Artur Szpilka: Wilder Won't Talk No More Sh*t After Saturday

By Jake Donovan

Artur Szpilka did his best to arrive incognito prior to his open workout session at the famed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York. There’s no such luck for the easily identifiable Polish heavyweight, who has managed to capture nearly as much attention as his upcoming opponent, unbeaten heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder, whom he faces this Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

It’s a good problem to have, except when all you want to do is sneak behind a closed door and change into your workout gear.

“They want (to ask questions) already; I thought I was here to work out,” Szpilka (20-1, 15KOs) quips. The heavily tattooed heavyweight is quickly rescued by the no-nonsense staff at Swanson Communications, who inform the train wreck-obsessed collection of boxing “media” that his workout and Q&A sessions will begin when scheduled and not a moment sooner.

Capturing a tranquil moment for the first time since arriving in New York, the heavyweight contender is able to sit back – and let loose.

“This guy Wilder, all he does is talk s***, talk s***, talk s***,” Szpilka tells BoxingScene.com, repeating the point for emphasis ahead of Saturday’s title fight, which airs live on Showtime as part of its free-preview weekend (Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT). “So of course everybody wants me to talk sh*t back to him, but I’m not going to do that.

“When somebody talks sh*t, like this (former heavyweight champ Shannon) Briggs with his “Let’s Go Champ!” stuff, it’s just bulls***, so everybody thinks it’s funny. This guy (Wilder) – I’m not going to talk sh*t to him. He’s heavyweight champion and I respect him. I’m going to beat him in the ring. He don’t talk any more sh*t after (Saturday night).”

The odds suggest that Szpilka – born and raised in Poland but who trains at Ronnie Shield’s Plex Boxing Gym in Houston - is a long shot to silence the mouth that roars.

For as much as Wilder likes to talk – about anything, both friendly conversation and in the realm of smack talk – he’s backed up every spoken word to date. He let his fists do the talking when his country relied upon him as the last hope for the United States to earn at least one medal in claiming the bronze during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

To date, he’s the last American male boxer to the leave the Olympics with hardware of any kind. His broad shoulders were once again tapped by his nation of supporters in becoming the first American boxer since 2007 to lay claim to a heavyweight title after upending Bermane Stiverne in 12 largely one-sided rounds of action.

The fight took place exactly this time last year, with Wilder aiming to make the third defense of his title. He’s scored knockout wins over Eric Molina and Johann Duhaupas, both taking place in his home state of Alabama. The victory over Molina was the first-ever heavyweight title to take place in the state, yet another first in the career of Wilder.

Now it is Szpilka whose shoulder is tapped for the sake of nationalistic pride. Never before has a heavyweight from Poland captured a heavyweight title. In recent times, countrymen Andrew Golota and Tomasz Adamek have tried and failed. Golota came up short in four separate title bids, while Adamek was routed in his Sept. ’11 title fight versus Vitali Klitschko.

Oddly enough a strange changing of the guard occurred with each of the three Polish heavyweights. Golota largely built his brand on the U.S. circuit before being cashed out in a loss to Adamek in an all-Polish heavyweight fight that served as the richest of its kind in the nation’s history. Adamek – already a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ – went on to contend for the title.

A second effort to climb back to the top was met with a clear-cut loss to Vyacheslav Glazkov, an unbeaten Ukraine who also appears on Saturday’s show, facing undefeated American southpaw Charles Martin in a vacant title fight.

Following the loss to Glazkov, Adamek returned home in efforts to rebuild. Szpilka had the very same thoughts, as was he smarting from the lone loss of his career, a 10th round stoppage at the hands of Bryant Jennings in Jan. ’14. He’s done nothing but win ever since, four straight including his career turnaround in effectively ending Adamek’s day as a top contender following a Nov. ’14 decision win.

A stay-busy knockout win over Yasmany Conseugra last summer was to pave the way for a mouthwatering showdown with Amir Mansour last December. The bout was ultimately canceled, with both fighters going their separate ways. Mansour will face Dominic Breazeale later this month, by which time his previously scheduled foe expects to have made boxing history.

“This is a very important fight for me, to make history for Poland,” Szpilka insists, though not to the point of stressing out over the moment. “But you know what; I still go in with nothing to lose. This guy, he has to win. So… he has everything to lose, if you think about it. Me, there’s no pressure. I have nothing to lose.”

But surely it has to mean something, much more than a fight in which he has nothing to lose.

“Well, let me ask you,” Szpilka poses to BoxingScene.com in answering a question with a question no other fighter would ever dream to ask. “The first time you f***, what did it mean? You f*** for the first time, it meant everything to you, no? Well, for me it’s the same feeling I have about this.

“That’s what this fight means to me, it means everything because it begins what I want to do in my career. I don’t just want to make history with this fight. I want to become the fighter that, long after I’m dead, my kids, my grandkids, everyone will be talking about the mark I left on the sport.”

No amount of talk – not even from someone with natural wit in two languages – will produce that amount of history. So while the charismatic heavyweight will continue to play out the string during fight week, the loudest statement he plans to make will come in between the ropes.

His hope is that his opponent would resign to the same level of conduct, but that ship has long sailed. So now, all he can do is hope to command the same (if not an even greater) level of attention as has been the case throughout fight week. Whereas the media has sought sound bites for the past several days, the heavyweight hopeful wants to give the boxing world plenty to talk about on Saturday and beyond – everyone, but Wilder.

“Deontay Wilder, he’s heavyweight champ. This is going to be a tough fight, he’s a tough fighter and wouldn’t be champion if he wasn’t,” Szpilka acknowledges. “But you know, when someone talks that much bulls***, you start to wonder why.

“I know he’s a great fighter, this great American heavyweight champion, you know? So that’s why I train hard for this fight. Everybody they want me to talk. F*** that. I just train instead. I train my f***in’ ass off for this fight.”

Enough said.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox