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04/11/2006 Archived Entry: "Euro-Beat Update: Przemyslaw Saleta Unplugged!"
Euro-Beat Update: Przemyslaw Saleta Unplugged!
By Per Ake Persson
Courtesy of the Boxing Press
Photo by Tom Glunz
Saleta and his girlfriend
Polish heavy and former EBU champ Przemyslaw "Chemek" Saleta, 43-7, has relocated to Florida and when I got a hold of him he was in Las Vegas. So the first question was what are you doing there?
A: I´m here training and sparring with Chris Byrd who is in training for his fight against Wladimir Klitschko April 22 in Germany. It works very well, I hope I help him and I learn a lot from him. He is so smart and relaxed in the ring.
Q: So how do you see Byrd vs Klitschko?
A: I think the difference now and five years ago will be confidence and not skills. I feel that Wladimir isn´t what he used to be and Chris` confidence is so much higher. But then again the fight takes place in Germany ...
Q: What about your next fight?
A: Hopefully I will be fighting in the middle of May in the Chicago against one of the Polish heavyweights around, an all-Polish showdown should do well there. There is a talk about Art Binkowski but we will see. I would like to fight Golota but it is at the moment not clear if he is to fight again or not.
Q: You are back for real now then?
A: I moved to Florida for personal reasons, I´ve been training all my life but now I know I have maybe 2 years left so would like to give boxing all I got. I have a new manager - Kenny Saluk, a new trainer, Anthony Hamm and working with them is a huge motivation for me. After 3 months of working with Anthony I made so huge improvement I´d like to give it a final go, learn as much as I can and then maybe go for the EBU title again.
Q: What do you say about the McCall fight now?
A: I took a chance, you know I had been training for Golota for eight weeks, he was cut and I get McCall, who´s style is totally different than Golota´s. I decided to take this fight and not disappoint all the Polish fans in Chicago.
Q: You have quite a career as actor and talkshow host also?
A: I was into boxing fulltime by the end of 95 but moved back to Poland and did a lot of different stuff, I did movies, TV show “Saleta´s Report, talk shows, radio show "Saleta Fight Club", boxing inbetween. Right now I´m fully focused on boxing but later I would love to get into showbusiness here and continue my career.
Q: Before the Golota/McCall fight your girlfriend got more headlines than you it seemed?
A: Yes ( laughs), you know Don King is a great promoter and he uses whatever it takes to sell a fight. Boxing is more than a sport. These days fights a sold out by the names and stories behind them rather than by the titles.
Q: You are still signed with DKP?
A: Yes, I´m promoted by Don King. It´s business for him and for me too but we are on friendly terms. For me boxing is about opportunities, not the money and there is no better promoter to give you a chance. Watch Andrew Golota getting three title shots in the row.
Q: In 2003 you stopped Luan Krasniqi in nine, the year after you were stopped in one, what´s your take on it?
A: Well, it has to do with focus and motivation. I came in as a huge underdog the first time but I was very determined to became first Polish European champion. Before the second fight I was building my fitness center- the Saleta Fight Club, I was so occupied with so much else. I shouldn´t have taken this fight but I did it because I needed the money.
Q: You have a few other stoppage losses as well, what do you say about them?
A: Fact is all my losses are by stoppage but I have never been knocked out and have never taken a lot of punishment in the ring. I guess I don´t have James Toney´s chin but most of these losses have more to do with my focus than anything else. And I fought some tough guys as well. Five of the guys I lost to were rated in top ten at that time.
Q: Which is your best fight yet?
A: I would say against Carl Williams back in 94, I was injured and overtrained and still took the fight, I beat him over ten and learned a lot about myself that night.
Check out www.przemyslawsaleta.com to stay updated on Chemek!
