"If Devon goes up to 147 and get a good solid win on HBO, like a Paulie, and then we do a showdown with Berto, that could be hot. That could be huge in the Lou or the ATL. That fight could go in the Lou or the ATL, man. It would be supported in either one. The Lou would be bigger, but if he didn't want to come the Lou, we could do it in the ATL. With Berto, there's ain't no bad blood with him, but that could be hot. I'ma tell you what would be big in St. Louis too; Devon fighting Shane Mosley. That would be big. They don't care nothing about Shane Mosley's supposed to finished and whatnot; St. Louis is a boxing town and they will come out in droves if Devon is fighting a future Hall of Famer like Shane Mosley. Shane Mosley is an event in St. Louis. It's an event...the perfect scenario for Devon is to do Paulie and then somebody like Shane or Berto," stated world-class trainer Kevin Cunningham as he talked about the future plans of former jr. welterweight champion Devon Alexander as they look forward to making the move up to the welterweight division. Check out what else he had to say!
BT: What's up Kev?
KC: What's going on Ben?
BT: Not much; just wanted to hit you up real quick to talk about the plan for the welterweight invasion. Is Devon moving up because he's having a lot of trouble making 140 or is it just a matter of wanting to get bigger and better fights?
KC: I mean, Devon's been fighting at 140 since he was 15. He's 24 now and his body is just catching hell, man. He's getting to 146 and 145 and it's like, shit, hitting the wall, man.
BT: Has making the 140 weight limit played into some of his performances lately?
KC: Yeah, I could see the effects of him killing himself to make the weight. You know, midway through the fights, he's getting a little weak in there when he shouldn't be. We ain't worried about them 40-pounders no more because Devon's at a disadvantage. He looks like he's fighting against himself, man. He struggles to make the weight because he's all muscle, so he's tearing down muscle and he ain't responding too good after getting down that low. We done with that, man. You can google Devon and you'll see he won Jr. Olmypic championships at 139, US Championships, you know, and he was 16 years old. He's 24 now, man. That body is growing, man, and we squeezing it back down; that ain't no good, man.
BT: Yeah, it sounds like it's about time to make that move. I mean, he's gutting it out, but it's becoming obvious in his performances.
KC: He shouldn't have to gut it; he should be dominating these dudes, man. The fights are closer than what they supposed to be because he's struggling. He's struggling because he's weak. I mean, we ain't going to advertise that when we got two world titles and while we got big money fights at the weight; we ain't going to advertise we struggling to make weight, but the first signs was the Kotelnik fight. Right after that, we was in negotiations for the two-fight deal with Bradley; we had two fights and two HBO dates. I mean, we had two titles, so what are we going to do, walk away from these two titles and these paydays? No, man. We didn't have no choice but to keep making it happen.
BT: You know, it's funny, but y'all have been keeping it moving while Bradley, on the other hand, hasn't fought since his win over Devon. I mean, I guess I can understand why he passed on that Khan fight, but in the long run, I don't know if that's going to be a good look for him.
KC: You know what? He was in the same situation that we was in with Don [King], man, and that's why we went on and did what we had to do to be free and clear and then go on from there.
BT: What's up with that...
KC: (Cutting) We free! We free and clear.
BT: Are y'all entertaining any offers?
KC: We're putting our business in order. Whoever we deal with, it's going to be a joint venture. We're putting everything in order, putting everything in it's proper place, and then we'll sit down and talk business once the attorneys got our business straight.
BT: I know there's been a little smack going on between you guys and Paulie [Malignaggi]. What brought that about?
KC: Well he started it, so I figured since we're going to 147, you know, and he's talking smack, he can be first.
BT: Oh, Paulie started it?
KC: Yeah, after the Bradley fight. He talked all kinds of smack about Devon after the Bradley fight. I mean, he talked a whole lot of smack after the Bradley fight. He said he can't believe Devon grew up the way they keep telling this story about how hard he grew up, and then he gets in a fight and he quits; if a guy really grew up the way they say he grew up, a fight ain't nothing, so why would you quit. You know, shit like that. I mean, he went in hard, man.
BT: Wow. So you want him to be the first one up for talking all that smack.
KC: Well, if it was up to me, he would be the first one up, but we'll just see what happens. Paulie's just an option, man. Right now, we ain't doing nothing; we're just really on vacation and chillin', trying to get our business and our own house in order.
BT: How soon are you looking to get Devon back in there?
KC: Hopefully by the end of the year or the first of the year, either or. But Paulie came out and disrespected Devon. You know, Devon, ain't too many people who he don't like. He likes everybody basically, but Paulie is one of them guys he got a real dislike for. This is going to be some real bad blood type stuff going on here. There's some real bad blood here. Basically, all I'm saying is he would be a good option. I ain't goint to make him bigger than what he is. There's several good options out there, but he would be one, and since he's shooting off at the mouth, he can get it.
BT: You also said you guys were eyeing a future fight with Andre Berto too, right?
KC: Berto, that's just a situation where he's another black fighter that they claim, well, they really don't claim; he can't sell no tickets, but I mean, him and Devon, I think that could be something big if it's done right. You think after this fight, Berto's going to be in a Mayweather or Pacquiao situation?
BT: Nah, not at all.
KC: If Devon goes up to 147 and get a good solid win on HBO, like a Paulie, and then we do a showdown with him and Berto, that could be hot. That could be huge in the Lou or the ATL. That fight could go in the Lou or the ATL, man. It would be supported in either one. The Lou would be bigger, but if he didn't want to come to the Lou, we could do it in the ATL. With Berto, there ain't no bad blood with him, but that could be hot. I'ma tell you what would be big in St. Louis too; Devon fighting Shane Mosley. That would be big. They don't care nothing about Shane Mosley's supposed to finished and whatnot; St. Louis is a boxing town and they will come out in droves if Devon is fighting a future Hall of Famer like Shane Mosley. Shane Mosley is an event in St. Louis. It's an event. Shane Mosley is from the West Coast, but he ain't never got no major love and major turnouts. The only time he got big turnouts was when he was the B-side guy. When he was the headline, the A-side, he ain't sold no arenas out. But man, the black people in St. Louis, Devon fighting Shane Mosley, you know, they wouldn't root against Devon, but they'd come out and show Shane some love though. It's in a town that they gonna come out in numbers like they ain't coming out nowhere else. Andre Ward does well in Oakland, but other than Andre Ward and Devon, I mean, you can't talk about nobody else but Floyd in terms of having a fan base of black people. Boy, you do Shane and Devon in the Lou, you talking about 16-17,000 easy. You do Devon and Paulie first, and then you come with Devon and Shane, shit, that might be bigger than Devon and Berto.
BT: That's actually not a bad idea. I mean, I know people talk about Shane's last performance, but don't get it twisted now. You catch him on the wrong night...
KC: No, no, no, no, no, no, don't get it twisted. You know, Shane'll still get in there and have a good night on your ass and you're in trouble. Man, the perfect scenario for Devon is to do Paulie and then somebody like Shane or Berto. I was thinking Shane or Zab, but Zab just done put himself out of business. I can't even help Zab. Brothas in St. Louis would be like, "Man, get outta here. Y'all trying to rip us off with that one." They don't even have no respect for him no more after that, man.
BT: (Laughing) I take it you saw the Khan-Judah fight.
KC: Yeah man, I saw Judah...I mean, that's pitiful, man. That's pitiful. He could have got another paycheck if he put up a fight. They done with him, man. And it wasn't even a low blow. I mean, he hit him on the beltline, but how much damage could that have did, hitting him on the beltline. But he did it to himself.
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]