"He's definitely a step up on paper. His resume reads well. He's a good fighter. He's technical, keeping his hands up and stuff like that, has a pretty nice hook. But I got to give you the ups and the downs. He's a little guy. I'm massive, strong, powerful, elusive. He's definitely going to be in there for the hardest fight of his life that he'll ever have," stated heavyweight contender Charles Martin, who spoke during a conference call about his upcoming clash with Vyacheslav Glazkov. Check out what else he had to say!
CHARLES MARTIN CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT:
Charles Martin: Yes. I'm so thankful to be in this position and blessed to get a world title shot, and that's what all boxers dream of. It's finally becoming a reality to me. I'm not going to let anything stand in front of me receiving this IBF title. So I will be prepared on January 16th.
I'm up in high altitude right now. I'm in the snow. I'm running in the snow. I'm getting it, grinding with it, and it's going to all show in the rings.
Q: Can you take me through the decision-making process of dropping out of your fight with Dominic Breazeale in December?
C. Martin: I'm glad you asked that because I wanted to do both of the fights. My team is the one that talked me out of it. I was up here making plans to do both. They're like, yes, yes, you know, that's right, that's right. With the conversation with my coaches, I'm like, I can do this fight. I can get this another way. Then I'm lined up right here.
My manager and everybody else, they're like, "Hey, this is a world title opportunity. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. You fight for a world title. So we're pulling out. You're going back to camp and get this belt." I guess after a while it sunk in and it started to make sense. And I said, "Hey, you know, whatever. Let's just do it." Anything could happen.
You could get cut or something, any kind of crazy stuff that could have pulled me out of this fight. But I guarantee I was going to knock Dominic out. That's automatic, you know what I mean? We know each other. I would have knocked him out, for sure.
Q: You're talking about Breazeale, who you know?
C. Martin: Yes, Dominic Breazeale. I would have knocked him out.
Q: When you did make that decision to withdraw from the fight, did you stay straight through in camp. Did you at least take a couple of days off? Did you do anything over the holidays? Or did you just basically stay in camp and just work all the way through it?
C. Martin: Yes, I took a week off. I took that week off and then we got back to camp. I started back training when I was in L.A. I live in North Hollywood, so we have a gym right there. These guys they sponsor me and I got a gym right there. Me and my coaches got in there and we were hitting pads and we're doing workouts, doing pushups and callisthenic-type of movements.
Then we got right back up here into the high altitude, man. We are in Big Bear right now. We've been here for a few weeks now. We've been up here grinding, man. We're getting it in. I'm in perfect shape. I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I'm ready to fight.
Q: When you look at the record of Glazkov, does it make you think to yourself, I better really get rid of this guy because I cannot leave it in the hands of the judges?
C. Martin: I don't even take the time to think about those kind of things because he's never been in the ring with a fighter like me. I'm no Cunningham. I'm no Tor Hamer. I'm none of these guys that he fought.
I'm totally a different fighter than he's ever seen. So come fight night, I'm ready to prove it to the whole wide world. I'm ready to be that superstar. We train like superstars. If you're going to train mediocre, you'll be mediocre, and that's what I see out of a lot of fighters, heavyweights, especially. But we train to be a superstar and that's what you guys are going to see.
Q: Has everything changed in the mindsets for a fighter like yourself after Klitschko's loss?
C. Martin: It was going to open up eventually. Klitschko had a very good run. His whole career was outstanding. He's an awesome fighter. But it's our time now. There are new fighters on the map. We had big plans to knock him out as well. We wanted to knock him out and become superstars overnight. Everybody got the dream.
It's here now, man. I get to fight for the IBF World Title. I can't believe it. Every day I wake up. I think I'm freaking blessed. I'm fighting for a world title. This is crazy. Sometimes it doesn't even sound right, but it's real. So I'm going to seize the moment, definitely.
Q: This is for both fighters. I just want to know if one of you, unless there is a draw, wins this title next weekend, are you anxious to unify with either the WBC champion or with Tyson Fury?
C. Martin: Yes, I want it all. As soon as I get this belt, I want to unify. I want everything. I want all the hardware. Look out for "Prince" Charles Martin. I'm here to make a statement and you guys are going to see, finally. I've been under wraps a long time but now the world can see me display my skill. Yes, I can't wait to unify. I want everything.
Q: Charles, do you think that Glazkov is a pretty decent step up in competition on paper from who else you fought? I'd like your assessment of him as a boxer and what you think he brings to the table.
C. Martin: Yes. He's definitely a step up on paper. His resume reads well. He's a good fighter. He's technical, keeping his hands up and stuff like that, has a pretty nice hook. But I got to give you the ups and the downs. He's a little guy. I'm massive, strong, powerful, elusive. He's definitely going to be in there for the hardest fight of his life that he'll ever have.
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Wilder vs. Szpilka, a 12-round bout for Wilder's WBC Heavyweight title taking place on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., is promoted by DiBella Entertainment in association with Warriors Boxing and Sferis Knockout Promotions and sponsored by Corona. Opening the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXINGÒ doubleheader, Charles Martin and Vyacheslav Glazkov will battle for the vacant IBF Heavyweight World Championship. The event will be televised live on SHOWTIMEÒ (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. ET) and it will be available in Spanish via Secondary Audio Programming (SAP).
Barclays Center's BROOKLYN BOXING programming platform is presented by AARP. For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports follow on Twitter @SHOSports, @BronzeBomber, @Szpilka_Artur, @BarclaysCenter, @WarriorsBoxingProm and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOSports, www.Facebook.com/DiBellaEntertainment, www.Facebook.com/barclayscenter