Status:  Top 10 heavyweight contender. Has a pro record of 12-0 with 7 KO’s.

Ht: 6-6 1/2  Wt: 243

DOB: Janury 2, 1984  In: Stockholm, Sweden

Nickname: The Nordic Nightmare.

Boxing Inspiration: My father.

Childhood Heroes: My brothers, because they helped me a lot.

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: Reading books, playing with my kids.

Favorite Movie: Into The Wild, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas.

Last Book Read: Marilyn Manson.

Musical Tastes: Everything, Cypress Hill.

Favorite TV Show:  Madventures.

First Job: Selling potatoes at a marketplace.

Current Car: Saab.

Favorite Meal: Now it´s sushi.

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla.

Pre-Fight Feeling: Confident and focused.

Pre-Fight Meal: Sushi or noodles.

Childhood Dream: To fly.

Early Boxing Memory: When I won the bronze medal at the Youth European Championship in Greece 2000.

Greatest Sports Moment (so far): To beat Lamon Brewster.

Most Painful Moment of Your Career: I broke my left thumb in 2006 and could not travel to the World Championships.

Funny Boxing Memory: Every day has to be funny.

Embarrassing Boxing Memory: When I was 18 I lost by TKO against Andreas Berghall.

Favorite Fighters To Watch: Lennox Lewis.

Favorite Fights: Lewis against Tyson and Klitschko. There were a lot!

Last Vacation: I don´t remember [smiles].

Favorite Sport Outside Boxing: Ice hockey.

Which Fight Did You Feel At Your Very Best/Your Finest Performance: Against Brewster in January, 2010 (won by TKO 8).

Toughest Opponent:  Gbenga Oloukun. Because I broke my right hand in the fourth round of the fight and had, of course, to go on.

People Qualities Most Admired: To have the right discipline in this hard business and sport.

(This article was originally published at Tennisweek.com on June 20, 2006.)

“No two men can be half an hour together, but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other.”  — Samuel Johnson

“To be the best in the world you have to get blood on your hands.” — Philip H. Anselmo

What is Roger Federer feeling now? Has he been wounded psychologically? Could all these defeats at the hands of the mighty Rafael Nadal be inflicting some kind of permanent damage? The Spaniard has won six out of seven from Federer and actually it could have very easily been a perfect seven had he not blown a two sets and a break lead in the Key Biscayne final last year.

Odd things happen sometimes when the great champion loses his confidence. Bjorn Borg lost the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals to John McEnroe in 1981 and his psyche suffered so much by those those failures that he suddenly left the game at age 26. Lennox Lewis was losing a viciously violent fight to Vitali Klitschko in 2003, but luckily won when the referee controversially stopped it after round six because of Klitschko’s cuts. Lewis, who had earlier stated a goal of three more fights, never fought again, turning down offers of $20 million for a rematch. It was evident Lewis was unsure if he was the best anymore.

In individual sports, when the great champion questions himself in his own mind — Am I still the best? — it is the beginning of the end. All of the contenders sense the vulnerability and begin to plot their moves. We have witnessed the demises of many champion boxers and tennis players, such as Marvin Hagler, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams and Mike Tyson, to name a few.

Nadal seems supremely confident he will dethrone Federer, and the process apparently is underway before our eyes.

“He is the best player in the world. The most complete player I have seen in my life,” Nadal says. “But he can’t keep playing like this forever.”"

It’s debatable right now if Federer is actually even the best player in the world — he’s not even the best player on the court when he stares across the net at the clay-court conquistador who has had his number so often it’s the tennis equivalent of speed dial.

When he enters into a tournament now, the people are buzzing about Nadal. Roger may have the ranking points, but Nadal clearly is his superior. Just as it took one man, Buster Douglas, to overthrow Tyson as the king, maybe Nadal is the man who will befall Federer. As unbelievable as it sounds, Nadal may ruin the spectacular reign of Federer.

I believe Nadal may have destroyed the career of Guillermo Coria. We know Coria was devastated by that weird loss to Gaston Gaudio in the 2004 French Open final. It is suspected Coria’s possible use of injury gamesmanship during that match backfired and may have cost him the Grand Slam victory. But last year, Coria was still a major force on clay, until he lost that five-hour, fifth set tiebreak marathon to Nadal in Rome, ultimately enduring a heart-breaking 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) defeat.

Coria has never been the same since that moment and his career has tumbled into crisis. Perhaps Coria has come to believe in his own mind he will never be able to overcome Nadal, and that he foolishly squandered his one and only chance to win Roland Garros. And thus, without the fuel of hope to inspire him, he is a lost man on the court. A man without hope is a man…

You have to wonder at this point if Federer possesses the confidence, passion and the strength to defy this rampaging Spanish bull. We know Nadal has hopes. We know Nadal believes and is now aiming to show he can win on the grass at Wimbledon and that he can attain number one. And if the young phenomenon truly believes he can achieve those accomplishments, Mr. Federer may soon have plenty more problems to deal with. It’s all been so marvelously clever the way Nadal has treated the subject of Federer. With nothing but gracious respect the 20-year-old only speaks kind words of his adversary.

“Everyone knows I like Roger,” he says. From Nadal, there is never any criticism, truculence or even a hint of any malice towards Roger. Federer, on the other hand, has shown glimpses of irritation at Nadal. This year he accused Nadal’s coach, uncle Toni Nadal, of illegally coaching from his box. He called Nadal’s game “one-dimensional” before this year’s defeat at Monte Carlo.

Last year at the French Open, Federer seemed slightly annoyed when reporters told him that Nadal said there was “no favorite” to win Roland Garros. “That’s an interesting way to put pressure on people,” said Federer. “It’s clever. He’s not stupid. I think there are a number of favorites here, and he knows well who they are.”

In the aftermath of Nadal’s victory over Federer in the French Open final, the Swiss stylist issued a subtle slight at Nadal by calling him “a grinder” immediately after the match.

Let’s be blunt now, Nadal has pushed Federer around for 14 months and so far the Swiss gentleman has had no answers, no effective counterattacks. The ruthless bullying on the court just continues on. It’s an intriguing clash of wills between the two strongest tennis players on earth today, a compelling drama with many chapters to read in the future. What ideas will Federer devise on how to halt this domination at the hands of Nadal? What can Roger do to circumvent his failings in the psychological warfare department? Is Nadal much smarter than his young age would suggest? Is he actually more intelligent than Federer is on court, using that higher tennis IQ to be able to outplay him five consecutive matches? Has Federer been intimidated by the intensity and fury of his powerful rival?

The greatness of Roger Federer has been tested, it has been questioned. The answers must come soon. Another possibility in this fascinating battle is that there is ample hope for Federer. Assuming, of course, that Nadal has not broken his spirit, Roger may actually become stronger from these defeats. Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis was unexpectedly knocked out twice in his career. Imagine being knocked out with one punch in front of the world. Imagine the difficulty of trying to regain confidence to absorb a punch. Then you have to recover your status while discouraging all the eager attackers. In an awesome display of courage and perseverance, Lewis actually came back a better, smarter and more complete fighter and is now regarded as one of the best in history.

The same agony was suffered by Federer’s personal friend, the 1996 Olympic gold medallist Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine (the two met last year at an award show in Europe and became friends, Klitschko told me). Klitschko was the heir apparent to Lewis, until he was devastatingly knocked out twice by Corrie Sanders in 2003 and Lamon Brewster in 2004. But Klitschko maintained that, despite the horror of those humiliating losses, he never lost confidence in himself. He figured out why he lost, fixed the errors and resumed his lifelong ambition. And Klitschko has succeeded to this point, by impressively defeating the hardest knockout puncher in the world last September, Samuel Peter of Nigeria, and Chris Byrd this past April to win the IBF Heavyweight title. Klitschko, age 30, considers his failures in the ring to be valuable learning experiences and actually believes he needed them to make him a complete fighter.

“I needed to experience losing to become a champion,” said Klitschko. “I never lost my confidence. I am complete fighter right now. Experience — you cannot buy in the shop. You have to gain it with your own skin and your own body with your own mind and through the time. Experience which people are making and they have to learn from those experiences. And they have to get better.”

Klitschko, written off by most of the experts as lacking resilience and a strong jaw just a few years ago, proved his heart and mind were much stronger than anyone imagined. And he now appears poised to dominate the heavyweight division for several years.

No one knows how Federer will come back from his setbacks, maybe not even Roger Federer himself.

The decision is his to make. Or is it Rafael Nadal’s? 

(Postscript: Since this article was written in 2006, Federer and Nadal have met 13 times, with Nadal winning seven, Federer six. Nadal became the ATP #1 ranked player in August 2008, then Federer regained the top spot last summer. Overall, Nadal leads the career head-to-head, 13-7. Federer won their last match in Madrid on clay in 2009, 64 64. Federer is still #1, Nadal is #3 now (Djokovic is #2) but Nadal is surging – he has won two straight Masters Series events on clay in Monte Carlo and Rome.)

Status: WBC Heavyweight Champion. His record is 39-2 (37 KO’s).

Ht: 6-7 Wt: 250

DOB: July 19, 1971 IN: Belovodsk, Soviet Union

Nicknames: Dr. Iron Fist, Iron Chin.

Hobbies/Leisure Activities:  “Chess, wakeboarding, kitesurfing, jet skiing, scuba diving, table tennis.”

Childhood Dream: “Spaceman or astronaut or do karate like Bruce Lee [smiles].”

Age Started Boxing: “13.”

 
First Boxing Memory: “Losing my first fight.”

Boxing Inspiration:  “To make history in boxing. To be at the same time with my brother world champion in the heavyweight division. Always great to make something special.”

Favorite Boxer Of All-Time:  “Max Schmeling – my first most special fighter, my idol, my hero. I respect him as a fighter and much more as a human. I knew him very well. He helped me a lot.” 

Favorite Meal: “Italian.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:  “Cranberry.”

Pre-fight Meal: “Oatmeal.”

Pre-fight Superstition:  “I’m not ready to give you the answer [smiles].”

Toughest Part Of Being A Boxer:  “Injuries.”

Favorite Music:  “Eagles. Old music, classical, jazz, pop. Big fan of Cher, The Beatles ”

Last Book Read:  “Oh, a book from Goethe.”

Favorite TV Show:  “Discovery Channel is very interesting to me.”

Favorite Film:  “I don’t know which one. Many movies. Favorite film in boxing – Rocky, first one.”

Current Car:  “A big one. Mercedes (silver).”

Training Routine:  “My special program I develop with my coach (Fritz Sdunek). And I’m very thankful to Emanuel Steward. He works with me as advisor. And we develop some program and I don’t want to show you this program because it’s special for me and it’s my small secret. I change my preparation for every opponent and that’s why it will be special preparation with special exercises.”

Toughest Opponent:  “Lennox Lewis. My personal opinion – he’s the strongest fighter in the whole history of boxing. He’s the strongest heavyweight. And I’m very appreciative for him. He give me a chance to prove my skills against strongest fighter in history.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Is still in front of me. Will be in the future.”

Most Painful Moment: “To take the critics after the Byrd fight.”

Funny Boxing Memory: “In England. It was an amateur fight. After a heavy knockout, the opponent came back to me and told me, ‘I will come back. Then I will show you how good I really am.’ It was a very strong, heavy knockout. He was laying down for a long time. A strong hit. I wondered, next time I have to hit him harder? Is my arm too light [laughs]?”

Quote: “Chess is similar to boxing. You need to develop a strategy, and you need to think two or three steps ahead about what your opponent is doing. You have to be smart. But what’s the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights.”

Family: Wife, Natalia; sons, Max, Egor; daughter, Elizabeth.

Question: What inspired you to do this book?

Scoop Malinowski: It was a major event in boxing, one of the top three biggest revenue generating events in the history of the sport. Though the fight itself wasn’t the most competitively exciting, I thought there was enough story lines and angles to do a book. They first sparred as teenagers. After the sparring, Tyson’s mentor Cus D’Amato actually said they would box one day for the heavyweight title. Those words came true 20 years later. Norman Mailer’s book about the Ali-Foreman fight (”The Fight”), and Leon Gast’s film “When We Were Kings” were inspirations, as was John McPhee’s tennis book “Levels of the Game” (renowned classic book about one match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner which delves deeply into the contrasting personalities and backgrounds of the two tennis champions).

Question: Has it been well received?

Scoop Malinowski: Lennox Lewis’s trainer Emanuel Steward called me one night and said it was one of the two best boxing books he’s ever read, called it a smashing success. LeRoy Neiman, who wrote the foreword said he read it straight through in one shot. I gave John McEnroe a copy at an interview we did and two months later I saw him at a World Team Tennis match and he saw me and told me he liked it. Also, a boxing fan on a messageboard thread about boxing books said it was one of the best boxing books to come out in a long time. Those compliments all meant a lot. There was nothing but positive reviews. But it’s selling better in the UK.

Question: Was it a difficult book to write?

Scoop Malinowski: No, not at all. I write for several boxing publications and had all the materials, interviews and relevant quotes collected over the years in my office. It was just a matter of putting all the ingredients together, like baking a cake. Then the plan was to add surprises, insider stories about Tyson and Lewis that most people never heard of. Every boxing fan saw the fight, I knew I had to offer much more. I tried very hard to make the book a special and entertaining read filled with surprises. The one on one interviews with Lewis and Steward at the end were fascinating. These interviews were done just before publication.

Question: You interviewed Lewis and Tyson?

Scoop Malinowski: Everybody involved except for Tyson. But I have enough Tyson quotes from before and after the fight, as well as information about his actions on the day before and day of the fight from his team members, trainer Ronnie Shields and cheerleader Crocodile Fitch. Lewis has always been helpful and gave many insightful interviews as did his team members.

Question: Do you really think it was a fight between good and evil?

Scoop Malinowski: We all admire and respect Tyson and what he has achieved and the class he has shown since losing to Lewis. But the few years before the Lewis fight Tyson was a symbol of darkness, bad morals, wicked behavior. He said he wanted to kill Lewis and eat his children. Bob Arum said he should be put in an insane asylum. Oscar De La Hoya called him the worst role model in the world, said Tyson was seriously sick. At that time in his life Tyson was very bad, he was broke, and fighting to pay debts. He blew hundreds of millions and was fighting to only lower his debts. He was in a bad place and his behavior and words reflected it. But since the fight he has been nothing but class. As if he was touched by the greatness of Lewis and it made him better. Or maybe the burden was gone to have to live up to the image of the baddest man on the planet. Since Memphis Tyson has been a class act, a true champ. But the years before that fight he was the complete opposite.

Question: Were you happy with the finished product?

Scoop Malinowski: Aside from a few typo errors here and there yes. With the access I have in boxing, and the way the book was all put together, I could not have made it any better. The historical quotations in each chapter are a nice added bonus.

Question: Why should sports fans read this?

Scoop Malinowski: It’s a very good read about a historical heavyweight boxing event. Big fights are the most exciting events in all of sports. The whole world is captivated by the biggest fights. But the whole stories about those fights are even better. Like they say, the book was better than the movie, I really tried to make this book better than the fight itself. Like the film “Rocky” was great not because of the fight sequence but because of the 90 minute story leading up to the Balboa-Creed match. Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis are two of the greatest champions ever, two colorful characters each in their own way. For a boxing writer, they are both very easy and appealing subjects to write about and chronicle.

“Heavyweight Armageddon” is available at www.Amazon.com, www.borders.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

Since he was involved in the fight and knew much of the inside story I wasn’t sure if he would really enjoy the book, even though I tried to add as many rare and little known anecdotes to try to please all readers, whether fans, media or boxing insiders. Well it turns out Emanuel Steward loves the book.

The great boxing man Emanuel Steward, even contacted a mutual friend, Philip Anselmo, the musician and vocalist for Pantera and Down, to get my phone number and called around 10 o’clock on Monday night, with this to say:

“It’s a smashing success. It’s a very good book, easy to read, flows nicely, you did a ton of research. I really enjoyed reliving that experience. All the craziness with Crocodile and all that stuff. On the flight to Vegas for the Hatton-Pacquiao fight, I signed more copies of your book than any book I’ve ever signed, all the Brits were on the flight to Vegas, they kept coming up to me with the books. Then when I got to Vegas I kept seeing these books with the two red gloves. They had me sign covers, the inside pages. This is your legacy here. Yours and George Kimball’s book (The Four Kings) are two of the best boxing books I’ve ever read.”

It was a true honor to hear such a compliment, such words that I have not heard in years, the last big moments being when Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, said after being Biofiled in 2004 at the US Open – “That’s the best interview I’ve ever done.”

Thanks again to Emanuel Steward.