Foo Fighters' Guitarist Chris Shiflett Talks Boxing with DoghouseBoxing - On Donaire, Mayweather, Guerrero, Pacquiao & many more! (Part: Two) By "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr, Doghouse Boxing (Jan 11, 2012) Doghouse Boxing - Tweet
In the first
part of the Chris Shiflett interview, the famed guitarist talked about
his short amateur career a well as his love for the sweet science, in
this part Chris goes in to depth on his favorite fighters, the fights he
would love to witness and more, enjoy. Benny Henderson Jr. : Who is your favorite fighter at this time?
Chris Shiflett: Well,
there are so many great fighters; I think this is a great time in
boxing. Just off the top of my head, I love Nonito Donaire, he is
obviously great. Brandon Rios is always fun to watch, I love Kelly
Pavlik, and I hope he gets back in action soon. I am looking forward to
the Victor Ortiz versus Andre Berto rematch, that is going to be great. I
think there were a lot of great fights in the Super Six. There are so
many, and when there are no fights on you have You Tube, you can go back
and watch the ones you missed. Or watch the fights from years back,
whether it be Julio Cesar Chavez or any all time great. There is a lot
of great talent out there.
BH:
As
far as the Ortiz-Berto rematch, I believe that is going to be a heck of
a fight, Ortiz really came out in the Berto fight, all though he blew
it when he tried to make out with Mayweather Jr.
CS:It
is interesting when Ortiz fought Mayweather, I did not agree with a lot
of the reviews of that fight, most of the reviews I read people were
saying that Mayweather was steam rolling Ortiz and he was going to win
anyway blah blah blah. That was not the fight that I saw, what my eyes
saw was pretty much a dead even fight. I think that Ortiz won the second
and was winning the fourth round; to me he was pressuring Mayweather
and hitting Floyd with shots that Floyd usually doesn’t get hit with. So
I mean I may be in the minority, but I would love to see a rematch
between the two. I thought that Victor was hanging in there with him.
BH:
I
believe that the moment got to him, I mean think about it, Victor never
had that type of pressure or publicity, I mean he was all over TMZ, HBO
etc. I think it was pressure.
CS: For sure.
BH:
I don’t believe the pressure would want me to hug or kiss a man but to each his own.
CS: (Laughs)
Well, you now, if they fought again hopefully there would not be the
head butts or excessive hugging; obviously Floyd could have been a
better sportsman. The ref could have taken care of business; it was the
perfect storm of people doing what they shouldn’t have done.
I
get sucked into Pay Per Views all the time, I buy all of them, I always
say that I am not going to watch the fight then when push comes to
shove, I put up the money and tune in. I think personally Floyd
Mayweather is a very frustrating fighter, he obviously has a lot of
talent and skill but what does his highlight reel look like? Who would
even care, how many times has that guy duped us out of our PPV money?
That was my deal with him and the Ortiz fight, I was like he did it
again. Every time that guy fights it is just some bull sh*t, he either
stinks the joint up or whatever, I just cannot stand him he is a blot on
the sport. I do not care about his personality, or whatever, his big
brash statements or whatever, I want to see somebody get in the ring and
fight, most people who like boxing would rather watch Gatti versus Ward
type of fights, Mayweather is a boring fighter. In the Ortiz fight he
did actually get in there and throw some punches then all the BS went
down, I was like once again.
BH:
Floyd is talented, but talent does not always equal entertainment.
CS:Exactly.
BH:
Floyd was supposed to go to jail, but we all know the deal, now he is scheduled to fight May 5th,
he is calling out Pacquiao on Twitter, Arum says that Pacquiao will not
be ready for that fight etc. Do you think that fight will ever
materialize?
CS:At
this point I do not think it will ever go down, I am not in the inner
circle of the camps and do not know what the talks are, as a fan it
looks to me like it will not happen because A, Bob Arum does not want it
to happen, And B, it appears that Mayweather does not want it to
happen. Golden Boy seems like they want it to happen, as well as
Pacquiao, but every time they get close to making it happen it seems
like Bob Arum or Mayweather throws up a road block. I do not know what
the real issue is but for whatever reason it appears it may not happen.
BH:
It is a shame because the fans would love that fight.
CS: You
have two guys who are great fighters and they are both popular, that
cannot be bad. For whatever reason it is not going to happen and it is
frustrating. And it is like, boxing never misses an opportunity to kick
its self in the ass, it is really sad.
BH:
As
far as Manny Pacquiao, what are your thoughts on the Pac-Man, and who
would you like to see him in against, do you believe there is anybody
out there who could possibly dethrone him?
CS:Personally
I thought Marquez either beat him or at least should have gotten a draw
in the last fight. He has been in that phase the past couple of years
where they keep putting him in with name guys who are overmatched. So
they developed this sense that Pacquiao is unbeatable, but he is not
unbeatable, he is beatable like Mayweather is or any other guy. I would
like to see him in against any top fighter at 147; I do not like seeing
him go up any more.
BH:
You know Robert Guerrero, who used to be trained by our good friend John Bray, well, Robert really wants a piece of Mayweather.
CS: I
would love to see Guerrero get in with either one of those guys, I love
Robert Guerrero, I love the way he fights and I believe those would be
competitive fights, no doubt about it. I could see Robert beating either
one of those guys, he is a highly skilled tough motherf*cker that is
for sure.
BH:
You guys are getting back to the tour in March?
CS:Yes,
we wrapped up the Australian, New Zealand tour in the middle of
December, we have been home for the holidays and we have some stuff
coming up around the Grammy’s.
BH:
Thank for the interview and for talking a little bit of boxing with me.
CS:No worries my man, maybe we will make it out to Texas real soon.
I
would like to thank John Bray for helping out with this interview, and a
big thanks goes out to Chris for his time and thoughts.
