"Tim Bradley's best punch is his headbutt. That's his most affective punch in his arsenal. I'm going to definitely make that crystal clear to the referee that he needs to address that. Tim Bradley's last 5 or 6 fights, his opponents have been cut from headbutts. We're very focused on all of that stuff man, but we're looking good and Devon is right on schedule. He's looking great in training camp and he's going to show all of the naysayers who the real top 140-pounder is on January 29th," stated Kevin Cunningham, world-class trainer of WBC jr. welterweight champion Devon Alexander, as he talked about the highly-anticipated showdown with WBO jr. welterweight champion Tim Bradley. Check it out!
PC: How is everything going Kev?
KC: Everything is going great, man. We're having a real smooth and tremendous training camp. Everything is going great, and real calm and peaceful. Everything is right on point and it's like the calm before the storm.
PC: You've been bringing him out to Vegas lately as opposed to training in St. Louis. Is that mainly to eliminate distractions?
KC: I've always had most of my big fight training camps in Vegas. In fact, Devon's last 3 fights, we trained in Vegas. It's a good way to get away from distractions and everybody, and stay focused. We can focus on the task at hand as opposed to being around family and friends, distractions, and hangers-on. You get away and focus on nothing but boxing.
PC: It's rare in today's boxing world that we get to see 1 vs. 1A in any division and we're seeing that on January 29th. How important is this fight for boxing and for the junior welterweight division?
KC: Ah man, it's a huge fight for boxing. Like I told Tim Bradley when we were in New York at the press conference, "You guys are not just doing this for yourselves; it's about stepping up and doing this for the sport." It's like I tell everybody I talk to. It's the only fight of its kind in boxing right now. And when I say that, there is no other fight in boxing that you can name like this. I'm speaking to the fact that you got the top two fighters in the hottest division in boxing fighting each other. And they're not just the top two fighters, but they're both undefeated, they're both champions, and they are the only two junior welterweights that have unified titles. Only Devon and Tim Bradley at 140 have unified. So not only are they champions, but they have both unified at one point. You got the top two, they are both undefeated, and they are both Americans. I mean, what other fight in any other weight division can you make like this?
PC: And don't forget, Kev, they are both in their primes. We don't have to wait 5 or 6 years too late for this one.
KC: Right! I didn't even add that aspect. That's another aspect to the scenario. They are both young and in their primes, so it's a great opportunity and we're thankful for the opportunity and we're preparing to seize the moment and take advantage of the opportunity.
PC: You didn't think Bradley would take this fight, and you've been more than vocal about stating that if Devon hadn't shown some vulnerability against Kotelnik, he still wouldn't be fighting Devon. Before a huge fight like this one, as a trainer, was it kind of a good thing to see Devon pushed like that?
KC: You know, you never want to see your guy in that situation. We prepared like we prepared for every fight. We had a great training camp, a great 8-week training camp for that fight, so you never want to prepare as well as we prepared for that fight and then it turn out the way it did. It just goes to show, as much as I like to have control over the situation, and as much as I believe in if you do X, Y and Z, and cover all bases, everything should go well...it was just a great example of you never know how things can go. To answer your question, in hindsight, it was good to see Devon go through some adversity because it was a blessing in disguise. He had to dig down deep and pull out a win. The fight was more competitive than people expected, so that's what the big fuss is all about. Devon clearly won the fight, but everybody talking and making a big fuss about it because it was more competitive than they expected it to be.
PC: You feel every round Kotelnik wasn't blown away in or stopped, people gave him the benefit that he won that round?
KC: That's right. And you know, I don't make any excuses, but I will say this, this was Devon's first fight going home as champion. He went out and beat Junior Witter for the WBC title and then the next fight was a unification against Juan Urango on HBO, and he stopped both guys. He stopped Junior Witter and he knocked Juan Urango out in the 8th, so when he came home, everybody was all excited, but he fought an opponent that nobody knew in St. Louis. Not just St. Louis, but boxing as a whole. Nobody really knew Kotelnik beyond the insiders. The insiders knew he was a solid guy and an Olympic Silver Medalist and a former world champion, but as for a promotion in St. Louis, Devon had to carry the promotion because to them, it was just some guy; some Russian guy.
We went home fight week and Devon worked from sun up to sun down, Monday through Thursday, going all over town promoting the fight because he had to carry the promotion. It was a great promotion, but we learned something. We learned that it's not the fighter's job to run all over town to promote the fight. That's the promoter's job. That's what I really got out of that. That was the lesson really learned. We ran up and down the streets of St. Louis; every radio station, every TV station, the Rams football practice, throwing the first pitch out for the Cardinals, and media day. We had a huge function that Cedric the Entertainer hosted for Devon at City Hall. All of that was during fight week, man. But this is what happens when you have a big support base at home. We had a great promotion, but really, Devon came home after a hard 8-week training camp and came home fight week and just ripped and ran. From 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning, we were up at the radio and TV stations running around promoting the fight. He should've been relaxing, off his legs, and focused for the fight. That was a lesson learned. You had all of that running around promoting, along with the nerves of everybody's coming out, I'm the man now in town, I'm home and I'm the champion. He knew he had to look great. He had Tim Bradley on the horizon and then, when he got in the fight, I saw in the 2nd round he wasn't sharp. He didn't have any snap on his punches and by the 5th round, his legs were a little shaky and the bottom line is he got no rest during fight week. You bring a guy out of an 8-week training camp in the mountains and he's ready to go, and then you bring him home and work the shit out of him all fight week? He didn't rest. He was on his legs all of fight week. That's what happened in that fight.
I say that to say this, if Devon would have blown Kotelnik out the way he did Witter or the way he did Urango, Tim Bradley probably would have never signed on for this fight. And if he did sign on for this fight, everybody would have Devon as the favorite and all of the pressure would be on Devon. Now, all of the pressure is on Tim Bradley because everybody thinks that Tim Bradley gonna just blow Devon out and they can start negotiating the Khan/Bradley fight. All of the so-called experts are picking Bradley and all of the bloggers and web guys are writing that Bradley is going to do this and that, so it's a blessing in disguise. We're sitting over here working on what we gotta do with no distractions. Tim Bradley is the man and he's the favorite and everybody is expecting all of this from him, and we're just doing what we gotta do because we know that Devon is the real deal and we know that Devon is the best 140-pounder in the world. The only thing we gotta do is show it on January 29th. He gotta come to the ring with...I see all of these questionnaires about, "Who would win in a fight between Khan and Bradley?" It's as if Bradley don't even have a fight on January 29th. I'm like, "Wow!"
PC: And one thing about Kotelnik is he's no pushover man. He had a ton of experience going in and I think Bradley got a pass for not looking his best in his last fight against Abregu because it was at 147.
KC: But the thing about that was this; let's talk about both guys' last opponents since you brought it up. Devon's opponent, Kotelnik, has credentials and accomplishments. What accomplishments does Abregu have? What has he accomplished? Devon fought a top 10 140-pounder. Tim Bradley fought a guy that's...I wouldn't say he is a top 20 welterweight. Devon fought a guy with accomplishments. He was a former Olympic Silver Medalist and a former world champion and Tim fought a guy with a trumped up record with no accomplishments. The guy never fought for a world title or had a stellar amateur background. It was all a blessing in disguise. It's going to be a beautiful thing on January 29th. And the thing about it is the bloggers can blog and the so-called experts can pick who they want, but at the end of the day, Tim Bradley knows better. That's why he still, to this day, is saying that this fight is too early and it shouldn't be happening. He wanted to fight Maidana and have Devon fight Khan. That's all fine and dandy, but the powers that be put this together and we gotta fight each other. We don't run nothing. We don't control nothing. We're not in a place to dictate to HBO and the promoters and I understand that. Timothy Bradley has to understand that. He still, to this day, saying that he shouldn't be fighting Devon. "Why should we be fighting each other? I clean up everything on this side and Devon clean up everything and then we meet because we would be the two undefeated and the two best and blah blah blah." He's saying that because he knows.
PC: Whenever you see an orthodox fighter face a southpaw, there is always the possibility of a clash of heads. A lot of fighters, including orthodox fighters, complain about Bradley using his head as a weapon. I'm sure you will be giving the referee a sturdy word before the fight on what to look for as far as that is concerned.
KC: Ah, definitely. During the fighter meetings and when he comes to talk to us in the dressing room, I will give him a thorough...we're going to go over Tim Bradley's third punch. Tim Bradley's best punch is his headbutt. That's his most affective punch in his arsenal. I'm going to definitely make that crystal clear to the referee that he needs to address that. Tim Bradley's last 5 or 6 fights, his opponents have been cut from headbutts. We're very focused on all of that stuff man, but we're looking good and Devon is right on schedule. He's looking great in training camp and he's going to show all of the naysayers who the real top 140-pounder is on January 29th.
PC: I appreciate your time my man. I look forward to the fight and best of luck to you guys.
KC: Okay, I appreciate it.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]