ESB: Of course.

Roman Karmazin: All of us, we are hard-headed, yes, we get hit, but we bear it and continue going forward and fighting. The Americans, are softer, prettier looking, and when they fight, it looks good. Yeah, we Russians are a little clumsy, but we have our own value and the important thing is the result and the victory, and the way to reach it, should not matter.

Unfortunately, our fans don’t understand that, the commentators, for some reason, think that American boxing is the only real boxing. That is Crap! I am telling you right now, in about five years, all the major weight categories will belong to Russians; Well, rather, former Soviet fighters. Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhs, Russia, will dominate. Before, they just didn’t believe in themselves because they thought that you had to win something big like the Olympics and then move to Australia, like Kostya Tsyzu, because to become champion straight from Russia, was impossible. I was the first to do it, and I stamped out that path and everybody saw that it is realistic and it is possible. Then Kolya Valuev won, and then so it has gone, then Lyakhovich and they will go on and our guys will be winning everything.

ESB: Well, the first time I heard your name was when Oscar De La Hoya pulled out of his fight with you. Oscar doesn’t have a reputation of a coward but did you think it was a matter of him not being as confident when it came to fighting you?

Roman Karmazin: I’ll tell you the truth, they were offering him four and a half million, and he said, “I don’t fight for anything less then five.” The interest in the fight was very low, nobody knew me, and nobody wanted to buy tickets for the fight. Basically, I understand him because, look, he went and fought Vargas and earned 8 million, you understand.

The saddest thing about the whole situation was that I did not get one red cent from anybody. No cancellation fees, no nothing for my time being wasted. Although, I had heard that De La Hoya gave some money to my promoter, in order to fight with Vargas, but I did not receive anything.

ESB: (laughing) As always, right?

Roman Karmazin: Yep, as usual.

ESB: How hard was it for you to train all these years without any real opportunities?

Roman Karmazin: I’ll tell you, that is the hardest of all when you don’t have any opportunities, and you don’t see any on the horizon. I don’t know how I didn’t break down and how I was able to overcome it all. That is probably why I have the nickname, “Made in Hell.” You know, like I went through things that would break somebody else. Whoever I talk to and tell about my fate, always says, “How were you ever able to bear it all?”

Also, I think you have to love the sport, and I love boxing. You know, I denied and keep denying myself so much. I have a very stringent regime: I don’t smoke, never smoked, don’t drink, not even beer. I am very serious about that, and I mean, I approach boxing as a profession; It’s my profession. I go to train, like I go to work; I can’t miss it because I know that, otherwise, I won’t get paid if I miss it.

ESB: Speaking of all the elite fighters, can you give a short list of famous boxers who did not want to fight you?

Roman Karmazin: Did not want to? You know, I can’t say who did not want to, or who I did not want to fight. There were many of them: We wanted a fight with Forrest, with Quartey, with Santos, with Taylor, and however hard we tried, in the end, nothing came of it.

ESB: Do you think guys like Mosley and Vargas are honestly running from a fight with you, or are thinking about the fact that against each other, they can make more money?

Roman Karmazin: Yeah, I think that they can make more against each other, because they are sort of famous already. Unfortunately, boxing is becoming more commercial in the first place and the sport is taking a backseat.

ESB: Did you watch Taylor - Wright? I think, I already read your thoughts on the matter.

Roman Karmazin: Yeah, I thought that Wright won convincingly. Taylor definitely did not deserve anything.

ESB: Well, since the fight ended in a draw, which of them would you like to fight, if both would be willing?

Roman Karmazin: It would be an interesting fight with both of them, but with Wright, it would be more difficult. He is a very difficult opponent, a very difficult opponent.

ESB: I think you mentioned a plan of some sort in that interview for www.boxing.ru?

Roman Karmazin: Yes, there is a plan and I think it should work. It’s just that I think I know about how somebody should fight him. I watch his fights and I see that nobody tries this against him, for some reason.

ESB: I know, asking about details is not necessary but….

Roman Karmazin: (interrupting) Well, I won’t tell you, even if you ask; It’s possible, though and maybe fate will bring Winky and I together.

ESB: Well, I was going to ask, if you had any opponents similar to Wright?

Roman Karmazin: Nope.

ESB: Can you tell us about the fights in Spain against Castillejo and Rodriguez. Were you really robbed both times or were the results fair?

Roman Karmazin: Really, after the fight with Castillejo, my next fight was also in Madrid, only at a different venue. After I won that one, all the commentators, and journalists, came up to me and said, “honestly, you won the fight, but you understand that, here, under these circumstances, they won’t give you the points win,” and I said, “guys, I don’t hold a grudge against anybody.”

Also, I mean at that moment, I didn’t want to box, and had become so disillusioned with the sport, that you know, the unfairness of it all, with the De La Hoya fight, and not getting any money, and now a fight with some guy named Castillejo. Honestly, I was going there to lose, cause if I would win, then there would be another fight and then another one. I was going there just to earn my purse, however, much it was, and leave boxing. It’s not that I just wanted to, it’s that I knew I was leaving the sport.

However, my fans didn’t let me, I am very grateful to them, they gave me a new life. They came up to me and said, “you are the best, and you can do it, you just need to regroup, and you will be able to break them all.” I was in shock, of course.

ESB: And this helped you?

Roman Karmazin: Of course, I became a totally different boxer. I thought more clearly, just for that fight, I was off, like a robot, not thinking about anything, not thinking in the ring. You can’t just survive you have to create and work.

ESB: What about the draw against Rodriguez?

Roman Karmazin: The draw was in the beginning of my career, it was my first international fight. The guy was the Spanish champion and they brought me in, as they say, for cannon fodder. Threw some money at us, and thought he would get rid of me in short order.

I just, well, nobody believed in me cause that was one of my first fights, 8 rounds, and I just beat the living crap out of him, and because I was not experienced enough, I couldn’t finish him. I broke his nose, I cut him over both eyes, both cheeks there was absolutely no place left unmarked on his face. I still wonder about how he was ever able to leave the ring and hold out until the end. Anyway, as if to spite me, they gave me the draw. The fans there were protesting so loudly, that the referee came over and raised my hand. I heard they even wanted to put a loss on my record.

ESB: (laughing) Who?

Roman Karmazin: The local boxing commission in that little town. The guy that brought me there, came to my defense, though. He told them, “What do you think you are doing? What kind of garbage is this?” and so they put it down as a draw. Really, though, I won that fight, clearly.

That is when my manager, the promoters, after that fight, started to see that I was capable of something, and that I wasn’t just a mediocre fighter.

ESB: Who do you think is the second best fighter in the division?

Roman Karmazin: Well, there are many good fighters. De La Hoya, I think, after the way he handled himself against Mayorga.

ESB: I say second, only because I talked to Yuri Foreman, not long ago, and he had very good things to say about you. Do you have anything to say about him?

Roman Karmazin: You know, I did not see any of his fights, but I heard a lot of good things about him, as being a good fighter, but I did not see any of his fights.

Otherwise, I remember, we met a long time ago. It was when he was still an amateur and we met in New York. He is a very good kid and also a good person. At the time, I think he still had a Russian trainer that brought him to the States.

ESB: Cool. Well, if all the financial questions would be ironed out, how high would you be willing to go up in weight?

Roman Karmazin: A little higher, maybe up to 160. Farther than that, my height would not allow me, that is my opinion, though. Although, who knows? Maybe I can try to go higher.

ESB: Real quick, I want to check your opinion against that of your friend Dimitri Kirillov. Who is, in your opinion, the greatest Soviet boxer of all time?

Roman Karmazin: Soviet? Soviet would probably be Popenchenko.