Souza: I did nothing wrong!
May 3, 2004
By Lisa Scott
Last June, highly respected cut man Joe Souza, was proclaimed a hero when he helped to keep Vitali Klitschko in the fight for six rounds against WBC champ Lennox Lewis, despite a horrible gash over Klitschko's left eye. Souza's expertise in controlling that cut (which occurred in the second round and required over 60 stitches), provided just enough time for Klitschko to demonstrate his mettle against Lewis, before the ringside physician called a halt to their bout.
However, 48 hours before Klitschko was to face Corrie Sanders for the vacant WBC title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles - Souza was suddenly replaced with Al Gavin. The reason, as was announced by HBO's Larry Merchant prior to their fight, pertained to Wladimir Klitschko's loss to Lamon Brewster for the WBO heavyweight championship the week before on April 10th.
Shockingly, Merchant explained: "The handlers of Wladimir Klitschko as well as the fighter himself are still bewildered why such a finely conditioned athlete would lose his conditioning even before he absorbed any punishment against Brewster. They feel that Joe Souza did something in the dressing room that he had not done before, which is to slather some Vaseline on Wladimir's arms and legs. Theoretically, that would close up his pores and not let the heat out, and could contribute to a problem in stamina."
In that fight, Wladimir looked to be on his way to beating Brewster. But upon returning to his corner after the second round, Klitschko appeared to be exhausted and as the bout wore on, his energy level plummeted. Eventually, referee Robert Byrd waved the fight off at the conclusion of the fifth round when Klitschko was barely able to walk back to his corner.
The next morning, rumors began to fly: A post fight blood test detected a viral infection; Wladimir had thrown up in his dressing room immediately after the fight; Abnormal blood sugar levels were discovered; Wladimir's water bottles were thought to be tampered with.
Fightnews spoke to Souza to get his side of the story:
It's a common practice for fighters to have Vaseline rubbed on their body. So, just how much did you put on Wladimir before his fight?
All I did was put a little Vaseline on Wladimir's arms and the bottom of his legs! I did the arms so he could slip through if he got caught in a clinch and I did the biceps too, because if you get hit in the biceps - you're out. Since he's so tall, I put a little on the folds of his leg because when you get pushed up on the ropes, you get rope burns and get tore up. I put a little on his face too. But, that's it. I never put Vaseline on Wladimir's chest. NEVER. And, Wladimir knows it too. They are just trying to make me the scapegoat. But, that's fine. It doesn't bother me. After all my years in boxing, I've earned a good reputation. I know what I did and I did nothing wrong.
Where was Emanuel Steward during this time? If Vaseline was not to be rubbed on Wladimir, why didn't Manny say something?
As a matter of fact, Manny was standing right there watching me, and made a comment about how I was putting the Vaseline on Wladimir. He said that he liked that I wasn't massaging it in. A lot of guys tend to massage the Vaseline all the way in. You're not supposed to do that. The purpose of the Vaseline is to enable you to slip out. Manny is one of the top trainers in the business. He knows it's not unusual to put Vaseline on a fighter.
Once fighters begin to clinch or lean against the ropes, the Vaseline gradually rubs off... no?
Yes Ma'am.
What about Abolene? Have you ever used that on a fighter before a match?
Not really. A lot of guys don't like it. It opens up the pores and makes them sweat too much. They dehydrate too quickly. But, quite a few guys are using it now, more so than Vaseline. Some people say that Vaseline keeps the heat in, but I don't agree with that. I can see if you slather a guy all over his body with Vaseline, it might create a problem. But, if you just smear enough on his arms to allow a fighter to slip, it's not a problem at all.
One of the allegations that surfaced was that Wladimir's water bottles may have been tampered with. What was the process in handling the water that night?
The first thing I do when I go into a dressing room is to make sure that my buckets and water bottles are clean. Then, I fill them with ice. When I got to Wladimir's dressing room, there was already water and ice in there, which was provided by the promotion. A guy who works with the Klitschko's, by the name of 'Roman,' was already in the dressing room and he gave me 4 big bottles of water and said 'use this.' So, I used that to fill up my buckets and water bottles. That left me with a bottle and a half, which I stuck in the bucket. So, that's what I used. After that, I made sure no one touched my buckets. They were with me at all times. In fact, once I fill up my buckets, I don't want anybody messin' with them! No one ever touches my buckets and I never take my eyes off of them either! That's the way I've done things since I started in this business.
Lestor Bedford told me that you were asked to take a lie detector test!
Yeah! Everyone in the dressing room was told to take a lie detector test. They asked me to take one and I did. And, Manny called me up later and told me that I passed with flying colors. By the way, I was working at another site when they called me to take the test. It took me 2 ½ hours to get to Los Angeles and 2 ½ hours to get back. They shot up my whole day, but I went ahead and took the test because I have nothing to hide and I did nothing wrong. It was all foolishness, but I took the test because I stand behind my reputation. It makes no difference to me. Look, I worked with Pernell Whitaker, one of the greatest pound for pound fighters - and I used to grease him down all the time! He would tell me 'Joe, I'm lookin' ashy. Don't make me look ashy. Make me shiny!' Good Lord! I've greased down James Leija, Vernon Forrest, Fernando Vargas, (Arturo) Gatti and hundreds of other fighters. I've never had a problem before!
When were you informed that you would not be working in Vitali's corner against Sanders?
I got to Los Angeles on Thursday and I found out later that day that they weren't going to use me. Wladimir came to my room at 10:30 that night and told me. He told me about the Vaseline, but also said that he was fully responsible for his loss against Brewster. Apparently they had made the decision beforehand, but waited to tell me until I got to L.A. That's probably the only thing that bothers me right now about this whole thing: They waited all this time to tell me. That night, he upset me so much with that Vaseline foolishness that I told him: 'if I were 20 years younger, I would make an attempt to kick your ass!' Anyway, I demanded my money and a plane ticket for the first flight out the next morning, and I got it.
You have been involved in boxing for over 50 years, have you ever experienced something like this before?
Never! Never before in my life! But, I'm trying not to let this Vaseline and water bottle thing upset me, because it's foolishness. And, the one thing that I want to make clear is that I don't want to return the blame on any of them. Because that's what I feel they are doing to me right now. But, my reputation stands on its own. I have worked over 80 world title fights within various sanctioning bodies. In fact, I've worked with Leija in 8 or 9 of his title fights and you never heard him bitch or scream. Neither has Gatti or anyone else. I have plenty of work coming my way in the coming months. I'm moving on.
quelle:
www.fightnews.com
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