"Just so ya'll know, I'm the best fighter and it will be proven. Either both of those guys gotta get out of my division, because this is my division, the welterweight division is mine, I'm claiming it and I'm taking it, so either get out of my division so you don't have to fight me and you can keep claiming pound-for-pound whatever, or if you're in my division, then we gotta see who's the best," stated welterweight champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley as he shared his thoughts on the highly-anticipated clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. You don't want to miss what he had to say about the venue, the fight itself and much more. Check it out!
BT: You know Champ, when it comes to fighting, there are some distinct difference in philosophies. On one hand, you have guys who are more concerned about winning without getting hit. On the other hand, you have guys who are looking to win by any means necessary. It's kind of like that old football debate about what's more important, defense or offense. I think it's fair to say that the majority of fans prefer the latter. Regardless of the answer, most people tend to enjoy the fireworks from the offense. Do you think there's a reason why a network like HBO would cater to a fighter with a style that's maybe less entertaining to watch than someone who has a more crowd-pleasing style.
SM: That, I don't know. You'll have to call them and ask them about that one. I can't understand that. I know they know that when I come in the ring, regardless of who it is, I'm looking for a knockout and hopefully, like Pacquiao, he's looking for a knockout as well, so I would think that they would want to put two guys in there who want to try and knock their heads off. But they chose to go that route, and that's fine with me, but just so ya'll know, I'm the best fighter and it will be proven. Either both of those guys gotta get out of my division, because this is my division, the welterweight division is mine, I'm claiming it and I'm taking it, so either get out of my division so you don't have to fight me and you can keep claiming pound-for-pound whatever, or if you're in my division, then we gotta see who's the best.
BT: Obviously those fights will be there after the Berto fight, assuming those guys don't retire or do a rematch, but if for some reason, they decide to go in a different direction, is that a backup plan? Do you plan on unifying the titles at welterweight again?
SM: I'm gonna clean the division up. I'm going to fight Berto for the WBC and then I can fight whoever has the IBF and then they can give up their title with the WBO and I'll fight whoever for the WBO and I'll get all the titles. Then I might let the titles go and then maybe I might jump around a little bit. Maybe I'll go up a weight class or I might go down to 140. I don't know. It just depends on how I feel.
BT: Are both titles officially on the line for this fight? I know there were some issues about the titles before the fight was announced.
SM: I think so. I think so. The issue was probably those sanctioning bodies wanted a lot of money; how much money they wanted, I think that was the issue. It was a money thing, but yeah, they should be on the line.
BT: You know Shane, the last time we spoke, I asked you a question about Mayweather Promotions and why they would need to use Golden Boy Promotions to negotiate a bout with Pacquiao. Apparently, Leonard Ellerbe read the interview, saw the question and felt the need to give me a quick phone call for a friendly conversation about who was and who was not an authority to speak on matters regarding Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy...
SM: (Cutting in) If it deals with Golden Boy Promotions, then I have a little say in it because I have a percentage in Golden Boy. When he fights for Golden Boy, any fight that Golden Boy is promoting, if Golden Boy is promoting him, then that means that I have a stake in that. That means that me, Bernard and Oscar have a stake in what he does, regardless of how much the percentage is or whatever. I have a stake in that. So when he fights...like at the end of the day, when I retire, if I say I don't want to be with Golden Boy no more, or whatever, and I take out the money that I had in Golden Boy, which could be maybe a couple of mill, part of that mill is something that Floyd is fighting for right now. So I'm getting some of the money that he is fighting for. So, like I said, you know, yes, I'm pimping you out! Okay? Yeah, that's the case! There's no ifs, ands or buts about it, so he has to live with that if he's dealing with Golden Boy Promotions (laughing).
BT: (Laughing) You're familiar with negotiations when it comes to Golden Boy. Let me ask you, when working on the finer details of a deal, who ultimately calls the shots when it comes to making decisions? Take these negotiations for example. Who do you think is making the final decisions? Is it Floyd? Is it Ellerbe? Is it Haymon? Is it Schaefer? Is it a combination of all of the above?
SM: The two people that are talking is going to be Al Haymon and Richar Schaefer. Ellerbe is just a sidekick for Floyd Mayweather. He's not really the businessmen pulling the strings, let's be honest. I'm not saying nothing about what Floyd is going to do. Bernard is not saying what Floyd's gonna do. Oscar's not really saying what Floyd's gonna do. It's Richard Schaefer and Al Haymon, they're both talking about what's going to happen. And then, on the other side, it's going to be Bob Arum. Those three people are in negotiations, probably with the attorneys, talking about what's going to happen with Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Leonard Ellerbe might be there listening for Floyd Mayweather, since he's his sidekick, but he's not making any decisions.
BT: What do you think the likelihood is of that fight coming off in March. I'm hearing some rumblings that it may not. I'm hearing Floyd wants a set number like $75 million. I'm hearing some crazy things.
SM: Yeah, well, I mean, Floyd's crazy. We could have said this was going to happen. Like I've been telling Pacquiao and all these guys, he can make this much fighting me because he needs me to give him a good fight. People know that. The world knows this and I don't know why the networks want to act like the world doesn't know this. The world knows that if me and Pacquiao fought, everybody would watch because they know that's two great fighters fighting. If me and Mayweather, if I fight anybody, Mayweather or Pacquiao, it's going to be a big fight; a real big fight. Mayweather's doing that $75 million, you know, trying to stock up as much money as he get so he can retire again so he doesn't have to fight, I mean, it's ridiculous.
BT: As a fighter, if you had a choice to fight in Las Vegas for more money or fight at Cowboys Stadium in front of 100,000 fans, which would you rather do?
SM: You know what? Honestly, I mean, to some fighters, it might make a difference fighting in front of 100,000 fans, but I think that, for the money part, I think that it would be the right thing to go to Vegas and probably do the fight out there in Vegas, especially for both fighters and the taxes and stuff like that, that would be the smarter thing to do.
BT: Do you think that's where the fight will end up? Out in Vegas?
SM: I think that Vegas would probably be the much smarter thing to do because they can raise the prices on the tickets. I mean, you know, people are going to watch on TV, but the people that really, really want to see it, they'll come and they'll see the fight live, but they'll have to pay that heavy price.
BT: If you're Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather and you can pick anyone in the world out there to bring in for sparring, who do you bring in?
SM: Um, for Pacquiao, I really don't know.
BT: They both have unique styles. I know if I was Pacquiao, I'd like to have Shane Mosley doing his best Floyd Mayweather impersonation.
SM: Yeah, but that would be a conflict of interests because then they really won't want to fight me. Then they really won't want to fight me after that (laughing). I think a good sparring partner for Manny pacquiao would probably be Steve Forbes. Steve Forbes would be a good sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao. For Mayweather, it would probably be Prince Naseem (laughing).
BT: (Laughing) I don't want to hold you up anymore Champ. Is there anything else you want to say in closing?
SM: Well, it's going to be exciting getting in the ring on January 30th against a young tiger like Berto. I know he's training real hard. I haven't heard anything out of him since he was trying to tweet me back and forth. Other than that, I think it's going to be a great fight. He's preparing himself and I'm going to be prepared and we're going to have a good fight.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH SHANE MOSLEY
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