I FIRST met Malik in training camp. He was very young, he kind of reminded me of myself when I was his age, you know, very lanky, still growing, maturing, coming into myself. He definitely had the body type for a great heavyweight. I?ve always said that working with heavyweights ? and somebody better than you ? you have to improve. He was very respectful, wide-eyed and open to learning. It?s not easy being in there with the champ and he did very well. I had a mentor role but we will always be friends because we shared a moment in time; that experience was dear to me. We?re almost brothers in arms because we know the kind of hard work it takes to be a champion.
The moments we shared weren?t all at the top, some moments were low but our spirits were still high, our focus was very, very strong and we proved what can be done; he was along that road with us as we travelled it, dealing with the press not giving us too much of a chance, naysayers, different sparring partner coming into camp. Having the tutelage of even the great Emanuel Steward because Manny would just tell you things and you don?t realise how powerful that information is. I know Malik spoke with him a lot of times, especially when I was getting my hands wrapped, and you can?t fail to benefit from that experience.
When Malik first came into the gym his punches were really wide and he was telegraphing his punches a little bit, but by the end of it he definitely realised you can?t show somebody punches coming, and his punches definitely straightened up. He wanted to learn everything he could; he wasn?t a guy who thought he knew it all, he was a great student. I haven?t seen him lately and I know he?s been out for three years, but he definitely has that championship quality to him.
