Interview with Brian Mathiasen By Dan Jensen for www.danish-boxing.dk
		Brian Mathiasen trains four professional boxers: Allan Vester, Evans Ashira, Christian Bladt and Anita Christensen, so he has a lot to look after. Brian broke "in to the limelight" after having trained Allan Vester for his first big challenge. That was june 25th -99, when Allan ,in Aarhus, challenged IBF intercontinental junior-welterweight champion Emanuel Burton. Since that, more challenges has come. Jens Kempf and I, has, on numerous occasions enjoyed Brians Knowledge, Humour and honest personality, and I think that most people, who have been in contact with Brian Mathiasen, can confirme his helpfullness. The heart of Brians "dayly-day" has to be his office. It emidiately shows that, besides boxing, he has a great passion for football. The walls are filled with banners, flags and pictures of good friends as well as his favourite team Manchester United.
Brian Mathiasen	Dan Jensen

DJ: Can you tell me a little about what you did before you got involved with pro- boxing?

BM: "when I was eighteen, I started to work as a dock laborer in Aarhus harbor, where my dad and a large portion of my family also worked. In 1990 I started to work as a bouncer in the weekends. In 1992 I was offered a position as the manager of a newly opened disco called Edison Nightclub. In 1995 I was hired to be director of a large restaurant-concern that included Edison Nightclub, Sherlock Holmes Pub, Restaurant George Washington and Bridgewater Pup & Brasserie."

DJ: You had a good and well-paid job before you got into boxing training. Were you not concerned about changing careers?

BM: "Yes, it was a very interesting job, to have almost 100 employees, spread out on four working-places. But it was also very hard to work every weekend. I had been in the business for almost 10 years, so it was a good time for me to seek new challenges. And money isn't everything! Boxing was something that I had been involved with for many years. Mostly outside of the ring. So when Anders Vester asked if I would be interested in getting employed, I never doubted that this would be the right thing for me."

DJ: What are your goals in boxing?

BM: "Definitely to be able to make it my exclusive full-time line of work. My "sport-goals" are unlimited. Since I train four very good fighters, I think that 1-2 world title fights are realistic."

DJ: How does a typical day for you look on "fightnight"?

BM: "Even though I am very busy in the week leading up to the show, I get up early on the day of the card. I always have a lot of things that I have to get done. Around noon I'm usually finished, and then the house is filled with people connected to the boxing. My friend Henrik Risum is always there, as well as helpers, the guys who are responsible for the gloves, and boxers. When we get to around 5 o'clock PM, I arrive at the venue and quickly finds our dressing room, and a nice quiet corner in it, where I can sit and do the hand-wrapping of my fighters."

DJ: During the show, what do you do, apart from taking care of your own boxers?

BM: "Everything has been done in the days leading up to the show, and is at that put in the hands of all the helpers. So my work is only to do the hand-wrapping and concentrate 100% about my fighters"

DJ: What do you do when you are off from work?

BM: I follow Manchester United, and preferably at Old Trafford in Manchester or other stadiums around Europe. If I cant do that, I will have to settle with watching them play on TV. I also play football myself a couple of time a week. Every Tuesday with a group of reporters and some other nut-cases, among others Frank Pingel, who obviously kicks harder that he hits. Other than that, I tend my garden and my house, and plays some pool with my friends and watches a tremendous amount of sports on TV."

DJ: Gert Bo Jacobsen just got licensed as a promoter, and are about to have his first promotion soon. Is it possible that you will be working with him in some way?

BM: "I already do. We help each other with sparring, and it has worked very well so far. I think that Gert Bo is a very nice guy, and I hope that we also in the future will help each other with sparring. I would also like to congratulate Gert Bo with his license, and wish him good luck in the future."

DJ: How is your relationship with the boxers in the Palle-stable?

BM: "It is okay, and I know a few of them, and they are real nice guys. Mads Larsen is my friend from Aarhus, but he lives in Copenhagen now, and we only talk on the phone. I have known Brian Nielsen for 10 years and he is a great guy. Simon Welms and Steffen Nielsen I know from my amateur club (AAK) in Aarhus where we trained together. I know Mark Hulström through Brian Nielsen. Apart from that, I also think that Jesper D. Jensen is very likeable guy."

DJ: When you look on the international scene, who is your P4P favorite?

BM: "I really don't know, but I like watching Felix Trinidad. Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler when they were at their best, were also great, great fighters to watch."

DJ: Do you have a certain opponent that you would like some of your fighters to face?

BM: "For Allan Vester it would definitely have to be George Scott (if it was still to be an IBF world-title eliminator). Also because I think that Scott, with all due respect, is the easiest opponent on the top-10. I also think that Allans chances of winning a fight like this is quite reasonable. An on the other hand, if Allan cant win a fight like this, he doesn't deserve to be a mandatory challenger with the IBF. A dream fight for Evans Ashira would be against WBC champion Javier Castillejo. I think that Evans has a real good chance of beating Castillejo, and thereby becoming world champion." Anita Christensen has got what it takes to be the Champion of the world, no doubt about that. Christian Bladt can be a big hit, if he want it him self, he is a great fighter, but I don't have a certain opponent to wish for, not yet.

DJ: Do you like to humiliate your friends, in various sports?

BM: "What do you mean? Oh, you are thinking about the foot-tennis that we play on my back-lawn. Well, you know, sometimes one of these young kids gets to much confidence. That also happened to Allan Vester. He quickly came down to earth after the trainer humiliated the student with a score that I have promised not to tell anybody."

DJ: What is your opinion of the way that the Danish TV2 covers boxing in general?

BM: "It would of course be better if they could air all the fights from our shows, but they can't fill an entire evening with boxing, so it is okay that they show around two hours every time, I guess. I think that they're advertisement for the shows are shown way to late. I think that if they started the trailers on Monday to advertise the boxing that is being shown on Friday/Saturday, people would have a better chance of planning an evening in front of the TV."

DJ: Do you have any comments regarding the feud between Vester and Palle?

BM: "I have always been of the opinion that you shouldn't bother your self with the other guys stable. I think that you should only mind your own business, and concentrate on all the talent that is available. And there is plenty in both stables."

DJ: How many amateur fights did you have, and which medals did you win?

BM: "12 fights, 10 wins, 2 losses, 9 Ko's. I won a gold medal in Haderslev Box Cup in 1992 and I became Jutlandic super-heavyweight Champion in 1995."

DJ: Howe come you never turned pro?

BM: "I hadn't had that many fights, so I was never anywhere near a pro career. Way to many injuries in my knees made it impossible to box an entire season without breaks."

DJ: What is the most positive thing that has happened in Danish Pro boxing?

BM: "That we have more than one promoter now, and that I have been employed as a trainer."

DJ: What is the most negative thing then?

BM: "In my opinion, there is too many ridiculous "world titles". I do think that the Intercontinental/International titles are okay. In the four big organizations that is. They put the fighters on the rankings and you can start "climbing" from there. If all the talk about bribery and fixed fights are true (which I would prefer to think it is not) it would be a huge scandal and more destructive to the sport than anything else."

DJ: Racheed Lawal, who was your good friend, got killed doing his job as a bouncer. Do people often get provoked if they are known as somebody connected to boxing?

BM: "Ups! You hit a sore spot there! And now it was going so well too! It does happen that people gets drunk and feels the need to show off to they're friends, and therefore provokes someone that they know is a well known boxing personality. But Racheed was never provoked, and for the same reason: he was a boxer. People knew him and knew that he was a quiet and nice guy. It is obvious that working as a bouncer is a risky job, and what happened four years ago, when we lost Racheed, might have been connected to the fact that he was a famous boxer. These people knew that they wouldn't stand a chance, if they had to deal with him in a fair fight. So one of these cowards used dirty tricks and stabbed my dear friend Racheed in the heart."

DJ: We know that you often logs on to our homepage www.danish-boxing.dk. What is your opinion of it?

BM: "It is alright. I check it out every night before I go to bed, and I think that the forum is interesting. It is unbelievable what people knows about things that happens "behind the curtains". I have to say, though, that most of it is pure guessing."

By Dan Jensen for www.danish-boxing.dk (Closed)