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GM: After that card, Manny Steward broke down basically who he feels the champion is. For his money Cotto is the guy because he is taking the tougher fights and because Floyd is picking and choosing his opponents and not even fighting a true welterweight in Hatton. In essence he gives up his linear welterweight title by doing that. Manny’s whole point was that the best at any given weight need to fight the best and let the people and the fighters decide who is the champion. What’s your take on that?
PW: I feel that if you want to be the best fighter out there then whatever challenge comes up you need to meet that challenge. A lot of people criticize Floyd for choosing his fights. Me, I want all the belts. I want to fight guys with the belts. I feel if think you are the best fighter then you have to fight the best to prove to everyone you’re the best fighter. I don’t feel you should run and duck fighters like ‘okay I’m not going to fight this guy, I’m going to fight this guy.’ That’s like defeating the purpose of saying you’re the best in the world.
GM: You took on and beat the longest reigning welterweight titleholder in Margarito. Does it bother you at all that Floyd is out there saying he’s the Man; he’s the linear titlist, when really he is fighting the best 140 lb fighter in the world?
PW: In a way it kind of gets to me when people say he’s the Man; he’s the best because of all he achieved in his early career. All the fights he had, all the belts and titles Floyd has won and stuff. People look at that and say ‘oh yeah he’s the best.’ But to me, I know the best fighters fight the best. That’s when they prove to everybody they deserve to be called the best. Like when nobody wanted to fight Margarito. They offered all this kind of money for all these guys to fight Margarito but nobody wanted to fight him. But I stood up to the challenge and beat him. Now everybody calls him out. They’ll do this to him. They’ll do that to him.
GM: It seems the easiest way to get someone to fight is to lose.
PW: When you lose everyone wants you. My thing is I want the guys who are undefeated. If you beat ‘em, then you should get their reputation. That’s how I feel. And the fans should hold these guys to it. When a fighter says they are the best then they should say ‘okay let’s see it. Let’s see you fight the best.’ But it’s all about business.
GM: Does that bother you? There’s a school of thought that it’s all business and you should protect yourself. But then there’s an old school way of thinking that if you chop down the tree and you beat everybody, the money will come, the fans will come. Is that more your mentality?
PW: Yes sir because I don’t think the fans appreciate the guys that be ducking, picking and choosing their fighters and stuff. They kind of figure it out. ‘This guy says he’s top dog at that weight class but he’s not fighting the top dogs. He’s fighting the dogs that he can beat. The dogs that aren’t even that weight class but are coming up into that weight class.’ The real boxing fans, the real boxing people, they know. But the people that don’t really know boxing like that they get sidetracked. They see all the belts they come into the ring with. They hear them say Pound for Pound and all that. Not raining on Floyd’s party but if he claims he’s the best then he should fight the top dogs in the weight class. That’s how I look at it.
GM: I agree with that. I don’t want to get into a Floyd bashing session. The guy will be a Hall of Fame fighter. In my opinion he could retire before the Hatton fight and he’d be a Hall of Fame fighter. But we’re talking about the welterweights not what he did before. Who do you see as the biggest threat to you, as your toughest match up in the welterweight division?
PW: You want the honest truth?
GM: Honest truth.
PW: Myself. Not being ****y or arrogant. I just feel if I am not being true to my job that would be the biggest threat to me. Me not doing what I am supposed to do. But all the other guys, I see them fighting in the ring, I’m not taking anything from them but they don’t have enough. I don’t see a style that can beat me.
GM: That’s honest. Speaking to the point of the lifestyle of a champion beating you, how has your life changed since beating Margarito?
PW: My life didn’t change much. Only thing that changed is that I am a world champion. I still have the same trainer; I still do the same stuff. Only thing that changed is that they call me Champ in the gym now. They say ‘How you doing, Champ?’ That’s the only thing that’s changed.
GM: You beat the guy that was quote/unquote ‘The Most Feared Man in Boxing’. He had the belt for so long and yet nobody seemed to want to take it. Do you feel like you kind of inherited that mantle? Kind of the most feared match up in Boxing? That guys aren’t exactly lining up to fight you at this point?
PW: I feel like I had that before I fought Margarito. Guys didn’t want to fight me. Then when I fought Margarito and beat him, it’s hard to get fights now. I look at it like this; the fans are going to demand it of these guys saying they are the best. And every time they get on TV they start calling out guys and top welterweights, they never mention my name. I mean I’m a world champion. Why don’t you mention my name? They mention everybody else’s name but they never mention my name.
GM: Do you think come 2008 they’ll be mentioning it more?
PW: I’m going to make them mention it. I’m going to be a threat and I’m not going to move out of that weight class until I get all them belts.
GM: If you look at the three other titlists [besides Mayweather], Cotto, Cintron and yourself, you all have the same mentality. You’ll fight anyone. Floyd has taken himself out of the welterweight picture in my opinion because he is off doing his own thing. You and Cintron are tentatively set to fight and I know Cotto wants to unify so at least we will get three pieces of the puzzle together.
PW: That’s what the fans need. Back in the old say there wasn’t four champions in one weight class. There was one champion. So that eliminates all the talk of ‘Oh my favorite fighter, he the champ.’ I think all of the fighters with the belts should fight all the other fighters with the belts. Like an eliminator. Then the fans can say ‘my fighter got all the belts. He’s the champion because he proved it.’ That’s how they should do it.
GM: What do you value more: Your undefeated record or getting a chance to prove yourself against another champion?
PW: Proving myself against another champion. I fought with Margarito and he was the champion and I was the challenger. I proved all I need is the opportunity. I proved to the world that I want to be a champion. I want to get all the belts. I want to be the number one champion.
GM: Well, good talking to you, Paul. Next time we talk we’ll know more about your next fight and you can break it down for us here at Doghouseboxing.com. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.
PW: Thank you, sir.
PW: I feel that if you want to be the best fighter out there then whatever challenge comes up you need to meet that challenge. A lot of people criticize Floyd for choosing his fights. Me, I want all the belts. I want to fight guys with the belts. I feel if think you are the best fighter then you have to fight the best to prove to everyone you’re the best fighter. I don’t feel you should run and duck fighters like ‘okay I’m not going to fight this guy, I’m going to fight this guy.’ That’s like defeating the purpose of saying you’re the best in the world.
GM: You took on and beat the longest reigning welterweight titleholder in Margarito. Does it bother you at all that Floyd is out there saying he’s the Man; he’s the linear titlist, when really he is fighting the best 140 lb fighter in the world?
PW: In a way it kind of gets to me when people say he’s the Man; he’s the best because of all he achieved in his early career. All the fights he had, all the belts and titles Floyd has won and stuff. People look at that and say ‘oh yeah he’s the best.’ But to me, I know the best fighters fight the best. That’s when they prove to everybody they deserve to be called the best. Like when nobody wanted to fight Margarito. They offered all this kind of money for all these guys to fight Margarito but nobody wanted to fight him. But I stood up to the challenge and beat him. Now everybody calls him out. They’ll do this to him. They’ll do that to him.
GM: It seems the easiest way to get someone to fight is to lose.
PW: When you lose everyone wants you. My thing is I want the guys who are undefeated. If you beat ‘em, then you should get their reputation. That’s how I feel. And the fans should hold these guys to it. When a fighter says they are the best then they should say ‘okay let’s see it. Let’s see you fight the best.’ But it’s all about business.
GM: Does that bother you? There’s a school of thought that it’s all business and you should protect yourself. But then there’s an old school way of thinking that if you chop down the tree and you beat everybody, the money will come, the fans will come. Is that more your mentality?
PW: Yes sir because I don’t think the fans appreciate the guys that be ducking, picking and choosing their fighters and stuff. They kind of figure it out. ‘This guy says he’s top dog at that weight class but he’s not fighting the top dogs. He’s fighting the dogs that he can beat. The dogs that aren’t even that weight class but are coming up into that weight class.’ The real boxing fans, the real boxing people, they know. But the people that don’t really know boxing like that they get sidetracked. They see all the belts they come into the ring with. They hear them say Pound for Pound and all that. Not raining on Floyd’s party but if he claims he’s the best then he should fight the top dogs in the weight class. That’s how I look at it.
GM: I agree with that. I don’t want to get into a Floyd bashing session. The guy will be a Hall of Fame fighter. In my opinion he could retire before the Hatton fight and he’d be a Hall of Fame fighter. But we’re talking about the welterweights not what he did before. Who do you see as the biggest threat to you, as your toughest match up in the welterweight division?
PW: You want the honest truth?
GM: Honest truth.
PW: Myself. Not being ****y or arrogant. I just feel if I am not being true to my job that would be the biggest threat to me. Me not doing what I am supposed to do. But all the other guys, I see them fighting in the ring, I’m not taking anything from them but they don’t have enough. I don’t see a style that can beat me.
GM: That’s honest. Speaking to the point of the lifestyle of a champion beating you, how has your life changed since beating Margarito?
PW: My life didn’t change much. Only thing that changed is that I am a world champion. I still have the same trainer; I still do the same stuff. Only thing that changed is that they call me Champ in the gym now. They say ‘How you doing, Champ?’ That’s the only thing that’s changed.
GM: You beat the guy that was quote/unquote ‘The Most Feared Man in Boxing’. He had the belt for so long and yet nobody seemed to want to take it. Do you feel like you kind of inherited that mantle? Kind of the most feared match up in Boxing? That guys aren’t exactly lining up to fight you at this point?
PW: I feel like I had that before I fought Margarito. Guys didn’t want to fight me. Then when I fought Margarito and beat him, it’s hard to get fights now. I look at it like this; the fans are going to demand it of these guys saying they are the best. And every time they get on TV they start calling out guys and top welterweights, they never mention my name. I mean I’m a world champion. Why don’t you mention my name? They mention everybody else’s name but they never mention my name.
GM: Do you think come 2008 they’ll be mentioning it more?
PW: I’m going to make them mention it. I’m going to be a threat and I’m not going to move out of that weight class until I get all them belts.
GM: If you look at the three other titlists [besides Mayweather], Cotto, Cintron and yourself, you all have the same mentality. You’ll fight anyone. Floyd has taken himself out of the welterweight picture in my opinion because he is off doing his own thing. You and Cintron are tentatively set to fight and I know Cotto wants to unify so at least we will get three pieces of the puzzle together.
PW: That’s what the fans need. Back in the old say there wasn’t four champions in one weight class. There was one champion. So that eliminates all the talk of ‘Oh my favorite fighter, he the champ.’ I think all of the fighters with the belts should fight all the other fighters with the belts. Like an eliminator. Then the fans can say ‘my fighter got all the belts. He’s the champion because he proved it.’ That’s how they should do it.
GM: What do you value more: Your undefeated record or getting a chance to prove yourself against another champion?
PW: Proving myself against another champion. I fought with Margarito and he was the champion and I was the challenger. I proved all I need is the opportunity. I proved to the world that I want to be a champion. I want to get all the belts. I want to be the number one champion.
GM: Well, good talking to you, Paul. Next time we talk we’ll know more about your next fight and you can break it down for us here at Doghouseboxing.com. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.
PW: Thank you, sir.
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