Floyd Mayweather Interview Transcript
By Golden Boy Promotions | Published April 25, 2014 | 7 Comments
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/images/mayweather.mp3
Q. When you have been devising the game plan for Marcos Maidana did you or your team feel as though it was really Devon Alexander that laid down the blueprint to defeat somebody like Maidana?
F. Mayweather: I think that what’s different is Maidana may not be accustomed to fighting southpaws, so that could have played a major key into his fight with Devon Alexander. Also he was fighting on Alexander’s turf and I think the difference between me and Alexander, he’s a more straight-up boxer. I think he’s a more straight-up boxer but I think when Maidana’s facing me his confidence is built after he beat Adrien Broner because he feels that both of the styles are very, very similar, so it’s like the same style.
I think he’s more confident now than he was when he faced the kid from St. Louis, Devon Alexander. I think he’s more confident now, so I think he’s more ready and tough. If you have more confidence it’s going to make you fight harder.
Q. Is Maidana as good as he was against Broner? Is he as bad as he was against Alexander? Or is he really average, in between there somewhere?
F. Mayweather: You know, I can’t really say, but one thing that I did notice, as some of you know I look at a lot of things. I don’t have anything against anyone, but I noticed that when the guy, Alex Ariza, was in Amir Khan’s corner and when he faced Maidana, Amir Khan looked super strong in that fight. Then you go back and look at it, I go look at Maidana’s fights against certain guys, like when he fought Alexander, he was strong, he was still coming ahead because he’s the kind of guy that comes straight ahead, and liked the looped shots. He wasn’t as strong as he was in the Adrien Broner fight. In the Adrien Broner fight he was a lot stronger than he was in a lot of his past fights.
So you know, I don’t know if Alex Ariza plays a major role into that, but when I sit back and I look, I’m looking at Pacquiao versus Bradley and I notice ever since Ariza has not been with Pacquiao anymore there’s been a total change in his power. So I look at things like that and I question things like that to myself, but I don’t worry about anything and I’m not going to say nothing about Ariza because I think he’s a pretty cool guy. I don’t really know him, but we got USADA, which is the best in the world, and we’re going to continue to go out there and do what we supposed to do.
Leonard Ellerbe: To touch on what Floyd just said, I have got firsthand information on the Maidana-Alexander fight. He (Maidana) was asked to pull out the fight because he was very, very sick. He was asked to pull out but he refused to. He’s not one, obviously, to make any excuses, but the facts are what the facts are.
Q. Floyd, you mentioned the Pacquiao and Bradley fight. Did you watch the fight? What were your thoughts on Pacquiao’s performance.
F. Mayweather: Yes, actually I did watch the fight. You know, I haven’t seen Pacquiao fight in years. I’ve seen highlights. I haven’t seen Pacquiao since before Miguel Cotto. I thought that he deserved congratulations. He’s the better man, but as far as Bradley, whoever he’s working out with, they have to make a lot of changes because he’s lifting too many weights. I think he’s more worried about how he looks when he get on the scale instead of how he performs inside that ring. I thought that Bradley went out there and fought his heart out, but I think he was pulling a lot of shots like an amateur. I think he was making a lot of mistakes and he was very fatigued early on. I think that he was making a lot of mistakes, falling off balance and fighting like an amateur.
I think both fighters fought like amateurs. I thought Pacquiao fought like an amateur also, and I wasn’t pleased with his performance, but he got the victory the best way he knows how, but I wasn’t pleased with his performance and I’m seeing something totally different in Pacquiao.
So FightHype had a story out that I was looking at that was very interesting. You go read the story when Freddie Roach was saying that he didn’t know what Alex Ariza was giving his fighters. He didn’t know what he was giving his fighters. So go read the FightHype article. Pull it up.
It was kind of crazy when I heard that, but like I said before, I don’t see the same pop in Pacquiao’s shots. Once again, I’m not saying this guy is doing anything, but I don’t see the same snap in his shots. He’s getting tired when he wasn’t getting tired before. I’m seeing something totally different whereas me, I’m still sharp, I’m still smart, I’m not getting fatigued. I wasn’t getting fatigued from the beginning, and those are the things that I see. I don’t know if you guys see it, but that’s what I see.
Q. Can you kind of characterize what’s going to happen in this fight? And also, how big are body shots going to be in this fight, because a body shot is what Khan dropped him with in the first round.
F. Mayweather: My focus is this guy. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be well-rounded and ready for this fight because this is at a total different level. Against Amir Khan, the guy could have been doing a lot of sit-ups and making his body in tip-top condition and tip-top shape. Amir Khan could have just caught him with a good shot. My body is in very good condition, but sometimes a guy can hit me with a good shot and I can feel it, but we just don’t know how we’re going to approach the fight.
We’re going to take our time and go out there and if a guy leaves an opening on his face, we’re going to take it, if he leaves an opening on his body we’re going to take it, but we can’t just say we’re going to go in there and everything is going to go to the body. We’re going to take our time and pick the guy apart.
Q. Are going to be staying in the pocket – is that what you meant when you said that?
F. Mayweather: We must realize that I am the bigger guy even though I walk around at 150. I go no higher than 152. I’m naturally the bigger guy because I’ve been at 147 almost 10 years now, so I’m naturally the bigger guy. I think that my dad has the game plan to stay in the pocket, make the guy miss and make the guy pay.
Q. Can you describe what you see from your vantage point and what you look for in a fight?
F. Mayweather: Well, I can see the shots. Actually, I can feel when a guy’s gonna punch. I can feel it. I don’t even have to see it; I can feel it. You know, this is just with experience and being around the sport so long. I can just feel a guy when he’s going to shoot his shot. A lot of times guys telegraph their shot. Their body language gives away when they’re going to shoot because of how they position themselves.
So when a guy positions himself in a certain way you know what shot he’s going to throw, but my thing is whatever a guy’s best attribute is, whatever he does best, my goal is to take that away from him and make him resort to doing something else.
Q. What does Maidana do best?
F. Mayweather : Well, he punches extremely hard if he has an 80 percent knockout ratio. That’s obviously his best attribute, but a lot of times when a guy’s swinging a lot of big shots and they’re not landing, you get fatigued like that.
Q. Do you think Maidana is the hardest puncher that you’ve been in with?
F. Mayweather: Well, I haven’t been hit by Maidana yet, so I can’t really say. I may be the hardest puncher he ever fought. He hasn’t been hit by me yet, so we’ll just have to see if he’s the hardest puncher.
Q. It seems that the only way this guy can beat you is with his power. Do you see him being able to outbox you for 12 rounds?
F. Mayweather: Adrien Broner’s a good boxer and he roughed Adrien Broner up and he got to victory, so we can’t say what this guy, what he can or he can’t do. We cannot overlook the guy. I can’t just say he’s going to be an easy fight because he’s not going to be an easy fight for me, I don’t think so. What I have to do is I’ve got to make sure that I’m at my best. So May 3 I’ve got to go out there and take my time, keep my composure and be me. Everybody thinks he’s just going to be a pushover, but I don’t think so. That’s why I’m training hard and I’m pushing myself to the limit every day.
By Golden Boy Promotions | Published April 25, 2014 | 7 Comments
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/images/mayweather.mp3
Q. When you have been devising the game plan for Marcos Maidana did you or your team feel as though it was really Devon Alexander that laid down the blueprint to defeat somebody like Maidana?
F. Mayweather: I think that what’s different is Maidana may not be accustomed to fighting southpaws, so that could have played a major key into his fight with Devon Alexander. Also he was fighting on Alexander’s turf and I think the difference between me and Alexander, he’s a more straight-up boxer. I think he’s a more straight-up boxer but I think when Maidana’s facing me his confidence is built after he beat Adrien Broner because he feels that both of the styles are very, very similar, so it’s like the same style.
I think he’s more confident now than he was when he faced the kid from St. Louis, Devon Alexander. I think he’s more confident now, so I think he’s more ready and tough. If you have more confidence it’s going to make you fight harder.
Q. Is Maidana as good as he was against Broner? Is he as bad as he was against Alexander? Or is he really average, in between there somewhere?
F. Mayweather: You know, I can’t really say, but one thing that I did notice, as some of you know I look at a lot of things. I don’t have anything against anyone, but I noticed that when the guy, Alex Ariza, was in Amir Khan’s corner and when he faced Maidana, Amir Khan looked super strong in that fight. Then you go back and look at it, I go look at Maidana’s fights against certain guys, like when he fought Alexander, he was strong, he was still coming ahead because he’s the kind of guy that comes straight ahead, and liked the looped shots. He wasn’t as strong as he was in the Adrien Broner fight. In the Adrien Broner fight he was a lot stronger than he was in a lot of his past fights.
So you know, I don’t know if Alex Ariza plays a major role into that, but when I sit back and I look, I’m looking at Pacquiao versus Bradley and I notice ever since Ariza has not been with Pacquiao anymore there’s been a total change in his power. So I look at things like that and I question things like that to myself, but I don’t worry about anything and I’m not going to say nothing about Ariza because I think he’s a pretty cool guy. I don’t really know him, but we got USADA, which is the best in the world, and we’re going to continue to go out there and do what we supposed to do.
Leonard Ellerbe: To touch on what Floyd just said, I have got firsthand information on the Maidana-Alexander fight. He (Maidana) was asked to pull out the fight because he was very, very sick. He was asked to pull out but he refused to. He’s not one, obviously, to make any excuses, but the facts are what the facts are.
Q. Floyd, you mentioned the Pacquiao and Bradley fight. Did you watch the fight? What were your thoughts on Pacquiao’s performance.
F. Mayweather: Yes, actually I did watch the fight. You know, I haven’t seen Pacquiao fight in years. I’ve seen highlights. I haven’t seen Pacquiao since before Miguel Cotto. I thought that he deserved congratulations. He’s the better man, but as far as Bradley, whoever he’s working out with, they have to make a lot of changes because he’s lifting too many weights. I think he’s more worried about how he looks when he get on the scale instead of how he performs inside that ring. I thought that Bradley went out there and fought his heart out, but I think he was pulling a lot of shots like an amateur. I think he was making a lot of mistakes and he was very fatigued early on. I think that he was making a lot of mistakes, falling off balance and fighting like an amateur.
I think both fighters fought like amateurs. I thought Pacquiao fought like an amateur also, and I wasn’t pleased with his performance, but he got the victory the best way he knows how, but I wasn’t pleased with his performance and I’m seeing something totally different in Pacquiao.
So FightHype had a story out that I was looking at that was very interesting. You go read the story when Freddie Roach was saying that he didn’t know what Alex Ariza was giving his fighters. He didn’t know what he was giving his fighters. So go read the FightHype article. Pull it up.
It was kind of crazy when I heard that, but like I said before, I don’t see the same pop in Pacquiao’s shots. Once again, I’m not saying this guy is doing anything, but I don’t see the same snap in his shots. He’s getting tired when he wasn’t getting tired before. I’m seeing something totally different whereas me, I’m still sharp, I’m still smart, I’m not getting fatigued. I wasn’t getting fatigued from the beginning, and those are the things that I see. I don’t know if you guys see it, but that’s what I see.
Q. Can you kind of characterize what’s going to happen in this fight? And also, how big are body shots going to be in this fight, because a body shot is what Khan dropped him with in the first round.
F. Mayweather: My focus is this guy. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be well-rounded and ready for this fight because this is at a total different level. Against Amir Khan, the guy could have been doing a lot of sit-ups and making his body in tip-top condition and tip-top shape. Amir Khan could have just caught him with a good shot. My body is in very good condition, but sometimes a guy can hit me with a good shot and I can feel it, but we just don’t know how we’re going to approach the fight.
We’re going to take our time and go out there and if a guy leaves an opening on his face, we’re going to take it, if he leaves an opening on his body we’re going to take it, but we can’t just say we’re going to go in there and everything is going to go to the body. We’re going to take our time and pick the guy apart.
Q. Are going to be staying in the pocket – is that what you meant when you said that?
F. Mayweather: We must realize that I am the bigger guy even though I walk around at 150. I go no higher than 152. I’m naturally the bigger guy because I’ve been at 147 almost 10 years now, so I’m naturally the bigger guy. I think that my dad has the game plan to stay in the pocket, make the guy miss and make the guy pay.
Q. Can you describe what you see from your vantage point and what you look for in a fight?
F. Mayweather: Well, I can see the shots. Actually, I can feel when a guy’s gonna punch. I can feel it. I don’t even have to see it; I can feel it. You know, this is just with experience and being around the sport so long. I can just feel a guy when he’s going to shoot his shot. A lot of times guys telegraph their shot. Their body language gives away when they’re going to shoot because of how they position themselves.
So when a guy positions himself in a certain way you know what shot he’s going to throw, but my thing is whatever a guy’s best attribute is, whatever he does best, my goal is to take that away from him and make him resort to doing something else.
Q. What does Maidana do best?
F. Mayweather : Well, he punches extremely hard if he has an 80 percent knockout ratio. That’s obviously his best attribute, but a lot of times when a guy’s swinging a lot of big shots and they’re not landing, you get fatigued like that.
Q. Do you think Maidana is the hardest puncher that you’ve been in with?
F. Mayweather: Well, I haven’t been hit by Maidana yet, so I can’t really say. I may be the hardest puncher he ever fought. He hasn’t been hit by me yet, so we’ll just have to see if he’s the hardest puncher.
Q. It seems that the only way this guy can beat you is with his power. Do you see him being able to outbox you for 12 rounds?
F. Mayweather: Adrien Broner’s a good boxer and he roughed Adrien Broner up and he got to victory, so we can’t say what this guy, what he can or he can’t do. We cannot overlook the guy. I can’t just say he’s going to be an easy fight because he’s not going to be an easy fight for me, I don’t think so. What I have to do is I’ve got to make sure that I’m at my best. So May 3 I’ve got to go out there and take my time, keep my composure and be me. Everybody thinks he’s just going to be a pushover, but I don’t think so. That’s why I’m training hard and I’m pushing myself to the limit every day.
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at this shyt 
