"Going into a fight, you give everybody a chance, but the basic point is Pacquiao's hand speed. When he throws those combinations, you can't stay in the line of fire. I think Bradley's a little bit harder puncher; Bradley's a little bit more durable than Pacquiao and he's a little bit more hungrier than Pacquiao, so I think we're gonna see the best of Timothy Bradley that night. It's gonna be a great fight," stated world-class trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, who shared his thoughts on Pacquiao vs. Bradley, Mayweather vs. Cotto, Hopkins vs. Dawson II, and much, much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the win in New York with Badou Jack. What did you think of his performance?
EMM: He could have did a little bit better if he had gone to the body. He hadn't boxed a southpaw in a while. He had to get used to that, and plus the guy was 11 pounds heavier than he was, so I mean, we still have a lot of work to do in the gym. I'm going to give him that reprieve and we will go back to the drawing board when he comes back. I gave him a week off, so he will be back here next week and we'll go right back to the drawing board and he will be a better fighter.
PC: When I spoke to Badou, he said his style is similar to the way you fought. Do you agree with that and does that make him easier for you to train because of that?
EMM: You are 100% right. First things first, when you take on a job as a trainer, you don't make the fighter that you are working with fight like you. But it just so happens that we have the same similarities in styles, so it makes my job easier to work with. My thing was I liked the body shots. We're working on some good jabs and I was a boxer/puncher and he is a boxer/puncher. If I could just get him to sit down a little bit more on his body shots. Once he does that, he will be just fine; perfect.
PC: We just had a helluva fight between Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez. Man, what a fight. It appears Lopez's better days are behind him because of his defensive deficiencies. What do you think?
EMM: Great fight. Lopez has been in a lot of wars and his defense is not great because every time he goes back to the ropes, his head and chin is sticking up high. You can't miss with overhand rights or overhand anything basically because his chin is so up in the air when he's against the ropes.
PC: Do you think guys like Lopez, and even when Tito Trinidad was fighting, they get complacent over in Puerto Rico and never really make it a point to come train over here or outside of their country?
EMM: You know, Puerto Rico has had some great trainers, like Felix Trinidad's father. I thought he was a great trainer. Manny Siaca was from Puerto Rico, who was a great trainer also. You just have to get with the best one. I had Manny Siaca working with me in the latter part of my career and he brought me back all the way to the #1 contender in the light heavyweight division, so I had no problem with Manny Siaca. Sometimes it's the individual that gets comfortable with the trainer and don't even listen sometimes. I just hope for JuanMa
he took a lot of shots that Saturday night. He took a lot of shots. And then he said some things about the referee that was a little crazy. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. You don't say things like that. I don't care what type of fight you've been in. You gotta protect yourself. He didn't protect himself in the ring and he surely didn't protect himself out of the ring.
PC: Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson will be fighting again in April, and although we didn't get much from the first fight, you like what you saw out of Chad, right?
EMM: Yeah, I liked the situation where Chad showed Bernard that he was the much stronger fighter than Bernard anticipated, because when they went body to body, Chad was able to nudge Bernard around just a little bit. Chad is a strong individual. I would like to see the same thing happen in the rematch; Chad putting pressure on Bernard and making him fight. Bernard's gotta rely on counter punching.
PC: Bernard will be doing all of the same things he did in the first fight. As a trainer, how do you keep Chad out of that danger spot where it's getting rough or he can possibly be forced into the same situation as the first fight?
EMM: He has to stay out of the clinches as much as possible. He can beat Bernard from the outside. Bernard knows all of the tricks in the book and he's going to do whatever it takes in order to win the fight. Chad has all of the physical advantages: reach, height, and he can crack. He's got that good hook and he can use that against Bernard. I'm not even worried about the experience factor because Chad's been in championship fights and Bernard's been in championship fights. He has to watch out for the little simple things that Bernard does as far as getting him frustrated. He can't afford to lose his composure. If John Scully can keep Chad's head on the right way, then you have a victory for Chad. If not, Bernard is going to use his experience and everything else that goes with it to win the fight.
PC: You have two big fights coming out your way in Vegas. In May, Floyd Mayweather will be taking on Miguel Cotto. I know you think highly of Floyd, but do you see Cotto pulling off the upset?
EMM: I'm gonna put it to you in a few words, 42 have tried and 42 have failed, and 43 ain't gonna be no different. I like Cotto, don't get me wrong. I've had Cotto in the top 5 pound-for-pound greats coming out of Puerto Rico in boxing history. Here is a guy that took two hellacious beatings at the hands of Pacquiao and Margarito and comes back and wins the title again. That shows his tenacity. And now he is about to make the biggest payday he's ever made fighting the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world today. My hat is off to Miguel Cotto. He is a great fighter.
PC: I respect the fact that Miguel Cotto used his promotional outfit to make this fight happen as opposed to staying in a situation that wouldn't allow the fight to happen.
EMM: Well, those things happen and that's why you see great fighters or fighters that have a name for themselves try to promote themselves. Pretty soon, the promoter is going to be a thing of the past and the network will start going right to the fighter and they will make the fight themselves. And that's what Floyd is doing and I think it's great.
PC: The other big fight coming your way is in June between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. How do you see this one going?
EMM: Going into a fight, you give everybody a chance, but the basic point is Pacquiao's hand speed. When he throws those combinations, you can't stay in the line of fire. I think Bradley's a little bit harder puncher; Bradley's a little bit more durable than Pacquiao and he's a little bit more hungrier than Pacquiao, so I think we're gonna see the best of Timothy Bradley that night. It's gonna be a great fight.
PC: You were very much in the Ali camp. What was your relationship like with Angelo Dundee and what are your final thoughts on him?
EMM: Angelo was a credit to the game. We always talked a lot, me and Angelo, and we always laughed a lot and cracked jokes together. Every time I would see Angelo, we were like kids. Even though he was older, we just had this admiration for each other. Even when I went to Italy and fought one of his guys for the IBF title, Angelo was in his corner, but at the end of the day, we were cracking jokes and having a great time over there. So Angelo will be sorely missed by me because he was a mentor, friend, and if I wanted to crack a joke and laugh, I'm gonna call Angelo and tell him and we would get a good laugh. We were like kids, man. We had a lot of fun together and I'm gonna miss him. I'm gonna miss him and Ron Lyle. I miss those guys already.
PC: What was Bundini Brown's role in Ali's camp as opposed to Dundee's?
EMM: Bundini was the mental coach. He was the guy that you can trust, and Ali trusted both of them. Drew Bundini was Ali's spiritual adviser, in a street way. He put it to him in the street way. "Come on mutha
we gotta do this
we gotta do it champ
float like a butterfly and sting like a bee
dance champ, dance." He kept Ali's psychic going. Ali'd get a combination off, "That's what I'm talking about champ. We can do that all night; all night!" that's how Bundini kept it real with Ali, and the way Angelo kept it real with Ali, "Hey you're doing everything correct." He put it in an educational way. Bundini was the spiritual guy and Angelo was the educational guy. That was a great team; great team!
PC: Always appreciate the time. What else do you have going on my man?
EMM: I got Sergei Liakhovich fighting this weekend on Zab Judah's card. He's fighting Bryant Jennings. We just trying to stay busy. I got Hasim Rahman, who will be fighting Povetkin, but I'm just trying to get a date. We keeping in the gym and everything is good; everything is great.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]