"He made some comments about he gonna smash me. Yeah, he gonna smash me just like I smashed his girl when she came out here a couple of weeks ago and he kept calling her like crazy. He was like, 'You gonna try to play me with Tim Coleman?' Of course she is because she want a real man...Vernon is an asshole. He's been shot and stabbed by kids that train in his gym (laughing). Yo, I talked to one of his cousins that shot him and they shot him over some crack. Vernon smokes crack...He can't fight, he's got no power and Floyd Sr. left his camp because he smokes crack...When I see his bitch ass at the weigh-ins, he better hope to God that they keep me out of arms reach because I'm going to smack him in the mouth...This shit done got personal, man. Put this shit up Percy," stated an extremely pissed off Tim Coleman, who had A LOT to say about Vernon Paris just days before their showdown this Friday on Friday Night Fights. Saying this just got personal is understatement. You definitely don't want to miss what else he had to say! Check it out!
PC: How has training been going Tim?
TC: Actually, you know something? I wasn't even training for Vernon Paris, man, because I was told...this always happens to me when I fight. They always tell me, "You're not gonna fight this guy," and then 2 weeks before the fight, they tell me I'm fighting someone else. I was training just to be training really because I was told before that he really wasn't ranked high enough to move me in position for a title fight. When I was supposed to fight him before, they just told me it was a warm-up fight for something else. But training has been going cool. I still do my 8 mile runs, man. I'm about 152 right now. My eating habits are still a little fucked up. I still live in the hood, you know, so I eat McDonald's and stuff like that every day, but it is what it is.
PC: You and Vernon have been having a little bit of back and forth...
TC: (Cutting in) Ah man, listen, there ain't no back and forth with that junk, man. I'm glad we stayed away from each other on the plane this morning because neither one of us would have made it there because I would have hit him in his mouth. He a little girl, man. He always talking. He feels like the world owes him something. Don't nobody owe him shit because he ain't done shit, you feel me? In his career, what has he done? He beat John Brown. I used to spar with John Brown when he was in his prime and when I was 14 years old. I sparred with him when he was fighting guys like Shane Mosley. He ain't did nothing reputable in the sport. He fought my dog Emanuel Augustus and Emanuel Augustus beat his ass to death, man. He lucky he got a decision over that old dude, man. I watched the fight. Kendall was chatting with me on Facebook when he fought him and shit, and he was like, "He scared as hell." He made some comments about he gonna smash me. Yeah, he gonna smash me just like I smashed his girl when she came out here a couple of weeks ago and he kept calling her like crazy. He was like, "You gonna try to play me with Tim Coleman?" Of course she is because she want a real man.
PC: It's crazy you brought up the name John Brown because he said you're on that level when I interviewed him the other day. I don't know if you had a chance to read it.
TC: I'll read the whole thing when we get off and I'll hit you back if I need to address anything else he said, but as far as him saying I'm on the level of John Brown, get the fuck outta here. He says stuff like that because he ghetto, man. He has nothing else to say. I was really upset when I heard that. Actually, his ex-girlfriend told me that he doesn't even own a computer and he doesn't know how to use Facebook. If you look on Facebook, he has 2 pages and his manager is actually the guy who runs his Facebook page. I can tell these guys are looking for a big break. They are looking to make a name for themselves, but I'm not gonna let some young kid make a name off of me. Are you serious? Man, look, he gonna write all of this derogatory shit on my Facebook page and profanity. I got a lot of young kids who look up to me. I feel like it's our job as professional athletes and role models to set some type of good example. I'm not saying I'm this squeaky clean person, because I'm not. I come from the hood, man, but I wouldn't put that on his Wall on Facebook for everyone to see. There are kids out there who went through the same shit that we went through and they looking for people to look up to. He called me a fag and this bitch ass nigga, and all of this old crazy stuff. People like him don't think about stuff like that when they make these ignorant ass comments on my Wall. They even went so far as to put, "Anybody out there who want it, here is my manager's number." They left his manager's number on my Facebook page. I'm like, "These guys are clowns." How you gonna leave your number on my Facebook page? That is the weakest shit I have ever seen in my life.
PC: I can't wait for this fight to go down on Friday night, for sure.
TC: I hate to say I'm looking past him man, but I am looking past him.
PC: He said the same about you (laughing). He said he's looking past you. This should be a good one.
TC: I'm glad he is. He throws quick shots, but does he really display real knockout power against a reputable opponent? Who has he put down that wasn't a dead body? Even the dead bodies that I fought during my career were all at weights I shouldn't have been at. I fought at 154 pounds. I fought some 160-pounders pretty much. I only fought at 158 because I wasn't making no cash. I worked a job, man. I used to hustle, so it's like, come on man. I was out there making $1,500 for a 10-round fight. Come on man. I wasn't making weight for nobody. Now that the pay is up, I'm at 140, man, and I'm working real hard because I want this money just like everybody else, and I love boxing. Vernon is an asshole. He's been shot and stabbed by kids that train in his gym (laughing). Yo, I talked to one of his cousins that shot him and they shot him over some crack. Vernon smokes crack. You know what I mean? That's why he has a No Contest on his record. I used to handle drugs, but this motherfucker is doing it. And by some grace of God, I got this footage of him smoking crack. It's some funny shit, dude. Everybody is going to love to see it. Vernon Paris is not what boxing needs; guys who feel like they are owed something because they have a little bit of talent. Come on man. He ain't got no real fucking talent. Talent is when you can go in somebody's backyard and hometowns and win. I had to fucking go on makeafight.com because I ain't got a fucking promoter and I struggled for everything that I got man. I don't even feel like I got a promoter. I got picked up on an option. I know that I'm really not relevant to my promoter because I'm somebody that he got for free. They don't give a fuck about somebody that they ain't gotta pay for.
PC: Hey man, you have said a mouth full. I will let you check out the interview and feel free to hit me back if something hits a nerve. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
TC: I gotta put this out there for the kids in boxing, man. Try to be a better person. Just because you live in the ghetto don't mean that you have to be ghetto. To make money in this game, you gotta be intelligent, not just in the ring, but outside of the ring. You gotta make good decisions for your life, man. If you look up to Vernon Paris, you making the wrong fucking decision.
[WRITER'S NOTE: After reading the interview that I did with Vernon Paris, Tim Coleman called me right back. Here is what he had to say.]
TC: Hey man, I just read the interview and I got some more shit I gotta say, man. For real!
PC: Okay. I won't even ask any question because something obviously sparked you, so get it off your chest my man.
TC: Listen to this man, first and foremost, Vernon Paris ain't got no daddy. He don't know who his father is. That light-skinned guy in the corner might be light-skinned, but he don't know who his father is, you know what I'm saying? So let's just get that straight off of the bat. All of that crap he talking about he's going to say on ESPN is bullshit. He can't fight, he's got no power and Floyd Sr. left his camp because he smokes crack. Boxers, we're not regular people, man. First and foremost, we train hard every day to be more than average. He's an average nigga who smokes dope, man. He always talking about he's from the streets and he's a hustler. If he was a hustler, he would be selling it and not smoking it. I'm not going to even talk about that because that's a lifestyle that I'm not into right now. I'm into my boxing. Floyd dipped out on him. I was with Floyd when De La Hoya fought Steve Forbes and I've been with Big Floyd for years and he knows what kind of fighter I am. Floyd would walk into a fight with me out of shape because he knows I'm gonna dig deep and do what a fighter is supposed to, man.
All of this stuff about "I don't know him" and "I ain't never seen him a day in my life" is a goddamn lie. When Winky Wright fought Bernard Hopkins, we were in Detroit with Emanuel Steward at the Kronk Gym. He wasn't even training at Kronk then, but he came over and sparred me. I think we went all of 3 rounds. And before we sparred, he was talking about how he was in such good shape and this that and the other. He wasn't in shape. I dealt his ass with one right hand and Emanuel Steward was like, "That's about it." And sho'nuff, I put that USDA stamp on that nigga's eye. His shit swelled up and he got out the ring as fast as he could. He not even on my level, man, in shape or out of shape. I think that was like my third day I got there; I sparred him because he is a punk, man. He a punk and he gonna tell you to quote him calling me a homosexual? Man, listen yo, he was calling this chick every day, homie, and I was cracking that ass. You know what I'm saying? He was calling her and begging her for money. You ain't making dough like that, so don't even stunt. I'm not even making no dough like that off of boxing. For real, man, he act like these ESPN checks we are getting are super big and shit, and he's living some lavish lifestyle. He ain't even got no damn apartment in his name. Where do you stay? He go around from house to house like a vagabond. Oh, that's too big of a word for Vernon Paris. I mean a bum.
He lucky I didn't read this shit and get on the plane with this nigga because I would have punched him in his fucking mouth. I don't care about nothing because I'm a fighter and I'm going to do what a fighter does and that's fight. When I see his bitch ass at the weigh-ins, he better hope to God that they keep me out of arms reach because I'm going to smack him in the mouth. I'll tell everybody how he ain't got no daddy and how his mom got like 15 or 16 kids and not one of them motherfuckers got the same father. So nigga, don't even try to speak on me talking about I aint got no power or I'm John Brown. You ain't rated by nobody, don't no reporters like you, and don't no niggas in your camp like you. Niggas from his camp in Detroit be hitting me on Facebook and shit like, "Beat this nigga's ass." He ain't got no friends out there. You were living off of a woman before, yo. They weren't even together that long because she was a good chick. All he mess with is hood rats now. You can't live off of no hoodrats, homie. This shit done got personal, man. Put this shit up Percy. I'm going into this fight not to win. I'm not going into this fight to win, I'm going into this motherfucking fight to inflict fucking pain!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]