"I'm calling this dude out, man, and I'm telling him to fight me. If you have any heart or if you are a true champion, stop trying to fight these guys that you know you can beat and fight somebody that's going to give you a real challenge...Guys like me deserve to fight guys like Deontay Wilder and other top 10 fighters...make this guy Deontay Wilder either shut up and stop talking trash talking about he's the best fighter in the world and make him fight somebody who is worthy to fight him," stated heavyweight contender Amir Mansour, who had a lot to say about Chris Arreola's performance against Fred Kassi, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, and more. Check it out!
PC: I know you have been boycotting some of these heavyweight fights, but I'm sure you tuned in to watch Chris Arreola and Fred Kassi scrap.
AM: I was telling people prior to the Kassi and Arreola fight that it wouldn't surprise me. After I fought Kassi, even though I dominated him and stopped him in a Knockout of the Year fashion, I knew that this guy could fight. He was very strong and he could fight southpaw and orthodox. When you can do that, you're very athletic. And I said I wouldn't be surprised if he beat Arreola. In my opinion, and a lot of other people that watched that fight, he should have gotten the decision.
PC: As you watched the fight, were you thinking this was the same guy you were in there with? Did you think he had improved?
AM: I saw the same Kassi that came to fight me; it's that I'm a good fighter. I'm a very good fighter. I'm a class above that. I just haven't gotten the opportunity to fight a guy that is considered a good fighter. Now people know what type of skill set I bring to the table when I can take a guy like Kassi, dominate him for 7 rounds and then stop him in horrific fashion, and then he can come back 6-7 months later and fight a guy like Arreola and truly beat him, but fight him to a draw. But what truly really bothered me about this fight wasn't that Kassi was getting a chance to fight what was considered one of the top heavyweights. Congratulations to him. I wish everybody the best in this sport. What really bothered me is the fact that if Arreola would have won this fight, he would have gotten a shot at Deontay Wilder. That was crazy to me. These guys fighting my opponents that I go through and they getting title shots. When Deontay Wilder won the WBC title, the guy he fought prior to the Stiverne fight was a guy that I stopped in one round, with a dislocated shoulder at that. I stopped him in one round. Wilder goes and fights him and then he fights for the heavyweight champion of the world. Kassi, I dominate him for 7 rounds and stop him in a dramatic fashion; Arreola fights him and if he would have beat Kassi, he would have fought for the heavyweight championship of the world. These guys keep blowing past me. And what's sad is not only are the promoters allowing it, but the organizations are allowing it as well. If anybody wants to bring the excitement back into the heavyweight division and truly see an exciting heavyweight division again, they are going to have to start putting the best against the best and not letting these guys call themselves the best but going around fighting guys I done stopped in dramatic fashion.
I don't even think Chris had to look good. If he would have won, there is no doubt in my mind he would have fought Deontay Wilder. And you know what? He still might get the fight with Deontay Wilder. I've been trying to get the fight with Deontay Wilder and Chris Arreola way before belts were involved, so I'm not just trying to fight him because he has the title. I'm trying to fight him because people feel like he's the best American heavyweight and I know I am. That's why I've been wanting to fight Deontay for years. I've been wanting to fight Chris Arreola for years. These guys know that my skill level is way above their level of skill set. If you look at me and Kassi fight, and then you look at Kassi fight with Arreola, that's not a fight that took place years ago. It's only a couple of months apart and you can see and really gauge how far ahead of the game I really am and how good of a fighter I really am. And you can't tell me that I'm not worthy at a crack at this title, man. But Deontay Wilder talks that trash. He said he would retire me on YouTube, but he has the title now. He can make calls. You can't be the heavyweight champion of the world and can't make a call. So I'm calling this dude out, man, and I'm telling him to fight me. If you have any heart or if you are a true champion, stop trying to fight these guys that you know you can beat and fight somebody that's going to give you a real challenge.
PC: I'll be honest, the way you knocked Kassi out, I didn't think he would recover and be the same fighter. Dude can fight, man, and he showed he can bounce back with his performance.
AM: The reality is, when I fought Kassi, I felt like he was underestimated with his elusiveness. He was real elusive. And even though I was touching him, he was moving really good with my punches. I was touching him, but he was rolling off of them, and then by the 7th round, when I threw the overhand left to set up the right uppercut, I caught him in his move. So I really outsmarted him. Even though I was outsmarting him throughout the fight, I outsmarted him enough to catch him in that move. But this guy had never been stopped and he had never really been beaten or anything like that. So a healthy young man like Kassi can recover from that kind of knockout.
PC: I understand the frustration and I hope you get a crack at something major real soon. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
AM: I just want to say to all the boxing fans that as a fighter, I truly love all of the true boxing fans, especially my fans. But I need y'all to get online and put this interview out there and pass this interview around and make this so-called heavyweight champion of the world fight somebody who is worthy to fight him and don't allow him to fight some heavyweight that's going to dumb this division down and keep this division stagnant. I need y'all to help me bring back the excitement into the heavyweight division and call for the top guys to fight the top guys. Guys like me deserve to fight guys like Deontay Wilder and other top 10 fighters. I need the fans to push this interview around, share this interview, retweet it and get this thing global and lets go crazy with it and make this guy Deontay Wilder either shut up and stop talking trash talking about he's the best fighter in the world and make him fight somebody who is worthy to fight him. He's not going to fight Klitschko and if he does fight Klitschko, he's going to wait until he's a real old man before he decides to fight him. But I think Klitschko about to lose his belt to Tyson Fury anyway. I love you guys at FightHype, you already know that, and I appreciate you guys, man.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]