Roy Jones Trainer Al Merkerson's Telephone Transcript

**BadMagick** · 09-23-2005, 11:29 PM

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Last update: 09-21-2005 Submitted by Press Release

Roy Jones Trainer Al Merkerson's Telephone Transcript
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It really doesn�t matter who is in charge. Both of us are preparing Roy for the fight. You would have to ask Roy who is the number one guy. From my standpoint it doesn�t really matter who it is as long as I am part of making him effective for the fight.

It is not a problem at all with me working with Big Roy. He has things that he does and I have things that I do. Roy has the privilege of us two. Big Roy was with Roy prior to me coming along and it is his prerogative if he wants to bring his dad back � to bring him back and that�s what he did. We have our own things that we do and we give constructive criticism to Roy. He takes input from both of us and there is no problem at all in the camp.

Its working fine, he just has two corner men in the corner. If I have some input I give it to Roy and if his dad has some to give to him, he gives it to him.

Who will speak to him between rounds?

That�s up to Roy and he has not determined that yet. He hasn�t said it to me or his dad yet. That�s a question Roy has to answer.

He�s doing fine. He�s on track and training very hard. Physically and mentally prepared � he is really focused on this fight. The lackadaisical state that he was in before, losing interest in boxing, I think has gone. I think he�s back and more dedicated than he was the last two or three fights. So you�ll see that in the fight. If he was that dedicated for the last three fights things would not have happened the way they did anyway.

How is the hand?

His hand is fine and there is no problem at all and he will be ready on the 1st. He�ll be fine � he�s a big boy. Whichever hand it is it doesn�t really matter. He�ll be OK for the fight. That�s exactly what I am saying. His dad trained him for thirteen years and I have trained him for twelve and this is no different than the problems he�s had before. So it won�t be a factor in the fight.

Once you�ve been known for being a great fighter, that�s something that you can�t take away. Personally, I don�t think Roy has anything that he needs to prove to anybody because he had already proved that before by winning the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight and that can never be taken away. I don�t think he is interested in proving anything to society or the boxing world � I think he is concerned with proving something to himself and doing the right thing. He�s the type of guy � now if he retired after the last fight it would have been all right with me, because he�s already been categorized as a great fighter. But he says he doesn�t want to go out that way. He says he�s not going to go out losing like that and he doesn�t have to because he is still capable of being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I think that�s what�s on his mind right now is that �I�m different than what you think I am. I am not a washed up fighter. I am still the best fighter out there and you�ll see that after the fight on the first of October.�

The previous few fights Roy�s performance wasn�t what it should have been. I think he really got tired of the sport of boxing. He was bored, all of the criticism about him not fighting anybody. All of the negative input just made him fed up with boxing. I don�t care who he fought or who he beat, it wasn�t good enough. The guy wasn�t physically prepared or this excuse or that excuse preventing people from saying that he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. At that point he was ready to leave boxing and leave it as it stood. That had a lot to do with his performance.

It�s like taking a test. If you don�t study for an exam and you take the exam, you�re not going to do very well on the exam. You might just blow it out and flunk it. So I can basically say that�s how he felt and he doesn�t feel that way anymore. He wants to study so he can get a 100% on the test.

Looking back, does he think he would have left earlier?

I don�t think he looks back at what he should have done and things like that. The fact of the matter is, that when you get to the status that Roy is in, and you are considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and you�ve won the heavyweight title, you�ve reached the ultimate goal so what else do you do. Tyson is a great fighter and I�d like to fight him on my way out, but that falls out. Now you got to go down and fight somebody at another weight class and knows he is going to catch hell trying to lose that weight. That can�t be a motivating factor � the first fight with Tarver. There was weight problem and everybody knows that. Then you fight him and you win. Then there is all of the controversy and everybody says it was a real close fight then Johnson fights Tarver after that then Johnson beats Tarver then Roy said, �OK, I�ll fight this guy.� He wasn�t motivated for that fight. Then he loses that and he comes back and fights Tarver again. They were fights that he really wasn�t interested in but I think the interest is there now for the simple reason that he has to reclaim his fame. These guys beat him and he wants revenge. Now the motivation is back."

Sounds like he has his history screwed up. He was KO'ed by Tarver, then Johnson, not the other way around.

**Shaolin Bushido** · 09-23-2005, 11:49 PM

The lackadaisical state that he was in before, losing interest in boxing, I think has gone. I think he�s back and more dedicated than he was the last two or three fights. So you�ll see that in the fight. If he was that dedicated for the last three fights things would not have happened the way they did anyway.

Hmm, is it true? Alton can't be deluded as a shot fighter would be in denial can he?

I hope I'm wrong but Roy didn't look like any p4p guy in either fight versus Tarver or against Glencoffe.

Roy Jones Trainer Al Merkerson's Telephone Transcript