"You know, the main guy I want is K9 Bundrage. I'm looking for K9 in the daytime with a flashlight. I'm tryin' to catch up to him, you know? He's got the belt. I want my shot at the belt. I think it's my time to have my run. I've watched a lot of fighters that, you know, came up with me and were underneath me that had their success in boxing and I have yet to have my success in boxing. I just want my chance...unless he totally has to, I don't see him fighting me. I can see him throwing the belt in the garbage like Riddick Bowe did with the WBC belt against Lennox Lewis. This guy don't want to fight. I think it is clear to see and anyone who looks can see it is clear...He is looking to give the belt away and he wants to give it away for some big money. And if he can't give it away for big money, he wants to hold it hostage. He's not like the killers like myself. He wants to hold the belt hostage. Don't hold the belt hostage. Free the belt up man. Let the real killers fight for the belt," stated #1 ranked IBF jr. middleweight contender Sechew Powell as he discussed his eagerness to get his shot at the title. You don't want to miss what else he had to say!
EB: How you doing?
SP: I'm doing great. I'm training real hard. I got a fight November 19th coming up.
EB: Who you fighting?
SP: I don't have the details. A guy who is like 21-20. A 500 fighter; kinda like a stay busy fight. I'm just waiting for my chance at the belt because you know I'm the #1 contender for the IBF championship. I'm just trying to stay busy 'till I get that chance.
EB: So what else is going on in your world?
SP: I'm just training hard, you know? You know, the main guy I want is K9 Bundrage. I'm looking for K9 in the daytime with a flashlight. I'm tryin' to catch up to him, you know? He's got the belt. I want my shot at the belt. I think it's my time to have my run. I've watched a lot of fighters that, you know, came up with me and were underneath me that had their success in boxing and I have yet to have my success in boxing. I just want my chance.
EB: You're #1 behind K9, so when are they looking to enforce that mandatory? I mean, he just got the belt a couple months ago.
SP: Yeah, he just got the belt a couple months ago. He has 9 months to give me a shot at the championship. If I had to guess on what kind of guy and what kind of fighter he is, he is going to wait the whole nine months, and even after the nine months, unless he totally has to, I don't see him fighting me. I can see him throwing the belt in the garbage like Riddick Bowe did with the WBC belt against Lennox Lewis. This guy don't want to fight. I think it is clear to see and anyone who looks can see it is clear.
EB: I figured he was trying to get a big name fighter and a big payday.
SP: Yeah, he is trying to get a big name fighter and a payday, but what does that say about your confidence? What does that say about yourself as a fighter? That means you don't feel you can win fights and earn big paydays or win fights and become the guy who is the name who is worthy of a big payday. He doesn't want to fight; he is looking for the big pay right now. He is acting like an old man. He is an old man. He is behaving like an old man who is looking for his payout, and I respect that; go get your money, but don't talk so much trash. He talked a lot of trash. When you have a heart like the one he has, you can't talk that much trash. Unless you are ready to put it all on the line, don't talk that much. You know, he has a lot of mouth and the reason he don't want to fight me is because he knows I saw right through him the first time. I saw right through him and then he went and got a new act. He got his religious act, his Jesus act, together because I saw right through his first act. He came at me with his street punk style. With his street punk style, he was like, "I'm from the streets of Detroit." He came at me like barking and stuff, then once he saw that was like totally the wrong way to come at a guy like me, then all of his aggression backfired on him. Then he came with a new mantra. Now he is the "I got to Church every Sunday" guy now and Jesus is this and Jesus is that, but he is the same guy. Just listen to how he talks trash. It's the same guy; he didn't change. He is still a punk. He is still the guy that said he used to knock cats out in the streets. He still thinks he is that person and that is not intimidating. All I want is a shot at the belt. I am not trying to bash this man and his lifestyle. Personally, I don't think much of the guy as a person anyway. I just want a shot at the belt; that's what it's about for me. That guy is nothing like me. He is nothing like most of the real champions out there because real champions fight whoever is next in line, whoever is on deck, to give them an opportunity. This guy don't want to do that. He wants the biggest payday. He is telling Oscar [De La Hoya] to, "retire a champion, beat me so I can give you your belt and I make some money. I'll give you the belt and you'll retire a champion." He is looking to give the belt away and he wants to give it away for some big money. And if he can't give it away for big money, he wants to hold it hostage. He's not like the killers like myself. He wants to hold the belt hostage. Don't hold the belt hostage. Free the belt up man. Let the real killers fight for the belt.
EB: So you clearly don't think he wants to see you in the ring again?
SP: It's evident! Listen, I put the man on his ass for the first time in his career. I sat him down! I sat him out! He was 21-0 and I was 15-0. He keeps saying he was a kid back then; I'm younger than him. He has me by at least 4 or 5 years. I'm younger than he is, so if he was a kid, I was an adolescent. If he was a kid, I was an infant. I was a baby then if he was a kid. This guy is making all these excuses about that and this. It's simple, he just don't want to fight me. And I respect that. We will just wait 9 months. I'll see you in 9 months if he even still has the belt in 9 months. That's if he doesn't get the payout he's looking for or fight someone to put the big stacks on deck he is looking for and knock his head off. Then I will have to worry about fighting someone else, but I'm not even worried about it. I'm not tryin' to rematch this guy because he deserves another chance. I just want a shot at the belt; that's it! It's not personal. Personally, I have already told you how I feel about that guy. Personally, I think he is a fraud, but that's just my opinion. He's a fraud man. I saw this guy in the Contender and I respected him. I thought he changed his style, got on this religious thing and got more respectable. You know, he did things a little more respectable. Then all of a sudden, he wins the belt recently and I'm looking at the interview with him and he's talking about, "this guy's too small; this guy's too slow." What happened to the Jesus, Jesus, Jesus talk? I mean, don't talk so sideways. This goes to show you this guy is a fraud.
EB: So if you guys fought again how would it go?
SP: Same way it went the first time. I figured something out about this guy. See, the problem with him is he thinks he is such a dangerous puncher and such a dangerous fighter. He is so aggressive. In our first fight, nothing in his mind prepared him to believe I was going to throw leather back at him. But I figured something out. This guy's chin is made of glass and as long as I am in the ring with him, I'm going to be going after that face. I'm going to be putting leather on his face because I know he is going to go down. He is going to sit down. When the leather touches his face, he is going down. One thing about it is I'm not going to wait to put leather on him. I am going to put leather on him from ding to ding. Simple as that!
EB: So you ready for him now!
SP: Yeah I'm ready for him because that guy is a fraud. When I see guys like him, he shouldn't have even gotten an opportunity to fight for the belt. Where did it come from? Where did this opportunity come from? I mean, I never monitored this guy's career except to know he was losing fights. One minute, I know he had a no contest with Yuri Foreman and that was it, then I look up and this guy got a shot at the belt. I'm sure he fought somebody or gave somebody a letter or wrote a letter to someone. Something had to transpire for him to get a shot at the belt. I just don't see how he got the shot. I lost to [Deandre] Latimore as the #1 contender and built my way back up to the #1 contender. Now, today, I'm the #1 contender. I earned it. It wasn't because someone fell out of the rankings. I don't know how he got it because he was never in the rankings like that. If you can prove to me where he was in the rankings, I will stop bashing him right now. He wasn't there. How do you not fight the #1 contender for the belt? Isn't that the way it should go?
EB: It seems like he fought an eliminator, but I'm not sure right off.
SP: Yeah, the fight with him and Spinks fell off a few times. It was like a year in the making; not sure if you recall that. It took forever to happen. It was so long that at one point, they were going to bump him [K9] out of the whole thing and just let me go ahead and fight for the title.
EB: Yeah, they had some issues getting it together.
SP: Yeah. Now you would think after all that time it took to get that done, and now that the man has gotten his success, that he would want to move forward as quickly as possible; see what else is out there or if there is a big payday out there and get it moving and get it done. It's obvious he is not going to get what he is looking for. It has been 3 months into this man's championship reign and no one is really negotiating with him to my knowledge. I don't know, maybe he has something going on on the side that I don't know anything about, but just go ahead and do the right thing. Do what is right.
EB: Well, Winky has just called K9 out, so I am not sure if that will be an avenue they will look into.
SP: I hear you Elvers. Well, to be honest with you, it is all about November 19. I'm fighting November 19 in Massachusetts. I don't have all the details, but that's what it is all about. I am preparing myself to put on a good show. I mean, he is the least of my worries right now. K9 Bundrage is the least of my worries because I don't think he will even have the belt in 9 months. The way he is moving and maneuvering, I don't think he will be the guy with the belt. If he is, then great, and if he is not, then who cares; on to the next one. It is all about Sechew having his championship run. I earned my way back to #1, had a bad showing in '08 against Latimore, and he never wanted to give me a rematch. It just so happened I kept myself busy and his people were trying to push him into a title eliminator and the guy they were trying to get him to fight in the eliminator fell out of the rankings. I don't know what the politics behind that was and bingo, who was the next in line? Sechew Powell. So you know they couldn't turn that down. So my opportunity came up on almost a lucky kinda thing. I had to chase him and his people, Latimore's people, around for almost two years. We were texting back and forth, texting managers back and forth and they playing games. They were like, "we came to NY and knocked you out," and they were laughing, then all of a sudden, the IBF mandates a title eliminator between me and him. Then oh, all the jokes go out the window because we got to fight. So we fought again and he didn't win; I won. I got my redemption and I'm back at #1. Now it is time for me to get to my championship run. First I have to get to the championship, which starts November 19, then move on and see who's next after the 9 months are up.
EB: So is that supposed to be 9 months from the day he won the title?
SP: Yeah, it is supposed to be 9 months from the date he won the title. I'm hoping everything goes the way it should go. You know, I'm not going to sit here and claim to be the best of all time, although I do believe in myself and all the talent I do have. What I can say is I am one of the few fighters that will put it on the line against ANYBODY in my division. Anybody! Whether I think I'm the best or not is something else, but what's factual is that I am willing to go up against the best. I've been calling [Alfredo] Angulo out for years until now, he can't fight in the United States anymore. I've been calling out [James] Kirkland, until he got locked up. I've been calling out Kermit Cintron. I don't know where he is at; he is out of dodge. I mean, these guys feel that because my fanbase isn't big and people aren't demanding to see me, that they can just ignore me calling them out. So that's what they been doing. But after I get that belt, it won't be too much ignoring anymore. I'll be at their front door.
EB: Well, Kirkland is out now.
SP: Well check me out now. He is out now, but I was calling him out when he was free and walking the streets freely. I quit calling him out when he got locked up because I can't do nothing with him when he is locked up. I can only call him out when he is on the streets. When he is on these streets, that's when I can fight him. I can't fight him in jail. I was calling him out when he was a free man. Everybody just wants to ignore me and ignore all my rants. They just look at me like high risk, no reward and I respect that, but the fight fans don't respect that. The real fights fans don't respect that.
EB: Well, 9 months would have you going for the title around May. You just got to stay busy and stay positive and the opportunity to fight for the title will come.
SP: That's true Elvers. I got to keep focus, but the thing is, it's kind of frustrating because I have been in this business for a little while now and I've been looking for the big names, but these guys don't want anything to do with me. It is frustrating. I am not going to sit here and lie to you. I mean, I want to get to the big names and they don't want to deal with me. Gary Shaw is scared to death to put Angulo in the ring with me. Now the guy can't fight here anymore; he is finished here. I'm not going to Mexico to tango with this guy. I was willing to fight him in any of the 50 states.
EB: You still got a lot of options out there though.
SP: Yeah, I got a lot of opportunities. I was looking at these guys HBO was building up. You know, guys the boxing world is giving credit to and I just want that. Let me get my belt first and then you can bring all of the young prospects and top guys who are the best and bring them to me. I hear people using my name for Erislandy Lara. I mean, bring him after I win the belt and I'll give him a shot at the belt. Who does that? Who wins the belt and gives some young guy a shot at the belt? They don't do that no more. I'm throwing it back; fight who is next in line and stop looking for the big payoff all the time. Money comes with legacy. Let the fans demand your success and earn your money that way. Let's go old school.
EB: Anything else you want to say to your fans?
SP: I want to tell my fans I'm still here in full effect working real hard. This is going to be my breakthrough year next year. I am looking to finish this year strong. Next month, November 19, is the fight I have going on. I'm looking to impress my base on the East Coast. 2011 is the year of the horse.
EB: Well I thank you for calling and talking.
SP: I saw you let your boy get some shine on your site and he put my name in a few statements and I felt I should defend myself.
EB: Understand. Well thanks for calling and good luck with everything
SP: Appreciate it brother.