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K. Swanson
We have a great group of people on this call, and I think it's a wonderful opportunity to discuss another side to this magnificent fight that's about to happen on May 1. Just to give you the run-through, what we're going to do is start with, this call really is for Jack Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Sr., both fathers of Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. How we're going to do it is we have Jack Mosley on the line first with Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions. When this part of the call is finished, we will then have Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Leonard Ellerbe, Chief Executive Officer of Mayweather Promotions to join the second half of the call. Without further ado I'm going to turn it over to Richard Schaefer to make the introduction. Richard.
R. Schaefer
Well, we have three and a half weeks to go for the big historic showdown on May 1 from the MGM Grand between Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley. It really is an exciting time. We're going to have a lot of media calls and information leading up to fight week, and then, of course, during fight week there are a lot of things going on.
Just quick information on the tickets, the $150-300 and the $1000 tickets are all sold out. There are a few $1250s and very few $600s left, and so if you do want to make the trip out there, please let your readers and viewers know that time is now to snap up these few remaining tickets. We do plan as well later on to go on sale with close-circuit location. I think we can have up to 30,000 or more seats available in Las Vegas. This is this kind of event which really warrants this kind of live audience.
There's an interesting angle here as well with the two fathers, with Jack Mosley and of course Mayweather Sr. having played very instrumental roles in their sons' careers, teaching them from a very young age the fundamentals of boxing. Both fathers trained their sons at one point in their professional careers, and both fathers still have a very strong relationship and part of the team of their sons' teams through guidance and support. Both fathers have sort of like gone through the ups and downs as father trainers, being involved in the professional aspect with their sons and all the ups and downs which come with that in that kind of relationship. We felt it was an interesting angle to make the two fathers available to give some thoughts on the showdown, what they think is going to happen and be available for any questions.
It's a pleasure for me now to introduce a man who has been considered and still is one of the great trainers of the sport, who has done so much for the sport of boxing and has done so much for his son, Sugar Shane, to guide him to become one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world. As I said, it's a pleasure and an honor for me to introduce to you Jack Mosley. Jack, please, if you could make some comments, what you think about the showdown and any other thoughts you have on the fight. Please, Jack.
J. Mosley
Well, it sounds to me that it's shaping up to me one of the best fights of the decade. Floyd and Shane are two great fighters. They both have speed, tremendous talent. Both have great defenses. I just think it'll be a tremendous fight May 1. It should've happened a long time ago, but better late than never, and the winner should go on to fight Pacquiao.
Question (Q):
I just want to ask you how your relationship with Shane has changed since you've left as trainer.
J. Mosley
It hasn't changed at all. I'm his father. That'll never change.
Q:
Do you feel like sometimes that you should be in there; you should be in the corner with him?
J. Mosley
Well, like I said, he's a great fighter. He's already been trained. For example, like when he went off to the Olympic Training Center, they went around the world fighting. I wasn't there, and he was already trained, so he went on to win fights anyway even though I wasn't in the corner with him because I'm secure enough to know that he knows how to win if he's in the corner by himself.
Q:
Do you think his style has changed at all since-
J. Mosley
No, you don't change styles like that. You learn your style at a very early age, and you'll keep that style.
Q:
Are you satisfied with the progress he's made?
J. Mosley
As far as I'm concerned, he's going to always be a great fighter. That's just the nature of Shane. Shane has been taught to train vigorously for each fight, so he's going to always be in a situation where he's going to progress even if it's not just him doing the work himself. Shane knows how to train. He knows what to do. This is his job. He's been trained. Like if you've been trained to do something in your life, you'll always do it the right to satisfy whoever you're doing the job for.
Q:
Jack, with Floyd being undefeated, I'm wondering in your mind what would a victory for Shane mean, a victory over Floyd, what would that mean for Shane's career?
J. Mosley
Well, obviously, according to all the writers and everybody, it'll be a great feat for Shane. He can go on to fight Pacquiao and once again prove to everybody what a great talent he is and how much he is bringing to the sport of boxing. Well, he's been doing that for all of his boxing career, bringing just great events after event after event to the sport of boxing.
I've always told Shane he needs to talk a little more because the mouth that stays closed never gets fed, so guys like Floyd and Roy and Bernard, they usually kind of get the jump on him because they're running their mouths, and people, while they might not like that, they're on top with the PR stuff, so I encouraged Shane to start talking a little more, so let people know that, yes, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. A win would be tremendous, in fact, stupendous.
Q:
Are you concerned at all about any kind of ring rust being that ...?
J. Mosley
No, Shane trains year-round. He doesn't stop training. He's always busy playing basketball or something. He's like a big kid. Thirty-eight, it doesn't mean anything because Shane takes his supplements. He takes care of himself. He drinks a lot of water and things like that, and that keeps him in shape. My father's 91 and still gets around and moves around, so age doesn't mean anything. I'm 65, and I'm still hitting the bags, jumping around and jumping ropes, doing all kinds of stuff. That's just a number right now for the Mosley's anyway. Now, in some other bloodline it might be something bad for them, but our bloodline, we're living for a long, long time and doing a lot of good stuff.
Q:
Do you remember the first time when Shane was a little kid where you thought, holy cow, this kid really has got something here? Can you remember that moment, and if so, what was that like?
J. Mosley:
Well, Shane's always been energetic. We had to, even when he was in nursery school, we had to get him a tricycle, or a Big Wheel they call it, because all the other kids while they were taking naps, Shane was never, never tired, people asked us to bring in a tricycle or a Big Wheel so he can play while they rest, and he played by himself. Shane was always able to play himself and do things by himself or entertain himself. I remember that when we first started training I said this boxing is going to kind of wear him out. Never did. Even to this day it never does.
Q:
As far as the count level, though, was there some point that you can remember where you thought this kid really has got talent, and we could really make something with him, that kind of thing?
J. Mosley:
Well, the thing is, first I asked Shane if you want to box, you do it for yourself. Don't do it for me because if you want to be a great champion because you have to do it for yourself because when he started boxing he started training with some guys who had three years advance on him, and he was able to hang with them right away, I mean right away. I know right then if he could deal with these guys who've had three years advance on him, they were like 9, 10, and 11, I thought, wow, he's a special person to enter the boxing world because he's doing so great right now with these guys that had all this experience over him. To me, he beat an open fighter his first tournament. His first fight he beat an open fighter and then won the tournament, so I knew right then he was special.
Q:
He's never done anything in the ring that's really surprised you?
J. Mosley
No because he worked so hard to do everything that he wanted to do in the ring. To me, he's always been a workaholic in the ring, even when he was 8 years old starting out. Everything, he wanted to know everything, absorbed everything to be the best.
He's always, like, I want a challenge. I want to win. Everything, cards, I don't care, ping-pong, skateboarding. He wanted to win. Basketball, he wanted to win. He practiced hard to win, so that's been Shane all his life, but at the same time not putting anybody down when he did win like some of the guys do when they beat a guy, stand over him, taunt the guy. I taught him not to do that stuff.
Q:
I'm sorry, one last thing since you mentioned it. You were talking about maybe he should talk more, but one of the things that we so admire about Shane is that he's such an incredibly nice guy. Is that something that you set as a priority for him, too?
J. Mosley:
Yes, and I didn't want people to know he boxed when he started out, and so I told him not to let people know he boxed. Then if you do win, it takes a certain kind of person to get in that ring not knowing what's going to happen to them, so if you beat them, you don't need to ridicule them or put them down or talk about them or anything like that because they're already hurt from losing. I told him not to do that.
Q:
I'm good. Jack, you said in your opening remarks that you thought that this was a fight that should've happened years ago, and you said better late than never. I just wonder from your perspective if you could chronicle how the discussion or the notion that these guys might fight years ago back I guess when Shane was a lightweight champion and Floyd was the junior lightweight champion.
J. Mosley:
Wait a minute, redo that question again. My wife came in and distracted me.
Q:
That's okay. Wives are allowed to do that. You mentioned in your opening remarks about how this fight should've happened years ago. It's happening now May 1, but several years ago was something that was talked about as well. I just wonder your thoughts about the conversation that took place at that time and how serious it was and from your point of view maybe why it didn't happen at that point.
J. Mosley
Well, from what I've been told, Shane was getting ready to move up to 147, and he asked Floyd if he wanted to fight him. If he did, come on up to 135 and they could fight, and then he can go on ahead and move up to 147, but Floyd said he wanted to break the record of I'm not sure who the guys was, Carlos ... or something, break his record of being undefeated of something, a title defenses or something like that. I'm not exactly sure, but it was something like that. Shane said, well fine, and he just moved up to 147, and then of course shortly after that Floyd moved up to 135.
Q:
So it wasn't really serious discussion. It was just sort of two really good champions in their respective divisions, maybe we'll fight, but it just didn't work out.
J. Mosley
It just didn't work out, so Shane moved on up. Shane's that kind of a person. He'll fight you and offer you to fight him and everything, and if you don't want to do it, then he'll say, okay fine. He'll just move on up. Shane's not going to mess around. That's been Shane all his career.
Q:
I wanted to also ask you, do you wish sometimes you were in the corner with Shane working the way you did for so many years. In following that sort of line of thought here, I'm wondering what is your point of view about the work that Naazim has done with Shane.
J. Mosley
I haven't been to Big Bear to see what he's doing. Like I said before, Shane already knows how to fight. I've trained him from age 8 up to now. That's 30 years, and so if he doesn't know how to fight now, he never will. I don't think anybody can train him to fight any different. He already knows how to fight. If Shane at this point wanted someone else to train him, well, fine. He's a grown man, and I stand behind him. If he asked me to train him, would I train him again? Well, yes. That's my son. I'm going to do whatever my son wants me to do to help him in his career. That's where I'm at with it. Right now I'm in a father's role, and I'll support him as his father.
Q:
Right, and I understand that, but I'm wondering your opinion as the father and also as an extremely knowledgeable boxing person and top trainer in your own right when you watch the way that Nazim talks to him in the corner, even if you're not up at camp, like the way he obviously handled the situation with the hand wraps at the L.A. fight last year. I guess maybe you've seen the way Nazim has worked maybe with Bernard Hopkins, if you have an opinion about Nazim.
J. Mosley
No, I haven't really seen him work with Shane or Bernard Hopkins or anything like that. I don't know what he's doing with Shane, but I know when Shane fights he fights the way I've trained him to fight. I see that, but I'm, like you say, a strategy to do certain things well, that might be, that's what he says he's doing. He has a strategy.
But let me say this here, we've been having strategies to fight Floyd since Floyd has been boxing, so if we ever had a chance to fight him, we already knew how to fight Floyd and beat him. It won't be a surprise to me when Shane beats him because we already studied him over and over. I'm sure Floyd has studied Shane over and over again, so we've already laid the tracks across our brains how to fight him, visualization, and actually, just checking him out and everything he does. It's not going to be a surprise to me when Shane wins because we've already had the strategies for years.
Q:
Do you not have an opinion about Nazim as a trainer?
J. Mosley
No, I don't, not really. He's a trainer. He trained Bernard, and now he's training Shane, but Shane's already been trained.
Q:
You mentioned that you taught Shane not to stand over and taunt a guy. Mayweather's known for trying to get into opponent's head by playing head games before a fight. Is that something since you know it's coming that can be prepared for?
J. Mosley
Say that again?
Q:
Mayweather's known for trying to play head games with an opponent before a fight trying to, as he says, beat him mentally before he beats him in the ring. You know there's a lot of trash talking coming. Is that something that you can prepare for before a fight?
J. Mosley
Well, yes because Shane, he's got a strong mind. That stuff doesn't bother him at all. That's something we deal with, too. He let that stuff roll off like water or something. That's not going to get in Shane's head. Shane is such a professional, and he's determined that he doesn't even hear that stuff.
Q:
Do you engage it, or you just let it go?
J. Mosley
Well, it depends on what it is. You can respond to it because you don't want something to go unanswered, like the President. They advised him not to let stuff go unanswered, and so you've got to answer every charge, but you can do it in such a way where it's classy. You don't have to be derogatory and stuff like that.
Q:
Floyd Sr., who'll be on here later, is kind of a bombastic personality in his own right. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that. Have you ever had any interaction with him that stands out to you more than any other?
J. Mosley
The only thing that stands out from any other is I picked him up and set him to the side when Shane fought Oscar. I don't know if you've seen that. He didn't realize how strong I was because he was in my way of the scales, and he wouldn't move over. I said, "Floyd, you've got to move over. It's my turn to stand by the scales when Oscar got up to weigh in," and he just stood there, and so I said, okay. You're not going to do that to me in front of 5,000 people. I simply lifted him up, moved him to the side and stood there and did what I had to do.
Q:
What did he do?
J. Mosley
He just stood there. He didn't move.
Q:
Before that fight did he trash talk you directly about fighting between your two sons or between Oscar and Shane, whatever the case may be?
J. Mosley
No, we're cool with each other. I speak to him when I see him and everything like that, but the media, when we had to go and talk in front of the media, that's just what it was. I said my say, and he had his say, and that's what we did. We just talked to the media separately.
He would talk a little bit, and I would talk a little bit. He would have his say, and I would have my say, and basically, that was it, but I can see him in the casino or something. I speak to him. He speaks to me. We shake hands and stuff like that. It's nothing crazy happening between us.
Q:
Sure. As you mentioned you've been studying this fight for many years, the potential for it-
J. Mosley
Not this fight. Anytime we fight we just analyze all these different fights and his fighting style and the whole bit, so that's why I say I wouldn't be surprised when Shane wins the fight because we already know how to beat him.
Q:
Which leads me into what I want to ask you about, you mentioned that when Shane fights he fights the way that you trained him to fight.
J. Mosley
Yes, you start your style out at age 8. When you start a style out, you're not going to just change your style overnight.
Q:
Right, what I want to ask you is from your perspective as you watch Mayweather Jr., he's had a decade solid now with Roger Mayweather. Is he a different fighter at all under Roger than he was before that under Floyd Sr.?
J. Mosley
Well, Floyd Sr. and Roger kind of train the same. I've watched them. They kind of train the same, so he's just getting the reinforcement from Roger I believe, and Roger has been a great fighter himself and so has his father. They're both great fighters, but the style that they've given Floyd Jr. hasn't changed.
Q:
You don't foresee that as Floyd Jr. being any more offensive-minded or whatever the case may be under Roger? There are no tweaks in particular that you're noticing?
J. Mosley
No, basically, he's been the same fighter all his career coming off the Olympics and everything. He's the same fighter. He might be slightly more defensive because you've got to be kind of offensive as an amateur, but as a pro he's been more defensive unless you're a guy that he knows he can really, really beat. He'll come after you then. He's not a stupid fighter at all, and he's not going to just run after Shane like Shane is Marquez. He's not going to do that. That's his style. He's got a style where he'll try to adapt to your style, and also, Shane can do the same thing.
Q:
Good. Speaking of styles, my question to you is this. Do you feel as though whoever controls the pace of that fight will ultimately win the fight?
J. Mosley
You could say that because the pace can be controlled in different ways. One could have the pressure on a guy, and putting pressure on the guy is controlling the pace also. The pace can be controlled in different ways, so that's how I look at that.
Q:
I say that because both fighters are, I guess their best weapon in both cases, Floyd is basically a defensive fighter, and Shane is like an offensive fighter, so they tend to control the pace of the fight with their particular styles. That's what made me ask you that question, so which one do you feel as thought would prevail?
J. Mosley
I think Shane is a defensive fighter also. People don't know that. They think he's not, but Shane is a boxer, puncher, I call it a power boxing, and so I'm thinking when you're boxing a guy who may be defensive against all his other fights may not be so defensive against a guy of Shane's talent. You follow what I'm saying? In that respect I just think Shane will just be too much for Floyd to handle, but he's too powerful. He takes a good punch. He hits like a heavyweight, and he's fast enough to hit Floyd. If they think Floyd is faster than Shane, well, let me just say it this way. He's fast enough to hit Floyd over and over and over again, and that's going to be a problem for Floyd and with power.
R. Schaefer
It's a pleasure now to hand it over to our co-promoter, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, who will introduce Floyd Sr. Please, Leonard.
L. Ellerbe
Thank you, Richard. I want to thank everybody for being on the call on the call today. I really like the idea of this call as it's not really about the fathers who also happen to be boxing trainers, but more so the relationship of these men and their sons and in this particular case the bond that Floyd Sr. has with his son. In my eyes their relationship has been really well documented, and through it all the Mayweather bond between the father and son, it has never wavered in my eyes. The deep love and appreciation that the two have had for a number of years, you can't even begin to even talk about it because I know personally how Floyd Jr. feels about his dad and the impact that he has had on his life.
Floyd Sr. has really played an integral part in his son's career from the very beginning. He's taught him everything that he knows about the sport which has enabled him to be the best fighter in the sport today as we all know. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, none other than in my eyes the best trainer in the sport today, Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Floyd Mayweather Sr.
First of all, I heard Jack. He is crazy. He said crazy things about what Shane's going to do. Shane's going to get his ass whooped. That's what's going to happen. I'm going to tell you.
Floyd's faster than Shane, much faster, much slicker, more clever, smarter. You understand? He's got so many things he can do. Shane can't ever do just what his daddy said, be strong and come straight ahead, and he hasn't got to worry about that because, like I said, all we know is the outline on him because Oscar de la Hoya already showed that. He did that the second time when he fought him, so we already know what to do with Shane ....
He's talking about how fast, he's going to find out how fast he is and how smart he is. To be honest with you, to tell you the truth, he's never even beat a black fighter. That pretty much tells you how it's going to be.
Q:
Floyd, would a victory over Shane Mosley in your mind be one of Floyd's bigger victories in his career and why?
F. Mayweather Sr.
I wouldn't necessarily say that it's his biggest victory. I guess it could be one of his biggest victories, but overall, I'm being honest. I really believe that Shane's not going to be the toughest challenge Floyd has had yet because from what I've seen of Shane, all that Margarito stuff that he did, it isn't anything, man. Believe me. Margarito was a walking mummy, so he was tailor-made for Shane. He's got somebody that he's going to be tailor-made for.
Floyd's just got too many things he can use against Shane. Shane is not smart. He's not smart. He had quick hands. The hands aren't that quick anyway, doesn't usually jab enough, and when he does use it, he's going to get countered. Every time he shoots, something will come flying over the top of it. I just really think that my son's got too many things in his arsenal for Shane. That's what I believe.
Q:
You were quoted on a fight web site that you hear that Shane is getting beat up in training camp. Do you want to expound on that a little bit?
F. Mayweather Sr.
You said you heard that?
Q:
No, I saw you quoted as saying that.
F. Mayweather Sr.
You heard me. You quoted me. Well, I'm going to be honest. It doesn't make any difference if he gets his ass whooped in training or wherever he gets it whooped. He's going to get it whooped on May 1. That's all I was talking about. I'm just saying because if they're whooping his ass right now, it'll make it easier for little Floyd when the 1 st gets here.
Q:
Do you like what Floyd's doing in training camp? Do you like how his training has been going?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Floyd's been looking great.
Q:
In what way?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Every way possible. I'm just telling you, Floyd isn't having a problem at all. Floyd's barely getting hit. All this stuff he's talking about the speed, this, that. Floyd's got too much mind for Shane. Trust me. You're going to see. Shane's going to be a walking mummy. I'm going to tell you this right here. Trust me. I'm going to tell you this right here. It's going to be like this right here. ...
Q:
Did you say he's got too much mind for Mosley?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Well, you can call it mind. You've got to use your mind. I said he's said he's too smart for Shane. Like I said, I'm going to let everybody know, I want to let everybody know right here that this fight won't go past 11, and you heard this first from Floyd on 24/7 . That's what's going to happen on TV.
Q:
I'm all right, buddy. How much are you in the camp right now?
F. Mayweather Sr.
I'm in the camp every day.
Q:
Are you consulted anymore for this fight for strategy purposes since you have experience specifically putting together a game plan for fighting Shane?
F. Mayweather Sr.
The only thing I can tell you, Dave, is everything's going real good in the camp now, and Floyd's looking very sharp. Like I said, what little Floyd's doing now, man, is amazing right now. I just think that what Jack said, he said that Shane's going to be ... he's got somebody now that can, he's strong, and he's got all this power, but I'm pretty sure you know yourself, Dave, pretty much how that's going to go.
Q:
Is it all a similar game plan fighting Shane for Floyd as it was for Oscar since they have different talents. Floyd and Oscar have different talents. Is there any similarity in the game plan for Floyd fighting Shane ...?
F. Mayweather Sr .
Well, you know something, that's a good thing you laid out right there about Oscar and Floyd fighting Shane. All they do is, it isn't anything but a blueprint right there what Oscar did to him already. It's the blueprint. Oscar beat the hell out of him, but we already know that it's a little bit different here. The blueprint's already laid out for him. He hasn't got any better. How're you going to get better? That's what I want to know. Believe me, Shane knows what's coming.
Q:
What's a tougher fight, Pacquiao or Mosley for Floyd?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Who's going to be the toughest fight? Well, you know something, being real I would say that Shane would be the tougher fight. I only say that for reasons. I'm going to court for some things that have been happening, so that's the only reason I would let you know that Shane would be the toughest fight because of certain reasons.
Q:
I know what you're saying. Hypothetically, all things being equal style wise and tools and things like that, can you compare the two as far as which one might ...?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Yes, Shane would be a much tougher fight if everything was equal. Shane would be much tougher than that whatever over there that fights like a machine. Shane would be much tougher. I'm just saying equally, if everything is on the up and up, Shane would be definitely a much tougher fight.
Q:
Why do you think that's the case?
F. Mayweather Sr.
Well, I just explained that. I think that I explained it, and I think you said you knew. ...
M. Rosenthal Yes, I know what you said. Okay, thank you.
Q:
Floyd, I talked to Shane yesterday, and he feels as though Floyd is fighting the biggest fighter he's ever fought, and he's fighting a guy who hits harder than anybody he's every fought. Obviously, you trained against Shane one time at least once. What do you think of that assertion by Shane?
F. Mayweather Sr.
I don't feel like Shane's the biggest punch. Shane doesn't punch harder than Oscar de la Hoya. Floyd fought de la Hoya. Yes, he did, and Shane is not a bigger punch than de la Hoy
