Roger Mayweather is a man with strong opinions - and he's not afraid to express them.
Roger Mayweather says that come Sept. 19 in Las Vegas - no matter what Juan Manuel Marquez is able to bring to the table against his nephew Floyd, Jr. - it won't be enough.
“Skills pays the bills,” said Roger on Wednesday afternoon from Las Vegas. “ Marquez is a good fighter, but it's the guy with the skills that win fights. Floyd got the skills and that's it.”
When asked how Floyd was holding up after being away from an actual fight since meeting Ricky Hatton in Dec. 2007, and also recovering from a training injury, Roger claimed none of that was a concern to him.
“Do you remember when 'Sugar' Ray Leonard fought Marvin Hagler?” asked Roger. “He was off for over five and a half years and he came back and beat Marvin Hagler, so there you go. Anytime a guy is off it's going to have some effect. It will make it different, yeah...but Floyd really ain't been away like people say. He was always around, doing little stuff, playing around in the gym, this and that.”
Roger indicated that Floyd was never too far out of fighting shape and that during the time he was “retired” his weight never rose more than 10-15 pounds above where he usually fights.
“When he came back here to the gym he pretty much weighed the same he did the day he left two years before,” he claimed.
Roger works on his nephew's skills. Together they have seen Floyd become one of the best fighters in the world who has won numerous world titles.
Roger Mayweather was a two-time world champion in his own right at 130 and 140 pounds and he was a top contender for years in the 80s and 90s. In sizing up Mexico's Marquez, Roger does so with a keen eye as he faced and beat a host of Mexican fighters during his own career. Aside from being known as the “Black Mamba” he was also known as the “Mexican Assassin.”
“Look, there ain't nuthin' wrong with Marquez,” he said. “The dude can fight and he's got skills, too. But he ain't the biggest puncher in the world and he ain't the fastest cat out there. So you gotta' ask yourself what's he gonna' do when he gets in there with the best fighter in the world?”
Roger is usually very critical in his assessment of Floyd's opponents, but he was not as blunt in his assessment of Marquez.
“He's tricky, yeah. He fought Pacquiao, might have beat him” he said. “But like I said, he ain't a big puncher and he ain't as fast as some other guys Floyd has fought. He ain't the most aggressive guy you'll find out their either. Now, I don't know if Floyd can knock him out or not, but we gonna' find out.”
September 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment