Wayne Elcock - the best is yet to come by Geoff Roughton Dec 13th 2007

I spent an hour catching up with Wayne Elcock after his unsuccessful bid to win the IBF world title in Basle, Switzerland where he was stopped by champion Arthur Abraham in the fifth round. BBN: How do you feel at the moment and more importantly where do you go from here? WE: Well I'm actually feeling pretty positive. I know that sounds surprising but you have to be honest with yourself and I know why I got caught. I got caught up in all the hype surrounding the fight, you know camera crews in your face watching you training, people asking for autographs...it was just madness and I guess it went to my head and distracted me. I just wasn't prepared for that level of exposure...just before the fight I was still signing autographs and talking to people while he, Abraham, was quietly waiting to enter the ring preparing mentally. I just wasn't in the same place he was mentally...he'd been there before and I hadn't and while its a hard learning curve I've learnt so much. BBN: How do you actually feel the fight went for you? WE: I actually thought I was doing OK. He caught me in the second but I felt it should have gone down as a slip as it was more a case of me losing my footing on the canvas. I recovered well though and came back stronger in the third and had a cracking fourth round. In the fifth, I was working the plan and eased off taking a breather and he saw his chance and unloaded the big one. This is one of the biggest lessons you learn at this level he was just waiting for that opportunity. You can't afford to be complacent...he was just in a different zone from me. Fair play, it was his night and he showed the composure of a champion and I have no complaints with the stoppage. I thought it was spot on but I'd never allow that to happen again in the future. Bottom line is this...knowing what I know now I still feel confident that I could beat Abraham and I'm not just saying that if I thought he'd given me a good beating and completly out boxed me I'd admit to it but he didn't and I lost focus for a second and that level you get punished as I did. If I'd stayed as focused as I was before and during the Eastman bout I believe I would have the belt today. But you know I'm glad in a way I haven't got it because if I had won I would have swept all the mistakes I made under the carpet and would have probably lost it at the first defence. Now I know the level and what it takes to win it and more importantly keep it. BBN: I know hindsight is 20/20 vision but what would you do differently next time? WE: Well, you're right, it's easy to look at it afterwards and say you would do things differently but I would. I definitely should have taken a longer break in the training because I was still hurting from some injuries picked up in the Eastman bout which I never got enough time to recover from and carried them through my training for the Abraham fight I thought I could cope but two twelve round fights practically back to back with only a week and half rest in between is just not enough time to fully recover. However, on this occasion I still believe it was a worthwhile experience and went for it as it was such a big opportunity and have no regrets in doing it as I have learnt so much from this fight. I definitely won't get caught up in all the hype and media exposure. I know you have to do your bit but there is a time and a place and as I'm not used to it I tried to hard to keep everyone happy...it's showed me it's too easy to get distracted and especially at fight time when you should be totally focused and in the zone. BBN: What's next and what are your plans for 2008? WE: Well, I'm going to take a holiday and have a well earned rest to come back to it fresh. I've got a great promoter now in Hennessy Sports and I have really enjoyed working with them for the first time on the Abrahams fight. I'm really looking forward to repaying their faith in me and I know they will do a great job supporting me and getting me the all important fights. I now want to defend my British title and complete the three defences and earn the Lonsdale belt outright just to underline there is nobody on the domestic scene that can match me before going for the European title.  It will put my career on a sound footing and the title defences will get me more exposure so everyone will really know what I'm capable of before I make a another assault on the world scene but the next time I will be more than ready. BBN: What's your final word, Wayne? WE: Trust me you ain't seen the best yet. I'm looking at having a big 2008!

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