EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: JOHN SCULLY
By James Alden

JA: What’s good Scully? "Same as usual. Just got back from Miami Beach a few days where my guy Mike-Mike Oliver won his second fight in less than two weeks. He's 14-0 now and starting to get his name known in the 122 pound class. "

JA: It’s been a while since we last talked on the record. Let me get your thoughts on the Chad Dawson-Eric Harding fight.

JS: Well, I think Eric looked a lot slower and older than I had ever seen him before. He only had a couple fights in more than three years and that could have been a factor but, at the same time, Chad looked very, very good. His jab, his combination punching and his footwork were impressive as usual. You can't count your eggs before they hatch, you know, but I certainly won't be surprised if Chad wins a world championship before too long.

JA: All the things that Chad is doing now, could you see him this when you were training him?

JS: Well, if you want to know the truth, I hear and read things sometimes where people say that "his trainer has been working with him on his jab" and now he is using his jab and things like that, like that is where the credit goes, but the fact is that Chad never had a real jab until I really started pushing him to use it. Literally on the very first day we worked together I had a long talk with him about the punch and I explained to him why he wasn't using it properly and when I had him spar, shadowbox or hit the mitts I worked with him on it, literally, every day in the gym. I don't take credit for much with him, you know, because Brian Clark started him out and developed him from a young age but the good jab he has now... that's my doing right there. Definitely. And I think Chad would give me the proper credit if asked. When he fought Carl Daniels, Efrain Garcia and Darnell Wilson his jab was awesome even back then so it's not like this is some new development, you know? And really if you want to get technical about it, the body shots he is throwing now I think he would admit that I had a big influence there too because when I first started training Chad he had a pretty strong right hand but no left hand to the body at all and we worked on that on a regular basis, too, and it got to the point where for the first time in his life he was hurting guys in the gym with left hands to the body. One thing that I think he has now that has helped him that he didn't have as much of before is the top sparring that comes with being in the gym with guys like Wink and Jeff and their sparring partners. That type of work at your disposal can't help but give you more confidence and I think it has mentally made him stronger. We didn't have the resources to bring in sparring partners for him so it got to be a thing where sometimes we would have to drive thirty minutes or more to get good sparring but now he is in a situation where all he has to do is walk in his own gym and two of the best guys around his weight in the world are there to spar with him.

JA: Have you two had talks recently?

ICE: The last time I saw Chad and spoke to him was out in Lake Tahoe when Lacy fought Pemberton. Chad and I have never had a problem, no problems whatsoever, and if the situation was different I would still be training him. I was offered to stay on in that capacity but there were circumstances at the time when Gary Shaw maneuvered him from Burchfield that just wouldn't allow for that to happen.

JA: I talked to Jose Rivera and he told me that he was returning to the gym. What are you going to have him work on?

ICE; Well, he did many very good things in his last fight but the key to me is that we can't afford to get satisfied with that. He still has to master the good things he was able to do, he has to make them become like second nature, and we also have to work on other aspects of boxing that weren't needed for that particular opponent.

JA: Is it difficult for him to stay out of the ring after the exciting victory that he had to win the WBA title from Terra Garcia?

ICE; Well, I think that after a huge victory like that your life changes. More people want to meet you and take your picture and hear what you have to say. I suppose it takes time to get used to that new type of status and there is also the fact that he really put himself through a tough training camp last time and I think his body and mind were ready for a break.  It might actually be more difficult to get back in the gym than it is to stay away from it.

JA: Would you like him to fight for a unification bout and do you think that he is ready for the big fights?

JS:  I think Jose's brings a determination with him that makes him ready for anyone at 154 pounds. It's a very competitive weight class right now with Mosley, Ouma, Spinks, Karmazin, and Vargas and Jose has something each one of them will want to try and get so they are coming our way whether we want them to or not.

JA: How has training been with your other fighters?

JS: Training with Mike Oliver is going extremely well and he has been very impressive in his last three fights and I want to do my best to keep him learning and active and enthused because this is a kid who could win a legitimate world title not too far down the road. Also, Pito Cardona is getting ready to fight again in about a month or so and with Jose on the way back in it will be a busy summer.

JA: May I have your thoughts on the Wright-Taylor fight? 

JS: If there was ever a fight that needed to be called a draw, this was the one. I think Wink proved to be the overall better technician and boxer but, at the same time, Jermain showed that type of hunger and willingness to throw hard punches and work hard to save himself in some close rounds. I think at some key moments Wink took his foot off the pedal ever so slightly and Jermain got back in it. I called it a draw halfway through the 12th round and I think it was the only fair thing to call it.

JA: If you could change one thing in boxing what would it be?

JS: I would do away with all but the big three sanctioning bodies. Maybe just keep the big two. When I was a kid there were only two world champions, like when Sugar Ray was the WBC champ and Tommy Hearns was the WBA. Two champs meant it was possible to have that super fight to determine the undisputed champ. Nowadays you could win three world  titles and there are still seven other guys, most of whom even die hard fans have never even laid eyes on before, calling you out to come get their belt.

JA: It seems like with our last interview you ruffled a few feathers about “training.” Do you think that the sport lacks “Good fundamental teachers?”

JS: Well, I think it is more a case of the business end being so fast paced; The ideology seems to be that when you’re hot you’re hot and you have to strike while the iron is hot. The trainers may have the right ideas in mind but the promoters and TV dictates that guys aren't really developed as much as they should be. There seems to be so many cases of younger guys being rushed into big fights before they really are able to learn the professional game inside and out. I mean, take Vargas and Dave Reid for example. Both of those guys were champions quickly and sent to fight Tito Trinidad too quickly because the demand from fans and the lure of big money for all involved was right there. It kind of reminded me of when Davey Moore was pushed into the Duran fight with only twelve bouts worth of experience. That's crazy. Davey Moore never developed as a professional boxer and whatever potential he may have had was sacrificed for a big opportunity. It's like they take a chance with their whole paycheck on a lottery ticket instead of working hard over the course of time for the steady money.

JA: I know a lot about John Scully the trainer. Tell us about John Scully the fighter.

JS: Well, I had a solid amateur career back in the 1980's and turned professional as the #4 rated 165 pounder in the United States after capturing a bronze medal at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. I beat some good guys like Otis Grant; Lamar Parks twice, world amateur champion Darin Allen, Melvin Foster. I went pro in late 1988 and had my last fight in 2001. I won my last fight (a decision over once beaten Cleveland Nelson) and I tried hard to get more fights and, as a matter of fact, I had nine fights in a row fall out on me including a 2003 fight with Prince Badi Ajamu. I was training Clay-Bey at the time and when the ninth fight fell out on me I decided to stay in the gym and keep sparring, which I do to this day, but I decided to focus on Clay and the other guys I was working with. I feel some regret because I made a lot of mistakes in my career in terms of the manner in which I lost weight, the people I let run my career at times. I didn't reach my full potential, I know that, but I had my moments.

JA: What is one memory that sticks out in your mind about fighting?

JS: I literally have thousands of memories, Great ones. Went to the U.S. Olympic Trials as an amateur and fought for the IBF title as a pro. I shadowboxed with Muhammad Ali once. I ate dinner and trained with Sugar Ray. Drove Willie Pep to the airport once. Spoke on the phone with Archie Moore many, many times. Fought some great fighters. Sparred with some great fighters like Roy Jones and James Toney. Been on the front lines. I love almost every aspect that comes with the fact that I was an amateur and professional boxer and now I am a trainer.

JA: How did you come up with the phrase "The wait in the dressing room before a professional boxing match –that last hour- could be enough to strip a man that never boxer before of whatever pride, desire and heart he THOUGHT he had”.

JS: Every fighter out there knows what I mean by that, even the ones that won't admit that they feel some type of apprehension while they wait for the man to pop his head in the door and say "It's time." It just always amazed me, the crazy, insane thoughts that go through a boxers mind when he is in that dressing room. It wasn't until I had other fighters tell me the same things that I realized that is like some kind of unexplainable psychological phenomenon. I put it down on paper and through the years I have had so many fighters contact me after reading it and tell me "Man, you ain't kidding!!" I guess it first came about when I got sick of people telling me "Oh, I would fight Tyson for a million dollars." It just came out of me. I say "Are you crazy? You wouldn't even make it out of the dressing room! You would run out the back door once you realized what was about to happen to you." Ask almost any boxer about that quote and watch the replies and stories and examples they give you. 

JA: Your good friend Roy is fighting on July 29th against Prince Badi. Tell us about it.

JS:  Well, what can be said? I hate to see him fighting in some out of the way place on some unknown cable station. It can be spun any way they want but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say it is very odd to see him anywhere but on HBO or Pay-Per-View fighting for millions.

JA: How do you think the sport is doing right now?

JS:  Hard to say. Sometimes it seems like there are just too many champions, too many bad decisions, too many guys getting arrested, too many guys taking forty minutes to make their ring entrance. Too many guys losing sight of the fact that boxing is still about the actual fighting and not about the money, the girls, the cars, the bling, the shiny shoes and trunks, the choreographed ring walk and the forty of your friends that never fought a day in their lives coming in the ring with you holding your belt trying to look hard and tough at your opponent while wearing sunglasses at ten o' clock at night out in Vegas in the dead of winter, hoping their friends back home see them on HBO. Then you get a Gatti-Ward or a Corrales-Castillo, though, and everything's OK again for a while. 

JA: How is your book coming along?

JS: Sometimes slow, sometimes real well. It all depends on how active Sarita (my daughter) is that day. I would say I am pretty close to the editing stage. Anybody that wants an update or wants to read some sneak peaks can just ask me. No problem.

JA: The fans, how can they get in touch with you John?

JS: Anybody that would like to can email me through my website, www.icemanjohnscully.com, or they can email me directly at IceJohnScully@aol.com. I welcome emails, comments, anything.

Send questions and comments to: jamesalden@Boxingtalk.com