13-06-08 – Interview by Srithar Visuasam, photo by W.Edwards /ESB – Sam ‘King’ Soliman (35-11, 13KOs), who recently contested for the WBA super middleweight title against fellow Australian Anthony Mundine took out a few minutes of his time to speak to ESB. In the discussion, Sam touched on topics including what he has been up to since the fight, his take on the Mundine bout and his intentions within the ring going forward. Please see below for Sam’s candid thoughts:
Sam Soliman on what he is currently up to…
“Back into it (training) this week….as of the weekend, get some light training in and come Tuesday (17 June 08) is my first serious day back in training. The training is basically conditioning, keeping fit and my manager will hopefully have something by the end of next week..”
Take on Mundine – Soliman III…
“Fortunate that everyone got to see the real me that fought him the first time, but only this time I did it a bit more convincingly than last time. I was happy with how I went and know that when I win the world middleweight title, the so called ‘man’ won’t be the man for much longer. I’ll give him the opportunity straight away, because he gave me the opportunity and I’m willing to return the favour.”
Take on the decision…
“It don’t matter. I’ve watched the video of it many of times and I know that the judges that were at the fight weren’t at the same fight I was at. That don’t matter but what does matter is that when I win the middleweight world title we’re going to look forward from there and go on from there……..I can’t walk the streets in Melbourne or Australia for that matter, I went to Sydney for a quick catch up with a couple of old mates and I couldn’t walk anywhere without getting stopped and told what a load of crap the decision was. That was rewarding enough in itself. Not going to looking back at it no more, and look forward, appreciate that everyone else has seen the fight that I was hoping that they’d see and there wasn’t more than the three judges scoring the bout that gave him the nod.”
Moving to middleweight…
“I’m going to go back to middleweight. I’ve even had Mundine’s fans come up to me and say that I should stay at super middleweight, ‘you outboxed him…you outboxed our man, you should stay at super middleweight and get another crack at it.’ I’m fitter at middleweight, I don’t want super middleweight no more, stay at my weight and that way, we can get more stoppages on our record. Because fighting out of your weight always makes it tougher to get stoppages on your record.”
Advantage of being a middleweight compared to super middleweight…
“Just being stronger and bigger at middleweight, I walk around at super-middleweight. A fighter should never, I’m a trainer as well as a fighter, and I contradict myself by telling fighters never to fight at what weight they walk around at, fight at the next weight division down and then you walk into the ring at the weight you normally walk around at.
But fortunately for me, the opportunities kept coming at super middle…If I had a fighter who was fighting for me and he got a championship fight, world title fight or shot at ‘The Contender and it was the next weight division up, I wouldn’t say to them ‘no don’t take it’ because an opportunity that big would be silly to not take. So there’s a catch 22 there.”
Amount of weight burnt off before fights and weight when ‘walking around’…
“3.5kgs. I’m always 77-78kgs, I’ve never gotten heavier than 78, I’ve been 78 point something but never gotten over that no matter how many times I’ve tried…When I’m walking around at 76 or 75 and a bit, that’s when I’m in good shape, then I feel really good. Then when I fight at 72.5kg and I put it all back on just before the fight, I feel a strong 77kgs in the ring.”
Weight against Mundine at super middle…
“I weighed 78kgs at the fight. Cause I got to 78kgs, I was happy to put on just a little under 2 kgs…But at the end, natural strength, natural weight, is the best weight. So that’s how it’s gonna be from now on. To all the super middleweights out there that are chasing lighter meat, they’re not gonna get it.”
Any specific bouts being targeted or being negotiated…
“There’s no sanctioning body (that I’m looking at), I just want a world title.”
On a bout with Arthur Abraham (IBF Middleweight Champion)…
“Good walk up fighter, tough. I’d have to be in good shape to beat him. A fighter that’s not in good shape would not beat Arthur Abraham because he’s in Germany so you’d have to be in really good shape and win at least 10 of the 12 rounds to beat him or stop him.”
Felix Sturm (WBA Middleweight Champion)…
“Felix Sturm would be easier for it to be a lot more comfortable victory for me. He’s very straight, stands right in front of you and takes a couple of angles here and there, but nothing that can’t be predicted.”
Daniel Geale (IBO Middleweight Champion)…
“Geale is one of my good mates and (we’re) really close. Unless I had a title that he needs and he has I title that I needed, and we’d go for a unification or something like that. I can’t see the fight ever happening.”
Next fight…
“I just keep in shape and I know my manager (Stuart Duncan) will come with the goods.”
Timeframe on career in boxing…
“I’ve got a three year window. So I’m going to get what I came in time for 3 years, a world title and a couple of defences at middleweight.”
Thoughts of fighting where…
“I love fighting in Melbourne with 7,500 people chanting Sammy after the fight (referring to Mundine-Soliman III) was so good….But in saying that, I like travel like most Aussies down under like doing. So either way, I have a smile, whether it’s overseas or at home. Whatever Stuey gets me is whatever I’ll take.”
Final words to fans at www.boxing247.com…
“I’m very fortunate to have fans not just at the venue in my quest for the world title I’ve been chasing my whole life. I’ve heard that pubs and clubs all over Australia have been supporting me, including people overseas who will be logging on the internet round by round and phone calls from overseas. I had a guy in the Army, the S.A.S (Special Air Service), who was calling up trying to find out round by round. These are all the things that make all the hard work worth it. Just to let them know that the hard work is worth it when you get the support that I’ve been getting.”
The next opponent on Sam Soliman’s list is yet to be known at this stage. Sam has been in many enthralling battles over his career that has spanned over 10 years and in addition to his two world title bouts at super middleweight against WBA champion Anthony Mundine, was the mandatory challenger for the IBF middleweight belt in 2005. He also finished in third place in the hit television series, ‘The Contender’ last year.
The next stage of Sam’s career is a return to his natural division of middleweight. This sets for yet another exciting chapter in the career of this great warrior from down under.