Boxing Interview: Tom Yankello

Part one: The Heavyweight Division & Training Paul Spadafora

Tom Yankello is one of the best young trainers in the sport today, currently coaching heavyweights Calvin Brock and Brian Minto among others.

SaddoBoxing: You’ve worked with Calvin Brock for a few years now. Give us your thoughts on his win over Timur Ibragimov. Also, give us some further insight on the technical things he’s improved on in the last few years, and some of the things you think he still needs to work on?

Tom Yankello: Well, I think it’s difficult to fight a guy like Timur with the mind-set Timur had in that fight. I really, truly believe that after the first couple of rounds where he tasted a little bit of Calvin’s power, I think he really just wanted to go the distance. It was a difficult fight to fight because of that, and we had tremendous heat that night as well.

I think Calvin did what he had to do, but I think he could’ve stayed a little more in a rhythm and used his jab a little more. I think he could’ve done a little more of what he did in the sixth round where he had Timur hurt, and he could’ve capitalized a couple of times.

Overall, I think it was a good performance because he did what he had to do in terms of winning the rounds and controlling the fight. By no means did Timur make a threat to win the rounds. I thought Calvin pretty much won all of the rounds.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I’d give him an 8 — 7 ½ to an 8. Considering things he did in the sixth round, I think he could’ve done a little more of that throughout the fight. He used his jab in the sixth round, and he changed speeds more in that round, and really pulled the trigger and stayed in a rhythm a little better.

In terms of things he’s improved on in the last few years, he moves his head better, and he’s better defensively. He slips punches a lot better. Fundamentally, he’s just a better fighter. He has more leverage in both hands. He’s proven that he can knock out guys with his left hook or his right hand. Also, he’s adapted to the pro pace. Being able to fight on the inside. We weren’t able see that with Timur because Timur would grab when Calvin got on the inside, and the ref would break them up real quick. Because of that, we weren’t able to see his inside fighting skills, but we’ll see more of that in future fights against top echelon guys who come to fight.

Overall, he’s improved defensively and fundamentally, and he knows how to pick his shots. He knows the pro pace now. In the Olympics, it was four two minutes rounds, which is like an eight-minute fight. Now, he’s fighting twelve round fights, and I think I’ve helped him learn how to be a true professional as far as the pace of the fight and picking his shots and being more relaxed.

In terms of improvement, I think he has all of the tools, but it’s a case of more or less using all of them. I think he needs to use his jab more, but he doesn’t need to improve much on the mechanics of his jab. He has a tremendous jab in the gym. I work with him on the hand pads and the bag, and it’s hard, solid, and fast. He knows how to throw it, and he knows where to throw it. It’s just learning how to execute it more in every fight.

In the Jameel McCline fight, he used it tremendously. He used it good in the Etienne fight, and somewhat good in the Zuri Lawrence fight. It was in the McCline fight, though, that he controlled the fight with the jab. He was dictating the pace, and he was changing speeds on the jab. He has the ability to do that all of the time. In short, the things that he needs to improve on are simply executing what he has.

SB: Based on your discussions with Main Events, do you have a specific timeline on when Calvin gets a title shot?

TY: No, I really don’t, Greg. That’s a question more for his management team, which includes his Dad and the team’s advisor, Johnny Bos.

SB: Assess the heavyweight division. The division is still in flux since Lennox Lewis retired. Who are the top guys out there, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

TY: I think at this moment we’ve had a lot of changes in the division, but I think I have to look at Wladimir Klitschko as the leader of the bunch. He has a tremendous jab and he throws a great right hand. He really executed well against Chris Byrd, but of course, Chris Byrd didn’t fight him well the first time. Thus, it’s hard to say if he’s going to continue to look that devastating. He’s been kind of wishy washy and he’s gone up and down at times, but he is the one guy who is leading the pack right now.

Technically, Wladimir is tall, and he knows how to execute on his size with his jab and his right hand. He has a good style, which is more or less like Lennox Lewis’ style, but at the same time, he’s shown that he can be beat. If you can get past that jab and you can hit him, he’s proven that he can be hurt, and he doesn’t fight well on the inside.

The other fighter up there that I’d have to look at is Valuev, just for the simple fact of how big he is. In the clips that I’ve seen of him, he’s using his jab more, and he’s utilizing his height and his overall size well.

SB: I’ve seen quite a few of Valuev’s fights, and I see it somewhat the way you do. I’ve arrived at the conclusion that the way to fight Valuev is to be very aggressive and turn it into a street fight because he doesn’t have the reflexes to react quickly enough in a fight like that. If you stand back and fence with him, you’re at a big disadvantage because he’s now using his size more intelligently.

TY: Definitely. You’ve got to get on the inside with him, and bang him out. You can’t box from the outside.

SB: What other heavyweights do you see who are at the top?

TY: I’ve always thought that James Toney is astonishing the way he’s come up in weight and done so well.

I think Samuel Peter is a very good fighter. He’s a bulldozer. That’s going to be a real interesting fight between Toney and Peter. Rahman is good, too.

You know, they talk about how weak the division is, but it’s actually real deep if you think about it. When Lennox was fighting, he was fighting Akinwande, Francois Botha, an older Holyfield, and an older Tyson.

To me, the division is actually deeper now. The difference is that people are getting beat, and people are discrediting the division by saying the division is in a bad state, but I think it’s in a tremendous state.

I could go on and on about guys who I think are really good. For example, Sergei Liakhovich is fantastic. I felt he put on a tremendous performance against Lamon Brewster. I think he’s real solid. He can fight on the outside and the inside. He takes a good punch. He has a good jab. He’s improved a lot.

Lamon Brewster is a big puncher and he’s a tough guy. Matt Skelton is good. Brian Minto is going to be a force. Sultan Ibragimov is a dangerous fighter. He’s a southpaw, he can punch, and he can move in and out.

SB: I think the issue in the heavyweight division is that we don’t have a recognized heavyweight champion, and that trickles down and creates a general feeling of malaise in the sport. People want to be able to talk to someone on the street and name the undisputed heavyweight champion. The fault doesn’t rest solely with the fighters. I think it has more to do with the confluence between the sanctioning bodies and the promoters. If they can bring that altogether and create unification, then you have your heavyweight champion. Right now, it’s a fluid situation. A lot of people are real competitive with each other.

TY: That’s exactly right. Right now, we don’t have a fighter like Lennox Lewis who stands out over all of the rest, but if Lennox was still a champion right now, he wouldn’t dominate like he did when he was a champion because we have a lot of good fighters in the division.

SB: It’s a deepening division with more players.

TY: Right. Shannon Briggs is still a dangerous fighter, too.

SB: Yes. I disagree with a lot of folks who think that Shannon Briggs is automatic easy pickings for Wladimir Klitschko. I think you hit the nail on the head that Wladimir doesn’t fight well on the inside, but the thing I’ve seen with him is that he has trouble with tall fighters who have fast hands like Corrie Sanders.

Briggs is not a southpaw who comes from an uncomfortable angle like Sanders, but he has fast hands, tremendous punching power, and excellent finishing ability. He’s not nearly as good as Wladimir from a technical standpoint, but he’s a threat because of his size, style, power, and fast hands.

If Briggs comes out like Michael Dokes did with Weaver in 1982, the hand speed issue is a big problem. He’s a better street fighter. In the end, however, if Wladimir is able to get Briggs on the end of the jab and control him, it’s over unless Briggs gets real lucky. It’s an interesting match when you think about it because of how the styles work. It’s also Briggs’ last chance, and he’s going to put it all on the line. Let’s remember that he gave a prime Lennox Lewis some scary moments back in 1998.

TY: That’s what my feelings are as well. He’s fast and he has good punching power. He can capitalize at any time.

SB: Regarding the heavyweight division, I’ve interviewed your other heavyweight, Brian Minto. He’s fun to talk to about boxing history, the technical nuances of the sport, the business side of the sport, and how he’s planning both his career and his life. He works hard, studies film, and always seems to be trying to maximize his strengths and improve on his weaknesses. He got a late start in professional boxing, and he’s packed in 26 professional fights in a little over 3 ½ years. He’s scheduled to fight again next month at The Mountaineer.

This will be his fifth fight since the second Maddalone fight in October of last year. In the fights after the Maddalone rematch, what are some things he’s improved on since that fight, and what are some of the things you’d like to see him do better?

TY: He’s improved tremendously with his jab. His jab is just awesome, especially when a guy is coming at him.

The thing with the last few fights is that Brian is small for a heavyweight, and he was under the assumption that if he bulked up and got bigger and stronger, it would be to his advantage, but it’s actually to his disadvantage.

He is never going to outmuscle the bigger guys. When you fight a guy like Briggs or Klitschko, you’re taking away your strengths by trying to put on weight and get thicker. That’s what he did in the Zumbrun fight. He was around 230 before the Zumbrun fight, and came down to 220, which is still too heavy for him.

In his last fight with Danny Batchelder, we about 225, and he came down to 212 too fast. He was a weak because of the weight loss.

His best weight is 210. He’s very quick and very fast at that weight. He weighed-in at 212 for the Maddalone rematch, but he was actually about 210 because he weighed-in with his clothes on. That’s where he needs to be. He can do it all at that weight. He is a real solid fighter.

In terms of the things he can do better, I think he needs to stay down a little lower, move his head more, and not stand up straight and become susceptible to right hands. Stay in a rhythm, and keep moving his head and not burn up energy. When he stays down low, and he has his legs under him, he can slip punches quicker, and he can move quicker. He’s like a cat.

He was a linebacker at Slippery Rock College, and I gave him a comparison between football and boxing. Specifically, when you play linebacker, you’re always in a little bit of a crouch, and you’re always ready to close in on the hole and get there quickly. You have to have that little bend in your legs and a little bend in you waist. Little technical stuff like that goes a long way.

Other than that, I think he does everything really well. He doesn’t do everything great, but I think that’s what we have to do. Simply continue to improve on everything. I think it will come. Everything will flow better.

SB: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of interest, what is your level of interest in training Paul Spadafora again?

TY: My interest would weigh on where his life is. Not even really professionally, but where he is personally. I’m talking about his LIFE.

If I was able to make peace with everybody in the camp and the team, and I was seeing that Paul was leading a clean life, my interest would be a ten.

If you take those two elements away, where he is not clean, and I’m not able to make peace with the camp and the rest of the team, then my answer would be a zero.

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