By Rick Reeno
It's been a turbulent couple of days for trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Last Friday, he found out that his son, Floyd Mayweather Jr, was retiring from the sport of boxing. The announcement puts the nail in the coffin of a planned rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, who Floyd Sr trains. The rematch, tentatively scheduled for this coming September, would have made Floyd Sr a lot of money. The cancellation puts a damper in Floyd Sr's wallet, but he's not worried. He doesn't put any stock into the recent retirement (the second in two-years) by Floyd Jr. He expects him to return and retire a few more times.
"He might retire three or four more times. Nobody believes him. Nobody takes him serious because all he does is tell lies. Like he tells everyone that I used to beat him all the time when he was younger and all I did is beat him. That's a lie. How can become the fighter that he is today if I was beating him to ground all the time. What I did do is help him make over $100 million dollars," Mayweather Sr said to BoxingScene.com. "He thanks everyone but his daddy. He thanks Leonard Ellerbe, a homosexual. I know he's a homosexual and everyone else knows it. You can print that because I said it. I can tell you nothing else but how gay he is."
De La Hoya is on the hunt for a new dance partner. Several names have been mentioned and several names have called De La Hoya out. In the opinion of Mayweather Sr, the best fight for Oscar would come against the winner of the upcoming July clash between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and challenger Antonio Margarito. Ricky Hatton is another option he likes, at 147 or 150-pounds. The one guy who won't land an Oscar De La Hoya opportunity is Winky Wright. The elder Mayweather views Wright as a very difficult opponent, and a very unnecessary opponent.
"The winner of Margarito-Cotto would be good. Ricky Hatton would be good. There are a number of fights out there that Oscar can be involved in. I've heard a lot of names mentioned by a lot of people. Manny Pacquiao, which I think is a ridiculous fight. He's too small. Then I heard people mention Oscar fighting Kelly Pavlik, but I don't think that's a good fight for Oscar. Pavlik is a very big puncher. He has the weight advantage at 160-pounds," Mayweather Sr said. "That fight, with Pavlik, would cost Oscar too much movement. He would be forced to move than he would want. Pavlik is beatable, but he's a much bigger guy. We already tried that with Bernard Hopkins and Oscar was beating him in the early rounds, but Bernard's weight caught up to him."
"In my honest opinion, Oscar against the winner of Cotto-Margarito is a good fight. That's the best fight I can think of. Winky Wright will not get the fight. He fights in a very difficult style and who wants to fight a guy with a difficult style. He's a hard fighter to beat. He can really make it difficult. He's calling for Oscar because he knows Oscar is the big ticket. Whether they are big or small, they all want Oscar."
Mayweather Sr is predicting an inevitable showdown between De La Hoya and Cotto. He doesn't think Margarito is versatile enough to beat Cotto in July.
"I think Cotto is physically and mentally too intelligent for Margarito. Margarito can probably take a better shot and is physically stronger and maybe can hit a little better, but overall I think Cotto beats him with the knowledge. Cotto is not a one-dimensional fighter. He goes in and out, side to side, comes in and touches you and then backs out. Margarito is a one-dimensional fighter. He only comes one way, straight forward. People say little Floyd was scared of him? He could never beat little Floyd. Margarito would be a gimme fight for little Floyd. It would be Arturo Gatti all over again," Mayweather Sr said.
"Cotto is a better technician than Margarito. Cotto would be a much better candidate for Floyd. Cotto will beat Margarito with skill. I always go with skill over physical strength. Strength don't mean nothing if you don't got nothing to hit. If you don't hit nothing it don't mean nothing."