"Manny Pacquiao is a different beast and I just think they are catching Shane at the right time. When Shane wanted to fight him after he beat Margarito, they wanted no part of him, so my question is why now? I think we know why now because we saw what happened in the Mayweather fight and we saw what happened in the Mora fight...I don't see a great outcome for Shane Mosley. Now, does he have enough pop that if he hits Manny right, he can get him out of there? Yeah! I just don't see it happening. I see Manny winning and winning fairly easy," stated world-class MMA/boxing trainer Ron Frazier as he shared his thoughts on Shane Mosley's chances against Manny Pacquiao and much more, including his take on Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal and Chad Dawson. Check it out!
PC: Bernard Hopkins showed that he can still turn back the clock and fight with the younger guys in the division. What are your thoughts on his fight with Pascal and how weird was it seeing him on the ground? It's been a long time since we saw that.
RF: You know what? I thought the first knockdown was basically kind of a flash knockdown that hit him in the back of his head. It was partly because he had turned his head, so I didn't think too much of it. I think that could have been a 10-9 round still. I know every time someone gets knocked down, people automatically think its 10-8, but I actually thought Bernard was winning that round until the very end. I would have given that round to Pascal 10-9. And then the other knockdown, I thought he got caught with a good shot. It wasn't anything major, or anything he couldn't shake off, but it was a 10-8 round. But from that point on, Bernard kind of controlled the fight. Pascal was kind of puzzled by Bernard's activity and workrate, and some of the stuff he was doing. You know what? I think with Pascal, you got a guy that's not really at Bernard's level. I don't really even think he's at Chad Dawson's level. I think Chad underestimated what Pascal can do and ended up giving him confidence in that fight. Obviously the more you let a guy in his hometown in a fight, the more difficult time you're going to have with him. And that's what we saw with Chad. I thought Bernard won the fight. A draw is not bitterly disappointing to me, but now it's interesting to see what's going to happen. I don't think Bernard's camp wants any part of Chad Dawson and I think Dawson gets a rematch with Pascal before Bernard does, so it will be interesting to see how that all plays out.
PC: Chad recently left Eddie Mustafa Muhammad for Emanuel Steward. Do you see that being a move in the right direction, a lateral move, or a backwards step in the career of Chad Dawson?
RF: I don't know if it will help him in a rematch or not. One thing about it, when you jump camps, you gotta learn the trainer and the trainer has to learn you. It's not about who you are and all of that. You can be done watched him a thousand times on TV, but until you're in an everyday grind with a fighter, you really don't know what that fighter is about and the fighter doesn't know what the trainer is all about. I don't think it's going to have an immediate impact. And you know with these younger guys, I just don't know what Manny is preaching to reach these young guys. It's kind of a different generation. We'll see how it works out. I don't know why he switched from Eddie Mustafa, who I think is a very good trainer. I don't know why the split happened or why it came to that in this particular situation.
PC: What fights are you looking forward to this year in both boxing and MMA?
RF: Ah man, obviously in MMA, the Maynard/Edgar rubbermatch. I'm excited to see that. But Vitor Belfort, who I've been working a little bit with as he prepares for Anderson Silva; I'm looking forward to that bout. Forrest Griffin against Rich Franklin, I think that's a great bout. And in boxing, I would love to see Mayweather step back in the ring, whether it's against Pacquiao or Sergio Martinez or somebody like that. I'm excited for Bradley/Alexander. It's exciting to see some of these young guys fight one another. Hopefully one day, we will have a legitimate heavyweight that can step up and challenge the Klitschkos.
PC: Shane Mosley will be fighting Manny Pacquiao in May. A lot of people were surprised about this fight and disappointed at the same time. Can Shane give Pacquiao some problems stylistically?
RF: Stylistically, early in the fight, Shane can probably give him some problems because he hits hard and he has quick hands, but Shane has never been one of those guys that has success with someone that moves. We saw that in the Mayweather fight. Even though Mayweather eventually started walking him down, guys that can box give Shane problems. Manny is known for being quick-footed, quick-handed, and he's a lefty on top of that. Manny Pacquiao is a different beast and I just think they are catching Shane at the right time. When Shane wanted to fight him after he beat Margarito, they wanted no part of him, so my question is why now? I think we know why now because we saw what happened in the Mayweather fight and we saw what happened in the Mora fight. And Shane is one of those guys that loves to stay in shape and loves to lift weights, but as you get older, you actually put on better muscle and I don't know if he can make 147 easily anymore. And he's just not going to carry 154 pounds. So this would be an ideal time for a catchweight fight at 150, but we probably won't get that here. We can do catchweights in all of his other bouts, but we probably won't get that in this situation. I don't see a great outcome for Shane Mosley. Now, does he have enough pop that if he hits Manny right, he can get him out of there? Yeah! I just don't see it happening. I see Manny winning and winning fairly easy.
PC: I actually can see Manny boxing a lot in this fight, despite the fact that a lot of people are saying, "Manny in 2 rounds," and things like that.
RF: Freddie Roach is not stupid. Freddie Roach is not going to send Manny out early on in this fight and try to throw bombs with Shane Mosley. Manny's going to use his hand and foot speed, and he has some decent pop, and they will exploit those advantages early. And as we saw in Shane's last few bouts, he kind of fatigues around the 6th round and I think that's when Manny will step up the pace and try to get him out of there. And then, it could be a situation where Shane says, "I'm going to go out on my shield and go after this guy," even though he's tired, and may get put on his can. Or he might fight how he fought Mayweather in those last rounds, just trying to survive and hold on.
PC: It's always good to catch up with you. I appreciate your time. I look forward to a busy year from you. Give me some closing thoughts my man.
RF: I'd just like to thank my sponsors, Xtreme Couture and Inflict Sports. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. I started the New Year off right with my little one Samara and I just want everyone to live well my friend. I hope everyone lives well and stays safe.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]