The first fighter who comes to mind whose legacy has endured whipsers of fight fixing is the former Heavyweight champion Primo Carnera. Carnera was a muscular giant of a man who stood 6-7 but he did not have a powerful punch or precise technical skills. He had heart and he had the right management. Carnera won the title by stopping Jack Sharkey with an uppercut, according to the history books, but many ringsiders don’t believe the punch actually landed. There was rampant speculation that the fight outcome was a mob fix and Sharkey had thrown the fight.

Carnera later fought Max Baer and was floored 11 times before being stopped in the 11th round.

Carnera’s manager was a man named Lou Soresi, who was linked to the underworld, so naturally it was suspected that many of Carnera’s fights were controlled events.

Carnera was a very popular cultural figure who had success in making Hollywood films and also performing in professional wrestling. Carnera was a leading draw in the grappling sport and had 187 pro wrestling matches.

It was said in press releases during Carnera’s prime years that for breakfast he would consume 19 pieces of toast, 14 eggs, a quart of orange juice and two quarts of milk. Carnera recorded 72 KO’s in his boxing career but if you look at the films of his fights, there was not much special about his athleticism or fighting prowess.

Another boxer who had a fraudulent aspect about his career was the former Pro Bowl NFL defensive lineman Mark Gastineau. At the age of 35, Gastineau decided to try pro boxing in 1991. His first fight was a first round KO win over a pro wrestler named Derrick Dukes who later admitted he took a dive.

60 Minutes did a segment on Gastineau’s boxing career and interviewed several of his opponents who spoke on the record about being told to take dives to make Gastineau look good.

Gastineau showed marginal skills if not remarkable boxing talents and kept at the art of pugilism for five years before calling it quits in 1996. His last fight was a loss to another NFL player turned boxer, Alonzo Highsmith. Gastineau’s final ring record was 15-2.

Perhaps the most outrageous fraud in modern boxing history was the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon WBA Heavyweight title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1996. Mike Tyson, at that point, was a shell of a shell of his prime self, the Iron Mike Tyson of 1985-1988. But he was a massive name and after the jail stint in Ohio, there was a gigantic audience who still wanted to see Mike Tyson terrorize the heavyweight division. Don King controlled Tyson for most of the 1990′s and he knew how to make smart business decisions in running and handpicking Tyson’s career despite the fact Tyson no longer able to unleash his combinations with the same pinpoint accuracy or ferocity.

To keep the public interested, the illusion needed to be created that Tyson could still score devastating knockout wins. And that’s what Tyson was supposed to do with the muscular though weak-chinned Seldon. However a funny thing happened – Seldon went down in the first round – but Tyson’s punches did not appear to connect, or connect cleanly. Fans in the arena shouted, “Fix! Fix! Fix!” Seldon retired after the Tyson fight – which was by far the largest payday of his career.

Was Tyson-Seldon indeed a fix? We’ll never know for sure. But the motives were certainly there. And some of the visual evidence is rather persuasive.

Another heavyweight boxer who had a curious career was the former Dallas Cowboy Pro Bowl defensive lineman Ed “Too Tall” Jones. The 6-8 Jones decided to take up pro boxing in 1979 at the prime age of 28. His first fight was televised by CBS and it was against a Mexican named Yaqui Menesis in November 1979. I saw this fight live on TV and Jones handlers either overestimated their man’s talents or underestimated Menesis because it was a very competitive, tough fight. Menesis decked Jones but ended up losing a majority decision over six rounds. Jones, despite enormous height and reach advantages, struggled with Menesis and was lucky to get the win.

Jones had a total of six pro fights, all broadcast nationally by CBS. Too Tall won them all (6-0, 5 KO’s) but decided to quit boxing and return to the NFL gridiron in 1980.

Which leads us to the modern era fraud of boxing – Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather is a different breed of fraud as he is very talented and accomplished, a winner of six world titles. His wins against Diego Corrales, Genaro Hernandez and Arturo Gatti were some of the finest ring performances by a champion in this modern era.

But Mayweather deceived the public and the sport. He promised to fight the biggest fights for the fans, against the most lethal of competition. “If it makes dollars it makes sense…I’ll whup any one from 154 on down.”

But when formidable, high risk challenges emerged to threaten Mayweather, all we got were an endless list of excuses and reasons and faked retirements to avoid Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, prime Miguel Cotto, prime Shane Mosley, and of course, Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather even told us before he fought Victor Ortiz, that “Manny Pacquiao, you’re next.”

It didn’t happen. And it won’t happen. Now Floyd tells us he’s very concerned about his health and well being, and it’s no longer about fighting Manny Pacquiao for the biggest jackpot purse of his career, it’s now about self preservation and not ending up in poor health like Muhammad Ali.

Mayweather, now 35, is protected by the American powers that be, who believe they can generate big revenues by matching Mayweather carefully against handpicked opponents.

Perhaps the most telling clue that Mayweather is a fake and fraud were when he recently told Fighthype.com that he doesn’t love boxing now like he once did because “it’s not real anymore.”

Great fighters in the history of the sport never made excuses about purse splits, baseless drug accusations or publicly worried about losing their health in a fight or about self preservation, they jumped at the chance to fight in the biggest, most lucrative events of their careers.

Mayweather defrauded the public and the media into believing the promises that he would participate in the biggest and best fights but since 2006, he’s been a protected, manufactured entertainer operating his career more like a WWE wrestler than a fearless gladiator like Evander Holyfield or Bernard Hopkins.

Read more: http://www.boxinginsider.com/uncategorized/some-of-boxings-biggest-frauds/#ixzz1qzm7378R

“I grew up playing tennis and just loving it. I used to get a kick out of watching Wimbledon. I think that Wimbledon is a big deal for most British kids. I never thought that I’d end up one day watching a friend of mine play in the final on Centre Court, but that’s exactly what happened. I first met Roger through a mutual friend in New York about six or seven years ago and we’ve since become good friends. Roger is super cool and he has so much respect for everyone. I think that people connect with that quality in him.”

“I like to watch players with flair. Roger, obviously, but almost everyone in the top 100 is pretty good. There are no duds. The athleticism of the top guys is phenomenal. You get the feeling that they could excel in any sport. There’s a real intense artistry in tennis though, and there’s so much passion and commitment. I enjoy the game and appreciate it for what it is.”

“Of the younger players, I like to watch Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis is a particularly striking player – a crusher. And I think Gael Monfils has lots of potential. I like Andy Murray too. He reminds me a little of John McEnroe. He’s got such great hands and he just sweeps up everything with his returns. He’s an incredibly gifted tennis player and I like his attitude too. Also, the fact that I’m half Scottish makes me especially happy when he does well.”

“I love taking part in pro-am tournaments such as Chrissie Evert’s event in Boca Raton. Those events are a great thrill, not only because we get to play in front of large crowds of people but also I get to play in more competitive matches. I’ve played against a lot of good players in those tournaments – Jim Courier, Tommy Haas, Lindsay Davenport, Corina Morariu, Justin Gimelstob, Luke and Murphy Jensen. The downside is the collective groan you hear when you screw up – that’s a tough sound for me. It’s worse than being out of tune [laughs].”

“I play as much as I can when I’m not in the studio or touring. I often find myself playing against professionals, people like Wade McGuire, Mark Philippoussis, Vince Spadea and Sam Querrey. Sam’s a friend, he’s great, he comes to my house and plays. It’s not like I’m going to be able to beat these guys, so my goal is to hit properly and keep up with them the best I can. I’m competitive with myself, so I try to do things right. I don’t hit and giggle, I have fun by being intense.”

“The biggest appeal of tennis for me is that it’s one on one. Almost gladiatorial. Doubles is great too, but you can’t beat the feeling that everything is down to you.”

“The strength of my game is that I’m pretty athletic. So stamina is the key for me. I do a lot of off court training. Pilates is amazing. I do all the stuff like strength work, lunges. I used to think that playing was just enough, but I’ve changed my mind on that.”

.”Gulbis is a striking player – a crusher”

“He’s an all around athlete. A great athlete, a better athlete than what I had anticipated when I got in there with him,” said Ray Austin, who was defeated in two rounds by ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ in March 2007. “He’s got everything a heavyweight is supposed to have – he’s strong, he’s got mobility, movement, good jab. But the key thing was for me to go in there and take it to him and make him fight and don’t let him box and get in his comfort zone. That was the plan – to break his rhythm.” Austin says it wasn’t his night. “Basically, in that situation, my mind wasn’t even there. Wasn’t nothing coming together for me that night,” says Austin.”Nothing. And it ain’t no certain excuse. It happens like that sometimes. Some nights is your’s, some nights it’s not. That was the wrong night for me not to click in [laughs].” Klitschko surprised Austin with his athleticism. “He was kind of fast on his feet. His mobile movement from the right to the left was better than I anticipated,” Austin admitted. “Cause when I first went in there, I cut the left off immediately and he darted back the other way. And he did it so swiftly and fast. Like, this is what he do, he didn’t have no problem. When a guy is used to going a certain way – like you got a guy who you push and he’s not used to going backwards, he’s kind of clumsy when you push him back. You go, Uh oh, I kinda found something. But when I cut the left off, he did it like that’s how he was practicing. He just moved with no problems, like this is what I do. I said, Oh okay, this guy isn’t gonna stand still. He came to fight [laughs]. Because I watched the Sam Peter fight and Sam seemed like he caught up with him a little more. Even though he boxed Sam pretty good, Sam was able to catch up with him and land a couple of punches. And that’s what I was looking to do.”

With three straight comeback wins under his belt, the WBA #7 ranked Austin still hopes to challenge for a world title and when asked if he’d like a rematch, Austin responded,”If he’ll rematch me, I’ll definitely appreciate that. If not, I’ll target his brother. I see a lot of things with his brother I know I can expose. I’m not gonna say what it is – if I get the fight then he work on that. I saw him fight Peter. He has a fight coming up, I’m gonna check to see if he’s still doing the same things. Right now, the heavyweight I want to fight is him – Vitali.” When asked if he thought Wladimir, in his current form, was an “all-time great,” Austin agreed, “Yeah, I think he’s one of the greatest so far. He hasn’t really truly been tested, he’s been in a couple of wars, he won a few, lost a few but he still got to prove himself. Long time to come to prove himself. But so far, out here right now, he’s probably one of the best.”

Phil Jackson was stopped in the second round against a 23-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in 1999 and later sparred with him. “The experience that I got from Wladimir – he’s a tough cookie. He had those losses, I don’t know what happened to him. To me, Wladimir – he’s a good fighter. Something went wrong, somewhere down the line. To me, I knew he could still be the champ because he has that power. He has that power.” That’s not the only asset Klitschko owns, says Jackson, who sparred with both brothers in Atlantic City before Wladimir boxed Ray Mercer in 2002. “He has an excellent jab. He’s not a mover like his brother – his brother moves extremely well. He wears you down with that power, man.” Jackson, who lost a world title bid to Lennox Lewis by KO 8 in 2004, says Klitschko hit harder than Lewis. “Klitschko had more power, most definitely. In both hands. You could feel it. Put it this way – if it would have been Wladimir in there when his brother fought Lennox Lewis, I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis. I honestly do. I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis.” Jackson sees a difference in Klitschko’s style now compared to 1999. “Back then, he just don’t give a damn. He just came forward. He just throw ‘em at you. Now he boxes more, he boxes smarter now and waits for the right time to use the power.”

Chris Byrd clashed twice with Klitschko in 2000 and 2006 and struggled mightily. “Wladimir beat me the first time, I just didn’t feel right. The second fight, I can be very honest – I was never in the fight. He fought a great fight. He made some changes to his style. He got my respect for beating Sam Peter. I got hit with all kinds of punches. It wasn’t the fight we trained for in sparring. Everything felt great going in but when you get out there and start getting hit and certain things don’t work for you…I thank the Lord I had the chance to have a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. He’s such a big, strong, good boxer. I take nothing away from him.” Employing an ill-conceived strategy in the rematch let Byrd down. “It was knuckle-headed of me to think I was bigger and stronger than him,” said Byrd. “He’s 241 pounds of muscle and I was 212 pounds of bulked up muscle, not even for real muscle. So I felt I had to go in there and push him around. And it didn’t work out. It was a horrid showing, getting hit with all kinds of punches. I was pretty sharp in sparring, I was pretty aggressive, but Wladimir Klitschko is a big, strong guy, he’s talented. He knows how to box.”

When asked what type of style could offset and possibly defeat Klitschko, Byrd replied, “I would say be a big, strong guy and press him forward. But you gotta move the head. I didn’t move my head. You gotta give him angles because he’s so tall and shooting down and he’s taking that half-step back and he’s getting his punches off. It’s hard to fight him.”

Lamon Brewster also boxed Klitschko twice, in 2004 and 2007. Brewster famously won the first battle but came up short in the rematch. An improved left jab was the vital difference, according to Brewster. “He was able to maintain the jab, whereas the last time I knew his jab would be busy but I was able to get past it. In the second fight his jab was better, he had an awesome jab and I tried to get past it but I couldn’t. So then he was accumulating punches. I knew, at some point, I couldn’t keep getting hit like that.” “I felt I was the same, relentless Lamon Brewster in both fights but sometimes, somebody has the better night. Unlike crying wolf or saying poison, you just admit when someone’s better than you that night. He was better that night. And I might be better the next night.”

Perhaps the man who did the best to compete with the current edition of Klitschko was Sultan Ibragimov in February 2008. Though it was a dull and uneven contest, Ibragimov achieved a moral victory of sorts, by avoiding a hellacious beating. The left-handed Russian forced Klitschko to box more cautiously than usual. “I should have been more aggressive,” says Ibragimov. “When I tried to go forward, he’d go back. If I did get inside, he’d hold me. I couldn’t fight him. It wasn’t that I took his punches, or his speed or power. It was his height and it was a very hard technical fight. Nobody could do anything. I felt bad that I didn’t train differently. I should have had more of an attack strategy than defense.” Mario Costa was in Ibragimov’s corner and noticed Klitschko is a more defense-oriented fighter than he once was. “I think he fights almost scared. He’s a defensive fighter. He doesn’t want you to check his chin. It’s hard to fight a guy like that. He’d try to punch Sultan from waaay outside. Then back up. Always throwing something and be so safe. It’s very hard to fight a guy like that. He fights safe. Many times he’ll throw a jab and go half-step back, not move forward.”

After the fight Costa, spoke about it with his friend Mike Tyson. “Mike said tall guys are hard to get in on most of the time,” said Costa. “He said he always had a hard time with taller guys, to get in it’s always hard.”

If Foreman, Frazier and Norton were around today, they might find themselves similarly troubled to figure out how to beat 33-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who with nine wins in a row in world title fights, is proving himself to be a dominant force – with his prime years ahead. “From my point of view, I can say I feel like a fish in the water,” the IBF/WBO/IBO champs says. “I feel very confident. I feel that I can be very consistent in my performance. And, especially, I love what I do. When I go in the ring I’m happy about it. I’m not struggling, I’m not surviving, I don’t need to do it. I do it because I love it and I want it.”

(Wladimir sketch card by Stephen Burkett www.stephenburkett.squarespace.com)

This article was originally posted at www.BoxingInsider.com in 2009 and 2010.

The IBF/WBO/Ring Heavyweight champion of the world also won Olympic gold in 1996.

In this day and age there aren’t any heavyweight contenders with the marquee name recognition like “Foreman”, “Frazier” and “Norton” for Wladimir Klitschko to defeat and acquire the deserved accolades. So boxing has to suffice with the best of today, like Ibragimov, Byrd, Brewster, and Austin, etc. to measure how good Klitschko really is.

“He’s an all around athlete. A great athlete, a better athlete than what I had anticipated when I got in there with him,” said Ray Austin, who was defeated in two rounds by ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ in March 2007. “He’s got everything a heavyweight is supposed to have – he’s strong, he’s got mobility, movement, good jab. But the key thing was for me to go in there and take it to him and make him fight and don’t let him box and get in his comfort zone. That was the plan – to break his rhythm.” Austin says it wasn’t his night. “Basically, in that situation, my mind wasn’t even there. Wasn’t nothing coming together for me that night,” says Austin.”Nothing. And it ain’t no certain excuse. It happens like that sometimes. Some nights is your’s, some nights it’s not. That was the wrong night for me not to click in [laughs].” Klitschko surprised Austin with his athleticism. “He was kind of fast on his feet. His mobile movement from the right to the left was better than I anticipated,” Austin admitted. “Cause when I first went in there, I cut the left off immediately and he darted back the other way. And he did it so swiftly and fast. Like, this is what he do, he didn’t have no problem. When a guy is used to going a certain way – like you got a guy who you push and he’s not used to going backwards, he’s kind of clumsy when you push him back. You go, Uh oh, I kinda found something. But when I cut the left off, he did it like that’s how he was practicing. He just moved with no problems, like this is what I do. I said, Oh okay, this guy isn’t gonna stand still. He came to fight [laughs]. Because I watched the Sam Peter fight and Sam seemed like he caught up with him a little more. Even though he boxed Sam pretty good, Sam was able to catch up with him and land a couple of punches. And that’s what I was looking to do.”

With three straight comeback wins under his belt, the WBA #7 ranked Austin still hopes to challenge for a world title and when asked if he’d like a rematch, Austin responded,”If he’ll rematch me, I’ll definitely appreciate that. If not, I’ll target his brother. I see a lot of things with his brother I know I can expose. I’m not gonna say what it is – if I get the fight then he work on that. I saw him fight Peter. He has a fight coming up, I’m gonna check to see if he’s still doing the same things. Right now, the heavyweight I want to fight is him – Vitali.” When asked if he thought Wladimir, in his current form, was an “all-time great,” Austin agreed, “Yeah, I think he’s one of the greatest so far. He hasn’t really truly been tested, he’s been in a couple of wars, he won a few, lost a few but he still got to prove himself. Long time to come to prove himself. But so far, out here right now, he’s probably one of the best.”

Phil Jackson was stopped in the second round against a 23-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in 1999 and later sparred with him. “The experience that I got from Wladimir – he’s a tough cookie. He had those losses, I don’t know what happened to him. To me, Wladimir – he’s a good fighter. Something went wrong, somewhere down the line. To me, I knew he could still be the champ because he has that power. He has that power.” That’s not the only asset Klitschko owns, says Jackson, who sparred with both brothers in Atlantic City before Wladimir boxed Ray Mercer in 2002. “He has an excellent jab. He’s not a mover like his brother – his brother moves extremely well. He wears you down with that power, man.” Jackson, who lost a world title bid to Lennox Lewis by KO 8 in 2004, says Klitschko hit harder than Lewis. “Klitschko had more power, most definitely. In both hands. You could feel it. Put it this way – if it would have been Wladimir in there when his brother fought Lennox Lewis, I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis. I honestly do. I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis.” Jackson sees a difference in Klitschko’s style now compared to 1999. “Back then, he just don’t give a damn. He just came forward. He just throw ‘em at you. Now he boxes more, he boxes smarter now and waits for the right time to use the power.”

Chris Byrd clashed twice with Klitschko in 2000 and 2006 and struggled mightily. “Wladimir beat me the first time, I just didn’t feel right. The second fight, I can be very honest – I was never in the fight. He fought a great fight. He made some changes to his style. He got my respect for beating Sam Peter. I got hit with all kinds of punches. It wasn’t the fight we trained for in sparring. Everything felt great going in but when you get out there and start getting hit and certain things don’t work for you…I thank the Lord I had the chance to have a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. He’s such a big, strong, good boxer. I take nothing away from him.” Employing an ill-conceived strategy in the rematch let Byrd down. “It was knuckle-headed of me to think I was bigger and stronger than him,” said Byrd. “He’s 241 pounds of muscle and I was 212 pounds of bulked up muscle, not even for real muscle. So I felt I had to go in there and push him around. And it didn’t work out. It was a horrid showing, getting hit with all kinds of punches. I was pretty sharp in sparring, I was pretty aggressive, but Wladimir Klitschko is a big, strong guy, he’s talented. He knows how to box.”

When asked what type of style could offset and possibly defeat Klitschko, Byrd replied, “I would say be a big, strong guy and press him forward. But you gotta move the head. I didn’t move my head. You gotta give him angles because he’s so tall and shooting down and he’s taking that half-step back and he’s getting his punches off. It’s hard to fight him.”

Lamon Brewster also boxed Klitschko twice, in 2004 and 2007. Brewster famously won the first battle but came up short in the rematch. An improved left jab was the vital difference, according to Brewster. “He was able to maintain the jab, whereas the last time I knew his jab would be busy but I was able to get past it. In the second fight his jab was better, he had an awesome jab and I tried to get past it but I couldn’t. So then he was accumulating punches. I knew, at some point, I couldn’t keep getting hit like that.” “I felt I was the same, relentless Lamon Brewster in both fights but sometimes, somebody has the better night. Unlike crying wolf or saying poison, you just admit when someone’s better than you that night. He was better that night. And I might be better the next night.”

Perhaps the man who did the best to compete with the current edition of Klitschko was Sultan Ibragimov in February 2008. Though it was a dull and uneven contest, Ibragimov achieved a moral victory of sorts, by avoiding a hellacious beating. The left-handed Russian forced Klitschko to box more cautiously than usual. “I should have been more aggressive,” says Ibragimov. “When I tried to go forward, he’d go back. If I did get inside, he’d hold me. I couldn’t fight him. It wasn’t that I took his punches, or his speed or power. It was his height and it was a very hard technical fight. Nobody could do anything. I felt bad that I didn’t train differently. I should have had more of an attack strategy than defense.” Mario Costa was in Ibragimov’s corner and noticed Klitschko is a more defense-oriented fighter than he once was. “I think he fights almost scared. He’s a defensive fighter. He doesn’t want you to check his chin. It’s hard to fight a guy like that. He’d try to punch Sultan from waaay outside. Then back up. Always throwing something and be so safe. It’s very hard to fight a guy like that. He fights safe. Many times he’ll throw a jab and go half-step back, not move forward.”

 After the fight Costa, spoke about it with his friend Mike Tyson. “Mike said tall guys are hard to get in on most of the time,” said Costa. “He said he always had a hard time with taller guys, to get in it’s always hard.”

If Foreman, Frazier and Norton were around today, they might find themselves similarly troubled to figure out how to beat 33-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who with nine wins in a row in world title fights, is proving himself to be a dominant force – with his prime years ahead. “From my point of view, I can say I feel like a fish in the water,” the IBF/WBO/IBO champs says. “I feel very confident. I feel that I can be very consistent in my performance. And, especially, I love what I do. When I go in the ring I’m happy about it. I’m not struggling, I’m not surviving, I don’t need to do it. I do it because I love it and I want it.”

Dancevic on pre-match feeling: I try to stay relaxed. I try to just put the music on, think about what I gotta do on the court. © Action Images/Reuters
Frank Dancevic’s first serve has always been one of his best weapons so no one was more surprised than Dancevic himself when he stepped up to serve in the final set of tightly-contested US Open qualifying match only to find himself utterly unarmed.

Amid sweltering court conditions, a drained, dazed Dancevic stepped up to the baseline to hit his first delivery and was struck by the sight of an absent alley — his Wilson racquet.

“It was late in the third set. And I was so — I think I had heat stroke — I was so mentally just tired. I couldn’t even get my mind to think any more,” Dancevic said. “The ref called time, I got my towel ready to serve. I looked down and it was like, ‘There’s something missing here.’ So everybody was looking at me, like, ‘What’s this guy doing?’ And I walked back and just got my racquet. Kind of made it as I went to get my water. So it didn’t look real, because it was one of those really embarrassing moments, I was trying to play it off, like (no problem).”

Despite the temporary loss of his racquet, Dancevic went on to win that match. Before he first picked up a racquet, the Niagra Falls native’s stick of choice was a hockey stick. Like many Canadians, Dancevic grew up as an avid hockey player and fan, rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His natural athleticism and aggression translated to the tennis court though Dancevic recalls experiencing a bit of a competitive culture shock playing the very first tournament of his life.

Tennis is a game of legs, Hall of Famer Stefan Edberg once remarked. But in his tournament debut, Dancevic unwittingly brought an opponent to his knees as playing suddenly gave way to praying.

“I was nine, playing under 10 tournament. And I was beating a guy 6-0, we were playing an eight-game pro set,” Dancevic recalls of his first tournament experience. “And he went in the corner, got on his knees and started praying. Nine-years-old, I’ll never forget that one [smiles]. The first match I ever played.”

He drove his first opponent to seek some divine intervention and Dancevic has driven himself to great lengths in posting some of his best career results recently.

In a battle of former Indianapolis finalists, Dancevic had the last word last month.

The 24-year-old Dancevic defeated two-time finalist Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 — his first win in four career meetings with Tursunov — to advance to the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships two weeks ago. It was Dancevic’s second successful road trip to the home of the Indy 500.

Two years ago, Dancevic was the last direct entry into the draw and drove from his home in Niagra Falls to Indianapolis where he beat then fifth-ranked Andy Roddick before bowing to Tursunov, 6-4, 7-5.

“I drove down from Niagara to Detroit to pick up my girlfriend and I said ‘Let’s do it again!’ I got here Thursday thinking I was playing qualies, then I got the good news that I was the last direct acceptance,” Dancevic said.

An aggressive player who owns a biting one-handed backhand and aims to play all-court tennis, Dancevic beat David Nalbandian at Wimbledon last year and played through qualifying to reach the Eastbourne final in June before bowing to Tursunov.

Currently ranked No. 111, Dancevic returns to action in Washington, DC tonight where he takes on qualifier Santiago Giraldo with the winner set to face 10th-seeded Tommy Haas.

An explosive player on court, the amiable Dancevic displays a self-depracating sense of humor off court.

Tennis Week contributing writer Scoop Malinowski, who made the trip to DC for this week’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic, caught up with Dancevic for this Biofile interview.

Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 175 pounds.

Born On: September 26, 1984 in Niagara Falls, Canada.

Tennis Inspiration: “Goran and Pete Sampras.”

Nicknames: “Frank The Tank. I just learned that one last year. I thought it was funny. I had a giggle with that one.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Golf. Love fishing in my off time. Probably my favorite thing to do when I’m not on court, I’m on a boat fishing. Pretty much it. I’m pretty low-key.”

Favorite Movies: “Good one. Probably Gladiator is up there. Aw man, that’s a tough one. Matrix. I’ll give you one more — Men of Honor.”

Favorite TV Shows: “Not a big TV fan.”

Last Book Read: “Not About The Bike.”

Musical Tastes: “More of a rock guy, U2, I like techno, dance, getting into it. You wouldn’t know any of those names.”

First Tennis Memory: “I was nine, playing under 10 tournament. And I was beating a guy 6-0, we were playing an eight-game pro set. And he went in the corner, got on his knees and started praying. Nine-years-old, I’ll never forget that one [smiles]. The first match I ever played. There’s another. I actually knocked a guy’s coffee right out of his hand one time all over his white shirt. He wasn’t too happy about that. On the sidelines. Actually hit his coffee like dead on and splattered everywhere like a bomb. I caught a forehand a little late, skid off the line, it just bee-lined right at his coffee. He didn’t have time to react, it just hit it dead on.”

Pre-Match Feeling: “I try to stay relaxed. I try to just put the music on, think about what I gotta do on the court.”

Favorite Meal: “I’d have to say a dessert — chocolate brownie, hot brownie, with vanilla ice cream on top.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Definitely peanut butter chocolate.”

First Job: “Me and my friend, we made this stand outside of a hotel and sold burgers and called them ‘Yummy Burgers.’ To the workers around there. We were both eleven years old. Made about 400 bucks over the summer.”

First Car: “Acura Integra (silver).”

Current Car: “Jeep Cherokee (blue).”

Favorite Players To Watch: “I’ve obviously admired Federer. His game is more towards what I want to lean my game’s style toward.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Oh, tough one. I would have to say the quarterfinals of the Masters Series (2007 in Montreal). Playing against Rafa — I didn’t end up winning the match, I ended up losing the match but it was just an incredible feeling. In front of my home crowd and playing that match, it was unbelievable. Even though I lost the match it was probably the most fun I ever had playing a match. Two years ago that tournament I was playing great.”

Most Painful Moment: “Was getting injured last year and being out for months. And having huge events, knowing that I could do well and could get my ranking up. But just not being able to play, not being able to do anything. Just being in bed and having to stick it out and just waiting. Not knowing how long it would be till I’m ready to play again.”

Favorite Tournaments: “Canadian Open, US Open, all the Grand Slams.”

Funny Tennis Memory: “Oh, there’s a lot. I actually knocked a guy’s coffee right out of his hand, one time, all over his white shirt. He wasn’t too happy about that. On the sidelines. Actually hit his coffee, like, dead on, and splattered everywhere, like a bomb. That was a while ago, I was like 15. I caught a forehand a little late, skid off the line, it just bee-lined right at his coffee. He didn’t have time to react. It just hit it dead on.”

Closest Tennis Friend(s): “Close with the Canadians and Yugoslavian guys. I’m pretty much friends with most of the guys on the Tour.”

Funniest Player(s) Encountered: “That’s a good one. I know a couple but I don’t want to give them their fame for this [smiles].”

Toughest Competitors: “I would say Nadal.”

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “Walking up to the line without my racquet one time [laughter]. I think it happened at the US Open during qualies two years ago. It was late in the third set. And I was so — I think I had heat stroke — I was so mentally just tired. I couldn’t even get my mind to think any more. The ref called time, I got my towel ready to serve. I looked down and it was like, ‘There’s something missing here.’ So everybody was looking at me, like, ‘What’s this guy doing?’ And I walked back and just got my racquet. Kind of made it as I went to get my water. So it didn’t look real, because it was one of those really embarrassing moments, I was trying to play it off, like (no problem). (Did you end up winning?) I won it. Against a Czech guy Jan Vanek.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “I just love to see good people. People with a good heart. If you have a good heart, it means a lot and it takes you far in life. Where ever — on and off the court. And I like to see when players treat the fans good. Treat the ballboys and people on court with respect. I think it shows a lot from a player.”

Tennis Week contributing writer Scoop Malinowski is in Washington, DC, attending this week’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Scoop’s latest book Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle was called “A smashing success,” by Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, who called the book “one of the two best boxing books I’ve ever read.” Author Joyce Carol Oates, whose book “On Boxing” is regarded as a classic calls Scoop, “one of the hottest young journalists in pugilism.” He’s recently done Biofiles with Billie Jean King, Asafa Powell, and Olympic gold medalists Carolina Kluft, Oksana Baiul and Tirunesh Dibaba. Please visit his site www.thebiofile.com. Scoop is also a ham and egger tennis player, currently ranked No. 4 in the USTA Eastern 35s and holder of the Tennis Week singles title.