"So as soon as Floyd turns around, I see the dude hop back in the ring and I'm just thinking in my head; it all started going in slow motion. I'm like, 'Is he trying to come back in like Victor Ortiz and give him a hug?' I thought he was trying to come give him respect or something. That's when I saw him cock back, and he cocked all the way back and started running towards Floyd. At that time, I'm like...it was happening so fast, I'm just thinking, 'What's going on?' As soon as I see him throw the punch, I black out...I was mad because it's like when you see your family or close friend, I just saw blood and you automatically go into that protective mode, so I jumped in because Floyd Sr. is my father figure when I'm out here...you don't just run up on somebody like that. On top of that, it's Floyd Mayweather Sr. He's pretty much a legend in the fight game, whether it be through fighting or through training, and you don't do that on this level. You're supposed to have respect. If this is truly what you want to do and you want to be a boxer and dedicated to the sport, there are just some people you don't mess with like that," stated welterweight prospect Lydell Rhodes, who spoke about the incident that took place after a recent impromptu sparring session between Floyd Mayweather Sr. and a young man who tried to sucker punch him while his back was turned. Check out what he had to say!
PC: For people that don't know, you're one of Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s fighters and you were the one that jumped in at the end when that guy tried to sneak him. You gave him a beatdown for doing that. I'm sure you didn't think it would escalate to that, but how did it all get started?
LR: Nah, never that. Floyd is a social guy and we were in there training, and Charlie Z, whatever you wanna call him, was hitting on the bag. Floyd came over there because he was popping the bag, but he was throwing some haymakers and that's all, so Floyd walks over and says, "You look like you hit pretty hard man." He was all cocky like, "I know, I know." So Floyd was like, "You probably can knock out some heavyweights." He was like, "Yeah, I'm thinking about fighting the Klitschkos." The dude is crazy. And Floyd was like, "Yeah, you good, but you need a little more skills. You need to tighten up your boxing game." He was just being honest with him. Then Charlie was like, "I can show you skills right now. If you hop in the ring, I can knock you out." So then everybody in the gym just turned around. It got silent like in a movie. So Floyd was like, "Listen youngster, you might hit hard, but you can't knock me out," and it pretty much went from there with dude talking trash. Everybody was like, "Let them get in the ring!"
PC: So now we are to the point that we saw on the video.
LR: Yeah, on the video, you can see Floyd starts catching him with punches; straight right hands. Then old boy Charlie didn't want no more after the first 15 seconds. He thought he was going to overwhelm Floyd because he's a 58-year-old man. You don't expect an old man to be able to move like that and still have quickness and be sharp, especially when he has Sarcoidosis. So you can see he was intimidated because he kept saying, "Let's stop right now." He did that about 4 times and I was like, "Nah, you done did all of that talking and trying to get him to fight you and spar you and stuff. Y'all gonna go the whole round." That was the initial deal was they were gonna spar for an entire round. He started running and Floyd started catching him with that straight right hand. Before it was all over, Floyd was in the corner doing that shoulder roll, picking off everything he was throwing and catching him. And then he drops down on Floyd after Floyd threw two chopping right hands and he just hops out through the ropes. He gets up and puts his hands up in the air like waiving the white flag, saying it's over. He gave a little respect, like you got me. It looked like that's what he was doing. I was sitting right next to him. I'm right there. So as soon as Floyd turns around, I see the dude hop back in the ring and I'm just thinking in my head; it all started going in slow motion. I'm like, "Is he trying to come back in like Victor Ortiz and give him a hug?" I thought he was trying to come give him respect or something. That's when I saw him cock back, and he cocked all the way back and started running towards Floyd. At that time, I'm like...it was happening so fast, I'm just thinking, "What's going on?" As soon as I see him throw the punch, I black out.
PC: You automatically got pissed off?
LR: Yeah, I just jumped in there and did what had to be done pretty much. I'm down here in Vegas with Floyd Sr. training and he's pretty much my father figure when I'm here because I'm from Oklahoma. So when I come here to train for a couple of months, every morning, Floyd picks me up and he goes above and beyond and out of his way for me.
PC: Yeah, it seemed like you were the only one that took offense to it and did something about it.
LR: There was another dude; you can barely see him in the video, but there is a big bright-skinned dude who came over there and he's trying to get in the ring. But he kicked him when he was down. The whole time he was trying to fight dude. He was real mad, but I was the only one of Floyd's fighters that was still there. Nobody else in the gym was trained by Floyd. I was the only one who was still there. So I just...I just snapped. I was mad because it's like when you see your family or close friend, I just saw blood and you automatically go into that protective mode, so I jumped in because Floyd Sr. is my father figure when I'm out here.
PC: Yeah, you hit him a few times and when he dropped, you still got some in because I'm sure by that time, you were seeing red.
LR: Yeah, yeah, that's another thing. I mean, it was kind of bad, but when you got fighter instincts, and like you said, I just saw red. I sat there and I said something. I forgot what I said, but I just was caught in the moment. I was just thinking in my head, "Why would you do this?" I had to stop myself when he was on the ground. I said a couple of choice words to him. I don't know exactly what I said, but I let off another little combination before everybody told me to stop. But I'm just thinking in my head, "How disrespectful can you be?" I know he's not the average 58-year-old man, but you still gotta know that he is 58 years old. He could have been 23 or 24 years old and you still don't sucker punch the dude. He should have shown respect as a human for anybody. It's human nature; you don't just run up on somebody like that. On top of that, it's Floyd Mayweather Sr. He's pretty much a legend in the fight game, whether it be through fighting or through training, and you don't do that on this level. You're supposed to have respect. If this is truly what you want to do and you want to be a boxer and dedicated to the sport, there are just some people you don't mess with like that.
PC: Then the fool pumps it on YouTube like he did something.
LR: Yeah, and then he posts the video and he says stuff like, "I'm Charlie Z, the 3-time world champion. I'm 20-0 now and I had to TKO Floyd Sr." If you watch the tape, you will see Floyd dominated you.
PC: He basically put out a blueprint on how to be beaten.
LR: Yeah (laughing). I don't know man, I think he really needs some mental help because there is something wrong with him. After that, everybody was still mad in the gym, but Floyd was cool and started talking to him and he was like, "Yeah Floyd, I just knocked you out." It's like, do you know what a knockout is? He was just talking big noise for a solid hour after that. Something is wrong with the dude. I pray he gets some kind of psychiatric help because I don't know what's wrong with him.
PC: I'm glad you went in there and did your thing. That was the highlight of the video to see someone go in there and give him what he deserved.
LR: Yeah, you already know what it is, man. When you got love for somebody, you have to. That's just the way it goes. I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I know I didn't do nothing. Like Big Floyd would have handled his own pretty much, but just me being who I am and knowing how much Floyd has done for me, I felt the need to jump in. I wasn't trying to cause a scene, but I think it was justified. He needed justice right there and I had to give it to him.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]