Interview Dated August 2004

Malcolm Tann

Malcolm Tann could be the next heavyweight contender to come out of Houston. At 6'6, 232 lbs, On August 19th, Tann knocked out Andrew Greeley in the second round.,as the headliner on the Browning Boxing 8th Anniversary Card at Reliant Park Plaza in Houston. His record is now 11-1 with 6 KO's. Currently living in San Antonio, the 25-year-old plans on moving to Houston in the Fall. I caught up with him prior to the weigh-in the day before the fight.

HBScene - Where are you from originally?

MT - Seaboard, North Carolina.

HBScene - How'd you first get into boxing?

MY - I got into boxing in the United States Air Force. It was a couple of guys with some gloves and they said "Hey, let's go into the dayroom and see who's like the king of the hall". We went in there and I started dropping everybody and boom, there you have it. (Laughs)

HBScene - So than after you got out of the Air Force you turned pro right away?

MT - I had 71 amateur fights while I was in the Air Force. I won the National Golden Gloves. That was my last tournament as an amateur in 2002 and I turned pro three months later.

HBScene - You've got a great reach on most of the guys you fight probably.

MT - Definitely and that's a real big advantage for me. Sometimes I don't use that because I like to be a crowd-pleasing fighter, I like to get in there and mix it up but now I'm starting to use my reach more and catch guys at the end of my punch.

HBScene - Who'd you lose to?

MT - Willie Chapman. It was a controversial loss to me but I came back this year on June 4th and got that win back.

HBScene - So you got some revenge. That must've felt pretty good.

MT - Oh, man it felt good. It's not like winning the world championship but I knew I was the better fighter so I kind of vindicated myself.

HBScene - So you're thinking about moving to Houston.

MT - Definitely. San Antonio's a good city but it's a city for little fighters. I'm going to come out to Houston, they've got a bigger boxing scene and more heavyweights than in San Antonio.

HBScene--What do you know about Andrew Greeley?

MT - I don't know too much about him. They kind of got the guy on short notice because a couple of opponents pulled out of the fight so they had to slam to try to get this guy but I'm just going to go in there and feel him out the first couple of rounds and then try and take care of business.

HBScene - What's next for you?

MT - I have a fight scheduled the first week in October with an undefeated fighter, Jason Gavin and it should be on Fox. I should be headlining that show, televised on Fox. The location hasn't been determined.

HBscene - In another interview you acknowledged that you wanted to develop yourself for a year or two before you started fighting the top guys.

MT - I definitely want to go to these guys' camps right now and spar with them, see how they train, see how they got to the point to where they're world champions and then it'll be Malcolm Tann time.

HBscene - Is there anybody that influenced you as a fighter?

MT - As a kid I saw a lot of Sugar Ray Leonard. I saw it on television and that was really good. It stuck in my head. I always wanted to fight but in my area in North Carolina that I grew up in there wasn't boxing so I had to play other sports and that's why I didn't start boxing until I went into the Air Force in '96.

HBscene - Is there anybody that you think looks especially good as a heavyweight right now?

MT - I like Chris Byrd's style. A lot of people might say he pecks but I've been in training camp with him and I know his shots aren't pecking at all. He has a lot of technique and he's very crafty in the ring.

HBscene - What'd you think of that Tyson fight?

MT - The Tyson fight was a real shocker to me. I was hoping Tyson would go in there and take care of business but it looked like after the knee buckled and went out he couldn't hurt the guy any more and then I thought when they stopped the fight it was just more on him, he was like "I'll get him another day.

HBscene - So we're going to he hearing from Malcolm Tann coming down the line.

MT - Definitely. There's big and better things for me. I'm coming and I'm going to take this heavyweight division by storm.