By Chris Robinson
After paying a visit to Johnny Tocco’s on the north end of Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon to check out Floyd Mayweather Sr. working with amateur standout Kevin Newman, I decided to hit up the Mayweather Boxing Club on my way home.
The gym has been pretty packed as of late, with rapper Ludacris even swinging through to work out regularly this week, and it was a crowded scene yet again when I walked through the doors at 3:30 P.M.
While the talent in the building was noticeable, as is typically the case, my agenda was to simply get a hold of Roger Mayweather, as it had been a few weeks since the outspoken trainer and I had talked.
A lot had changed since I last had dialogue with Uncle Roger, as his nephew Floyd Jr. had first been sentenced to a 90-day jail sentence for his involvement in a September 2010 domestic violence case with his former fiancé’ Josie Harris and two of his children. Mayweather was set to hit jail on January 6th but would end up getting a delay that pushed back his time to early June, thus clearing the way for him to proceed with his scheduled May 5th fight at the MGM Grand.
Roger personally showed no surprise at all upon Floyd’s recent maneuvering.
“Floyd makes too much money for this town,” Roger said, sitting on the apron steps of the main ring. “Whatever he did is one thing, but they aint going to stop him from making money. That’s what Vegas lives on.”
Mayweather Jr. caused a ruckus earlier this week when he took to his personal Twitter account and fired a few salvos directly towards WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, calling him a ‘punk’ and pleading for him to step up and accept his challenge for a fight.
Some have questioned why Floyd would make such a brazen statement online but Roger feels he has the right to.
“If Floyd’s going to fight him, Floyd can tell him anything he wants,” Roger continued. “Floyd’s the one who got to fight him.”
The past few weeks have seen Bob Arum receive a backlash from the fans and media alike for their insistence that the Top Rank boss doesn’t want to make a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight become a reality. Arum makes it clear that the bout won’t be feasible for May 5th because of the severity of the cut above Pacquiao’s right eye as well as his interest in building an outdoor stadium for the event, a project that wouldn’t be completed until late May.
Roger feels that Arum does have interest in the fight, but not for the moment.
“Why? Why? Why he say that? You know why he say that? Because he don’t want it right now. He wants Pacquiao to make some more money. That’s the only mother****** he got, that’s why. He wants the fight but he doesn’t want it right now,” Roger said emphatically.
Outside of Mayweather, Pacquiao is said to be looking at a fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, who he defeated via majority-decision in November, as well as a rematch with Miguel Cotto and fights with junior welterweight champions Tim Bradley and Lamont Peterson as his next option.
Roger seems to feel that Marquez, who has faced Pacquiao three times, will get the call, simply because he would help produce the most attractive event.
“The biggest fight is going to be with Marquez," said Roger. "That’s the biggest fight for him. They fought three times already and the last fight Pacquiao was getting his a$$ whooped. So, they have to make that fight again.”
Related Slideshows
Photo journalist Chris Robinson - Behind the scenes in Las Vegas with the Mayweathers, Pacquiao, Donaire, Cotto, Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Brandon Rios and several other stars
Intense sparring with Nonito Donaire - Go inside the camp of the 'Filipino Flash' as he goes heads up with Russian featherweight prospect Evgeny Gradovich at the Top Rank Gym in Vegas
Reliving Pacquiao-Marquez III - A look back at the trilogy bout, including the opening pressers, Pacquiao's Vegas arrival, ringisde shots, and a look at the post-fight presser
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com and www.Twitter.com/CRHarmony
