"The reality of it is how much weight does a lawsuit carry because there are many people that feel the same way. I didn't think you can be sued for your opinion. That's a new one to me. There are several fighters and people in general that feel the same wayÂ…It's almost as though Manny is God or something! These people feel as though they have to basically be in secrecy to speak their own opinion. It's your opinion and any person on this planet should be entitled to their opinion, whether you are from the Philippines or not. That's all it is, an opinion," stated world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather as he shared his thoughts on the defamation lawsuit that was filed by Manny Pacquiao against his nephew and his two brothers. You don't want to miss what else he had to say about Manny Pacquiao, the notion that Floyd is afraid to fight him and much more. Check it out!
PC: How was your New Year my man?
JM: New Year was good. I was in Trinidad for the New Year with one of my female fighters. Unfortunately, she didn't get a fight though.
PC: It's a tough business for a female fighter to land fights consistently.
JM: It's a very very tough business for women. You almost gotta beg these promoters to put them on, but in this situation, she's fortunate because she actually has a promotional contract.
PC: Freddie Roach was on Sportscenter saying your nephew is scared to take a loss and that's why he doesn't want the Pacquiao fight. What are your thoughts on the notion that Floyd is scared of Manny?
JM: I mean, basically, that's a joke. The reality of it is this; it's not Floyd that's avoiding the fight, it's Manny Pacquiao and everybody knows why he's avoiding it. Like I said, if you'reÂ…like me, myself, I have never drank alcohol in my life. If a police officer comes up to me and stops me for drunk driving, I'm going to be bold and say, "Test me for anything. I don't care. Whatever test you have is never going to show alcohol in my system." That's what you do when you are confident that you are not on something. The other side of that is you don't run out and sue nobody if you want to prove that you are not on something. If they think you are beating guys because of this and that, take the stance and say, "Go ahead and test me. You are scared of me and that's why you are saying that." The reality of it is how much weight does a lawsuit carry because there are many people that feel the same way. I didn't think you can be sued for your opinion. That's a new one to me. There are several fighters and people in general that feel the same way.
Even on my Facebook page, there is a guy from the Philippines and when they from the Philippines, they be real low key. They don't want to let you know that they don't like Manny and they hope that he gets beat or they think he's doing this and doing that, but they will tell you on the low key. Trust me! I had a guy say, "I'm from the Philippines and Manny is this and that and I want your nephew to knock him out." It's almost as though Manny is a God or something! These people feel as though they have to basically be in secrecy to speak their own opinion. It's your opinion and any person on this planet should be entitled to their opinion, whether you are from the Philippines or not. That's all it is, an opinion.
PC: Anybody that picks Floyd to win on the site feels the force from the Filipino readers. It's great to be passionate like thatÂ…
JM: (Cutting in) Oh yeah. I remember I wrote an article about Manny a long time ago. This was before he even got big. I think he had just beat Morales or something. I'm not really sure who it was, but I had wrote an article basically saying that Manny is a great fighter to watch, but technically, he has no skills at all. And oh my God, the backlash from that wasÂ…they went crazy. And then this lady wrote me talking about, "The reason why Manny is this and that is because God loves him." I told her we are all God's children, so what are you talking about? God ain't chose no damn Manny Pacquiao over everybody else. It was really crazy because I broke her down. She felt like a complete fool after I said that. I said, "What is it about Manny Pacquiao that's different from you, different from me and anybody else?" I said, "No, we're all God's children." I asked her what she did for a living. She said she was a school teacher. I said, "You can't be a school teacher. You can't be teaching that mess in school." How can you tell someone in school that this man is chosen by God? She was out of her mind. She felt like a complete fool after I got done going back and forth with her on that. She told me I was right, it's just that Manny is the hero of their country and that's fine. But he's nothing special. He's a guy that capitalized on an opportunity and made the most of it, but he's nothing special.
The thing is this, and believe me, when all of this is done and he fights Floyd, I think everybody knows and Manny knows what's going to happen to him. The reality of it is this, and it's not about Floyd being worried about losing because he's not worried about losing no more than Manny is. Nobody wants to lose, but the reality is this; let's make sure it's an even playing field. If you don't have nothing to hide, you should be able to take any test there is at any time.
PC: Roach said on Sportscenter that Manny doesn't feel right for 3 days after giving blood.
JM: (Laughing) Wow! Wow! Well why don't they take the blood 4 days before the fight then if that's the problem? It's all BS because why would they make so many different smokescreens just for this one person? It has gotten to the point where they done ran out of excuses, they done made so many.
PC: Well I hope we can get that fight still later this year. How do you see Mosley-Berto going?
JM: What I see in this fight, realistically, is that it is a pick 'em fight. I think a lot of people are just riding Shane's coattail because Berto has never fought somebody with that big of a name. But at the same time, Shane is almost 40 years old. He's almost 40 years old and he can't get out of the way of a right hand. He hasn't been able to get out of the way of a right hand in a long time. When you can't get out of the way of a right hand from Mayorga, forget about it. Don't get me wrong, Berto has a good right hand and good speed, but I think the difference between those two, because I think their skill level is probably equal, but Shane takes a better shot and that may be the difference in that fight. But like I said, if Shane gets hit with those right hands like he's been getting hit with those right hands against Cotto and Mayorga, I think Shane could get upset. And I don't see it as an upset, but a lot of people would just because he is coming off of that big win against Margarito. And Margarito wasn't nothing but a big cheater anyway. Margarito is a cheater and Shane has been busted for cheating before soÂ…at the end of the day, honestly, one fighter got destroyed by all of this cheating and that's Miguel Cotto. He got ruined by Margarito and then turn around and gets destroyed completely by Pacquiao. We're talking about a guy that could possibly be undefeated, still have his swagger and could be considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but what happened is he got cheated and he dealt with it; he dealt with it like a man. I mean, you wonder, how can this man not be on something when Miguel Cotto says, "I have never been hit harder by anyone in my life than I did against Pacquiao." Wait a second, you practically just got hit with a cast. You was just gettin hit by a man [Margarito] who probably had cast on his hands. How can this little man hit you and you say that? It's just all crazy to me.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]