In the wake of Manny Pacquiao?s recent dominant performance over Chris Algieri, talks have once again sparked for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout. I had a chance to speak to highly respected boxing trainer, ?Iceman? John Scully to get his thoughts on Pacquiao?s return, and also his thoughts on what could be next. Scully also gives his views why Pacquiao vs. Mayweather would be more competitive now, compared to years in the past.Additionally Scully broke down what he think?s would happen if Pacquiao and Mayweather finally step into the ring with each other. Here is what John Scully had to say.
(FULL INTERVIEW)
Jenna J: Let?s talk about the big fight that took place this past weekend, Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri. What did you think of the fight?
John Scully: I was trying to look at it from the view of the fighter, from being in there and what it must have been like for him. I just feel that he realized probably that Pacquiao?s energy and strength was too much and he didn?t have the power to hold him off. Pacquiao was a little bit better at cutting off the ring than Provodnikov proved to be and it seemed like Pacquiao made the ring small.
Everywhere Algieri went, he was running into Manny. It?s like you?re trying to hide in a house and every room you go into Manny is there waiting for you. I know it?s a heavy mental pressure on the guy and I just feel like he probably realized shortly into the fight that he wasn?t strong enough punching power wise or physically, to hold Manny off.
Jenna J: Algieri?s trainer has gotten some attention because apparently they had the gameplan of trying to knock out Manny Pacquiao late. Do you think that was a legitimate gameplan or something that they were just saying when the fight looked out of reach?
John Scully: I know the trainer has been getting a lot of criticism. I?ve read many different things online and I understand it. Sometimes you hear a trainer say something that sounds a little off or odd and you as the viewer you say, ?Wow that?s kind of weird, what?s he talking about?? The thing is, he knows the fighter better than we do personally and he might say things just to spur the fighter on.
Every fighter is different and he knows Chris better than we do, so I?m gonna give him a pass and say that he was saying things that hopefully would inspire Chris. Realistically, I know he knows that they weren?t gonna knock Manny out ? I?m sure he knew that. That?s the only thing I can really say, sometimes trainers say things that sound odd to the outsiders but there is a reason behind it.
Jenna J: Manny knocked Algieri down six times, even though some of them were slips, in the ninth round he did have Algieri seriously hurt. What did you think of Manny?s performance as a whole?
John Scully: He did extremely well considering he was in with a guy who was very mobile. It?s easy to watch and say, ?Oh he should have done this, he should have knocked him out, the guy wasn?t strong, etc? But when you?re in with a guy that can box and can move ? you can say what want, Chris didn?t put on a spectacular offensive performance and he was probably out of his depth but he does have good movement. He does know how to use the ring, he does know how to cut angles and it?s much harder than it looks.
A lot of people ? even I?ve been guilty of it ? say, ?Just get on him, put the pressure on him,? but it?s not that simple. The guy is very good at moving, his lateral movement is good and Manny did well. To even catch up with him the times that he was able to and put the punches together, Manny tried, there were times when he let off ten shots in a row but the kid was good with his defense, he was no dummy in there in that sense. You have to give Manny credit for getting done what he did get done.
Jenna J: Now the big question is, where does Manny Pacquiao go from here? Do you think with this win and the fact that Floyd Mayweather has run out of opponents that can sell big pay-per-views, that the fight will happen this time?
John Scully: From what I?ve read in the past day, I get the impression that both sides are kind of looking to make the fight. I?ve always kind of thought that Floyd?s plan is probably for his 50th fight to try and go out 50-0 by beating Manny Pacquiao in the 50th fight.
Jenna J: Do you think if the fight happens now, that the fight is actually better in terms of what kind of fight we see because Floyd has slowed down a bit?
John Scully: No question. I think honestly if they fought several years ago, I think Floyd white washes him. I love Manny Pacquiao but Floyd is a special fighter, I just feel that he would have beaten him. Now the thing is, Floyd is the one who seems to be slowing down and Pacquiao if anything ? even thought he was knocked out and lost to Bradley ? he still has fire power, he lets his hands go hard.
I think you?re exactly right, I think it?s a better fight now because of the way Floyd seems to have regressed a little bit, he slowed down a bit. I still think even in his diminished state, I still think he?s better than the high majority of the fighters in the world and that tells you how good he is.
Jenna J: Let?s turns things to yourself for a few minutes John. Are there any boxers you are working with you want to tell the fans about?
John Scully: Right know I have a group of amateurs that I?m working with here in Florida and I have a couple of professionals. I have a super middleweight by the name of Craig Duncan, who is 5-0 with 4 knockouts, a big puncher. This guy is on like a Julian Jackson level of punching power, just a tremendous hitter.
Even though he only has five fights, we actually just got an offer to fight Jeff Lacy in December in Tampa, Florida. We?re discussing it just because it?s kind of relatively short notice for an opponent such as Jeff and just to go more rounds than my guy is used to. If we don?t take this fight, we would definitely take it a few months down the line when we have time to really train for a distance fight, but that?s a name you should look out for, Craig Duncan.
Jenna J: Besides the boxers you work with, are there any projects you have going outside of the ring?
John Scully: First is that I will be in the role of a host at Mia St. John?s December 16th dinner at the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Strip in Las Vegas that will honor Tommy Hearns and WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. Sugar Ray Leonard and numerous other champions will be there and it is shaping up to be a great event.
Also, on a more personal note, I am organizing a special reunion for amateur boxers in Las Vegas on December 13th that has been in the planning stages for several years now. After running into difficulty securing sponsors I finally just decided to get it going on my own, just by inviting friends and former opponents and teammates and peers and seeing who wanted to hang out with me the weekend before the WBC Convention starts and the responses just got better and better as time went on.
In the very beginning I had interest from a few guys that has snowballed into commitments from the likes of Mike McCallum, Frankie Liles, Mark ?Too Sharp? Johnson, Reggie Johnson, John David Jackson, Paul Spadafora, Shawn Porter, Bones Adams, Wayne McCullough, Ray Oliviera, Thomas Tate and many other former amateur boxing champions. I am actually waiting on word as we speak from Donald Curry to see if he will be able to make it as well so it is shaping up to be an extremely memorable event for all of us.
To give you an idea of what it will be like, Mark Too Sharp Johnson and 2000 Canadian Olympic heavyweight Mark Simmons boxed each other in 1983 as 60 pound little kids and haven?t seen each other since. They will reunite in Las Vegas at the reunion, though, which should be funny to see because Mark Simmons is now around six foot four and well over 200 pounds while Too Sharp is about five foot six and never boxed above bantamweight.
On my end, I fought against Colorado?s James Saulnier at the 1988 U.S. Championships and haven?t seen him since but I spoke to him on the phone last week and he assured me that he will see me in Las Vegas so it?s just going to be that kind of atmosphere for most of us who are attending. Definitely it is going to be one of the highlights of my entire boxing career.
Jenna J: In closing John, all the fans want to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Can you see a scenario in which Manny Pacquiao wins?
John Scully: I would say no. Normally I?d say, if a guy comes in and he?s not fully motivated but the thing about Floyd Mayweather from what I?ve seen with my own eyes and what I?ve heard from people who know him well, he trains extremely hard unlike a lot of superstars. Over a long period of time it seems like his mentality has not wavered at all.
Floyd?s still a gym rat, he still focuses and does what he has to do. I don?t think he?ll ever get caught slipping, especially not with a guy like Manny. Floyd kind of down talks Manny for the hype of the fight, but he knows as a smart boxing person, he knows that he needs to be in that shape like he was in for Diego Corrales. He needs to be in that elite superstar super shape.
If he?s on his game, I don?t think Manny, or anyone, touches him. I don?t think Floyd will get caught slipping. The only thing that can happen is if he just loses it, where his timing and everything is just eroded but from what I can see, he?s slipped a little, I don?t think there?s any dispute of that but not nearly enough for him to be considered to lose to Manny. I like Manny a lot but I don?t see Floyd losing to Manny.
