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Interview: Richard Hall!
October 1, 2002
By Sandy "Fly Girl" Goldberg
Richard Hall (25-4, 24 KOs) who recently challenged WBO light heavyweight champion Dariusz Michalczewski in Germany for the second time, had a lot to say during a recent photo shoot. Amid a quiet setting with horses about, Hall discussed his second disappointment in Germany and tells us what and who he wants next.
Hall set the tone for the Michalczewski fight in the prefight press conference by refusing to shake hands with the champion. "He acted like we were friends," said Hall. "We weren't friends." In the first round Hall connected with some big punches that cut the Michalczewski over the left eye and under the right eye. As the fight progressed, Michalczewski's left eye began to swell shut. Hall says, "I was thinking 'why isn't the ref stopping the fight? My eye wasn't half that bad in the first fight he stopped."
The fight ended in round ten. Hall describes the stoppage: "I hit him with 4 punches and we got in a clinch. The ref yelled break....then, waved the fight off." [To see Fightnews' round by round account of the fight, click here]
Hall alleges that referee Rudy Battle [a veteran of dozens of world title fights] was against him in Germany. "The ref was telling me to hit him in the body not in the head. The next day at the airport, the same ref asked me if I thought he did something wrong. I asked him, 'Why did you tell me to hit him in the body?' and he said, 'Man, I didn't know you hit that hard.' This is disappointing to me as I respect this ref. I wanted to say something harsh to him but I left it alone...even if I knocked him out, I would've lost, they would've found somehow to stop the fight."
"At the [post fight] press conference, Michalczewski said he had an infection in his eyes [as a reason for the swelling] Yeah, the infection was in my gloves."
Hall has gotten out of contract with promoter Murad Muhammad and now wants the WBO to rank him #1 as he feels he deserves. "No one wants to fight me. I am too powerful. Who wants that? When I go in the ring, I mean business and it is business, not just a paycheck."
So, who would you like to fight now?
I would fight him [Michalczewski] again...but for $2 million. The first fight was in Berlin and it was sold out. The second was in Brunswick, Germany and on TV also a sell out. [Also] there's Derrick Harmon, Antonio Tarver and Eric Harding who are on top now."
Why do you think you're name isn't mentioned among the division's elite?
"Maybe because I'm Jamaican. Antonio Tarver told me 'I'd never fight you'...I'd fight him for free. Actually, I'd like to fight all three in one night
like Lou Gossett Jr in that movie Diggstown where he fought 25 guys in one night. This wouldn't be too much of a feat as the fight with Tarver would be over in the first 3 minutes. And why not? If Roy Jones can play basketball before a fight, I can do this."
Why don't we hear about Richard Hall in the media?
"When I was to fight Roy Jones Jr, the media and HBO said..Who? Who is he? He doesn't deserve it. They called me Richard Frazier and constantly disrespected me. I was with Don King then and they said that King bought me the #1 spot. I had to work and become that, you can't buy that. I had to be the WBA interim champion to fight Jones...I did that. After the fight, HBO staff came back to apologize to me