"Man, listen, they told me that this was an elimination bout. The WBC said that this was an elimination bout and the winner gets Wilder. So that's why I fought my ass off. That's why I did the best that I could do and I continued to do the best that I could do throughout the rounds because I know that I'm 44 and they told me that if I win this fight, I would get a championship title fight," stated heavyweight contender Amir Mansour, who spoke in-depth about his victory over Travis Kauffman and his strong desire to face WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the win. Both you and Travis really gave us a treat on Friday night. It wasn't easy, but you earned it my man.
AM: It was a very tiresome fight. I had these big ol' padded gloves on, so I knew that he was going to feel my power, but those were the biggest gloves I have ever fought with in my life. I was worried about that, so I just used those to my advantage and used them to block punches and stuff like that. I had pillows on my hands, man, real rap. I'm not taking nothing from Kauffman. Everybody saw the fight and saw he stood in there like a true fighter, but he had some real nice, small Grant Gloves and I had these big ass Everlast. Off script a little bit, but I wanted to say this because I don't want to forget, I'm going to be hiring Carlton Muhammad as a business advisor because a lot of things leading up to this fight...sometimes you need a person to check all the little extra things for you and certain things that were not checked that was probably up to me to check and to cross check, I didn't do. Sometimes you are so worried about the fight that you really need a person that's going to cross check these things for you that a manager just can't do and a promoter might not wanna do. Who knows if it's a promoter you're going against or a promoter you're working with. I think every fighter needs somebody that's in their corner that will cross all of the T's and dot all the I's. So I'm going to be hiring Carlton Muhammad. He works security for Danny Garcia and he's been working security for Danny Garcia for several years. He's a very honorable guy, he knows the business, and I'm going to be getting with him soon to be an advisor and just really make sure that everything is in place for my upcoming fights in the future. Everything that I need to know will be known and everything that needs to be negotiated is negotiated properly and I'm looking forward to working with him. Me and him been friends for probably about a year and some change now and he's always been very admirable. He don't have his hand out asking for anything. He's not really looking for anything other than helping me and seeing me accomplish my dreams.
PC: You told me prior to the fight that you would show some new wrinkles. I think your poise was great. You're probably going to hurt or buzz every fighter that you step inside of that ring with, but I think it's what you do after you hurt them that determines the outcome of the fight. You had him going backwards and you kept your composure well.
AM: Yeah, and I knew I had those pillows on my hands, so I knew if I did load up, I wasn't going to land the shot that I wanted and it was like a cushion. He did feel some hard shots, but I knew I had to keep my poise and just show these people that I can box, I can go the distance, and I honestly don't know why they gave me that label that I run out of gas, but I wanted to show them, "Look, I'm 44 years old; watch what I do with these legs." My legs are probably stronger than any heavyweight out there. You saw me literally dancing for 12 rounds straight. So that nixes that out of the equation. Amir Mansour has young man legs, and a young man's upper body as well. So at the end of the day, I just wanted to keep my composure and box him and bring out a lot of my skills that I possess. I execute when I'm in the gym, but a lot of the times I get into a fight with these big 6'7", 6'5" guys and it's hard to take your time and pick your shots against a guy that you gotta constantly reach for, man. This guy was my height, he was right there, so I was able to calm down and really pick my shots and take my time and execute some boxing skills.
PC: I'm sure that also played a part as well, not having some guy that big and tall leaning on you round after round.
AM: Man, let me tell you something, when you're fighting a guy like Gerald Washington or Dominic Breazeale and they are leaning on you and grabbing you and you're wrestling them and you grabbing them, these guys are like 40-50 more pounds than you and almost a foot taller than you, man. That shit wears you down. But at this point in my career, I just realized, I am a way better fighter than I've shown the people so far and I have to start making these transitions from the gym to the ring. So for that fight, I was determined to just wing it; everything that I know how to do in the ring, I'm going to use it. I knew that this was a win or fail fight for me. If I would have lost that fight, my career would be over, so I had to take every single thing that I knew how to do, and there is still a lot more that I know how to do that I wasn't able to execute, but I did okay thus far. I do know that I gotta do a lot better than that if I want to beat Deontay Wilder.
PC: You had a nice jab going for you. Was that the game plan going in, to keep a stiff jab in his face?
AM: Yeah, for sure. One thing for me, even though I'm 44, I go into the fight with these guys and I know I'm faster than them. I know my reflexes are on par and I know that I'm faster, so I can pump my jab. So I knew that I could out-jab this guy. I knew that I was faster than him. People get caught up in this 44-year-old thing, man, but you gotta understand, look at the last, I don't know, 20 fights of mine and you haven't seen me fight anyone faster than me. I'm fast, man. I got some speed with me and we also know that I have power. I just haven't really settled down and banked on my speed. I haven't really settled down and banked on skills. I just went out there and lost my head a lot of times because I got that knockout power and I know how to land them and I go out there with the intention of landing this punch and knocking them out. And sometimes as a fighter, that's a great thing to do, but there is also a time when you have to display boxing skills. You have to settle down and use your skills to get you through a fight other than your brute power or your knockout power. And so that's what my plan was, to just use my boxing skills to really blow this guy out. If you look at my interviews prior, I wasn't really talking about knocking him out. The only times I said it was because I knew they were banking on me coming out, shooting my load, and trying to knock him out. I knew that they thought that. They never ever could prepare for something that I never gave the world. I never gave the boxing community dancing and jabbing and sticking and moving. I never gave them that, so I knew that the style that I was bringing was a style that they couldn't prepare for because they hadn't seen it.
PC: Was there anything about him that surprised you at all?
AM: No! Honestly, man, no! When you look at his fight with Arreola, the boy threw punches from round one until the end of the fight. He never stopped punching and he never stopped coming forward and Arreola is a puncher. This guy kept coming forward towards Arreola and Arreola couldn't get rid of him. I said, "Man, he's going to come forward and he's going to be right where I wanted him to be whenever I decide to let my hands go." Me and you talked about it and I told you that.
PC: You invested a lot in the fact that both of you invested a lot of work to the body. Did you sense at some point during the fight that it started to pay dividends?
AM: Man, there is not a fighter on this planet, you hear me, who is not going to be affected by body shots; not a fighter on this planet. So to all the fighters out here, I don't care how big and how bad your opponent is, how much better he is than you or how much faster he is than you, go to his body, it will affect him. That's just common sense, you know what I mean, but a lot of us...when you reaching down to that body, you're opening yourself up for hooks and straight punches. So going to the body as fighters, we know we are taking a chance. It's really not a comfortable feeling when you're going to a guy's body, but it really works. Of course I felt him slowing down. And then too, he was going to my body and I was feeling those shots and believe me, I was feeling them. They were doing what they were supposed to do, so I had to retaliate and initiate my own punishment as well.
PC: You posted pictures of your tongue, and it's a horrible habit you have and I'm not even sure you can stop it at this point, but the biting of your tongue when you throw shots. How can you prevent that or can you?
AM: (Laughing) You see that. I don't know what I could possibly do to prevent myself from doing that. I've changed mouthpieces and everything and nothing works. I continuously bite the sides of my tongue when I'm throwing punches. I posted the picture just to show people that the situation that happened in my last fight with Breazeale wasn't a scam. That was real stuff right there. And when you see both sides of my tongue, both sides was stitched up; 18 stitches on each side, that's how bad it was. So that little bit right there is painful. I still haven't eaten anything and could barely drink fluids. It's painful, man, it's real painful.
PC: As a 44-year-old athlete, you always come to the weigh-ins shredded and you're always in great shape. How do you continuously get yourself in such great physical condition?
AM: Well, I'm going to be honest with you, man, I have great genetics. I'm not going to sit here and tell everybody that I'm doing these awesome things in the gym. I just have great genetics. And since I was a kid, I didn't grow up on McDonald's or fast food. We used to cry because my mom used to not let us eat McDonald's and Burger King. I grew up on home cooked meals every single day. My mother cooked every single day and that's how we was brought up. We were brought up on very, very healthy food. My mother cooked healthy. So if you want longevity in anything that you're doing, the thing that benefited me most in my life is eating healthy. I cannot take credit for being some gym rat or being this awesome exerciser. Don't get me wrong, I bust my butt in the gym, but I also know that I have great genetics. And then too, like I always tell you, I didn't have 300 amateur fights. These amateur fights is what really blows these guys out. And that's why after 20 to 30 professional fights at the pro ranks, they ready to retire. Those 300 fights with those helmets on takes a toll on these kids, you understand, and then after a couple of shots to the head without that headgear on, they start slurring. You can't understand what they are saying. And that's one thing as well, I was able to preserve my body by just eating healthy. I grew up eating healthy and I have a healthy diet. I have great discipline when it comes to eating food. I don't eat pork. I don't eat a lot of beef. I eat a lot of fish, I eat a lot of turkey, and I eat a lot of vegetables. And I don't eat a bunch of junk food. I try not to take any sugar in. I try to stay away from sugar. I don't eat anything with a bunch of sugar in it. I don't eat cakes and cookies and that kind of stuff. I do eat beef here and there. Like honestly, the day before the fight, if you look at my page, I ate a big cheeseburger with fried onions on that jawn (laughing). That was my day before the fight meal. I don't advise anybody to do that, but I ate that mess because I knew how I had been eating for the past couple of months. So I knew that I could put that junk in my body just to burn that fuel. Sometimes when you're trying to put weight on and keep it on, you do have to eat some fatty things, but not unhealthy things; just some fatty things.
PC: I know what you want next, but I will let you reiterate it for the people that didn't see the video interview.
AM: Man, listen, they told me that this was an elimination bout. The WBC said that this was an elimination bout and the winner gets Wilder. So that's why I fought my ass off. That's why I did the best that I could do and I continued to do the best that I could do throughout the rounds because I know that I'm 44 and they told me that if I win this fight, I would get a championship title fight. So the guy from the WBC told us to call them and make sure the rankings and everything is in play and go ahead and try to make the fight. So God willing...Deontay, and Percy, you know and you can bare witness that I respect that kid and a lot of things that I said about him in the past has turned because I'm a real dude. I don't do no hating. I told you that I've been seeing some things in Deontay in some of his fights that shows me he's a real true champion. And I told you a couple of years ago that this guy is going to get to a point where ain't nobody going to be able to beat him. That's just my personal opinion about him.
So I'm just hoping that Al Haymon takes a look at me and says, "This guy has been on our cards; he's been doing well and doing what he needs to do." Al Haymon is a bad man. This is what's crazy, this is what a lot of people don't realize, and it's the honest to God truth; a lot of people don't realize this, and I don't really want to say what I'm not in a position or have no business saying, but I'm going to be honest with you, man, one of the reasons why you don't hear Al Haymon fighters complaining about him is because he gets these guys paid as much as they can get paid and as much as he can pay them and he don't be in their pockets. He don't be taking their money, man. A lot of these guys do and he really don't. This dude came out of nowhere and was like, "I'm going to help these fighters." That's how I look at him. It was just somebody saying, "I'm good in life. I'm a boxing fan. Let me get involved and help these guys." Every fighter that I've talked to that's been affiliated or part of PBC, I have never ever heard anything bad about Al Haymon. Of course we fighters talk about promoters. We discuss the networks and the managers and promoters and advisors between each other. We talk about these guys and have conversations about these guys because we be wanting to know what's going on. And I'm going to tell you, he is the only guy in boxing that I have never ever heard a bad thing about him from another fighter of his. I could name every top promotional company in the country and I could point to a champion or a former champion that had something bad to say about them. I cannot show you one person that either fought on a PBC card or is part of Al Haymon's stable that has said anything bad about him. Sometimes you might get a quote where a fighter is getting a little impatient and he wants to fight again. That's just natural. It's not an insult or an Al Haymon issue. So I'm just hoping Big Uncle Al give me a call and gives me my shot, man. I'm 44 years old. I done been through hell and back and I weathered the storm. I'm just hoping everything that they told me would happen after this fight happens. You and me both know I done won every goddamn junior title they got to offer; NABO/WBO, NABA/WBA, USBA and WBF. What the fuck else I gotta do to get a title shot? I'm fucking 44 years old. What, are they going to wait until I'm 50?
PC: I would hope not (laughing). Well I hope you get your shot. Congratulations again on the win over Kauffman and we will speak soon. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
AM: I gotta thank Joe Hand and his son, Joe Jr., for believing in me. I gotta thank Russell Peltz because he always manages to put me in key positions. Tom Brown out in California has been a great help to my career. I appreciate him to the fullest. And of course Al Haymon because this man has been a blessing to all of us fighters that have been a part of this PBC movement, man. You just got Danny Garcia against Keith Thurman on regular TV. Come on, man, you know what I'm saying? You just got the heavyweight champion of the world, Deontay Wilder, defending his title on regular TV. If Al Haymon wasn't in the picture, we would be paying for these type of fights. You just got a potential Fight of the Year with two top heavyweights. So I thank this man and I think it's really a shame that he don't get the accolades that he knows he deserves. It's terrible and I know it ain't nothing about nothing but race. You can quote me on that because I don't care, man, this shit is crazy. If he wasn't black, they would be praising this man for what he's done for boxing. Instead, they have been trying to tear him down. I don't care who don't like what I'm saying. I thank that man, I stand on that, and I don't care what nobody say about it. Say whatever you want to say, I stand on that. And I gotta thank my trainer, Dave Sewell. He gave me an excellent plan to win this fight and he made sure I executed it throughout the fight; even when I took off the 2 rounds. He stayed on my ass and wouldn't let me back off of the game plan. He kept me focused. And of course my man Calvin Davis. He wasn't present in the camp with me for this fight, but he continued to advise me throughout this camp. And I also gotta thank James and Leslie Gibbs. They are always there for me. They like my big brother and big sister. They just make sure I have certain things that I need and I really appreciate them. And FightHype, man, you already know I love y'all dudes, man. I love y'all, man, real rap.
I'm gonna keep it 100, bruh, until they just tell me, "Look man, you too fucking dangerous! We ain't going to give you the shot. Go lay down!" Until they tell me that, because it seems like that's what they want to tell me, but until they tell me that, I'ma keep pushing forward, Perc. That's all I can do because I know I can do it. If I didn't believe that I can do it, I would have been walked away. I ain't making no money. So if I didn't think I could do this, I would've been walked away, man, because it's not enhancing my life. I lost my fucking family behind this shit on the real, being away from my family and doing dumb shit. This shit really ain't benefiting me much at all. I would probably make more money working at McDonald's for a fucking year than I made Friday night. A year salary at McDonald's is probably more than I made Friday night, man. And even with that little ass purse I made, look at the type of fight we put on. We left it all in the ring and I watch dudes make fucking millions to throw jabs and counter all fucking night. But if they think I'm going away, they going to be in for a long one big bruh; no doubt!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]