FIGHTNEWZ.NET: First of all, looking back at the Simpson fight, how did you think it was going and what
did you think of the stoppage?
TRUSCOTT: I made a few mistakes in the John Simpson fight but I was still winning and I was just getting
my second wind and letting my hands go.
I might have had a cut but so what? It’s boxing, not football. It was a
cut on my eye, wow.
The eye totally shut on the night but the bruising underneath it was all gone after two days, which doesn’t
usually happen.
The way I look at it the doctor should have looked at it round by round.
He didn’t even wipe the blood away, I think he panicked. I don’t want to get on his case and
accuse him of things and say that’s the reason I lost. We all make mistakes and we all need to make a living.
It was a cut. If anything the rules need changing. If it was a world title
fight I would have won.
It’s one of those things and one of the reasons we love and hate boxing is because of the rules.
I was winning the contest and I actually sat down and watched it on
February 8 for the first time. I
left it that long because I was scared that I might have exploded and kicked off when I saw it.
As everyone knows, I’m a fiery little so-and-so and I was quite nervous watching it to be honest.
I was shaking, like I was going to box. But everyone has been telling me that I was winning and people have
even been pulling me up when I’ve been shopping to tell me that. Old men and women saying I got ripped off.
I watched it and I thought: ‘What were the commentators watching?'
He was throwing shots and it might have looked competitive on the night.
But when I watched it back I didn’t think he was landing. He had one round where he landed two good
shots.
Round after round I was doubling and tripling combinations up, knocking his head back and the commentators
weren’t saying anything.
I gave him one round when I watched it and that was the round I got
thumbed in the eye, which caused
the swelling under it.
I think it was the third, I can’t remember. I don’t like to slag anybody
off and I rate him,
otherwise I wouldn’t have fought him.
It was a voluntary defence and even though I lost I've no regrets about picking Simpson at all.
I thought the commentators were a bit biased to tell you the truth but it’s one of those things, you
live and learn don’t you?
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: It must have been devastating to lose under those circumstances.
TRUSCOTT: I’ve got the best fans in the country. I give Ricky Hatton a run for his money, I just don’t
sell as many tickets!
I was gutted for them more than anything because they turned out in force after Christmas. When I looked
out at all their faces that was when it hit me.
I felt like crying. I was a bit angry straight afterwards but it was like
it was a dream, I didn’t
believe that it had happened.
It was the next night that it really hit me and the phone hadn't rang and stuff like that.
I shut the curtains and locked the door for a few days - I was up half the night crying for four or five
days afterwards.
I would get to sleep, then wake up and start thinking about it and start
thinking about so-called friends,
people who I thought had my back.
I know who my true friends are, people who have been with me since I’ve been a kid, my family and
my son and my girlfriend.
My girlfriend said to me that I don’t have to come back bigger and
stronger. You were beating him
and you will beat him better next time.
I only lost on a cut, there is nothing to change. It just confirmed to me
that the people who I need
are my family and my real fans.
Not people who say they want to be around me but only want to be around me when I’m doing well.
Some people give you a cool-off and ring you up and others don’t and still haven’t.
I’ve really been surprised at that. But I love all my fans and the support I’ve had off people
in the street has been phenomenal.
We suck it up and move on.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: How determined are you to beat Simpson in a return and how confident are you about doing
that?
TRUSCOTT: My son’s face when he saw my eye the next day... that’s what will make John Simpson
pay.
I’m filling up just talking about it. I went ‘Son, Daddy lost’ and he
asked me if I
was okay and my eye was alright.
I said 'yeah' and he gave me a kiss and I told him 'Daddy’s not the champ any more'.
He said ‘You’re my champ’ and that was my four-year-old kid. That made me think 'right,
let’s go'.
That will live with me forever, whether I have more kids or not.
That will live with me until the day I die and that’s my cattle rod up the
backside to get on with
it and get on with my life and to prove people
wrong.
My girlfriend told me to pick myself up and if it wasn’t for her I would have still probably been
on a downer now.
She shouted at me to stop feeling sorry for myself because I was winning. It’s not you. I’ve
never quit with anything in my life.
A defeat is a defeat. It’s how you come back from it proves what type of man you are.
I lost but it wasn’t a proper defeat. He has got to beat me properly.
What are the chances of that? Zero. I’ve already started training now. I started training the second
week after it, ticking over.
The rematch is a definite - he has got no choice. If they won't give me another shot the title gets taken
off him.
Next time is going to be like Bernard Hopkins against Tito Trinidad.
The last fight won’t have any bearing on the next one. I won’t look at the last one for any
tips at all.
Because I’m going to have a different gameplan and it will be a different me with more anger and determination
and spirit.
I've been boxing too much and using my speed and skills too much.
Whenever people get close to me, I just shove them off like they aren't there.
A lot of the times I'm busting kids up but then I start moving and using my skills and letting the come
on, rather than walking them down until I make them quit.
No-one can ever doubt my heart, I’ve proved that 50 million times.
No-one could ever doubt John Simpson’s heart either, so we are just going to see.
I don’t really like to say it but my blood is boiling. I’m ready to go now.
I’m just
so confident.
I won’t be going looking for the knockout, I’ll be going to win. But with
a lot more ferocity and pressure and a lot more punches with intentions rather than just relying on my speed.
Hopefully I will be boxing again on April 3, that’s what they are talking about.
We are going to have warm-up to make sure the eye is okay. I would have fought him straight away.
But my coach and management team want to make sure my eye is perfect, then it’s straight off to Scotland
for a title fight by the looks of it.
I’m not even bothered about the title, I just want to set the record
straight. I’ve yet to
be beaten twice by the same person. When I had rematches in the amateurs I didn’t just beat them, I beat them up.
I hope my next fight is against someone in the top 10 rather than a journeyman. Titles don't motivate me,
fights motivate me.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: After the fight you got a bit of stick off people saying you are cut prone and
lack power because you've only got one stoppage in your 13 bouts. What have you made of all the criticism?
TRUSCOTT: The critics don’t bother me. I haven’t got power but so what? Neither has Ivan Calderon
the straw-weight. Does he get hit? No. Does he get in with big bangers and win every fight? Yeah.
I’ve got speed and speed kills. You can’t hurt what you can’t hit. At the end of the day,
these so called experts, know-it-alls and top class trainers in boxing...
The reason kids get hurt and knocked out is that they don't teach them how to block, slip and roll with
shots.
I got taught by Denis Power when I was a kid and my older brother and David Power and all of the rest of
the trainers down the gym that you slip, roll and slide with shots then you counter.
You don't get hurt that way. I can stand in front of them and let them throw shots and slip and slide and
roll.
Some of them will get through, but not all of them. Whereas if I just go in for a fight and look to bang
them out every time what happens then is you walk on to silly shots that you wouldn't get caught with normally.
That's how kids get hurt, because they don't train hard.
I never got cut in the amateurs. Both cuts I’ve had in the pros have been off head clashes - one against
Akaba and one against Simpson on the same eye.
As long as I’ve got a decent doctor I’m alright. Half the time with
doctors and referees
it’s whoever you’ve got in the ring.
I’m not being funny, but would they have stopped Ricky Hatton if he had that cut? No. So why stop
someone in a Commonwealth title fight? Because he is less of a star than Ricky Hatton.
That’s not slagging Ricky Hatton, it’s just saying that everyone should
get a fair shake.
Ricky Hatton has been cut to ribbons but has still come away and won.
Everyone said he never had enough skill and naturally ability to make the top.
He has already fought the pound for pound best in the world and is
fighting the pound for pound best
in the world again.
They can say what they want about me. People can build me up and shoot me down all they want. I’m
picking myself up and going right back at it and that’s the way it’s always going to be.
There is no quit in me, it’s as simple as that. I still believe I’m the
best in Britain and
I’m still out to prove that.
I’m going to be ranked below John Simpson and (British champion) Paul Appleby but that’s
fair enough.
They’ve got titles and I haven’t now. Some people might be glad that I lost, but I still proved
I'm the future of North-east boxing.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: How good do you think you can become in the long run?
TRUSCOTT: The big thing with me and it has been since being a kid is proving people wrong.
Winning the Commonwealth title is one of them. I believe I’m a world class fighter after 13 fights.
When I spar, a lot of the time it’s half-arsed because I can do what I
want with people.
And that’s not being disrespectful because I hate people who are
disrespectful.
I’m just saying that I’ve got a lot but it needs to be brought out of me.
And if that fight was allowed to get going you would have seen a different side of me.
It wasn’t but now it’s onwards and upwards and a fight at a time.
My goal from being a boxer has been to become a world champion.
I was asked about my goals when I had my second pro fight.
I love the British, European and Commonwealth titles because I’m all about doing it the old school
way and then on to world level.
My goal has always been to win a world title but I don’t want to show any of my peers or anyone else
who I’m going to fight disrespect.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Finally, a word for your stablemate Gavin Reid. He was outpointed by Bismarck Alfaro on
the undercard of your fight with Simpson but he is a bit of an avoided dangerman on the British circuit at super bantamweight.
What do you think he can achieve?
TRUSCOTT: Don’t worry about Gavin Reid’s defeat. He hadn’t boxed for a long time and he
was rusty, it happens sometimes. It happened to me when I was an amateur.
I think the only people who Gav will struggle with are people who are
light on their feet and movers,
but he gets enough of that sparring with me.
He can always improve on that but he just needs to fight regularly and the other super bantamweights in
the country need to stop running scared.
The featherweight division really is the only division in the country
where everyone is fighting each
other. That’s what I give credit to Appleby, Martin Lindsay, Derry Matthews, Simpson and me for.
We all want to fight and we all want to fight each other. I'm not a big MMA or UFC but I watch it because
I like all contact sports and what I like about it is that the best fight the best.
Gav needs people to step up and higher competition to raise his game. We all know what Gav has got and we
all know what he hasn’t got.
He has got pure, raw strength, a good chin and an excellent engine and he can go a long, long way with that.
There are a lot of super bantamweights out there who I really believe he could beat.
He struggles a bit with boxers but I wouldn’t put him in over his head any more.
I can understand why people avoid him because if you haven’t got that one punch power you’re
in for hell. It’s as simple as that.
He is awkward as well. He is a super bantamweight not a featherweight, but he will have to take fights at
featherweight to get fights.
He might have 20 fights and 10 losses but I really believe he will be
British champion one day.
It would be as proud a moment for me as winning the Commonwealth title to see Gav do well.
He is a nice, down to earth quiet lad with a big family and everyone likes him. He has had no breaks at
all.
