"I'm not saying I agree with what Arum is saying, but I respect it because he's going to bat for his fighter. You gotta respect a man that's going to bat for his fighter because that's a promoter's job. The thing is Perc is Bob is not sure how Pavlik is going to respond, he's not sure of how Cotto is going to respond, so he's trying to save his fighter and his company
I think about if he would have hit my man in the head with those things that fell out of those wraps over the course of a 12-round fight man; it's messed up. The bad thing is if he chooses to go to Mexico, it's not even a year. So it was a slap on the wrist, but that could have had a bad ending if hadn't got caught," stated world-class trainer Naazim Richardson as he talked more about Margarito hand wrap controversy. Check out what else he had to say as he talks about his working relationship with Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and much more.
PC: How is it going my man?
NR: You know me; holding on with both hands.
PC: Are you in Philly or still in LA?
NR: I'm in LA. Rock and Dynamite are supposed to go out on the 16th of next month and Jamal Davis is supposed to fight on the 15th so Shane let me hold the gym down up here with them.
PC: You're staying busy, huh my man?
NR: I'm trying Perc. I gotta get these young bulls ready to go man.
PC: Bob Arum is enraged at the decision. I think he's being a little foolish with some of his comments. What do you think?
NR: I'm not saying I agree with what Arum is saying, but I respect it because he's going to bat for his fighter. You gotta respect a man that's going to bat for his fighter because that's a promoter's job. The thing is Perc is Bob is not sure how Pavlik is going to respond, he's not sure of how Cotto is going to respond, so he's trying to save his fighter and his company.
PC: We talked briefly about the punishment Margarito received. Do you think a year was fair?
NR: I think about if he would have hit my man in the head with those things that fell out of those wraps over the course of a 12-round fight man; it's messed up. The bad thing is if he chooses to go to Mexico, it's not even a year. So it was a slap on the wrist, but that could have had a bad ending if hadn't got caught.
PC: I received an email from Eddie Futch's widow, Mrs. Eva Futch, commenting on one of our interviews. She said she was glad to see you get your due and commented on the Teddy Atlas situation and felt he was wrong to talk down about you.
NR: When you contact her back, make sure you let her know that I appreciate it and pass my number along to her because Eddie Futch was an inspiration to me man. Eddie did it the right way. I learned a lot from the people that came before me and I would never badmouth someone in the sport because if I badmouth another fighter or trainer, it makes the sport look bad and boxing is the only sport that does that. People are so scared to have someone mentioned in the same breath as them, they will say anything to pull another man down. It's like we wait to see negative things in the sport to say something about it. Tony Dungy doesn't have to badmouth Bill Parcells to make himself feel better. Boxing is the only sport that does that. My mom, and I recently lost her so rest her soul, didn't raise no punks man. I'm not a punk. I don't have to down another man to make me feel good about myself. I don't have to talk bad about you to take your girlfriend. I just have to go in the house, take a shower and put on some different clothes.
PC: It's funny you say boxing looks for the negative because Nate Campbell was coming off of the biggest win of his career when he beat Juan Diaz and he may have got a 30-second clip shown, but he misses weight and they dedicate an entire segment to him.
NR: Ain't that the truth. And I want to comment on that while we're at it. I think Nate Campbell is a good fighter and a hard worker. I have known him since the amateurs. I also think John David Jackson is a great trainer and he gets his fighters well prepared and they work well together. I've worked with John before and he prepares his fighters to the fullest. He didn't make weight, he won the fight and he's going to move up to 140 pounds. Let's not make it like this is the first time a fighter hasn't made weight before. You know, it was some people hoping he lost that fight. Let's not try to be so critical of guys that are in the same fraternity as we're in. We're all under the same umbrella man.
PC: You mentioned your mom passed away and we all know of your stroke and all that you went through with that. How did you overcome that?
NR: I know my God man and the people that felt the need to make comments about anybody can train Bernard or Shane don't know the relationship that I have with my God. I got as close to the light as you can get, but he felt like I had more to do here.
PC: Do you feel like you're targeted because any time one of your fighters wins, people say they could win with any trainer?
NR: I saw an interview where Freddie Roach said after the Pavlik fight that Bernard Hopkins doesn't need a trainer. First off, why would they go ask Freddie Roach why Bernard looked so good against Pavlik? He wasn't in the camp. My man was begging me to give Bernard advice during the Calzaghe fight. I'm not knocking Freddie Roach because I think he's a hell of a trainer, but for him to say a fighter doesn't need a trainer is crazy. No one is scared if you have a pistol lying on the table, but when you have a finger on a trigger aiming it at somebody, that's when people get scared. Someone has to be there to get the gun fired. Jack Mosley taught Shane how to fight so I didn't have to teach him that. My job was to come up with a plan and make it work. I always credit the athlete for going through with the plan. When guys say things like that, you're questioning my athlete's intelligence. I think Bernard and Shane are both smart enough to know that if I was of no service to them, then they wouldn't have me in their corner. I probably couldn't train Manny Pacquiao and have him on the level Roach has him at. He might not be able to relate to what I'm telling him between rounds like he does with Freddie. I know I wasn't going to use the methods Teddy Atlas used for Michael Moorer. Hell, when he did the cell phone and used his kids, did T-Mobile and his kids get paid too? I see trainers say a certain fighter should be retired and then in the next breath, tell them they will train them for their next fight. What kind of stuff is that? Should he be retired or do you want to train them? That's when it's only a money thing to these trainers.
PC: That's why I think it's so funny when people come down on Floyd Mayweather Sr. saying he's money hungry. I know for a fact, because I was in the room with him, a fighter would call him and he would tell them to call his brother Jeff. I asked him why he did that. He said, "So my brother can make some money."
FM: Look, people can say what they want about Mayweather Sr., but he knows the game. He knows boxing and Mayweather is not going to just train anybody. I remember we were in the same gym one time and they had this kid in there who was struggling and he went in there and gave that kid some great advice man. Just because he's a character doesn't mean he don't know boxing. We need people like him in boxing.
PC: He's going through a similar situation like you went through and that's why I admire you guys so much.
NR: What happened to Mayweather?
PC: You know he has a very bad lung disease. He has the same lung disease that Bernie Mac had.
NR: Man, I didn't know that. I want to come on record and wish him all the best. I would have been mentioned something about that had I known he was having health problems. See, that's when you realize it's bigger than boxing and people saying things about you. But for real, I hope everything goes well for him and he gets better.
PC: I wouldn't even say the Shane Mosley victory over Margarito was your greatest body of work. I know you've worked with the Olympic team and those kids are much younger and not established yet.
NR: Man, I'm glad you said that because I could remember I had one kid man and this kid wanted to be in the Olympics so bad. We worked constantly. I think that's the most I ever worked with one kid before and we got that kid in the Olympics man and he was just as happy as can be. I was happy for Shane that he beat Margarito the way he did just like I was proud of X, but no win or no camp means more than the other to me. I'm just there
when you manufacture a car, it takes a lot of work. I'm just there to get the cars out of the warehouse quicker, but these athletes are the body of work.
PC: Thanks for taking time to speak with me Brother Naazim. You have some true fans out there; especially my man from the message boards, Method. Anything you want to say in closing?
NR: No problem Perc. I respect Teddy Atlas and Freddie Roach. I just think we have to be careful of what we say sometimes being that we're all under the same umbrella. Maybe if I was in Teddy Atlas' shoes, I would be saying the same thing because his job is different from mine. He's not a trainer anymore, he's a commentator. So you couldn't call me and get me to say anything bad about someone in the sport now, but if I was getting a check, maybe it would be different (laughing) so I respect his opinion just like I respect everyone else's opinion.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]