Lamon Brewster has been a force in the forefront of the heavyweight division, with his heavy hands, solid beard, and willingness to brawl with the best of them, Brewster has been an entertaining attraction for the fans of the sport of boxing. And his kind hearted ways and moral values out side of the ring have made him a strong pillar in his community.
I first came in contact with Lamon directly after his win over Wladimir Klitschko, met up with the champ the night he defeated Kali Meehan, and we have been close friends with Brew since then. And even had the opportunity to work for Lamon doing publicity, in my opinion, he is a great all around guy.
As a fighter he as been a prospect, a contender, a world champion, and now a former world champion, but has plans to take on the title as heavyweight king once again.
In this exclusive interview Lamon opens up and gives his thoughts on the recent passing of his good friend Vernon Forrest. Then on a lighter note Lamon and I get back to where it all started, the beginning, and in another part to come we will get into his recent as well as upcoming endeavors in his career. We talk about his debuts, he wins, his losses, his triumph over Wladimir Klitschko and all things in between, enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.
The boxing world lost another warrior this past weekend with the murder of Vernon Forrest, so before we break off into this interview I know that you would like to comment on your fallen friend.
Lamon Brewster
I met Vernon back in 1992, he was teammates with my roommate, Montell Griffith, they got real close. At some point in my amateur career when I was getting frustrated with the amateur boxing federation, Vernon was the one who came to me and told me that they had big plans for me and to hold on to it and not to give up. I listened, and we always stayed cool. My wife would babysit his son when he came out here and stuff, and when I was in Atlanta we would always hook up. He introduced me to Al Haymon and things worked in that for a while. He was a real respectful dude, we were down in Florida training together, I was getting ready for a fight and he was getting ready for fight. He was a beautiful dude, and to hear this type of news, he was a bright figure in the world of boxing.
He was somebody to look up to in boxing, there are a lot of people not to look up in boxing, but he was definitely positive for boxing. It is just sad that he lost his life to ignorance and violence out in the streets; I just hope that he will be remembered for what he stood for. He stood for morals and values, he was a good dude, and I cannot say enough about him.
To Vernon’s family, I want to say that I pray that God will comfort them through this rough time, and Vernon was a great man and I hope that his kid will turn out to be even half the man that he was. He is in a better place now and he would want them to go forward and try to live up to his shoes. As an amateur and a professional, I looked up to Vernon Forrest.
BH
How does the boxing world even fathom the losses we had in boxing this month?
LB
You know man, we have to understand that we are living in times where out faith is being tested, now it time to hold on to strong to what you believe in, mine is my belief in God. Everyman has a season where he is tested, it is like you are in a battle field and you are trying to make it to the next trench, and you see your brothers getting taken out, well you don’t turn the gun on yourself, you just keep pushing forward. What God has for you is going to be different for somebody else, I just think what we have to do is look at what happens in the world and try to go forward, keep pushing, that is all we can do.
BH
Well brother I appreciate you touching on those topics, and giving your opinions. Now we will drift off to your career, all though I have interviewed you multiple times, since we are doing this for the C.A.M. readers for the first time, we will start over new. So, what inspired you to lace up the gloves?
LB
The art of boxing itself, once I learned there was more to boxing than just punching somebody, it was actually a skill and a craft, and it takes a person who has the right mentality, physique and willingness to do it. Once I realized that I had that, that pretty much was a wrap for me, I started boxing at seven and I became serious around twelve or thirteen.
BH
What did your Mother as well as family think about you fighting then as well as now?
LB
My Mother started me boxing, but she did not think I would take it this far, I realized the talent that I had and everybody else did. My Mother supported me and wanted me to be the best that I could be in whatever I decided to do, and boxing was it so here I am.
BH
You made your debut in 1996, in the first round you knocked out Moses Harris. What was it like winning your first professional bout?
LB
It was a lot behind that because a guy that I considered to be a bother to me, he had just gotten killed, I had went through a divorce, shoot man, to win that fight man, I was speechless, it was a great moment. It was like having my first child. (Laughs)
BH
You won your first minor title in 2002 by stopping Nate Jones, what was it like to win your first title, minor or not?
LB
Nate Jones actually beat me to go to the Olympics, in 1996, so there was no way I could let him beat me to go to the Olympics and then keep me from my first title too. I said to myself, you beat me for the meal, but you are not going to beat me for the belt. When I won, I was elated; I was in a whole different world man. It was feeling like I actually accomplished something. Like when you graduated and you walk across the stage with all that work and dedication paid off.
BH
On your climb up the heavyweight ladder, you had some set backs with the fight against Clifford Etienne and the Charles Shufford, some losses can make or break a man, but we know what it did with you because you still became heavyweight champion after that. What did you take away from those losses that help get you where you are today?
LB
Well you know man, it should me how much I was really determined to become a world champion, because it is not until you lose that you find out how much you really want something. As long as you are winning, yes everything is good, but when you lose, then it is like do you really still want it, do you want to go back to the gym and give 100%, I shook it off, it was hard, it was literally hard. But I overcame it man.
BH
In 2004, you went up against Waldimir Klitschko for the WBO heavyweight title, you were going in the underdog. You just lost Bill Slayton; I remember watching the prefight with your emotions. In the fight you hit the canvas, which was the first time in your career to do so. With all that was going on, you became heavyweight champion of the world; was it like a bitter sweet victory?
LB
It was bitter sweet for me, Bill was like my father, he always wanted me to fight Wladimir Klitschko, and then on top of that he wanted me to become world champion. Just so happened I got a chance to do both of them in the same night. It was bitter sweet, but to set the records straight, if you actually look at the tape, Wladimir Klitschko did not knock me down, what he did was wobble me, so when he came in to hit me with another punch I was smart enough to take a knee so I wouldn’t be injured, so I would be able to continue the fight. I pulled back on an overhand right and he caught me with it, when he saw that he caught me with it, he tried to finish me and I realized that I was in a little trouble so I took a knee and recovered and went and finished the job. I just wanted to say that because a lot of people thought that he knocked me down but he did not knock me down, but I knocked him out. (Laughs)
I would like to thank Lamon Brewster for his time and thoughts, stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Brewster as we finish up touching in his up coming fight in August.
Benny Henderson Jr.
www.convictedartist.com
