FightHype.com recently caught up with former WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster to discuss his July 7th showdown with IBF and IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Brewster, who's confident that his recent layoff won't affect his performance, vows to bring the title home to the USA in a fight that won't go the distance! "He knows that I know that he knows that he can't beat me!" You don't want to miss what else he had to say in this must read interview!

PC: How have you been doing Lamon? It's been a while since we've heard from you?

LB: Everything been good; just good old fashioned hard work.

PC: How do you feel about fighting Wladimir Klitschko in Germany this time as opposed to a more neutral site? 

LB: I think it's neutral no matter where it's at as long as the referee is neutral. I don't think that the ring could cheat me; it's all in the referee. If they give us a referee that's fair, we shouldn't have no problem no matter where it's at. I personally think it's all going to depend on the referee.

PC: You've had some time away from the ring. What have you been doing in this down time?

LB: Really just trying to talk to my wife and kids every chance I get. I've been playing a little chess, a little Playstation, walking and meditating.

PC: In your last fight against Lyakhovich, you suffered an injury that required surgery. How has that healed up for you?
 
LB: It healed back 100% man. It was a scary situation to have to go through and a painful situation to have to go through, but I had a very good doctor out of Los Angeles and he's the best man. He put my eye back together; nothings never 100%, but it's great. I'm back now to show that I am the true heavyweight, who the people that believe in me know that I can be and to show the doubters that I am that person. I welcome this fight. It is a good time for me to fight him. That layoff really allowed me to reflect over my career and my life and I understand the importance of boxing as it relates to my life. It was almost taken away from me and sometimes you don't realize how much you really value until it's almost taken away from you. With that being said, I just really been doing a lot of praying; asking God to just really give me another chance and he did. You're going to see me July 7th at my best.

PC: This is a very dangerous fight for you to take having had the long layoff. What made you take this fight over a more tune-up type of fight?

LB: I don't believe in that man. I believe you get a false confidence in fighting somebody you know you could beat. When I fought Klitschko the last time, I had been off a year and my trainer had just died. This time I'm fighting him under much better circumstances. I feel like I'm still trapped in steel, so if they saying he's the best out there contrary to what I believe, the only way I could get better is to fight him. I don't believe that a person can really be…that word rust, man; rust is for somebody who hasn't been doing this his whole life. I've been fighting since I was 7 years old and I'm 34 now, so what is rust to me? I don't need to practice on how to open a car door if I haven't did it in 10 years. I just know how to do it. That's just the way I think.

PC: What was the most difficult part of the layoff for you?

LB: Not knowing if I was going to be able to fight again. Saying to myself, "God please don't let my career end like this." I know he didn't bring me this far for it to end like this. That was the scariest part for me man. A lot of people that I thought had my back turned their back on me and I really thought they were my friends. I thought they would be my support if I needed it. I didn't think they would change, but they did and it hurt me so bad. The fact that God has allowed me to get back in the ring in itself is just him saying, "I'm working on you and no matter who turn they back on you, I will never turn my back." He hasn't turned his back on me by giving me this opportunity. That's the way I'm looking at it.

PC: Were you able to get some of the same guys that you used in sparring in preparation for the first Klitschko fight this time around?

LB: Yeah, actually I did. I sure did man. It's been great man. It's been real good. Boxing is about learning and the desire, speed and hunger that those guys bring into the ring is amazing. I guess that's where you could say rust would come in. If I didn't spar and got into a fight tomorrow; then you would be rusty jack. It's not like I'm a boxer. If I was a boxer, maybe I would be rusty, but I'm a fighter, you know what I mean?

PC: In the first fight, you weathered the storm and got the knockout. I know you don't want to take that kind of punishment in the first few rounds again, so what do you feel you have to do differently, but get the same outcome?

LB: My defense has to be a lot tighter. A lot better defense, that's all. He's going to throw punches, but if you watch the tape, he has to throw those punches to keep me off of him or grab me. He had to throw all of those punches or grab me and he did both.

PC: Have you adjusted your training schedule to fit Germany's time zones?

LB: I adjusted. I've changed. I'm trying to go about this as smartly as I can. I want to adjust as best I can. I know the time we're fighting is a six hour difference, so basically when I'm training in the evenings, that's basically around the time I'll be fighting over there anyway. I try to be smart about it man. This is modern warfare. We are up to date now.

PC: With Shannon Briggs losing to Sultan Ibragimov, we have 4 European champions again. Come July 7th, will we have another American champion?

LB: A man, I tell you what dog, I think like Don King would say at a press conference, "His chances are slim to none and slim is out of town, Jack." Unless the referee just allows this man to hold me and hit me and things like that, and even then he would have a fight on his hands. I will say I believe God is going to deliver me another victory that night on July 7th. I feel very confident that I will win this fight. I've done all I could do to prepare now. I just have to go in there and leave it in God's hands.

PC: Wladimir has been looking extremely sharp in his last outings. Do you think your biggest advantage over him is psychological?
 
LB: Well let me ask you a question. Who has he been sharp against? Man, if you take me to a high school and put me in some football equipment, I would run all of them kids over, but if you take me to the NFL, it's another story, Jack. It's all good. I don't take anything from him. Any man that can climb in that ring and be successful takes a lot of courage. Any man that can be knocked out and come back, that takes a lot of character. I don't take anything from this man, but he knows that I know that he knows that he can't beat me. I'm just going to go out and prove it.

PC: Are we going to need the judges or not?

LB: I don't believe in judges. That's what my coach's motto was before he died. That's why I knocked out so many people, even in the amateurs. We don't believe in judges. My judges are holding this phone.

PC: Lamon, it's been a pleasure speaking with you. I look forward to the fight and good luck. Anything you want to say in closing?

LB: Keep me in your prayers, man. I'm going to bring this title home to the USA. I'm American, born and bred!