20.03.07 – By John Martinez – BOXINGREALM.COM – Last night I spent some time talking with one of the greatest minds in boxing, Floyd “ Joy” Mayweather Sr. The man had so much to say that I believe I might make our discussion into a two-part story. He believes many people confuse his frankness for arrogance. I would call it truthfulness. Read on to hear the “Master” trainer open up about WBC light heavyweight champion “ Bad” Chad Dawson, the robbery of Steve Forbes, Freddie Roach, and oh yeah, that guy named Oscar De la Hoya among many other topics.
JM: Floyd, we have got to talk about what happened over the weekend to your fighter Steve Forbes.
FLOYD SR: Well first of all, let me say that Stevie decided to come back to the Master. He told me that if I wasn’t going to train him then he was going to retire. Now, look- what happened that night was nothing but politics. You know that and I know that and everyone else knows that!..
JM: Explain what you mean Floyd. You’re saying that the fix was in?
FLOYD SR: Look, I told him in the 11th round that… look it was politics man. It was Oscar’s card, Oscar’s show, Oscar’s business partner (Bernard Hopkins), this guy Demetrius fights for Oscar. I told him he had to win the round. I told him he wasn’t going to win the fight on points. Demetrius wasn’t even in the fight. I mean, I looked at the Hopkins corner and everybody had a sad look on their face. They knew they were losing. It was so plain to see that even a blind man could see.
JM: What do you and Steve take from this fight to build on?
FLOYD SR: Well everything turned out real nice in the end because guess what? Stevie called me today and told me that the IBF and WBA champions wanted to fight the winner of Saturday’s fight. They told him that they thought he was the clear winner that night so they are going to give him the title shot. He said that Ricky Hatton wants to fight him after the Castillo fight. So everything worked out real nice.
JM: What do you think about Forbes stepping into the ring with Hatton? What would you advise Steve to do against the aggression of Hatton?
FLOYD SR: Ah, well you see the thing with Hatton is.. Is he’s really strong. He’s a strong fighter who throws a lot of punches so Stevie’s going to have to use his defense. The defense will be very important against Ricky. Steve has good defense. He showed it in the gym now he just needs to use it in the fight. You know what? I doubt even Demetrius’ mother would say he won that fight!
JM: Another one of your charges, WBC light heavyweight king “ Bad” Chad Dawson gave an amazing performance of just how good he is when he captured the title from Tomasz Adamek. Give us your thoughts on what you saw that night.
FLOYD SR: If you think Chad was amazing then, then he’s gonna be super amazing now! Listen, Chad’s the first left handed fighter I ever trained. As great and as bad as I am, he’s the first lefty I trained and made a world champion and guess what? You know I’m bad, right? Chad is definitely going to the next level. I already got the feel for training a lefty and I’m gonna do better now. You can’t let me get no better than I already am and anytime you’ve got that, then it’s pressure on the next man. I turn everything to fire.
JM: Floyd, I’d like to ask you what impresses you the most about Dawson?
FLOYD SR: I like that Chad is calm, cool, and collected. He’s real quiet. You know when we first got together we didn’t get along. He didn’t like what I was doing and I didn’t like what he was doing. But we worked it out and look what happened? Chad is person that doesn’t talk much. Listen, don’t get me wrong. I’m the kind of guy that boasts and brags but I can back it up. People say I’m arrogant. I call it confident. You saw what happened with Steve. You know what that’s all about. How can I not be the best trainer in the world when my son is pound for pound number one? I made him what he is. Anybody else who trained my son is “ Johnny come lately” because I already trained my son.
JM: Going back to Chad for a minute. What would like to see him improve the most on?
FLOYD SR: I want to see him finish guys off. That’s the thing. I want Chad to finish his man off.
JM: Chad told me that he wants to fight Bernard, Tarver, and Roy Jones Jr. What do you think of these three choices?
FLOYD SR: He doesn’t need those guys right now. I think he can beat them but I’d rather see him get a couple of defenses under his belt first. Fighting those guys ain’t gonna do much for his career anyway.
JM: I think a good choice would be Paul Briggs. What do you think about that match up?
FLOYD SR: I want him to fight Briggs. We saw what Adamek did to Briggs now let’s find out what Chad can do. I’ve mentioned this fight to his manager and others and they always say “ oh well, I don’t think that fight is gonna happen right now.” You know how it is? If Chad does what I tell him to do, then Briggs will be in big trouble.
JM: Lets talk about what happened with Oscar not paying the money that you requested.
FLOYD SR: (Cutting in) He was ungrateful, unfaithful, and disrespectful. Don’t get me wrong now. I appreciate everything Oscar did for me, but he sure as hell didn’t appreciate what I did for him!!! I definitely brought his game up and got him another 100 million dollars in the bank! Look here, if it wasn’t for Floyd Mayweather Sr. Oscar would’ve been gone a long time ago! He would’ve had no defense because he fought like a robot.
He fought mechanical, methodical, and walked like Frankenstein. I’m the one that made the difference in him. Look here- is the man a fool to take Freddie the Joke Coach Roach over Floyd “Joy” Mayweather Sr. former fighter not former trainer? Hey we already know that a roach will be sprayed and underpaid!
JM: Hey Floyd, tell us how you really feel about Freddie?
FLOYD SR: See here, Freddie is the Joke Coach Roach and man you can’t approach and when Oscar asks him a question, he’s gonna give him smoke! That’s all he’s got. He ain’t got nothing but smoke to blow. Freddie was never a good fighter. I don’t understand why these dumb ass people go and get somebody that they know that… that’s not… look.. This is a physical game. I know Freddie is ill. Freddie does what Freddie has to do. He’s doing what he can, but in all honesty if Freddie Roach were in good health he still wouldn’t be able to out train me anyhow. He can only bring what he’s got to the table and he’s got NOTHING!
JM: What will you say if he and De La Hoya are victorious against your son May 5th?
FLOYD SR: Look I call it like I see it. I call a spade a spade. Now let me tell you something right now. First of all, I’m not officially in my son’s corner. My brother Roger is his trainer. I’m training my son till my brother gets out. I’ve only trained my son for about two weeks. The thing is, if I’m not the coach then you can’t blame me for losing. If they lose, that’s on them. I’m willing to take the blame for anything I say or do. I won’t take the blame for something that I don’t do. If he (Floyd) wins it, then Roger can get all the credit for it. But you know what? He can never get it because everyone already knows who laid the foundation for Little Floyd. You know Roger comes from the same bloodline, but that’s my official bloodline. I made him (Floyd) what he is today. He’s got it all. He’s got my fighting style.
In Part II of my conversation with Floyd Sr. he’ll gives more thoughts on Freddie Roach, plays Little Floyd’s manager, talks about training Manny Pacquaio, his prediction for the May 5th showdown, and oh yeah, talks more about a guy named Oscar De la Hoya.
John@boxingrealm.com, www.boxingrealm.com