On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 Dave Nielsen was interviewed by Muay Thai Authority
Muay Thai Authority, the The #1 Muay Thai and Kickboxing website for news, media, interviews and photography interviewed American Boxing’s Coach Dave Nielsen regarding his upcoming bout with Ryan Madigan. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Read the full interview here
MTA: Dave you have a big fight coming up against Ryan Madigan. How familiar are you with Ryan?
Dave: To be honest, I was unfamiliar with him until the WCK threw his name out as my new opponent. I, of course, looked him up online and see he’s a UFC guy, quite a good Kickboxer with something like 30 pro fights, holding an IKF East Coast Title and ranked 4th in the World by the ISKA. So, I’m stoked to have the chance to fight him! Can you tell I went to his website? Haha.
MTA: You were originally supposed to fight Fernando Gonzalez; does the switch affect your training in any way?
Dave: A little bit, but not too much. It was more of a psychological adjustment for me. You get your head wrapped around being face to face with one guy for months, then a few weeks out, there’s a new face and body to consider kinda gets in your head… for like a day. 🙂
MTA: Fernando is the WBC national champion at your weight, are you disappointed that it will no longer be a title fight?
Dave: Well, it’s my belief that if you do not fight the champion and take his belt, then you aren’t the champion, so initially, I was not very happy. Believe it or not, my immediate thought was concern for him, like he was injured or something bad (personally) happened. But then, I was told Fernando had gone “missing” for no apparent reason, no injury, no nothing, he knew the fight was happening months ago, agreed to it and now a few weeks out, he won’t call the promoter or anyone back. He simply comments on a Facebook post that he won’t be fighting. Fernando won the vacant belt and has never defended it. In the first title defense of his belt, he backed out at the “last minute” without any reason and simply disappears by all accounts. Nobody that deserves a WBC belt and of course respects the art and sport of Muay Thai is going to disrespect the fans, the promoter and their opponent that way. As Dennis Warner the WCK representative has explained to me, the WBC feels similarly and has stripped him of the belt, I’m told it is now vacant and Ryan and I will be making this a true National Title and really, a Super Fight of Kickboxing vs. Muay Thai on August 18th!