"Bob Arum trying to hold Pacquiao back so he can make him some money, man. Aint nobody telling me nothing I don't know about that. When it's close to being over for him, then Bob Arum will drop him off to Lil Floyd. They ain't trying to do that right now though...They don't want none of that at all. Lil Floyd would put a spanking on him and they know that too...My son talked to me already though...Lil Floyd called me. We didn't talk about the incident, but he did call and we talked," stated world-class trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who informed us that he and his son put their differences aside and reunited over the phone. You don't want to miss what else he had to say. Check it out!
PC: How were your holidays Big Floyd?
FM: Everything is going good, man. My crew of fighters are doing good, man.
PC: Any fighters on the horizon you have?
FM: I got an amateur I'm training now and he's just 15 years old. He's Hasim Rahman's son. He just won the whole tournament over there and they gave him the "Outstanding Boxer" award. I only trained him for 2 weeks.
PC: What weight class is he competing at?
FM: He fighting at 156. He only 15 years old though. When I was fighting at 156 pounds, I was way in my 20's fighting at his weight. I mean, I was a welterweight, but I was weighing that kind of weight before I cut down to 147. But a guy just called me and told me Lil Floyd called out Pacquiao and I don't guess Pacquiao n dem answered to the call.
PC: Yeah, the direct quote was, "Manny Pacquiao I'm calling you out let's fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see. My jail sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up punk."
FM: Oh yeah? (Laughing) That's what Lil Floyd called him?
PC: Yeah, he called him a punk.
FM: There you go. Bob Arum trying to hold Pacquiao back so he can make him some money, man. Aint nobody telling me nothing I don't know about that. When it's close to being over for him, then Bob Arum will drop him off to Lil Floyd. They ain't trying to do that right now though.
PC: At first, Pacquiao wouldn't be ready for May 5th, and then when it appeared that Floyd would be in prison for that date, Arum was open to a 4th fight with Marquez on that date. Now that Floyd is able to fight again, he says Pacquiao won't be ready for that date again.
FM: Yeah, that's what the guy was telling me. He said Manny would be ready when he thought Floyd had to go to jail, and now that Floyd don't have to go to jail right now, he won't be ready. They don't want none of that at all. Lil Floyd would put a spanking on him and they know that too. And all of that stuff of him taking somebody to litigation and trying to get people in jail and all of that junk, man, what the hell is going on? I mean, come on, man.
PC: If it was like it is now in the sport of boxing, Muhammad Ali would have stayed in court for some of the things he said to and about his opponents. He never faced any defamation lawsuits.
FM: Yeah! That's the same thing I told my man. I mean, you can't say stuff about people in the game, but Muhammad Ali called people, mummies and gorillas and racists and washwomen, and all kinds of shit. He called them everything he could think of. If Ali didn't call it, then it didn't exist. He called them everything but the child of God.
PC: I gotta ask you Big Floyd, being that Lil Floyd is about to have to go serve a little time, when you were in prison, did people respect you because you were a fighter or did they try you because you were a fighter?
FM: Um, it's like that when I was in there. I used to see a lot of guys that were like, "Hey champ." But you know, there is always a couple of them. There were a couple of situations where I could have still been in there, man. A couple of them, man, wanted to try me and just see. One of the dudes that wanted to try me man, was one of the littlest motherfuckers in the prison. That motherfucker wasn't 5'11". Like I said man, I would have ripped his head off man, for real. He didn't have a prayer. It was just a little guy who wanted to prove himself, but he was gonna get the fuck knocked straight out of him. I wasn't even worried about him because I knew I was gonna put him straight to sleep, and that wasn't going to be nothing but another case put on me. I wasn't going to fight any of them guys in the prison, but I wasn't scared of none of them, shit. Them guys know I wasn't scared of their ass, man.
PC: How much time did you do?
FM: I did 3 1/2 years. See, what happened is I did 3 1/2 years and then I got out and did my other time out here. I was sentenced to 5 1/2 years, but I did 3 1/2 years and the rest of my time in, um...
PC: (Cutting in) Halfway house?
FM: Yeah. I did some time in the halfway house, and plus my good time that I accumulated. I didn't never get in no trouble though. I accumulated good time and I did the time in the halfway house, and then my time was done. That was it. It all ended up the right way. I did 6 months in the halfway house and a year...I did 3 1/2 years, then I had 2 years left and then I did 6 months in the halfway house, and the other time that I had left, I did on house arrest. I was out, but they had to know where I was and stuff like that.
PC: What did you think when they sentenced Lil Floyd to 90 days?
FM: Yeah, he's doing good. He's going to be real good. My thing is, when they sitting there talking about it and how Lil Floyd gonna bring the economy back, and still lock him up; they gonna lock my son up, but then they say he creates jobs and how he is going to bring the economy back with the money that he generates, and you take him away from what he do.
PC: So you definitely don't think Arum will put Pacquiao in with Floyd on May 5th?
FM: Nah, man. They trying to talk like it's gonna happen, but ain't nothing gonna happen. They don't want that. Floyd would beat the shit out of Pacquiao anyway. My son talked to me already though.
PC: Lil Floyd?
FM: Yeah, Lil Floyd called me. We didn't talk about the incident, but he did call and we talked about stuff.
PC: I'm glad he called you and you guys are talking again. That's all that matters because I hate to hear a father and son at odds and not speaking.
FM: We are talking. We talked and it ain't no thing. That's my son, man. At the end of the day, he is my son.
PC: You have been telling me that from the beginning. I remember when we first started talking, you guys were really not on speaking terms, but you always said, at the end of the day, he is your son and it would always be that way.
FM: And that's right. He's still my son, man. What am I supposed to do, wipe him out my life completely because we had a disagreement? He is still my son. A lot of people are worse than that. They are a lot worse than us and they kids kill 'em or they kill their kids. What Lil Floyd did to me was bad, but like I said, I forgive him. He's my son. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't want to keep forgiving, but I forgive him. I'm his father; I ain't trying to have no issues with my son. That's my son either way, you know? And honestly man, I wish the best for all of my family. I hope that Roger be alright man, because to be honest with you, Roger is really in bad, bad shape, man. But you know, I know Lil Floyd will be alright. I was away from my family for over 3 years and I'm glad he only has to be away a few months because it gets tough being away from everyone. I did a bid in there. If I would have got in trouble in there, I would have had to do the whole 5 1/2. Like I said though, at the end of the day, everything is good, man. I'm looking to get another few guys and then I'm through.
PC: I saw a video of you and Sugar Ray Leonard clowning around on each other...
FM: (Cutting in) I wasn't clowning. I told him, I said, "Listen...The Ray is young, he must be taught, the Joy will turn this sugar to salt." And you know what? He was saying, "What do you mean by that?" He knew what I meant. I never saw the video. What was it like?
PC: Just you and Ray going back and forth. He said you having an injured hand wasn't his problem.
FM: Yeah, yeah, yeah! He told me that wasn't his problem, but he did tell me, and Lamar will tell you, he said, "I know your hand was hurting, man. It was your right hand." I said, "You right." He didn't want to hear nothing about that though. Me and Tommy Hearns was at the table eating and they were trying to make me and Hearns do it, and I said, "No problem at all." I got a birthday coming up and I will be 59, but believe me, I don't care if it's Hearns or Leonard, whoever it is, they gonna see how smart I am. You will see at this age right now that I ain't the one.
PC: I hear you my man. I will let you get in the gym and do your thing my man. I always appreciate your time, you know that. I'm glad that you and Lil Floyd spoke. Glad to hear he gave you a buzz and hopefully I will see you in May.
FM: Oh yeah, man! I'm always gonna do my thing like I always do, and as far as me and my son go, it wasn't nothing major, man. The number one thing is that he called me. He didn't have to call me and he did, so that made me feel really good, man. Like I said man, I'm not gonna sit here and hold no grudges with my son, man. I won't have a life myself if I held a grudge with my son.
PC: You would be holding yourself hostage.
FM: (Laughing) There you go.
PC: You know what it is? Y'all are just alike. You guys are built alike. We got a lot of footage with Lil Floyd when he was with my man Ben in Ohio and when he gets worked up and starts talking, I swear you guys are like twins; not only facial features, but his mannerisms are just like yours.
FM: Everybody say that, man. We are the same size too. I ain't trying to hold no grudges with my son man, we all good. It's all good and I'm cool with him. I was glad he called me because, you know, the first time we split ways, we didn't talk for 9 years. I didn't want to do that again. That's my son. We went that long without talking and we were both right here in Las Vegas. We didn't talk for 9 years, but it was definitely nice, man, for him to call me.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]