"I see Pacquiao winning the fight, but hey, I don't think Margarito deserved the fight, obviously, with the situation that happened before the Shane Mosley fight, and we don't know how many times that situation had occurred, so I don't think he deserved this fight, but on the other hand, if Margarito upsets him, I think that would be fitting. The fight that should obviously be made, and the one that everybody wants to see, may never happen. You got Floyd Mayweather off doing stupid things and you got Manny Pacquiao who, if he's not training and taking this fight seriously, he's stupid as well," stated world-class boxing/MMA trainer Ron Frazier as he shared his thoughts on the upcoming November 13 showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito. Check it out!
PC: Antonio Tarver made his heavyweight debut recently. What did you think of his performance and his chances at heavyweight?
RF: I think its laziness. You spent most of your career at 175 and now you're fighting at heavyweight? Dude, train! That's all that is. If he was 22 when he started, and now he was 28 or 29 and his body was still maturing and he couldn't make the weight, I would say, "Okay," but that's not the case. He looked very soft, he didn't look good, and I think it's a bad weight for him. I like Antonio as a decent fighter and as a commentator. I do think he's vastly overrated as a fighter. His claim to fame was knocking out Roy Jones when he was past his prime.
PC: You told me awhile back that you wanted to see the affects that that shot from Abraham would have on Andre Dirrell. He recently pulled out of the Super Six with neurological problems. He is the third guy to have to withdraw; a very unfortunate situation. What's your take on the Dirrell situation and the way the Super Six is shaping up?
RF: It's a horrible situation. The Super Six was a great idea when they first started. You had all of these super middleweights lined up to fight each other, but now, you got two injuries to Kessler and Dirrell; which I heard Kessler may be able to come back in 20 months or he may have to retire because of an eye injury. Obviously, now you have the Andre Dirrell situation and he has the neurological problems. When you get knocked out...once you get your trigger pulled in any combative sport, it's easier to happen again, so I was always worried about the residual affects, even though he won the fight by disqualification. I wondered how his chin would hold up and now, it may be a situation where his chin can't hold up at all because he's not going to be able to fight. That's just unfortunate for the sport and for Andre Dirrell. This tournament was a really good idea. We were really seeing some good fights and it was making some really top flight fighters fight each other, which you haven't seen in boxing in a very long time. It's really unfortunate that this tournament fell apart like this. Guy's like Glen Johnson are not the answer. I've enjoyed watching Glen throughout his career, but he didn't look good in his last fight and I can't remember the last time he fought at this low of a weight. What does he bring to the table? Here is a guy that's been wandering around at 175 and I just don't know how effective he can be after cutting down to such a low weight. And what does he have left in his tank? He's been known as the "Road Warrior" and he has a lot of mileage on those tires and I just don't think it's appropriate for him to be in the tournament.
I would have preferred them bringing in some young, up-and-coming unknown knockout artist that maybe a whole lot of people haven't heard of, but could be dangerous. I think that would add some more spark and pizzazz than some old trial horse that people are looking at going, "ehhh!" Then you're putting him up against Allan Green, who should beat Glen, but then if Alan Green doesn't beat him and this guy continues on in the tournament, then you may have to say, "Maybe these 68 pounders weren't that good after all."
PC: So you were hoping they would try to create a star out of the unfortunate situations as opposed to reinvent one?
RF: Absolutely. That was the hope, to get a unified champion and creating a buzz in a division that kind of lacked it. you had Andre Dirrell looking good early, and obviously Andre Ward looking good, and you could have created something and made some people want to follow and say, "Man, this guy can fight." Andre Ward is popular in Oakland, but you want him popular in New York as well.
PC: Do you think it's time for a guy like Shannon Briggs to seriously consider not fighting again after the beating that he suffered from Vitali Klitschko?
RF: Yeah! Those guys are done. They're not even shop worn; they are worn out. I don't want to see Samuel Peter...why are these guys getting title shots? What have they done in the last couple of years that merit them a title shot? They haven't done anything. They were former contenders, are former champions, but how long ago was that. It brings the sport down. Boxing has been a passion of mine for a long time and to see...I don't regret them getting the payday. I know they gotta do what they gotta do, so they shouldn't turn down the fight, but the fight should never be offered.
PC: Pacquiao/Margarito is not far away. November 13th is the date. Are you believing the rumors of Pacquiao not looking so hot or is that just a smoke screen for Margarito and interested fans?
RF: It could be a front or it could be true. Here you have a guy that's coming off a suspension with one tune-up fight, and he wasn't necessarily great at 154. Actually, he's never looked great at 154. Pacquiao has been on a tremendous roll. He's been dominating some studs. Why wouldn't he kind of look past Margarito? You can kind of see how that can happen. He has some political things going on in the Philippines and he has obviously focused his attention on that. But then again, they may be trying to throw up a smoke screen or make it interesting and say, "You know what? He's not all that interested in this fight. Margarito on the other hand is working really hard." So maybe people will tune in and think there will be an upset in the making. I don't foresee that. I see Pacquiao winning the fight, but hey, I don't think Margarito deserved the fight, obviously, with the situation that happened before the Shane Mosley fight, and we don't know how many times that situation had occurred, so I don't think he deserved this fight, but on the other hand, if Margarito upsets him, I think that would be fitting. The fight that should obviously be made, and the one that everybody wants to see, may never happen. You got Floyd Mayweather off doing stupid things and you got Manny Pacquiao who, if he's not training and taking this fight seriously, he's stupid as well.
PC: It's always good to catch up with you my man. I appreciate your time. Give me some closing thoughts.
RF: I'm just going to enjoy my daughter, Samara. I want to give thanks to Xtreme Couture and Inflict Sports, my sponsor, and thank everybody for supporting me in my career and going forward, and I'm looking forward to big things in the UFC!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]