"To be honest, the one thing that I thought Pacquiao would do is let his hands go. I mean, Floyd took every single thing he should try to do on his keys to victory, he took it away. Manny didn't throw no punches. Manny was too worried about being countered...I felt that Floyd was playing with him. I felt that that was one of Floyd's easiest fights," stated world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather, who shared his thoughts on the Floyd Mayweather's dominant victory over Manny Pacquiao. Check it out!
PC: The fight that everyone has wanted to see for years has come and gone. Did it go exactly as you expected it to go?
JM: Yep, pretty much!
PC: Was there any surprises at all during the course of the fight for you?
JM: To be honest, the one thing that I thought Pacquiao would do is let his hands go. I mean, Floyd took every single thing he should try to do on his keys to victory, he took it away. Manny didn't throw no punches. Manny was too worried about being countered.
PC: Fighters fight with and through injuries all the time, and I'm not denying he was legitimately injured, but when you see that coming up as a reason for his low output, what are your thoughts on that?
JM: You just hit the nail on the head. All fighters fight with injuries; it's all the time. It's no big deal. Fighters just don't complain about it because it's part of the game. There was plenty times I fought with my hands messed up, my shoulders messed up; everything. I mean, that's part of the game. If you getting $80 million, you show your ass up.
PC: Big Floyd was really animated during the one minute break and thought maybe the judges were being persuaded by the crowd noise and things like that. As the fight was moving along, what was your feel to the fight?
JM: I felt that Floyd was playing with him. I felt that that was one of Floyd's easiest fights. My thing is this, I felt Floyd Sr. was looking for a statement, and to be honest, Floyd Jr. kept his composure and he did exactly what he should've done. He didn't take no unnecessary risk and he won the fight cleanly. People got upset because it was the Fight of the Century and the thing is, it's supposed to be two great fighters that show up and put on their best performance. If you're a Manny fan, you are upset. If you are a Floyd fan, you love every second of that fight.
PC: I think because of the label "Fight of the Century", a lot of casual fans felt these guys were going to change who they were. and although one fighter did change who he was in a sense, it wasn't the one they were expecting to. And I think that's where the disappointment comes in at.
JM: Exactly! The one thing is this, it's just like you said, the Floyd that showed up is the Floyd that everybody has seen all the time. The Manny Pacquiao that people thought was going to show up didn't show up. He didn't show up at all. That's the reason why it wasn't a great fight. My thing is this, if you are supposed to be the second greatest fighter in the world today, that means Floyd is on a planet all by himself.
PC: You have been around a lot of big fights with electric atmospheres. What did you think of the atmosphere for this fight and the event itself?
JM: It was complete chaos. It got to the point where none of us [Mayweathers] could walk through the arena without security. And then when we did, people were still trying to break through security, trying to get a picture and an autograph. People were getting pissed off to the point of trying to do anything to get out attention. The same person who was yelling, "Floyd going to beat Manny's ass," and then turn around because we didn't have the time to stop and take a picture or whatever, then all of a sudden that same person, "Oh, Manny is going to beat Floyd's ass." Okay, you the same fool that was saying, "Go Floyd! Go Floyd," but nobody cares about that ignorant shit.
PC: And the sad thing is I have seen you in the MGM for hours taking pictures, signing autographs, and clowning with fans. So for you not to be able to be hands on, it had to be chaotic.
JM: Don't get me wrong, this fight was different than any other fight. I was doing a piece for USA Today. I had to meet the photographer at the ring that they have set up in the MGM and once I met him there, it was like complete chaos once he started taking pictures of me. This is exactly how it happens. Once one person asked you to take a picture, other people sometimes don't even know who you are, but they feel like they gonna miss out on something, so they just jump in there too. And it's so funny because I had this one guy, after he took a picture with me, he said, "Who are you?" I said, "I'm George Clooney," (laughing) and he said, "Okay!" Obviously he didn't even know who George Clooney was. He was just one of those people that jumped on the bandwagon because he seen somebody else doing it. He had no idea who I was and no idea who George Clooney was, so that shows you what kind of chaos was going on.
PC: I remember when we were together for the Mayweather-Maidana rematch, you had a guy arguing you down that you were Floyd Mayweather's dad. Even when you told him you weren't, he didn't believe you. It's crazy, man.
JM: Yeah! I get that a lot (laughing). And my thing is this, I mess with people. You know, I like to have fun. I'm always messing with people. So when people say things to me like, "Which one are you?" I come right back, "Which one are you? What do you mean which one am I? Which one am I what?" And then they want to take a picture and I'm like, "You don't even know me, man. You probably don't need to be taking no picture with me." I understood the chaos and, like I said, anybody with the last name Mayweather, it was complete chaos for them. Roger got lost because it was so many damn people trying to get with him. Everywhere we went, it was like a mob and it's crazy because I went back there the next day, go back there the next day and nobody even knows who I am (laughing). It's funny to me because that just goes to show me how people are. And a lot of the time when people go out to an event, they just want to make sure that they don't miss out on nothing. And with that being said, I took countless pictures, did countless interviews, and the whole nine yards, and the one thing I learned from this is I don't want the life that my nephew has. I can't imagine how it is to be followed every day of your life. You can't go nowhere. You can't go to the store, you can't go nowhere in the world without people clamoring to try and get your autograph, your picture, or talk bad about you or whatever. Or want to shout out bad obscenities about you and everything. That's gotta be a crazy ass life. Me and Floyd talked about that once; we did talk about it and I said, "Did you know that you would get this famous?" When you first start something, you want the fame and you want it bad. That's what you want and you want it bad. And once you get it, in the beginning, it's great. It's great to be famous in the beginning because you love that you feel you are being appreciated by the people that's around you. But once you become famous to the point of, where your life no longer belongs to you, it belongs to everyone else. And I understand Floyd having 100,000 people around him (laughing). At one point in time, I didn't understand that. It's like, "What are all of these people doing? What do they do? What are their jobs?" Some of their job is just to be a friend. He gotta have somebody that he can relate to that he can have around him that he can joke with just to have a normal life. He gotta actually employ people to have a normal life.
PC: I hate to address the "running" allegations suggesting he didn't come to fight. I hate to address it because I understand boxing, but I have to address it. What is your take on that?
JM: That's boxing 101! Plus it's what Floyd do. Manny didn't do what Manny do. Manny was supposed to be the bigger puncher. Manny was supposed to be faster. All of the things that Manny was supposed to do, he did nothing. How the hell you say you won a fight when you say, "He wouldn't stand there for me to hit him"? Here is the thing, Floyd is painted as the bad guy. And if you look at guys like Pacquiao, and Robert Guerrero even did it, they say God this and God that. They know that they will get people behind them if they start talking like that. It automatically turns it into good vs. evil. Before the fight, all you heard from Manny was God this and God that. After the fight, Manny didn't mention God not one time. The only person that mentioned God was Floyd. All of this "God is going to deliver him to me," Robert Guerrero with all of the "God picked me to be the one to beat him," y'all must have gotten the wrong message from God because that didn't happen. Listen, I don't even get into that because God loves everybody the same. To suggest or think that God picks sides is ridiculous. Before the fight, Manny wanted to play with Floyd and talk to Floyd. Now you got your ass whooped and you don't want to play or talk with Floyd anymore. Manny said God loves him and that's why he was going to win. Well guest what! God loves Floyd too and that's why you got your ass whooped.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]