"I think that...the strategy that I want, to be honest with you, is for Celestino to box. This guy is too short; he can't even reach Celestino, and Celestino is the better puncher. It's one of those situations where I would like to see Celestino box and let him walk into something as opposed to fighting inside like he did last time," stated world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather as he talked about former super bantamweight Celestino Caballero and his upcoming rematch with Jonathan Victor Barros on October 14. Check out what else he had to say.
PC: Hey Jeff, you got Celestino back in Las Vegas to prepare for his rematch against Jonathan Barros. You trained him in Panama the last time. Is this just to give him a change of scenery?
JM: No, actually the beginning of our camp is always done here in Vegas. We do half of it here and half in Panama. The reason why we do the last portion in Panama is because of the humidity and it's so easy for him to make weight there. It's extremely hot here now though, so he should be okay either way. But the humidity there is so high that it's a little different.
PC: Being that the last fight was a raw deal for you guys, do you feel you have to keep Celestino from fighting angry and just looking for a knockout?
JM: I think that...the strategy that I want, to be honest with you, is for Celestino to box. This guy is too short; he can't even reach Celestino, and Celestino is the better puncher. It's one of those situations where I would like to see Celestino box and let him walk into something as opposed to fighting inside like he did last time.
PC: King Mo will be fighting on the 10th. He loved working with you. What do you think of King Mo's boxing ability?
JM: For an MMA guy, he is excellent. It seems like, to me, that he could be a really good boxer. He's definitely got major hand skills for an MMA guy.
PC: When you are working with a new guy, especially one coming from another sport, how important is it to hit it off and have that chemistry that you and Mo seemed to have?
JM: I think that's the most important part with anyone. You gotta realize that once you are training a person, that person is actually putting their life in your hands. That's how I see it. And it's one of those situations where if he looks bad, I look bad and we all look bad. You have some trainers that, when a fighter loses, they had nothing to do with it, but when they win, they want all of the credit. You have trainers out there like that, but myself, once you sign up, we become a team. That's how it works; a team works that way, so we both have to take the heat in defeat and when we win, we both get the glory.
PC: MMA has become so rooted to the standup aspect of the game, so a lot of these guys want to work with world-class trainers like yourself. Is that something you are open to, training martial artist?
JM: Yeah, definitely. My thing is this, as long as I don't have to incorporate kicking and all of that other stuff that goes along with it, I'm fine. It's my job to actually teach an MMA guy how to box and defend and stuff like that. That's a major aspect for a lot of those guys because their standup game is so bad.
PC: I hear Floyd looks amazing in the gym. Have you recently got to see it first hand?
JM: Yeah, I have had a chance to watch him and Floyd's thoroughly dominating all of his sparring guys. He's working...I think he's working harder this fight than for any fight that I've ever seen; maybe it's because of the layoff. I don't know. I've never seen him work...even though he's one of the hardest workers to ever put on a pair of gloves, this time around, he's going nonstop. He's constantly working; sometimes 3 hours straight nonstop. I have never witnessed nothing like this, and even with my nephew as good as he is and me being a part of his life and being able to see that. But this...what I'm seeing now is even beyond normal for him to me.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]