"Like I told Chad, all great champions know how to come back from a fight like that. It wasn't a point where he couldn't win the fight. The kid was ready to go after that uppercut and the butt stopped everything. It's up to Chad when he wants to come back. All great champions know how to come back from defeat...I think the Chad Dawson situation was a blessing in disguise. He lost because he couldn't get the marquee fights. Bernard didn't want to fight him and he got stuck in a situation. Now that he has this loss, all of the flood gates are starting to open now and that will benefit him," stated word-class trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad as he shared his thoughts on Chad Dawson's future plans, a clash between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, and much more. Check it out!
PC: It's been a tough couple of outings for you with Chad Dawson and Michael Grant. The mentality for a fighter is to get back on the horse and start riding again. Do you take that same approach?
EMM: That's the case with me. In Chad's case, in my opinion, he just had a bad night. He was coming out of the bad night...I mean, I was complaining to the referee about the continuous headbutts, but he ignored me and I knew that would happen anyway. When I kept telling him about the headbutts, he thought I was on another planet. And then the Canadian judge didn't give us but 1 round in the whole fight. We knew the politics going into the fight; that we weren't going to get a fair shake. I'm not taking anything away from Pascal. He fought a great fight. He fought the fight that he had to fight to win. He was winning and then Chad connected and froze him in the 11th round and was getting ready to take him out, and then again, there comes the butt. I kept telling the referee, "This guy is butting my fighter on purpose." The referee didn't seem to mind what I was talking about.
PC: You told Chad in the corner that they weren't going to give it to you guys and that he had to take it. He came out with some urgency after that. Did you think he was about to stop Pascal?
EMM: Oh, that's without a doubt. He caught him with a left uppercut that froze him in his tracks. Then Chad went to finish the job off and that's when Pascal butted him. Over in Canada, when you get a butt, it goes to the scorecards.
PC: It's now a comeback process for Chad. What would you like to see him do next and when?
EMM: Like I told Chad, all great champions know how to come back from a fight like that. It wasn't a point where he couldn't win the fight. The kid was ready to go after that uppercut and the butt stopped everything. It's up to Chad when he wants to come back. All great champions know how to come back from defeat. First of all, I would like for him to let the cut heal and then get back to doing what we know how to do and that's knock guys out and take care of business. It's not a far-fetched scenario that he can beat anybody out there. I know he can beat anybody out there. We gotta go in and train with a clear mind and perform.
PC: Is it frustrating to see Bernard Hopkins possibly about to fight Jean Pascal when he said he didn't want to fight Chad because of his age and he didn't want to damage young fighters anymore?
EMM: We all know Bernard is a business man. He knows the deal. Sometimes Bernard just says things and he doesn't know what he's saying. He just talks just to be talking. When all is said and done, Bernard is a good opponent for Pascal and I think he has a great chance at beating Pascal. Bernard has the right attitude, he has an excellent cornerman in Naazim Richardson, and I think that Bernard is going to go over there and know that the judges from Canada are not going to be in his favor. He has to go in there with that attitude and he has to knock that kid out. That's the bottom line. The judges over there are not going to give you anything. I know the deal. They tried to do everything to disrupt our training camp, but I know too many people in Montreal. I've been going to Montreal for a long time. Before Yvon Michel even started promoting, I was going to Montreal and I have a lot of friends over there. They made it easy for us to do a lot of things over there.
PC: What is the status of Michael Grant? I'm sure you were not too pleased with the effort he put forward.
EMM: I don't know if Michael even wants to get back on track. It's up to the individual. Listen, he fought a guy that he had all of the advantages over and when he hits him, he poses and looks at him, except in the 10th round. It's up to Michael to have a long talk with himself to see if he really wants to do this. Every time he hit Adamek, he hurt him and all he did was pose. He only followed up in a couple of rounds. But man, look here, Adamek was just as scared of Michael as Michael was of him. Every time Michael would throw a jab, he knocked him to the other side of the ring.
PC: You are saying a lot of the same things that Teddy Atlas said when he was training Grant. It's gut check time for him it appears.
EMM: Exactly. He had all of the attributes and the skills to beat the man. He let a very winnable fight go out of the door. Michael has to make up his mind whether he wants to do this or go another route in his life. Michael has been playing boxing and you can't do that. I stressed to him from 1 to 12 that the guy was so scared of him, it was unreal.
PC: What do you currently have going on?
EMM: I just got back from Fallon, Nevada. I had my guy Ronnie Smith, this kid Brownfield. I'm on my way to Florida because I got Shannon Briggs fighting for the heavyweight championship and I got Hasim Rahman fighting in Panama on the 2nd of October and then I got Zab Judah fighting in November, so my plate is booked. I'm enjoying myself and everything is great.
PC: I know you were an advocate for Antonio Margarito getting a stiffer punishment, but he will now be fighting Manny Pacquiao and receiving a huge payday. What are your thoughts on that and the fight itself?
EMM: Number one, you know, listen, he got caught with his underwear down and he got caught cheating. How can you not look at your trainer when he's wrapping your hands? What were you doing, listening to rap music? That's full of nonsense. I don't think the punishment was severe enough and he should have never received his license. You look back at the Panama Lewis situation where he doesn't have his license and you just can't do that. You can't satisfy one individual and neglect another one. You can't do that. If one guy cannot get his license because he did wrong, then why can't that work both ways? I mean, can Panama Lewis just go to Texas and get back into boxing? They seem to be the ones giving away licenses to the bad guys. One thing about Panama Lewis is he did his time. That's not right for Margarito to be about to cash in, but then again, like I told everybody, boxing is so corrupt with some of the commissions out there. Like I had Ishe Smith fight in Mississippi and here you got the promoter of the fight arguing with the referee during the fight. I'm going to let everybody know that boxing is so corrupt, it is unreal and it's unfair, but the best way to remedy that situation is to federalize boxing.
As far as the fight, I think Pacquiao may outbox him because Pacquiao is strong. He is very strong and he is just going to outbox him with that speed. He wouldn't dare try to slug with him because if he tries to slug with Margarito, that would be to his detriment. I'm looking for him to put on a clinic and try not to get in a slugfest with him.
PC: It's always a pleasure to speak with you. Good luck with all of your fighters. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
EMM: I think the Chad Dawson situation was a blessing in disguise. He lost because he couldn't get the marquee fights. Bernard didn't want to fight him and he got stuck in a situation. Now that he has this loss, all of the flood gates are starting to open now and that will benefit him. I also started training Travis Kaufman. I got another heavyweight on my roster, so the hits keep coming.
On another note, I want to send out my condolences to my good friend Bob Arum for the loss of his son John. Bob has always been a good friend of mine to this day and my heartfelt condolences go out to Bob and his family. Bob has been a fixture in this game and he keeps this game going. He's been putting on great fights throughout the years and my deepest condolences go out to him and his family.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]