"I actually had a talk with someone from Wildcard Gym who sparred with Manny and he had a similar opinion. Clottey is just not busy enough. He's a tough guy, he's a big guy and very durable and he's a tough task for anybody, but just because he doesn't open up offensively, it's very difficult for him to outpoint a guy like Manny Pacquiao, a guy that has perpetual motion and constantly changing angles. He will have to open up his offensive game if he plans on beating a guy like Pacquiao and I just don't know if he has that in him at this late stage of his career," stated renowned MMA and boxing trainer Ron Frazier as he shared his thoughts on the upcoming clash between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and former champion Joshua Clottey. Check out what he had to say about the fight, his thoughts on Floyd Mayweather's upcoming showdown with Shane Mosley, and much more.
PC: Pacquiao and Clottey are less than a month away from mixing it up. Have you changed your stance on that fight or do you feel Clottey is still too defensive for Pacman?
RF: Nah, I haven't changed my stance and I actually had a talk with someone from Wildcard Gym who sparred with Manny and he had a similar opinion. Clottey is just not busy enough. He's a tough guy, he's a big guy and very durable and he's a tough task for anybody, but just because he doesn't open up offensively, it's very difficult for him to outpoint a guy like Manny Pacquiao, a guy that has perpetual motion and constantly changing angles. He will have to open up his offensive game if he plans on beating a guy like Pacquiao and I just don't know if he has that in him at this late stage of his career.
PC: Antonio Margarito was slated to be on the Pacquiao undercard, but was having trouble getting licensed in Texas. He appears to be making a return, possibly in April in Mexico. Do you think his punishment is too little, too much? What's your stance?
RF: You know what? Unfortunately, we don't know how long he's been doing his hands like that. The first time he got caught was when he was about to fight Shane Mosley, so it puts a whole cloud on his entire career. We just don't know. If he did it for that fight, I suspect it wasn't the first time and you know what? We all saw what happened with Lou Resto and Billy Collins, so if he's banned for life, along with Panama Lewis, then he [Margarito] could have gotten banned for life too and it wouldn't bother me one bit.
PC: What's your take on the Super Six? As a fan, you gotta love the concept. Who do you like?
RF: I like Andre Ward and what he has been doing. He's got a tougher opponent now instead of fighting Jermain Taylor, who is obviously shopworn; we all know that. But Andre Ward is gaining a lot of confidence beating Kessler. Green is tough and Green has the firepower to put him out, so he has to stay on his P's and Q's, but I see Ward outboxing him. Dirrell is a slick fighter. He can fight southpaw and orthodox, but he gotta stay off the ropes and he can't hold and do that stuff. I thought he won his last fight, but you know what? When you're fighting on foreign soil, you gotta do a little bit more. I think he learned from that. I think he beats Abraham.
PC: Do you see Kessler bouncing back against Froch?
RF: I think he can come back. He was dominated, but it wasn't like he was brutally knocked out, so that might not play with his psyche as much. I think he can come back. Froch is a tough guy, he's unorthodox, but I think Kessler is a better fighter and I think he will bounce back in this fight.
PC: It's been a long time coming, but we will finally get to see Shane Mosley take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. How do you see that fight going?
RF: It's funny because Shane Mosley lost to Miguel Cotto, who many people think is a lesser fighter than Floyd Mayweather and not as physically big, so why would Floyd run from Shane when Floyd has been asking for this bout. People don't know, and it's been a lot of talk of Floyd ducking Shane, but the original fight was going to be made when Floyd asked for Shane right before Shane fought Oscar the first time and then right after he beat Oscar. It's been some flow back and forth about who didn't want the fight and why and all of that kind of stuff; the politics of boxing and so forth. You know what? Anybody that has over 250 rounds in the ring, and I don't care at what level, is not going to be saying they are afraid of people, especially another boxer. I mean, Freddie Roach knows better. Freddie Roach is a fighter. Fans can say what they want because a lot of these guys never been in the ring, so they don't know what it takes to be in there, but Freddie Roach is a smart guy and he's been around, so for him to say that, and it may have been some mind games going on, but for them to constantly say that this guy is afraid of this guy is just ridiculous to me at times.
Obviously the fight is signed and it's one of the best fights that can possibly happen out there. Shane is a formidable foe and a Hall of Fame fighter, but let's not get it twisted off of the Margarito fight. Margarito is made to order for a fighter like Shane Mosley. If they fought 10 times, Shane Mosley would beat him 10 times. There is no question in my mind. But ShaneÂ…can he beat Floyd? Yes! He has the power and the physical nature to hurt Floyd Mayweather, but he needs to change what he does. He needs to fight in combinations and he needs to change his rhythm. If he fights the way he fought Cotto, if he fights the way he fought Mayorga and if he fights the way he fought David Estrada, he will not beat Floyd Mayweather. He cannot load up on that big right hand when he's on the ropes and he cannot throw that jumping hook when they're in the center of the ring. If you throw one shot at a time against a defensive fighter, you are not going to beat him. He has to make Floyd come out of his shell. Floyd is a defensive fighter, he's a very smart fighter and he's a least-risk fighter. He's not going to take a lot of risk unless he knows it's safe to do so. So Shane has to force him to do that and if he doesn't force him to do that, he's just going to get picked apart. Floyd's going to potshot him to death and his defense is too good to throw one shot at a time. He's gotta throw combinations. We gotta see the Shane that we haven't seen since he fought John Brown at lightweight, going to the body, going to the head, changing angles and doing those sorts of things. Shane Mosley is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, great guy, but one thing that's been overrated about Shane is his defense. Shane ain't that slick. If you watch his fights, Shane is not slick at all. What Shane was is his offense was his defense because he's so physically strong and explosive that you didn't want to get hit by any of that stuff in return, so you froze up. But if you look at some of his fights when he fought slick boxers, Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest and even Miguel Cotto, he did not have an answer for a jab.
Listen, Margarito is a tough tough dude; obviously he is a high-pressure, high-volume guy. His thing was he just tried to wear you down and beat you late and he did that. Again though, we don't know how long he's been using these loaded wraps. When you look back at the Kermit Cintron fights, were those fair? Everything is a question mark now about what he did. You have to look at him in a different light. He's a West Coast fighter and Shane has been feasting on West Coast fighters since his amateur days. He knows what those styles are all about. He's been up against those guys for a long time, but slick boxers give him trouble. But we will see. Does he have the tools? He's a Hall of Fame fighter with a great pedigree and of course he has the tools. Will he? I don't think so. Floyd said something that I think is very true, and people don't give him credit for a lot of things, but he says, "Everyone says they have the formula to beat me. They hit harder or they're faster, but none of them are smarter." One thing Floyd is in that ring is a very smart fighter and he's stronger than people think. He doesn't have a glass jaw. He takes a solid shot and he's a physically strong fighter. Ask Ricky Hatton when he tied him up how strong he felt?
PC: I'm sure you watched the Facing Ali documentary. I thought it was classic man. If you had a chance to watch it, what did you think?
RF: Ah man, I saw it about 2 or 3 weeks ago before it was aired on Spike and it was awesome. Awesome tribute to I think the greatest fighter to ever live. He transcended the sport of boxing and there will never be another guy like him and he stood up for his principles. A lot of people can't or won't do that. He was willing to take a chance and throw it all away if he had to, but it was a great tribute to him. And even Joe Frazier, who obviously, if everybody knows the history of those guys, he doesn't have a whole lot of love for Muhammad Ali, but even he got emotional. You can tell the impact this guy had on the guys he's fought and on boxing itself. There is also the book, Facing Ali, which has a few more fighters that unfortunately had passed away before the documentary came out, so the book is actually better than the documentary.
PC: Hey man, it's always good to get a word from you man I always tell you how well-spoken and knowledgeable of the game you are. Is there anything you got in closing?
RF: Everybody stay safe and enjoy the fights that are coming up. I'm enjoying my daughter Samara and my girl Rebecca. We're just having a good time.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]