Cedric Boswell represents hope within a dying breed. Boswell (who has a professional record of 35-1) is one of only a few Americans boxers who is a contender in the heavyweight division. He will face Alexander Povetkin on Dec. 3 in a fight that will be held in Helsinki, Finland and broadcast live in Times Square. Before his championship fight, Boswell sat down with rolling out to discuss his upcoming fight and how he plans to bring the heavyweight championship belts back to America.–amir shaw
How did you get involved with boxing?
I’m from Detroit. I played football in high school with Jerome Bettis. I then played for the University of Arizona for three years. I had knee surgery and football was over. I went to the military and started boxing. I was stationed in Hawaii. It was kind of boring, so an older guy suggested that I start boxing. I made the Navy’s boxing team and made the 1993 U.S. Olympic Team. Other guys on the team were Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest and Shane Mosley.
What happened to the allure of the heavyweight boxing division?
The allure of heavyweight division turned when Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko got the belts. They never fight the best. They pick and choose. American boxing fans got tired of the heavy weight division because of that. But the Klitscko brothers are huge overseas. They don’t care about HBO, so Americans don’t know much about heavyweights. There hasn’t been an American heavyweight champion since 2002.
How do you hope to bring the prominent heavyweight belts back to America?
After I knock out Alexander Povetkin, I’m going after the Klitscko brothers. It means a lot to bring the belts back to America. The heavyweights are suppose to be the kings of boxing. The only hot American boxer is Floyd Mayweather. When we bring the belts back, people will be more interesting in boxing.
