Mayweather vs. Mosley Trainer Conference Call Transcript
MAYWEATHER VS. MOSLEY TRAINER CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT
An MP3 of this call is available. Please click HEREto listen and download.
R. Schaefer
Welcome, everybody, to today’s call. Eighteen days, six hours, twenty-one minutes, and forty-eight seconds as shown on the www.whoareyoupicking.com web site. Check it out. The fight has its own web site, interactive, a lot of good stuff on there, and you’re going to see on there as well the poll.
It’s really interesting to see how that poll is shifting. A couple of days ago we had Mayweather favored by 52 to Mosley 48. In the last two days, Mayweather pulled further as the favored. He is now 57% of people think that Mayweather’s going to win the fight to 43% of Mosley.
Mosley had a great media day yesterday here in Los Angeles. An open workout was very well attended, and in the evening he went on the George Lopez show together with Oscar where he looked straight into the camera and said that he’s going to knock Floyd Mayweather out. He feels very strong about the fight. He feels very strong about what he’s going to do to Mayweather. We’re going to release some of that George Lopez footage later on today.
I mentioned before quickly the polls. It’s really interesting how the people are starting to engage and are forming their opinions on who is going to win. We’re going to have as of Monday a never-seen-before push on all major sites, business sites such as CNBC, Wall Street Journal, entertainment sites, People, sports pages like ESPN, major other sites such as Yahoo, USA Today, Univision, L.A. Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and so on. Pretty much wherever you’re going to look all major outlets will have polls up, and we are going to provide daily updates on those polls where we summarize these opinions. It really looks like it’s turning out as we anticipated with the Who R U Picking? campaign that we have people from the barbershops to the water coolers in the offices and so on talking about who they think is going to win this fight.
Two guys, which obviously have a lot to do with the preparation, are responsible for getting these two fighters in the best shape for the great May 1st showdown at the MGM Grand are the trainers, and it is a pleasure for me. Now, we have both trainers, Naazim Richardson for Sugar Shane Mosley, and Roger Mayweather for Floyd Mayweather, of course on the phone here.
I’m going to introduce now Naazim Richardson, a man who really doesn’t need any introduction. You guys all know who he is, and his accomplishments are many, is considered to be clearly one of the best trainers in the business today. Please, Naazim, if you want to give some comments about camp, on what you see, what you think the fight, what’s going to happen.
N. Richardson
Well, going forward, a lot of things come to pass. We see this as being an outstanding fight once again that relies on both participants, but I feel as though if you check the history you’ve never seen Shane Mosley in let alone a bad fight, you’ve never seen Shane Mosley in a boring fight. I don’t see that changing at all in this fight, especially with an outstanding athlete such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. Like I said, this will be a matter of us putting the strategy together and seeing what the outcome is. In fact, both of us have exceptional athletes, but I’m still confident that our guys can get the job done. I look forward to the contest.
R. Schaefer
Thank you, Naazim. It is a pleasure now to hand it over to the co-promoter of this event, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions. Leonard Ellerbe will introduce Mr. Mayweather. Please, Leonard.
L. Ellerbe
Thank you, Richard. Like what you said, I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s call. Obviously, we are less than three weeks away from the biggest fight of the year. We’re expecting a great, great fight.
Behind every great fighter, there’s always a great trainer. In order for Floyd to be able to have reached this level, he couldn’t have done it by himself. Obviously, we all know that his dad taught him all the skills early on in his career, but in order for Floyd to be able to go to the next level, obviously, he had great direction from his uncle. Their relationship is filled with trust, and Floyd trusts in his uncle because he’s a former two-time world champion himself. Anytime Floyd steps in the ring, he not only steps up in the ring knowing that he has the ability to carry out what his uncle’s orders are, but to be able to execute anything that his uncle tells him.
As we all know, Roger is a character within himself, but what we also all know is Roger is a true boxing historian. Without further ado, none other than the two-time world champion himself, the Black Mamba. Roger, would you like to make a few words?
R. Mayweather
Thank you. My name is Roger Mayweather. Obviously, you already know I’m training Floyd Mayweather. Of course, we’re preparing now for the fight with Shane Mosley, which is not that far away. I don’t think he’s going to be- Shane Mosley’s a good fighter, and I don’t doubt that, but I truly believe that my nephew is the best fighter in the sport of boxing period hands down. I’m not saying what Shane Mosley can’t do, but whatever he can do, he can’t do it better than Floyd. That’s what I’m saying. I understand about boxing.
I understand about boxing because I’ve been around boxing all of my life. They’ve both got tremendous skill. That’s what makes a fight. They’ve both got a tremendous fan base. That’s what makes a fight, but come on May 1st, they’re going to see why they call Floyd the best in the world.
There are a whole bunch of guys that are good. Good and great are two different things, and he’s on the verge of greatness, so when it comes May 1st, when all this is said and done, I won’t even have to talk about how good Floyd is or how great he is or how, I won’t even have to say anything because all that’s going to be shared in the books and the papers. They’re going to say it all week, so I don’t have to say much of anything about that.
Q:
Will Mosley be the quickest opponent Floyd has fought?
R. Mayweather
People don’t even understand about boxing. One thing I’m going to tell them right now is to let them know that one of the fastest guys in the history of the sport of boxing was a 1976 Olympic gold medalist. It was Howard Davis Jr. He had tremendous speed, but he never won a world championship, and he fought guys that were much slower than him. It’s not about speed that wins fights. Skill wins fights, and he’s the most skilled fighter in the sport of boxing period hands down.
When you start talking about on a skill level or how, I’m not saying Shane Mosley’s not a skilled fighter, but I said Floyd is the most skilled fighter in the sport. He understands boxing. That’s what he’s been doing all his life. Shane Mosley had a great career as well, but at the same time when you start talking about skill, then you guys understand. You know what I’m saying. He did fight Cotto, didn’t he?
Q:
Yes.
R. Mayweather
Okay then. I even got asked that question. He fought Cotto, right? You saw what Pacquiao did to Cotto, didn’t you?
Q:
Yes.
R. Mayweather
All right.
Q:
Mosley likes to get in and mix it up. Floyd likes to box. Do you see the two being able to mesh in the ring? Do you Floyd standing in and trading punches with Shane?
R. Mayweather:
Floyd knows how to win. Obviously, he doesn’t know how to lose. You don’t ask me that question. You ask Shane Mosley that question.
Q:
Shane says he’ll knock out Floyd. Do you think Floyd has the power to stop Shane, or do you think this fight looks like it’ll go the distance?
R. Mayweather:
What do you mean, the power that he’s got with the steroids, or the power that he’s got just naturally? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m talking about the power with the steroids that he’s taking or the power just naturally gifted to him himself. I don’t know. Has he had a test yet? Okay then, so I don’t know. I can’t answer a question that I don’t know the facts to, but I know one thing. I don’t even worry about that anyways because he hasn’t ever been stopped, so it’s not different than any other fight that Floyd has fought before.
Like I said before, Shane Mosley’s a great fighter. I’m not taking away from Shane Mosley about how good he is, but remember one thing, remember this and what I’m going to tell you. You remember this. You’ve got a whole bunch of good fighters, but there are very few that are great, and the greatest fighter who put those gloves on to this day is Sugar Ray Robinson. You’ve got a whole bunch of good ones. They didn’t beat him, though, but there’s a big difference between good and great. Floyd’s on his way to greatness. Come May 1, I guess you’ll see for yourself.
Q:
Naazim, Mosley and yourself yesterday, I wasn’t there, but in Pasadena talked about not letting Mayweather’s talk, no head games. Shane and you were going to block that out. You yourself dropped a little bit of a bombshell, and I want to just quote you. You said, “We could get through five rounds of this thing up 5-0. At that point Mayweather may just say, ‘Forget it. I’ve got a rematch guaranteed. Try again next time,'” end of quote. You’re quoted that way in the Los Angeles Times.
N. Richardson
I saw that myself. That was surprising to me today. That’s not a quote of mine. I’m not banking anything on a rematch, and I’m not concerned about a rematch. I never look past the fight that I have in front of me. Earlier this month I had Karl Dargan in front of me, and that’s what I’ve dealt with. After that I had to deal with Bernard Hopkins and Steve Cunningham, and now I have Sugar Shane Mosley performing against Floyd Mayweather. I never looked to the next fight.
Q:
In other words you’re saying you never made that quote?
N. Richardson
No, I read it on the Internet the other day, a quote about me saying something about the rematch. No, I wouldn’t make a quote like. First of all, I don’t believe in a statement like that. I don’t believe there’s any quit in Floyd Mayweather. That’s first of all, and I don’t believe any athlete at this particular level would just surrender after a couple rounds if it didn’t go their way.
Q:
A question for Roger. Roger, how would you describe Manny Pacquiao? Is he just another good fighter to you?
R. Mayweather:
I don’t know how good he is. I can’t say how good he is because every time I see him fighting he must have something in his system. Anytime a guy doesn’t want to take a test, that tells you already about the guy. How’s a guy going to talk about how good he is or how great he is and the guy won’t even take a test. He won’t even take a blood test, so you tell me how good Manny Pacquiao is. You tell me because you asked me the question.
Q:
Didn’t you just say you didn’t care about steroids?
L. Ellerbe:
This call is about Mayweather vs. Mosley.
Q:
All right, that’s fair enough, Leonard. What’s your evaluation then of Pacquiao, and are you interested after this fight ….
R. Schaefer:
Forget Pacquiao. Don’t even talk about Pacquiao. We are promoting a fight between two of the greatest fighters which are Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.
Q:
Naazim, have there been any differences in this training camp opposed to the Margarito training camp, anything better, anything worse?
N. Richardson:
I’ve said this before, and I’ll repeat it. As far as Shane preparing for the Margarito fight and Shane preparing for the Mayweather fight, I’m very comfortable with his mental preparation. I’m very comfortable, and I’m more comfortable in either one of those fights than I was for the Berto fight because this is the level that Shane desires. This is where Shane knows he belongs.
Now, like we said, it’s all right that I hear things of the nature, one side of the fence I hear people say undefeated, and they give you the impression because a guy hasn’t lost yet he’s great, but then they say the greatest fighter was Ray Robinson who lost fights. If Ray Robinson’s the greatest fighter in your mind, then you do recommend great fighters lose fights. Right there in that contradiction itself, it explains what can happen in this fight on May 1.
Q:
Naazim, one more question, do you feel that Shane was forced to hop through too many loops with having to agree to a rematch clause and having to do the blood test. From a trainer’s perspective, do you think that was too much to be asked? He did anyways, but do you feel that it was too much?
N. Richardson:
Well, listen, I’ve said this to Shane, and I don’t say anything behind my fighter’s back that I wouldn’t say to his face. I respect Shane. I love his approach as an athlete to his job and how he takes it on. I implore him to my heart as a friend, but I’ll tell him to his face I think he’s a poor negotiator.
Shane wants to fight so bad he doesn’t care. Shit, they could’ve convinced Shane that Roger needs to be one of the judges. But Shane would’ve agreed to it because Shane just wants to fight. You can tell Shane, look, you’re going to have to tie one arm behind your back, and Shane’s going to fight. We can hold it in Michigan in your backyard, and Shane wants to fight, so they’re really a lot of hoops because Shane comes to the table already with the impression as long as we’re fighting I don’t care about anything else, tests or anything else of that nature.
My thing is to say if you are going to take something away from an athlete, the athlete has agreed to the test, and they talk more about steroids with Shane as they do the fighter who disagreed on taking the test. They’re still talking about Shane in an environment with something that he’s all ready to take the test. He’s taken the test, and he hasn’t complained, and he never backed down from it because they see this guy wants to fight. You see how eager he is and how willing he is because, trust me, Shane wants to get in that ring. He wants to get in that ring in front of the best, so his negotiation is out the door. He walks in the room ready to fight.
Q:
Right, one last question, Richard Schaefer. How are ticket sales?
R. Schaefer:
Glad you asked. They’re going extremely well. As a matter of fact, $150-300 and the $1000s are all sold out. I think there’s like 100 or so of the $600 tickets left, and there’s some of the $1250s left, but it will definitely be a sellout. We definitely will be going up with closed-circuit seats as well. We’re going to be opening up some select 30,000 closed-circuit seats in Las Vegas as well because this really is a fight of historic proportions, and we will have those seats up and on sale within the next week.
Q:
Naazim, the problem seems that so many opponents have found with Mayweather is how to cut off the ring against him. What attributes can Shane use in conjunction with the game plan you devised to cut off Floyd Mayweather?
N. Richardson
First of all, I haven’t read the passage that it’s necessary for us to have to cut the ring off. Nobody’s gotten that documentation to me yet, so the game plan I have is that I’m bringing Sugar Shane Mosley to the table. I’m not bringing those other 40 guys that he fought. I’m bringing Sugar Shane Mosley. I’m bringing another decorated, documented legend to the table. Some of the questions are going to have to be asked of Floyd Mayweather and what he’s going to have to do to deal with Sugar Shane Mosley because nobody said we’re going to come in and follow the cookie-cutter ideology that these other athletes approach they’ve taken when dealing with Floyd Mayweather. We’re bringing Sugar Shane to the table.
Q:
Of course, those questions will be asked of Mayweather how he deals with Shane’s speed and power and power boxing as I’m sure will happen over the next few days, but we have questions to ask of how you deal with his attributes as well, so that’s kind of the question I’m asking.
N. Richardson:
What I’m saying is you cut off the ring if that’s your purpose to engage in that manner. You cut off the ring. If you don’t choose to cut off the ring, you’re don’t have to cut off the ring. You can’t document to me fights where Muhammad Ali had to cut off the ring, so cutting off the ring is a procedure you take when you’re trying to imply a certain tactic. We may not be applying that tactic, so cutting off the ring may not fall under the umbrella of what we need to do.
Q:
Obviously, the one thing that’s different about this training camp is the drug testing. How from a trainer’s standpoint can you characterize whether or not it’s been intrusive? How do they approach it? When do they come? Roger, could you address it and also Naazim, how you guys are dealing with that?
R. Mayweather
With me it’s very easy. My nephew can take a drug test 24 hours a day. I don’t worry about if my nephew’s on steroids or any other kind of drug. I mean, he’s been boxing just as long as Shane, pretty much all his life, so he hasn’t ever been tested positive. I don’t think it’s any more different now than it was when he started.
When you start talking about taking a test, take a test on somebody who’s already had steroids in their system. You don’t take a test on somebody that hasn’t had them in their system, but if you do, then you’ll find out if the guy is the guy taking them, or you’ll find out if the guy who said he wasn’t taking them, if he’s taking them. Nobody knows that until you take the test. That’s what the test is for. People try talking about they’re so much worried about the test, about the test, about the test. If you’re not worried, take the test. That’s the simplest way to do it. That’s what you’re getting paid for, isn’t it? Guys don’t get this kind of money that doesn’t take any test at all, does he?
Okay then, so the thing of it is, he does what he’s supposed to do. I’m not saying what he’s on or if he’s got something in his system. I don’t know, but that’s what tests are for, aren’t they? Okay then, so take the test, and that’s all I’ve got to say.
Q:
Naazim, Shane had said that the testers have almost become a part of the team, that he welcomes them, so what I was kind of looking for is has the transition been easy? Is it interrupting training? Is it just something that you guys have grown accustomed to, or did it take time to do?
N. Richardson
They haven’t been intrusive, and it hasn’t been a problem because, like I said, Shane was willing and welcome to take the test, and Shane Mosley has never been tested positive for anything himself, but like I said, the test has never been a problem.
The only thing I wanted to bring up in the situation and I’ll open this up to all the reporters and I open this up to Richard Schaefer. Anybody can contact me and give me information on this. During this drug testing thing, you’re hearing so much about drug testing. I wanted to know if, I was told that no needles were included, I mean needles of any sort. I mean, we can’t take a needle anywhere in any way, shape, or form. You can’t stick needles in your hands. You can’t stick your needles anywhere. I need somebody to give me information on that because people were telling me about something about the deal with lidocaine or something being used in one of the athlete’s hands, and it’s only legal in Las Vegas. It’s not legal anywhere else. It’s only legal in Las Vegas, and you can shoot this lidocaine in your hands and whatnot.
Like I said, I come from the ‘hood, and the only caine I want to here is Big Daddy Kane. I don’t want to hear nothing else about caine in any athlete or anybody else. To me that just doesn’t seem right, so I need more information on that even from USADA so if Richard Schaefer or anybody listening can give me information on that, it would be a applauded because we keep talking about guys using this and all-natural. If you’re sticking a needle in your hand, it’s not all-natural.
L. Ellerbe
Naazim, this is Leonard. I can clear that up right now. Just for the record, Floyd Mayweather doesn’t shoot anything in his hands, and that’s for the record. That was a nasty rumor that was spread out there just because people like to do those kinds of things. Floyd is a clean athlete, and he’s been a clean athlete from day one. Floyd Mayweather doesn’t shoot needles in his hands.
N. Richardson
Here’s my thing. I agree with you, but this is a problem where people just keep running their mouth about things that have nothing to do with the actual boxing. When you bring up the boxer, talk about the boxer, but if every time you crack your mouth open you’re running your mouth about some nonsense from before, then everybody’s going to start asking questions about everything. If we kept it on boxing, you all never heard me step out of the line of boxing because I don’t care about none of this other nonsense about nothing else but boxing. That’s all that’s important to me. I don’t consider Floyd to be nothing but a great athlete. I don’t consider even the kid they were talking about before, Pacquiao, to be nothing but a great athlete. If I don’t have any proof on anybody about anything, I won’t say anything.
Shane has never tested positive for anything. He agreed to the test, but now every time they bring his name up, you’ve still got to hear about steroids this and steroids that. Okay, the man already agreed to your test. What do you want him to do for you now? He’s not going to lay down for you. He’s not going to lay down for you. Is that just some mental, I’m going to keep trying to bruise him and beating him up, doesn’t bother him. Like I said, I haven’t addressed it at all. I haven’t said anything to anybody … other than boxing. When I keep hearing this nonsense come out, then I’m like, okay, let’s talk about everybody’s treatments and things. Let’s talk about all of it then. You know what I mean?
L. Ellerbe
I can answer any questions when it comes to Floyd Mayweather …
Q:
I’ve got one more question, Leonard. First of all, thank you very much for doing that. I think that was important because, like you said, there have been all kinds of speculation and the way it’s been written has been written as though it’s presently happening, so I think that was critical. The other thing that leads into, though, Leonard, and you would know this, how critical, Roger, if you could weigh in, how critical has Garcia been in the wrapping of Floyd’s hands because we know he had some problems in the past, but I know Garcia has been very instrumental and if you could talk about that a little bit.
R. Mayweather
Basically, he’s helped well with his hand, but you’ve got to understand. The first part of Floyd’s career, when guys fight with little gloves on, that’s something different compared to guys fighting with pillows on. That’s probably why a lot of times his hand was getting bruised and getting hurt, just the fact that he’s fighting with much smaller gloves on. I think as you go along and you keep fighting, then you adapt. You adapt to what situation you’re in. You fight with those little gloves on, and that’s how boxing is, and you have to learn to adapt. Raphael what he did was obviously he made some adjustments on Floyd’s hands to bring his hands up to base so that he can be comfortable when he fights. That’s pretty much what happened.
L. Ellerbe
Of course, Raphael Garcia’s the best hand wrap specialist in the game bar none, and he’s done a tremendous job with wrapping Floyd’s hands. Obviously, that’s why we brought him aboard. For the record, Floyd hadn’t had hand problems in a number of fights, especially in the last few. What it is, like I said, what happens is that people are always out there looking for reasons to want to try to take away someone’s accomplishments.
N. Richardson
I agree.
L. Ellerbe
When it comes to Floyd’s hands, he’s not having any problems. He doesn’t shoot anything in his hands, and come May 1, Shane Mosley will see for himself what Floyd will be able to do with both of his hands.
N. Richardson
I agree with you full-heartedly, Mr. Ellerbe. People always try to take away from somebody else’s accomplishments. There’s a whole lot of rap. Guys talk that way and mentally want to see what athletes with a whole lot of rap trying to take away from a guy’s accomplishments.
I’m always the guy that’s, bottom line, if the guy can fight, the guy can fight. I don’t need to stand on nobody so I can be seen. I don’t take away from anybody’s accomplishments through my mouth. I feel as though these guys are young athletes, and they’re doing their thing, and that’s why I stay on the game plan and on the boxing and what they’re doing, and it’s all I’ve ever said about Floyd. I’m known him since the amateurs. I’ve been watching him, and I’ve said I have no speculations other than he’s an outstanding athlete, but you said it perfectly. People always try to knock somebody’s accomplishments down by running their mouth about something else. It couldn’t have been more accurate than the way you just put it.
Q:
One of the major advantages I see Mayweather having is timing, and I think you’ve mentioned that as much where the other attributes are fairly equal, but how do you prepare for that when you’re training Shane?
N. Richardson
Prepare for what?
Q:
Floyd’s timing, the way he times his counter shots is what I think is his one advantage over Shane is his ability to time shots. I wondered how you dealt with that in training.
N. Richardson
Floyd is an exceptional athlete, but like I said before and I’ll say it again. We sit down to the chess board. I don’t see your queen moving any faster than my queen. Your rook can’t take extra moves than my rook can’t take. Bottom line, I feel as though we’re bringing athletes both that have great attributes to them to the ring, and then they’re both going to have to make adjustments throughout the fight. I don’t take anything away from this here. The timing is just one of your problems you’re going to face in dealing with Floyd Mayweather, but if you sit there and you try to depict everything you’re going to have to face with him and people start talking about sparring partners. Who’s going to spar like Floyd Mayweather? You’re lying to yourself if you say you’ve got somebody that fights like Shane Mosley. No, you don’t, or they’d be somewhere getting ready for their title. That fighter fights like Floyd Mayweather. No, you don’t, or this guy would be a legend already. He wouldn’t have time to be in your camp working with you. All you can do is train the athlete to the best of their ability and then bring him in and have him follow your game plan to the best of his ability and I feel as though Shane will be able to execute everything that we’re working on, and then Floyd will need to make adjustments as Shane will have to make adjustments throughout the fight.
Q:
Also, there has been a lot of criticism, particularly from the Mayweather camp about Shane’s jab. What do you think about that? They’ve said that he pulls with jab, and Floyd is going to counter it.
N. Richardson
I’ll refer you back to Leonard Ellerbe’s conversation earlier. The statement Leonard Ellerbe made covers a whole lot of what you hear about Shane Mosley. The statement that Leonard Ellerbe made was flawless. There are a lot of people always running their mouth trying to take away from an athlete’s attributes.
Q:
I wondered what you thought about, Roger Mayweather has been saying that Shane has a subpar jab.
N. Richardson
Roger’s an outstanding trainer. Roger has an opinion. Roger might like to wear leather pants. I might like to wear corduroy. That’s Roger’s opinion. He has his opinion about Shane’s jab, and it’s going to be his job to do whatever he feels he needs to do. That’s Roger’s side of the fence. He has to deal with that. If you ask me to respond to everything that I hear Mayweather say, I wouldn’t have time to go train my athlete. I can’t sit around all day and respond to everything that the Mayweather’s are saying and whatnot. When you’re going into fights like this, you’ve got to recognize the personalities, too, and if I realize I learn something from every man I’ve talked to even if I learn not to talk to that man again. Once I know what I need to learn if I hear you open your mouth and you give me a conversation, I’ve got what I need from you, and then I keep it moving. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’ve got to go be with my athlete. I’m not responding to something someone about my guy and somebody said something about my guy. I just say that I can’t deal with that. I’ve got to go ahead and have my athlete do what he does.
Q:
A quick question for Roger. Roger, what do you think of Naazim as a trainer? How do you rate him as a trainer?
R. Mayweather
I don’t know. I don’t rate trainers because, you know what, I don’t rate them because I don’t know what they’re good at. You get some guys that train. They don’t even, whether they hold a mitt, they’re good guys in the corner. They’re good corner men. They know how to make an adaption to certain things. Obviously, he must be because Shane Mosley’s one of the top five in the world. He worked for him, so there has to be something there that he brings to the table. You start talking to me about what ability that he brings, I don’t know. I don’t know the ability he brings, but obviously, he brings something.
Q:
Getting back to the question of the jab that you were quoted as saying that Shane’s jab is not good. Can you expand on that?
R. Mayweather
I tell you what. If I said it, I’ll say it again. What I’m telling you is if I said it, I’m going to tell you what I said. I said this. Boxing, number one, is all about skill basically when you become a real boxer. I’m not talking about no Sylvester Stallone shit, that shit they show on TV. That’s bullshit. When you start talking about real boxing, real boxing takes real skill. Since you started talking about good fighters and great fighters and what makes a fighter, a fighter has to have certain things that makes him good or makes him great. The thing of it is Shane could be good as good as he is, and my nephew can be good despite being put on. It has to have some quality to it. When you start talking about his jab, this, that, and the other, yes, I said something about his jab before. I said a lot of times he just pulls his jab. Well, that’s what I said, and I’ll say it again, so what difference does that make? I understand boxing, so I’m not a guy who’s going to say I didn’t say that behind the guy’s back. What did that mean what I said. If I said you don’t jab that well, so what? He’s the one that can make the objection for that. …
Q:
This first question is for you, Roger. Now, everybody knows about Shane’s power and his skill and determination in the ring. What are you guys doing right now to prepare for that and handling that on May 1, Rog?
R. Mayweather
Floyd and Shane are in the same situation. Shane won about five world championships. My nephew won six world championships. If the fight wasn’t being competitive, the fight wouldn’t even be made. As we talk about the ability of both guys, they’ve got tremendous ability in both guys. Both guys have tremendous ability, but the only way you’re going to find out who’s the best fighter here on that date. If you come to the fight, if you pay for the fight, then you’ll see the fight, and then you’ll see the verdict when the hand gets raised, and then that way you’ll have a greater understanding as to what I said about Floyd and what Naazim said about Shane. That’s what boxing is about. It’s how you get your guys prepared, and so it’s what the boxing world’s about. The only day we’re going to know that is May 1 when the hand gets raised.
Q:
This question is for brother Naazim. What do you guys think will be the big difference maker in this fight that would prepare your fighter Shane of course to victory on May 1?
N. Richardson
Well, that’s a difficult question in the sense that there are several things that I could attribute to why I think my athlete would be successful, but that doesn’t necessarily make it so. He could bring out another quality that night that could have him push forward in the fight. All we can do is fight the fight. With three weeks in when everybody can just sit back and get ready to ride this whirlwind, and then we just enjoy it from all of us who enjoy boxing. Like I said, I’ve never seen Shane Mosley in a boring fight.
Q:
That’s right. You’re right about that. This is my last question. I guess I’ll ask this to Leonard as well as you, brother Naazim, and you too Roger. Watching HBO’s 24/7 this past weekend, there seems to be a serious dislike and disdain between the fighters right now. Are you guys worrying about that carrying over and maybe affecting the fight and their performance in the ring on May 1?
