Boxing News Thread
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Rios: I want Marquez next
April 15th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Having won by a controversial 12 round split decision tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada against Richard Abril, unbeaten Brandon Rios says he’s ready to move on and try to get a fight against interim WBO light welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez next on July 14th at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
Few boxing fans think Rios won, however, and they’re not satisfied with his ugly, questionable decision.
Rios said to Fightnews.com “I would love that fight with Marquez…I am ready for the next thing.”
I don’t think Rios is ready Marquez judging by how poorly he fought tonight. Rios doesn’t even look ready for a rematch with Abril, not that he wants one. He doesn’t. Rios is satisfied with having won the fight with two judges giving him the decision and one of them seeing Abril winning by the score 117-111. But more importantly, boxing fans don’t see it as a legitimate win, and that puts Rios in a bad light when the fans don’t believe he won.
To move forward off of this win is a negative, because it’s like he doesn’t deserve the scores that he was given and yet he’s going to move on anyway. He might as well fight Abril again, because Marquez is clearly out of his class. In watching Marquez beat Sergiy Fedchenko and then compare it to Rios’ one-paced limited fighting style against Abril, it was like night and day.
Marquez is so much more talented than Rios that it’s not even a good fight. Rios would be better off facing Fedchenko, because that would be a tough match for him and I see that fight as a pick em bout. It’s not surprising that Rios won’t be fighting Abril again, but even if he wanted to, I doubt his promoter Bob Arum would let him.
Abril wasn’t expected to win the fight, which is obviously why he was chosen for Rios. But after he showed that he’s a better fighter than Rios by far, they’re not about to let Rios fight Abril again, and likely they’ll never let Rios fight him again.
Abril is too good, and he can end the gravy train before it even gets started for Rios. Arum has rented out the Cowboys stadium and he wants the Marquez-Rios fight in July, and that’s what it looks like will happen. Marquez wants a Manny Pacquiao rematch, but he’ll probably have to do this favor for Arum in fighting his guy Rios to get the Pacquiao rematch. I think it’s a mistake. Rios will come in weight drained again even though it’s 140 and look terrible in losing to Marquez.
April 15th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Having won by a controversial 12 round split decision tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada against Richard Abril, unbeaten Brandon Rios says he’s ready to move on and try to get a fight against interim WBO light welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez next on July 14th at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
Few boxing fans think Rios won, however, and they’re not satisfied with his ugly, questionable decision.
Rios said to Fightnews.com “I would love that fight with Marquez…I am ready for the next thing.”
I don’t think Rios is ready Marquez judging by how poorly he fought tonight. Rios doesn’t even look ready for a rematch with Abril, not that he wants one. He doesn’t. Rios is satisfied with having won the fight with two judges giving him the decision and one of them seeing Abril winning by the score 117-111. But more importantly, boxing fans don’t see it as a legitimate win, and that puts Rios in a bad light when the fans don’t believe he won.
To move forward off of this win is a negative, because it’s like he doesn’t deserve the scores that he was given and yet he’s going to move on anyway. He might as well fight Abril again, because Marquez is clearly out of his class. In watching Marquez beat Sergiy Fedchenko and then compare it to Rios’ one-paced limited fighting style against Abril, it was like night and day.
Marquez is so much more talented than Rios that it’s not even a good fight. Rios would be better off facing Fedchenko, because that would be a tough match for him and I see that fight as a pick em bout. It’s not surprising that Rios won’t be fighting Abril again, but even if he wanted to, I doubt his promoter Bob Arum would let him.
Abril wasn’t expected to win the fight, which is obviously why he was chosen for Rios. But after he showed that he’s a better fighter than Rios by far, they’re not about to let Rios fight Abril again, and likely they’ll never let Rios fight him again.
Abril is too good, and he can end the gravy train before it even gets started for Rios. Arum has rented out the Cowboys stadium and he wants the Marquez-Rios fight in July, and that’s what it looks like will happen. Marquez wants a Manny Pacquiao rematch, but he’ll probably have to do this favor for Arum in fighting his guy Rios to get the Pacquiao rematch. I think it’s a mistake. Rios will come in weight drained again even though it’s 140 and look terrible in losing to Marquez.
Floyd Mayweather Senior: “It’s been proven already that my son can sell more tickets than Pacquiao!”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Senior, who touched on a wide variety of topics including his son’s upcoming fight against Miguel Cotto, some of the fighters he currently works with, the upcoming fight between Shane Mosley and Saul Alvarez, the rematch between Chad Dawson and Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya’s fight against Hopkins, Manny Pacquiao, Zab Judah’s dominant effort against Vernon Paris, and more! Here is what Floyd Senior had to say:
His views on the upcoming May 5 fight between his son Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto:
“Well I think that Cotto will probably give little Floyd a better fight than any of the other guys in quite awhile. I’m not saying that Cotto’s going to win, but I’m just saying that he’ll probably get a better fight than he did from Shane and he’ll probably get a better fight than he got from Margarito. To tell you the truth I don’t even know too many people that Cotto fought but Shane and Margarito. They were his two biggest fights that I know of.”
On whether he believes weight can be a factor give his son will be moving up to 154 for the first time in years:
“Weight can play a factor in anything, but you know little Floyd is probably going to be faster than Cotto anyway. Plus he’s smaller so he’ll probably get around quicker than Cotto. One thing I think is that Cotto ain’t never fought nobody with that style of fighting. That’s what Cotto’s complication is going to be right there. He never fought nobody that has his shoulder like that. I think Cotto is going to get countered quite a bit, and even though Floyd is older I think little Floyd is faster. When you speak about size, I’ve seen little Floyd box light heavyweights, I mean bigger guys and stronger guys than Cotto. They have 16 ounce gloves on but it don’t matter any time you got a guy that big fighting a guy Floyd’s size. But we all did! I did, Roger did, me, Roger, and Jeff—we all fought bigger guys like that, and Floyd does it, too.”
Regarding how long he believes it will be before age starts to catch up with his son:
“Age might be catching up with him now! I’m pretty sure it’s catching up with him. He’s not Superman. He’s not Superman or anything like that. He’s a normal person just like we are and I’m pretty sure that age is going to catch up with all of us anyway, some just faster than others. Even though he keeps his body and stuff in good shape, you know I’m pretty sure that’s going to have a big thing to do with it too, as well. I think that little Floyd will be faster and Floyd is probably slicker and more clever than him too, so I just look for little Floyd to just pretty much counterpunch throughout all of this fight right here. I just wish my son would throw more punches now. It’s not that he’s old where he can’t throw enough punches, because he can. Any time you get in shape you can do what you want to do. So I think that little Floyd can throw a lot more punches than he has. He has in the past, but he hasn’t done that in quite awhile now. He’s just counterpunching now. It will be a clear win and he will win the fight, but the thing is his trouble is going to be with a guy that’s consistent throwing punches. When you counterpunch you’re only throwing maybe one punch or two punches. That’s when you’re countering somebody. That’s when his problem will come in, when he’s got somebody who’s real, real busy, and that will more or less probably be with a younger guy.”
On whether agrees with his son when he had claimed he believes Miguel Cotto should be considered undefeated because he at an unfair disadvantage in his losses against Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito:
“I call Cotto undefeated! Cotto is undefeated. I have to go along with that. I don’t see it no other way. He lost to both of those guys and both of those guys—hey! Both of those guys like I said, I thought both of them were bad. I just wouldn’t even consider either one of those fights a win, either one. You know I’m just saying. I’m looking at things. I’m looking at things and the reality matters. Hey! The best win didn’t win them nights.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Shane Mosley and Saul Alvarez:
“Well I’m going to tell you this right here. That’s a good question you’re asking me there. Let me give you my honest opinion. That’s made for a good fight but I see Alvarez coming out on top. I see Alvarez beating Shane Mosley. You know right now man it’s near the end for Shane Mosley, but don’t get me wrong! I’m picking Alvarez, but Shane Mosley is the kind of guy that can go get himself in super shape, and get his mind and stuff right, and come out and do a masterful job. I don’t see it, though. I think this will be his last hurrah! I think after this fight, Shane fights no more.”
On whether he believes Mosley will Alvarez’s toughest fight to date:
“If Shane comes out to fight, Shane will be the toughest fight for Alvarez. If Shane is in any kind of way in condition when he comes, it’s going to be a problem for Alvarez even if he wins. I see it being a tough fight for Alvarez either way it goes.”
His views on the upcoming rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson:
“In my honest opinion, I’m going to say this right here. It all depends on what Chad Dawson comes in, because with Chad Dawson his lady is his controller. His lady is his controller. She calls the shots. So she’s the one that tells him when to come and go. So that means that she’s somewhere near. Hey! That’s why when I was training him then this was one time that we knew she wasn’t with him before. But then another time he came back with his lady. She was with him, and that Andre Dirrell boy was beating the sh*t out of Chad! Chad was getting ready for the second fight I had with him after he won the title. He had this lady speaking with him, maybe his girlfriend or whatever she is. Like I said, Andre Dirrell was beating the sh*t out of him! He’s out of Flint, Michigan. Andre Dirrell was beating the hell out of Chad Dawson. Like I said if this man gets caught up like that in some kind of way with that lady, that lady is going to be his downfall anyway! That’s going to be his downfall anyway. There is no question about that either. But I will say this here. If Chad Dawson gets in great, great shape and his mind is set right then I look for Chad to win the fight. Hopkins has been around awhile man, and a guy like that is going to be tough. But he has lost fights, and he came very close to losing to a little man like Oscar De La Hoya. When I was training De La Hoya we fought Bernard Hopkins, and Oscar was beating him real easily. But I don’t know what the deal was on that particular fight because all of a sudden he hits Oscar in the ribs, and Oscar goes down! I think it was in the ninth round. Oscar was far ahead on the cards beating him, and then the next thing I know Oscar was thriving. I asked Oscar De La Hoya, ‘What is this man? Explain this to me!’ What’s going on with him and Hopkins? I said, ‘I don’t know! Did you play that role? What happened?’ He said, ‘No man! He hit me, he hit me!’ I’ve been thinking about that for a long time man. I still got the same thoughts. But like I said before if Chad’s mind is set right, and he’s in shape and in condition, and his mind is on what he’s supposed to do other than the lady, then it will be Chad for sure.”
His opinion on the key elements for training boxers good defensive technique:
“Well you know as far as that defense that little Floyd’s got, I gave little Floyd that defense! I used to fight that way, the same exact way. I taught little Floyd how to fight that way, but my career got cut short when I got shot with a 20 gauge shotgun. So my career went down, but I will say this right here! One thing is man, the main thing is that the thing that you start off with always is your jab. Your jab is the most important weapon in boxing! Your jab is your offense as well as your defense. You can beat a guy up with your jab and you can keep a guy off of you with your jab. So that’s offense and defense! The jab is the most wickedest weapon in the game. You know like I said with all the other things you got, you got uppercuts, hooks, right hands, and left hooks, or whatever else. Hey! The jab is the most important thing you can use in the game. You can keep a guy off you with it. You can beat a guy up with it. It’s the most important punch in boxing. You see and the whole thing is that’s where sometimes a better fighter will lose a fight by not using his jab. See that’s what I was just trying to tell ya’ll here just a little bit when I said little Floyd was getting away from a lot of things he used to do like he don’t jab as much as he was doing. Of course that’s a sign of age. He don’t jab as much as he was jabbing. Like I said, he don’t have the same springs in his legs like he did. That comes from age. That’s what it is. It goes with him. Ali! Remember Ali was the man who used to dance for fifteen rounds. Remember that? Then all of a sudden guess what? He started rope-a-doping! Now what was that? What is the rope-a-dope? From dancing and moving and throwing your punches off, and now you’re up on the ropes and getting beat waiting for a man to get tired. He did counter back, but the rope-a-dope was one of the weakest. I tried the rope-a-dope and that’s when I lost my first fight, because I was trying to do what Ali did. The guy told me I wouldn’t do it and I told him I would do it. I went out there and I ended up beating the guy. We had a rematch two months after that fight. I came back and beat him. The thing was I got beat. I beat him on a decision. But he hit me and clocked me man! He just really unloaded on me and the referee stopped it, but I knew I could beat the guy anyway. But I was trying to play on the Ali stuff, and then I came back two months later and I fought like I know how to fight and it was a whole different thing then.”
His views on Zab Judah’s recent impressive victory against Vernon Paris:
“Well let me tell you this right here. I will say this right here. I’m going to be honest, because you know what? A lot of things have to do with the trainer as well. The trainer’s got a big part. A lot of times people say the trainer got nothing to do with it. Sometimes the trainer is nothing! I’m just saying they don’t have no real big version in the fight sometimes. But I’ll say this right here, if I would have fought with Paris, Paris would have beat Judah. I already saw it! But you see! They didn’t pay me. They didn’t pay me my money, right? So guess what? You got to understand. Hey! The man upstairs don’t like ugly, so that’s what happened. It is what it is. I’m just telling you that. I thought Judah looked part excellent, truly second to none that evening. I think that what I gave Paris, they thought he could do that stuff without me. They thought he could do it without me. See that? He can’t do it at all without me. And you know what? He can’t come back to me until I’m paid, and if he can’t come back to me guess what? It’s over!”
Regarding some of the younger fighters he is currently training:
“I’m helping out Taylor, Lydell, Mickey Bey. Mickey Bey’s been around for a little while now. I’m just training them fighters right now. I got a real, real, real good fighter who’s destined to be a champion. The guy is 14 years old and this guy is beating men in the gym who are 32 years old and 24 years old. He fought one guy that was his size and weight but it don’t make no difference, because this little guy here is destined to be champion. He’s going to turn 15 I think this month or next month. About May 6 I think it is. I don’t know for sure. But anyway me and his father are going to get together and next year when he’s 16, me and the father are going to sign the boy up. The boy is that good. Believe me. He’s 16 years old now, and hey! Believe me! He is good. His name is Damon. We call him ‘Sugar Baby’. His name is Damon Vazquez. He’s a kid that’s 14 years old and he’s destined to be champion. Mark my words. We’re going to go ahead and push him in the pros, because the amateur stuff ain’t nothing. He can beat anyone 16. He could be there and fight for two years and earn his way to a title in another two years or a year. So I mean the guy fights beautiful. By the time he’s 18 I guarantee you he’ll have a title.”
On which fight he believes fans are more interested in watching: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley:
“It’s been proven already that my son can sell more tickets than Pacquiao! It’s been proven that on a couple of different occasions that my son can sell more tickets than Pacquiao. I just don’t. I got my own personal reasons why I don’t care for Pacquiao. For one thing you got Freddie the joke coach Roach over there. He’s over there. Man! Here’s a man who’s sick and he knows what’s going on, and I guess just to get money or to be upfront or whatever. Man, come on! You’re going to come clean soon enough. Believe me. You’re going to come clean soon enough. But like I said, it ain’t that I don’t like Pacquiao that way. You know because I could sit down and have a talk with Pacquiao and whatever else it is. It’s just what’s going on. I don’t like what’s going on and what’s happening. The fighters and people and what I believe that could happen to my son. So that’s why people like that, as far as I’m concerned, hey! I’d rather just stay away from them kind of people. I think that’s one thing, too. Any time they want to get the trainers, they want to call the best trainers out, and I think I was telling you that before. Whenever they want to do that please let me know, and let me know up front when the event ever starts because guess what? I’m going to be on top anyway before anybody else even comes. It don’t make no difference. I’ll be on top at the end. So I’m standing and waiting and I hope the bus will show! I’m ready if they don’t want to go!”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Senior, who touched on a wide variety of topics including his son’s upcoming fight against Miguel Cotto, some of the fighters he currently works with, the upcoming fight between Shane Mosley and Saul Alvarez, the rematch between Chad Dawson and Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya’s fight against Hopkins, Manny Pacquiao, Zab Judah’s dominant effort against Vernon Paris, and more! Here is what Floyd Senior had to say:
His views on the upcoming May 5 fight between his son Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto:
“Well I think that Cotto will probably give little Floyd a better fight than any of the other guys in quite awhile. I’m not saying that Cotto’s going to win, but I’m just saying that he’ll probably get a better fight than he did from Shane and he’ll probably get a better fight than he got from Margarito. To tell you the truth I don’t even know too many people that Cotto fought but Shane and Margarito. They were his two biggest fights that I know of.”
On whether he believes weight can be a factor give his son will be moving up to 154 for the first time in years:
“Weight can play a factor in anything, but you know little Floyd is probably going to be faster than Cotto anyway. Plus he’s smaller so he’ll probably get around quicker than Cotto. One thing I think is that Cotto ain’t never fought nobody with that style of fighting. That’s what Cotto’s complication is going to be right there. He never fought nobody that has his shoulder like that. I think Cotto is going to get countered quite a bit, and even though Floyd is older I think little Floyd is faster. When you speak about size, I’ve seen little Floyd box light heavyweights, I mean bigger guys and stronger guys than Cotto. They have 16 ounce gloves on but it don’t matter any time you got a guy that big fighting a guy Floyd’s size. But we all did! I did, Roger did, me, Roger, and Jeff—we all fought bigger guys like that, and Floyd does it, too.”
Regarding how long he believes it will be before age starts to catch up with his son:
“Age might be catching up with him now! I’m pretty sure it’s catching up with him. He’s not Superman. He’s not Superman or anything like that. He’s a normal person just like we are and I’m pretty sure that age is going to catch up with all of us anyway, some just faster than others. Even though he keeps his body and stuff in good shape, you know I’m pretty sure that’s going to have a big thing to do with it too, as well. I think that little Floyd will be faster and Floyd is probably slicker and more clever than him too, so I just look for little Floyd to just pretty much counterpunch throughout all of this fight right here. I just wish my son would throw more punches now. It’s not that he’s old where he can’t throw enough punches, because he can. Any time you get in shape you can do what you want to do. So I think that little Floyd can throw a lot more punches than he has. He has in the past, but he hasn’t done that in quite awhile now. He’s just counterpunching now. It will be a clear win and he will win the fight, but the thing is his trouble is going to be with a guy that’s consistent throwing punches. When you counterpunch you’re only throwing maybe one punch or two punches. That’s when you’re countering somebody. That’s when his problem will come in, when he’s got somebody who’s real, real busy, and that will more or less probably be with a younger guy.”
On whether agrees with his son when he had claimed he believes Miguel Cotto should be considered undefeated because he at an unfair disadvantage in his losses against Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito:
“I call Cotto undefeated! Cotto is undefeated. I have to go along with that. I don’t see it no other way. He lost to both of those guys and both of those guys—hey! Both of those guys like I said, I thought both of them were bad. I just wouldn’t even consider either one of those fights a win, either one. You know I’m just saying. I’m looking at things. I’m looking at things and the reality matters. Hey! The best win didn’t win them nights.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Shane Mosley and Saul Alvarez:
“Well I’m going to tell you this right here. That’s a good question you’re asking me there. Let me give you my honest opinion. That’s made for a good fight but I see Alvarez coming out on top. I see Alvarez beating Shane Mosley. You know right now man it’s near the end for Shane Mosley, but don’t get me wrong! I’m picking Alvarez, but Shane Mosley is the kind of guy that can go get himself in super shape, and get his mind and stuff right, and come out and do a masterful job. I don’t see it, though. I think this will be his last hurrah! I think after this fight, Shane fights no more.”
On whether he believes Mosley will Alvarez’s toughest fight to date:
“If Shane comes out to fight, Shane will be the toughest fight for Alvarez. If Shane is in any kind of way in condition when he comes, it’s going to be a problem for Alvarez even if he wins. I see it being a tough fight for Alvarez either way it goes.”
His views on the upcoming rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson:
“In my honest opinion, I’m going to say this right here. It all depends on what Chad Dawson comes in, because with Chad Dawson his lady is his controller. His lady is his controller. She calls the shots. So she’s the one that tells him when to come and go. So that means that she’s somewhere near. Hey! That’s why when I was training him then this was one time that we knew she wasn’t with him before. But then another time he came back with his lady. She was with him, and that Andre Dirrell boy was beating the sh*t out of Chad! Chad was getting ready for the second fight I had with him after he won the title. He had this lady speaking with him, maybe his girlfriend or whatever she is. Like I said, Andre Dirrell was beating the sh*t out of him! He’s out of Flint, Michigan. Andre Dirrell was beating the hell out of Chad Dawson. Like I said if this man gets caught up like that in some kind of way with that lady, that lady is going to be his downfall anyway! That’s going to be his downfall anyway. There is no question about that either. But I will say this here. If Chad Dawson gets in great, great shape and his mind is set right then I look for Chad to win the fight. Hopkins has been around awhile man, and a guy like that is going to be tough. But he has lost fights, and he came very close to losing to a little man like Oscar De La Hoya. When I was training De La Hoya we fought Bernard Hopkins, and Oscar was beating him real easily. But I don’t know what the deal was on that particular fight because all of a sudden he hits Oscar in the ribs, and Oscar goes down! I think it was in the ninth round. Oscar was far ahead on the cards beating him, and then the next thing I know Oscar was thriving. I asked Oscar De La Hoya, ‘What is this man? Explain this to me!’ What’s going on with him and Hopkins? I said, ‘I don’t know! Did you play that role? What happened?’ He said, ‘No man! He hit me, he hit me!’ I’ve been thinking about that for a long time man. I still got the same thoughts. But like I said before if Chad’s mind is set right, and he’s in shape and in condition, and his mind is on what he’s supposed to do other than the lady, then it will be Chad for sure.”
His opinion on the key elements for training boxers good defensive technique:
“Well you know as far as that defense that little Floyd’s got, I gave little Floyd that defense! I used to fight that way, the same exact way. I taught little Floyd how to fight that way, but my career got cut short when I got shot with a 20 gauge shotgun. So my career went down, but I will say this right here! One thing is man, the main thing is that the thing that you start off with always is your jab. Your jab is the most important weapon in boxing! Your jab is your offense as well as your defense. You can beat a guy up with your jab and you can keep a guy off of you with your jab. So that’s offense and defense! The jab is the most wickedest weapon in the game. You know like I said with all the other things you got, you got uppercuts, hooks, right hands, and left hooks, or whatever else. Hey! The jab is the most important thing you can use in the game. You can keep a guy off you with it. You can beat a guy up with it. It’s the most important punch in boxing. You see and the whole thing is that’s where sometimes a better fighter will lose a fight by not using his jab. See that’s what I was just trying to tell ya’ll here just a little bit when I said little Floyd was getting away from a lot of things he used to do like he don’t jab as much as he was doing. Of course that’s a sign of age. He don’t jab as much as he was jabbing. Like I said, he don’t have the same springs in his legs like he did. That comes from age. That’s what it is. It goes with him. Ali! Remember Ali was the man who used to dance for fifteen rounds. Remember that? Then all of a sudden guess what? He started rope-a-doping! Now what was that? What is the rope-a-dope? From dancing and moving and throwing your punches off, and now you’re up on the ropes and getting beat waiting for a man to get tired. He did counter back, but the rope-a-dope was one of the weakest. I tried the rope-a-dope and that’s when I lost my first fight, because I was trying to do what Ali did. The guy told me I wouldn’t do it and I told him I would do it. I went out there and I ended up beating the guy. We had a rematch two months after that fight. I came back and beat him. The thing was I got beat. I beat him on a decision. But he hit me and clocked me man! He just really unloaded on me and the referee stopped it, but I knew I could beat the guy anyway. But I was trying to play on the Ali stuff, and then I came back two months later and I fought like I know how to fight and it was a whole different thing then.”
His views on Zab Judah’s recent impressive victory against Vernon Paris:
“Well let me tell you this right here. I will say this right here. I’m going to be honest, because you know what? A lot of things have to do with the trainer as well. The trainer’s got a big part. A lot of times people say the trainer got nothing to do with it. Sometimes the trainer is nothing! I’m just saying they don’t have no real big version in the fight sometimes. But I’ll say this right here, if I would have fought with Paris, Paris would have beat Judah. I already saw it! But you see! They didn’t pay me. They didn’t pay me my money, right? So guess what? You got to understand. Hey! The man upstairs don’t like ugly, so that’s what happened. It is what it is. I’m just telling you that. I thought Judah looked part excellent, truly second to none that evening. I think that what I gave Paris, they thought he could do that stuff without me. They thought he could do it without me. See that? He can’t do it at all without me. And you know what? He can’t come back to me until I’m paid, and if he can’t come back to me guess what? It’s over!”
Regarding some of the younger fighters he is currently training:
“I’m helping out Taylor, Lydell, Mickey Bey. Mickey Bey’s been around for a little while now. I’m just training them fighters right now. I got a real, real, real good fighter who’s destined to be a champion. The guy is 14 years old and this guy is beating men in the gym who are 32 years old and 24 years old. He fought one guy that was his size and weight but it don’t make no difference, because this little guy here is destined to be champion. He’s going to turn 15 I think this month or next month. About May 6 I think it is. I don’t know for sure. But anyway me and his father are going to get together and next year when he’s 16, me and the father are going to sign the boy up. The boy is that good. Believe me. He’s 16 years old now, and hey! Believe me! He is good. His name is Damon. We call him ‘Sugar Baby’. His name is Damon Vazquez. He’s a kid that’s 14 years old and he’s destined to be champion. Mark my words. We’re going to go ahead and push him in the pros, because the amateur stuff ain’t nothing. He can beat anyone 16. He could be there and fight for two years and earn his way to a title in another two years or a year. So I mean the guy fights beautiful. By the time he’s 18 I guarantee you he’ll have a title.”
On which fight he believes fans are more interested in watching: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley:
“It’s been proven already that my son can sell more tickets than Pacquiao! It’s been proven that on a couple of different occasions that my son can sell more tickets than Pacquiao. I just don’t. I got my own personal reasons why I don’t care for Pacquiao. For one thing you got Freddie the joke coach Roach over there. He’s over there. Man! Here’s a man who’s sick and he knows what’s going on, and I guess just to get money or to be upfront or whatever. Man, come on! You’re going to come clean soon enough. Believe me. You’re going to come clean soon enough. But like I said, it ain’t that I don’t like Pacquiao that way. You know because I could sit down and have a talk with Pacquiao and whatever else it is. It’s just what’s going on. I don’t like what’s going on and what’s happening. The fighters and people and what I believe that could happen to my son. So that’s why people like that, as far as I’m concerned, hey! I’d rather just stay away from them kind of people. I think that’s one thing, too. Any time they want to get the trainers, they want to call the best trainers out, and I think I was telling you that before. Whenever they want to do that please let me know, and let me know up front when the event ever starts because guess what? I’m going to be on top anyway before anybody else even comes. It don’t make no difference. I’ll be on top at the end. So I’m standing and waiting and I hope the bus will show! I’m ready if they don’t want to go!”
Mayweather says he won’t let Merchant interview him after Cotto fight
April 16th, 2012
By Jason Kim: HBO Sports is going to need to send a backup interviewer into the ring on May 5th if they want to get any comments on the fight from Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) about his fight with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Mayweather revealed on HBO’s Mayweather-Cotto 24/7 episode 1 that he won’t allow HBO analyst Larry Merchant to interview him after the fight.
It seems that Mayweather still has a beef with Merchant over their little run-in after Mayweather’s last fight against Victor Ortiz last September in which Merchant was trying to get to the bottom of it about what was going through Mayweather’s head when he decided to hit Ortiz with a left-right combination when Ortiz was in the process of apologizing to him for an earlier head-butt.
Mayweather took issue with Merchant’s questioning and told him that he thinks that HBO should fire him. Merchant fired back some of his own comments and it looks like Mayweather has given him the freeze in terms of him being allowed to interview him.
HBO analyst Max Kellerman would be a good substitute for Merchant in getting the hard hitting questions that Merchant usually asks. Hopefully, Mayweather doesn’t blow his stack and give Kellerman the permanent cold shoulder in future interviews. The last thing we need is an HBO analyst tip-toeing around Mayweather for fear that he’ll get upset and stop speaking to them.
April 16th, 2012
By Jason Kim: HBO Sports is going to need to send a backup interviewer into the ring on May 5th if they want to get any comments on the fight from Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) about his fight with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Mayweather revealed on HBO’s Mayweather-Cotto 24/7 episode 1 that he won’t allow HBO analyst Larry Merchant to interview him after the fight.
It seems that Mayweather still has a beef with Merchant over their little run-in after Mayweather’s last fight against Victor Ortiz last September in which Merchant was trying to get to the bottom of it about what was going through Mayweather’s head when he decided to hit Ortiz with a left-right combination when Ortiz was in the process of apologizing to him for an earlier head-butt.
Mayweather took issue with Merchant’s questioning and told him that he thinks that HBO should fire him. Merchant fired back some of his own comments and it looks like Mayweather has given him the freeze in terms of him being allowed to interview him.
HBO analyst Max Kellerman would be a good substitute for Merchant in getting the hard hitting questions that Merchant usually asks. Hopefully, Mayweather doesn’t blow his stack and give Kellerman the permanent cold shoulder in future interviews. The last thing we need is an HBO analyst tip-toeing around Mayweather for fear that he’ll get upset and stop speaking to them.
De La Hoya: Having the WBC Diamond belt on the line for Mayweather-Cotto fight adds more to the fight
April 16th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Oscar De La Hoya, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, believes that the addition of the WBC Diamond junior middleweight belt to the May 5th HBO mega pay-per-view fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) and WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s) really adds to the fight for some unexplainable reason.
De La Hoya said “To have the Diamond belt up for grabs in the…Mayweather vs. Cotto main event adds even more to this great night.”
I fail to see how having the World Boxing Council Diamond strap added to this fight will add anything to it. The Diamond belt was created in 2009 by the WBC, and it’s not like it’s got a long history behind it to where Mayweather or Cotto will get a bump up in appreciation from fans if they win it.
It just looks like the WBC is getting in on the action of the WBA in this fight by throwing their own strap into the mix to get a nice sanctioning fee. I guess De La Hoya sees there being a gain by having it up for grabs because he’s talking about it as if it’s going to actually mean something. I supposed in another 40 years the WBC Diamond belt will have some meaning with fans, but not now.
It’s still a fairly new creation and it just looks like the WBC is trying to spread a net to get some cash from the Mayweather-Cotto event. I’m not so sure the Diamond belt will mean anything in 40 years, because I can see the sanctioning bodies continuing to create paper titles to make even more money. It gets ridiculous with all the different sanctioning bodies and the vaious titles that they create.
I’m surprised Mayweather and Cotto agreed to the Diamond belt being on the line for the fight.
April 16th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Oscar De La Hoya, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, believes that the addition of the WBC Diamond junior middleweight belt to the May 5th HBO mega pay-per-view fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) and WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s) really adds to the fight for some unexplainable reason.
De La Hoya said “To have the Diamond belt up for grabs in the…Mayweather vs. Cotto main event adds even more to this great night.”
I fail to see how having the World Boxing Council Diamond strap added to this fight will add anything to it. The Diamond belt was created in 2009 by the WBC, and it’s not like it’s got a long history behind it to where Mayweather or Cotto will get a bump up in appreciation from fans if they win it.
It just looks like the WBC is getting in on the action of the WBA in this fight by throwing their own strap into the mix to get a nice sanctioning fee. I guess De La Hoya sees there being a gain by having it up for grabs because he’s talking about it as if it’s going to actually mean something. I supposed in another 40 years the WBC Diamond belt will have some meaning with fans, but not now.
It’s still a fairly new creation and it just looks like the WBC is trying to spread a net to get some cash from the Mayweather-Cotto event. I’m not so sure the Diamond belt will mean anything in 40 years, because I can see the sanctioning bodies continuing to create paper titles to make even more money. It gets ridiculous with all the different sanctioning bodies and the vaious titles that they create.
I’m surprised Mayweather and Cotto agreed to the Diamond belt being on the line for the fight.
Andre Ward shocked by Rios – Abril decision
April 15th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: WBA/WBC super middleweight talent Andre Ward was completely shocked and disappointed in the HORRIBLE decision rendered last night in the Richard Abril – Brandon Rios fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios won the fight, but fought well enough to two or three rounds at best on many of the boxing fans’ scorecards. I personally gave Rios a couple of mercy rounds because I felt sorry for the guy, but in truth, I thought he deserved none.
Ward said this on his twitter about the TERRIBLE Rios gift decision over Abril: “I’m shocked!! Absolutely shocked!!! This is what hurts our sport!!! Feel bad for Abril!!”
So true, so true. I completely agree with you, Mr. Ward. I couldn’t have said it better myself. It was an embarrassment for our sport and it somehow cheapens it when you see decisions like this that go against the boxing public. What can you say? It’s just another block eye for boxing and it’s just too bad it hast to happen. I’ve seen some really crazy decisions in the last few years, most notably the very, very questionable decision Carl Froch got against the talented Andre Dirrell in October 2009.
That one goes down in my memory bank as the all time worst decision I’ve ever had the displeasure to see. But last night’s fight between Abril and Rios ranks high on my list of the robberies I’ve seen. I do feel sorry for Abril because the guy fought his heart out, deserved the WBA interim lightweight title and definitely deserved the $50,000 smackers that he would have received had he won the fight. Bob Arum should just give Abril the cash anyway as a complimentary gift for having to experience that terrible decision loss.
As for Ward, he could be back in action on June 2nd in Oakland, California. There still isn’t an opponent picked out for the fight, but they’re searching far and wide to look for a talent to step in the ring with him on that night.
April 15th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: WBA/WBC super middleweight talent Andre Ward was completely shocked and disappointed in the HORRIBLE decision rendered last night in the Richard Abril – Brandon Rios fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios won the fight, but fought well enough to two or three rounds at best on many of the boxing fans’ scorecards. I personally gave Rios a couple of mercy rounds because I felt sorry for the guy, but in truth, I thought he deserved none.
Ward said this on his twitter about the TERRIBLE Rios gift decision over Abril: “I’m shocked!! Absolutely shocked!!! This is what hurts our sport!!! Feel bad for Abril!!”
So true, so true. I completely agree with you, Mr. Ward. I couldn’t have said it better myself. It was an embarrassment for our sport and it somehow cheapens it when you see decisions like this that go against the boxing public. What can you say? It’s just another block eye for boxing and it’s just too bad it hast to happen. I’ve seen some really crazy decisions in the last few years, most notably the very, very questionable decision Carl Froch got against the talented Andre Dirrell in October 2009.
That one goes down in my memory bank as the all time worst decision I’ve ever had the displeasure to see. But last night’s fight between Abril and Rios ranks high on my list of the robberies I’ve seen. I do feel sorry for Abril because the guy fought his heart out, deserved the WBA interim lightweight title and definitely deserved the $50,000 smackers that he would have received had he won the fight. Bob Arum should just give Abril the cash anyway as a complimentary gift for having to experience that terrible decision loss.
As for Ward, he could be back in action on June 2nd in Oakland, California. There still isn’t an opponent picked out for the fight, but they’re searching far and wide to look for a talent to step in the ring with him on that night.
Mosley: I’m a young killer, not an old warrior
April 16th, 2012
By Allan Fox: 40-year-old Shane Mosley doesn’t see himself as a toothless old lion ready to be ripped apart and put out of his misery for once for all in his fight on May 5th against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez on HBO pay per view. Mosley sees himself as a younger coming into knock off a young champion and capture another belt.
Mosley said “I see myself not as an old warrior but a young killer. I don’t buy into the 40-year-old…I’m coming to fight like I fought with [Antonio] Margarito.”
Coincidentally, the Margarito fight just happens to be the last time that Mosley won a fight and that was three long years ago. Mosley has fought exactly three times since the Margarito win and lost two of the three fights. Mosley should have lost all three unfortunately, as he looked dreadful in getting a 12 round draw against Sergio Mora in 2010. Mosley’s losses during this time came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, which you can’t blame Mosley for. He was simply in with guys that were on another level as him and likely still would have been had Mosley been in his youth still and not 40.
Alvarez is going to make it really tough for Mosley because of his power, defense skills and high pressure fighting style. He’s going to keep applying pressure all fight long and will be making Mosley fight hard.
April 16th, 2012
By Allan Fox: 40-year-old Shane Mosley doesn’t see himself as a toothless old lion ready to be ripped apart and put out of his misery for once for all in his fight on May 5th against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez on HBO pay per view. Mosley sees himself as a younger coming into knock off a young champion and capture another belt.
Mosley said “I see myself not as an old warrior but a young killer. I don’t buy into the 40-year-old…I’m coming to fight like I fought with [Antonio] Margarito.”
Coincidentally, the Margarito fight just happens to be the last time that Mosley won a fight and that was three long years ago. Mosley has fought exactly three times since the Margarito win and lost two of the three fights. Mosley should have lost all three unfortunately, as he looked dreadful in getting a 12 round draw against Sergio Mora in 2010. Mosley’s losses during this time came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, which you can’t blame Mosley for. He was simply in with guys that were on another level as him and likely still would have been had Mosley been in his youth still and not 40.
Alvarez is going to make it really tough for Mosley because of his power, defense skills and high pressure fighting style. He’s going to keep applying pressure all fight long and will be making Mosley fight hard.
De La Hoya: This is the perfect time for Cotto to fight Mayweather
April 17th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya thinks that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is more vulnerable now to getting beaten than he ever has in the past as he heads into his mega fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next month. De La Hoya doesn’t say why he feels that way, only that he thinks that Cotto is getting Mayweather at the exact right time in his career.
De La Hoya said this as quoted by fightnews.com “If there is a perfect time to beat Mayweather, it is now. No fighter is invincible.”
That may be but I don’t think Cotto is the one to do it nor do I see Manny Pacquiao. Those fighters are too, too flawed to beat a guy like Mayweather. The one that has the best chance of beating Mayweather is former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. It’ll take a bigger fighter with one-punch knockout power like Martinez to finally give Mayweather his first loss of his career. Cotto won’t be the guy because he’s had too many wars’ and he’s not been the same fighter since his defeat at the hands of Antonio Margarito in 2008. He’s looked like a shadow of his former self since that night.
What I don’t like about Cotto right now is his over reliance on his new trainer Pedro Diaz. It’s like Cotto sees Diaz as the magic bottle that has all the answers and will give an escape from having to take responsibility for what happens in the ring. For example in the same interview, when Cotto was asked about what he’s spotted in watching some of Mayweather’s training video, Cotto said “My work is just to train. Pedro studies the tapes and I follow him.”
I’m sorry but I don’t enlist in that kind of passivity. A fighter has a trainer to help him with his training, but he doesn’t have all the answers. You got to second guess them and come up with what works. Some of the stuff trainers say is good, but a lot of it a fighter would be better off ignoring and coming up with what really works. If Cotto hands over all of his thinking to Diaz, he’s going to get beaten up by Mayweather on May 5th because Diaz won’t be out there to hold Cotto’s hand in the fight and telling him which punches to throw and which to block. Cotto needs to break free from whatever thoughts he has about Diaz having all the answers because he doesn’t.
April 17th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya thinks that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is more vulnerable now to getting beaten than he ever has in the past as he heads into his mega fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next month. De La Hoya doesn’t say why he feels that way, only that he thinks that Cotto is getting Mayweather at the exact right time in his career.
De La Hoya said this as quoted by fightnews.com “If there is a perfect time to beat Mayweather, it is now. No fighter is invincible.”
That may be but I don’t think Cotto is the one to do it nor do I see Manny Pacquiao. Those fighters are too, too flawed to beat a guy like Mayweather. The one that has the best chance of beating Mayweather is former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. It’ll take a bigger fighter with one-punch knockout power like Martinez to finally give Mayweather his first loss of his career. Cotto won’t be the guy because he’s had too many wars’ and he’s not been the same fighter since his defeat at the hands of Antonio Margarito in 2008. He’s looked like a shadow of his former self since that night.
What I don’t like about Cotto right now is his over reliance on his new trainer Pedro Diaz. It’s like Cotto sees Diaz as the magic bottle that has all the answers and will give an escape from having to take responsibility for what happens in the ring. For example in the same interview, when Cotto was asked about what he’s spotted in watching some of Mayweather’s training video, Cotto said “My work is just to train. Pedro studies the tapes and I follow him.”
I’m sorry but I don’t enlist in that kind of passivity. A fighter has a trainer to help him with his training, but he doesn’t have all the answers. You got to second guess them and come up with what works. Some of the stuff trainers say is good, but a lot of it a fighter would be better off ignoring and coming up with what really works. If Cotto hands over all of his thinking to Diaz, he’s going to get beaten up by Mayweather on May 5th because Diaz won’t be out there to hold Cotto’s hand in the fight and telling him which punches to throw and which to block. Cotto needs to break free from whatever thoughts he has about Diaz having all the answers because he doesn’t.
Dawson: I want to be the first to KO Hopkins
April 17th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) wants to be the first to knockout 47-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) when they meet up on April 28th in their rematch at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The two fought last October with Hopkins hitting the canvas and injuring his shoulder during a fall in the 2nd round.
Now they get to do it for the second and likely final time if Hopkins doesn’t suffer another injury that wipes out the fight early like it did last time. If Hopkins suffers an injury later in the fight, it’ll go to the cards. But early in the fight, you get a no contest like last time they went at it. Dawson has to make sure he doesn’t come in contact with Hopkins again because another injury will wipe out the fight and Hopkins will likely retain his title again.
Dawson said this about a Hopkins fight as quoted by supersport.com “I want to puck right up where I left off, be the aggressor and take the fight to him…That [knocking out Hopkins] would be a big statement to make because he has never been knocked out.”
Dawson says he won’t go out there looking to knock Hopkins out, but if the KO happens, he’ll be happy about it. Dawson says what he’s really looking for is to outbox Hopkins and win most of the rounds to take his World Boxing Council title.
Last time they fought, Dawson was putting a lot of pressure on Hopkins and looked bigger, faster, and stronger than Hopkins. It was only two rounds, but you could sense in that brief period of action that Dawson was going to win it and Hopkins was going to be made to look bad in losing. But then then Hopkins fell down and injured his shoulder.
A lot of boxing fans to this day think Hopkins flopped to get out of the fight rather than stick around the full 12 and risk getting beat. Only Hopkins knows for sure, since no one can feel what he felt or know what was going through his head. I just think Hopkins was on his way to losing the fight and he got mighty lucky when he suffered that injury because things were looking bleak for him at the time of the injury.
April 17th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) wants to be the first to knockout 47-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) when they meet up on April 28th in their rematch at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The two fought last October with Hopkins hitting the canvas and injuring his shoulder during a fall in the 2nd round.
Now they get to do it for the second and likely final time if Hopkins doesn’t suffer another injury that wipes out the fight early like it did last time. If Hopkins suffers an injury later in the fight, it’ll go to the cards. But early in the fight, you get a no contest like last time they went at it. Dawson has to make sure he doesn’t come in contact with Hopkins again because another injury will wipe out the fight and Hopkins will likely retain his title again.
Dawson said this about a Hopkins fight as quoted by supersport.com “I want to puck right up where I left off, be the aggressor and take the fight to him…That [knocking out Hopkins] would be a big statement to make because he has never been knocked out.”
Dawson says he won’t go out there looking to knock Hopkins out, but if the KO happens, he’ll be happy about it. Dawson says what he’s really looking for is to outbox Hopkins and win most of the rounds to take his World Boxing Council title.
Last time they fought, Dawson was putting a lot of pressure on Hopkins and looked bigger, faster, and stronger than Hopkins. It was only two rounds, but you could sense in that brief period of action that Dawson was going to win it and Hopkins was going to be made to look bad in losing. But then then Hopkins fell down and injured his shoulder.
A lot of boxing fans to this day think Hopkins flopped to get out of the fight rather than stick around the full 12 and risk getting beat. Only Hopkins knows for sure, since no one can feel what he felt or know what was going through his head. I just think Hopkins was on his way to losing the fight and he got mighty lucky when he suffered that injury because things were looking bleak for him at the time of the injury.
I think Berto will win this one. Berto never recovered from the 1st knock down in the 1st round, but he was able to drop Ortiz two times and go all 12 rounds. If Ortiz don't hurt Berto early, I see Berto winning this fight. Berto will not be overlooking Ortiz this time around.
Bum-Bum Rios shouldn't get a big payday after not making weight for a 2nd time in a row and getting out boxed.
Bum-Bum Rios shouldn't get a big payday after not making weight for a 2nd time in a row and getting out boxed.
well rios vs jmm would be at 140, although I have a feeling he'll struggle to make that as well.
berto recovered after a couple rounds, if he didn't he wouldn't have scored his own knockdowns and go 12.
its a tough one to call. to me it all depends on if Ortiz has that same intensity and hunger or not as he did in the first fight. like naner pointed out berto always has lapses in his game where he's wide open, also I don't think his conditioning is that great while ortiz never tires. berto needs to go for a ko, imo.
berto recovered after a couple rounds, if he didn't he wouldn't have scored his own knockdowns and go 12.
its a tough one to call. to me it all depends on if Ortiz has that same intensity and hunger or not as he did in the first fight. like naner pointed out berto always has lapses in his game where he's wide open, also I don't think his conditioning is that great while ortiz never tires. berto needs to go for a ko, imo.
Cory Spinks: “I had the opportunity to become the undisputed world champion. I can’t complain about my boxing career, but I have unfinished business!"
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former two division world champion Cory Spinks (39-6, 11 KOs) who is scheduled to have a rematch against IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius K-9 Bundrage on June 23 in Hollywood, Florida. Spinks spoke about his upcoming match and reflected on their first fight. He also discussed his latest victory over Sechew Powell, and shared his opinions on a variety of other topics including Jermain Taylor, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather Junior versus Miguel Cotto, the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, his amateur career, his future plans, and more! Here is what Spinks had to say:
Regarding how he feels about the opportunity to get a rematch against Cornelius K-9 Bundrage in June:
“Oh I feel great! I know the first time I wasn’t Cory Spinks. You know everything has to be right in your camp, I mean as far as your trainer, your manager, and everything. You know. I got all this fixed and everything has been going great and I’m just looking forward to great things happening. So it’s just going to be another stepping-stone in my way, and I’m going in and I’m going to take care of business.”
His views on what went wrong in his first fight against Bundrage:
“A lot of people don’t know I have Chron’s Disease, and I had a flare-up the week before the fight. Not only that, I wasn’t trained properly and everything and I was sick. What Chron’s does is it affects your limbs and your muscles and everything. I shouldn’t have fought, but you know how naïve boxers can be. I tried to correct it but I didn’t get all of my mechanics back. I couldn’t move. I can barely punch and things happened. I’m not taking anything away from the guy because he did what he was supposed to do. But that will never happen again.”
Regarding his lack of consistent activity in recent years:
“You know like I was saying with the manager thing, it wasn’t right. I fixed that. So I’m starting to get back to being busy and everything and get what’s due to me. I got the right manager in Scott Hirsch and I got a great trainer. It’s just that things happen.”
On his most recent performance when he overcame the odds to beat Sechew Powell:
“Like I was saying I’m back to working hard, and I’m back to rededicating myself to the sport I love. I went in there and did better than the first fight that I had with the new manager and the new trainer and everything. You know I’m back to being slick with a little more pizzazz. I don’t have to move around so much. I’m a slick boxer. I can fight any way that I want. He thought that I was going to move around and try to stay away from him, but I brought the fight to him, but with skills and I made him miss. I think that surprised him and I came out with the victory.”
Regarding his amateur career and the transition into the professional ranks:
“When I was an amateur I was on a roll. I had like a little bump in amateur career when my best friend that was boxing with me got killed and then my older brother Leon got killed. I stopped for like two years. Then my Mom and my old coaches Charles Hamm and Kevin Cunningham were trying to get me to come back, because my brother Darrell Spinks was still fighting. He was pro. So I came back as an amateur and the first tournament I fought in, the first real tournament was the Golden Gloves, and I ended up winning the Nationals and everything. Things started to really happen. Then I won a couple of more local tournaments in St. Louis, and I fought in the national tournament. I won that and Top Rank came after me. They offered me something I couldn’t refuse and I turned pro before I can even fight in the US Championship or even make the Olympics. The guy that I beat in the PAL National Finals, Dante Craig from Cincinnati, he ended up making the Olympic Team and I beat him so bad. But it was perfect timing that I did turn pro and my pro career has just been phenomenal. I’ve accomplished my ultimate dream. I became undisputed champ. The dream is just to become world champ, but I had the opportunity to become the undisputed world champion. I can’t complain about my boxing career, but I have unfinished business in mind and that’s what I plan to do.”
On whether coming from a famous boxing family ever gave him any added pressure to succeed:
“Oh of course, because you know from what my Dad and my Uncle have accomplished. You know I know I have the last name, but people want to look at me and see if I have the talent of them. So I had to prove to people that I also had the talent and that I also had the big heart that they had, and I think I achieved that because I have won multiple world championships.”
On where he currently sees himself in the 154 pound landscape:
“I see myself right at the top with all of the other fighters. I know the media and the commentators and everyone probably doesn’t think so, but I know my talent and I know when Cory Spinks is right I can beat anybody and right now I got my head on straight and have rededicated myself back to the sport. I’m just waiting to show the fans and the world that Cory Spinks is one of the best boxers in boxing.”
Regarding when he challenged Jermain Taylor for the middleweight championship and whether he would have stayed at 160 pounds had he beaten Taylor:
“Well I think I probably would have fought at 160 and 154, because I would have been undisputed at 160 and it’s never been done—there has never been a two-division undisputed champ, but I might have defended the belt a couple of more times. But my main focus was 154. That was just an opportunity that came about. He didn’t have anyone to fight and we weren’t fighting anyone, so we put it together. I knew Jermain through the amateurs because Arkansas always came to St. Louis to fight in the Regionals and we all used to go to the Nationals as one big team. You know this is the sport of boxing. It’s just like a basketball game. Friends want to fight friends so we just put it together and fought each other.”
On whether he was surprised that following his fight with Taylor that Jermain would lose 4 of his next 5:
“It seems like I always expose people. Just like when I fought Mayorga, everybody thought he was unbeatable and everything. When I fought him and when I beat him, he started to lose every fight afterwards. The same thing happened with Jermain. People said I really won it and then after that he just started going downhill.”
His views on whether Jermain Taylor can still be a force at 160 pounds:
“Well it all depends on how Jermain can take a good punch. We haven’t really seen him take a good punch yet. But if he can do that I think I can be a force at 160 because you know he’s a veteran and he’s been to the top. So you can’t count him out. He had a taste of what it’s like to be undisputed. I just have to see him in there with a real opponent. He didn’t look too good in his last fight. He did what he had to do. You know he’s been out of the game for awhile but he did what he had to do to win the fight.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Junior and Miguel Cotto:
“I think it’s going to be a better fight than people think it is, because Cotto is going to be much, much stronger. He’s younger than a De La Hoya and I think he’s going to be relentless. I think Cotto’s going to wake-up and really try to go at Floyd. But you know Floyd is a master at what he does and you never can count that guy out, because his talent is unbelievable. I look at Floyd like me. I didn’t have to learn how to box. It was just a gift from God, and I think God has blessed him, too. So it will be interesting, but I think it’s going to be a tougher fight than people think.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“You see other than myself Manny is my favorite fighter, and it’s because he’s not scared to face anyone. That’s the reason why. He reminds me of myself and plus he’s a southpaw. So I got Pacquiao dominating Timothy Bradley. I just got him dominating! I know Timothy Bradley is going to come in there to fight, but I got him dominating! I think he wants to make a statement from the Marquez fight. I think Pac-Man is going to make a statement.”
His views on what Zab Judah has been able to accomplish since moving back down to 140 pounds:
“Well when we fought it was at 147, but you know he just needs to get over that hump and get that title back. Zab has looked good and he seems like he’s found his home at 140 and I take my hat off to him because in his last performance he looked terrific!”
On whether he ever sees himself going back down to 147 pounds if the right opportunity ever presented itself:
“Oh no! If the opportunity comes than I don’t know, but right now—no! It’s like I’m really made to be big. My Mom was a big-boned woman and my Dad is big, but I’m the smallest child my Mom had. I think I’m going to leave 147 alone. If the opportunity comes though, I’ll be there.”
On how he would like to be remembered by boxing fans when his career is all said and done:
“I just want to be remembered as a guy who really knew how to box. I want to be remembered as a guy that’s not scared to fight anyone, a guy that can box, a guy that can either fight you or move forward and box. I just want to be remembered as someone to add to my Dad and them as one of the great Spinks fighters.”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former two division world champion Cory Spinks (39-6, 11 KOs) who is scheduled to have a rematch against IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius K-9 Bundrage on June 23 in Hollywood, Florida. Spinks spoke about his upcoming match and reflected on their first fight. He also discussed his latest victory over Sechew Powell, and shared his opinions on a variety of other topics including Jermain Taylor, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather Junior versus Miguel Cotto, the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, his amateur career, his future plans, and more! Here is what Spinks had to say:
Regarding how he feels about the opportunity to get a rematch against Cornelius K-9 Bundrage in June:
“Oh I feel great! I know the first time I wasn’t Cory Spinks. You know everything has to be right in your camp, I mean as far as your trainer, your manager, and everything. You know. I got all this fixed and everything has been going great and I’m just looking forward to great things happening. So it’s just going to be another stepping-stone in my way, and I’m going in and I’m going to take care of business.”
His views on what went wrong in his first fight against Bundrage:
“A lot of people don’t know I have Chron’s Disease, and I had a flare-up the week before the fight. Not only that, I wasn’t trained properly and everything and I was sick. What Chron’s does is it affects your limbs and your muscles and everything. I shouldn’t have fought, but you know how naïve boxers can be. I tried to correct it but I didn’t get all of my mechanics back. I couldn’t move. I can barely punch and things happened. I’m not taking anything away from the guy because he did what he was supposed to do. But that will never happen again.”
Regarding his lack of consistent activity in recent years:
“You know like I was saying with the manager thing, it wasn’t right. I fixed that. So I’m starting to get back to being busy and everything and get what’s due to me. I got the right manager in Scott Hirsch and I got a great trainer. It’s just that things happen.”
On his most recent performance when he overcame the odds to beat Sechew Powell:
“Like I was saying I’m back to working hard, and I’m back to rededicating myself to the sport I love. I went in there and did better than the first fight that I had with the new manager and the new trainer and everything. You know I’m back to being slick with a little more pizzazz. I don’t have to move around so much. I’m a slick boxer. I can fight any way that I want. He thought that I was going to move around and try to stay away from him, but I brought the fight to him, but with skills and I made him miss. I think that surprised him and I came out with the victory.”
Regarding his amateur career and the transition into the professional ranks:
“When I was an amateur I was on a roll. I had like a little bump in amateur career when my best friend that was boxing with me got killed and then my older brother Leon got killed. I stopped for like two years. Then my Mom and my old coaches Charles Hamm and Kevin Cunningham were trying to get me to come back, because my brother Darrell Spinks was still fighting. He was pro. So I came back as an amateur and the first tournament I fought in, the first real tournament was the Golden Gloves, and I ended up winning the Nationals and everything. Things started to really happen. Then I won a couple of more local tournaments in St. Louis, and I fought in the national tournament. I won that and Top Rank came after me. They offered me something I couldn’t refuse and I turned pro before I can even fight in the US Championship or even make the Olympics. The guy that I beat in the PAL National Finals, Dante Craig from Cincinnati, he ended up making the Olympic Team and I beat him so bad. But it was perfect timing that I did turn pro and my pro career has just been phenomenal. I’ve accomplished my ultimate dream. I became undisputed champ. The dream is just to become world champ, but I had the opportunity to become the undisputed world champion. I can’t complain about my boxing career, but I have unfinished business in mind and that’s what I plan to do.”
On whether coming from a famous boxing family ever gave him any added pressure to succeed:
“Oh of course, because you know from what my Dad and my Uncle have accomplished. You know I know I have the last name, but people want to look at me and see if I have the talent of them. So I had to prove to people that I also had the talent and that I also had the big heart that they had, and I think I achieved that because I have won multiple world championships.”
On where he currently sees himself in the 154 pound landscape:
“I see myself right at the top with all of the other fighters. I know the media and the commentators and everyone probably doesn’t think so, but I know my talent and I know when Cory Spinks is right I can beat anybody and right now I got my head on straight and have rededicated myself back to the sport. I’m just waiting to show the fans and the world that Cory Spinks is one of the best boxers in boxing.”
Regarding when he challenged Jermain Taylor for the middleweight championship and whether he would have stayed at 160 pounds had he beaten Taylor:
“Well I think I probably would have fought at 160 and 154, because I would have been undisputed at 160 and it’s never been done—there has never been a two-division undisputed champ, but I might have defended the belt a couple of more times. But my main focus was 154. That was just an opportunity that came about. He didn’t have anyone to fight and we weren’t fighting anyone, so we put it together. I knew Jermain through the amateurs because Arkansas always came to St. Louis to fight in the Regionals and we all used to go to the Nationals as one big team. You know this is the sport of boxing. It’s just like a basketball game. Friends want to fight friends so we just put it together and fought each other.”
On whether he was surprised that following his fight with Taylor that Jermain would lose 4 of his next 5:
“It seems like I always expose people. Just like when I fought Mayorga, everybody thought he was unbeatable and everything. When I fought him and when I beat him, he started to lose every fight afterwards. The same thing happened with Jermain. People said I really won it and then after that he just started going downhill.”
His views on whether Jermain Taylor can still be a force at 160 pounds:
“Well it all depends on how Jermain can take a good punch. We haven’t really seen him take a good punch yet. But if he can do that I think I can be a force at 160 because you know he’s a veteran and he’s been to the top. So you can’t count him out. He had a taste of what it’s like to be undisputed. I just have to see him in there with a real opponent. He didn’t look too good in his last fight. He did what he had to do. You know he’s been out of the game for awhile but he did what he had to do to win the fight.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Junior and Miguel Cotto:
“I think it’s going to be a better fight than people think it is, because Cotto is going to be much, much stronger. He’s younger than a De La Hoya and I think he’s going to be relentless. I think Cotto’s going to wake-up and really try to go at Floyd. But you know Floyd is a master at what he does and you never can count that guy out, because his talent is unbelievable. I look at Floyd like me. I didn’t have to learn how to box. It was just a gift from God, and I think God has blessed him, too. So it will be interesting, but I think it’s going to be a tougher fight than people think.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“You see other than myself Manny is my favorite fighter, and it’s because he’s not scared to face anyone. That’s the reason why. He reminds me of myself and plus he’s a southpaw. So I got Pacquiao dominating Timothy Bradley. I just got him dominating! I know Timothy Bradley is going to come in there to fight, but I got him dominating! I think he wants to make a statement from the Marquez fight. I think Pac-Man is going to make a statement.”
His views on what Zab Judah has been able to accomplish since moving back down to 140 pounds:
“Well when we fought it was at 147, but you know he just needs to get over that hump and get that title back. Zab has looked good and he seems like he’s found his home at 140 and I take my hat off to him because in his last performance he looked terrific!”
On whether he ever sees himself going back down to 147 pounds if the right opportunity ever presented itself:
“Oh no! If the opportunity comes than I don’t know, but right now—no! It’s like I’m really made to be big. My Mom was a big-boned woman and my Dad is big, but I’m the smallest child my Mom had. I think I’m going to leave 147 alone. If the opportunity comes though, I’ll be there.”
On how he would like to be remembered by boxing fans when his career is all said and done:
“I just want to be remembered as a guy who really knew how to box. I want to be remembered as a guy that’s not scared to fight anyone, a guy that can box, a guy that can either fight you or move forward and box. I just want to be remembered as someone to add to my Dad and them as one of the great Spinks fighters.”