Said Skouma: RSR Talks with the Two-Time World Title Challenger and Former EBU Light Middleweight Champion
Interview by Mike “Rubber Warrior” Plunkett
“Boxing has made me independent and autonomous. It taught me how to talk and how to assert myself” – Said Skouma
Boxing is the one profession that at some given point ultimately demands the truth. It’s awe-inspiring and glorious, sometimes even artful at the highest levels when the combatants are in a groove and the stars and moment are in complete alignment, but rarely is it a pursuit that allows one to hide his soul from those observing intently, or does it permit one to avoid looking into himself during the lonely, oft painful moments of pure enlightenment. It’s often hell on wheels, and unlike today’s more celebrated and popular professional team sports, the fighter is left alone in the dark shadows surrounded by deafening silence to reflect on the fleeting moments of hope, the missed opportunities and the mortal limitations of his design. It offers each and every man the same chance the first time he walks into a dank dingy gym despite the overwhelming odds against him; a hard upward road laden with sudden curves, sometimes bottomless potholes and quite possibly a lifetime’s worth of pain compacted into a relative season of one’s existence. Few make it to the big dance and fewer still to the very summit of their profession, but the one constant it does hand out as a sort of guaranteed consolation prize is the truth, and in many cases the setbacks and disappointments of a mostly thankless field of endeavor allow one to walk away better prepared for the hard and fast realities of life.
Said Skouma is an example of a man that travelled the hard road under no illusion, fully aware of his abilities and limitations and in the size of the world around him. His earnest approach to boxing saw him reach the rare moment every fighter works toward on two separate occasions, center stage and under the most intense of spotlights with celebrated world champions in search of the sport’s highest honor, episodes in a fine run book-ended by national and international prominence. In the end the truth of his career played out like a fine twilight jazz riff; he gave his all, bared his soul and came away an enlightened man, better prepared to live out the days of his life.
MP: What initially drew you to the sport of boxing and who, if any, were your earliest influences?
Ali, Ali, Ali! To me, boxing was attitude, gesture. I saw the Joe Frazier versus Muhammad Ali fight and watching Ali boxing I didn’t even realize that kicks would hurt!
MP: You turned professional in November 1981, stopping one Mustapha Yazidi in three rounds. What do you recall of that moment and what were your hopes at that time as a pro fighter?
I have very vague memories of that time and I don’t remember anything of that fight. All what I’m sure of is that I lost contact with reality about that period of time. Things were very new and overwhelming!
MP: Two years into your professional career and with a record of 11-1, you won the vacant France light middleweight title. Did you feel as though you had the talent to take it to the world level after such a key win?
I guess that I was just thinking what a long way I still had to go. Remember all the big guys; “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran; they occupied the front of the scene, how could I think I’d be able to pull myself up to their level? I did not anticipate in any way the fact that I could be a world champ or even a world challenger.
MP: You lost in your first attempt to win the EBU light middleweight title in 1984, later winning it in November 1985 and ultimately defending it on two occasions. Later you regained and lost the EBU title years later in 1991. Did this title thrust you to the forefront on the world scene and with Europeans in general?
I learned a lot on the European scene but this had nothing to do with the world scene. The great boxers were global not European. I had a hard time finding my balance in this context.
MP: You lost your first bid for a major world title in 1986 when you challenged Mike McCallum for the WBA light middleweight championship, losing by 9th-round TKO. What do you recall of this rare moment and of McCallum as a fighter?
Looking back, I think I was better than Mr. McCallum. I was a healthy, honest boxer, while, though he was a good boxer, used vicious ways. I think he will remember my right hand! I can say I learned from Mr. McCallum that cheating could lead to victory.
MP: Less than a year later you received your second shot at a major world title when you challenged Buster Drayton for the IBF light middleweight championship in a very competitive bout. What do you recall of that bout and of Drayton as a champion?
In the second round I was four points ahead. In the 10th I took a right hand and Jean Bretonnel throws in the towel! This fight was lost by my coach!
MP: You continued your career after those two title opportunities, and as mentioned earlier, at one point regained the EBU light middleweight title, but you began to slip in the early 90’s. Was the desire fading and what prompted you to retire for good in 1993?
When Jean Bretonnel died it weakened me as a champion. No one came up to replace my coach. You cannot continue a boxing career by yourself. My dream was broken! I left the scene, not for lack of desire, but because I could not do otherwise.
MP: Looking back, you had a successful and notable boxing career. Do you feel that boxing was good to you?
Boxing was good to me in many ways; I learned to say “yes” and also to say “no”, and I met interesting people. Boxing has made me independent and autonomous. It taught me how to talk and how to assert myself.
MP: What are you doing today?
I am preparing a show together with Daniel Humair and Michel Portal called “JAZZBOXE”. It is a mix between jazz improvisation and boxing – with my own words instead of my fists. I also do some coaching in boxing and plan to go on a conference tour to talk about violence to school kids in hot spots around Paris. Florence my wife taught me the rhythm and sync and made me realize how boxing and music can complement each other.
MP: In closing is there anything you would like to say to those that supported you during your career and boxing fans around the world in general?
It’s good to be supported and appreciated. The worst thing is to be abandoned. The grass utterly erases the trace of the graves. I don’t have a message to the fans of boxing because in my opinion the boxing spirit has faded.
Said Skouma
Division: Light Middleweight
Professional Record: 37-9, 30 KO's
Date Opponent Location Result
1981-11-06 Mustapha Yazidi Tarbes, France W RTD 3
1981-12-18 Mohamed Ghabi Fumel, France W TKO 4
1982-01-15 Gerard Doizy Tarbes, France W TKO 3
1982-03-12 Jean Pierre Moreau Tarbes, France W TKO 3
1982-04-23 Abdel Ben Ameur Clermont, France W KO 1
1982-05-07 Wa Lomani Wa Fumel, France W TKO 4
1982-10-28 Uwe Wissenbach Paris, France W KO 1
1982-12-17 Dennis Pryce Monsempron, France W KO 6
1983-02-04 Esperno Postl Saint-Etienne, France W TKO 5
1983-02-24 Lloyd Christie Paris, France L PTS 8
1983-05-19 Fred Coranson Paris, France W TKO 8
1983-07-01 Jean-Louis Coquin Paris, France W PTS 8
1983-11-26 Richard Rodriguez Nimes, France W PTS 12
vacant France Light Middleweight Title
1984-05-25 Jimmy Cable Toulouse, France L TKO 11
vacant EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1984-10-26 Philippe Monin Echirolles, France W TKO 8
1984-12-07 Helier Custos Bordeaux, France W PTS 8
1985-01-25 Yvor Segor Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadelou W KO 7
1985-03-22 Germain Le Maitre Tarbes, France W TKO 5
France Light Middleweight Title
1985-10-18 Luigi Marini Antibes, France W TKO 4
1985-11-30 Enrico Scacchia Geneva, Switzerland W KO 6
vacant EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1986-04-10 Angelo Liquori Antibes, France W TKO 8
EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1986-05-23 Alfonso Redondo Bordeaux, France W TKO 4
EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1986-08-24 Kenny Butler Juan-les-Pins, France W TKO 2
1986-10-25 Mike McCallum Paris, France L TKO 9
WBA World Light Middleweight Title
1987-02-06 Judas Clottey Antibes, France L DQ 5
1987-02-28 Tomas Negro Garcia Paris, France W TKO 4
1987-03-27 Buster Drayton Cannes, France L TKO 10
IBF Light Middleweight Title
1987-06-27 Knox Brown Cannes, France W KO 6
1987-11-06 Hugo Raul Marinangeli Antibes, France W DQ 7
1988-03-03 Jake Torrance Casablanca, Morocco W TKO 5
1988-10-03 Kevin Brazier Bercy, France W KO 3
1988-11-19 Darryl Anthony Château-Thierry, France W TKO 2
1989-01-23 Manning Galloway Bercy, France L MD 10
1989-03-13 Kenny Snow Paris, France W PTS 10
1990-01-26 William Clayton Perpignan, France W TKO 2
1990-03-30 Yung-Kil Chung Lyon, France W DQ 7
1990-05-19 Steve Mayo Montpellier, France W TKO 2
1991-02-02 Jean-Claude Fontana Bouliac, France W KO 2
EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1991-05-03 Mourad Louati Paris, France L TKO 5
EBU (European) Light Middleweight Title
1991-06-22 Horace Fleary Paris, France W PTS 8
1991-10-30 Ariel Conde Enghien, France W TKO 3
1992-01-10 Martin Smith Vitrolles, France L SD 8
1992-05-28 Larry McCall Creil, France W TKO 2
1992-08-14 Marino Monteyne Ajaccio, France W TKO 6
1993-11-20 Mustapha Dundar Vendome, France W TKO 5
1993-12-11 Gino Lelong Berck-sur-Mer, France L TKO 3