By Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani), Eastside Boxing
Last week’s 127th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Senior who spoke about a variety of topics including Bernard Hopkins’ historic victory against Jean Pascal, Mannny Pacquiao’s recent win against Shane Mosley, a potential fight between his son Floyd Mayweather Junior and Victor Ortiz, Pacquiao’s upcoming third contest with Juan Manuel Marquez, Chad Dawson, the fall of Roy Jones Junior, and more! Here is what Mayweather had to say:
His views on Bernard Hopkins’ historic victory against Jean Pascal when he became the oldest man to win a major championship at age 46:
“I think that’s great. I think it’s great for one thing age-wise. I know Hopkins spoke of it one time before how he keeps himself clean without smoking and drinking and stuff. All of that’s good. All of those are good signs. I think that he did great and I think that he keeps himself up skill-wise. People doubt him and he probably doesn’t look like nothing, you know what I’m talking about, like a big, strong, physical person. What he did was he whooped Pascal with knowledge. That’s what he did. He took him to school. He did what he wanted to do with him, and then I think Pascal knew he lost the first fight and I think that he was nervous from that fight from just the way Hopkins was talking to him. He was calling him things and this and that and saying he’s scared and it showed.”
On whether he was surprised that Pascal was unable to make any adjustments in the rematch with Hopkins:
“It didn’t surprise me. I just really thought myself personally I thought he was a younger guy, much younger. They don’t need a third fight. I thought he was much younger and that he should have put the pressure on Hopkins and stayed on him. I’m just saying my thing is what he should have done, and I feel he should have stayed on top of Hopkins, and forced the fight, and kept Hopkins backing up. But hey! Everything he was supposed to have been doing, Hopkins was doing. Everything he was supposed to be doing to Hopkins, backing him up and keeping the pressure on him and stuff like that, Hopkins did it to him. He put it the other way around. Hopkins showed him that he was the much better fighter. Hopkins showed that he had much more knowledge. Hopkins showed that he was much more skilled. Right now you can’t take anything from him. You got to give Hopkins his just dues. He’s still in the game and he’s still fighting good.”
His views on accusations Pascal made about Hopkins using performance enhancers in the fight build-and the similarities with accusations team Mayweather has made against Manny Pacquiao:
“Well you know, look here! Let me explain something to you. I’m going to tell you something right now. You can watch me shadowbox now. I’m really fast right now, even at my age now. I’m just saying that Hopkins didn’t show me that he was on nothing, because he hit him over and over with right hands, and hooks, and body shots, and whatever it was he hit him with. Hopkins hit him with everything and guess what? Hopkins didn’t make anybody turn around and run away from him because he was hitting them so hard and Hopkins hit him with some good punches. Hopkins didn’t show nothing about having no drugs in him. Hopkins hit him with good strong body shots. Hopkins even shook him up and he even shook Hopkins up. But these people now that you’re hitting you know they got the stuff in them. You hit them and they ain’t moving. Some of them can be smaller than you and you’re a big old man and you’ve been hitting all the big men and knocking all the big guys out, but now you can’t even budge them, or shake them up, or nothing. I mean if they hit you with some kind of crazy punch that doesn’t even look nothing then they are hurting you bad! So I’m just telling you that do I believe Bernard Hopkins has something in him? No! I believe he has nothing in him at all whatsoever.”
His views on the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley:
“That one right there is a different story! That ain’t the same story about Hopkins. Hopkins beat him with skills and other things. Hey! That other thing right here was something totally different, like I said.”
On the fact that Pacquiao struggled with Mosley at times in that Mosley was successfully able to turn him, and whether or not he believes Pacquiao is slowing down:
“Look at here, let me tell you something! I’m just telling you my opinion. I’ just telling you on the up and up if they fought, he look! Shane still wasn’t going that bad enough to be done like he was done. I heard Shane say that man hit him harder than anybody he’s ever been hit by and we know Shane’s been hit by some big men. Shane said that. I’m just telling you what he told me. He got hit by Vernon Forrest and he said he wasn’t even hit that hard by Vernon Forrest who dropped him twice. And what does that say? Vernon Forrest was a puncher.”
His views on whether Pacquiao is beginning to show some signs of weakness and decline:
“Look here. It ain’t the point of him being weak. How can somebody be weak and still be messing up guys? I’m just trying to tell you. I mean as far as things with him being weak, can he fight? Hell no he can’t fight! He don’t even know how to fight! How in the hell do you think he’s still winning? That’s all I want to know! Now hell in the hell is he winning?! That’s all I want to know! How is he winning? He can’t fight! He can’t whop no damned body! I mean with the style he’s got? He’s getting hit with everything! Why he ain’t he ever getting hurt? He’s not even being buckled! He’s not even being knocked down! He’s not even being shook or nothing! Come on! Hey! Hey! It’s so plain a blind man can see that!”
Regarding previous remarks he has made when he stated he does not want his son fighting Pacquiao:
“Oh hell no I don’t! Even more now I don’t, because hey! You know. It ain’t nothing but a bunch of sh*t behind him and a bunch of people standing behind him. If people really wanted to get down to it, they could get down to the bottom of what’s going on! The whole deal! If they want to stop this kind of sh*t they can stop it. But they are letting it go on. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. I’m just telling you my opinion is that I ain’t never seen a man that small—look at Pacquiao! Look at Margarito. Margarito is six feet tall! What the hell? It’s a bunch of bullsh*t if I’ve ever seen it. I’m not crazy and I’m not stupid. I’ve been in this game too long. I know how this game goes and I know a small man like that who’s been knocked out a long time ago. Margarito, or Shane Mosley, or Cotto, or any of them other guys he fought, all of them would have whooped his ass! You know. It’s a bunch of bullsh*t! They know it and everybody that’s behind him knows it. They know what’s going on. They got to know!”
On whether he agrees with Andre Ward’s claim on a previous episode that they should do extensive drug testing for all major championship fights:
“I don’t think they need to do that for just world championship fights! I think they need to do it for all fights! I’m just saying just because the guy is not a champion, you know you got to remember with things like that a guy might never make it to a championship. That’s why I say all fighters should take it because those that might be champions would never make it to become champions because somebody else could beat a guy that they couldn’t normally beat. But they didn’t beat them and now! Hey! They are looking to be champion pretty soon. I’m just saying man. It’s bad. Boxing just ain’t the same. That’s all I got to say.”
His views on Chad Dawson’s decision victory against Adrian Diaconu:
“Of course you know that you’ve seen Chad when he was with me and he didn’t look like that. That’s all I can tell you. He didn’t look like that. The Chad that I knew then, with all this stuff about fighting like Tommy Hearns—forget about it! Chad ain’t no f*cking Tommy Hearns! There is no reason for him to be talking about fighting like no Tommy Hearns. First of all Tommy was a welterweight who was as tall as Chad! So I’m just saying that Tommy Hearns punches come down. With that particular guy Chad can shoot down on him because that guy was short. That guy was my height so Chad could shoot down on him. I’m just saying overall, as a light heavyweight most of the guys are going to be at least as tall as Chad and some might be taller. With all this Tommy Hearns stuff, he needs to go back to what he needs to do. He don’t need to be nobody else. He needs to be Chad Dawson! He needs to box and run his punches off his hand behind his jab. He needs lateral movement. All that stuff he was doing, with all that Tommy Hearns stuff he didn’t look good. I mean I’m just telling you. To me he looked lethargic and old. He looked like he was slow and loading up on his punches. That’s what it looked like to me and I had a million people saying the same things I’m saying. Chad didn’t look that good but he said it himself that he didn’t look that good. So I mean he was being honest. He was saying it surprised him which it did. It surprised him. So let’s see what happens in his next couple of fights.”
On whether he believes this version of Dawson has any chance against Hopkins:
“Well sometimes things can make a difference. There is something I’m not going to say about certain things because there are certain things I did with Chad that could make a difference. I don’t want nothing to be in the paper that could come across to give his next man an upper hand. But I’m going to say this right here that if he fights Bernard Hopkins like he fought the other day, Bernard’s going to do the same damn thing to him! That’s what I’m telling you. Bernard take his ass to school! That’s all it’s going to be. It’s going to be Bernard changing his diaper for him. That’s what it’s going to be.”
On whether he believes preparing Dawson to face Hopkins would be his toughest challenge as a trainer if he was still training Chad:
“Well you know at the time Adamek was the toughest guy they had around. He was undefeated. He was supposed to beat Chad. Chad was the underdog but at the end of the day Chad was the upper dog. You understand? That’s what it was. If he was fighting with me by now from the time he was fighting with me, I wouldn’t even be worried about it. With a guy that age I’d know what to do, but hey! Everybody has got their own version about what to do, and their skills, and what they believe in. But I know what would happen with me. I made Chad a champion and we had one title defense. Hey! That’s the end of the story. There ain’t nothing else to talk about.”
His views on the fall of the former pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Junior and whether he believes Jones is ruining his legacy:
“I think that he is hurting his legacy so bad that he may as well just be called another, I don’t even know what to tell you man. It’s sad! A fighter of his caliber is coming down to being nothing. When I say nothing man, I mean nothing! He’s going to be known for getting knocked out! That’s what he’s going to be known for. If you want to knock somebody out and get a knockout on your record over somebody with a name, call Roy! I’m just saying that’s what it is. I heard Roy say he’s going to still fight again. That’s too bad, man. I feel sorry for him. That’s all I could tell you.”
His views on the upcoming third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez:
“I’m going to be honest with you. I think before Marquez beat him one time when they called it a draw. He fought another fight where he had a split decision with him. So he had two real, real close calls. Understand? Even though one was a draw and one was a decision in Pacquiao’s favor. But this time here, you and everybody else are going to get the chance to see what’s really going on with Pac-Man. Do you really believe that Pac-Man can do this to him? I mean it’s a man who he fought two close with and all of a sudden he’s got Shane Mosley to hit the floor, and Cotto took off and ran, and in the Margarito fight he busted his eye socket. I mean all of these guys! Oscar De La Hoya folded up and ran and quit. You can just name these guys off his record now. With all of these big guys, how he beat them, and made them run, and quit, and knocked them out. It’s crazy. Do I think that Marquez has got a chance? Hell no! No, he don’t have a chance.”
His views on how a third fight between Pacquiao and Marquez will play out at a 144 pound catch weight:
“I don’t care what weight Marquez goes up to. His ass is in trouble. That’s all I got to tell you. Pacquiao will not lose this fight. This I know. This right here is obvious that he ain’t going to win. That’s all I got to tell you. Under other circumstances I might say that he has a chance, but now with all of the stuff that I’ve seen. Oh no! He ain’t got a chance in hell, no way!”
Regarding rumors that his son Floyd Mayweather Junior will be returning to face Victor Ortiz and his thoughts on the matchup:
“I’m just going to tell you like this right here. I don’t see anything wrong with him fighting Victor Ortiz. I believe that Floyd will take Victor Ortiz to school. That’s my honest opinion. Everybody has their own opinion. That’s my opinion and my opinion has been right over the years, and I don’t think it’s wrong now. When he fights Victor Ortiz it will be a victory in Floyd’s hands. I just don’t think Victor Ortiz got it. Don’t get me wrong now because he did train with Pacquiao. I didn’t see nothing wrong with Andre Berto. That came out alright. So he beat him. He didn’t stop him or nothing like that. I would have to assume Victor Ortiz is playing fair even though he said he boxed with Pacquiao and said he learned something from Pacquiao. Now if he wants to come straight and do what he’s supposed to do, hey! It shouldn’t be no problem with him and little Floyd and little Floyd will touch his ass up. It shouldn’t be a problem at all. He said he sparred with Pacquiao and learned from Pacquiao. Let’s see what he learned from Pacquiao. If he comes clean, hey! You’ll see.”
Source:
eastsideboxing.com
silver medallist and WBA titleholder will meet the once rebellious but now God-fearing IBF champion Judah in Las Vegas on July 23.
This replaces the proposed, alternative title unifier with Tim Bradley, who is waiting for his promotional contract with Gary Shaw to expire before returning to the ring.
