by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with boxing trainer Roger Mayweather, who is currently training his nephew Floyd Mayweather Junior (42-0, 26 KOs) for a May 5 showdown against Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs). Roger spoke about the upcoming fight with Cotto and the expectations he has for his nephew going into that contest. He also shared his views on the upcoming rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, gave opinions on Cotto’s professional losses against Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao, and also talked about why he believes a fight with Manny Pacquiao is the logical next move for his nephew following the Cotto fight. Here is what Roger Mayweather had to say:
His views on Miguel Cotto as an opponent for his nephew:
“Well I don’t really see anything different than it was before. You know. I don’t see anything different. I don’t see nothing that amazing. I don’t see anything period, to be honest with you. I don’t think his ability has changed. With his boxing skills I don’t see anything. So I ain’t even talking about it. Cotto is just another fighter. That’s all he is. He ain’t nothing but another fighter. Period. Cotto can hit a little bit, but as far as boxing, boxing is really a whole different thing. Anybody could hit. They can hit and they can’t even fight. What does that mean? That don’t mean anything. So I don’t think I see any more in Cotto than I seen in him last time. So I don’t think it’s no different than what he was the last time. So I mean basically as far as my side’s take, the same Cotto I seen years ago is the same Cotto that’s here now. Like I said I don’t think nothing’s different and I don’t think nothing changed. I think it is the way it is.”
Regarding how his nephew Floyd has looked in training camp:
“Oh my nephew is fine. My nephew is fine. His training camp is going alright, and I mean my nephew is ready to go right now. If the fight was tomorrow he’ll take the fight tomorrow if the fight was tomorrow. So my nephew is always in shape. He ain’t going to go in that ring if he ain’t in shape. He’s going to do what he needs to do as far as conditioning. I mean he’s ready, so like I said if the fight happened tomorrow he’d be ready to fight tomorrow. So I don’t think there is nothing different than we always do. We always train. We always prepare himself. So hey! So that’s it.”
On what he expects from Cotto in the fight:
“The only thing Cotto can do! The only thing Cotto can do against my nephew is press my nephew. That’s the only thing he can do. He can’t box better than my nephew! His defense ain’t better than my nephew! His boxing skills ain’t better than my nephew! So the only thing Cotto can do is press my nephew. That’s the only thing he can do, because as far as boxing that ain’t even a concern as far as his boxing skills compared to my nephew. The only thing he can do with my nephew is press my nephew! That’s the only thing he can do! He can’t outbox my nephew! He don’t got more skills than my nephew. So! That’s the only thing he can do! My nephew, in this era in boxing, is the best that’s out there. Period! He’s the best that’s out there period, skill-wise in boxing! I mean Cotto’s going to do what he needs to do but hey, just like I said, my nephew knows how to deal with all that! I mean he deals with all kinds of styles so I don’t think it’s anything different than the fighters that he fought before.”
His views on the fact that his nephew’s fight with Cotto will be taking place at 154 pounds:
“That don’t mean anything. Weight don’t win fights. Skills do. So weight don’t mean anything. Weight don’t mean nothing! Period! Remember my nephew’s already been at 154 pounds when he whopped De La Hoya, and he wasn’t 154 then! So it ain’t about weight. Weight don’t win anything. Skills do. Boxing skills win fights. As far as my nephew fighting Cotto, my nephew knows what he’s up against in Cotto and he knows what he has to do. My nephew boxes guys over his weight. I mean as long as he’s sparring that’s what he’s doing. So I don’t think it’s anything different.”
His views on people who think Cotto is still an elite fighter following his losses to Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao:
“Well see I don’t know what they think about Cotto, but at the same time that don’t have nothing to do with Floyd. Floyd would have whopped Cotto before Pacquiao and any of those other guys whopped him anyway. That don’t mean anything. I see what they’re saying about Cotto, because any time a guy, when he fought Margarito, I mean the guy was dirty! I think that does take a little bit out of a fighter because of what he done to him. But hey! He still came back and became champion. The thing of it is that guy should have been banned from boxing. Any time a guy has illegal sh*t on his hand he should be banned from boxing anyway! Period! I don’t care who he fought! It didn’t have to be Cotto. He should be banned from boxing period! So any time a guy hits somebody with something illegal in his hands, he’s supposed to be banned from boxing anyway! Period! How is somebody going to let somebody hit you with something to hurt you? I mean what he had in him could have ruined his career period! So this guy should be f*cking banned from boxing!”
On whether he thinks Cotto is a tougher opponent now than De La Hoya was when Floyd faced him at 154:
“Which one I think was better? De La Hoya would have been better because De La Hoya hadn’t already lost! See he didn’t outbox him though, whether people know it or not. When fighters lose they lose something. They lose something about themselves until they’re actually back to start winning again. So in the fight that Cotto did lose the guy had illegal handwraps anyway! He should be f*cking banned from boxing! Talk about how he beat Cotto. He didn’t beat Cotto! The sh*t in the handwraps he had whopped Cotto! So it wasn’t him! It wasn’t no skills that he brought to the table that beat Cotto! It’s the illegal sh*t that he had in his hands that beat Cotto! So he started talking about how he should be banned from boxing! Period! They start to talk about banning somebody! Any time some guy has illegal sh*t in his hands, they need to ban his ass anyway! So that’s just the way it should be. I mean he wasn’t beating Cotto. What he had on his hands whopped Cotto. It wasn’t him! Skill-wise it wasn’t him. So that’s a different thing about boxing. When a guy gets beat fairly and squarely, I mean listen! Pacquiao didn’t whop Cotto anyway! I mean they gave him a win, but that mother f*cker didn’t whop Cotto anyway! I mean they gave him the win, but that mother f*cker never even took a test! And Margarito didn’t whop Cotto either! Any time somebody beats you, if they beat you they beat you fairly and they beat you squarely. That’s how you beat me! You don’t beat me with all that illegal sh*t! That ain’t the way to beat a fighter. The way Cotto’s going to get beat is the way my nephew will beat him, and my nephew don’t take none of that sh*t! He don’t put none of that sh*t in his body! If you take a test on my nephew they ain’t going to find nothing! Period! He don’t need nothing to whop Cotto. So you start talking about these guys doing this, but those guys never whopped Cotto fairly and squarely. Margarito never whopped Cotto fairly and squarely. Pacquiao ain’t never whopped Cotto fairly and squarely. So what does that mean? They got a win over Cotto, but them mother f*ckers didn’t beat Cotto. They didn’t beat him for real. That’s just the way it is.”
Regarding comments made by Sugar Shane Mosley where he said he gives Cotto a chance of beating Mayweather because Cotto had an outstanding jab:
“Let me tell you something! Shane Mosley can’t even talk! My nephew whopped his ass every round! And he struggled with f*cking Cotto! Now what does that tell you? People can’t tell me about boxing! I know about boxing! I know about boxing and I know how to train fighters. I’ve been training fighters since I was a little kid. And you seen how easy my nephew whopped his ass didn’t you? Alright then! So how’s he going to mention about Cotto when he got his ass whopped! He struggled with Cotto! Floyd din’t! He struggled with Cotto! Floyd didn’t struggle with anybody! How’s he going to mention about what Floyd’s going to do with Cotto when Floyd already whopped his ass! He didn’t win one round, and if he did win one he did win one! So he can’t mention about what my nephew would do with Cotto, because he got his ass whopped so easy by my nephew it don’t even make sense! He shouldn’t be talking about my nephew!”
His evaluation of Cotto’s jab as a weapon:
“I don’t think about none of that sh*t! Because you know what? Anything Cotto can do my nephew can counter that sh*t! It don’t even make no difference about what Cotto can do. That sh*t don’t mean anything to me! I know about boxing! That sh*t don’t mean anything to me about what Cotto can do this, Cotto can do that. He probably can do that with somebody else. He can’t do that sh*t with my nephew! That’s the difference. Talking about what Cotto can do! I don’t give a f*ck what Cotto can do, because that sh*t don’t mean nothing to me! And whatever he can do, my nephew can do it ten times f*cking better! So I’m not even worried about what the f*ck Cotto can do! Cotto maybe can punch. Cotto maybe has a good jab. I don’t give a f*ck about none of that! None of that don’t mean anything to me because this is boxing, and when it comes to the boxing world my nephew is the best in the sport of boxing. He’s the best today in the sport of boxing. Period. So there ain’t none of that about he can do this, he can do that, he can do this, he can do that. My nephew is the best defensive fighter in boxing and he got way more skills than Cotto, so I ain’t worried about that. I don’t worry about that. I don’t worry about what people say. Half the people talking don’t know sh*t about boxing anyway! They just talk to talk! They don’t know nothing about boxing! They don’t know how to counter this or deflect that! They don’t know anything about boxing! People who talk about boxing, they talk about what they see! They don’t even know what they see! Well why doesn’t he do this? I say well what is that? What is that that he’s doing? Alright then! You don’t know sh*t! Shut up! You don’t know nothing about boxing! Period! I know because I see people in the sport every day that train everyday and they don’t know nothing about boxing at all! Period! Talk about what he can do. Boom boom! Maybe he can do that! Maybe he can do that, but hey! He ain’t doing that sh*t with my nephew. So that’s what it is.”
On whether he believes it is important for his nephew to stop Cotto quicker than Pacquiao did:
“Listen here. First off, Pacquiao didn’t stop Cotto! So we ain’t going to talk about Pacquiao doing any mother f*cking thing to my nephew. Pacquiao ain’t going to do but one thing to my nephew—he going to get his ass knocked out! Period! As far as Pacquiao and Pacquiao whopping Cotto, I don’t even think about what Pacquiao did to Cotto because number one, everybody knows what f*cking Pacquiao got in him any mother f*cking way! There ain’t a guy in this history of boxing period that comes from that weight division and been knocked out twice to ever beat anybody at 125 pounds, ever beat anybody at 130, 135, 40, 47, or 50! I know boxing! So I ain’t going to talk about what Pacquiao can do, because Pacquiao didn’t do sh*t to Cotto! The only thing Pacquiao did to Cotto is he went in there with that sh*t in him! In the history of boxing there ain’t never been a guy 105 pounds ever to beat anybody at 125, 130, 35, 40, 47, or 50! I know boxing! Nobody got to tell me about boxing! The last three fighters ever to come up from that weight division, number one of them is Henry Armstrong! Henry Armstrong started at featherweight, he won the lightweight, he won the welterweight, and he fought a draw for the middleweight! Okay! The next guy ever to come from that weight division was Roberto Duran! Roberto Duran started at 35 and jumped up to 47 to whop Ray Leonard, jumped up to 54 to whop Davey Moore, jumped up to 160 pounds to whop Iran Barkley! The last great fighter ever to come from that weight started at 130, 35, 40, 47, and jumped up to 54 to whop De La Hoya’s ass and you know who that is! I ain’t even got to tell you. So don’t tell me about Pacquiao! Pacquiao ain’t doing sh*t but taking them mother f*cking drugs and taking them f*cking steroids! That’s all the f*ck he’s doing! He ain’t doing sh*t! He ain’t whopped no mother f*cking elite fighters! When my nephew takes that test, he takes it and you don’t find sh*t in him! Alright then! The rest of these mother f*ckers are taking all this bullsh*t and that’s what he’s doing! There ain’t no way in the world a guy at 100 and f*cking five pounds who got his ass whopped twice got his ass whopped by Erik Morales! Now there ain’t never been a guy at 105 pounds beat a mother f*cker at 125 pounds, 130 pounds, 35, 40, 47, or 50, and the only way he can ever possibly do that is he has to have that sh*t in him! Now I know boxing so that’s what I’m telling you!”
His views on recent comments made On the Ropes by his brother Floyd Mayweather Senior who said he expects his son to beat Cotto by counterpunching but that he is disappointed his son has not thrown more punches in recent fights:
“Listen, listen, listen! Tell my brother to shut his ass up! He don’t train Floyd! I do! He must throw enough punches! Didn’t he knockout Victor Ortiz? Alright then! So we ain’t worried about what the f*ck he’s saying! What he says don’t mean anything. He ain’t training nobody. So what does that mean? What does that mean to me? I’ve been training Floyd for fifteen years! You think I worry about what my brother would say? Huh? What my brother would say wouldn’t mean sh*t to me! I don’t remember my brother training his son in the last fifteen years. So what does that mean? What do you think that would mean to me? It wouldn’t mean sh*t to me about what my brother would say or what he wouldn’t say! It doesn’t matter!”
On whether we can expect to see his nephew throw more punches in his fight against Cotto:
“Listen, listen, listen. I’m going to tell you about the fight with Cotto. You ain’t got to worry about that. My nephew’s got everything to lose. Cotto’s already lost already. He ain’t got to worry about what my nephew’s got! His Daddy ain’t got to worry about what my nephew’s got! My nephew’s been champion fifteen years with me. Actually he’s been champion sixteen years with me. So my nephew’s been champion longer than Joe Louis, so obviously he’s done something right! Talking about all that Cotto sh*t don’t mean nothing to me! It don’t mean nothing to me period!”
On whether that means we can expect to see Floyd focus primarily on counterpunching against Cotto:
“Floyd’s going to be Floyd! Floyd’s going to be Floyd, so if Floyd’s going to be Floyd, Floyd knows how to win. He don’t know how to lose obviously. So that’s what that tells you about boxing.”
His views on the upcoming rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson:
“I think it’s going to be a close fight. I mean Bernard is getting up there in age, but it’s a pick’em fight though. It’s a pick’em fight. I mean I think it’s a close fight but it’s a pick’em fight though. I can’t say who will actually win, but I just know it’s a close fight. I know whatever goes down the fight is going to be close one way or the other.”
On whether he has ever seen a fighter quite like Bernard Hopkins:
“Yeah I have seen George Foreman. George Foreman was a heavyweight champion. George Foreman won the title at 45 years old. George Foreman’s the oldest heavyweight champion in the world, and George Foreman was laid off ten years and came back to win the title. He’s the oldest champion ever since Bernard Hopkins fought. Him and Hopkins are the oldest champions ever as far as the heavyweight division. The last champion won the title at 38 or 39. That was the last champion in the heavyweight division. Bernard Hopkins is the oldest heavyweight champion in the middleweight division. I mean that’s a great accomplishment for a guy to win a title that late, but hey! I mean he dedicated his work to it so, I don’t think nothing is impossible.”
On whether he believes his nephew can continue fighting into his 40s:
“Yeah he can fight in his 40s. I think my nephew can fight in his 40s. My nephew is a skilled fighter. My nephew ain’t taken no bunch of punishment or no bunch of beatings. George Foreman like we said fought until he was 45 years old, but you have to remember George Foreman is a heavyweight and he’s a heavyweight with a big punch. So George Foreman stopped most of the guys that he ever fought anyway, so I can see why he was able to fight into those later years. But when you start fighting with a guy like my nephew, he depends on his skills, his boxing skills to survive. As long as he don’t get beat up and take unnecessary punishment, sh*t! My nephew can fight as long as he stays in shape and stays in condition. He’ll fight in his 40s if he can. I’m going to be with him, but you don’t fight to lose. You fight to win.”
His views on which fighter out there could be a match for his nephew since he believes Cotto is no match for him:
“Listen. I never said he was no match for my nephew. I said he doesn’t have skills that my nephew does, and as far as boxing Cotto’s a good fighter. But they’re on two different levels about boxing skill-wise. Cotto is a good competitor. He’s going to give my nephew a competitive fight. He’s going to do that, but my nephew is going to do what he has to do to win. He’s going to do what he has to do to win and skills pay the bills. That’s all I know last time I checked.”
On whether he believes his nephew will eventually be beaten by age or by another elite fighter:
“Probably it will be age. It will probably be age. It will probably be age before anything else. It will probably be age. I can’t say. It will probably be age. I can’t see any of these guys out here today beating him. I can’t see it. He pretty much fought all the elite fighters from 130-54 pounds. He fought all the elite fighters out there. He fought Shane Mosley. He fought De La Hoya. He fought Diego Corrales. He fought that kid out of Phoenix, Arizona. He fought pretty much everybody. Like I said if anything would beat him, if he stays around long enough it would be age. It would be age that would beat him, because when you talk about age it deteriorates some of your skills. If my nephew keeps fighting more often he’s going to have a much longer career. He’s fighting four or five months from when he fought last time. He will be more active skill-wise, but if you start fighting every eleven months or every ten months like that like that, that’s too long. That deteriorates you when you just sit around waiting. You know if you’re sitting around waiting and you ain’t doing nothing then that’s going to deteriorate you as far as boxing goes. Ain’t nobody going to be young forever, but as long as he keeps fighting like every four or five months, then he’ll last that much longer.”
Regarding what he believes will be next for his nephew after this fight:
“Well hopefully we get this out of the way and there won’t be no more reason for why Pacquiao don’t fight my nephew. That should be the next fight on the board. Wouldn’t it? Since he quotes so much about wanting to fight my nephew? So that should be the next fight on the board. I can’t see why not. And then you’ll find out what the truth is. Then you’ll find out if he can whop my nephew. People keep asking all these questions. Oh! Pacaquiao will whop your nephew, he’ll do this, he’ll do that. Then all you got to do is make the fight. Make the fight! After this they can make it. Make the fight happen after this and then we’ll see. Then you’ll find out what the truth is. Ain’t no way in the world a guy that size is going to whop my mother f*cking nephew period, and he’s going to take that test. Ain’t no way in the world a guy like Pacquiao is going to whop my nephew. Period! Everybody knows. Everybody knows what he’s got to do. They don’t got to take a test on my nephew! They got to take a test on Pacquiao! So that’s all they got to do, and once they take that test and he don’t got that sh*t in him he’s going to get his ass knocked out anyway! I ain’t saying he’s going to get whopped. I’m saying he’s going to get knocked out. He’s been knocked out twice. What difference does it make? He got knocked out twice at 105 pounds! You think all of a sudden he’s that much better at 147? Huh? Everybody knows. That’s all I got to say.”
***
For those interested in listening to the Roger Mayweather interview in its entirety, it begins approximately seventeen minutes into the program.
RIGHT CLICK and ‘SAVE AS’ TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE #165
***
To learn more about “On the Ropes Boxing Radio”
Visit our official Website:
http://www.ontheropesboxingradio.com
Subscribe to our show on i-tunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-ropes/id427474189
Join our Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=231954175413&ref=ts
Or Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/JennaOnTheRopes
http://twitter.com/CianiOnTheRopes
To contact Geoffrey Ciani or Jenna J:
ontheropes@boxing247.com
To read more by Ciani or Jenna please visit The Mushroom Mag:
http://www.eatthemushroom.com/mag