"I'm proud of the new girl, Holly, and I'm proud of Ronda...I commend Dana White and the Fertitta brothers for being able to take a female and make her so huge in a contact sport. I commend them for that, but she had to do her part also, and she did her part," stated retired undefeated former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who spoke in-depth about Ronda Rousey's 2nd round knockout loss to newly-crowned UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Check it out!
BT: Floyd, obviously you know about the outcome of Rousey vs. Holm, but did you get a chance to see the fight?
FM: I mean, I've seen different highlights. I've heard certain things. Everybody that's around me is on social media extremely heavy. The new generation, they're on social media a lot. One thing that was very interesting, someone came to me and showed me an interview where she was talking about me, not in a bad way, but in a good way actually, talking about her coach, I guess, always brings my name up. Her coach likes my fighting style and was talking about the shoulder roll and was talking about some other things in the interview, which was positive. I'm proud of the new girl, Holly, and I'm proud of Ronda. She's only been here for a very, very short time and she's built a great fanbase, and she did it with not so many fights.
BT: Do you think people will be surprised to hear you say that given some of the comments that Ronda Rousey made about you in the past?
FM: I mean, even with the things that Ronda Rousey said about me, sometimes we need to be guided in the right way. Do I think that she really meant what she said? Absolutely not. You know, it's crazy, to get to where I got to, I didn't have no sponsors. I mean, today, people are overnight sensations. I commend Dana White and the Fertitta brothers for being able to take a female and make her so huge in a contact sport. I commend them for that, but she had to do her part also, and she did her part. If I was her, I would've used Floyd Mayweather's name also. She's supposed to do that. It's business, it's not personal, and I understand business.
BT: Do you think the back and forth between you two was something blown out of proportion by the media?
FM: I think that the media plays a major part and they cut and chop and show only what they want to show. I just find it extremely funny that they say certain things about me. They come at me many different ways trying to discourage me, trying to defeat me, trying to discredit me. It's no different from in the past, you know, sometimes you say certain things and you don't mean what you say. We're only human, we make mistakes, and like I said before, I apologize for not knowing who she was at one particular time. That just shows you how focused I was on my craft. When they said, "Floyd Mayweather didn't know who you were," at one particular time, my comment back would have been, "Well, in due time, he'll know. The world will know." I don't have anything against anyone. A lot of times I speak, I speak from the heart. I think we have to conduct ourselves better. There's just little small things that I think can hurt you in the long run.
BT: A lot of people made a big deal about Rousey not touching gloves with Holm prior to the fight. They say her knockout was karma for showing poor sportsmanship, not just to Holm, but to other fighters in the past. You were known for talking trash to opponents leading up to fights, but you always showed them respect when the fight was over. As a fighter, I know you're not supposed to respect your opponent when the bell rings, so do you think Rousey should be criticized for not touching gloves?
FM: I mean, I just feel like if you was touching gloves from the beginning, I think just because you make more money and you got commercials now and you're the female face of MMA, I think it's only right, whatever you was doing from the beginning, you should continue to do. If you didn't do it from the beginning, I mean, I think a person should be who they are all the way through. Everybody's always talking about this person needs to be in a humbling experience. Being humble is really knowing where your blessings come from. I have my own relationship with God. I mean, I don't have to go to church every Sunday for a pastor to tell me about my own relationship with God.
Like me, I think that I'm a better person now as far as maturing because I've grown mentally. I just really look at life totally different as I get older. Even with my children, everybody worry about having children that look good instead of worrying about having a child that's healthy and smart. I think in a black household, they think that beating a child, that's the only discipline. I never had to whoop my child. I communicate with my children because I was a child that was beaten by my father and I was scared to go to my dad and communicate with him about a lot of things that was going on in my life. I was too scared to talk to him about it. It was a lot of drastic situations that I wanted to tell my dad about, but I was too scared. I thought I was going to get beat or get whooped. That's why I don't beat or whoop my children because I want them to be able to come to me and be able to communicate and talk to me about anything in life. Everything is a learning experience.
BT: Some people think there should be an immediate rematch. Obviously you've never experienced losing in such a manner, but as a former fighter, or even as a promoter, do you think it's a good idea for her to jump right back into a rematch after suffering a knockout loss like that?
FM: Me as a former fighter, I think that she needs some time off to regroup and refocus. I think they're rushing her. They need to build Ronda Rousey back up, her confidence back up, even though I think she's probably still confident. Let Holly fight, defend the title a few times, and build it. That's what I would do, looking at it as being a former fighter and now promoter. I wouldn't rush it. What I would do, I would put them on the same card fighting against different opponents and then slowly build it up. It's all about timing. That's what I did with the Pacquiao fight. The fight went from me making 100 million to me making 300 million, so it's all about timing.
BT: Champ, I hear you're about to get on your plane. Is there anything else you want to say before you have to go?
FM: I want Ronda Rousey to hold her head up high and don't let this discourage you. If you need help as far as with boxing, I'm here to help you. It's all about timing and inches. Her ground game is unbelievable. She'll be okay. You know, but I'm waiting for the comeback of Jon Jones and the other guy that Jon Jones faced before [Daniel Cormier]. I would love to sponsor those guys. I look forward to working with a lot of MMA fighters as far as teaching them boxing techniques. It's the little small things in contact sports that can take you to that next level.
CHECK OUT AN AUDIO EXCERPT FROM THE INTERVIEW BELOW:
ALSO SEE:
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER DEFENDS RONDA ROUSEY AGAINST INTERNET TROLLS; DENIES TELLING 50 CENT TO MOCK HER
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER SOUNDS OFF ON HOW TODAY'S FIGHTERS ARE MISLED: "I'M HERE TO TELL YOU, YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT!"
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER ANALYZES MIGUEL COTTO VS. CANELO ALVAREZ: "THEY BOTH FACED ME AND YOU KNOW WHAT I DID"
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER COMMENTS ON RONDA ROUSEY ON COVER OF RING MAGAZINE: "THE SPORT IS STARTING TO LOOK BAD"
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER WANTS GENNADY GOLOVKIN TO FIGHT ANDRE WARD; NOT CONVINCED HE'S GOOD UNTIL HE TAKES A RISK
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER HAS STRONG WORDS FOR ADRIEN BRONER: "HE NEEDS TO BE THANKING THE MONEY TEAM...HE HAS A LOT OF GROWING UP TO DO"
- FLOYD MAYWEATHER CRUSHES PACQUIAO'S REMATCH TALK: "ALL BULLSHIT...ONCE AGAIN, PIGGYBACKING OFF MY NAME"
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]