Oliveira: Ikeke will dominate Abraham!
by Dave Baggs, FightNews Canada
2005-12-09
Nelson Oliveira is part of the Ikeke team responsible for getting the Canadian into this position, challenging for the IBF Middleweight championship of the world. For those who do not recognize Oliveira's name, he works as Ikeke's co-manager. Never at a loss of words, he usually speaks his minds even if it manages to offend a few people. Oliveira, residing in Toronto, Ontario, is confident about taking his fighter into Germany to face Arthur Abraham Saturday night and returning home knowing that the IBF belt will accompany them on the flight back. Nelson was gracious to spend a little time talking to FightNews before departing overseas last week.
Nelson, is Abraham the guy you originally wanted Kinglsey to face for the belt? Would he be if you had a choice?
We've been telling everyone that we'd fight Abraham anywhere and anytime. I have no problem with the selection of Abraham as Kingsley's opponent. He's young and green. Personally I thought that (Howard) Eastman was robbed in Germany against Abraham back in August and if that was all Abraham had to offer when he fought (Ian) Gardner then Ikeke is going to blow this guy out. As you know Gardner was finally exposed by Chad Dawson last month, the same Gardner that gave Abraham fits for 12 rounds. I have no problem with fighting Abraham. This will be a great fight for Kingsley. This will be a fight to showcase the his talents. Sam Solimon had his opportunity to fight Kingsley and instead choose Winky Wright. We had an opportunity to fight Winky, a fight that HBO wanted as did we, but Wright and Gary Shaw turned us down flat. As I said before, Abraham anywhere, anytime.
Are you concerned about going to Germany? As you know, Canadian boxers don't fare too well there.
Kingsley has fought as an amateur 3 times in Germany and as a pro, he has enough experience in going into opponents backyards facing hostile crowds like the Kenny Ellis fight. Doesn't matter. Look for Kingsley to simply control and dominate the fight. Look at Abraham. He's 5'10 and Kingsley is 6'4". He's has a 73 inch reach to Kingsley's 81. Kingsley has the ability to do whatever it takes whether it's fighting in the center of the ring outboxing guys or fighting tough inside. Many people don't know this but Kingsley is great at fighting inside at close quarters. Look for him to do this against Abraham. Abraham can't fight on the inside like Kingsley can.
Can you get the same performance out of your charge as you did against Antwun Echols on the 10th?
I think that this fight will be even better than the Echols fight.
That's a pretty bold statement.
Seriously! Kingsley is going to perform better than the Echols. Echols corner stopped that fight with good reason. Kingsley just gets better as the fight goes on. I wish that there was still 15 round fight. Kingsley could easily fight for the full 15 rounds. Easily. One thing with Kingsley is that he's a slow starter, it takes him 4 or 5 rounds to get really, really pumped up and that's what we've been working on for this fight. To be effective and take the first five rounds, not to give them away. It's what we've been working on since the Echols fight.
Do you think that there is anything that Abraham could show you over the course of the fight that you have not prepared for?
Absolutely nothing. To me, Abraham is very slow, one dimensional, no footwork, very off balance guy with a very limited jab. Look at all his opponents, small guys. Most of them weighed between 147 or 154 moving up. They are all 5'7, 5'8 or 5'9 , very small opponents. His promotional guys built him up perfectly. We'll find out Saturday what kind of fighter he really is. Look at the Howard Eastman fight. Eastman took that fight on a week's notice and wasn't even in shape. We feel that Eastman won that fight but unfortunately it came down to the judges.
With Taylor getting by Hopkins, does the winner of Ikeke-Abraham meet somewhere in 2006?
Jermain Taylor will continue to run from Kinglsey for atleast another 2 years. Don't look for that fight anytime soon.
Good luck on Saturday.
Thank you.
Hier ist der Bewies dass Team Ikeke den Abraham ziemlich unterschätzt!
Oliveira sah Eastman damals gegen Abraham vorne!! :idiot: Und dass Eastman nur 1 Woche vorher bescheid wusste stimmt auch nicht, der kampf stand schon 4-5 Wochen vorher fest!
