McCline back in heavy mix!

October 7, 2003

By Lisa Scott
Photo by Ed Mulholland

Jameel 'Big Time' McCline is back in business as a major contender within the heavyweight division. Last Friday, McCline (30-3-3; 18 KO's) scored a dramatic, come-from-behind TKO10 win against the undefeated and impressively quick, Cedric Boswell (21-1; 16 KO's).

Since his loss to Wladimir Klitschko last December (TKO10), the 6'6" McCline has been eager to pick up where he left off - as a promising contender on a path towards a heavyweight championship.

Fightnews spoke to the always affable McCline:

In your fight with Cedric, you appeared very light on your feet and your stamina looked excellent. How did your preparation for this fight compare with your preparation for Wladimir Klitschko?
It was completely and utterly different! I went old school for this fight. I wasn't over trained like I was for Wladimir. In my preparation for Wlad, I was weightlifting and doing a lot of 'cleans' (a weightlifting movement). Everything was too functional, too complicated and too physically demanding. In this camp, we went back to basics and I got in the best shape that I've ever been in about two years. I did SO much running... it was crazy! But, it paid off and I'll continue to do the same thing.

Teddy Cruz was my conditioner and I take my hat off to him! Teddy was amazing and he took me to another level. A lot of what happened in that fight, I give credit to him. I was getting out-boxed by Cedric and what kept me in there was my conditioning.

So you scrapped the Gyrotonics, Myofacial Therapy and Kineseology that you did for the Klitschko fight?
Yes! And, I also scrapped the oxygen deprivation tent that I was sleeping in! Sleeping in that thing was TOTALLY detrimental to my training regimen. The person who advised me to use that tent, advised me to use it too much AND right before the biggest fight of my life! Physically, I looked awesome because of all the stuff I was doing. But, I didn't have time to let my body rest.

Uh... you 'slept' in an oxygen deprivation tent prior to the Wladimir fight?
Yeah. Look, I'm a very coach-able guy and I got duped into that tent. If you tell me: 'Jameel, if you do this, you will win this fight easy!'... then, I'll do it. The tent was a 9 x 9 airtight chamber with a zipper and it surrounded my bed. It was like a little room! It sounded like a great idea, because a lot of tri-athletes sleep in them. But, I found out that you're not suppose to sleep in them 2 months prior to a fight! That guy's advice totally zapped and robbed me of all my energy for the Klitschko fight! I guess I out smarted myself on that one.

Was Cedric Boswell as fast as you expected he would be?
Yes. He was just as I remembered him. He had good speed and decent power. But, I just couldn't get my punches off in the early rounds and couldn't walk him down like I wanted to.

Prior to the 9th round, you looked very pensive as Jimmy told you that you needed the next two rounds. What was going through your mind?
My wife (Tina) came up to my corner. She told me 'you've got to win!' And, I knew what she meant. She didn't mean that I had to win the next two rounds, she meant that I had to win by knockout. So, I said to myself 'I have to try very hard to get this win'. I wasn't thinking 'knockout'. But thankfully, things worked out in my favor.

Cedric landed some solid head shots, but you seemed unfazed by them. Did his punches affect you at all? Were you ever hurt in the fight?
No. I was never hurt. He had good power, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

In the 2rd round, Cedric landed a right hand that sent your mouthpiece flying. After your corner replaced it, you appeared to be furious and pounced on him. Did that punch bring out the anger in you?
No. I don't get angry during a fight. I responded the way I did because I didn't want him to think that he did something to me. So, I jumped on him.

In fact, you lost your mouthpiece a couple of times during the fight and fought the entire fight with your mouth open. Dangerous, no?
There's nothing I can do about that. Whether it's dangerous or not, that's how I fight. I have a deviated septum and I can't get the proper amount of oxygen through my nose. I've fought that way since the beginning and I'm not even conscious of it anymore. It's just the way it is.

Right before the stoppage in the 10th, Cedric was holding on to you and you looked at the referee and said 'c'mon ref!' Did you think that Cedric was seriously hurt?
At one point, Cedric's head got stuck between the ropes and he couldn't free himself. The referee had to help him out! Cedric appeared to be concussed and I thought 'why are they letting this continue?' Not only was Cedric not fighting back, he was stumbling all over the ring and holding onto me! So yes, I thought he was very hurt.

How much confidence have you gained from this dramatic come-from-behind win?
The fight was very satisfying and a great confidence builder for me. Yes, it was very dramatic. It was like in baseball... you're down one run at the top of the ninth, with two outs and two strikes! But, I wasn't happy with my performance. In fact, I haven't been happy with any of my performances since I beat Lance Whitaker. Things keep surfacing which make me realize that I have a lot to work on. This is all because I didn't have an amateur career. With an amateur career, I would have been able to address all these things.

What do you feel is your biggest weakness?
Simply put - I don't know how to attack. I do very, very well when people attack ME. When I first started fighting, I was thrown in with very experienced guys as part of my early development. Of course, I didn't know how to attack them and when I did, it was a joke! So what I did was, I learned how to fight off of the attack. Because that's how I learned to fight. This is how I fight now and I do it very well. I CAN attack, but I fight better OFF the attack.

This is the third time you scored a win over a Don Turner fighter (Sedreck Fields, Boswell and former Turner protege Michael Grant). As Turner dismissed you early in your career, was this win icing on the cake for you?
I'd like to call it poetic justice. Years ago when I first started out, Don was training me and he dismissed me from the people who were backing me. It wasn't an issue about my desire or my will. It was all about HIM not wanting to train me because he felt I wasn't ready for him. Back then, I didn't know a fish hook from a left hook. He just didn't want to spend the time with me, so he assassinated my character in order to get the people to drop me. Which they did. So, here I am seven years later at the top of the division. For all my future opponents, I'd like to say: Heavyweights beware! Do not bring Don Turner into your corner because it will only fuel my fire!

What's on the horizon from you?
I'll be back in the gym on Thursday. And, from what I understand, my name is at the top of a very short list of opponents to fight Joe Mesi on December 6th. But, if that doesn't work out, I'll fight anybody in the top 7 or 8. Before this fight with Cedric, I was offered a fight with Juan Carlos Gomez for $150,000. I really wanted that fight but, my manager didn't want to take it because he felt it was worth more money. So, I ended up fighting a tougher guy (Boswell) for less money - $60,000. But, after seeing Gomez's terrible performance a couple of weeks ago, he won't be taking a fight with me anytime soon. I want all the heavyweights to know that I'm the real deal and I'm not here to play games or pretend. Right now, I'm one of the better heavyweights in the division.

You dedicated your fight to a woman named Barbara Barrick, who was she?
Brian Barrick is a very good friend of mine from high school and Barbara was his mother. When I was 14 years old, I was getting into a lot of trouble and Barbara always took an interest in my well being. She was always giving me advice and making sure I was safe and staying out of trouble. Two weeks into my camp, she passed away and it broke my heart. She was a great woman and I know she's looking down on me right now.