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I would have liked to be
there with him because
earlier this year we won the
WBA title together, but it
was also a thing where Matt
Remillard was back in the
dressing room at that very
moment getting ready for the
biggest fight of his life so
I figured it was more
important for me to be there
with him while he got ready,
in case he needed anything
from me. So I had the
promoters introduce first so
I could get back there with
him.
Bull: Ice, you had a superb
amateur career with many
great moments, but what was
your greatest memory as a
pro?
JS: Believe it or not, I
usually think back to my
fight with Michael Nunn
because Michael was such a
superstar in the boxing game
and a guy who I used to
watch when I was at the end
of my amateur career and the
beginning of my pro career
because I was always so
impressed with his smooth
boxing skills and his style.
There was a point around the
7th or 8th round and I
caught him with a really
sharp right hand and the way
he looked at me, like he was
trying to focus his eyes, I
knew right away he was dazed
and right behind me I could
hear Al Bernstein yelling
into the microphone "Michael
Nunn was hurt with that
shot!" and all I could think
at that moment was how this
was the same Michael Nunn
who fought Kalambay and
Barkley on HBO and I had
this unbelievable chance
right here in front of me to
maybe get him but the bell
rang soon after and he went
on to win a 12 round
decision over me.
The part of me that loves
boxing is the part of me
that would rather lose by
decision in a competitive 12
round fight with Michael
Nunn than win by knockout
over someone that nobody
ever heard of.
Bull: When you fought Henry Maske for the IBF light
heavyweight world
championship in Germany,
what was it like being in
another country in the days
leading up to the
championship fight? You went
back a year later to fight
Graciano Rocchigiani in
Berlin. What was that about?
JS: I really liked Germany
and have been there on five
different occasions so far.
The thing is, and I go into
great detail on this in my
book, while you would think
that I would look back on
being a former world title
challenger with great pride
I really don't even think
about that fight very often
at all.
That was supposed to be the
best time of my life,
really. It would have been
like living a dream,
starting out as a kid at a
tiny little gym in a small
town boxing with other kids
in the neighborhood and
going from there all the way
to the same world title
fight that I saw on network
TV every weekend when I was
a kid. Unfortunately the
fight fell right in the
middle of my mother being
terribly sick, and I was in
training for that fight down
in Florida. It was a thing
where one morning I called
her early after I finished
my roadwork and a police
officer answered the phone
and he told me that she was
just rushed to the emergency
room. Not exactly the ideal
way to start the morning
when you are hundreds of
miles away from home and
will be leaving in less than
a week to head even further
away to Germany to fight
that dream fight.
She ended up passing away
less than four months later
so if I ever find myself
thinking back to that time
period it’s an uncommon
thing.
Bull: Drake Thadzi, who
surprised James Toney, was
the only fighter to ever
stop you, though my
recollection of that fight
was that you were drained
pretty badly because of a
pre-fight weight loss and
really beat yourself. Thadzi
was kind of on a roll until
he lost to Dariusz
Michalczewski in 1998. No
one seems to know what
happened to him. Any clues?
JS: have no idea whatever
became of him. I do have an
entire chapter on our fight
in my book, though, and I do
so because I want people to
see first hand how there are
so many things that go on
with a fighter before,
during and after fights that
have such a huge effect on
them either in a good way or
a bad way and that fight was
my most telling one in terms
of things happening to me.
It was like every single
day, right up until what
happened the very first
moment when I stepped into
the ring for the fight,
something was happening,
real or imagined, to tear me
down. If there is one fight
I could go back in time and
not fight it would be that
one.
Bull: Speaking of Maske, how
do you see his chances
against Virgil Hill in their
upcoming rematch?
JS: That's very, very hard
to say because both guys are
over 40 and Henry hasn't
fought in ten years.
Normally in a situation like
that you would say that the
guy has absolutely no chance
but in this day and age you
have Foreman who started it
all off and you have Hopkins
staying elite right to the
end. I would never count
Henry out and I also say
that because I know a guy
that has been sparring with
him in recent weeks and he
tells me Henry looks much,
much sharper than he ever
imagined he would.
Bull: Cleveland Nelson was
13-1 when you fought and
beat him in your final fight
(at the Hershey Centre, in Mississaugua, ON, Canada).
He has not fought since. Is
there something I can read
into that?
JS: Actually I have always
wondered about that myself.
I know that he was scheduled
a while back to be the main
event on ESPN against Kelvin
Davis but something happened
just a few days before the
fight and it was called off.
Cleveland and I were also
set to have a rematch in
Canada at one point but that
fell out, too, so who knows?
Maybe he had a career ending
injury or something, you
never know.
Bull: Ice, now that you are
one of the leading trainers
out there, are there
training styles or tricks
that you try to emulate? Any
trainers whom you most
admire?
JS: To tell you the truth I
never really paid much
attention to any other
trainers before. Believe it
or not, I pretty much use
the knowledge that I have
picked up over the years
from being in the game as a
boxer and to be honest I
think my absolute best
attribute as a trainer is
that I am a fighter first
and I relate to the boxers
on that level, and so far
each and every guy has
responded real well because
they know for sure that I am
relating to them in a way
only another boxer can. And
they know that what I am
telling them is pretty much
from first hand experience
and not from me getting it
second hand from someone
else. It's kind of crazy but
I use the things I failed at
as a boxer as much as I use
the things I excelled at to
get through and motivate the
guys.
It's like, for example, I
can remember fights when I
just thought too much in
there. I hesitated to pull
the trigger for whatever
reason, and now I have to
live with the fact that I
could have done so much more
than I did but I found a way
to allow myself to not do
it. As a result, I can see
now when a guy is doing
something similar and when I
call him on it, from me
recognizing it first hand,
it kind of puts him on the
spot and doesn't allow him a
way out. Sometimes I am
extra adamant in my demands
from the guys because I
don't want to see a guy not
use all of his talent and
have to live with that later
on. I find myself in that
situation sometimes,
realizing that I didn't
always do everything I could
do against certain opponents
and I wish I could go back
and get a second chance at
them but there aren't any
second chances in this game.
When the bell rings you have
to leave it all out there in
the ring.
Bull: Is there on thing that
stands out as being the most
difficult in being a
trainer?
JS: You know, I have been
training amateurs even back
when I was a young
professional myself and the
thing I find the most
difficult, the most
frustrating, is when a boxer
of mine goes out there and
doesn't perform up to their
capabilities. I know for a
fact that it was the thing
that several of my trainers
found so frustrating about
me, it made them crazy
sometimes and I never really
knew what they meant. It
would be a thing where I
would fight and look decent
or maybe even below decent
and they would be like "In
the gym seven days ago you
looked spectacular, throwing
eight punch combinations,
dancing around the ring so
smoothly, punching so fast.
What happened tonight??" And
I wouldn't have answer for
them.
Now sometimes I will have a
guy who performs below his
capability and from the
corner it can make you
insane because you have seen
this guy do the things he
needs to do a million times
before but on this night he
just isn't doing them. other
nights he does but on this
night he isn't. That's why
part of a trainers job is
making sure the fighter
peaks at the right time and
to do that you almost most
have to be a scientist in
there to get it done
properly. There's so much
more to being a trainer than
just working the corner and
giving the guy water to
drink and telling him to
throw punches.
Bull: When can we expect to
see your book, "Iceman
Diaries," on the market?
JS: I am extremely hopeful
that it will be ready by
Christmas time. It's been a
long time now, more than
four years, since I started
writing it and I would have
been finished by now but
between all the traveling
and training for fights and
with my baby girl Sarita
here for me to watch
everyday it's difficult to
actually seal it up and
finish it properly. I am
close, though, and very
optimistic of it being a
Christmas present type of
book.
John, many thanks for the
interview and best of luck
with your young prospects.
“When you hear about a guy,
say Sugar Ray Leonard, who
kept coming back. People
say, 'Doesn't he have enough
money?’ He could give that
money away and not know it’s
gone. I said this before and
it’s true, I've never felt
more alive than when I’m
training for a fight. Never,
never, never.” -- John
Scully
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