SaddoBoxing Exclusive Interview: Ian Napa, Brian Lawrence

ByRicky Jones

© Jane Warburton
Saddo Boxing

 British Bantamweight Champion Ian Napa faces old nemesis Martin Power this Friday night on a Frank Maloney promotion at Newham Leisure Centre in London, England. The last time these two met in November, 2005, Power was the reigning British Champion and came out on top via split decision after a difficult fight.

Since then, Power has been stopped twice for the Commonwealth crown by South

Africa’s towering Brit killer, Tshifhiwa Munyai while Napa failed to unseat European Champion Simone Maludrottu but did outfight ex-IBO kingpin Jason Booth for Power’s vacant British title earlier this year.

SaddoBoxing caught up with Napa and his trainer Brian Lawrence as they were putting the finishing touches on the British Champion’s preparations and we discussed this rematch with Power as well as the looming potential superfight with Munyai.

SaddoBoxing: :How do you see this rematch with Martin Power?

Brian Lawrence: “It’s two years down the line and I think Martin Power has slipped back a bit. He’ a totally different fighter now. Both of them have gone different ways; Ian’s gone up and Martin has gone backwards. I don’t expect it to go past seven rounds.”

SB: So you feel that the Munyai defeats have set Power back psychologically?

BL: “Yeah, they have. Ian has had about three fights since the first fight with Power. He fought the WBC number one in the world and European Champion Simone Maludrottu and Ian gave him a hard fight. I think that was Maludrottu’s hardest fight and since then Ian has gone on to win the British title and defended it.”

“He’s come on by leaps and bouts. Ian, at the moment, is a world class fighter. If Maludrottu is the WBC number one, Napa’s not far behind him. Ian has the British belt but that’s just a start. He wants a world title fight.”

SB: Are you planning another European title challenge?

BL: “When Maludrottu challenges for the WBC title, they’ll take the European belt off of him and that will leave the title vacant. I’ll be checking with the British Board to get Ian’s name up there to fight for the European title.”

SB: Any interest in the Commonwealth title?

BL: “Well, if Munyai were in our way, we’d fight him but he’s really not in our way. He’s not from Britain and is the Commonwealth Champion, so he’s not in our way as such. After Ian fought Maludrottu, he wouldn’t have any problems fighting Munyai and I think Maludrottu is better than Munyai. I think Power and Haskins made Munyai look better than he really is.

“I’ve studied Munayi because we were going to actually fight him if Power was going to pull out. We were actually training to fight him, so we would have taken that fight then. But because Ian is the British champion and we want a world title shot, Munyai is not really in our plans. If we have to fight Munyai to get a world title shot, we’ll fight him.

“I’m not really worried about Munyai at bantam because I think he’s going to start struggling at that weight. He’s so tall, I think he’s going to moving up in weight, anyway. I don’t think that Munyai would be a hard fight whatsoever, but the money would have to be there on the table.”

“Ian is red hot at the moment and the Power rematch is just going to be a different ball game. They’re going to see just what Napa’s about in the Power fight.”

SB: What are your views on your rematch with Power?

Ian Napa: “I feel that I’ve improved a lot, and it’s going to be a different ball game completely. When I fought Power last time, it was like a comeback fight for me, whereas now I’m more established, fighting in title fights back to back.”

SB: Is this fight about revenge?

IN: “It’s not just about revenge, it’s about setting the record straight. Basically, it’s an opportunity to set things right as I thought I won the first fight.”

SB: Do you feel that you’ve improved too much for Power to handle now?

IN: “Yeah, I’ve had fights now that were harder than the first Martin Power fight and it’s a totally different situation these days. The European title fight was the main thing for me because I hadn’t fought anyone as physically strong as Maludrottu and I went 12 rounds with him. That basically showed my caliber as a fighter.”