THE ICEMAN RESPONDS TO ESPN COVERAGE OF HAWK V. GODFREY

Posted on | July 17, 2009 | No Comments

In the week that has passed since Matt Godfrey defeated Shawn Hawk in Philadelphia on ESPN’s FNF I have been asked by at least three people about my having “trashed” Hawk on the air, about a moment where I supposedly implied that he was untalented or something along those lines (I haven’t actually seen the tape yet but have been told/questioned about it by more than one person).

Apparently in the second round of the fight fans tuning in were led to believe I said something along the lines that I viewed Hawk as unworthy, like I was being cocky because I was in the corner of the more well known favorite…and I just want to make it very clear, because Hawk doesn’t deserve that, that I wouldn’t disrespect any fighter by calling him untalented or by trying to make him look bad to the public…I love fighters and respect fighters and know better than most what it takes to be one of them and I also know all the unwarranted disrespect and criticism that fighters too often are forced to deal with…I wouldn’t be that blatant and if you by any chance know Shawn (maybe interviewed before this fight or something) I would appreciate it if you would let him know what I said and/or even give him my email address so I can tell him myself.

I am sure that when asked about the fight I said something like Hawk is “not as talented as Godfrey” or “Hawk isn’t on the level of Matt yet in terms of overall skills, experience, level of comp, etc etc”…but if Shawn watches the tape and comes away with the impression that I was degrading him as a boxer, well, I was not…I was merely pointing out that I didn’t think he was on the level of Matt Godfrey yet…and I think that was a fair assessment…then, though, apparently Teddy Atlas used that to kind of delve into saying how, “Oh, well that explains it then,” implying that we chose Shawn Hawk to fight because we had been on a card with him a few months ago in North Dakota and that we chose him because we felt he was a guy we were sure to beat, like we were picking and choosing our opponents and, in this case, were taking what we perceived as an easy road to a victory on ESPN…and I just want to say that is VERY INACCURATE!!!!! I REALLY hate the fact that it came across like that…I didn’t see the tape, as I said, someone told me about it…but BELIEVE ME when I tell you, I wouldn’t call a guy a bum or a scrub or anything like that and I wouldn’t be in favor of trying to find the easiest guy available to fight against so that we could just get some rounds in against someone we were supposed to beat…there must have been some miscommunication there somewhere, definitely.

The main thing that needs to be put out there is that we didn’t “choose” anyone, Shawn Hawk chose us! The same night of the fight in North Dakota we were told that Hawk’s father wasn’t impressed with Matt and that he felt his son would beat him if they were to meet. Next thing we know we are offered the main event on ESPN and we are told that Hawk is one of the main ones ESPN would approve to put in with us. First it was Aaron Williams and we took it no questions asked but something came up a few days later and that fight was scratched. Then Hawk was offered and we took it no questions asked. So, just to set the record straight here and now, we didn’t go looking to fight Shawn Hawk because we thought he was a guy we would beat on TV and it would look good for us afterwards because he was 18-0…it was nothing like that…he chose us and WE accepted HIM.

Concerning the criticism of Matt -and myself as his trainer- if I can say one thing I will say that, love him or hate him, Matt Godfrey would fight anyone offered to him…to my knowledge he has never turned down a fight as an amateur or as a pro…I was with him when they offered Jeremy Williams and he took it…Aaron Williams, he took it, top rated Rudolph Kraj, took it, Herbie Hide, he took it, Adamek he took it…he has accepted every fight ever offered him and some of them, like four of the five I just mentioned, fell out before they could be finalized…and while I know many media and fans are not happy with his performance the other night (even though he won 9 of 10 rounds and outpunched and outlanded his opponent by a wide margin)…the fact is that this was his fourth ESPN showing, the first three ended with exciting early knockout victories and then u have this one…unexciting as it may have been to hard core fans, everybody is all over Matt about it, but very few have (rightfully) pointed out that Hawk threw way less punches than Matt did…Matt is a very good counterpuncher by nature and it is difficult to land great counter shots when your opponent isn’t throwing very many shots of his own…and obviously Matt’s boxing skills, range and jab are what caused his opponent to not be able to get off like he wanted to. It wasn’t like Matt just stood there and didn’t fight back…he threw MANY MANY more punches than his opponent and he landed many, many more as well…now I am not going to sit here and say viewers should be ecstatic about the fight because of the things I bring up here…I’m not making any excuses for a victory…I’m just giving reasons why a certain fight may go a particular way…that is all.

Some have also pointed out that Hawk finished the fight very well and he did but…as far as the ending of the fight, Hawk definitely did his best work there…to be fair to both guys, though, I have to look at it like this: Hawk knew it was the end and knew he needed to really press things, as the fight was almost over….Godfrey on the other hand knew in his mind he was way ahead, probably didn’t have the same internal desire to finish like gangbusters like Hawk did…that’s just human nature and instinct at work there.

For the future we obviously know that Matt Godfrey will have to push the issue more at times and I am sure he will if his back is to the wall and he feels the real threat of losing. To be on TV is something of a tough spot because you have to please the promoters, the media and the fans at the same time you have to do what is best for you in those moments where the fight is won or lost. Some foolishly have said that because Matt was outclassing Hawk that he should have stepped it up and KO’d him. Like that is something that you just go out and do with the snap of your fingers. Like just because the guy is getting badly outboxed and outpunched that also means he also somehow cannot take your best punches if you land them??? Willingly giving that kid his only chance to land one of the big bombs he was dying to land all night literally goes against everything that the Sweet Science is about. Matt was outclassing him BECAUSE of the way he approached the fight. The same people who criticize us for outboxing a tough kid over ten rounds instead of going for the KO are the same ones that would call us fools for changing strategy when the fight plan was already in place (were we to somehow lose after changing the plan). I understand boxing is a business and you have to excite the fans when you are on TV and you have to give what they paid for etc etc, I know this, I understand this. I understand that many people want to see a boxer in Matt’s position step it up right then and there and go for a more emphatic victory as a means to getting fans to want to see him again and I like to see that sometimes, too, of course I do. It’s just that as a professional trainer of a professional boxer it is my job to train him to box as well as he can against the opponent that he is matched up with on a given night.

It was never explained to me that as the trainer for a world ranked boxer who has a big fight coming on TV I need to train him and push him to go for the KO if he is already winning clearly, to go above and beyond the call of what is already winning him the fight in dominating fashion. To fight with the fans and the promoters in mind. It’s a tough spot to be in, definitely. Agreed? It’s my job – my duty- my responsibility to the fighter- to give him the direction that a fighter needs to win the fight he is in. To give him directions that are spoken with the wishes of a promoter or a fan in mind is just wrong. Dead wrong.

Either way, I appreciate you taking the time to read my rant. Now go ahead and get back to your daily routine :)

ICE