"The difference between Big Floyd and everybody else is Big Floyd don't care what he says. Everyone else may think it, but they speak more politically correct. The funny thing is I thought it and a lot of other people thought it, they just didn't want to say it because they didn't want to be put on Front Street. The reality of it is this: a lot of people think it, but now it's just like any situation; everyone is willing to come out now and say they thought he was doing something. The reality of it is everyone has been thinking that Manny is doing something, even his own damn fans think that. I have had several Filipino guys telling me what they thought Manny was doing," stated world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather, uncle of undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., as he talked in-depth about Paquiao's unwillingness to comply with Olympic-style random drug testing, his thoughts on the bout should it take place and much more. Check it out!
PC: Jeff, one of the biggest fights that can be made has come to a screeching halt because Team Pacquiao will not comply with the Olympics style drug testing. I understand you guys were tested as fighters when you fought. Can you talk a little bit about that?
JM: Back in the day, and I'm about 12 years removed from boxing, but you take blood tests maybe even a week or two weeks up into the fight. That was not an issue and if you're not dirty, you wouldn't have an issue with it either. What difference does it make if you're not guilty of anything? You would do whatever it takes to prove that you are not guilty. You would take a lie detector test or whatever it is that needs to be done; then that's what you would do. I mean, when you have a guy that comes up with some mythical superstition, what the hell is that? We talking about 40 million dollars involved. It makes no sense. This is one of the biggest fights in history ever; not just of this time, but of all time as far as the money and something as simple as a blood test could make a fight this big not happen? That means that you have something to hide.
PC: It's crazy man. Marvin Hagler gave in a ton to make the fight with Ray Leonard happen. He wanted 15 rounds, Leonard wanted 12. He [Hagler] wanted a smaller ring and different gloves, but he gave in. When you have HBO and Showtime willing to come together to make Tyson-Lewis, I just think this is way smaller than some of the other dilemmas that were placed to make huge fights happen?
JM: That's miniscule out of all of the things that Pacquiao could have to not make this fight happen, that shouldn't be one. The only reason why it is one is because of Manny Pacquiao's success stemming from 108 pounds toÂ…he's coming from 108 pounds and is actually destroying these guys that have fought at these higher weights and are good fighters. I don't careÂ…even if you are a Pacquiao fan, you gotta question that. Of course the loyal Pacquiao fans are not going to be honest in their assessment. They're going to say that he's this and he's that. Okay, if Manny is this and that, why don't he simply just take the blood test? It's that simple.
PC: I want to be fair about this, so I want to ask you how much blood are we talking and could it possibly affect him mentally or physically?
JM: Hell nah! That's bullshit! It's like this; it's like any blood test anywhere else in the world. Most of the time, they only have to prick your finger. That's all they need. Because see, the stuff that Manny might be taking can't be traced through urine, so they gotta do it through blood because it goes directly through your blood stream.
PC: And you think the things that he's taking have a short window to be detected so them agreeing to test after the fight is irrelevant?
JM: It doesn't matter after the fight because if you win, then you got the win. I don't think he would win anyway. It's a situation now that if you look back even further, look at Miguel Cotto. You have a guy who both of his losses have come by knockout and could both possibly come from guys that were probably cheating. This guy is ruined. Nobody could go back and give him his status back. Nobody could go back and give him all of the things that happened leading up to that point back. He will never be the Miguel Cotto of old. He's ruined and he's ruined by possibly two complete cheaters.
PC: If the fight still happens to come off, which it is not looking good at all, how do you see the fight going?
JM: I'm going to be honest. I don't see it going no different from the fight Floyd had with Marquez. Cotto exposed him. Cotto showed how easy it was to hit him with a jab. Floyd is 10 times better than Cotto. Not only that, Floyd has defense. Floyd is not going to stand in front of Manny.
PC: It's funny you say that because I see a lot of fans saying, "Floyd should go toe to toe with Manny to see who the real fighter is."
JM: The game is boxing and that's what he would give Manny is a complete boxing lesson. Believe me, it will be no different than Marquez and Floyd. It will be a replay of that fight. The only thing that may be different is Manny will probably get beat a little worse because he will take more chances. He might even get knocked out because he may run into something. Don't get me wrong, he has a punchers chance probably because of what he's on. He does have speed so that will create a little problem, but the reality of it is this: once Floyd is in training camp and he has maybe Zab Judah in his training camp, he's already going to know what to do once he steps in there with Pacquiao. Basically, Floyd's biggest fight is going to be in his sparring session. Once Floyd masters what you do and what you do best, the fight's over with. And then you're going to start seeing a different kind of Floyd. You're going to see the dog come out in him. You going to see him potshot you with a right hand, potshot you with a left hook and all of the things that he did against Marquez. It would be a complete replay of that fight.
We are talking about the same guy that got beat by Marquez. People seem to forget that. The man got up off of the canvas and won pretty much every round after that. And in the second fight, he outright beat him. People try to say Floyd didn't stop Marquez, but did Pacquiao knock him out? Nope. He didn't knock him out either and he fought way more aggressively against Pacquiao. The fighters that Pacquiao knocked out are guys that Floyd already beat. Floyd beat De La Hoya at 154 and not a catch-weight. He stopped Ricky Hatton when Hatton was still considered a beast. He was a force at that time and once he got knocked out by Floyd, he struggled in all of his fights after that. He struggled with Lazcano and he didn't look like no damn beast against Paulie Malignaggi. Once you have been stopped, it is that much easier to be stopped. That shows even with great fighters. Look at Roy Jones. Jones was a great fighter, but once he got touched, look how easy it is to do now. He got knocked out by this guy who James Toney played with in sparring. Even Miguel Cotto was a shell of himself when he went in there against Pacquiao. I think De La Hoya's loss was more based on making that weight. De La Hoya hadn't made that weight in years.
PC: I speak with your brother Floyd Sr. a lot and he's been adamant about Pacquiao being on somethingÂ…
JM: (Cutting in) Let me tell you something. The difference between Big Floyd and everybody else is Big Floyd don't care what he says. Everyone else may think it, but they speak more politically correct. The funny thing is I thought it and a lot of other people thought it, they just didn't want to say it because they didn't want to be put on Front Street. The reality of it is this: a lot of people think it, but now it's just like any situation; everyone is willing to come out now and say they thought he was doing something. The reality of it is everyone has been thinking that Manny is doing something, even his own damn fans think that. I have had several Filipino guys telling me what they thought Manny was doing. They said just because they are Filipino, they can be a fan of his, but be sensitive about it. For them to say he doesn't know what he's taking is bullshit. If I hand you some shit and say, "Take this," what's the first thing you're going to say?
PC: What's this?
JM: Alright then. Let anybody hand me some shit I ain't never seen and that's the first thing I'm going to ask. What the hell is this? Every person on the planet with common sense is going to say the same thing.
PC: I appreciate your honesty and your time. I will talk to you soon Jeff. Merry Christmas to you.
JM: Thank you man. Same to you.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]