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"Alton Merkerson Talks Anout Trinidad-Jones
How has the training been going?
MERKERSON: “It’s going great. I’d like to say hello to everyone out there. Roy has been training very hard. He’s been very enthusiastic during the training camp. We are just ready to go. Roy was very motivated during the training, he’s put a lot of money in the bank; did all the right things. I haven’t seen this in him in the last two or three years, maybe four years. Eat, sleep, thinking boxing. He is back on track, just like he was back when he was very hot in the boxing game..”
He’s been training for 3 months?
MERKERSON: “Yeah, you know, we started off camp back in Pensacola. We had a beginning stage, a progression stage, and a training stage. We are at the point now where we are ready to fight. We split the camp up into two parts. Did a lot of pre-training in Pensacola—just conditioning—then starting to box and move around in the ring. And once he started boxing, we went up to the mountains in California, Pennsylvania, to finish up the last four weeks and concluded our training at that point.”
Roy hasn’t gone away to training camp for a sometime?
MERKERSON: “It’s been a while. It’s been exciting for me. He’s been very energetic. We had a very small camp, a very productive camp. We didn’t have any problems in the camp at all. Everything went on as scheduled. And he’s just a very motivated guy, like I’ve known him to be over the years. And he’s ready to box.”
How was it getting the weight down?
MERKERSON: “No problem, no problem. I say no problem... if there was a problem, I wouldn’t tell you though (laughter). It’s all in the job. You do what you have to do. Roy will be 39 years old. It’s a little harder for him to lose weight than it was some years ago. But you know when you get a warrior who’s been in combat, he does whatever it takes and doesn’t complain about it.”
So many people remember Roy in his prime being the top…
MERKERSON: “From a training standpoint, those people who haven’t been exposed to it and deal with athletes you know, your body goes through certain transitions in life, especially when it comes with age. But with Roy, that hasn’t been a factor with him. What people fail to realize is that Roy came from a middleweight all the way up to heavyweight and won every title. And once he became a heavyweight—you have to do a lot to put on muscle to hold a solid 200 pounds to fight heavyweight—when he fought John Ruiz. So your body goes through some transitions. Now, you find a heavyweight at that weight, and within three months he came all the way back down to light-heavy, which is a much smaller weight, and you are not just losing fat, you are losing muscle because that’s what you put on. So your body is going to go through some stages that you really can’t explain to people how it is. They have to experience it. You know how people go on diets, and how hard it is to loose weight? And that’s fat, so when you have muscle, it’s that much harder. Now, his body has settled down, and he’s at a lower weight now, so it’s no problem and he’s back to where he used to be. I saw some things in this camp that I haven’t seen in 3 or 4 years. I see the old Roy; some of things that I saw back when I had him in the Olympics in 88. I saw some of the things out of Roy in this training camp that I saw when he beat Bernard Hopkins with one hand. I saw some of the things in Roy at this camp how he dominated against John Ruiz as a heavyweight. So those things that I saw in him during this training camp are the same things that I saw in him as a young Olympian in 88. Actions speak louder than words. I can’t say anymore. You’ll see it in the fight as it comes up.”
Tito Trinidad, who was generally a middle weight before this fight…Why Tito?
MERKERSON: “You talk about Sugar Ray Robinson, and you talk about all those guys in the old days, not trying to be historic, who came from a lower weight and came up to a heavier weight, to be successful. First of all, you’ve got to understand this: Tito is coming up in weight. You’ve got to look at Roy. You tell me one heavyweight who has won a heavyweight title in history, and came back down not only to light heavyweight but came to the weight of 170. So realistically, Tito is coming up. We are giving him an advantage. We are going down to 170 pounds. Do you know how hard that is to do? I’d like my client to concentrate on fighting in the ring, instead of making weight. When it comes to a case like this, Roy doesn’t have his cake and ice cream, too, like Tito does. So that balances things out. Roy has to work hard, and he has to be in shape and work very hard to be able to come down to 170 so he’s not fighting a smaller person. I think they are on even skill. And you’ve got to understand that both of these guys are legends, both of them are still energetic, both of them can still fight, both of them has had lulls in action. But every great fighter you’ve had out there in history, have had some downfalls and that doesn’t mean they didn’t come back. So I totally disagree with people who make those statements.”---esb
"Alton Merkerson Talks Anout Trinidad-Jones
How has the training been going?
MERKERSON: “It’s going great. I’d like to say hello to everyone out there. Roy has been training very hard. He’s been very enthusiastic during the training camp. We are just ready to go. Roy was very motivated during the training, he’s put a lot of money in the bank; did all the right things. I haven’t seen this in him in the last two or three years, maybe four years. Eat, sleep, thinking boxing. He is back on track, just like he was back when he was very hot in the boxing game..”
He’s been training for 3 months?
MERKERSON: “Yeah, you know, we started off camp back in Pensacola. We had a beginning stage, a progression stage, and a training stage. We are at the point now where we are ready to fight. We split the camp up into two parts. Did a lot of pre-training in Pensacola—just conditioning—then starting to box and move around in the ring. And once he started boxing, we went up to the mountains in California, Pennsylvania, to finish up the last four weeks and concluded our training at that point.”
Roy hasn’t gone away to training camp for a sometime?
MERKERSON: “It’s been a while. It’s been exciting for me. He’s been very energetic. We had a very small camp, a very productive camp. We didn’t have any problems in the camp at all. Everything went on as scheduled. And he’s just a very motivated guy, like I’ve known him to be over the years. And he’s ready to box.”
How was it getting the weight down?
MERKERSON: “No problem, no problem. I say no problem... if there was a problem, I wouldn’t tell you though (laughter). It’s all in the job. You do what you have to do. Roy will be 39 years old. It’s a little harder for him to lose weight than it was some years ago. But you know when you get a warrior who’s been in combat, he does whatever it takes and doesn’t complain about it.”
So many people remember Roy in his prime being the top…
MERKERSON: “From a training standpoint, those people who haven’t been exposed to it and deal with athletes you know, your body goes through certain transitions in life, especially when it comes with age. But with Roy, that hasn’t been a factor with him. What people fail to realize is that Roy came from a middleweight all the way up to heavyweight and won every title. And once he became a heavyweight—you have to do a lot to put on muscle to hold a solid 200 pounds to fight heavyweight—when he fought John Ruiz. So your body goes through some transitions. Now, you find a heavyweight at that weight, and within three months he came all the way back down to light-heavy, which is a much smaller weight, and you are not just losing fat, you are losing muscle because that’s what you put on. So your body is going to go through some stages that you really can’t explain to people how it is. They have to experience it. You know how people go on diets, and how hard it is to loose weight? And that’s fat, so when you have muscle, it’s that much harder. Now, his body has settled down, and he’s at a lower weight now, so it’s no problem and he’s back to where he used to be. I saw some things in this camp that I haven’t seen in 3 or 4 years. I see the old Roy; some of things that I saw back when I had him in the Olympics in 88. I saw some of the things out of Roy in this training camp that I saw when he beat Bernard Hopkins with one hand. I saw some of the things in Roy at this camp how he dominated against John Ruiz as a heavyweight. So those things that I saw in him during this training camp are the same things that I saw in him as a young Olympian in 88. Actions speak louder than words. I can’t say anymore. You’ll see it in the fight as it comes up.”
Tito Trinidad, who was generally a middle weight before this fight…Why Tito?
MERKERSON: “You talk about Sugar Ray Robinson, and you talk about all those guys in the old days, not trying to be historic, who came from a lower weight and came up to a heavier weight, to be successful. First of all, you’ve got to understand this: Tito is coming up in weight. You’ve got to look at Roy. You tell me one heavyweight who has won a heavyweight title in history, and came back down not only to light heavyweight but came to the weight of 170. So realistically, Tito is coming up. We are giving him an advantage. We are going down to 170 pounds. Do you know how hard that is to do? I’d like my client to concentrate on fighting in the ring, instead of making weight. When it comes to a case like this, Roy doesn’t have his cake and ice cream, too, like Tito does. So that balances things out. Roy has to work hard, and he has to be in shape and work very hard to be able to come down to 170 so he’s not fighting a smaller person. I think they are on even skill. And you’ve got to understand that both of these guys are legends, both of them are still energetic, both of them can still fight, both of them has had lulls in action. But every great fighter you’ve had out there in history, have had some downfalls and that doesn’t mean they didn’t come back. So I totally disagree with people who make those statements.”---esb
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