Boxingtalk caught up with Gary Shaw to get some additional information on the recent news that Chad Dawson's opponent Adrian Diaconu dropped out of the scheduled mandatory fight. Shaw also slams Glen Johnson for his continual claims that nobody wants to fight him.  Shaw informed Boxingtalk that he offered Johnson a fight against Antonio Tarver for September, 29th, but received an email from Leon Margules (Warriors Boxing) declining his offer.


BT – Gary can you give us some additional information pertaining to Adrian Diaconu dropping out of the mandatory against Chad Dawson?

GS – Well they said that he hurt his wrist, I don't know, maybe he couldn't make weight.  I am not going to second guess it, but at any rate the fight was called off.

BT – Glen Johnson continually tells us that nobody wants to fight him, would he .....

GS – (Cutting in).. Let me clear that up right now once and for all.  He's full of shit, and Leon Margules is full of shit.  I offered them the Tarver fight for September 29th, I was in negotiation with Leon, and told him, ' you craft the deal.'   It was going to be in Florida at their place, and he emailed me, and told me 'we have no interest in the fight.'  I forwarded that email to Showtime, and I forwarded that email to Al Haymon, so Showtime knows it to be a fact, and Al Haymon knows it to be a fact.  Tell Glen to stop jumping up and down, stop making up this bullshit up that nobody wants to fight him, that's not true at all.  Tell him to Leon Margules that he had the opportunity.

BT – Would Glen Johnson be a viable replacement for Adrian Diaconu to fight Chad Dawson?

GS – No, we are already working on a replacement, I think it's going to be Epfianio Mendoza.  Here's the thing, you give someone an opportunity, they don't take it, and then they jump up and down?  That's not what it's about, maybe Glen Johnson doesn't know that Leon Margules turned down the opportunity to fight Tarver on September, 29th on a preview weekend, a free preview weekend on Showtime.  He had the opportunity, and passed on it.

BT – There was also a rumor that Glen Johnson was a possible opponent for Anthony Hanshaw in Biloxi, any truth to that?

GS – Right now I would say it's just a rumor, nobody has called me about it.  I am his promoter, and nobody called me about it, so I don't see it happening.

BT – How's Vic Darchinyan's camp coming along?

GS – Vic is doing great, he's scheduled to fight in October for the IBO super flyweight title against Frederico Catubay.  Rafael Marquez fights the end of his trilogy at the end of March against Vasquez, that fight will probably happen in Mexico.  That is absolutely huge, and that fight will be on Showtime, we already made the deal.

BT – What are your thoughts on Nonito Donaire?, This kid has a bright future ahead of him.

GS – Yea, he's always been underrated, he's always flew under the radar.  This kid is real, he has real skills, he has punching power, and he has a great personality to go with everything else.

BT – Talk about your ELITEXC.  This company is growing rapidly, what's the latest?

GS – We just had a big fight in Honolulu, great fights, the championship belts changed hands.  We have a new series called SHOXC modeled after SHOBOX, that we are very excited about.  We have all the up and coming stars, Gina Carano, Nick Diaz, Robbie Lawler.  We have all these up and coming stars, its' very exciting.

BT – Are you having fun in the MMA world?

GS – Love it, I am having so much fun.  The athletes are great, the fans are off of the chart.  Just for a normal fight we get 4 thousand people.

BT – You brought ELITEXC to Vicksburg, Mississippi and Joe Boxer made Krazy Horse tap out, what are your thoughts on that?

GS – Well that sort of surprised us, we thought it would be much more competitive.  We thought it would be a tough fight, Krazy Horse did hurt his hand in that fight, we had to take him to the hospital, but no excuses, hats off to Joe Boxer, he fought a good fight.

BT – Where can the fans see the next ELITEXC show?

GS – Next show is October 26th, at Santa Ynez, California on Showtime. 

BT – Do you have any closing thoughts?

GS – I want to thank all of the Gary Shaw Production and ELITEXC fans.  I hope to keep bringing you competitive fights in the MMA world, and to the boxing world.