"Clottey has to capitalize on that; inside fighting, body punching and keeping Pacquiao on the ropes. If he can do that, he can beat him, but Clottey has had a problem because he only fights in spurts. He doesn't fight 3 minutes of every round...You can't do that against Pacquiao because he's going to fight you for 3 minutes of every round. I give him that; he is a fighter. Pacquiao has no quit in him and he will fight for 3 minutes of every round. He's going to fight you, he's going to bring the fight to you and you gotta love him for that...Pacquiao is probably the better fighter with more style, but Clottey has a chance of beating this guy if he uses his strengths, but he's gotta use them and offset whatever Pacquiao is trying to do. It's a tricky fight, but I'm like you, the general perception is Pacquiao is going to win it. But he may have bitten off more than he can chew," stated former champion turned trianer John David Jackson as he shared his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao's upcoming clash with Joshua Clottey, the May 1 showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley and much more. You definitely don't want to miss what he had to say about Shane Mosley, who he's personally worked with in the past. Although he believes the welterweight champion has the tools to beat Mayweather, he also revealed that there's a certain way and a certain style to beat Mosley. Check it out!
PC: How is it going JD?
JDJ: It's going pretty good. I'm just trying to get back into the gym. I have Randal Bailey fighting March 12th, so everybody is coming to the gym now trying to get prepared for certain fights that are coming up.
PC: I know Randall has struggled making 140 over the years. How important was it for him to finally move up to 147?
JDJ: At this age, it's clear. He's fought at 140 for about 15 years and that's a lot of growing your body goes through, so at this stage in his career, he's getting older and his body is telling him it's time to move on. I think 147 should be ideal for him, so we will see what happens. He should carry the same power if not more at 147, so we will see what happens there for him.
PC: Nate Campbell kind of went through the same situation where the older he got, he just wasn't able to make 135 anymore. At what age does this usually start happening to fighters?
JDJ: Once you get in your early 30's, your body starts to tell you it's time to move up. It doesn't happen to every fighter; some fighters are a lot more disciplined than others. That's the bottom line. Some guys realize that this is their livelihood and they can make the weight and maintain it. Some of these guys blow up and as you get older, your metabolism starts slowing down and your body gets used to that added weight, but the fighters don't realize that, so now they gotta work harder as opposed to when they were younger and they could lose 10 pounds in a day with no problem. When you get older, to lose that kind of weight just drains you of your strength because your body is not used to being down at that weight anymore. But if you walk around heavy, come fight night, your body just is not used to it and it doesn't react the same.
PC: I remember not long ago Nate was telling me you used to spar with him and you stay in good shape. Has there been a time recently where you got that itch to get back in there?
JDJ: Any true competitor, I don't care what sport they're in, that itch is always going to be there. A friend of mine called me recently and said Tommy Hearns was doing an interview with Ray Leonard about 4 years ago and he told Ray, "Let's do it one more time." That's only because the competitive fire in Tommy won't let him accept defeat and he won't. If you asked Marvin Hagler, he would want to fight Ray one more time. If you asked Joe Frazier, he would want to fight Ali one more time. Any athlete, I don't care whether it's a boxer, tennis player, basketball or football player, if you have that real competitive fire inside of you, you're always going to be down for one more. Your body may not be able to do it, but you're always down for one more try to prove you still got it. I kind of have it still and that's why I box every blue moon. I kind of quit sparring so much because I'm 46 now, so I don't do that so much. That competitive nature is still inside of me. People ask if I would fight Jorge Castro one more time and I say, "Sign the contract and get him in the ring and let's go." That's just me for the simple fact that I lost to this guy the way I did. Any true fighter wants one more shot at it.
PC: Something came up on our radio show and I wanted to let you clarify it. The question was asked if you are a racist because you said Pacquiao don't fight black fighters. Now, I know it's more of a style thing than a race thing, but I will let you clarify yourself for the people wanting to know.
JDJ: I appreciate that. It's like I say all of the time, I am far from a racist. My father married a Filipino woman and I don't have a problem with that. It's the simple fact that if you look at his record, he hasn't fought one good American black fighter that has style and would give him problems. He fought Cotto, who was a solid fighter, but he's on the downslide. For me, like I told people recently, I give Manny his due. I can't say anything because he's on top of the world right now. He's defeated every man they have put in front of him. I'm not taking anything from him. But to say he's beat the best, I'm not buying it. He beat De La Hoya, but he was washed up and trying to make that weight was even more of a problem. Here is the thing with Manny, and Manny is a good fighter, but he has certain stipulations. You have to meet him at a certain weight. If we are fighting for a title at 147, let me fight at 147; don't make me come in at 145. That extra 2 pounds killed him [Cotto]. To try and lose that weight is tough because he's already coming down from like 60 or 65. Those extra pounds have caused a problem for these fighters. If he is as good as he say he is, quit making these catchweights. Shane Mosley wanted to fight Pacquiao at 140; he was willing to come down to 140. I said, "Man, don't do that. If this guy is as good as he says he is, have him fight you at 147 and not a pound less. His title is at 147 so fight him at 147." So to answer the question that you asked me, it wasn't a racial thing. I never said anything bad about Manny or any Filipinos. Personally, I think he hasn't fought the best fighters. They have a couple of black fighters that are the best right now that he hasn't fought. Until he beats a Mayweather or a Mosley, then I don't know if he is the top fighter. Luckily for him, they are fighting each other and that eliminates one right there, so all he has to do is fight the winner of that fight and if he beats that guy convincinglyÂ…hey, we can't even argue if he is the pound-for-pound best. It's automatic.
PC: The other issue that was brought up was would you consider Josh Clottey a black fighter? My opinion personally is no, he is from Ghana. I wouldn't call the Klitschkos white fighters; they are European. Also, how do you see the fight between Pacquiao and Clottey turning out?
JDJ: Well, to answer your first question, you're right because if you ask any African fighter if he is black, he will tell you point blank he's African. That's how they classify themselves as African. You will never hear one of them say I'm black. They never put us in the same class as them. Now he's fighting Clottey and here is the thing. Clottey has a shot and there are a few ways to look at it. Pacquiao is not a good inside fighter. He can't fight on the inside period, not good at all, and he also can't fight off of the ropes. When Cotto had him on the ropes, he dominated, but he couldn't keep that pressure on him. Pacquiao couldn't fight off of the ropes. When he was on the ropes, he was dead. Clottey has to capitalize on that; inside fighting, body punching and keeping Pacquiao on the ropes. If he can do that, he can beat him, but Clottey has had a problem because he only fights in spurts. He doesn't fight 3 minutes of every round. For some reason, he kind of dies out in the second half of fights. He can be dominating and then for some reason, he dies out the second half of the fight. You can't do that against Pacquiao because he's going to fight you for 3 minutes of every round. I give him that; he is a fighter. Pacquiao has no quit in him and he will fight for 3 minutes of every round. He's going to fight you, he's going to bring the fight to you and you gotta love him for that. Clottey has to offset that. He's got to be able to fight 3 minutes of every round; not hard fighting, but smart. He has to keep Pacquiao on defense, which is going to be hard because Pacquiao likes to punch. But it can be good because if Clottey can keep him punching with him, Pacquiao's defense is terrible. If you can make him exchange, you might be able to clip him real quick. I don't know how good of a punch Pacquiao can take. Clottey walks around heavy. If the weight's not a problem for him and he fights him at 147, not below that because on fight night, the IBF has a 10 pound rule where you can't be no more than 10 pounds from what you weighed in at, but the WBA and WBO don't have that clause, so after the weigh-in he can come in at 160 or whatever he wants to weigh in at. He gotta take that advantage and use that advantage. But like you say, Pacquiao is probably the better fighter with more style, but Clottey has a chance of beating this guy if he uses his strengths, but he's gotta use them and offset whatever Pacquiao is trying to do. It's a tricky fight, but I'm like you, the general perception is Pacquiao is going to win it. But he may have bitten off more than he can chew. If Clottey has the right people and the right program in line, he could win this fight.
PC: I just haven't seen all of the things you just said in big fights from Clottey. He's always second and if you don't keep that jab in Pacquiao's face, he will eat you. But to have an effective jab, you have to be first and I haven't seen that on a consistent basis from Clottey.
JDJ: Exactly. That's the question to ask, can he produce in a fight of this magnitude at this time in his life? We will see.
PC: The way the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight fell apart over the drug testing, would you say that was good for the sport, bad for the sport or raised awareness?
JDJ: Well, you know, it's two-fold. If you're a Pacquiao fan, they are going to say they shouldn't have asked for drug testing and he shouldn't have to do that. If you are a Mayweather fan and you're anti-Pacquiao, you're going to say, "Why didn't he take the test? If you're clean, why didn't you take the test?" At first, I never questioned if you used steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs, but it raises eyebrows because why would you back down? If you're clean, you will take any test in the world, it doesn't matter, but if you're dirty a little bit, then you might have a problem with that. One day he's going to take it and then the next day he's not, so it raises eyebrows. Do I think he's on it? I have no opinion. I never thought he was. Mayweather asked the question and then they backed away from it, so it raises doubt. I couldn't tell you. He's gotten bigger and he's moved up real nice. I don't know how he did it. I don't know if it was natural or enhanced; alls I know is both fighters, for the sake of boxing, the fight should have been made because that's the fight the public wants to see. That's the most demanded fight out there. It's the most marketable fight and they're both going to make a ton of money, the kind of money that you and I both wish we could make in one night's work. Any true fighter would say, "Let's put all of that aside." Fighters of the past, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Hearns, Hagler, Leonard and Duran, they put all of that trivial stuff aside. When it was time to get down, they got down. You don't hear all of the "if you don't take this test or if you don't come down to 145" or whatever. They just fought. Spinks didn't say to Holmes, "You gotta come down to 210 for this fight." No, man, they fought. When Duran moved up to fight Barkley, he didn't ask him to come in at 156 or 155; they fought. When it was time for them cats to get down, they got down. These guys today want to make certain weights and don't want to take certain tests. If you clean, you clean. Take the test, shutup man, make your money and move on. If you're the best, fight the best and that goes for both sides. Put all of that trivial stuff behind and give the fans what they want to see because they are the ones spending the money to see you guys fight. They are the ones that make your living for you, so give them what they deserve.
And now, that's why all of this other crap is going on. That's why Shane is like, "I'll fight Mayweather. Whatever test I have to take, I will take." Now, was he dirty before? He may have been, but you know, if you're going to say you don't know what it was, we will give you that one, although you should know what goes in your body. That fight needs to be made for the sake of boxing to survive. We need good fights like that. A lot of crap goes on in boxing and we need good fights like this because that would help the sport out tremendously. I hope these guys get it together, and they don't have to fight in March, fight in May or June and let the people see who the best truly is. The sad part about boxing is everybody is a prima donna now. Everybody wants the other person to kiss their butt and you gotta meet them, not halfway, but what I want and where I want. Listen, if you are the best and you say you are the best, all you have to do is step in the ring. When De La Hoya fought Trinidad, they just fought. It wasn't "you gotta come in at this weight or wear these gloves," or whatever; they just fought. It wasn't a good fight. It was a very boring fight, but at least they made the fight that the people wanted to see and it wasn't a lot of bickering back and forth. The fight was made, they made the money and the best man that night supposedly won. I thought Oscar De La Hoya got robbed, but the fight got made and the fans got the chance to see the fight. These guys are robbing themselves, they are robbing the sport and the fans are definitely getting robbed. Everybody wants to see this fight. All of the Pacquiao fans, I know, want my mouth shut. They want to see their guy fight this black guy and they want to beat him. But on the other side, all of those that are anti-Pacquiao want to see Floyd put it on him. Will it happen? We will never know now.
PC: Pacquiao is a hot fighter right now and he's the man. You are known as the king of breaking down southpaws. How would you deal with a Manny Pacquiao if you had a guy about to fight him and do you think Mayweather has what it takes to beat him?
JDJ: Style-wise, it would be a tricky fight and this fight is also two-fold. On one end, you got Pacquiao, who is going to bring it. This is what I hear, so if Floyd sees this or hears this, don't get mad at me, but I hear he didn't want a hard fight. He don't like pressure fighters. He wants to fight guys who he can pick and chose. He wants to handpick opponents so he could look good against them, but guess what? If you think you're the best man, you can't handpick them brother. You gotta fight whoever they say is the best. Everyone says Manny is the best and if Floyd truly believes he is the best, then he should say, "You know what? Man, forget the test. I'm going to whoop your butt anyway and show that I am the better fighter." And after that, what else can be said? It's just a shame that the fans are not seeing that fight man. Me, I hope one day they come together and they make that fight happen.
PC: You have worked with Shane in the past. It appears he will finally be fighting Mayweather. Do you think Shane could dethrone Mayweather and give him his first loss?
JDJ: I always thought that Shane had the best chance of anybody to beat Floyd. I still believe that. The one question mark I do have is, it's going to be what, 15 to 16 months from Shane's last fight when they finally do fight. I know Shane stays in pretty good shape, but boxing shape and ring shape is two different things. There is a lot of ring rust that comes with that. Once those bright lights come on, man, every fighter fights different, at least in the beginning, because there is no headgear and it's a little different for you now and you're not boxing a paid sparring partner, you are boxing with a guy that is trying to take your head off. It's a fight that I still believe that Shane could win, but it also depends on what kind of Floyd shows up. There is a certain way of beating Shane; a certain style that beats him. I won't tell it, but I used to spar with Shane a lot and I have boxed him different ways. There is a certain way to beat him and a certain style. Floyd has the style that can beat him, but he has to be able to do it and maintain that for 12 rounds and he also has to be a little bit busier. He can't lay back. If he lays back and Shane does what I know Shane can do, Shane can break him down real nice and beat him. Floyd has to be a little bit busier than he has been. It's an interesting fight. That's the one guy that I have always felt can give Floyd a lot of trouble and could beat him. It's a powerful fight in a way because there are a lot of questions. There is the layoff factor for Shane and even though Floyd fought recently, he has had a long layoff and he had a handpicked opponent the first time. When you fighting Shane Mosley, Shane gonna bring it. If nothing else, he is going to bring it. Floyd would have to fight in this fight. It's an interesting fight man and I really do think that Shane has a great shot at beating Floyd.
PC: Hey man, I appreciate your time and your insight for sure. I'm glad you were able to come on and clarify some things. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
JDJ: Hey Percy, I appreciate it man. I appreciate you taking the time to call me and give me the chance to voice my opinion and have a chance to clarify the Manny Pacquiao situation. I like Manny. I don't dislike him. He is good for the sport, he is a true competitor and a true champion and I wish him well. I appreciate what you do for the sport and I want you to keep doing your thing and helping these guys get the word out and letting them voice their opinion because they might not get that chance on some other sites.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]