"What Calzaghe did to him was like 5 losses at one time."

PC: How have you been doing man?

OS: Pretty good. Everything is cool. I’m hoping we could do a fight with Lacy for December. We’re trying to fight him on December 2, but I know he’s been trying to get an easy fight.

PC: I know you believe Lacy is avoiding you. Have there been any preliminary talks about the rematch?

OS: HBO is willing to buy the fight. My lawyer spoke with them and their willing to buy the fight, so it’s all up to Lacy. I think Lacy is trying to get an easy fight, so whoever their giving him must not be too much. I believe I beat him the first time and everyone thought it was a close fight. I think this time around it will be even better. This fight will be great for T.V. and the fans. What gets me mad Percy is that he keeps saying he wants Calzaghe next, but then he goes after a nobody. It makes no sense. I heard his manager Antonio Leonard saying, “Sheika is coming off two losses.” I’m coming off two losses and one of them is to him, which a lot of people thought I won, and Markus Beyer, but you know when you go to Germany you have no chance unless you knock them out.

PC: What was the experience like when you fought Beyer in Germany?

OS: It sucks in a way. Everything is stacked against you before you get in the ring. I’m coming off of championship fights and one of them was against Lacy and everybody thought I beat Lacy. He wants to say im coming off of two losses, but he’s coming off an ass whooping. What Calzaghe did to him was like 5 losses at one time. Don’t give me those excuses.

PC: In other words you would rather them say they don’t want to fight you then….

OS: (cutting in) Yeah. Just say you don’t want a tough fight. You want a fight that you know you’re going to win. What does that prove? He needs to stop calling out Calzaghe if he’s going to go and fight a nobody in his next fight. I believe he’s just scared and he’s talking shit and his manager and trainer don’t want to put him in there with no one tough. If that’s the way they want to go, then cool, but don’t sit there and talk shit. Then when you’re offered a tough opponent, you duck them. This guy wants to fight Yusef Mack who got knocked out in his last fight, which makes no sense. He and his whole team are scared and it pisses me off.

PC: You’ve been out of the ring nearly a year now…

OS: (cutting in) I’ve been out of the ring for about 8 or 9 months now. My hand was giving me problems and I wanted to rest it up. He hasn’t been in the ring either so its perfect timing, you know what im saying?

PC: You mentioned the hand injury. Will you be ready for a December fight?

OS: It’s ready to go. I wanted to take some time off to make sure it heeled right. Everything is cool now and im ready to get back in action. I believe it’s a good fight for both of us and HBO has already approved the fight, so it’s on him. I can’t force anybody to fight me. Their saying they are looking for someone to fight and I say, “Let’s do it.” Don’t say you’re willing to fight a monster and then when it comes down to it, you fight a nobody.

PC: The super middleweight division is heating up. What do you think of the up and comers in the division, like Peter Manfredo and Allan Green?

OS: Manfredo has pulled out of two fights with me. We had two dates and he pulled out both times. One time was because he had problems with The Contender, but he’s another one. Manfredo said he wanted a challenge and then he goes after a guy like Scott Pemberton. He knocks Pemberton out and people make a big deal about it. Pemberton was finished after those 2 wars with me. If I were to fight Pemberton now, I would knock him out with a jab. Lacy even whooped up on him before Manfredo got to him. He hand picked Scott at the perfect time. Manfredo had 2 dates with me and he pulled out to fight a guy like Spina. Who the hell is Spina? Their making a big deal out of Manfredo, but who has he beat? He doesn’t get any respect from me. Green is the only one I respect out of them, because I think he is willing to fight. I think Green is a good fighter and I’m willing to fight Green. I want to fight a fight that’s going to mean something. If I beat you, it puts me in championship contention or I’ll get the respect that I deserve. I can go fight 2 or 3 nobody’s on ESPN, but what’s that going to do for me. Fights like Lacy, Manfredo and Green are fights that people are interested in seeing. These fighters have no balls! They need to stop protecting these fighters. Manfredo was supposed to look sharp against Spina. I want Manfredo bad. Spina was a joke.

PC: Im sure this has been frustrating for you. What bothers you the most?

OS: I see all these guys say no one wants to fight them. Well I’m here. To pull out of a fight with me to fight for a title or a number one mandatory spot; more power to you. Why would you duck me to fight a guy like Spina? Hopefully one of these guys will be man enough to step to the plate and make exciting fights for the fans.

PC: If you can’t secure a Lacy fight in December, would you take on someone just to get back active?

OS: To tell you the truth, yeah probably. Hopefully we can get that though. I know Manfredo is talking about fighting in January; I would love to get that fight if the Lacy fight doesn’t happen. I’m all for a Manfredo fight.

PC: We’ll get a lot more with you as this materializes. In the meantime, do you have any closing thoughts?

OS: Thank you guys at Boxingtalk. I believe you guys are the most watched website. Tell my fans to look for me in December or January and hopefully we can get things rocking. I want to fight these fighters, but it takes 2 people to fight, so hopefully they’ll man up and take a fight that’s going to mean something to them.

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