"Floyd would have to abandon his skill and talent and do everything wrong to make it a great fight; Floyd ain't that kind of fighter. Floyd is not going to try to get hit with anything and would be crazy if he did
The best thing that can happen is it turns out to be a draw. Both fighters land good shots and it turns out to be a draw. You know why? Because it keeps boxing alive. Boxing needs something like this right now, for this fight to be close and explosive. Then we get another fight out of it," stated former featherweight champion Kevin Kelley as he shared his thoughts on the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. You don't want to miss what else he had to say about Pacquiao, Mayweather, Shane Mosley, Andre Berto and much more. Check it out!
PC: I have always respected your skills as a fighter, but I also think you are one of the more qualified guys to commentate the game. I wanted to get your breakdown on a couple of big welterweight fights. First off, I wanted to get your opinion on Shane Mosley vs. Andre Berto. How do you see that fight going?
KK: As a broadcaster, I get to talk about it from an angle of doing it. I learned one thing about a fighter as he ages and that's the motivation ain't the same. It's not so much that the fighter's skill diminishes; it's the motivation. It's tough to get motivated to beat guys that you know you would have beaten easily. It's very difficult in life and these are life lessons; it has nothing to do with boxing so much. But I don't care what you do, once you master it, you want to do something else. You want to be at something else. Shaq wanted to be a cop. You had Michael Jordan trying to be a baseball player. Once you've conquered the sport that you're in, you want to conquer something else. I want to conquer the broadcasting side of things. I want to be the first fighter ever to be in the Hall Of Fame for broadcasting. I want to get a ring for boxing as well as broadcasting. That's something that someone hasn't done yet, you know what I'm saying? It's human nature for us to seek something bigger and better. That goes for everybody. We want a bigger house, a better car and more money and people that got that don't even want that. It's all about destroy and conquer. That's us and human nature.
PC: So you think Mosley may be lacking motivation?
KK: Boxers, we tend to take it to a step where
like when Shane Mosley fought Margarito, the whole gang, HBO included, thought that was Shane's last fight ever. They thought Margarito was going to go blast Shane out and that's the end of Shane Mosley. Let's be honest, it's an ethnic war and that's what we're in right now. Filipinos, Mexicans and Europeans are the majority of the money. It's not the 80's with Sugar Ray, Hearns and Hagler. Back then, people appreciated black fighters. Black fighters had an audience. I'm going to call it like it is. Black fighters don't have an audience now. Pacquiao has an audience and today, black fighters have to fight guys that have an audience to make any kind of money in this game today. I'm wondering how well Shane Mosley and Andre Berto is going to do at the gate and on TV. How many people know who Andre Berto is? If you ask the average person, they don't know who Andre Berto is. They know Shane and De La Hoya, but nobody really knows who Berto is, so how many tickets is that good for? How many views is that good for? My biggest concern in that fight, because I have been friends with Shane for a long time, and my question is
I just hope Shane is motivated for that fight. People don't realize a few things. When he fought Cotto, he wasn't motivated. You could see he was trying to get motivated, but he couldn't get motivated like he was for Margarito. When they try to push Shane out of the door, then you're going to see the best of Shane. When they tried to push me out of the door, that's when you saw the best of me. It's like that with every fighter because it's very hard for fight guys like me and that's why I'm not in the ring right now is because I can't get the motivation to fight somebody that has everything to gain and nothing to lose. It's very difficult for me and I think it will be for Shane as well. Besides, for Berto having a belt, he hasn't built any legacy yet because he hasn't beaten some of the top fighters in the world, so Shane has everything to lose and nothing to gain against Berto, but winning another belt.
PC: A lot of the older fighters have come on record saying that these networks are trying to root them out. With that being said, do you think Shane has to stop Berto or can he win a decision if HBO is indeed trying to push the younger fighters forward?
KK: Well, that's judging. As we age, we have to look more dominating. For example, when I go and win a 12 round decision, they don't accept that from me. I always felt like I was the Black Sheep of the sport. I have always felt like the Marvin Hagler of the game. People got used to me destroying guys and as I got older, I was taking guys out later and going the distance and I started getting bad decisions, like when I fought David Rodela and went 8 rounds with him and it amazed me that they gave him the decision. Boxing is the kind of game where people get set in their ways of seeing how you are and how you perform. And when you don't perform the way they think, something is wrong with you. And they are quit to take it away from you because they feel you are not the same fighter or as hungry.
At the end of the day, I think the boxing game needs to change because it's going downhill. Fighters don't fight. These guys box for easy money these days. I study this and that's why I can't wait to get back on the microphone. If you look at football, basketball and baseball, they have ex-players commentating all day. You look at boxing and we have movie stars and comedians and it just doesn't make any sense. What are the qualifications to being a boxing broadcaster? You just have to be a celebrity? I think that makes a mockery of our game. I think it is very simple; you have to have been a boxer at some point. Have you ever seen a boxer commentate a football game? When they did that show, "Thunderbox", they had guys commentating that didn't have nothing to do with the sport. I think we need to change the criteria. I was getting older in the sport, as far as throwing punches, but I was getting younger as far as talking about fights. No offense to Mario Lopez, but homeboy, you did some boxing training, but you never got in the ring and fought. I'm waiting to see Arnold Schwarzenegger start calling boxing fights (laughing).
PC: If the proposed mega fight happen between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao comes off, give me your breakdown on how you see the fight going?
KK: I don't see that fight being as explosive as everybody else sees it. It's like I said a long time ago, it takes two fighters to put on a great fight. There is no such thing as great fighters, only good fighters that put on great fights. Manny Pacquiao has great skills, but I feel there are fighters and then there are boxers. Here is an example: Gatti was a fighter. He was a fighter and not a boxer. The problem with boxing is this: we're taught to do something that the people don't want to see. We're educated to make you miss and make you pay. People don't want to see that. They want to see hit for hit, fall for fall; that's fighting. Some of us can do it and some of us can't. I was a guy that could do it, Corrales was a guy that could do it and Gatti could also do it. As great as Roy Jones was, and he may be one of the greatest fighters in the last 100 years since Muhammad Ali, but everybody wants to see a competitive fight. If it looks too easy for me, they don't want to watch it. I was undefeated for 8 ½ years and was beating everybody easy, but nobody ever talks about those fights. The ones that I took a beating on and came back to win, they talk about those. There is a certain criteria in the sport and Mayweather doesn't meet that criteria. Think about it. Will he be remembered for his legacy? No. I hate to say it, but he needs the kind of fight where he takes a beating somehow, maybe down 3 rounds or knocked down 1 time, and he has to come back to take you out. When Sugar Ray beat Hearns the first time, it was a great fight. Why? Because Sugar Ray had to come back from the brink of loss and from almost getting knocked out to win the fight; the same with me and Gainer and Hamed. At the end of the day, and I'm just giving my personal view, but I think it's going to be a boring fight because of Floyd's style. I think Floyd is going to beat him very easily because I think Pacquiao is in over his head with Floyd, but I give them credit because they waited for the most money to put him in over his head.
PC: So you think Pacquiao is in over his head with Mayweather? But a lot of people thought he was in over his head in his last 3 fights.
KK: He's been catching everybody at the perfect time. He caught De La Hoya when De La Hoya didn't want to fight anymore. He caught Ricky Hatton when he was trying to work on a new style that didn't work for him. When the bell rung, Hatton forgot everything that he was taught. He caught Cotto after the Margarito fight and Cotto wasn't the same after that. We saw signs of that against Clottey because Cotto hasn't looked the same since then. I give Freddie Roach the most credit because he's getting the perfect guys to beat at the right time. Not only is Pacquiao beating them, he's retiring them. The timing is perfect. If you can get any luckier than Pacquiao, I want to see it. I don't know if it's all natural because physically, it's impossible to go from 108 pounds to 147 pounds and stop guys. I don't know how right that is. With that being said though, I think it's going to be an easy win for Floyd. Pacquiao has to hit Floyd to hurt him and he's not going to be able to hit him. I'm interested to see how Freddie Roach plans on training Pacquiao to win the fight? I'm interested to see.
Another thing that I think is very funny is everybody talks about Pacquiao's speed. He was never known for his speed until he moved up to 147. People don't realize something; when you move up to a weight class that don't exist, you're faster than everybody else. Floyd was fast all the way from 126 pounds to 147. You have speed or you don't. Fast fighters are always going to be fast. Floyd is always going to be fast. Whitaker, I don't care what he does, if he boxes right now he's going to be fast. I'm going to always be fast because I've been fighting fast since I was an amateur. I tell people all of the time. Don't get it twisted and think that Pacquiao is going to match Mayweather's speed. He's not! He's going to look slow. He didn't look that fast against Marquez. I commentated his fight against Agapito Sanchez; he didn't look that fast against Agapito. He's fast now, and I'm not knocking him because the man is historically incredible. The stuff he's doing is historically impossible and he's doing it; it's incredible. Pacquiao's retiring more men than social security right now (laughing). He retires De La Hoya, he retired Ricky Hatton and Cotto is all but retired. I mean, he's beating these guys so bad for a small man with this extreme punching power from I don't know where. It is very simple, Floyd knows he hits like that so guess what? He's never going to hit him. Like I said before, Pacquiao has great power and that's fine, but how is that power going to be a factor when he can't hit a target? If he can't hit his target, he has no punching power. Does he have a plan B, like going to Floyd's body? Is that going to work? Floyd would be tattooing his head while he's trying to get to Floyd's body. Styles make fights at the end of the day, Pacquiao is perfect for Floyd's style. Floyd is not perfect for Pacquiao's style.
It's too late to educate Pacquiao on a style he has never faced. One fight is not enough to teach a fighter new tricks; it's not enough. You gotta rehearse it 3 to 4 times. Look at Ricky Hatton, who was learning a whole new style, and as soon as the bell rings, he went back to his old style. You gotta fight 2 or 3 times to perfect that style. It takes one year for you to get it, so how is he going to get the style in less than one year? It can't happen and that's exactly what happened to Hatton. He couldn't get the style and he suffered for it. At the end of the day, I had my own questions about Pacquiao. When people ask me if he's on something, I say, "I don't know," but you can ask the question of how can he take out guys at 147 when he couldn't take out guys at 122? It's some strange punching power from out of I don't know where.
PC: You make some good points. So you have Floyd running away with this fight if it comes off?
KK: Floyd would have to abandon his skill and talent and do everything wrong to make it a great fight; Floyd ain't that kind of fighter. Floyd is not going to try to get hit with anything and would be crazy if he did. It's a double standard. If Floyd does do that, we're going to call him stupid and if he doesn't do it, we're going to call him boring. He can't win for losing. He needs to do what he needs to do and go in there and outbox this man and shut it down. The best thing that can happen is it turns out to be a draw. Both fighters land good shots and it turns out to be a draw. You know why? Because it keeps boxing alive. Boxing needs something like this right now, for this fight to be close and explosive. Then we get another fight out of it. Listen, I wouldn't be surprised if Floyd knocks him out like he did Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao fighting guys at the end of their career and him fighting a guy that is still in their prime is a big difference. He's a southpaw and he's coming up in weight, so he's faster than everybody, but he has some things to where he is catching guys at the right time. He didn't fight the Cotto pre-Margarito. He didn't fight that Cotto. I think that Cotto would have handed him his head. Great planning by Freddie Roach. Oh my goodness, he should be the manager of the year. I wish I had that kind of luck in my career because he's having success in a weight class that he doesn't even belong in. Incredible! Here is a guy who fought at 108 pounds and it's supposed to be physically impossible for him to find his calling at 147 pounds, but not only is he doing it, he's dominating and retiring guys.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]