Peek Into The Future Mikael Zewski

0
1175
Zewski is a rising Canadian Prospect

Zewski is another one of the young rising Canadian fighters that seems to be making their way of the boxing ladder. He will be squaring off against Roberto Ventura on 11/3 in his hometown of Quebec, Canada. I had the pleasure of interviewing the young 23 year old from Canada, and we started off with his large amount of amateur experience. Zewski had an amateur record of 132-28 over a 10 year period, so I asked why he never decided to go to the Olympics. Zewski responded, “I was putting so much effort in my training, that I wanted it to pay off and turn pro. There are a lot of risks with every fight, but I did fight in the 2009 World Championships in Italy, I didn’t win it all, but I did beat a Cuban fighter that tournament and everyone knows they are the best in the amateurs.”

Zewski said he’s been involved in sports his entire life, but boxing caught his attention at the age of 9, and the reason he decided to go into boxing may not sound good to a coach or team manager. “I was always in sports; soccer, football, hockey, I was always a good goaltender. But as bad as it sounds, I wasn’t a good team player, so I decided to try boxing. I got in a gym and never got out. I go for what I personally want. I wanted a National title, got it, now I want a world championship,” said Zewski. I then asked about Hockey, since that is the main sport in Canada and he said, “If you don’t like hockey in Quebec, everyone hates you, but I’ve loved boxing since 9, had my 1st fight at 11. My father has been my coach and main supporter, he’s always going to be there for me, and he did everything he could for me, including taking time off for me.”

I then moved on to his influences, who does he admire or lookup to, Zewski said, “I looked up to certain guys for power, some for movement, not anyone  person, but one guy I do like is Nonito Donaire, he’s smart fast and has everything.” Because he didn’t name a Canadian fighter, I specifically asked him about Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal, but he said, “Both have earned respect, but they’re not people I look up to because I’m not near their weight class. Bute was avoided and feared for a while and was expected to win and he lost badly to Froch, but I saw him at my press conference where I announced this fight and he looked ready. We’ll now see if he’s a real champion because real champions know how to bounce back.” As for Pascal, Zewski said, “Pascal is fast and also was avoided. Pascal vs. Bute would be fight of the year here in Canada for sure. I would like to see that.”

One of the interesting things with Mikael Zewski was his decision to switch from Golden Boy Promotions to Top Rank Promotions. I asked what made him make that move, he said, “It was all Cameron’s (Dunkin) decision. Whatever ever Cameron says, I do, and he’s the best in the business.” I then asked, what are some of the differences in how the 2 companies promote him? Zewski replied, “Golden Boy wanted me to fight more in the West Coast rather than fights like this in Canada. Plus, Top Rank keeps me busy, I like that, I’ve had 7 fights in the last year since signing with Top Rank, I like that.” Regarding that activity, this is his 17th fight in less than 3 years and his 13th fight in the last 2 years, so I wanted to know how much longer he can keep up this pace. “As long as I don’t get injured, cut, or swell up, I only need a couple weeks to get back. As long as I keep getting stoppages, I can comeback about every 6-8 weeks, “ said Zewski.

As I stated earlier, Zewski, who currently has a record of 16-0 with 12 KOs will be facing Roberto Ventura, who comes into that one with a record of 11-6, but all 11 wins were stoppages. This fight will take place at a 151 lb limit. Zewski said he could probably get all the way down to 147, but he didn’t want to kill himself to make weight. I asked what are some of the things he knows about Ventura? Zewski stated, “I haven’t seen much of him, but I know he’s a hard puncher, wants to trade, won 6 in a row, and all of his wins have been KO or TKO, but I’m too fast for power guys. Plus I can hurt my opponents. I made my last opponent retire for the 1st time in his career.”

We then moved on to other fights from a nearby division for him. First, I wanted to get into the Canelo-Lopez fight, but he had other things on his mind as he got into his Top Rank Promotions stable mate. “I was mostly watching the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez fight. It was a good fight, if Chavez could have done a little more he could have pulled it out in the end. He wasn’t in the best shape of his career though, he didn’t seem to take it serious with everything that came out with the marijuana stuff, plus he didn’t through enough punches,” said Mikael. Then we moved on to the future bout of Cotto vs. Trout. Zewski said, “Trout is undefeated and an up and coming guy. Cotto has the huge experience advantage and is such a warrior, but Trout has more speed. Cotto chose Trout for some reason. This isn’t for money for Cotto, so something is up.”

Zewski so far in his young career has been very impressive, so I next asked when he is going to get a title shot. He responded, “We’re talking about it right now. Coming very soon, don’t know exactly, but coming very soon. My career is about to take off and big things will come. I need to go more rounds, I’ve never been past the 6th rd in my career. My last opponent was chosen so I can go more rounds and he got stopped in round 1. Hopefully I can get a minor title like the NABO or something like that soon.”

It was great to interview such a young, yet level headed guy. It showed the future of the sport is bright. Before we ended the interview, Mikael Zewski had a final message for his fans. “Big things are coming and I’m working very hard every fight to put on a good show. I hope you guys are excited because big things are coming from me soon.”

Mikael Zewski can be reached on Facebook with the username Mikael Zewski or he can be reach on Twitter @MikaelZewski.