"I still believe Pacquiao is going to win. I don't believe Pacquiao is going to win because he's the better fighter. I believe Pacquiao is going to win because that makes him that much bigger...Margarito gonna get what he got coming to him," stated world-class trainer Roger Mayweather as he shared his thoughts on the upcoming November 13 clash between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito. You don't want to miss what else he had to say as he talks about Pacquiao, Margarito, Shane Mosley and much more. Check it out!
PC: How is everything going?
RM: Everything is well.
PC: When you watched the fight between Mosley and Mora, did you feel that you were watching a shot fighter in Shane Mosley?
RM: Nah! Shane's not shot. He fought way out of his weight class. He's fighting someone at a 150+ pounds. Shane Mosley came from 135 pounds. He just don't carry that weight. The last great fighter to carry that weight...it was two great fighters that carried that weight. One of them was from 135 pounds and that was Roberto Duran. He fought a split decision with Marvin Hagler and he beat Sugar Ray Leonard. He beat Ray Leonard at 147. He fought Sugar Ray Leonard at 160 pounds too in their last fight. You know they fought 3 times. The other great fighter to go from 147 pounds to win two light heavyweight championships is the man that knocked out Roberto Duran and that's Tommy Hearns. Tommy Hearns held up from 47 to 175 pounds. He had the height and the punching power to carry that weight. Shane Mosley is a great fighter, but he can't hold that kind of weight. He's never really looked good at 154 pounds and that makes all the difference in the world.
PC: James Kirkland just got released from a prison stint. What do you think of his skill level and do you think...
RM: (Cutting in) I don't even know who that is. I would know him from TV, and if he had some skills, but I don't know him, man.
PC: That's the kid Ann Wolfe was training.
RM: That don't mean nothing to me my man.
PC: Antonio Margarito has got the task of trying to figure out how to beat Manny Pacquiao in November. Do you think he can get it done?
RM: Well, you know, first off, Margarito ain't supposed to have a license anyway for the shit he did, but I still believe Pacquiao is going to win. I don't believe Pacquiao is going to win because he's the better fighter. I believe Pacquiao is going to win because that makes him that much bigger. Number one, if Margarito win, what is that going to do for him? That ain't going to do shit for him. Bob Arum got both of them, so I can't see Margarito winning. If that motherfucker wins, he will fuck up all of Bob Arum's money. Bob Arum got both of them anyway, so what benefit will it do him to have Margarito win? Shit, he [Margarito] don't mind taking no motherfuckin' dive. It's fake that he has his license back anyway. He really shouldn't even be fighting because he shouldn't have no license. Now, here is a guy fighting for this kind of money...I don't know if he's getting a million dollars, but whatever, he is still fighting and they gave him a license to fight. Why would they fight Margarito when they had to go through all of that shit just to get him a license? So there has to be a reason that they went through all of that to get him a license to fight Pacquiao. Margarito know what the fuck to do. He knows what to do. You got this guy that got caught trying to cheat and he still gets a license to fight? He's fighting one of the better known fighters in the sport, and to fight one of the better known fighters in the sport, he had to get licensed, but what reason did he get licensed for? The only reason he got licensed is because who else going to risk taking a fight with that motherfucker, as dirty as he [Pacquiao] is? What makes it look good is...okay Pacquiao fighting Margarito, but Margarito can't benefit from it; even if he win, he can't benefit from it. He ain't going to win any motherfuckin' way. I don't believe he gonna win; not a chance.
PC: You didn't mention Manny Pacquiao when you were naming great fighters that climbed up in weight and I'm sure our Filipino readers will ask why. Manny started out at 106 pounds and is now having success at 147, and possibly 154.
RM: No, no, no, no! Remember one thing, Pacquiao fighting motherfuckers at catchweights. He not fighting them at their normal weight. He's fighting them at catchweights. When he fought Ricky Hatton, he told Ricky Hatton, "Look motherfucker, you can't come in over 145 pounds." Ricky Hatton walks around over 180 pounds, but he can't rehydrate over 145 pounds? He did the same thing with De La Hoya. De La Hoya couldn't weigh in over 145 pounds. My nephew fought De La Hoya at 154 pounds. Floyd don't fight at catchweights. And by the time De La Hoya ate that motherfuckin' food, he weighed over 160 goddamn pounds. When you fight him [Pacquiao], you gotta fight at a catchweight because you gotta fight according to his rules. That ain't the way that boxing goes, but you have to fight according to his rules.
PC: Well, you probably weren't happy to hear that the Margarito fight will take place at 150 for the 154-pound title.
RM: Listen, Margarito gotta make 150. He gonna kill himself to make that 150. Motherfucker tell him to fight at 150, he gonna fight at 150. Let me tell you something, Pacquiao done already been knocked out twice. You know that, don't you?
PC: Yeah, early in his career.
RM: Yeah, he done been knocked out twice at 105 pounds, so how is he beating these dudes at 147 pounds? Why he ain't fought Shane Mosley? Shane was begging for a fight with him. You know why he didn't? Because they figure Shane Mosley put that shit in his ass too. He ain't trying to fight Shane Mosley because he may be in the same boat as he is in, so they fight certain guys. He whooped Cotto, but he made Cotto drop weight too. All of them dudes he whooped, he made them drop that weight. De La Hoya, Cotto and Hatton. He made them drop that motherfuckin' weight. Here is a motherfucker that fought a split decision with Marquez and fought a draw with Marquez, but he knocked out all the rest of these dudes? And these dudes bigger and stronger than Marquez is? See, he fought Marquez at a real weight class and Marquez was hurting him and everything. He made them other motherfuckers shrink down, just like he's going to do to Margarito. It's the same thing. He gonna make him drop that motherfuckin' weight. You want to get this money, you better drop that motherfuckin' weight.
PC: And you feel Margarito doesn't have a choice but to go with the flow.
RM: Margarito don't have a choice because he was banned from boxing for illegal hand wraps and shit. Now all of a sudden, he's back in the picture.
PC: You have wrapped a lot of hands in your lifetime. Is there any way a fighter can not know what's being placed on his knuckles?
RM: Well, the thing about Margarito is he probably wasn't getting his hand wrapped right in front of the other trainer. They probably started wrapping before. Or they may have wrapped his hands and his trainer wasn't in there when they put the shit in there. All you have to do is slide it over the knuckle because it's like a cast. I mean, they could have done that anytime. That's probably what they did. You see what happened when that motherfucker didn't have that shit on. He fought Shane Mosley, didn't he? You see how that went. He ain't gonna have that shit in his gloves for Pacquiao, he gonna kill himself to make that weight and then Margarito gonna get what he got coming to him.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]