Q and A Karmazin

http://www.boxingbuzz.com/peter-klitschko/sukachev1.htm

Confidence, determination and annoyingly long sparring sessions are a necessity for the warrior inside the ring. Many champions have lost their crowns due to improper preparations for seemingly easy defenses against nondescript opponents.



That will never happen to IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Roman Karmazin.



More than a month prior to his showdown with former undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks, the defending titlist from Russia is fully focused on the July 8 fight. Nevertheless, he took a couple free minutes to speak to FightNews.



How are your preparations going?



I’m doing well preparing for Cory Spinks. I’m really focused on this, so the training sessions are hard and intense. However, currently I’m doing more running, physical exercises and other open-air work than something else. As for the sparring part of my preparation, I train three times a week with different opponents.



Who are your sparring partners?



There are pretty unknown guys in my camp – just a few names even hardcore boxing fans hardly know. They are all lefties, to help me adapt to Spinks’ awkward southpaw style. My team is talking about bringing in some better-known sparring partners now.



Are the sparring matches hard and intense?



Not now. And, to tell the truth, I don’t think it’s really good to train that way. I mean, that’s just training, more like a study than a war. There are guys who think they must crush, kill and destroy their opponents in sparring sessions. I disagree. Sparring is to improve your skills and, at the same time, give a boxing lesson to your partner. There is no need for a slugfest during preparation, in my point of view.



How many rounds do your sparring sessions last?



Six right now. That’s enough for me at this stage of preparation. Perhaps, I’ll lift this number up to eight, but that will be the maximum. I don’t need to spar more because I’ll gain the rest of my conditioning by simply working with the bags in gym.



By the way where are you training now?



In Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym, near Hollywood. This gym isn’t so large but it’s very comfortable. There are lots of stars, training there. One day I saw the Klitschko brothers there. However, Wild Card is too small for them, so they decided to leave (smiles).



Will Freddie Roach be working your corner again on July 8?



I don’t know. Freddie is possibly the best American coach out there. But he’s too expensive and I must count every cent nowadays. So it’s still under consideration.



When will you fly to St. Louis?



I think this Tuesday, maybe Wednesday, I’ll be there.



Let’s talk about your rival. What can you say about Cory and how can you rate him?



First of all, he’s an excellent fighter with tremendous boxing skills. He’s very slick and liquid, extremely skillful guy with an outstanding speed, movement and work rate. I think, he’s more like a Russian-school stylist with his still-amateur type of boxing. Truly, he has adapted greatly for a professional boxing, though remaining amateur innermost. On the other hand, he lacks firepower in his hands. He’s not a guy who can blow you out of the ring.



You seem to be a little bit worried?



No. I have seen him plenty of times, so I know what I’ll be dealing with in the Spinks fight. However, it’s strange to see such type of fighter here, in America. For me it’s clear that the majority of American fighters are used to taking hard punches and throwing wild hooks over their opponent’s head. Well, Cory is quite different. I’m sure that he has taken a great education from his famous father Leon and his uncle Michael. Both were very good amateurs, having won Olympic Gold Medals in Montreal 1976. It’s no doubt that he has taken the best of them and adapted it to his style.



What will Spinks’ game plan look like?



He is going to try to outbox me. He will be very surprised, when it fails.



What weaknesses can you point out in him?



First of all, his chin is very iffy. I do think it’s glass and I’ll show its real nature like Zab Judah did. Nevertheless, I’ll lose this fight if I put everything into a KO victory. Therefore, I’m preparing myself for a full distance and hard night on July 8. I’m going to prove that I’m a better boxer than he is. Well, KO… If it comes that’s ok, otherwise I will be ready to dominate him over twelve rounds of action.



You are the natural junior middleweight, fighting at 154 lbs. throughout your whole career, while Spinks is stepping up from the welterweight division. How will that affect the fight?



As history says, a good big man will always beat a good little man. Therefore, I’m sure it’ll be up to me to dictate the pace of the fight. He began his career in junior welterweight division and now he’s playing around with middleweights. That’ll be a hard test and a big disadvantage to overcome. I am the real middleweight, while he is a blown up one. But he forgets that the strength and KO power don’t grow with weight. And it will play a role. He’s making a mistake by moving up in weight.



You had mentioned before Ouma fight that the Ugandan was tailor-made for you and that you would beat him ten times in ten fights. Can you say the same one about Spinks?



You are right. I said that about Ouma and I’m sure that even if we have a rematch, it’ll still be one-sided. Spinks will be a tough test for me and I’m preparing for maybe the most difficult bout of my entire career as a pro. Honestly, I haven’t even got a plan how to deal with him yet. Kassim (Ouma) was an open book for me. I read his every movement, every punch and he definitely was a lot easier for me than Spinks will be.



The fight is in Spinks’ backyard of St. Louis. Do you think you’ll need a KO to win?



I’m concerned, but I hope it will not affect my performance. If a fighter goes toe-to-toe with the only plan to knock his rival out, he will probably lose. I won’t go out there to annihilate Cory; I’ll just try to outbox and punish him intelligently.



Speaking of controversies in judges’ scoring, you were in Dmitry Kirilov’s corner during his recent challenge for the IBF super flyweight title versus Nicaraguan Luis Perez. Was your closest boxing friend robbed as many observers saw it, or not?



He was 100% robbed in that fight. He put in the best performance of his career and it was so disappointing. Perez clearly lost that fight. The judges were shameless. I hope Dmitry will be able to recover from that disappointing loss. He’s a strong guy with a big heart. There are talks now that he will challenge Hawk Makepula for #1 in the IBF rankings. I’m sure he will win this eliminator and take the title in the near future.



How do you rate the other champions at 154 lbs?



It’s no doubt that Oscar (De La Hoya) is the best guy around. Nevertheless, I have a plan how to beat Oscar. It sounds funny to talk like that about an all-time great, but it’s clear to me I have enough resources to beat the Golden Boy. Then here’s WBA titleholder Jose Antonio Rivera. He’s as tailor-made for me as Kassim was. I can punish him easily. As for Dzindziruk, that will be much more complicated fight. Sergey represents the Soviet school of boxing, which is always very difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, he’s fighting over in Germany, so American fans probably have never seen this remarkable Ukrainian boxer.



Rumors are held that your current manager Steven Bash decided to arrange his own promotional business and that you’ll help him in his works. Is it true?



Yes it is. I’ll help him bring Russian prospects to America in order to arrange their future bouts and entire careers here. Russian boxing is well-known all over the world, but only in the amateurs. Our goal is to achieve the same results in professional boxing.



Can you name a few of prospects?



Sorry, I’d better keep them secret for now. Just not to make any harm for them. As soon as it will be possible, we shall open our cards.



Closing the talk, what can you say to your fans in Russia and in America?



I want to thank everybody for their great support. Also I want to ask Russian fans to be a little bit more loyal toward Russian boxers, especially when they are fighting abroad. It’s very bad to lose a fight and it’s even worse to hear curses and abusive talks following the losses. Please support our representatives as much as possible and they will respond with the victories and titles. And prepare for the total domination of Russian fighters in the near future. Very soon, half of all alphabet titles will be ours!

He does not sound too confident to me!! Also,I think he caught Kassim Ouma on an off night,I think in a rematch,I'd back Ouma.