"Today, you've got trainers that never fought and trainers that only had amateur fights and they are not even qualified. You got people that are coming off of the streets and training guys, and then you got guys that are training guys and getting big marquee boxers that really weren't good during their day, but they had names...Freddie Roach is a nice guy. Everybody likes little Freddie and I love him too, but Pacquiao is in good shape and keeping Freddie's name going strong. He [Pacquiao] ain't changed; he's just in better shape. He is in better shape and he's making Freddie Roach look good as he goes," stated former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon, who shared his thoughts on the current state of boxing and the lack of quality trainers still left in the sport. You don't want to miss what else he had to say. Check it out!
PC: How is everything going Champ?
TW: Everything is going good. I just came back from the gym with my son. We're fighting on January 28th. He had 2 fights over in Sheffield, England. He won a decision and then he stopped a guy in the 4th round, so we just gotta build his record up so we can go on and be a champion one day.
PC: Are you still in close contact with Chazz Witherspoon?
TW: The thing is I really haven't talked to Chazz. In the beginning, I started him off. I helped him and now they doing their own thing right now. But I was the one that originally started them off and was helping him with his business, and then...I don't know. He is my cousin, but...if he would have added me onto his team, it would have made things a lot better. I think that it hurt him when they let me go. People were asking me why I was not with him. I think it hurt my ability to get other fighters because they say, "Well, how come his own cousin don't want the 2-time champ in his corner." It affected me at that time. He doing his thing and I really don't know what's going on there because I've been over in England with my son. But you know, Chazz is an extremely nice guy and he just wants things to go right and he didn't want a lot of confusion in his corner, so he just went along with things that was going on. A lot of people were trying to advise him to get a new trainer. I was really his first trainer. I told him, when I retired, I was going to come on board, so when I retired, it didn't go the way it was supposed to go. It could have been outside influence, but I don't know. I don't have a problem with the guys that are training him because they are really nice guys; Wayne and his brother. He was loyal to him, but I was his relative and 2-time heavyweight champ. The only thing I wanted to do was to just help him. But you know, I don't even know what he is doing or when he's fighting. I just know a lot of people keep asking me where he is and how come I ain't with him. It put some type of shadow behind me because, like I said, people are wondering how come the heavyweight champ of the world ain't with his cousin, so I had to keep answering questions about it, even over in England. Some people were thinking I couldn't do the job, so in a way, it kind of hindered me.
PC: Are you comfortable with Tim Jr. traveling to England to fight so often?
TW: We're comfortable anywhere because I'm a good teacher and anywhere we go, we can adapt. We treat people with kindness and respect. I teach him and he picks it up well and knows exactly what to do. We feel comfortable anywhere we go.
PC: I watched an interview you did over in England and one of the things you talked about was the lack of great trainers today. Could you elaborate on that issue some more?
TW: Yes, I will. Here is my thing, when I was fighting, my trainer was Slim Robinson. He also trained Mike Rossman, who was a white guy; "Jewish Bomber" they called him. He was kicking a lot of guys' behind back in the early 80's. He was real slick and I was an amateur at the time, but eventually, I got to train with Slim and he taught me a whole lot of stuff because he was one of them old, slick guys. Today, you've got trainers that never fought and trainers that only had amateur fights and they are not even qualified. You got people that are coming off of the streets and training guys, and then you got guys that are training guys and getting big marquee boxers that really weren't good during their day, but they had names. I won't say any names. But I had a good defense and I had good offense too. I was taught by an old guy. I mean, you look at David Haye. His trainer, Adam Booth, never had a fight. He told me that he watched films and that's how he learned. I told him, "Don't tell nobody that." Adam Booth is a trainer; I like him...and you gotta put that. I like these guys because I don't want it to be like I'm blasting them. I really like Adam and he is a really nice guy, but he should have never told me that. He do the pads good and all of that, but that's from doing the same repetition over and over again.
PC: Learning on the job basically.
TW: Right, like it becomes a routine. So David is at the point now where he needs a real trainer because he's got to fight the Klitschkos and some of these young guys. Tony "The Tiger" [Thompson] knocked him out in a workout and another young guy did it and they tried to keep it quiet. David Haye needs somebody that knows the tricks and the trades of the game; somebody that knows what it takes to get there. Freddie Roach is a nice guy. Everybody likes little Freddie and I love him too, but Pacquiao is in good shape and keeping Freddie's name going strong. He [Pacquiao] ain't changed; he's just in better shape. He is in better shape and he's making Freddie Roach look good as he goes. Amir Khan, his days are numbered. I like him too. I talked to his father when I was in England and he asked me my opinion and I told him. There are a whole lot of good trainers over there. I don't know why everyone runs over there. I know they have a lot of Hispanic fighters, and Oscar De La Hoya has really hyped it up, and that's good for boxing, but a lot of the Mexican fighters don't have good defense. They get hit a lot. They be in wars and people love those fights. I can't knock it, but you gotta be able to not get hit and deliver your punches. Pacquiao is making Freddie Roach even more hype. I don't see no changes. When you get a new trainer, you're going to see changes in the boxer. That's why you get them. You don't get a new trainer just for the sake of getting one.
PC: You think Khan's days are numbered? A lot of people felt he went up a level after the Maidana fight.
TW: There are some dudes out there that will take him out in the 1st or 2nd round. I think that's why they keeping him away from some of them dudes. They were up there saying that they want Mayweather in England.
PC: Oh yeah!
TW: Oh, you heard about that?
PC: Yeah, that was all over the internet.
TW: I was like, "Why you wanna hurt that boy like that? Mayweather will take that boy out in the 1st round if he wants to!" There are other people that he can fight. I know he wants to make a big payday, but how can people believe that he can really beat Floyd? That shows you how bad boxing is. Let him fight these guys on the way up. Let somebody beat him so they can get recognition. Let another up-and-coming guy fight Khan like we used to do it back in the day. We fought each other. I had to fight Greg Page and Tony Tubbs and "Bonecrusher" Smith to get to a title. Have him fight guys like that first instead of just jumping past all of these other guys because I know they can beat him. If they hit him on the chin, he's outta here.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]