Steve Claggett will defend his NABF welterweight title at the Montreal Casino on Tuesday, but that’s not his main concern.
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“I am closer to my goal than ever. I want to be the first boxer from Calgary to become world champion,” said the 34-year-old pugilist.
Claggett (36-7-2, 25 KOs) is the 15th ranked WBC contender and a stunning win over Mexico’s Miguel Madueno (30-1-0, 28 KOs) on Tuesday could help him advance.
“I absolutely have to do my best and put on a good show. “Sometimes things happen because of that,” he agrees.
Here to win
On paper, Madueno looks formidable with his near-flawless record and all but two of his wins by knockout, but Claggett isn’t impressed.
“I know he’s strong because he has a lot of knockouts, and I mean no disrespect to him, but a lot of his opponents are just that, opponents.
“If you look at their record, I think some of these guys went against him knowing they were going to lose. As for me, I don’t remember ever having faced such opponents. I faced guys who came to win against me.”
And Claggett wants to show that, unlike many boxers Madueno has faced in the past, he is not an opponent.
“I know he will have momentum because of his record which gives him confidence, but it is a different fight to the ones he has had in the past. I’m not just here to put on a good show, I’m here to win.”
Advocacy
There is a myth in the world of boxing about the perfect record, but boxers who have achieved this feat are rare. It is the only sport where such perfection is expected. We would never believe that a tennis player would be perfect or that a hockey team would win 82 games in the regular season. Boxing is no different, after most fights there is a winner and a loser.
“A lot of people think it’s important to be undefeated or have a perfect record, and I hate that. What do you do if something doesn’t work out the way you want? Do we give up? NO!
“It’s a sport where you persevere and get back on your feet. You can’t just take your ball and go home sulking.
The Albertan, who sits down in the metropolis before every fight, wants to show that perfection is not important.
“I want to pave the way for fighters who have lost to understand that it is important to persevere. You have to keep trying. You can become champion without being undefeated.”
To be mean
Claggett is one of the nicest and most polite athletes there is, which is contrary to the nature of the sport, which is all about knocking your opponent to the ground with punches.
“I bring the bad guy into the ring and find my balance there,” he says with a slightly embarrassed laugh. I’m a nice boy, but I like to fight.
“I started boxing when I was young because I enjoyed fighting. I’m friendly and I don’t want to hurt anyone outside the ring.”
This is an interesting paradox that he tries to hide by depersonalizing the fight. For him it’s about scoring the goal and not about defeating an opponent.
“It took me a while to accept this duality,” he admits.