"There's no doubt I would have won, and I'd fight him in Wales to prove it!"
GL: Can you give us some thoughts on your performance and tell us what went wrong? "A lot didn't go wrong, I faced adveristy I never faced before and my cutman wasn't really up to par and not ready for the task at hand. He didn't really give me the best chance to win. In this sport you have a team and in this case, my team, mainly my cut man didn't do his job. I think he was in shock because he never seen me like that before and I never put him in exposure like that but it's all good. You have to move forward and do better than that from now on."
GL:: It's interesting because unlike most fighters you have a surgeon for a cutman, Dr. Richard Lacey. You would think a cut is easy work to him since he's a doctor.
Roy Jones Jr: "It's one of those situations where it's hard not to get misled because you think he knows what he's doing. He's got a degree in this and I was wrong and sometime I can be wrong. I don't think Joe can beat me and I think without the bleeding I would have won the. I put him down once and I know if I put him down once I can put him down again, I just gotta be able to see him to do it.
GL: Basically what you're saying is that had the bleeding been controlled you would have won the fight?
RJ: "I definitely think I would have been able to put hands on him."
GL: Other than effecting your vision did the cut cause any other problems?
RJ: "No. It didn't weakened me, but it might have slowed me down in the late rounds. I kept wondering damn, why I keep looking the same when I come out of the corner as when I went in. The corner is supposed to clean your eyes so you can see, but I couldn't see no better when I was coming out than when I was going in."
GL: Was there anything about Calzaghe that surprised you at all?
RJ" "No, there was nothing about Calzaghe that surprised me. He's just what I thought he was. Honestly, I was very glad and I felt very good in there, had I not gotten cut things would have been different. But that's why I don't bet on myself and stuff like that. I knew I could win, but you could never factor in those kind of things happening. I never factored in that would catch a cut early, but it's all good he won. I would like to fight him again and with the right cut man I wouldn't have that issue."
GL: The scores weren't very close, is this the case...
RJ: (cutting in) "Because he's a pitty patteyer and I couldn't take the chances I normally would take because of the blood I couldn't see out of my left side."
GL: I read where you were quoted as saying his punches were harder than you thought.
RJ: "Only because I couldn't see them."
GL:Â How many stitches did it take to close the cut?
RJ: "Four."
GL: Four?
RJ: "Yeah. And Zab took 32 stitches and they stopped his bleeding. Mine took four and they couldn't stop it, so what's that tell you?"
GL: It tells me Richard Lacey won't be the cutman for your next fight.
RJ: "Nah, he won't be. And the main reason I said they were harder than I thought is because I never thought one of them would cut me."
GL: After you dropped him in the first round do you regret not jumping on him?
RJ: "Yeah, I probably should have jumped on him. Yeah. But at the same time a fighter like him you know he can make you piss and keep punching, but yeah I should have stayed on him. He fought a good fight and everybody sees I'm as game as they come."
GL: He came to the Garden to make this fight happen, if making the rematch meant going to England, would you do it?
RJ: "Yep. And I already told him I'd go over there to fight him a second time. If he says he wants to do it again, Wales here I come."
GL: If not Calzaghe will you continue fighting?
RJ: "Oh yeah."
GL: Who else interests you besides Joe?
RJ: "There ain't nothing I duck or dodge, wherever the good deal is, I'll be."
GL: Do you still plan on campaigning at 175?
RJ: "Yeah, this is where I'm most comfortable."
GL: How will dealing with this setback be different than the Tarver and Johnson losses?
RJ: "I think it's going to be much easier to get back where I want to be. Had I not gotten cut it would have been a different situation."
GL: If you don't get a chance to avenge the loss to Calzaghe, will you look to erase your other losses to Tarver and Johnson?
RJ: "Yeah, most definitely. Especially Johnson. I know it would be an easy fight to make immediately. I'm good."
GL: What's the soonest we could expect you back?
RJ: "Probably around March. All three of my guys on the undercard looked very good and people are going to be hearing a lot from them."
GL: Will this loss to Calzaghe slow down their progress?
RJ: "I don't think so. I think HBO is cool and they're going to keep everything on a level playing field."
GL: Closing thoughts?
RJ: "I'm still going to fight and I still want the best out there."
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