By David Selwyn

Paul “The Ultimate” Vaden won the I.B.F. World Jr. Middleweight Championship in August 1995, beating Vince Pettway by a TKO in the 12th round.  In his next fight he lost to Hall of Famer Terry Norris by decision in a unification bout.  In 1999, Paul was involved in a boxing tragedy when his opponent Stephen Johnson died 15 days after he lost a fight to Vaden.  Johnson was fighting while under suspension from a previous TKO loss in Canada earlier that year.  Paul retired after one more fight after the Johnson tragedy with a stellar 29-3 professional in 2000.  Recently Dave Selwyn had the opportunity to have a conversation and catch up with Paul “The Ultimate” Vaden.  

 

BoxingScene.com: Hello Paul, How are you and what have you been doing since you retired?

 

Paul: I'm a very busy man.  I've created an in home boxing workout that’s titled The “Ultimate” Workout.  I joyfully awake normally at 2 a.m. and don't return home until 10 p.m.  So this business has arrived and is positively changing lives.  This phase of my journey I find quite fascinating because being a man with good inter-personal skills I'm allowed to teach a skill and challenge my client’s/friends to soar higher as individuals physically, professionally, mentally and spiritually.  I like to feel that I aim to be the “go to guy” in life.  My base of clientele consist of champions in their own various professional fields.  I do quite a bit of corporate speaking, my wife and I deal with other business ventures like homes and are entertaining pursuing a sports bar.  Dave, I've always been intrigued by Walt Disney and P. T. Barnum reason being their visionary ceiling was endless.  My motivation is to ALWAYS escalate my ceiling of talent.   

 

BoxingScene.com: Who was toughest opponent?

 

Paul: Definitely Keith Holmes.  Every time he hit me it hurt.  I was fighting as a jr middleweight and was the I..B.F. light middleweight champ.  When I fought Keith, he was a big 6'2" middleweight champion and he was able to use his size and leverage to his advantage.  It was the first time I was in the ring that I felt I could not do anything with my opponent.  I wasn't known as a one punch knockout artist.  I usually was quicker, more athletic and in better condition than my opponents.  Against me you weren't going to leave the ring as you came in.  That night I could not do anything with Keith.  It was the only time in my 9 year career that I got stopped .  He was the better fighter that night.

 

BoxingScene.com: What accomplishment are you most  proud of in the ring?

 

Paul: Oh definitely winning the World Championship.  That was a life long dream since I was a kid.  People always said I was too nice of a guy to become a champion.  They thought I was good but lacked aggression.  Pettway was the favorite and I just beat him mentally and physically.  They can say whatever they want about me but when they look in the record book, my name will be there as a champion and they can't erase that.

 

BoxingScene.com: In 1999, you fought Stephan Johnson who was a tragically  carried out of the ring unconscious and died from a brain injury 15 days later, five months later you lost to Jose Flores in your last fight.  Describe how you felt about boxing after that point.

 

Paul: It was terrible. I felt bad for a long time.  Even though people said it wasn't my fault, I blamed myself.  For months my heart would race and I thought I was going to die.  .  When I fought Jose Flores in April of 2000, I knew it would be my last fight.  I thought I might die that night.  I came in there like it was not just a boxing match but if I was facing death.  I lost the first few rounds but I came back strong.  I thought I had done enough to win the fight, but I lost a close decision.  Win or lose, it still was a victory in my mind because I had beaten death.  It was a very dark time in my life.  I only came back to the ring because I was having a tough time dealing with the reality of death so up close.  I lost two very close family members to me to suicide in January and August of the very same year, and after the fight I started to believe that death was lurking around the corner and wanted a grasp of me for what happened to Stephen.  Boxing had been my Calgon, my therapy since the age of 8 yrs old.  So I returned to the ring seeking not to win or lose but live or die.  I've never experienced episodes like 1999. 

 

BoxingScene.com: Looking back, do you feel that you made the right choice by retiring and moving on in your life?

 

Paul: Definitely, I have no regrets.  I feel what I'm doing today is more fulfilling and more rewarding.  I get great pride in being my own man and being successful in my own business.  I was able to walk away from boxing with some money saved away.  It is so sad to see former professional boxers who made millions in the ring and have nothing to show for it.  It really breaks my heart.

 

BoxingScene.com: Do you feel that boxers are treated worse than most professional athletes?

 

Paul: Yes I do.  But I do not see Bob Arum and Don King and other Promoters getting together and giving the fighters more rights.  I don't really see it changing.  In other sports you have strong players unions.  You don't have that in Boxing.

 

BoxingScene.com: Are you a boxing fan today?

 

Paul: Yes, very much so.  Chris Byrd is one of my best friends and of course I'm a big, big Chris Byrd fan.  We actually fought five times as an amateur (Paul won 3 out of 5) and his father trained me.  I saw him work out with weights and build himself up to become a heavyweight fighter and champion.  He has shown a lot of heart fighting bigger guys like Andrew Golota and Jameel Mcline.  He is a very good person.  I think Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter.  Right now I would say he is a Pound for Pound the best.  I only wish he would improve outside the ring and become a person that I could respect.

 

BoxingScene.com: You were promoted by Don King.  You hear a lot of allegations about boxers that were promoted by Don King and allegedly ripped off. How was your relationship with Don King?

 

Paul: I never had any problems with Don King.  Zero.  He was always a man of his word.  I had good management and they were always looking out for my best interest.  My only problems honestly was my local promoter that tried his hardest to be difficult and portray me as some prima donna.  And I used to always answer that prima donna’s don't get up at 4 am to run because they don't feel they have to, they don't beg for 2 extra rounds of sparring after already completing 10 rounds while wearing a wetsuit because hard work is beneath their character. People always ask me about Don King expecting to hear horror stories, but I never had a problem with him.

 

BoxingScene.com: Paul, anything you would like to say in closing?

 

Paul: Well Dave, I would just like to say I'm a very blessed person.  I really enjoy what I'm doing now.  I would like to thank all of the people that were supportive during my boxing career and I am happy to have made so many friends in the boxing game.  I feel that the best is yet to come and if you would like to know what is happening with me please check out my web site www.PaulVaden.com

 

Writer’s Note: I have checked out Paul’s web site and it is truly a fine web site.  A multimedia experience.