INTERVIEW: JOHN SCULLY
By James Alden

JA: What were your thoughts on the Manfredo-Pemberton fight? "It is what it is, you know? It appeared to me that Peter had more energy and used more boxing skills than he was using before. He was picking his shots a lot more, he looked more of a professional in this fight than he did ever in his pro career. His performance the other night shows how "the Contender" was able to manipulate certain guys. They forced them to be in more fast paced, amateur style fights. Peter is better when he can pick his shots. With Scotty at his age he is obviously not going to get any better so, like I said, it is what is."

JA: You said that "the contender" probably forced Peter to fight like that, what do you mean by that?

JS: I mean they didn’t tell him to go out and fight like he did on the show but when you make a fight with a pro fighter and you make a bout for 5 or 7 rounds you have no choice but to pick up the pace. It's like putting two dogs to fight until one of them gets killed. The Contender show took away from guys the ability to show their true boxing skills with taking there time. Peter was forced to go down to the level of opposition, like he did with an Alfonso Gomez who was an eight round fighter at the time. Alfonso was much better suited to go at that faster, more reckless pace. I’ve always said that Peter was better in ten and twelve round fights. If you take any established fighter and make them fight five rounds they're not going to look the same as if they were fighting 10-12 rounds.

JA: Do you think that it was the money that lured these guys into the contender?

JS: They were going to do the show. If you get offered to be on the show that is pretty exciting and there is a lot of money involved so you’re going to do it anyways. If they say it’s going to be 5 rounds, well, it's going to be 5 rounds, that’s their format. The Contender is all TV and if they made those fights 10-12 rounds there would be too much posing. As an example, Chad Dawson tried out for the show and they didn’t pick him because his style of using his jab and setting people up wouldn’t have been exciting to the average fan. The five rounds was good for the audience but it wasn’t good for Peter's style.

JA: Was you expecting to see the Pemberton from the other night or were you expecting to see the Pemberton that fought Omar Sheika?

JS: To tell you the truth I wasn’t really sure. I kind of thought that he would have fought in the manner that he got that title shot and it didn’t turn out like he wanted it to. He probably figured that he wasn’t going to get another title shot and he might have thought "let me get another money fight and lets see what happens". In other words it was the right time to fight Scotty, after he lost the title shot and he was probably at the end of his career. Mentally he was probably not the same person.

JA: Do you thing that the lime light had anything to do with him coming out flat because he stated that he was flat coming into the ring and couldn’t get anything going?

JS: He fought on Showtime and has been on ESPN previously...

JA: [Cutting In] But not the magnitude of fights like a Jeff Lacy and even a Peter Manfredo Jr. where you have 10,000 fans booing you.

JS: You never know with a fighter but I never took Scotty to be that type of fighter with the crowd affecting him. Of course I can't speak for him but if he said the following I wouldn’t be surprised. “Man I got in the ring and I was like, wow, the fans are really on his side. I am 39 years old, I am coming off a big fight loss and no one expected me to do what I have done. I will go out there and try to see what happens.” Maybe his enthusiasm level wasn't at his highest with him coming off a tough loss his last fight. If this fight was before the Lacy fight maybe he was on more of a high and may have had more enthusiasm. In the first round Peter was razor sharp and may have taken Scotty a little bit by surprise and after the first sequence maybe he realized that he was in with a really sharp kid.

JA: Do you think that Peter can make a case for himself at 168?

JS: I think that Peter is underrated and part of that was because of that show and the way he fought in those fast paced fights. I think that if you put him in a 10-12 round fight I think with his skills, I think that he is a “real” contender world wide. After the other night I think that his confidence got a real boost, working with Freddie Roach has helped him, overall mentally he is feeling good. If he is going to do something he could do it now while he is hot.

JA: Matt Remillard was the first bout of the evening and had a first round knockout. Is Matt coming along at the pace that you and his trainer would like?

JS: Matt is still a kid, he's only 19, people will probably want to see him step in the ring and see him step up to fight tougher people. The kid that he fought the other night definitely has skills and had a good record. I think that we are still trying to build Matt. 99% of fighters don’t develop as fighters. Francisco Bojado was on PPV when he was 19, that’s craziness. They don’t let him develop into 6 round fighters then go to 8, 10, and then 12. I think Matt can go another two years and learn how to fight the pro game and to adapt to everything. If they do it right I think that Matt is a legitimate prospect also.

JA: Mike Oliver has a fight coming up on Saturday night. I know that you’re training him and tell us what we can see out of Mike on Saturday night.

JS: Well, I am very excited about it, maybe it’s because I have known Mike since he was six years old. I didn’t train him as an amateur but I helped him out and saw him win countless championships. I also worked his corner at several national competitions, including when he won the Ohio State Fair in 1998. To see him rise to this level and to be fighting at a casino for a minor title on TV is pretty big. He has been training really hard, has had some of the top sparring in camp. He sparred really well with me for ten rounds about a week ago, he sparred with Pito Cardona. Mike is about as ready as can be and he has done everything like I asked of him. I feel like if he transmits what he has done in the gym into the fight he is going to come out a winner.

JA: I know the last time you sent your email out there for the fans to email you. How has the response been?

JS: It’s been very well. The internet has really brought people closer to everything, athletes are more accessible, and information is more accessible. I tend to be as real as I can when I do interviews; my feedback has always been that people really appreciate that and that is what I try to give the fans.

JA: If you get a lot of emails maybe you can have one your own Boxingtalk mailbags?

JS: I would love that. I read it all the time when Greg Leon does his thing, I also like it when he has the fighters on there because they give the perspective that only a boxer can give. I am glad that Boxingtalk allows that for the fighters to answer some questions and gives the fans some interesting view that they can’t really get from a Max Kellerman, Jim Lampley, guys who are perceived to be experts. They are experts in their own way but the fighters are experts in the only way that really matters to many people. The fighters know what's really going on. Without them there is no such thing as boxing so it's real cool for fans to be able to hear their perspective once in a while

JA: Is there anything that you would like to say in closing John?

JS: I appreciate everything, I appreciate just being allowed to speak on the site and talk about myself and some of the fighters I work with. I also want to congratulate Peter Manfredo for a world class performance last night and I wish everyone nothing but the best of luck. For the fans who may want to ask me something, anything at all, or make any kind of comment my email is ICEJOHNSCULLY@aol.com. It's funny that a lot of people get my email address, I guess there is a website out there that has boxers emails or stuff like that. People email me about therir kids and email about weight loss, and the problems that they must be going through. I have had kids tell me that they get picked on at school and ask what they should do and I think that its great that kids email me with their problems and I love to help them out.

JA: It seems like a lot of people look up to you.

JS: It is kind of amazing because the internet is so far reaching. I will give you an example. I got an email after I did the interview with you and the guy said that he was a fan of mine. He said he was from Dublin Ireland. I said to myself there is no way that this guy is from Dublin, Ireland and I emailed him back and asked him if he was sure that he got the right guy? He emailed me back and said “Oh yeah, I saw you box Michael Nunn.” To me it's real cool how the internet really works. Sometimes kids email and I don’t know if they know I really am but they know that I am a boxer and train a few people. Sometimes kids email me and tell me there getting picked on at school or some of them tell me they're overweight. So I talk to them for months and then they do a google search on me and some things pop up on me. When they see interviews like this or pictures or whatever it makes them feel good that they are talking to someone who really is a boxer.

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