We caught up with top trainer Roger Mayweather at the Mayweather gym in Las Vegas and got his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, and a potential bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr! Only on FightFan.com!
FF: FightFan.com here at the Mayweather gym with Roger Mayweather. Roger I wanted to start out by reflecting back on an interview we did with you earlier in the year where you went out on a limb and predicted that Shane Mosley would “Whoop Antonio Margarito’s ass.” What do you have to say about that?
RM: There you go. And what happened? It was just like I told you!
FF: It was particularly interesting because your prediction was pretty bang on when a lot of people though Margarito would win that fight…
RM: Well most people don’t know shit about boxing so it never really matters what ‘a lot of people think’. You get a lot of people saying things because they saw one fighter beat someone else. People will look at a fighter score a decent win over someone and think it means they’ll go on to beat someone who’s really skilled.
Remember that Shane Mosley is a real fighter. He’s fought some good fighters and he had a good amateur career. The only reason he didn’t go to the Olympics was because of Vernon Forrest… and Vernon Forrest was a good fighter. He just happened to have the style to beat Mosley. But Mosley is a good fighter. Look at how he beat De La Hoya twice. He beat a lot of good fighters and he just beat Fernando Vargas twice too. That just goes to show you what kind of fighter he is, and why styles make fights.
FF: What do you think about Manny Pacquiao fighting Miguel Cotto?
RM: I really don’t know if Pacquiao will beat Cotto. I look at that fight… and I don’t believe Pacquiao will beat Cotto.
FF: Well let me ask you this, because you’ve told me about a few fighters you didn’t think Pacquiao would beat. Earlier this year you sat here and asked me “What the fuck is Pacquiao going to do to De La Hoya?”
RM: That’s a different case though, because De La Hoya had to drop weight. He didn’t beat the De La Hoya that my nephew beat. He beat a De La Hoya that was under-weight.
FF: All right, that’s fair…
RM:I think De La Hoya beat himself because he dropped that weight. De La Hoya was all about the money, he figured the dude was too small to beat him… so he dropped too much weight. He ended up dropping to 145 and that sucked his (strength) out. That’s why Oscar lost. It wasn’t as much about Pacquiao beating De La Hoya as it was De La Hoya beating himself by dropping too much weight.
FF: All right well what about the Ricky Hatton fight. You picked Hatton to beat Pacquiao as well did you not?
RM: I did think that Ricky Hatton would whoop Pacquiao.
FF: Do you think you may have sold Pacquiao a bit short in the past?
RM: I certainly did against Ricky Hatton because I thought he would beat Pacquiao. Obviously, I was wrong.
FF: Let me ask you this then… how good is Manny Pacquiao in the grand scheme of things?
RM: Obviously he’s a much better fighter than I thought he was. Regardless of how he beat De La Hoya, he still beat De La Hoya. Regardless of how he beat Ricky Hatton, he beat Ricky Hatton. Obviously, he’s a better than I thought he was.
FF: What about his skills? You’re big on head movement and defense and he’s been doing those things well. Has he impressed you recently with his skills?
RM: (Shakes his head no) He fought a wild fighter in Ricky Hatton who doesn’t have any skills.
FF: And as you mentioned earlier, you don’t think Manny Pacquiao is going to beat Miguel Cotto?
RM:I don’t think he’s going to beat Cotto. If he does beat Cotto, I’ll be amazed. That will tell me how good he really is. He’s fighting a guy who can make the weight, and who’s a pretty good puncher. I’ve got to see him beat Cotto… I’ve got to see it with my own eyes.
FF:Let me ask you a bit of a hypothetical question here. All the money and politics aside… do you think your nephew Floyd Jr. is going to fight Manny Pacquiao some day? If I’m a betting man is the smart money on that fight happening at some point?
RM: I sure hope so! If Manny Pacquiao beats Cotto, I know it’s going to happen. That would be the biggest fight in the world for Pacquiao. It would also be the biggest fight in the world for my nephew if they were to fight in the near future.
But as you say… it all depends on what happens between Pacquiao and Cotto. Obviously if Pacquiao is taking the fight with Cotto, he thinks he can beat him. That should tell you right there… for a little guy, he’s got some balls!
FF:He’s up ten weight divisions from where he started his career… he has six titles in six weight divisions…
RM: He’s got some serious balls. Fighting Miguel Cotto… De La Hoya… Ricky Hatton. All of those guys are much bigger than he is.
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