"I'm looking out the window right now and there is a line in the parking lot and it goes into a circle. There is like 100 people out there; no, it's gotta be way more than that. And where this gym is located, it's not the easiest place to find. There are hundreds of people out thereĀ
He's been sparing with Shawn Porter, this tough black kid. He has another tough guy that's more of a journeyman and this tough Puerto Rican kid; all tough guys. The sparring has been bad ass so far man; they have some tough guys in here sparring with Manny," stated Wild Card gym staple Shane Langford as he gave an update on Manny Pacquiao's training thus far for his upcoming clash with Joshua Clottey. Plus, Langford had some choice words for Teddy Atlas and you don't want to miss what he had to say. Check it out!
PC: How is everything going?
SL: Good.
PC: You're trying to break into the training aspect of the game. What has that experience been like for you?
SL: I just sit around and listen to Freddie and see what he's doing in the ring and try to figure out why he's doing it, which is extremely hard, but I feel I'm getting a little bit of it now, you know what I mean? But it's like a fucking retard trying to figure out a genius; it's tough. It's hard to figure out what makes a genius tick. It usually doesn't happen for most people, but I'm giving my best effort to make it work. I'm trying to use this stuff I'm learning from Freddie on amateur fighters and I got a few guys ready to go, so that's cool.
PC: How many hours would you say you are putting into Wildcard Gym? What are your days like there?
SL: Well, it starts at 5 AM. They got this one trainer that comes in and trains people real early. I don't know why, but they got him and then I clean up when he goes. And then most people come in at 7 and then sparring goes on from about 10 to 12. And then from there, I try to listen to what Freddie is telling the guys and try to apply it to my own guys, which is hard, but it's possible because of what everyone does. For instance, if Freddie tells a guy to jab and then throw that right hand over that, that's something I could tell my guys when the same situation comes up with my amateur guys. I just tell them the same thing. The thing is trying to keep check of all of those things and why you're doing them in that particular situation and how it's working for my guys and applying that along with other things. It's difficult, but I feel I'm getting it.
PC: You have an amazing story of how you got involved with Freddie and Wildcard. What life lessons have you learned from this experience?
SL: Ah man, don't expect anything from anybody, but if somebody is fucking solid like Freddie is, try to make everything you can out of it. Most times, people are trying to fuck you rather than help you, right; 9 times out of 10 people are trying to screw you. They come across as Freddie type of guys and they're not, so be careful is all I can say.
PC: How do you view Freddie as a mentor, father figure or brother? What's your relationship with Freddie?
SL: Like an untouchable fucking genius and I'm trying to figure out just a little bit of what makes him tick and I'm trying to apply that with my own situation where I can train guys good like that. I wish I had a good trainer like Freddie. I would really like to learn these lessons and fucking pass them on. That's all I can do now. I tried fighting and it didn't work out. I did the best that I could, but shit happens and now I just want to learn every single thing I can and pass it on to the next generation of fighters.
PC: You see your fair share of celebrities and top notch fighters come through Wildcard Gym. How humbling of an experience is it for you, mainly just seeing Freddie being Freddie and never changing with his popularity?
SL: I can't even put it into words. Mickey Rourke, I don't really know the guy, but he has to be a stand-up guy to still come and visit Freddie now that he's this big star because he was coming here when he was still a fighter and to still be loyal enough to come through and show support says a lot about Freddie and Mickey. He's super cool even though he has reached this celebrity status. Freddie is still the same person and when I first got here, he wasn't this big celebrity. He is the exact same way and it's crazy. He doesn't let anything bother him and I look up to him. I heard Teddy Atlas was saying bad things about him. I used to think Teddy Atlas was cool, but he must be no good. I heard some stuff, and of course this is second hand, but I heard Freddie talking to people and they were saying that that scar on his face is not from a knife fight, but it's from a fucking car wreck. He tries to play like he was this tough guy and a poor kid, but his dad was this top surgeon, so he wasn't poor and I'm sure he wasn't in a knife fight. He was saying things about Freddie not training this fighter and not showing loyalty. Check it out, Teddy Atlas doesn't pay Freddie's bills. Freddie is a guy that truly grew up with nothing and no one is paying his bills, so he has to do what he has to do. What the fuck does Teddy want him to do? I'm sure it's tough for Teddy to watch Freddie become the best trainer out there.
PC: Now you guys have Pacquiao in the gym and I'm sure it is bananas around that place?
SL: I'm looking out the window right now and there is a line in the parking lot and it goes into a circle. There is like 100 people out there; no, it's gotta be way more than that. And where this gym is located, it's not the easiest place to find. There are hundreds of people out there. You hear that clapping?
PC: Yeah, I hear that.
SL: That's like 100 people that got into the gym already watching Manny train right now as we speak.
PC: So that's Manny in the background training now?
SL: Yeah buddy. I can't see him because I'm in this office. He's been sparing with Shawn Porter, this tough black kid. He has another tough guy that's more of a journeyman and this tough Puerto Rican kid; all tough guys. The sparring has been bad ass so far man; they have some tough guys in here sparring with Manny.
PC: How much of a disappointment was it for you that you guys are fighting Clottey instead of Mayweather?
SL: It sucks. Mayweather knew Pacquiao was a real challenge and one of the only fighters that can threaten his perfect record, so that's one of the reasons why I think they came up with all the testing stuff. Freddie pointed out that you can detect things better in urine than in blood and they still wouldn't come off the demands and I think that they wanted blood just to fuck with Manny psychologically. They will fight eventually. Who doesn't want to see that fight, you know what I'm saying? He will come around. I can't see this fight not happening. It's such an ego thing with his camp and his dad and uncle. Maybe they don't want to see Floyd fight Manny because they don't want him to be as great as them. That's one way I have been looking at it. You never know. A win over Manny could make him go down as the greatest ever. I don't think he's better than a Ray Robinson, but to a lot of people, that would put Floyd up there and maybe his people don't want to see that. I don't even think Floyd would have beat Ray Leonard and Freddie thinks Ray Leonard was better than Ray Robinson. I don't, but Freddie does because he thinks Ray Leonard was more intelligent. But Floyd wouldn't even beat Ray Leonard let alone Ray Robinson.
PC: Best of luck to you. I want to hear about your fighters in the near future my man. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
SL: Teddy Atlas is a bitch and that's all I want to say in closing!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]