By Mark Vester
Could there be dissention in the camp of Floyd Mayweather, Jr? The Mayweather family drama has all the makings of a true to life soap opera.
While Roger Mayweather was briefly incarcerated for an assault charge, Floyd Mayweather, Sr. was helping his son prepare for the May 5 pay-per-view clash with Oscar De La Hoya. After he was released, Roger returned to the driver's seat as Floyd Jr.'s head trainer.
Floyd Sr. was the head trainer of De La Hoya for the last six years. He was replaced in January with Freddie Roach after De La Hoya refused his demand of $2 million dollars to train him for the fight with his son. During a recent conference call, Roger Mayweather became angry when asked if his brother would be called upon to give advice on what needs to be done in order to beat De La Hoya.
"He can be there, he can be at home in a rocking chair, I don't give a f**k. The bottom line is this, we're going to win the fight regardless. I don't give a f**k about who we have in the gym. I don't train him for his daddy,” Roger said. "I don't train him based on who's there or who ain't there. And if he's in the corner, I wouldn't give a shit either."
"The bottom line is this, skill wins fights. I know enough about boxing. I fought more fights than my brother had. So I don't need to ask his opinion on how to win because number one, Floyd got there based on what I've done, not what the f**k he's done. He may have set the ground plans for Floyd, but Floyd's on Pay-Per-View because of me, not because of his daddy. But the thing about it, I don't need to talk about his daddy because the bottom line is I ain't got sh*t to talk about him anyway. If you want to ask him a question, then you need to call him, don't call me."
"Did he (Floyd Jr.) beat Zab Judah with Floyd or did he beat him with me? Did he beat Sharmba Mitchell with Floyd or did he beat him with me? Did he beat Jose Luis Castillo with Floyd, or did he beat him with me? All right. Then what the f*ck do I need to ask his opinion for?"
The question was then posed on whether or not he was comfortable with Floyd Sr. being part of the camp and if he makes a difference due to his background with De La Hoya.
"It don't bother me one way or another," Roger added. "I'm not uncomfortable with that. I'm more uncomfortable being in jail. Listen, listen, listen, my brother can train Muhammad Ali. I mean, you know, that don't make no difference because he trained Muhammed Ali. Remember one thing, remember this, you guys need to remember one thing, I know boxing. I had 70 something (expletive) fights."
"I had way more fights than my brother, so why do I need to get my brother's opinion about how to beat De La Hoya when I trained Floyd to beat the last 37? Huh? Then why would I need Floyd's opinion? Did he beat them with him or did he beat him with me? Did he beat Gatti with Floyd or did he beat him with me? Did he beat Zab Judah with him or did he beat him with me? All right then, what the f**k do I need to ask his opinion for? I don't need to ask nobody's opinion. I know how to train a fighter. I've been doing that all my life."
