I was fortunate enough to speak with one of the great minds of the sport, brother Nazim Richardson as he prepares Bernard Hopkins for his long awaited rematch with Roy Jones. Richardson is also working his Shane Mosley for his May 1 fight against Floyd Mayweather. He also tells us what it means to be a special champion and gives us his thoughts on Pacquiao-Clottey.
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Avi: How has Bernard looked in camp?
Nazim Richardson:Bernard is sharp, he’s ready, and he’s focused. He realizes Roy is going to fight him. This is the best Roy we’ll have seen since he fought Virgil Hill and those guys. Roy is gonna fight him. Danny Green didn’t see this Roy Jones, Antonio Tarver ddin’t see this Roy Jones, Glen Johnson didn’t see this Roy Jones.
He’s gonna be at his best. This all Roy has left. It’s over! He’s going to give everything, he has nothing left. This is for Bernard Hopkins. This isn’t for Antonio Tarver, or Danny Green. Whatever he has left he’s gonna use it, now.
AK: You left for the last week of training to work with Shane for the Mayweather fight. Are you comfortable leaving Bernard alone for the last week or so of training?
NR: He hasn’t been alone. John David Jackson is there in camp and Bernard is doing the same thing. This is not some kid you have to worry about in camp that he’s going to eat chocolate bars or something like that. I don’t treat him like that when I’m in camp anyway.
AK: Bernard has talked about the possibility of moving up to heavyweight. Do you think he could put on enough weight and continue to be effective?
NR: I don’t know what’s behind this. I don’t know what happens after the Roy Jones fight. It takes all my concentration to prepare for this. I can’t look beyond these endeavors.
AK: I know it’s part of the contract that if someone gets a stoppage they get an extra ten percent of the purse. Is Bernard going to go after the KO?
NR: Bernard, you saw against Pavlik, he won every round. In the last round he tried to knock Pavlik out. You saw against Trinidad, he won every round, in the last round he knocked Trinidad out. Against Enrique Ornelas, he went out in the last round and tried to get Ornelas out.
Bernard is a gladiator, and gladiators will leave everything on the battlefield. Bernard is warrior who fights behind a strategy. We realize you can be a warrior and fight with strategy. Sun Tzu was a warrior, but he was one of the greatest strategists in history. So was Genghis Khan. Just because they were smart in the middle of the battle, didn’t mean they weren’t willing to take a guy on in the middle of the field.
So damn the clause! If the clause weren’t there we’d still try to knock Roy out.
AK: Especially since Bernard has wanted this fight for so long.
NR: I think Bernard was beyond Roy. He was satisfied with beating Tarver and Johnson, two guys who wiped Roy out. But Roy kept talking and there was still interest. Roy is still talking like he just got home from the Olympics with a gold medal, not the silver medal the gold medal. So the fight ended up still making sense.
And I don’t doubt Roy at all. Roy has done some smart things in boxing. First, Roy didn’t fight too often or fight the best guys, but he was a commentator on HBO, so that kept him in the public eye. Every time you saw a fight you saw Roy Jones and you never forgot about him.
And the other thing is, he put out a greatest hits tape, so the guys in the barber shop still think that’s Roy Jones. You still remember him like he’s that guy.
The bottom line is, he’s still a talent, he’s still a veteran of the game, and he’s earned his stripes.
It’s very hard to lose your legacy. But Roy stayed around long enough that he damaged his legacy. So he feels that if he can beat Bernard, he can heal some of that, and take away from Bernard. And that’s his only shot. “If I can finish with a big win over Bernard, I can heal it back up.”
He can say, “I wasn’t motivated for those other guys. It took another legend to get me motivated.” And that’s what he’s gonna try to push.
But, and you can put this on the record, ask yourself, if the Bernard that fought Roy 17 years ago would beat the Bernard of today. And ask yourself if that Roy Jones would beat today’s Roy Jones?
AK: I always thought that Bernard improved tremendously after that first Jones fight. I think Bernard of today would win
NR: And what do you think if this Roy had fought that Roy?
AK: I think this Roy would get knocked out.
NR: That Roy would have beat the shit out of this Roy Jones! This is gonna be worse than the Danny Green fight because Bernard is gonna chop him up. Shit after this fight Pacquiao will be able to beat Roy.
AK: You’re starting up with Shane Mosley’s camp, how is that going.
NR: Shane is a consummate professional. We’re doing a job. We discuss things coming into this fight, things we’re going to be looking for and we’re right on the same page.
AK: This is your first time being on an HBO 24/7 show. How is that going?
NR: The great thing about that is that those guys know me, and know that I’m a certain type of person. So there’s going to certain things done that I’m not gonna show. I’m going to perform for them like some other people. If they’re looking for something like those other 24/7s, that’s not to be expected.
I’m not taking anything away from anybody. Floyd Mayweather puts on a show before the fight. If you watch Floyd Mayweather, I can’t see anybody watching a Floyd Mayweather fight without a 24/7! It’s more exciting… There’s more people who would pay to watch Floyd Mayweather hit the pads than would actually pay to watch him fight! His padwork is more exciting!.
AK: I think that’s why people want to see him facing Shane, because Shane is going to push him.
NR: The thing is you need somebody of the character and talent of Shane Mosley. We know what he brings to the table. He’s never brought anything less than his best. Can you think of a Shane Mosley fight that has been boring? Shane Mosley is going to make it happen.
That’s why when Floyd says he’s not a fighter he’s an entertainer. I say, “So what, So is Mickey Rourke!” Go make a movie, because boxing is not entertainment, you have in his last fight Floyd fighting a guy two weight divisions smaller. And you could see in the fight he was too small.
As great of a fighter as Juan Manuel Marquez is, and I think he’s a great fighter. He’s one of my favorite fighters. You see he’s too small and Floyd barely tried to finish him. He did try to finish him, but the minute he resisted Floyd went back into his shell and went for a decision. That’s not entertaining to people.
AK: So do you think if Floyd is down in a fight against Mosley he would be willing to take some risks to turn it around?
NR: I can’t speak for him. All I can say is based on what we’ve seen, that doesn’t seem like him.
My thing is though, I don’t underestimate Floyd in any way, shape, or form. I believe when a guy has reached the level that he has reached in the sport I believe they’re capable of anything. I don’t believe if Shane hits this guy one time he’s going to fall over. I anticipate this guy having a very good chin, I’m anticipating that if this fight goes guerilla, I’m expecting this guy to fight. I don’t get the luxury of the guy sitting at home on the couch.
At home on the couch I’m 700-0! I’m undefeated when I’m at home watching a fight! As a trainer I don’t get the luxury to assume, “Oh, Shane is just too much man.” Bullshit!
Shoot, if he’s too much man we can all leave camp and just wait for the fight. I don’t get the luxury to fall into that kind of mindset. I have to go in thinking that this guy is going to sprout wings, grow claws, and turn into a goddamn dragon once he steps into the ring! And then we still have to find a way to beat him.
AK: I agree with you. I didn’t think Pacquiao-Clottey was a great fight, but I thought it was a little silly all the people just saying, “Clottey didn’t fight.” It’s a lot easier to say it than to actually do it.
NR: I saw the fight. People made it sound like Clottey didn’t throw any punches. He threw some punches. Every punch he threw, he did land when I watched it. Yeah, he didn’t throw a lot of punches, but every punch he threw hit Pacquiao square upside the head. I haven’t heard anybody speak about that.
AK: So you thought Clottey did pretty well? You saw some vulnerabilities in Pacquiao?
NR: Well, once again, we can’t go to one side without going to the other side. You can’t say it was Pacquiao’s weaknesses, it might have been Clottey’s strengths. Pacquiao might have been feeling so comfortable against Clottey he was open for some clean shots.
I had the bad problem of not seeing it live myself, so I didn’t see it fresh, I’d already heard about it before I saw it. People said, “Oh, he’s just standing there getting beat on,” No, he fought like Clottey always fights. Clottey keeps his arms up and when he comes out of the shell he’s pretty accurate, but he’s never been a guy that throws a whole lot of punches.
AK: And so how has sparring been going for Shane. Who did you bring in?
NR: It’s going good, but here’s the thing. I’m not a big believer of bringing in a guy that fights exactly like Floyd Mayweather. If the guy really fought like Floyd Mayweather he’d be in his own camp getting ready for his title fight. I want to bring guys in that will get Shane at his best. I think that if you bring guys in that will get Shane at his best, then it’ll be enough to beat Floyd Mayweather.
I have a lot of respect for the Mayweathers. Like I tell people, he’s a special kid. This is not an ordinary fighter, this is not a champion, this is not an elite fighter, this is a special kid. Those are the different levels of the sport. It’s a rarity you get to see two special athletes meet each other, because very seldom do they come along during the same time period, very seldom are they in the same weight class.
There’s a difference between the Hattons and Margaritos. These guys are elite fighters, but they’re not special fighters. There’s good fighters, champions, elite fighters, and then there are legends, special fighters. Mayweather is special and Shane is special.
It takes somebody of the talent of Shane to beat Floyd Mayweather. I don’t think anyone else has a chance to beat him. You’re not gonna win a race with a decent athlete against a great athlete. It’s unfortunate
AK: It’s also rare because people were talking about this fight ten years ago and they’re still at the top of their game.
NR: Ten years ago it’s a different fight. Ten years ago Shane knocks him out. Ten years ago Floyd wasn’t ready. The time is right now. It wouldn’t of been a fraction of the money it is now, or a fraction of the satisfaction. Ten years ago they didn’t’ even have a 24/7.
Mayweather needs the 24/7. Now I have a great deal of respect for him, but let me put it this way, have you seen the trunks Floyd wears? Have you seen the chinchilla? That’s some fancy shit he wears. It’s nice, it’s some fancy shit. Now let me ask you a question. What did Tyson come into the ring with?
AK: Just black trunks, not even a robe.
NR: See, you don’t need all that extra shit when you knock people the fuck out. Shane doesn’t need that stuff when he knocks out Margarito and Mayorga You don’t need that stuff when you knock a joker in the mouth. You don’t need the tassels or whatever. The crowd like the KO.
So if you ask somebody which guy they want to watch, the guy with the fancy outfit, or the guy who knocks people out. You ask them who they want to see?
See 24/7 is everything for the Mayweathers. They need that stuff. They give you flash and talking, they need that stuff.
Because not everybody who steps into the ring is a warrior. Michael Buffer is in the ring and he’s not a warrior. The ref isn’t a warrior. And some of the guys with gloves on aren’t warriors.
Shane is a warrior. When he gets into the ring he wants to knock a joker out. Now! I have to hold him back, “Hey, let’s stick with the gameplan.” Because that’s who is. That’s a part of him he’s a warrior.
I don’t have to teach Shane how to fight. Jack Mosley taught Shane how to fight. And he did a hell of a job. I just have to remind him of a few things. Point out a few things in Margarito and Floyd. That’s all I have to do.
