Ken Shamrock Discusses Pro Wrestling, Kimbo Slice, His Recent Win-Loss Record and More!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 10.03.2008
Ken Shamrock speaks before his battle with Kimbo Slice!
Credit: Between The Ropes
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060
Simulcast online at BetweenTheRopes.com
On Tuesday night, September 30, MMA legend Ken Shamrock joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci live on Between The Ropes on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 to discuss his Elite XC main event fight with Kimbo Slice, how he hypes fights, his time in professional wrestling and how it hurt his family, and much more.
The interview started out with Ken being asked about why he is so talented at building up and hyping his fights. "That's just me, that's my character. I find something that irritates me about somebody and I try to dig on them about it. I guess that generates into some good viewing, but it gets me ready for a fight."
Ken then talked about his training and preparation for his fight with Kimbo. He said that over the past 4 or 5 years he hasn't been able to get away from injuries during training, but in the lead up to this fight he feels good and sees good things coming his way. As for preparing for Kimbo he said that focusing too much on what Kimbo looked like against James Thompson could get him in trouble since obviously Kimbo and his trainers have seen those issues and fixed them. "I look for Kimbo to come in there and be ready to fight and nothing less than that."
Ken said he thinks that the biggest thing he has to watch out for is Kimbo's punches: "You can't get lazy on him, because if you do it could be a short night. I'm not taking this thing lightly. I'm going into this thing with the attitude that I've got to take this fight to him and not let him get off."
Ken's win loss record has taken a hit of late and as a result Ken admitted that he deserves to be the underdog after his last couple of performances. He then said that after he beats Kimbo his career will be rejuvenated and he doesn't want to hear any excuses about Kimbo's inexperience since he hasn't ducked criticisms over his recent performances.
The topic of Kimbo's unconventional rise to fame came up and Ken mentioned his own early fighting experience in pools and toughman competitions and how it differs from a sanctioned fight. Ken went on to comment that "you can't hate somebody that went out there and did something outside the box and made the best of it. I take my hat off to him. Hey, great job man, he took something and made the best of it…but this is my time now. I'm going to go in there and set things right. I'm hungry, I want to get back in the game, and Kimbo is in my way and he's going to have to be taken out of my way."
The interview wrapped up with Ken discussing his time as a professional wrestler. "I had a good run there for about a year and a half, then I got caught up in the road game. I didn't know what day was what and I finally made a decision that I had to get out of there or I was going to lose my family. My kids were going to grow up and not know who there dad was…It cost me my first marriage…It really hurt so I decided it wasn't the kind of life I wanted to live. If I was going to do it again I would make sure it was a controlled venue where I wouldn't be traveling 290 days a year."
To listen to the entire Ken Shamrock interview including how well he thinks his fight with Kimbo will do in the ratings and whether he's interested in training other fighters at the moment, as well as the entire September 30th edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. In addition to listening to this week's show you can become a site member and access hundreds of previous Between The Ropes shows and interviews. Join us for Between The Ropes for two hours every Tuesday night at 6:00pm ET on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.
