With the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight now only 10 days away, the camps for both fighters are winding down and the participants are making their final preparations. The subplot to May 2nd is the long standing bad blood relationship between trainers Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach. The trainers have faced off once before with Roach?s fighter Manny Pacquiao scoring a KO2 win over Mayweather?s boxer Ricky Hatton. Since that fight, the two trainers has been trading insults through the press and now with the fight getting ever closer, the two hope to prove once and for all who the better trainer is.
In part 2 of my ?On The Ropes? boxing radio interview with Floyd Mayweather Sr, I discuss with him his stable of boxers and how he thinks they will do going forward in the future. Mayweather Sr. also talks about Freddie Roach?s comments about him and whether he will say anything to Roach at the weight in. Additionally, Senior talks about how he would handle any type of altercation that could happen between the two. Here is what Floyd Mayweather Sr. had to say.
Jenna J: On May 2nd, you?re not just training your son, you?re also training another fighter, Andrew ?The Beast? Tabiti. How are preparations going with him?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: They?ve been going real good with him. He?s looking better every day, he?s looking real good. I think that he?s gonna be somebody to reckon with.
Jenna J: As far as the cruiserweight division, do you think he can be a champion some day?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: I definitely think he can be a champion, and I think when he becomes a champion, I think he?s gonna hold that title for a while. I ain?t gonna say that he can hold it as long as my son held his title but I will say that I think he can hold the title for a while.
Jenna J: Speaking of titles, you are still training Mickey Bey. How has he been doing?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: I got another guy too, we call him ?Memphis? but his last name is (Ladarius) Miller and that?s one of my fighters. He?s coming up and he?s gonna be a real good fighter too. Mickey Bey is good, Floyd is good, Tabiti is good and ?Memphis? is good. I got a good crew.
Jenna J: If you take Pacquiao out and you do your business with Tabiti and Bey, do you think this is the year that people will acknowledge you as a trainer instead of Freddie Roach?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: Let me tell you something, I don?t think Freddie Roach will win anything this year. I don?t see him doing anything this year because all of my fighters are looking for their next win, each and every one of them. We?re the dominant force man, we?re the dominant force and we are the people to be recognized with now. No more Freddie ?The Joke Coach? Roach!
Jenna J: Freddie has been talking a lot through the promotion of this event and he claimed that your brother, Roger, was a better trainer than you. What do you have to say to that?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: Well, I heard that, but you know what? That?s all talk. He?s trying to undermine somebody and tell them that, ?Oh Floyd can?t do it,? and they wanted Roger to get there and they know that Roger?s not doing that well, so they want to try to get Roger in there so Roger can call out stuff and get Floyd beat up, but it wont happen that way. It will be in his dads hands, just like it always has been.
Jenna J: Do you think Freddie actually believes the things he?s saying or is he just trying to promote the fight?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: He?s just talking to be talking, that?s all. Ain?t none of that stuff he talk about, he know it ain?t true. He knows I?m the best man for my son. If he wanna talk, let him talk. Let him keep talking.
Jenna J: How much are you looking forward to May 2nd to end all that talk? There?s been talk for years, and now you get a chance to show. Are you looking forward to that personally?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: Of course I am, and I guess Freddie Roach is looking forward too but if he wants to keep talking, hey, he?s gonna have his opportunity.
Jenna J: Do you expect to say anything to Freddie when the weigh in happens, on May 1st?
Floyd Mayweather Sr: I don?t really know what to say. I know one thing and it?s like this right here, if he hits me in some kind of way for no reason and I haven?t done anything to him, I?m gonna beat the shit out of him. I mean, there ain?t nothing that I would want to do to anybody who has an ailment, but as long as he don?t try nothing stupid like that, then he ain?t gotta worry about nothing happening to him.
If he hits me or something, if he hits me anywhere, I?m gonna retaliate. I?m not one of those kinds of guys that go back in the back and talk about what he did, this and that. I?ll be doing it myself, believe that. As long as he don?t bother me, he ain?t got to worry about no problem, but if he hits me or something, he got a big problem.
Freddie Roach seems to think that he can talk about me and talk about other people and then nobody is supposed to respond to what he is saying because he?s got Parkinson?s, he thinks nobody is supposed to respond. I?m not gonna respond about his Parkinson?s or anything like that, but if he hits me or something like that, it?s a different problem. It?s a problem right there, right then.
