"I want the winner of the championship fights or the fights that get me to the championship fight. I don't want to have anymore fights where I'm fighting the young, hungry lion because I've done that already and I proved myself. Now it's time to get these champions in the ring and get these guys that's holding these rankings and not doing anything with them. I want to fight for the championship or fight an eliminator fight," stated heavyweight contender Tony Thompson, who talked about his repeat knockout victory over David Price, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on knocking David Price out for the second consecutive time.
TT: Thank you. I appreciate that.
PC: How do you feel about your performance?
TT: It was pretty good. Everything that we wanted to do, we were able to accomplish. Like I told everybody, we came in with a few game plans and it was up to me to see which game plan was going to work. I think it was a good performance.
PC: Obviously you were able to get in better shape for the rematch, but other than conditioning, how did this fight differ from the first one as far as your approach?
TT: The first fight we had the approach that he was going to make a mistake and we would capitalize on his mistake, and nobody wanted to give me credit for it. They were searching for reasons why David lost as opposed to accepting me as the better fighter. I'm the better fighter in the ring, so they called it an upset and all this other stuff. The second fight was just a brilliant performance by me. It wasn't just old Tony Thompson. It was the old Tony Thompson; my health is better and I'm feeling good again. I'm starting to fight like I used to and I proved to everybody that David Price is not on Tony Thompson's level and I told everybody that. I even gave them the round. I told them it wouldn't go past the 5th and I knocked him out in the 5th.
PC: To force the stoppage, you fired off a lot of punches. Did you ever worry about punching yourself out if he survived that onslaught or did you feel he wouldn't survive it and the end was near?
TT: I felt like I was gonna stop him regardless. I think he wore himself out thinking about fighting me. Through the whole ordeal, it was just like the music I like to play, "I was easy like Sunday morning." I was relaxed and was able to think through a lot of situations, as to where David, he was stressed, he was pressed, and all that was on his mind was fighting me again. And by the time it came to the fight, it played against him.
PC: Did you feel like, going into the fight, all the pressure was on him or you?
TT: I wasn't concerning myself with the pressures of David. He a young man; he got a long career ahead of him if he choose that. I knew the pressure was on me, but I can handle it. I wanted to prove that I was on a different level than David Price. And it's not that David is a bad fighter, but he had yet to compete on levels that I had reached already. And that fight showed that I was correct. The pressure was on me to beat a guy in David's level so that I can continue to compete on the level that I think I deserve to be on, the championship level.
PC: It seems like every time they count you out, you pull off one of these performances. Do you feel you perform better when your back is against the wall and people count you out?
TT: You know, that always plays a part in it because that's been my whole career, people thinking I'm done and I can't fight or whatever they want to say. But my real motivator is my family. I do this for my family and I wanna provide for my family and this is the way I provide for them the best. And also, I just feel like my career is incomplete right now, to make it to the top a few times and come up short, but I have always had some type of health concerns get in my way. I just want to put out the best Tony Thompson that I can before I retire while I'm feeling a little bit better.
PC: How much longer do you see yourself doing this for my man?
TT: I mean, realistically, I probably could compete for another two or three years. I'm in great shape and I'm not beat up. I think I can compete. But I don't think I want to compete for 3 more years. I wanna give it a good, hard maybe 2-year run and call it quits.
PC: We are finally getting fights like Chisora/Scott, Haye/Fury, Wlad/Povetkin and Vitali/Stiverne. Are you seeking the winners of those type of fights or are you willing to take on a fight that doesn't mean quite as much while they sort things out?
TT: I want the winner of the championship fights or the fights that get me to the championship fight. I don't want to have anymore fights where I'm fighting the young, hungry lion because I've done that already and I proved myself. Now it's time to get these champions in the ring and get these guys that's holding these rankings and not doing anything with them. I want to fight for the championship or fight an eliminator fight.
PC: Some guys in their 40's prefer longer layoffs for the rest and some feel they need to stay in the gym and stay active. Where do you fit in?
TT: I wanna stay busy, definitely. I think I do a lot better when I'm able to stay busy and stay motivated and don't have to start over in a training camp. If I can continue to stay in shape and stay working towards my goal, I think each fight I can get better and even look better in my body and in my abilities. I recover fast; I don't really care about the bumps and bruises. Once I started boxing, I have been in pain my whole career (laughing), so I'm used to that. So I wanna stay busy and stay sharp and stay focused.
PC: Did Price do anything in the rematch that surprised you any?
TT: Not at all. We hit it on the head so well. My team was so prepared. The guys around me did a great job in figuring what he was gonna try to do and what he can't do and this is what we're going to do to him when he does it. We had it laid out perfect. He was able to catch me early when I was trying to be aggressive. He caught me with a good right hand and a big right hand and he was able to put me down, but I got up and rose to the occasion, and not only rose to the performance, but I rose to the challenge. He got more worried after the knockdown and I got meaner.
PC: I have been knowing you are a funny dude, but your post-fight interview has become legendary. Did you expect such a viral reaction to your post-fight interview?
TT: (Laughing) A lot of people tell me I'm a funny guy. I just like to keep it light. I think anybody that's been around me a few times probably gonna get a few good laughs. I don't take things too serious. I like to be responsible, but I don't take things serious all of the time. I like to keep things light, keep people laughing, and make sure everybody around me is having a good time. I'm sharp if they give me the mic. I will have the whole world laughing after awhile.
PC: The wheelchair line was classic.
TT: Oh yeah! I know my wife wanted to smack me upside my head, but she know she was going to catch it, so...
PC: Congrats again on the knockout win. I hope to see you back in there soon. Is there anything else you wanna add?
TT: I'm starting to learn how to work my Twitter account. I'm not really good at it right now, so give me time and I will get better. So all of the people tweeting me and looking for a response, I respond better on Facebook right now, but I will figure Twitter out and get better. I'm able to talk to my folks a little better in Facebook right now, but I am on Twitter and I will get better, so find me @TonyThompson_1 and watch me learn. Once I learn how to tweet, you will get the full personality.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]