&A: Chauncy Welliver
By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing
Photo: Dave Cameron
Former WBO-rated American heavyweight Chauncy “The Hillyard Hammer” Welliver (55-10-5, 22 KOs) talks to Fightnews.com about his January 31st showdown against Rugby Union and Rugby League football star Sonny Bill Williams (6-0, 3 KOs) at the All Phones Arena in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Welliver says he is very confident of victory and also mentions that Williams’ best win over Frans Botha only happened because the South African was past his best. The American says that IBF #5, WBC #5,WBA #5 Lucas Browne who defeated him recently should get a world title shot and that he regards his own win over Lawrence Taussa as his best victory.
![[Image: chauncy-300-400.jpg]](http://fightnews.com/Boxing/chauncy-300-400.jpg)
You are scheduled to clash with Sonny Bill Williams in Sydney over ten rounds on January 31. He’s had only six professional fights but holds a win over former world champ Frans Botha. Have you seen the Williams vs. Botha fight. Your thoughts?
I have watched it and must say I was impressed with Sonny Bill Williams in that fight for being so green and fighting an old pro so good, but the key word in all that is old. Botha five years prior mops the floor with Sonny Bill Williams.
You have won 55 fights from 70 ring outings and you have boxed at world class level. Are you confident of victory?
1000%. I’ve taken a few fights this past year with little to no training. I will give team SBW that, they had the honor to give me time to get ready.
In your most recent fights you weighed in 137kg (300lbs plus). Do you expect to be lighter for the January 31 fight?
Much. As I said, I’ve been unmotivated boxing lately and have done zero training in the last few years. My weight is dropping as we speak and though I won’t be close to what I was in 2012, I’ll be a great weight for this late stage of my life.
You dropped a decision to world rated Alexander Ustinov in your most recent bout but were stopped by highly ranked Lucas Browne. Your thoughts on Ustinov and Browne. How good are they? Can they win world titles?
It’s so hard to gauge how good they are with how bad of shape I showed up in but I can say this… for Browne I at least had about 10 days to train, Ustinov, 0. Even with no training I went the rounds with Ustinov. I think Lucas is the better fighter between the two. I can see both getting title shots as they both have great teams behind them. Ustinov has Vlad Hrunov who knows how to move a guy to the top. Browne has a “Dream Team” behind him with Fenech, Hatton, Fondu and Matt Clark. Gonna be fun watching his progression.
You have been a sparring partner to Wladimir Klitschko and it was reported you gave him some difficult days in the gym. Any other big name heavyweights you worked with?
I was in with Tyson years ago. Here’s a few more. David Tua, Shane Cameron, Juan Carlos Gomez, Shannon Briggs and countless other champions and Olympians.
Juan Carlos Gomez was the best I’ve been in with by far, but, there was one training camp I went to with Shane Cameron. He was supposed to fight Kelvin Davis that fight. That was the best fighter ever. Shane had me telling myself, ‘screw this! I’m not coming back tomorrow.’ Haha. Thankfully I did and we had many more sessions.
You hold wins over Bert Cooper, Rob Calloway, Billy Zumbrun and King Ipitan. Who do you regard as your best win?
My best win in my mind was Lawrence Tauasa. A year before we fought I said “HELL NO” to fighting him. He is a slickster and hard to catch. A nightmare for anybody. I had a fight in China and my opponent fell through. I had been training awesome and would have fought anybody this night. Lawrence’s name came up and I knew it would be great timing, hopefully he was sitting on the couch. Haha. So we accepted and I got the win.
You made your professional debut at 18 years of age in 2001 scoring a KO win in your hometown in Washington. Did you box as an amateur? Did you come from a boxing family?
I had 84 rights in the unpaid ranks. Good success but no great opposition to brag up. As for family, yes, my brother Dewey was a great talent, 1998 international junior Olympic champ! Dewey was/is my hero. He pushed me to be my best.
Are you currently living in New Zealand where you have had several fights?
I’m in America now. Running a very successful boxing/fitness gym in my hometown, Spokane, Washington. My wife and I have been talking about moving to New Zealand in the next few years. My dreamland. We’ll see.
What would you like to say to your fans reading on Fightnews?
Please watch January 31. Don’t let looks be deceiving. I am a fat guy but can go rounds. I’m ready for 4-6-8-1000 rounds of boxing. This fight is the biggest I’ve had due to his fame and one thing I can assure, in training and the fight, you will get my 100%!
By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing
Photo: Dave Cameron
Former WBO-rated American heavyweight Chauncy “The Hillyard Hammer” Welliver (55-10-5, 22 KOs) talks to Fightnews.com about his January 31st showdown against Rugby Union and Rugby League football star Sonny Bill Williams (6-0, 3 KOs) at the All Phones Arena in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Welliver says he is very confident of victory and also mentions that Williams’ best win over Frans Botha only happened because the South African was past his best. The American says that IBF #5, WBC #5,WBA #5 Lucas Browne who defeated him recently should get a world title shot and that he regards his own win over Lawrence Taussa as his best victory.
You are scheduled to clash with Sonny Bill Williams in Sydney over ten rounds on January 31. He’s had only six professional fights but holds a win over former world champ Frans Botha. Have you seen the Williams vs. Botha fight. Your thoughts?
I have watched it and must say I was impressed with Sonny Bill Williams in that fight for being so green and fighting an old pro so good, but the key word in all that is old. Botha five years prior mops the floor with Sonny Bill Williams.
You have won 55 fights from 70 ring outings and you have boxed at world class level. Are you confident of victory?
1000%. I’ve taken a few fights this past year with little to no training. I will give team SBW that, they had the honor to give me time to get ready.
In your most recent fights you weighed in 137kg (300lbs plus). Do you expect to be lighter for the January 31 fight?
Much. As I said, I’ve been unmotivated boxing lately and have done zero training in the last few years. My weight is dropping as we speak and though I won’t be close to what I was in 2012, I’ll be a great weight for this late stage of my life.
You dropped a decision to world rated Alexander Ustinov in your most recent bout but were stopped by highly ranked Lucas Browne. Your thoughts on Ustinov and Browne. How good are they? Can they win world titles?
It’s so hard to gauge how good they are with how bad of shape I showed up in but I can say this… for Browne I at least had about 10 days to train, Ustinov, 0. Even with no training I went the rounds with Ustinov. I think Lucas is the better fighter between the two. I can see both getting title shots as they both have great teams behind them. Ustinov has Vlad Hrunov who knows how to move a guy to the top. Browne has a “Dream Team” behind him with Fenech, Hatton, Fondu and Matt Clark. Gonna be fun watching his progression.
You have been a sparring partner to Wladimir Klitschko and it was reported you gave him some difficult days in the gym. Any other big name heavyweights you worked with?
I was in with Tyson years ago. Here’s a few more. David Tua, Shane Cameron, Juan Carlos Gomez, Shannon Briggs and countless other champions and Olympians.
Juan Carlos Gomez was the best I’ve been in with by far, but, there was one training camp I went to with Shane Cameron. He was supposed to fight Kelvin Davis that fight. That was the best fighter ever. Shane had me telling myself, ‘screw this! I’m not coming back tomorrow.’ Haha. Thankfully I did and we had many more sessions.
You hold wins over Bert Cooper, Rob Calloway, Billy Zumbrun and King Ipitan. Who do you regard as your best win?
My best win in my mind was Lawrence Tauasa. A year before we fought I said “HELL NO” to fighting him. He is a slickster and hard to catch. A nightmare for anybody. I had a fight in China and my opponent fell through. I had been training awesome and would have fought anybody this night. Lawrence’s name came up and I knew it would be great timing, hopefully he was sitting on the couch. Haha. So we accepted and I got the win.
You made your professional debut at 18 years of age in 2001 scoring a KO win in your hometown in Washington. Did you box as an amateur? Did you come from a boxing family?
I had 84 rights in the unpaid ranks. Good success but no great opposition to brag up. As for family, yes, my brother Dewey was a great talent, 1998 international junior Olympic champ! Dewey was/is my hero. He pushed me to be my best.
Are you currently living in New Zealand where you have had several fights?
I’m in America now. Running a very successful boxing/fitness gym in my hometown, Spokane, Washington. My wife and I have been talking about moving to New Zealand in the next few years. My dreamland. We’ll see.
What would you like to say to your fans reading on Fightnews?
Please watch January 31. Don’t let looks be deceiving. I am a fat guy but can go rounds. I’m ready for 4-6-8-1000 rounds of boxing. This fight is the biggest I’ve had due to his fame and one thing I can assure, in training and the fight, you will get my 100%!