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REMATCH AT THE EUROPA SUPER SHOW

Toney Freeman and Dennis James get ready to battle it out again in Dallas

FLEX: Dennis, let's take the opposite stance here. Why was that the wrong call?

DJ: I'm not saying it was the wrong call. I can't say it was the wrong call.

FLEX: I'm not saying you are. But if you had to point to something, give me a reason why - sell yourself here - give me a reason why the decision should have been different, if at all?

DJ: Aww. Well the only reason I can say is the judges got to admit that I said I was gonna do. Not just by bringing my weight down, I also brought back the condition that is necessary to be on the pro stage, with a trimer waist. That was an improvement coming from my side. But like I said, with the condition comes a little loss of fullness, which was a little risk. But I figured I'd rather go in flat then go in too full. I tried to go in flat with no carb loading, which worked alright. But I figured if maybe I had a little bit of carbs in there ... because when I'm a little bit fuller I look a lot different. But I can't say why not. But you know how it is being second. Second place is the first loser, it's a disappointing spot.

FLEX: You were really disappointed.

DJ: I don't think we went there to compete for the 10 thousand dollars. That's not what we compete for. We competed for the win, which will bring us back to where we should be when it goes to the Olympia.

TF: Exactly.

DJ: It's not about the money. I could care less about the money right now. That's not what I'm competing for. Right here it's a five thousand dollar difference. I'll take the five thousand and first place. We both want it real bad and that's going to make the show very very interesting this weekend. And I know there gonna be a few guys coming into the show talking all kinds of trash. I ain't gonna say names right now, but I saw someone talking about The show's over, it's gonna be my show.

TF: (Laughs).

DJ: But hey, it ain't gonna be that kind of party so easy.

TF: We gonna make a sandwich outta him anyway.

DJ: That's all I can say. Don't think you're gonna come up there and make it a one-man show and we gonna stand there looking at you like little boys. It ain't gonna happen.

TF: No way.

FLEX: We're in kind of a unique situation here. We're in a position where we're not waiting a month, or three months to see a rematch of a close decision. We're seeing a rematch the following week with the two top guys at this show. What are your mindsets heading into this?

DJ: For me it's very exciting because I know what's coming. And I'm looking forward to this because we're gonna make this a good show. Not only a two-man show. People are gonna expect a lot from us right now, and they're gonna get it. I don't mind training right now. He fired me up as I'm sure I fired him up a little bit for this week's training and that's gonna show on stage, that we both bring the best out of each other. And that's what people want to see. This is how close we are when it gets to that standard. We don't need no Mr. Olympia out there like Ronnie Coleman where everybody thinks he's unbeatable. That's not a good show. The competition makes a good show, where everybody is capable of beating each other if you give the person a chance. Toney came out, he didn't look that good - could have been the glaze, could have been a little water. But you give him a chance, you keep calling and calling , two three callouts and he was ready. This is how you do it. You don't just knock somebody off because he's sweating.

TF: Right. That's why I was worried to be honest with you. I was like, Man, they see me sweating. They might not call me back out. Because they waited a couple rounds, which I'm glad they did. You just never know. Like you know Mark Dudgale. He didn't get called out until the fourth callout.

DJ: Sixth.

FLEX: Seventh.

TF: You know, that's when you think at least on his name he should have got called out in the third or fourth callout. It was kind of weird, I don't know. And he wasn't that far - I mean he wasn't as sharp as he normally is, but it wasn't like he was fat or something.

DJ: I couldn't even tell you because for me it's hard to tell what somebody looks like standing next to me.

TF: I can't either.

DJ: And I didn't go on the Internet after the show. No comments, no boards. I ain't trying to see no negative bulls--t right now.

TF: You got a lot of love on the boards dog.

DJ: Yeah, but you know how it is with those boards. Some of these fools are gonna say some bulls--t and then ...when you get close to a show that's the last thing you need man. So I stay away from it.

TF: My mindset throughout this whole campaign, my original thoughts and goals were just to do Atlantic City and Olympia. But I felt that I needed to get some momentum before then in order to get a look this year. That's why I decided to do these other two shows. These other shows are like playoff games to me. You win or go home. That's how I'm looking at them. And I'm going after four victories in row, and I know Dennis is trying to win them all too. If I don't have that mindset, then there's no way that I could possibly achieve that. I kind of feel like the Giants last year, wildcard team. If I can get four victories in a row that means that come Olympia time they have to call me out. That's my strategy.

DJ: Four? How many shows you doing? That's only three.

TF: You know, 'cause I'm a old man I'm gonna do the Masters at the Atlantic City. I'm a old man.

DJ: GET OUTTA HERE!!

TF: Yeah.

DJ: (Laughs). You gonna do both shows at the Atlantic City?

TF: You know what it is? Because last year when I was at the Olympia everybody kept saying, Oh he's old, he's 41, he's 47! And all this kind of crazy s--t. So I am a Master and I thought about so you know what? They're giving away 10 grand for it. I'm up there brother.

DJ: Well I don't blame you. See now you're doing that for 10 thousand dollars. That I understand. Put that in your pocket.

TF: Yeah you're right. That I'm doing for 10 thousand dollars. You are right. You are definitely right.

DJ: Put that in your pocket man.

TF: Exactly. See I'm already there. It's not like I'm traveling to another show or dieting for another week or anything like that.

FLEX: Let's finish up. Time to sell yourself here. Taking into consideration how you think you will be improved - give me a couple reasons why this version of Dennis James is going to win this show.

DJ: Because I'm gonna come in fuller, round, and hard as nails. Hamstrings, glutes gonna be off the chain. Totally improved from last week. It's gonna be a totally different physique because the fullness that I lost, especially in my quad sweep is gonna be back, and it's gonna make a major difference.

FLEX: OK. Toney, same question. Why do you win the Europa?

TF: I'm kind of on the same path as him. The Tampa was a show for me to get the bodyfat off, which I pretty much did that. This week I get to be a little fuller. I don't have to kill myself as hard as I had to do to get where I had to last week. I'm kind of on the way back up again. I'm ready to go man. I plan on improving every single week up to the O. I started dieting on July 1 with my goal to peak for the Olympia. Everything's going according to plan. I had to kill myself in the first six weeks to allow myself to eat up to the show for the last six weeks.

FLEX: Any closing comments?

TF: I just want to wish Dennis good luck. I want to say this, I've been a fan of Dennis' since before he turned pro. I remember the ad he did when he was down in the track stance, I thought that was one of the greatest pictures I'd ever seen.

DJ: Are you talking about the picture of me racing the Viper?

TF: Yeah! Yeah.

DJ: Get outta here. Yeah. Man, that was my first photo shoot.

TF: I thought that was the coldest ... I mean that was so cold-blooded. Still is.

DJ: That was a cool picture wasn't it? They used that picture on the buses in Florida I heard!

TF: Cold killer. I didn't know who he was but I was like Damn, that joker's got it going on. And I remember in '03 when he got fourth at the Olympia. I was in the fourth row. I was sitting there when you walked out and I was like Wow, look at Dennis up there! I just admire all the top guys. And all the guys that are on their way up. It's just a blessing to be here. Because I left the sport for five years. So I've kind of got a different feeling about the whole game, to be able to come back and be in the mix and be able to win a show when they said I wasn't gonna be a good pro at all. It's just really cool. So I wish you good luck. But don't go too hard though. Don't twist nothing or turn nothing! Because I doggone pulled a muscle in my back doing those quarter turns so hard, I had to go get it rubbed out last night.

DJ: (Laughs).

TF: Keep training stay focused bro, God bless you.

DJ: Same to you man. Looking forward to us being up there doing battle up there and having fun doing it. It's good to see that guys like us can be on stage and battle like we're enemies but then still sit together and talk together. Because whatever happens it's not up to me, it's not up to Toney. It's up to the judges. So why should somebody have bad feelings towards another athlete because he beat him or he can't beat him? It's good to see that he still thinks that way even though he's coming off a win. Because somebody else would probably say something, some people come off a win like that and think they're unbeatable.

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