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McBride Returns, Looking to Add Golota to Victims List
By Stephen Tobey (Sept 2, 2007)

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ALLSTON, Mass. – Kevin McBride was a heavyweight whose career was barely alive.
But there were people who thought they could rebuild him, make him better, faster, stronger.

They have the technology.

Now they’re trying to help McBride earn the kind of opportunities that eluded him after his victory over Mike Tyson in June of 2005.

“Everybody had given up on him,” said McBride’s new manager, Jerry Quinn, during a press conference at Quinn’s bar, The Kells, on Friday. “We have a new team now.”

On Oct. 6, McBride will return to the ring for the first time in almost a year, facing Andrew Golota at Madison Square Garden.

After winning when Tyson quit on his stool after the sixth round on June 11, 2005, McBride fought twice. On April 1, 2006 he stopped Byron Polley in four rounds and on Oct. 10, 2006, Mike Mollo stopped him in the second round.

“The Mollo fight was a wakeup call,” McBride said. “That’s in the past now. Now I want to give it my all.”

Though McBride says he “shocked the world” with his victory over Tyson, the consensus among most observers was that his victory said more about Tyson’s declining skills than McBride’s abilities.

McBride never felt slighted, but he was upset that the doors he thought the victory would open never opened.

“I never felt that way,” he said. “I’m glad I had beaten him. I had three dreams in this sport. One was to represent Ireland in the Olympics [He was on the country’s 1992 Olympic team]. The second one was to beat my boyhood idol, Mike Tyson. The third was to win the heavyweight championship. I didn’t get the title fight. That was kind of disappointing, but on Oct. 6, one punch can change it all.”

McBride said he did not consider retiring after the Mollo fight. He got back to work in November, working with conditioning coach Radovan Serbula, who helped him prepare for the Tyson fight.

When he started training, he had a long way to go, but over time, his fitness improved.

“He didn’t have any structure about physical fitness,” Serbula said. “I’m seeing the same desire for him to succeed now.”

Serbula pointed out that McBride weighed 287 pounds on Nov. 10, with 28.9 percent bodyfat. Now he’s 293 pounds with 18.4 percent bodyfat. He wasn’t able to run a half mile in November; now he’s running 4 miles. His bench press improved from 260 pounds to 460.

“I still puke,” McBride said. “We’re working hard, extremely hard.”

McBride has been working with trainer Arsen Sarkisov to refine his boxing skills. For the next month, he will be training Vero Beach, Fla. with Buddy McGirt.

“[McGirt] was one of the top trainers,” Quinn said. “We asked Emanuel Steward and Freddie Roach and they weren’t available. We asked Buddy and he said we should bring Kevin down there and see what the chemistry is like. After four or five days he gave the thumbs-up.”

The McBride/Golota fight is on the undercard of the Oleg Maskaev/Samuel Peter fight. It will not be on TV. Should McBride win, his next fight could be on TV and he hopes he’s one step closer to achieving his third goal.

“You know Golota will come after you,” McBride said. “This fight will be exciting. I’m ready. I retired Mike Tyson. Now I want to retire Andrew Golota.”