GARY SHAW: "I FEEL BADLY BECAUSE BROCK COULD'VE BEEN A STAR AND HE RUINED HIM!"

Boxing promoter and EliteXC President Gary Shaw talks about this weekend's eagerly anticipated mixed martial arts clash between Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott as well upcoming boxing fights like Vazquez-Marquez III, Dawson-Johnson and Tarver-Woods. You don't want to miss what he had to say as he shares his thoughts Dana White, Brock Lesnar's recent loss to Frank Mir, Gina Carano, Roy Jones Jr. and much more.

PC: I call you the busiest man in the fight game. So how is the busiest man doing?

GS: Everything is going great and between mixed martial arts and boxing, I am very busy.

PC: How do you manage both sports and still afford to get sleep at night?

GS: I don't get much sleep. I sleep about 2 hours a day and the rest of the time, I work. I'm working most of the time and I have people in different parts of the United States so somewhere along those lines, someone is up with me.

PC: Is the appeal for the Darchinyan fight still ongoing?

GS: Yeah, we're waiting to hear from the IBF right now. I'm hopeful that they will make Darchinyan the mandatory for Kirilov.

PC: You also have Marquez-Vazquez 3 coming up?

GS: Yes, March 1st we have Marquez-Vazquez and then April 12th, I have Tarver against Clinton Woods and Dawson against Glen Johnson so it should be real busy times.

PC: Do you expect anything different in Marquez-Vazquez 3 from the previous two fights?

GS: No, it will be the same as 1 and 2. They will come to the middle of the ring and whoever makes the first mistake, losses!

PC: In April, as you said, your young gun Chad Dawson is fighting Glen Johnson. If he's successful and Tarver is successful against Woods, is that the likely match-up we'll see?

GS: I would hope so. We still have Diaconu out there.

PC: Is Diaconu a mandatory?

GS: Yes he is!

PC: Roy Jones recently came out and said that Dawson, Hopkins and Tarver wouldn't be fighting on free TV if they were fighting him. What do you say in response to that?

GS: I think Roy is just talking smack. If Roy is the man, let him go in against Chad Dawson. I say that fight doesn't last 5 rounds.

PC: What did you think of Jones' performance against Felix Trinidad?

GS: I think he fought someone that hasn't fought in 2 years that didn't fight at the right weight so to me, it was a no-fight. The only thing that I congratulate Roy on is that he did good pay-per-view numbers. On that end, congratulations!

PC: Are you pleased with the progress and the maturation of Chad Dawson to this point?

GS: Oh yeah! I think Chad is one of the best light heavyweights in the world. I think he is right up there with Antonio Tarver and it should be a great night on April 12th, but if Roy thinks he could fight anybody, let him either call out Tarver or call out Chad Dawson.

PC: This weekend, we have "Cage Tested Street Certified" which is a really good card. Can you tell us a little bit about the action on that card?

GS: Sure. It's "Cage Tested Street Certified" and it's Tank Abbot against Kimbo Slice and Kimbo is the great Youtube sensation. We have "Bigfoot" Silva, someone who I think is the single best heavyweight in the world. "Bigfoot" Silva is just tremendous and when he gets in there, I don't think there is a heavyweight in the world that can beat him. And of course everyone knows about Kimbo Slice, the Youtube sensation.

PC: You also have 2 great athletes in Edson Berto and Yves Edwards going at it.

GS: I think that's a very tough fight. It will be very interesting to see who could win that. Obviously, Edson Berto is the brother of Andre Berto the boxer so it's going to be very interesting. Yves Edwards is very fast and he's coming out of Texas off of a big win and that should be a very exciting fight.

PC: James Thompson is also making his EliteXC debut. What are you looking for out of him?

GS: He's looking for an upset and he's thinking maybe he's faster, but he's in for a real tough fight. It could be a short night for him if he's not careful.

PC: Could you update us on Gina Carano's situation? I know she's doing American Gladiator's right now.

GS: Yeah, she's doing American Gladiator and she wants to do that for a year or two. We're in a contractual discussion with her so that will just have to wait for right now.

PC: I know you and Dana White have been going back and fourth. He recently said Kimbo would get hurt in the UFC. What are your thoughts on that and Brock Lesnar's fight?

GS: I like Brock, but it just shows that Dana doesn't know what he's doing. Every time he signs someone, they get beat right away. I guess if you want to get beat right away, you should go to the UFC. It's like I said all along, Dana didn't invent mixed martial arts, he doesn't own the best fighters in the world and he doesn't have the best fights in the world. He should come down and look at our show, although I'm sure he watches them free on Showtime. I feel badly because Brock could've been a star and he ruined him right off of the bat. It was a bad match-up.

PC: I understand you guys are heading back to Hawaii in April. What is the reception like when you guys go over there for mixed martial arts?

GS: Oh, it's tremendous. Everywhere we go we get a tremendous reception. We just signed Phil Baroni and he will be fighting for an Icon title so we're real excited. We have Frank Shamrock going to fight Cung Le and that's us and Strikeforce doing a show together so I hope Dana White has got some good seats and some popcorn to watch some great fights.

PC: I know when I spoke to you when you first got into mixed martial arts, you said that you would like to work with other organizations and make great fights. That's coming to fruition for you it appears?

GS: Yes, we believe in working with other organizations because that's the best way to put on great fights and that way, the fans, at the end of the day, are the recipient of all of the hard work.

PC: I know you're a busy man. I appreciate your time my man. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

GS: No, just thanks so much Percy. Thanks for your time, your interest in GSP and EliteXC and we hope to bring you fans some great fights.