29.03.07 – By Phillip Pastrano, BoxingRealm.com: Last Wednesday I had a chance to speak to the one and only Floyd Mayweather Sr. for another one on one interview, a third in a series from BoxingRealm.com. For whatever reason Floyd did not have any poems for me as with the earlier interviews and we did not talk about Freddie Roach. We did however touch on other topics such as his plans now that Roger is back with his son. Other issues include the state of boxing and prospects of ever seeing a Layla Ali and Anne Wolfe fight actually materialize.
I want to thank Floyd Mayweather Sr., who says a lot but has seen a lot and in my opinion has every right to HIS opinions. This website will continue to publish interviews and post verbatim conversations with Floyd Sr and any other boxing celebrity (I know celebrity is a dirty word but couldn’t think of any other) that we are so lucky and gracious enough to land..
If you want long-winded articles that give a quote here and there as to what a fighter or trainer actually has to say then you know where to go. But if you want the whole enchilada (we’re from Tejas) then just keep reading.
We received a press release today saying your brother Roger is back and training your son Floyd Jr. How has the first day been for you?
Floyd Sr. :
Well I’m not down at the gym with them. I’m the top trainer. Period. I’m second to none. I’m just saying that I don’t place myself there. I can’t place myself under somebody that is not as good as me. So I’m not there with that.
Your not going to be anywhere near training camp?
If not placing myself under somebody that’s not better than me I guess that’s where I’ll be, where I am right now, taking care of my business there on the case, running my place.
You were doing some training with Floyd Jr. for the last two weeks how did that go?
Well I was helping out a little bit. I am aware that Roger is his trainer. So its Rogers job to do what he’s got to do. I’m not mad about Roger training him but I can’t work under somebody when I’m better than him. The two weeks were fine. It’s good. But then again you know, I. (hesitant) Well the two weeks went well there was no problem with that at all.
Your son was quoted as saying that since you trained Oscar you can give him some sound advice while he prepares for Oscar. What kind of sound advice were you able to pass on to him?
One of the main things is to make sure that Oscar does not hit him with the left hook, because that’s his most deadly weapon. Other than that Floyd is a smart fighter. He’s slick and he’s clever and he’s smart. He’s got all the tools that any great fighter (needs) and he can do pretty much anything. His daddy taught him from a very tender age.
How old was your son when you first started showing him some boxing skills?
When he was about one year old. Even when he was still in the crib I was taking his hands and showing him how to punch. Showed him different punches like uppercuts, left hooks, and right hand. You can’t lie to the Lord above. He’s watching over all of us. It’s just like anything else in the world. If you want your baby to swim, throw them in the water. If you want your baby to preach then preach around them. Whatever you want your kids to do, you do it, and they will follow suit.
So what’s next for you now that Roger is back and you’re no longer helping with his training?
Well that was just for about an hour or an hour and a half (each day). I will start training my own fighters as well.
Well you have Chad Dawson who beat Adamek last month to become a champion and you had the very poor decision this past Saturday in Steve Forbes losing to the judges and Demitrius Hopkins in Las Vegas. I don’t know of anyone who believes that was a good decision on the part of the judges.
Well you know that is bad for boxing. You know when people start doing that right there it just don’t make any sense. Deliberately taking a fight because this guy is with Golden Boy. It ain’t right. Like I said before we could not have done anything to win that fight. We could have knocked him down, busted his nose, closed his eyes and it would not have done any good. They deliberately took the fight. It’s politics.
Oscar said when he started promoting that he was going to change the sport but these results make it look like more of the same.
He’s going to change the game (sarcastically). Looks like to me he’s going to change it to worse than it was. But I can’t sit here and bring De la Hoya into this cause he wasn’t (unintelligible). But if De la Hoya was going to do something about that he should get on it right now. There is no way you should let a fight like that go. The world is looking at you and the world knows the right man (unintelligible). De La Hoya should not feel comfortable with a fight like that on his show. If you were to write his manager (Bernard Hopkins). That was a very bad blow to boxing. If he doesn’t try to do anything about it and make some changes things are going to get worse and his empire will get torn down.
Were you in the ring and did you hear when Bernard Hopkins walked up to Steve Forbes and told him he deserved a rematch. Did you hear that exchange?
I really didn’t hear that. But you know Bernard is like me. Bernard is from the street. Bernard has got a lot of insight and he’s a smart and wise man. I think that Bernard knows. Bernard knows. One thing about him is that if it’s a duck he going to call it a duck. Do you know if HBO is going to show this fight this Saturday (3-24)?
I think they are just replaying the Barrera/Marquez fight along with the live event middleweight fight from Europe. I don’t think they will show Steve Forbes/ Hopkins fight.
I don’t know why they’re even showing Barrera because I thought Barrera got his ass whooped.
That’s another controversy from Saturday night but I don’t really know why.
There’s nothing to argue about. That fight is so obvious a blind man can see who won that fight. There’s nothing hard or difficult about that fight.
Now that we are talking about controversial issues in boxing, you’ve been involved in boxing for decades and you have seen a lot. There is a debate in the boxing world, fans and media alike, about how the business end of boxing is diminishing the sport. Fighters are taking paydays and going for pay per view fights instead of giving fans the best fights out there. At the same time I think there’s been spectacular fights so far this year. So which one is it?
I don’t think we are getting the better ones. I think at least the way that it appears and the way it is drawn up and the way it is being commercialized. The way it looks to the people is that this is the biggest and best fight in history from way back, talking about Oscar and my son. We have seen this over and over, where a fight doesn’t even reach even a third or half of its potential that it is suppose to be. I can say that in my life I have seen lots of good fights that were not pay per view. A lot of pay per view fights are not all that. You get a lot of fights that ain’t got no business being on pay per view. People are now getting hung up with the wrong thing. They are getting hung up on money. Everything is money, money, money, money. It ain’t about the fights and the sport and the art of the game and it aint about that anymore. Its about who can make the best dollar. The first thing out of their mouths now is how much am I going to get paid. I mean come on man. Do you know that back in the 40’s and 50’s, I know we are in a different era now but those guys were fighting weekly? You would have some of the best fights you could ever see. They make these fights right here look like cartoons.
Maybe not weekly but you have somebody like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. who fought earlier this month in South Texas. He is now going to fight next month in San Antonio and then in June in New York’s Madison Square Garden. That’s 3 fights in less than 4 months.
You can fight all you want to fight as long as you’re fighting bums. You can fight today, tomorrow and the next day, as many as you want to fight. But you ain’t fighting nobody. Anybody can put anybody in front of somebody’s face. Who is he fighting? Fighting next week and next week . Who the hell is he fighting?
(laughing) Well yes.
That answers my question.
Well lets move on to another one of the fighters that you train. You know I live here in Austin, Texas. It’s the home of one of the world’s premiere female boxers named Anne Wolfe.
(laughing) You can go there now. I call her Man Wolf. That’s my quote. Whenever she is ready to come out of those woods and get what Layla has got to give her, its going to be sad.
Lets talk about Laylas’ last fight. I guess you were not able to be with her in South Africa?
I was with Chad Dawson. She told me not to go down there. She told me not to be wasting my time because she had beaten this girl before and she was going to beat her ass again and look what she did. There wasn’t anything to talk about. Plain and simple.
How do you think Layla will do in the Dancing with the Stars TV show?
I just saw her the other night and she was looking great.
Well you know I just went to the Dancing with Stars official web site and it says on there that Layla is retired from boxing, do you know what that may be all about?
Trust me, if Layla is through with boxing it’s not because of Man Wolf. It ain’t because of Man Wolf I can guarantee you that. I don’t think Anne Wolfe really wants to fight Layla. I heard personally to be honest with you, I heard that Layla is trying to get the fight taken care of. Anne Wolfe needs to stop telling lies about Layla being scared of her. I thought Layla was scared of her too until I got with Layla myself and Layla is not scared of no Anne Wolfe. Layla will fight Anne Wolfe today. Believe me. If Man Wolf comes out of the woods, Layla will fight her tomorrow believe me. It may never happen because Anne Wolfe is not ready for that. As a matter of fact Anne and I have spoken about me training her before.
What happened to that offer or discussion?
I’m pretty sure I would have given her some confidence. She aint got no confidence now. But you all keep thinking that Anne Wolfe is tough. She got that man body. Her biceps are bigger than mine and I most definitely have some big biceps. But Anne Wolfe don’t want to fight no Layla.
Just to try to wrap things up now. What is going on with Chad Dawson now? Is he still slated to make his first title defense in July?
I think his fight is suppose to be in June. I think its going to be Paul Briggs. That’s what I’m getting right now.
What do you have in store for Dawson as her prepares for Briggs compared to preparing for Adamek?
Oh yes, yes , yes. It should be much different. To tell you truth Chad could have stopped Adamek for real. But me and him had a difference when camp first started. We were having a back and forth. Had he not listened he probably would not have been able to get off the floor. I’m just saying that because Adamek hit him with a good shot. I don’t know if he would have been able to survive that had he not been doing the things that I told him. When it came down to the end he really got into the things that I was telling him and he started doing all the stuff that I was telling him then he seen that it worked.
Do you feel he is now following your instructions better than before?
Well he already told me that whatever I say is really what it is and that’s the way it should be anyway.
I know I’m jumping around here a bit but I wanted to get one more question in before we run out of time. I understand that your brother Roger is having issues with getting a license in Nevada and that may prevent him from being in your sons corner come May 5th. If he is not allowed to be there do you have any plans to be in your son’s corner for that evening?
I’ll fill his shoes if he needs me to.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me Floyd. Hope to talk to you soon and thanks for your time.
Texas Roundup is a summary of all boxing events happening in Texas and boxers that live and train in Texas. It is updated every Thursday and brought to you only on BOXINGREALM.COM by Austin, Texas boxing fan Phillip Pastrano.
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