In a recent edition of ?On The Ropes? Boxing Radio, I had a chance to catch up with highly respected boxing trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson. Naazim spoke on many of the hot topics going around the sport including Floyd Mayweather?s next fight and Pacquiao vs. Bradley II. Naazim gave his thoughts on Marcos Maidana being selected for Mayweather?s next fight, and who he is favoring to win the May 3rd match up. Richardson also broke down Pacquiao?s next bout, and gave his views on who he thinks will win and why. Additionally Naazim talked about the possibility of Mayweather and Pacquiao meeting in the ring if both win their next fights. Here is what Naazim Richardson had to say in part 1 of his interview.
Jenna J: Floyd Mayweather Jr. picked his next fight, it?s Marcos Maidana instead of Amir Khan. What did you think of that move?
Naazim Richardson: Floyd is to the point where anything that Floyd does is under a certain amount of scrutiny. Immediately when he says he?s not going to fight Khan, he?s going to fight Maidana, the world jumps up and down and says that Khan would have been more of a problem.
Okay here?s the thing, Maidana just put a win proved he is a little better then when lost to Khan by upsetting a young undefeated kid, in a higher fashion. I like Khan, but Maidana has earned it for Certain, and now it?s Mayweather?s choice.
Jenna: What kind of a threat do you think Maidana poses?
Richardson: Maidana is a little short roughen, punches hard as heck. He causes problems with anything he hits, and there are different guys when we talk about punching power, but Maidana is one of those guys that will hit you anywhere, GGG, a couple guys out there like that will hit you anywhere.
Maidana causes a problem for Floyd, and even though Floyd is getting up there in age, he is a phenomenal fighter. It gives Maidana a chance to be the biggest thing of this era if he can beat Broner and beat Floyd too, it would prove how special he is.
Jenna: There is a fight that people think would be the biggest challenge to Floyd, a fight with Gennady Golovkin. Golovkin said he would drop in weight to face Floyd. What do you think of that fight?
Richardson: Triple G, yeah he?s a problem. But we don?t know what will happen to Golovkin when he loses that much weight. He might not be as much of a problem anymore after a couple of rounds of missing in there with a guy that can make you miss, so we don?t know, that is why we fight these fights.
Chad Dawson was bigger than Ward and Ward wiped him out like he was 12 years old. Golovkin is extremely strong where he is now, but we don?t what happens if he takes off some more weight. That?s a big difference.
Jenna: Naazim, it?s hard to mention Mayweather without also mentioning Pacquiao. He has a rematch with Timothy Bradley, what do you think of them having a second fight?
Richardson: Timmy is a guy that finds a way to win. See, what I keep telling people; the best fighter is a fighter that no one is talking about. Tim Bradley and Danny Garcia?two guys that find a way to win. That?s the kind of fight that no one will win two rounds in a row until you get to about the 8th round.
Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao, I am a Pacquiao fan, I am a Timothy Bradley fan. The public has to be careful with what they build up, ?I thought Pacquiao won, I thought Pacquiao won, I thought Pacquiao won? stuff like that fuels Timmy.
Tim?s now going to beat up Pacquiao in this fight. I would not be surprised if Timmy definitively beats Pacquiao in this fight, I would not be surprised at all. And I thought Pacquiao looked good against Brandon Rios, but I think Brandon Rios was absolute perfect for Manny Pacquiao.
Jenna: Do you think the roads that both Pacquiao and Bradley have taken since their first fight will play any factor in the rematch?
Richardson: I think for Timmy it?s more about the controversy that people put on him for beating Pacquiao. I didn?t see it to be that controversial. I think the public and the media beat him up so bad that people want to act like he did not win the fight against Pacquiao, so I think that is going to play a bigger part in Timmy?s preparation, than the Marquez fight.
The Marquez fight will be an added emotional spark, but I think he wants to go back and prove something to everybody. I saw the dude do an interview after beating Pacquiao and it looked like he was gonna cry. That?s how bad the public treated him. It should have been his greatest moment and he looked like he was about to cry.
It?s going to play into fuel for this guy against Pacquiao, and I?m hoping it doesn?t play into the kind of fuel and he runs out there and does something stupid, cause Pacquiao is still a dynamo. Don?t get me wrong, people don?t give Marquez the proper respect. Not anyone is going to lay Pacquiao out like that, and Pacquiao still realizes that a win over Bradley puts him back in the hunt for Mayweather.
Jenna: What can Bradley do in the rematch that he did not do in the first fight to take away any controversy?
Richardson: I?m just looking for Timmy to take a certain kind of angle with Pacquiao, I think Timmy is going to spot it earlier and be busier behind it. He did it in the first fight to a degree, and I think he?s going to do it more in this fight.
Pacquiao has stuff to prove too, Pacquiao feels like a win over Mayweather can wipe out the Marquez loss, and the public will pretty much say that. Now me, I thought Marquez beat him every time they fought. I thought Marquez won each one of those fights, and I?m a Pacquiao fan, I dig that little dude.
