"I still think Floyd wins that fight against Pacquiao, if the fight gets made, and maybe he wins it easy. Maybe he wins it easy because he can match him with speed and if he can't match him, he can come close. He's better technically, he's better defensively, he's naturally the bigger guy, and he can match him somewhere else that's real important in this kind of fight...he can match him in confidence. And that's important. A lot of guys go into the Pacquiao fight without a whole lot of confidence and Floyd can match him in that. I think that, at some point, Manny is going to be distracted and make a little bit of a compromise by the other options in his life. Floyd has no other options. You can say this and that, but Floyd, right now, besides looking at his cars and all of that other stuff that makes the image, Floyd is a fighter; that's it. Floyd is connected to boxing...I like Manny. I admire the guy and I love the way he fights. I love what he has done with his life, but I'm just telling you my professional opinion. I think that the other guy would win the fight," stated ESPN commentator and world-class trainer Teddy Atlas who shared his thoughts on a potential showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. After witnessing Mayweather's performance against Victor Ortiz this past Saturday, Atlas is still convinced that Mayweather will come out victorious if the fight ever gets made. Ceheck it out!
PC: In many people's minds, this was Mayweather's showcase fight to prepare for Manny Pacquiao. I have read where you felt Mayweather showed you enough in the Ortiz fight to where you think he could possibly stop Manny Pacquiao. Could you elaborate on that for me?
TA: You know, I never thought Ortiz had a chance to win. Before the fight, I thought it was two different classes of fighters, mentally and physically, and technically. I give Ortiz all of the credit in the world for overcoming what he has overcome in his life and for also overcoming what he overcame in the ring to beat Berto. He behaved like a fighter that night and he redeemed himself, but this is the same guy who quit, submitted in the Maidana fight. He overcame it in the Berto fight, and I give him credit for that. I give him all of the credit he deserves, but this is a guy where, mentally, you didn't know where he was going to be. You would hope that he would advance from the Berto fight and that he would continue to grow, and that he had found himself and he would continue to find himself as a fighter and a professional, but he still had that stain, so you weren't sure. There were a lot of things he said leading to this fight that I wasn't sure of. If I was sure of anything, it was Floyd. There was nothing about him that I was unsure of. I never thought Ortiz was going to win that fight and I didn't think he was going to finish on his feet going into that fight. I thought the tougher fight for Mayweather would come from Manny.
Having said that, I still think Floyd wins that fight against Pacquiao, if the fight gets made, and maybe he wins it easy. Maybe he wins it easy because he can match him with speed and if he can't match him, he can come close. He's better technically, he's better defensively, he's naturally the bigger guy, and he can match him somewhere else that's real important in this kind of fight...he can match him in confidence. And that's important. A lot of guys go into the Pacquiao fight without a whole lot of confidence and Floyd can match him in that. I think that, at some point, Manny is going to be distracted and make a little bit of a compromise by the other options in his life. Floyd has no other options. You can say this and that, but Floyd, right now, besides looking at his cars and all of that other stuff that makes the image, Floyd is a fighter; that's it. Floyd is connected to boxing. Manny's got a lot of options now in his country and he deserves them. I give him all of the credit and wish him all of the luck in the world with those things. God bless him. And I hope he continues to give people in the Philippines a reason to have hope, aspire to have credit things and continues to lift them up. If he can do that, he is doing something special and that's great. But he does have a lot of options; politically and show business and all of those areas. I think at some point, that's going to erode him at some point. I just think that...I like Floyd and I think Floyd might even win that fight easily. And when I say these things, I'm not hating on Manny Pacquiao. I would give myself more credit than that and there are more important things going on in my life than to be that small-minded to be involved in that. I'm not hating on Pacquiao. They got idiots out there...and I'm glad I don't go on the internet. They got idiots out there that will go, "You like Mayweather more than you like a Filipino." What, are you stupid? What are you, an idiot? Are you a moron? You should go get yourself checked in some psychiatric center you idiot. People think, "Oh, you don't like Manny." I like Manny. I admire the guy and I love the way he fights. I love what he has done with his life, but I'm just telling you my professional opinion. I think that the other guy would win the fight.
And then you get morons that are hate motivated out there that do it mostly for business. Guys like Bob Arum. I think he is a smart guy, but I don't think he's a great guy. I don't think he's an honest guy. Here is a guy that is making a zillion dollars on Manny. So if I say Manny's not one of the greatest top 25 fighters of all time, guess what? There were fighters in the 20's and 30's and 40's that had 200 and 300 fights during the golden era of boxing in that weight division. And yeah, I have an argument that says, "Yeah, there were 20 guys that were better." That doesn't mean that I don't think Manny is a good fighter. That don't mean that I don't think he is not a terrific person. It just means, in the context of things in a sport that's been around for 200 years that have had these kinds of fighters, I don't think that he is above those guys. And I don't think he has fought the competition that some of those guys have fought. That doesn't mean I'm knocking the guy. I'm just putting in my opinion. And then you gotta have a guy like Arum, 'cause he's making a million dollars with him, he wants to make him the greatest of all time. But is that honest or is that because that's his golden egg? He's protecting his investment. I understand.
PC: People forget when Bob Arum had Floyd Mayweather, he said Floyd was the greatest boxer since Muhammad Ali and actually put him ahead of Ray Leonard and some other greats.
TA: Bob Arum is a liar. He is a deceitful guy. He is a smart guy, and he is a rich guy, but he is all of the other things that I said too. He is a promoter. He will say whatever he has to say at that moment to spring forward the guy that is making money for him. He has no boundaries or any connections other than what he has to say to make sure he puts this spin out there to the media people to make an extra dollar for himself to promote his guy. This is the same guy that one day said, years and years ago, and somebody was listening to him at a press conference, and the newspaper guy stood up and said, "Bob, that's the opposite of what you said just yesterday." And he says, "Well, yesterday I was lying, but today I'm telling the truth." Come on!
CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED PART 1 OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH TEDDY ATLAS, WHERE HE BREAKS DOWN FLOYD MAYWEATHER'S 4TH ROUND KNOCKOUT OF VICTOR ORTIZ
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