The Drill Speaks – Part I

On fighting Vanda and on Walters

By: Laura Zink

Photo: SnapLocally.com

Just when the pre-promotion machine began to pick up steam, the insults and challenges began to fly, and Minnesota fight fans almost banked on the fact that Phil “The Drill” Williams and Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters would finally meet, the winds of Minnesota match-ups suddenly shifted and set “The Drill” out into very different waters. Just after Walters knocked out “Jammin” James Morrow on June 18^th 2009, Williams was offered something that he just couldn’t refuse – a fight against Matt “The Predator” Vanda. Not only was he getting the opportunity to challenge one of Minnesota’s best known fighters, he was going to be able take the challenge in front of 1,000’s of fans as the main event of the Midwest Sports Council’s September 26^th show at the Target Center.

It was an offer that many fans did not expect. For starters, Vanda began his career as a welterweight, and fought most of his best fights at a junior middle or middleweight. Williams, he fought most of his fights at light heavy. Not only that, but whatever happened to the fight with Walters? Williams had been calling Walters out for years, and just when it finally seemed that he was going to get his opportunity to fight him this fall, Williams takes a fight with Vanda instead. What happened? Was Williams running? Or was there another reason this “super fight” isn’t happening? I called up “The Drill” and asked him to tell his side of the story and explain why he was fighting Vanda instead of Walters.

“They [Walters’ team] never contacted me for the fight,” Williams proclaimed, “All they ever contacted me for was to give me opponents. They never wanted to give me him [Walters]. Never ever did they try to contact me for a fight. I would have taken it in a heartbeat.”

“I’ve wanted to fight him since early in my career,” Williams added, ““I called him out first in 07. It was June 15^th. Father’s Day weekend. I called him out right after I beat Brandon Burke. I grabbed the mic and called him out. Jake Wegner was interviewing me in the ring. That’s where it all began. Zach Walters was sitting right in front of me, and I pointed him out and told him to come into the ring. And he didn’t want to come. I called him out at the event in front of the whole crowd, so there wasn’t no secret about it. I called him out in front of everybody…right in front of him. Ever since then, they [Walters’ team] were trying to put me on cards to fight. They always said that I wasn’t ready, wasn’t ready. Well, they should have taken the fight when I ‘wasn’t ready.’ But now, I don’t think they want no part of me because now I can train. I know what it takes to win now.”

And while Minnesota fight fans will always look forward to a good grudge match, Williams believes that they will appreciate his new match up against Vanda for a completely different reason. According to Williams, this bout has nothing to do with rivalries, it has to do with respect.

“Ah man. I always looked up to Vanda,” Williams said, “I still have a ticket stub from when I saw Vanda fight at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in 2005. I’ve always spoken good on him because he takes all the fights, and win or lose he comes back right again and takes the fight. That’s the respect I have for him…because he is in the fight game. The day that they offered me the fight, I jumped on it so fast because I respect Vanda. I want to challenge myself, and I look up to Vanda. That’s the fight I want. This is business.”

And just when was he offered that fight? According to Williams the first time Vanda’s name was ever mentioned to him as a fight opportunity was the same exact time that Walters was clearing his plate of James Morrow at the fight at Grandma’s on June 18^th.

“They [The Midwest Sports Council] brought the contract to me the day of Jungle Boy fought his fight.” Williams said, “I signed it in like 30 minutes. They called me and said, ‘Will you fight Vanda?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ I told him that I don’t turn down fights. They said, ‘You want to fight him at 165?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ I’m down to the weight that I should be at. And after this fight, I’m going to go down to 160 and campaign at middleweight.”

Though Williams signed the contract with no hesitation whatsoever, once the implications of the fight began to sink in, he began to re-evaluate his boxing career and the opportunities this fight could open up for him.

“A while back,” Williams said, “I wasn’t even thinking about fighting Vanda because it was always me and Zach Walters. That’s what I had going on in Minnesota. But when they threw Vanda at me, that really made me think about things. I signed on for the fight first, and then I thought, ‘Wow. This is a really big fight for me. Someone with that much experience and on top of that, he doesn’t get knocked out.’ It will be really interesting for the fans.”

So with old rivalries aside for the time being and new opportunities on the horizon for “The Drill,” how would a win against Vanda change his goals? And would he still be willing to fight Walters?

“I’ll be ready to go national after that,” Williams commented at the idea of a victory over Vanda, “I’ll make him [Walters] chase me. If they [Walter’s team] are ready to give me the right figures, I’ll fight him. But we are gonna have to up the ante now. Now you can’t just pull me into Duluth and offer me anything. He’s gonna have to come to me. We could even fight in the middle. We don’t even have to fight in Minneapolis. We could fight in Hinckley, half-way from the Twin Cities and half-way from there…we can meet in the middle. We can do it like that, but they want to fight it all on their terms. We’re still going to go for it. The only thing is, we don’t have to fight in Duluth anymore. This is business. I don’t even want to talk about it no more. Just sign the contract and fight. Who else is out there for him to fight anyway? Why fight bums when the real fighter is right in your face? I’m right here.”

And “The Drill’s” opinion of what a fight with the “Jungle Boy” would be like?

“The only thing that he banks his fights on is that he can outbeat me in stamina. He’s not faster than me. He’s not stronger than me. He doesn’t have better boxing moves than me. I can fight southpaw and right-handed. He can’t do none of that. He’s a stiff. He’s a tall stiff dude that doesn’t know how to use his height. Period.”

Williams even suggested another way he and Walters could finally get their match-up.

“We could fight before the Vanda fight. They said they would allow it. MSC said that it wouldn’t break my contract with Vanda if I fought Jungle Boy before the Vanda fight. Jungle Boy was my tune-up fight. That’s the way I look at it: a tune-up fight. When we talk he’s real nice, but we’re talking about fighting. To a real fighter, he’s a tune-up fight. I was 167 at the Echols fight, and I will be 165 for Vanda. They better catch me before I go to 160.”

But for now, his contracted fight against Vanda is his top priority. For Williams, this fight is not about grudges, or marketing, or even settling scores. In Williams’ perspective, this fight is about bringing the best fight with the best fighters to Minnesota fight fans in what is currently the biggest fight venue in the state.

“This fight is about fighting the best in Minnesota,” Williams said. “This fight is going to be the big draw in Minnesota. That’s what this fight is going to do, and I’m gonna do it…and it’s either gonna be me or him. That’s why I’m taking the Vanda fight. It’s going to be a good fight. And I am doing this for the fans. I’m fighting this fight to give the fans the fight that they want to see…and they want to see a knockout.