that's beautiful to me. I would love to fight every 3 or 4 months anyway. The opponent is Dominic Breazeale and I've been training for him for awhile, so having the fight extended for another week is no problem at all. It was going to be on the Wilder/Szpilka card and they moved it to the Garcia/Guerrero show, so that's no problem at all.
PC: Although their skill sets are different, it has to be somewhat of an extended camp for you because you're coming off of the Gerald Washington fight and he's big and tall like Breazeale.
AM: Exactly man! You know, I watched the Gerald Washington fight for the first time and you can always go back and watch a fight and see mistakes that you made. One thing about me is that I can attack my opponents in more ways than one, and I can retreat in more ways than one. Knowing what I know, I think it's going to be hard to prepare for me. It's going to be hard preparing for me and what I'm going to bring to the table on the 23rd.
PC: Do you look at it as Gerald Washington was more athletic, but Dominic Breazeale has more boxing experience?
AM: Yeah! That's a very good analogy there. I think Gerald Washington is a lot stronger than Breazeale will be. He's a big athletic dude. He's a little bit more athletic than Breazeale, but I don't think he has the skills that Breazeale has. I think Breazeale has a very decent skill set. And the one thing I like about Breazeale is he's tough. He comes to fight. He ain't no runaway guy. He ain't no guy that's going to run from me. I like that about him. I don't expect him to stand there and trade with me, but I do expect him to put up more of a fight than Gerald Washington.
PC: Obviously you face all comers, but when you got the name Dominic Breazeale, you had to be like, "Damn, another tall opponent?"
AM: I don't know who started this tall man stuff. It's almost like somebody put up a sign that said, "If you're 6'5" or better, come be a boxer and be a heavyweight!" But I've been fighting bigger people all my life, man. It is more difficult fighting a guy that is that tall versus a guy your own height. It is a big disadvantage and its very awkward, but you can't look pretty every time. Sometimes you gotta get ugly and go ahead and win the fight. I think I was trying to be a little too pretty with Gerald. I waited a little too long to get ugly, so I reprimand myself for giving him a couple of the early rounds. But having said that, Breazeale brings a lot more to the table than Gerald does, but I think he lacks some of the strength that Gerald had. Gerald is very strong. I think Gerald's legs are a lot faster than Breazeale's. But I don't even compare Gerald to Breazeale in preparing for this fight. I look at other fighters and Breazeale by himself. I think he's in a class by himself. I can't compare him to Gerald Washington. So we're preparing accordingly based on that. And Breazeale and Gerald are not the first tall guys I've faced. My third or fourth fight, I fought Kevin Lewis and that joker was 7'1". I've been fighting taller guys early in my career and growing up, I never had a fight with anybody my age or size, so it's all good.
PC: Bryant Jennings said he tried to match pressure against pedigree and pedigree won. You're going up against a former Olympian. How do you avoid the pressure losing again to pedigree?
AM: What a lot of people don't realize is my style looks like pressure because once I hit a guy, they start running, so I gotta come forward. I actually fight a lot better backing up, so I actually hope somebody backs my ass up for once. It's actually harder for me coming forward. So guys might think, "Let's back him up because he don't like being backed up." No, I love being backed up. These transitions, you have to be willing and able and learn to make these type of transitions throughout the fight. So whatever adjustment I gotta make in facing Dominic, I'm sure I'll be able to make those transitions very quickly, whether that's pressuring him or backing up and countering. He's a fighter and I'm a fighter. He's going to bust his gun and I'm gonna bust mine. Of course we have strategy and they have strategy, but at the end of the day, when we get in that ring, he's going to have to make adjustments because he's not going to get the look he's expecting. I'm going to get the look that I'm expecting and that's going to be the big difference I think. He's not going to get the look that he's expecting to see.
PC: Would you had preferred to be on the Wilder/Szpilka card being that it is more of a heavyweight card, with Martin and Glazkov also fighting on there, or are you good with the Garcia/Ghost card because of the anticipation for that fight?
AM: Let me tell you something, man, Danny Garcia is one of my favorite fighters. He's from Philly, he trains in Philly, I train in Philly, and I've met him and his father and his father is a real cool dude. As a matter of fact, I think I have an Instagram picture with me and his father. They are real good people. They used to come to our gym quite a few times to spar years ago, so I've always been a big fan of Danny and his father. So to be fighting on the same card as him and he's reached this level, it's a blessing. I'm a bigger fan of Danny than I am of Deontay. It would have been more fun and meaningful, in terms of heavyweights, being able to fight on a heavyweight card because they have so many other good heavyweight fights lined up on that card, but being on this card, maybe me and Dominic can steal the show.
PC: You seem to be a bigger fan of the smaller guys as opposed to the bigger guys and the higher weight classes.
AM: Yeah, that's very true. When I became pro and first started boxing, I didn't look at heavyweights to try and mimic their style. I looked at Marvin Hagler, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, Roy Jones, and Michael Moorer when he was a light heavyweight. I looked at guys like that; Tommy Hearns. I looked at those guys, the smaller guys, and tried to mimic their movement. I've always been a big fan of the smaller guys.
PC: Being switched from the Wilder card to this one takes you off of the east coast and puts you on the west coast. Are you looking at this as an opportunity to gain new fans?
AM: My trainer, Calvin Davis, actually told me that. He said, "This is just an opportunity for you to get more fans out there." One of the biggest fan bases is the Latino community and so that's definitely an opportunity to gain more fans. You hit that on the head. I'm not really concerned with the fact that he's from out there. I'm not really concerned about that. This is about me getting more fans and I'm cool with that.
PC: Given the outcome of your last fight, the draw with Washington, do you feel like you have to do extra or just be yourself? What's the mindset heading into this fight?
AM: Well, it's two-fold. One, I'll have my trainer Calvin Davis with me. Two, I will be performing and my game will be tight and I will follow protocol. My last fight with Gerald, Calvin wasn't able to make it, and having your head trainer train you throughout camp preparing you for someone and then when you get to the fight, you gotta listen to another trainer; even though Moses been with me my whole career, he didn't train me strategically for that fight, so I was really zoned out from any information that was coming from my corner. This time, Calvin will be with me. He's a great motivator. He's like the one person on this planet that can get me to do exactly what I need to do. And as long as I listen to my corner and do what I need to do, it's going to be a great fight for me. This is going to be a good fight for me.
PC: I look forward to the fight. Best of luck to you on January 23rd and we will talk soon. Is there anything else you would like to add?
AM: Just to my fans, man, a lot of people that purchased tickets to the Barclay Center on the 16th, I know they are disappointed they won't see me fight, but it's still a good card and I'm sure they will get their monies worth!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]