By Jared Lopez
On September 8th in the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, two of the sports best boxers will be squaring off in 168 lb champion Andre Ward and 175 lb champion Chad Dawson On HBO World Championship Boxing. It will pit the very best in one division against the very best in another division. It will be a matchup between two in their prime American champions fighting for Andre Ward’s championship belts at 168. No one has ever questioned Chad Dawson’s talents but his psyche and this could be the signature win to put his name up there with the elite in the sport in the bout titled “Made in America”. ThaBoxingVoice.com caught up with Dawson’s trainer, John ‘Iceman’ Scully to speak on Dawson and on his huge upcoming bout.
ThaBoxingVoice: What are the advantages that you think Chad Dawson brings into the ring against Andre Ward?
John “Iceman” Scully-“I mean obviously the size difference is going to be very apparent. I’ve been talking to the strength coach and the nutritionist all along numerous times over the course of this camp, monitoring and making sure everything is ok. You know I am not a chef I don’t deal with that aspect of his training. So I’ve monitored it with his strength coach and he assured me he could make the weight and that he could have been making 168 all along. The only reason he fought at 175 was because he had his ranking at 175 so he fought at that weight and stayed there. To be honest with you, Chad bulks up during camp to maintain his 175 stature and going down in weight shouldn’t be a problem.”
ThaBoxingVoice– Is there any truth about Virgil Hunter and Andre Ward not wanting to accept a catch weight?
Scully– “I wasn’t a part of the negotiations but I was being updated as they were going on of course, and that’s what I was told. I actually brought it up and asked why not fight at light heavy (weight)? What about him moving up to light heavy or a catch weight? All the greats of any era move up and take on bigger challenges but I guess that was something they were stern on. I was told Andre Ward didn’t want it and when you say Andre Ward, I mean his representatives said it was 168 or no fight.”
ThaBoxingVoice– Do you have any idea if there is any kind of testing protocol and if not why isn’t there one set for random drug testing?
Scully-“To be honest I absolutely have no idea if there is or isn’t. To be honest I don’t keep up with that aspect of the game, I try to keep it out of my head cause regardless whatever happens Is going to happen. If they catch somebody they catch somebody. If they don’t, well he got away with it and it’s beyond my control. I know Chad isn’t doing anything illegal so you could test him all you want.”
ThaBoxingVoice – Does it make u nervous that the fight is taking place at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Andre Ward’s home town? And do you feel as though you have to be more active, maybe even go for the knockout instead of leaving it in the judge’s hands?
Scully– “It really hasn’t as some people think it should but it has been on the mind. Unfortunately, that’s the way boxing is but you can’t alter what your good at or alter your game plan to go for that. We have to trust the judges appointed by the sanctioning bodies, the commissions and TV’s biggest boxing network HBO. Plus with the world watching, if we win I have to trust that we will get the decision. if I can’t, then maybe boxing is not for me.”
Scully-“Before I go, I just want to add that I hope once Dawson wins that he’ll get the credit he deserves. He beat one Ring (Magazine) champion in Bernard Hopkins and if he beats another one in Andre Ward, he should be fighter of the year. Not only that, he should be elevated to number 2 pound for pound. Manny (Pacquiao) hasn’t looked that great recently and he’s still a great fighter but whether you like or not, he lost his last fight. So I hope Chad gets the credit he deserves because he will be going down to another man’s weight class and beating the very best at that weight class.”
For Full Audio of This Interview click here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thaboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/08/19/virgil-hunter-iceman-john-scully-robert-the-ghost-guerrero
