Chain Blue Lighting - Interview with Floyd Mayweather Sr: Pacquiao, Cotto, Mayweather Jr, Mosley, De La Hoya, Marquez and much More!

Chain Blue Lighting - Interview with Floyd Mayweather Sr: Pacquiao, Cotto, Mayweather Jr, Mosley, De La Hoya, Marquez and much More!

By David Tyler, Doghouse Boxing (Aug 17, 2009)

Let’s interview another of boxing’s famous trainers, Floyd Mayweather Sr. Boxing fans know him as the father of a certain brash young fighter who claims to be the best in the world. Floyd Mayweather himself has claimed to be the best trainer in the world. He has trained Floyd Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Chad Dawson, and Ricky Hatton who all won championship belts under his tutelage. Let’s get started. The following phone conversation took place at the Mayweather Gym, in Las Vegas.

David Tyler – Mr. Mayweather I called to talk about boxing.

Floyd Mayweather – Man it’s tough for me to talk about boxing because it’s in such terrible shape. There are not enough good fighters out there right now to get interest back in the sport.

DT – That’s too bad because during the course of the interview I was going to ask who you would place in a top ten pound for pound list.

FM - My P4P list wouldn’t have ten fighters on it because there ain’t ten good fighters out there. Just look at the different divisions in boxing and combined you would not have more than a handful of good boxers.

DT – Sir, are you one of the assistant trainer’s in your son’s camp?

FM – No, I am here on my accord representing myself and of course offering advice to my son and brother if necessary.

DT – Mr. Mayweather, there are rumors that your son returned to boxing because of debt owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

FM – Hold on, I just don’t want to comment on that stuff. I would like to tell young fighters and other athletes that all that money can bring lots of trouble. You start having friends and spending money and develop a lifestyle that you must stay active to support. It’s hard to explain this to kids.

DT – How about this, would you place your son at the top of the P4P list?

FM – Of course I would, ain’t nobody beat him. He didn’t give up that title and now that he is back it’s his until somebody takes it from him. My son is the best boxer in the sport because I taught him everything when he was a kid. Name me one boxer’s son that did better than his father. Only my boy and that’s because I didn’t spoil him when he was little. He worked hard and I taught him to always stay in shape.

DT - What about Juan Manuel Marquez, is he on the list of great fighters?

FM - Yeah I would put him on the list. He is the second best fighter in boxing and that’s why my boy picked him for his comeback.

DT – Does Marquez has any chance of beating your son?

FM – No. I’ve been watching a lot of Marquez fights and he has good boxing skills just not good enough to beat my boy.

DT – Why?

FM – Because when you dissect him you see a fighter that’s only effective counterpunching. If you don’t throwing punches in bunches there ain’t nothing to counter. My son will hit and move and roll his punches the way I taught him.

DT – Does the Marquez hand speed worry you?

FM – He has good speed but he’s not as fast as my son.

DT – How about Manny Pacquiao, does he make your list?

FM – Mr. Chain Blue Lighting himself, yes probably somewhere in the middle of the list. I watched him fight Marquez and they have about the same speed. I believe and many others believe that Marquez won both fights against Pacquiao. In the first fight Marquez started out like a bull in a china shop and got knocked down three or four times. Between rounds he made the necessary adjustments and had Pacquiao coming to him. The boy showed a lot of intelligence and heart. Tell me which round Pacquiao won after the first round?

DT –What about the second fight?

FM – Clearly Marquez won the second fight. Pacquiao won two rounds, that’s all, and Marquez should have been the winner on points.

DT – Mr. Mayweather, if your son fights Pacquiao aren’t you just a little worried about Pacquiao’s speed and power.

FM – No. Listen to what I tell you. Speed is nothing if you can’t find something to hit. You counter that speed with constant movement, make him come to you, turn him so he is always lunging when he throws the left, that’s how to beat Pacquiao and that’s exactly what I told Ricky Hatton during training camp. We worked on that a lot but Ricky didn’t follow my advice. Look again at what Marquez did after getting knocked down in the first round. He made the adjustments and countered Pacquiao beautifully. That’s why he should have won the fight. If Ricky had done the same thing, he wins the fight.

DT – Sir, you were subjected to a lot of negative press after the Hatton fight. How did you feel about the negative remarks?

FM – I wasn’t the bad guy, the bad guy was Lee Beard who the English guys brought in at night to train Ricky without my knowledge. Then they wanted me to pay Lee Beard 50 thousand. Hell, that’s plum crazy stuff. I ain’t paying anybody that I didn’t hire. Later I heard Ricky’s Daddy tell everyone that Ricky was over trained, why didn’t they say that when I trained Ricky to win the Championship against Paul Malignaggi? Ricky lost the fight because he went out in the second round and stood right in front of a fighter who had more speed not necessarily more power. He didn’t move and jab and have Pacquiao chase him around the ring. That’s what I told him to do but can I help it if he chooses different? No way was any of that my fault.

DT – You trained Oscar De La Hoya for many years. Did you give him advice about fighting Pacquiao?

FM – Yes, I told him not to take that fight because he would have to move too far down in weight. He would be dehydrated and worry about losing weight the entire camp. That’s why we had a falling out. Everyone was saying he would win but I knew he would lose.

DT – Why?

FM – Pacquiao walks around at about 147lbs. He didn’t have to lose weight; Oscar had to lose lots of weight and work extra hard to take off those extra pounds. He weighed 142lbs. the night of the fight. Hell, the boy hadn’t been that low in 12 years. Yeah, he looked okay in the beginning of the fight but just did not have the energy to throw a punch in the middle rounds. Oscar flat out whored himself for money to take that fight. My son quit boxing so Oscar looked to Pacquiao as the next big money maker. Oscar is the cheapest SOB in the business he nickels and dimes you to death, makes promises and doesn’t keep them. Ask anyone that’s been associated with him and they will tell you the same thing. You say you’re from Los Angeles, have you ever spoke with Fred Roach?

DT – Uhhhh……On Occasion.

FM – The next time you see him ask him if Oscar didn’t screw him with promises and money.

DT – How about Miguel Cotto, on your list?

FM –Sure, but not after the Pacquiao fight. He will lose that fight because he took a beating from Margarito and Clottley. In my book Clottey beat Cotto and if I had been in Clottey’s corner he would have knocked out Cotto. Look for Pacquiao to open up that bad cut he got from Clottey. Cotto just moves straight ahead and that’s the only type fighter that Pacquiao will fight. He can’t fight someone with boxing skills. Morales showed you how to beat him in their first fight; the right hand did the trick.

DT – How do you feel about Shane Mosley?

FM – Yeah on my list but at the bottom. Shane is getting old and my boy or Pacquiao would take him out. Shane is talking up a storm just because he beat Margarito. He won because Margarito didn’t have the bricks in his gloves. Margarito just stupidly stood there and took all that punishment. Shane has some speed left but I still have some bad thoughts about him.

DT – Why is that?

MT – Listen, I got another message for the kids out there….Don’t use performance enhancing drugs. Those damn things will kill you and Shane should have been suspended for using them. Anyone gets caught using steroids should be given a one year suspension, at minimum.

DT – Sir, Mosley claims it was his trainer at fault.

FM – Listen son, if the fighter says the trainer did it, then the fighter most certainly did use those drugs. All the athletes who get caught using drugs blame someone else. They know damn well what goes in their bodies.

DT – How do you feel about the current Super Middleweight Tournament?

FM – Not a one of them impresses me. None of them would go in my list of good fighters out there now.

DT – Not even King Arthur Abraham?

FM – He throws hard and can take a punch but he will eventually lose in that tournament, know why?

DT – Why?

FM – Because he will run into a fighter with some good boxing skills. That’s the way to beat him, box and move, don’t let him land those big shots cleanly.

DT – They just announced the Paul Williams/ Kelly Pavlik fight for October. What are your thoughts about that bout?

FM- Pavlik is on my list and so is Paul Williams. I was impressed by the way Pavlick beat Taylor twice. He got up off the mat and made adjustments that lead to him knocking out Taylor. That’s what a boxer is all about.

DT – And Williams?

FM – Tall, lanky, good speed but I kind of doubt his power. He shouldn’t be fighting at 147 lbs. with his height advantage he will win those fights at the lower weight. Williams is a middleweight and that’s where he will go if he wants to make any money. I’m not sure who will win the fight but Pavlik will land some big blows and we will find out if Williams can hurt or be hurt in that division.

DT – Mr. Mayweather it’s been an interesting interview…..

FM - Yeah, another thing, I have done some wrong things in my life and paid the price, but I’m not a bad guy or desperado. Kids should learn from the mistakes others make and do right with their lives.

DT - I agree with you completely. I also wish you the best of luck in the upcoming fight against Marquez and with your future endeavors in boxing. Can we talk again after this interview runs on the website? Our readers may have some questions for you.

FM – No Problem, you have my number. God Bless.

DT – Same to you Mr. Mayweather and take care of yourself.

Thank you for visiting doghouse boxing and reading this interview. I answer all e-mails so please let me know your thoughts. Please e-mail me at dtyler53@cox.net

David Tyler

Please send all coments, questions and feedback to David Tyler
E-mail David now at: dtyler53@cox.net

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