Ivan Montiel: Congratulations on Artur Beterbiev’s TKO win over Joe Smith. That was a tremendous performance.
Marc Ramsay [head trainer of the WBO / WBC / IBF light heavyweight champion]: I am very happy with the conclusion of this fight. We expected a longer and maybe even a tougher fight but sometimes boxing is like that.
IM: Someone asked for my prediction before this fight and I said one round, so I was close.
MR: That was a good call (laughs)
IM: Most boxing fans thought that Smith was going to get stopped but could win. I even heard some boxing fans before this fight predicting Smith was going to win.
MR: You know that when a fighter has that type of power that Smith has, you always have a chance. It was legitimate to think that he could win, he always has a chance and is a great fighter. You can notice that even when he got hurt, he wanted to continue fighting. He was upset at the referee when it was over. He wanted to continue and if you have that type of attitude and power, you always have a chance.
IM: What did Beterbiev say to Smith after the fight?
MR: I am not sure what exactly was said but you already know during the process prior to the fight, neither side talked trash, whether it was boxer to boxer or coach to coach. Team Smith was all class from the beginning.
IM: Yes, I do recall you saying that before this fight. Now I remember talking with your co-trainer John Scully before and we discussed how a lot of boxing fans say that Beterbiev is just a puncher but Beterbiev also showed us a lot of boxing skills.
MR: It’s something that I noticed before in the gym. I have the chance to see him practically every day. [He may seem] one-dimensional in his boxing but for me he’s always been a good boxer. It’s a different type of style, it’s Russian boxing. It’s different, he’s a tricky guy. It’s sometimes too late when they realize how tricky and good, and by that time the fight is over. I say it all the time. For example, if you look back at the history of boxing a guy like Roberto Duran, everyone remembers how good he was as a puncher but everyone forgets how technically good he was. How gifted he was. I don’t want to compare Duran and Beterbiev but sometimes people see the big picture with the power but don’t see the sophistication of the boxer.
IM: That brings me to my next question. Now that Beterbiev made a big statement by taking Smith’s title in less than two rounds, everyone wants to see him fight Bivol for that fourth belt [the WBA]. Is it going to happen?
MR: You know there’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle to put together for that fight. It’s a fight that we want, actually it’s the only world title that we don’t have in our collection. This is a fight that we want.
IM: It’s a good fight, a tough fight. Both guys are good fighters but am a little upset because I am hearing maybe we have to wait for that big fight because [WBO mandatory contender] Anthony Yarde may be next.
MR: We will see. We have not received any offers yet. I also heard the Anthony Yarde story this past weekend and I was surprised but we shall see. We are going to take a few weeks break and then see with Top Rank [Beterbiev’s promoter] what direction we will take.
IM: I sure hope that we don’t have to wait too long since everyone is hoping to see Beterbiev versus Bivol.
MR: Especially when you look at the styles of both boxers they are both pure technicians. Bivol is a great technician, a very good boxer and with the style of Beterbiev, this fight is a very good one for boxing fans.
IM: Now before I let you go, I must say this to you once again. You are underrated as a trainer. You’ve done a tremendous job with Beterbiev.
MR: I don’t know if we’ve done a good job but we are working very hard. Beterbiev tries to be a better boxer every day and I try to be a better trainer every day. We try to do our best.
IM: You’ve definitely showed your best. I know you guys are working hard. Both of you guys are always in the gym. Fans can’t wait to see Beterbiev’s next fight.
MR: We should have more information sometime soon. At least I hope so.
