Blake Caparello: “If I hit Sergey Kovalev and hurt him early, I’ll take him out!”

I recently had a chance to speak with former IBO champion and current light heavyweight contender, Blake ‘Il Capo’ Caparello, ahead of the biggest task of his career. Caparello will be stepping up to fight for the WBO light heavyweight title against unbeaten Sergey Kovalev on August 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The fight is going to be shown as part of a HBO double header. Topics discussed in the interview include, Caparello’s entrance into boxing, his scheduled match with Kovalev, Hopkins vs. Stevenson, Mayweather-Maidana rematch, and much more. Here is what Blake Caparello had to say.

Robert Brown: Can you tell the fans a little about how you got into boxing?

Blake Caparello: I started about eight years ago. I’ve always enjoyed watching boxing as a kid. I was playing AFL football at the time and my mate leaped in the ropes from a boxing gym where my trainer Samuel Labruna used to own. I thought I’d wander in and give it a crack — I told them I wanted to fight, so he took me under his wing and here we are seven and a half years later, fighting for the WBO title against the best in the world.

Robert Brown: You’re fighting the Russian killing machine, Sergey Kovalev. What are your thoughts about the fight coming up?

Blake Caparello: I’m very, very confident. I was very excited when I heard we got the contract and we knuckled down straight away. Obviously Kovalev has been a champion for a while now, so we’ve always been looking at him, we always look at the top fighters. We’ve been studying him day in and day out now, we’re working very hard.

Robert Brown: You had one fight in the US against Elvir Muriqi on ESPN. Do you think your bouts with Muriqi and Allan Green have given you enough experience to handle Kovalev?

Blake Caparello: Yeah definitely. Every opponent brings something different, they’re two totally different fighters compared to Kovalev. We’re sparred the best: Pascal, Eleider Alvarez, Andrzej Fonfara. We’re preparing hard — we actually sparred a guy that fought Kovalev in the amateurs, Artur Beterbiev, he’s a tough man himself. We’re well prepared now. We can only go there, give it our best and we’ll come home with the victory. We got game plans intact and bring it on.

Robert Brown: Kovalev’s last half dozen opponents haven’t gone into the second half of the fight — with the exception of Cedric Agnew. Is that your plan to take him into deep water?

Blake Caparello: You can’t look at it like that — that he hasn’t been into deep water — I know he trains for twelve rounds. If he’s fighting a twelve rounder, he’ll be sparring twelve rounds. Obviously I’ve been to the deep water and I’d like to get rid of him early. If we can get rid of him early, if I hurt him early, I’ll take him out early. I’ve got the experience in the twelve rounds, so we’ll see what happens on the night.

Robert Brown: You have 6 wins by KO, do think you have the pop to take him out early?

Blake Caparello: I know I got the pop — obviously it doesn’t show on my record, but I’m working even harder. I’m working on my strength and conditioning even more and if I hit him and hurt him early, I’ll take him out.

Robert Brown: Why did you go after this fight? Why are you so confident you can beat Kovalev?

Blake Caparello: My management — Sam Labruna and Brendan Bourke — were looking through the WBO ratings and they were looking at Thomas Williams Jr, a guy that was number seven. We spoke to the WBO and they told us that Kovalev was looking for an opponent, so we got on the phone with our promoter Lou Dibella, and we got him to take the fight. If he’s the best, we’re very confident in our skill. We know we train hard, we work hard, and that’s what you gotta do. You gotta fight the best to be the best.

Robert Brown: Daniel Geale is fighting who most people consider the best middleweight in the world, Gennady Golovkin. How do you feel about Geale’s chances?

Blake Caparello: Daniel Geale, I’m sure he’s working hard as well. Golovkin is probably the same as Kovalev in the middleweight division — big puncher. I’m sure Daniel and his team, I’m sure they’re working on several game plans as well. He’s gotta be careful of the power, like I do, and he’s gotta keep that defense tight and just keep attacking.

Robert Brown: Do you think Geale has a chance?

Blake Caparello: Of course he’s got a chance. I’m sure he wouldn’t have taken the fight if he didn’t think he had a chance. He’s won a world title before, so hopefully Daniel and his team can bring home the world title and a week later we’ll back it up.

Robert Brown: Your division is a talent stacked division. It looks like Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson will match up in Canada. How do you see that fight playing out?

Blake Caparello: Everyone knows Bernard is a very smart fighter, and I’m sure he will try to frustrate Adonis. Adonis has the power to stop a lot of people, so it’s gonna be a tough one to call.

Robert Brown: If you get past Kovalev, would you be aiming to unify the light heavyweight division and fight those guys?

Blake Caparello: That’s the plan. We want to unify all the belts. Whoever is the best out there, we want to fight them.

Robert Brown: Which fighters do you watch as a fan?

Blake Caparello: I like Floyd Mayweather, he’s a very defensive and smart fighter. Bernard Hopkins is another one, I like his ring knowledge, I like the fact that he uses boxing smarts. I like those sorts of guys.

Robert Brown: Floyd Mayweather will be fighting Marcos Maidana in a rematch. How do you see that fight going?

Blake Caparello: I think the rematch will be a lot easier victory for Mayweather. I think he’ll just box. I think he’ll box a lot smarter and he’ll move more. He probably won’t sit on the ropes as much for Maidana. He’ll use his jab and counterpunching. I think it will be a total shutout.

Robert Brown: Good luck in your fight with Kovalev. No one can accuse you of not taking on the best fighter available.

Blake Caparello: Thanks for having me on. I’ll bring home the WBO title for Australia. I’m on Twitter, @BlakeCaparello, same as Instagram and Facebook. I got a website www.blakecaparello.com. Get on board, follow me, I won’t disappoint.

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Watch Blake Caparello fight for the WBO title against Sergey Kovalev, Saturday, August 2 on HBO World Championship Boxing