WBA-ийн супер дунд жингийн асан аварга Байрон Митчелл Жеймс Тони болон Найджел Бенн нарын хооронд болоогүй тулааны талаар таамаглал дэвшүүлж, өөрийн карьерын талаар ярилцлага өгчээ.
Митчеллийн үзэж буйгаар Жеймс Тони нь Найджел Беннийг ур чадвараар илүүрхэж, 160 эсвэл 168 фунтын жинд шүүгчдийн санал нэгтэй шийдвэрээр ялах байсан гэв. Тэрээр Тониг хүнд цохилтоор өрсөлдөгчөө буулган авдаггүй ч, өөрийн гэсэн арга барилаар дэлхийн зиндаанд хүрсэн чадварлаг боксчин хэмээн тодорхойлсон байна. Харин Беннийг Жеральд Макклеллантай хийсэн тулаанд харуулсан эр зоригоор нь үнэлжээ.
Мөн Митчелл өөрийн карьерын тухай дурсахдаа Жо Калзагетай хийсэн тулааныг эрт зогсоосон гэж үздэгээ илэрхийлэв. Тэрээр тухайн үед хувийн асуудлаас болж сэтгэл зүйн хувьд хүнд байсан ч, хэрэв тулаан үргэлжилсэн бол Калзагег буулган авах боломжтой байсан гэсэн байр суурьтай байна.
Өдгөө 29-11-1 (22 KO) амжилттай Митчелл одоогийн боксчдоос Дэвид Бенавидезийг онцлон сонирхдог бөгөөд хэрэв боломж гарвал түүнтэй тулалдахын тулд зодог тайлсан карьераа эргэн сэргээхэд бэлэн гэдгээ илэрхийлжээ. Тэрээр мөн Андре Уордыг Жо Калзагег илүүрхэн ялах байсан хэмээн өөрийн бодлыг хуваалцсан байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
UK fight fans may well recall, upon heading into their grudge fight, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank doing a co-appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. Joining them, via a cable setup, was James Toney. With actor/wannabe fighter Mickey Rourke sat with him, Toney verbally laid into the two British stars, and, for a while, Benn and Eubank became allies, with both giving “Lights Out” their own blend of trash-talk.
It was great fun, but unfortunately neither Benn nor Eubank ever fought Toney. Maybe you think Toney would have had far too much for either Brit. Maybe not.
But Byron Mitchell, a great in his own right; a two-time champ who engaged in a classic thriller with Joe Calzaghe, was kind enough to give me his take on who would have won had Toney and Benn had got it on; either at 160 or at 168.
And Byron, 29-11-1(22) and a former two-time WBA super-middleweight ruler, was also keen to speak about his own career.
Q: Benn against Toney, would it have been a great fight? Also, did you ever spar Toney? I know you never sparred Benn……
Byron Mitchell: “No, I never sparred Toney, but I was in camp with him. Nigel Benn, I honestly don’t know too much about him, but I did see the Gerald McClellan fight. He [Benn] showed a heck of a heart in that fight. But Toney, I didn’t like him as a person. I always thought he was a bit arrogant. I saw quite a few of his fights. He had skills, no doubt, but he was a trash-talker. Toney, he would have been difficult to fight. Toney fought his own way to the top during his career, with no big-time promoter. He actually fought the top guys, and he earned his way to the top.”
Q: You were great at 168, champ twice. But Toney, was he better at middleweight? And regarding Benn, you against him would have been a great one!
B.M: “Benn, again….. I don’t know too much about him. But against McClellan, yeah, that impressed me [from Benn]. I’d have stopped Benn, I’m pretty sure. But again, he had a big heart, as he showed [in the McClellan fight]. But Benn against Toney? No, Toney, I never saw him as a big puncher, more a respectable puncher, but not a devastating puncher. I just think Toney would have outskilled him, and won via decision – clear decision, this at either 160 or at 168.”
Q: Just getting off topic, who do you like today?
B.M: “I really like David Benavidez. I’d have loved to have fought him at super-middleweight. I think I’d have been too strong for him. I’d come out of retirement for that fight! I know he’s a big guy now, though. 168 was my [best] weight.”
Q: We must talk about your great slugfest with Joe Calazghe. I feel, as do so many people, that it was stopped prematurely, this after you had decked him. It was just so much action crammed into less than six minutes!
B.M: “Yeah, I should have had a rematch clause. I was going through a terrible time when I fought Calzaghe. I wasn’t mentally great; I was a wreck, actually. I was going through a divorce, and people were saying so many bad things about my wife when I was in camp. I asked Don King to postpone the fight, but he said no chance. I had to fight. I was contracted, and King said, fight or else. I do feel, if I had been in my right frame of mind, I’d have stopped Calzaghe. And for sure, we should have had that rematch.”
Q: Yeah, it could have been a classic if the British ref hadn’t dived in….
B.M: “Yeah, I was still strong. I wasn’t hurt at all. What surprised me about Calzaghe was his fast hands; I didn’t figure he’d be that fast. I honestly think I’d have stopped him had the fight gone on. But put it this way, one of us would have got knocked out if the fight went on the way it should have gone on. Calzaghe had the same referee numerous times when he fought, did he not?”
Q: Home cooking! You could call it that. But thanks again for your time. You fought and defeated some greats.
B.M: “Frankie Liles was perhaps the best I fought, or at least that was one of my best wins; perhaps my best win overall. I had a good career.”
Q: Back to Dream, Fights, how would a Calzaghe-Andre Ward fight have gone?
B.M: “Ward, by easy decision. No doubt about that one. And I think Toney would have beat Benn. Me against Toney? I think I would’ve beat Toney, I’d have been too strong. Yeah, I think I’d have beaten him by decision. Nobody stopped Toney.”
