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DEWEY COOPER TRAINING JESSIE VARGAS TO "DESTROY" MANNY PACQUIAO; EXPLAINS WHY HE'S BEING UNDERESTIMATED

By John Russell | October 25, 2016
DEWEY COOPER TRAINING JESSIE VARGAS TO

"We've become more close and cohesive with more positive energy in the way that we train together. We expect a fantastic performance on November 5th. We expect to retain our World title and we expect this to be the passing of the torch...Jessie will show the world that we are the champion and never to disrespect and underestimate him as a champion...On November 5th, we are preparing for victory and to destroy whomever we face anytime that we are in the ring," stated Dewey Cooper, world-class trainer of WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, who talked about their upcoming November 5 showdown with 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Check it out!

JR: Congrats on the recent win with Sanjar Rakmanov. At 6-0, he's coming along and I feel that he gets left behind when speaking about the roster at Mayweather promotions.

DC: Thank you very much. Both guys in the fight, including Sanjar, had no losses and his opponent's 0 went away and had to go. I'm happy with Sanjar. We still have things we need to improve on to become a complete fighter. He's 6-0, has been a professional for about a year and 1/2, and I'm happy with his progress. He's definitely going to be a contender and a World champion some day. We just have to keep training hard, keep improving on the skills that we haven't mastered yet, and he will get there.

JR: I'm hearing that you and David Hayes [Strength & Conditioning Coach] are putting on one of the best camps that Jessie Vargas has experienced. I'm getting word that his cardio is on point and that he is taking sparring partners out. Can you speak a little bit on this for us?

DC: You know, we are a complete machine. As you know, I've known Jessie since he was 8-9 years old when he started boxing. Big David Hayes is my nephew of the Black Kobra Striking Systems. We prepared Jessie for the Sadam Ali fight. There was no problem with his conditioning, his power, or fighting abilities then and there will not be a problem now. We had more time with Jessie this time, so we've become more close and cohesive with more positive energy in the way that we train together. We expect a fantastic performance on November 5th. We expect to retain our World title and we expect this to be the passing of the torch with hearing "And still" on November 5th.

JR: From what I've seen of the pictures of Jessie, he looks to be on weight and ready to go. Are you pleased with what you are seeing from him?

DC: We are very pleased! We are pleased with everything and every aspect about our training camp. From the sparring, training, conditioning, and the roadwork, we are really happy with everything. We are going to be even more happy after the fight when we are victorious. Jessie will show the world that we are the champion and never to disrespect and underestimate him as a champion.

JR: Particularly after film, do you buy into anything with Pacquiao saying he had issues with his shoulder for the Mayweather fight?

DC: I don't buy anything! I can care less about injuries and I can care less about the temperament of his training camp. We are here for one cause and one man, with that being Jessie Vargas. It's not even about Manny Pacquiao, in my opinion. This is about our fighter, our champion, and that is how we go into every fight. Whoever we fight, it's about Jessie Vargas. On November 5th, we are preparing for victory and to destroy whomever we face anytime that we are in the ring.

JR: How much of a different and better Vargas are we expected to see than the one we saw versus Sadam Ali?

DC: We have a motto that we live by in my Black Kobra Striking System. This isn't a shameless plug, by the way, because we really live this. "If Improvement is possible, then perfection is not good enough." No matter how great we are, no matter how incredible we perform, we are going to try to be better every time. We expect Jessie to be improved in every aspect of pugilism on November 5th. Jessie expects the same thing for himself. He is confident of his abilities and he expects to retain his championship. That's the bottom line.

JR: I'm familiar with one of your strategies in K.I.S.S. [Keep It Simple Stupid]. When you are facing a Hall of Fame coach in Freddie Roach, does this same strategy play out with you as a coach?

DC: Absolutely! In all of the accomplishments that Freddie has achieved and in every fight that Pacquiao has won, it wasn't against us. It's great that they've accomplished a lot together. He's facing us; we have no "deer in the headlights" syndrome. We are coming to win regardless of his accomplishments and we don't care who it is. Who the trainer is doesn't matter to us because we're about Jessie Vargas. We are going to K.I.S.S., get another victory, and celebrate afterwards.

JR: You work out of the Mayweather Boxing Club from time to time. When this fight came together, did you happen to speak to Floyd [Mayweather] to get his take on Pacquiao?

DC: Yes, I did see Floyd. As you know, I'm one of the trainers there. I saw him 2-3 times before I really brought it up to him. I didn't bring it up the first two times I saw him because I already formulated a game plan and we were already three weeks into the camp. We weren't going to change the game plan that we made already. I just was talking to him to really just get his opinion and to see how close he was to what we already designed. Everything that he said was everything that we felt about the fight anyway. He told me some key things, but it was the things we discovered in film and not underestimating him, which we're not anyway. I wanted to see what we were going to do first and then talk to him to see if what he said lined up with what we planned to do. We did our research, we created our method that is what we are going to do. We talked to an expert about what he would do to see if it coincided with our method and it did. So we were confident that we had the right game plan from the get go and that's the way we've been going at it.

JR: What have you seen from Jessie in this camp that really stands out to you in his preparation for November 5th?

DC: I've seen a more dynamic fighter that can do it all. When you fight people at this level, everyone talks about the right hand and everyone talks about the size, but at this level, you have to be dynamic, multi-faceted, and have everything on point. That is what we see from Jessie. We've seen improved athletic ability, every aspect of fighting inside and outside, and that's what is going to be displayed when we fight Pacquiao. Whatever it takes for victory, Jessie will be ready and well equipped to do. That is what people are underestimating. They are underestimating the confidence of a champion, the passion of a man who gave over a decade of his life to this sport, and a young, hungry lion of a champion ready to take his claim on boxing history. We are coming to win, nothing else!

JR: Best of luck to you both on the match.

DC: For sure, brother! Thank you.



[ Follow John Russell on Twitter @theJ_Russ3ll ]

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