"What happened is the fans were let down and they will never forget that. Like I said before, when you're in the circus and something goes wrong, the show must go on. No matter what happens, somebody gotta get out there and perform. Lucky for us we got the Mosley-Berto fight coming up and that may take the luster off a little bit of what happened," stated world-class trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad as he shared his thoughts on the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather falling and looks forward to the upcoming clash between Shane Mosley and Andre Berto. Check it out!
PC: I want to ask you, how do you see the Shane Mosley and Andre Berto fight playing out?
EMM: I think Shane may be a little too strong and savvy for Berto. Andre Berto is a good fighter and he could become a great fighter, but he just gotta take his time. Shane has put in his dues. The only guys who have had Shane's number are Winky Wright and the late Vernon Forrest. Other than that, Shane is the man.
PC: So you don't see a chance of Shane getting old overnight?
EMM: No because all of the vitamins and supplements that they have now, we didn't have back in the old days; in the yester years. We didn't have that back in the 50's and 60's. Now they have vitamins, supplements and all of the right foods and exercise machines and physical trainers. It's a different ball game now.
PC: If there was a scenario where you thought Berto could win, what would he have to do?
EMM: He would have to use his feet and box. He can't stand in front of Shane. He's not that strong to stand in front of Shane. He stood in front of guys like Urango because he could move quicker. He had better reflexes than Urango. I can't see him standing in front of Shane for that period of time. He will have to rely on his speed, but then again, Shane has speed also, so he's going to have to try to outslick the slickster and outpunch the puncher and I can't see it.
PC: You were very vocal about the way they dealt with Antonio Margarito and you felt it should have been a much harsher punishment. Isn't it crazy that Shane has been out of the ring for almost exactly a year, which was the punishment Margarito was served with?
EMM: It's no good. They should have applied the same thing to Margarito and his camp the same thing they did to Panama Lewis. You commit the crime, you do the time. If Panama Lewis committed the crime, he sure did do the time. He was suspended from boxing for life and he did jail time. How are you gonna say one is worse than the other? It's not and that's wrong.
PC: What are your thoughts on the biggest fight in boxing being off, for now at least, and we won't see Pacquiao-Mayweather in March?
EMM: You gotta understand one scenario, and I'm talking about both Pacquiao and Floyd, and the scenario is at the end of the day and when it's all said and done, the show must go on, because what you're doing is taking from the fans what they want to see and they will not forget that. The show must go on. Eventually, it will happen, but it's going to be a lot of people that won't attend because of what happened. Listen, we're in a blood sport and if he don't draw blood outside of the ring in a torrential fight, you're going to draw blood inside of the ring, so why can't you give blood? What's up with that? And you have almost $40 million coming to you? Look here man, I will go in there with half of my body drained if I was Pacquiao. I don't understand Pacquiao. Why would I not give blood within 24 days of a fight? What's wrong with that? That's a lame excuse. We bleed in the ring and we still fight. I got cut one time in a fight and I was going 15 rounds and I got stronger. What happened is the fans were let down and they will never forget that. Like I said before, when you're in the circus and something goes wrong, the show must go on. No matter what happens, somebody gotta get out there and perform. Lucky for us, we got the Mosley-Berto fight coming up and that may take the luster off a little bit of what happened. But when you got almost $40 million coming why would you not want to take a blood test 24 days leading up to the fight.
PC: I hate when lawsuits start replacing fights man, I really do, and that's for any fighter.
EMM: That's not the way boxing is meant to be. See, Pacquiao has took boxing to an all-time low. Why youÂ…again, the ones that are being denied are the true boxing fans that want to see this fight. Pacquiao is supposed to be the standard barrier and the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Why would you not take simple blood tests to show that everything is alright and that you're not doing anything? Why would you not take the test to prove that and to strengthen your legacy? If all of the people out there are saying that Pacquiao is on some kind of steroid or drug or whatever, it's up to you to prove them wrong. That's all it is. Prove them wrong; that's all you gotta do. It's not a long drawn -out process. By not taking the test, it's gonna be a lot of naysayers out there and that's going to hurt his legacy.
PC: I see a lot of people putting the blame on Floyd andÂ…
EMM: (Cutting in) What we have here are legacies being involved. How could you call yourself the best pound-for-pound fighter and you won't even submit to a regular blood test? Floyd gave you ring size, glove size, the split you wanted with the purse and agreed to give you $10 million dollars for every pound over 147. None of those things are concessions that Floyd had to make. People want to say the blood tests aren't standard, but neither is $10 million dollars over every pound over a weight limit. The fans are going to remember this here and they going to remember that this fight didn't go on because this guy didn't want to take a blood test. What the hell is a goddamn blood test? I'm sure Floyd would take that blood test in a heartbeat. They can't put that on Floyd.
PC: As always, I appreciate your time my man. Is there anything you want to finish off with?
EMM: Listen, look out again for Chad Dawson. We're going to have a big year again and Michael Grant will go undefeated again this year. We went 3-0 last year and we're going to be even better this year.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]