"As far as boxing goes, my high moment is anytime Floyd fights. Him beating Canelo, a guy who is so much bigger than he is and making it look easy was amazing and that's why he gets paid the money he gets paid. He is the best of his generation. And to me, the low moment happened a few weeks back, Alex Ariza and Freddie Roach; that's stuff that just don't need to happen in any sport," stated world-class trainer Ron Frazier, who shared his thoughts on the highs and lows in 2013 for both boxing and MMA.
PC: Everyone wanted to see what Pacquiao had left and he showed that he can still fight. Is the Timothy Bradley fight the fight that makes the most sense for Pacquiao and Top Rank right now?
RF: I think the Timothy Bradley fight is definitely the most viable option. I think Timothy Bradley showed that he had a little more left against Marquez than people expected, coming off of the Provodnikov fight. I think that's the next progression for him. And he has a score to settle. He may have won on the scorecards, but I think most people that watched that fight thought Timmy Bradley lost. Manny Pacquiao, on the other hand, they gave him somebody that he could look good against; gave him somebody that he can come in and beat and Rios was perfect for him. He is a tough, hard-nosed guy, but his skills are basic and if you give him any movement, he don't know what to do. He can take punches and he hits hard, and I guess he hurt Manny in the 5th round, according to Manny, and Manny said, "You know what? I'm going to hit, hit, and turn." He knew Rios couldn't do nothing with him once he turned him. But I wasn't surprised by the performance. I don't understand how two judges gave any rounds to Rios because he didn't win one, but that's the state of boxing.
PC: Andre Ward recently came back from a 14-month layoff to dominate the previously undefeated Edwin Rodriguez. What did you think of his comeback performance?
RF: Andre is Andre and unfortunately he is an unassuming guy, and he's quiet and a nice guy, so not everybody knows him, but outside of Floyd Mayweather, he is the most skillful out there and he should get his due. He may have to come out of character and talk himself...and he's been doing that a little bit lately, calling people like GGG and Bernard Hopkins out. If he can get those kind of fights, obviously he could up his marketability.
PC: Speaking of Golovkin, Curtis Stevens was supposed to be the guy to test him and we know how that ended. Do you like what you see from Gennady?
RF: He is a good puncher and a real good fighter, but you just don't know until you have that guy in front of you and he just hasn't had that guy yet. We thought Stevens would give him a good test and then he got hit with a real good shot and then he had nothing else to offer. I want to see him in there with somebody who could make adjustments or somebody who is bigger than him. Let's see if he could go in there and if his punches are effective against an Andre Ward, who is a bigger guy.
PC: What are your memorable moments for 2013 in both boxing and MMA? What sticks out as the best and worse from each sport?
RF: My high for MMA, I'm going to go with an undercard guy, Gabriel Gonzaga's emergence. He is back to a contender again. This is a guy who I trained a little bit and I know him. He is immensely talented, but doesn't always have his head in the game. When his head is right, he can beat anyone. And my low moment in MMA is probably Anderson Silva losing. The way it happened, I just didn't see that happening. If somebody grinded out a decision, like Chael was on his way to doing the first time, or if somebody was to submit him, because his ground game is good, but he can be submitted. But for him to be knocked out like that, that was a low moment for me because he really is a good guy. My moment with him was when he fought Forrest Griffin. We ended up on the same shuttle together after he beat Forrest and he was like, "Hey coach!" I was like, "How are you doing?" And he told me, "You are still a great coach. You still did what you had to do." It's like, "Stop being so nice. I'm trying not to like you." He is a good dude and every time that I ever see him, he goes out of his way to speak to me and say nice things, so I have great admiration and respect for him. As far as boxing goes, my high moment is anytime Floyd fights. Him beating Canelo, a guy who is so much bigger than he is and making it look easy was amazing and that's why he gets paid the money he gets paid. He is the best of his generation. And to me, the low moment happened a few weeks back, Alex Ariza and Freddie Roach; that's stuff that just don't need to happen in any sport.
PC: I always appreciate your time. Is there anything else you want to add?
RF: I just want to thank everybody; PHD Athletics, a new company I'm forming, so I gotta thank them for all of their support. I also want to thank my management team, Sucker Punch Management, and I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]