Nazim Richardson: “If you put it on the scale and it weighs 147, there are certain farm animals that Shane Mosley can knock out” -- Eastside Boxing

By Geoffrey Ciani, Eastside Boxing

This week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with highly regarded trainer Nazim Richardson who is currently working with Sugar Shane Mosley in preparations for his May 1 clash with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

On preparations for Mosley’s upcoming fight with Mayweather:
“Well it’s not so much about Floyd, it’s that I have to have Shane be the best Shane Mosley he can be and make Floyd Mayweather have to make the necessary adjustments. I think that’s the problem, too many people are concentrating on Floyd.”

Regarding how he sees the fight between Mosley and Mayweather:
“I see it being the kind of fight that there’s going to be a whole lot of adjustments being made during the fight and nobody is going to be able to live by one philosophy. We’re going to have to vary and change at the drop of a dime. I have to have my athlete prepared for that..”

On whether he thinks Shane will be able to prevent Floyd from making adjustments like he did in victories against Oscar De La Hoya and Zab Judah:
“Well see, I have to think from a different perspective. I can’t be to the point of arrogance where I can assume that my guy’s juts going to go and put something out and that Floyd wouldn’t be able to make an adjustment. I wouldn’t be prepared if I did that. I have to be prepared that Floyd’s going to make an adjustment to what we have to do and then we have to readjust so it’s just that kind of fight. It’s like when you play chess, you have to assume the other guy is going to move his rook and going to move his pawn through.”

On whether he believes Shane’s age and long layoff will play a major factor in the fight:
“It’s going to be something we’re going to have to deal with earlier in the first couple of rounds, but his philosophy is that he lives like a boxer so it’s a part of his lifestyle. He’s in shape and he stays in the gym so he should be able to respond pretty quickly.”

On whether he thinks Floyd is ill-prepared to face adversity given he has never faced an elite welterweight before:
“Here’s my thing, I have to cross that bridge when I get to it. I feel as though he’s going to face adversity in this fight and there’s nothing that this kid has done in the past that will make me assume that he can’t adjust. I won’t underestimate the guy like that. One of Floyd’s greatest attributes is that he talks so much stuff and everybody wants to see him punched in the mouth so bad that they just takes him for granted and they look past his actual ability. Oscar (De La Hoya) was one to say he got angry and just wanted to run in there and punch him in the mouth. That’s what threw Oscar off his game plan. I think Ricky Hatton and a few other people have done the same thing. Don’t look past his skills just because he’s running his mouth.”

His thoughts on Floyd Mayweather as a fighter:
“I think he’s very talented. I just had an argument with somebody not too long ago because they were trying to tell me they don’t think much of him as a fighter. They think he’s a runner and this, that, and the other thing and I said, you know I think it’s ignorant to look at him from that perspective. The guy’s been successful with what he does. How can you belittle what he does if he’s been that successful with it? I think one of my strengths in me being able to find success in some of my athletes is that I don’t underestimate guys. I’m not arrogant and I don’t look past a guy’s ability and a guy’s skills. I refuse to do that because I think it’s foolish. Even if I don’t like it—I may not like the way you box—but I can’t ignore that it’s been successful for you. I can’t ignore that it gets judges to vote your way, so I’ve never been like that. I knew a guy, (Joe) Calzaghe—I’ve never cared for the way Calzaghe fights but I have great respect for his achievements.”

On preparing Mosley in his upset victory against Antonio Margarito:
“People were really counting him out in the Margarito fight so when they asked my opinion on it, I felt that he could deal with Margarito. I felt he had so much ability that he could handle Margarito. It’s not so much that I had to change things in him. I’ve always given the credit in full, Jack Mosley taught him how to box and did a hell of a job teaching him how to box. You don’t overhaul an engine if the engine has been running well, you tweak and make little adjustments to have it win that particular race that you’re dealing with, and that’s my job—to find the flaws in Shane Mosley and try to strengthen those and then find the flaws in Floyd Mayweather and try to help Shane Mosley exploit them.”

On what makes him so successful at being a teacher as opposed to being just a trainer:
“Well I admit to you that even as a teacher you have to willing students. You have to have students that accept the philosophy. I think a lot of times I convince my athletes in my credibility so they accept my philosophy and it makes it easier for me to teach.”

His views on Joe Calzaghe:
“It’s hard for us over here to respect Calzaghe’s style because it’s so far different from what we allow our athletes to do here. We won’t allow our athletes to slap with punches. I tell people a lot of times, I applaud Calzaghe’s father because had you brought Joe Calzaghe over here to some of the greatest trainers that live over here, they probably wouldn’t have found the same success with him. I’m talking about some of the all time great trainers. Some of our guys like even the current guys that are out there now, like John David Jackson, Freddie Roach, and people of that nature, Emanuel Steward—they won’t let their guys out of the gym without turning those punches over. So we just wouldn’t accept that style here so it would never have been able to grow and flourish into what he became. We would have probably snuffed that fighter out a long time ago, but his dad being new to boxing he let it slide and it turned out to work. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

His views on Manny Pacquiao as a fighter:
“I think Pacquiao is a phenomenal athlete. I’ve said this before and you probably heard me say it before and I’ll say it again: Most great athletes mislead you. Bernard Hopkins is such a ferocious specimen in the way he attacks, in his energy and his attitude, that you forget he’s a technical fighter. He’s actually a technical fighter, he’s not just a monster that tucks his head and runs in and starts fighting, but the way he would speak you would think he just jumps in there and rips people apart, but he’s a technical fighter. He breaks you down and he gets you out of there, but he’s misleading. This kid Mayweather runs his mouth so much that you forget he can actually fight. Since where we come from, most people who run their mouth that much can’t produce like that. As soon as we hear somebody running their mouth as much as him we got to put them into a little room, but this guy can actually fight but he misleads you with that, and he trains hard so he misleads you with that. You get Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach have purely convinced the boxing world that Pacquiao is only four inches tall and weighs about forty-two ounces. All you ever hear about is how small Manny Pacquiao is. ‘Manny Pacquiao is so small!’ ‘Manny Pacquiao is the teeniest man on earth!’ That’s what you’re convinced of. Then the guy gets in there and gets hit by a shot by Manny Pacquiao and they be standing in the middle of the ring doing the lazzy jazzy. They say, ‘How does this little man do this?’ Calling Manny Pacquiao the smallest welterweight is like calling Mike Tyson a small heavyweight but that’s what great fighters do. Shane Mosley, he smiles and makes you think he’s going to sell you short. How can somebody be that pleasant and that sweet and then be that ferocious on Margarito? He jumped on Margarito that night and Margarito is looking at him like what happened to the smile? So these guys mislead you and I think Freddie does a phenomenal job with him to the point where as though you can intimidate people to think he must be using something. Like I said, if you don’t produce any proof that this guy is on something then I can’t put that out on anybody. I mean the way Michael Jordan jumps you can assume Michael Jordan was using something. There are some athletes that phenomenal, but we got to understand with the human body there are people with the human body who produce things like that, but we can’t just take things out of context. We take away from Freddie, we take away from Manny when we don’t have any proof and we just assume this guy’s doing something, this guy’s done something, this guy’s on something. I think that’s unfair man, because like I said I’ve watched Pacquiao, I’m impressed with him, I’ve watched the work Freddie’s done with him, I’m impressed with Freddie’s work.”

Regarding Bernard Hopkins’ victory in his long awaited rematch with Roy Jones Junior:
“When one guy is reluctant to fight it’s one of the hardest fights to approach especially at Bernard’s age. See when you’re young and a guy doesn’t want to fight you, everybody is screaming all about Pacquiao’s last performance. You got Joshua Clottey and he’s not living up to his 50% of the fight. The fight turns out to start stinking, but you got a younger Pacquiao who can just go ahead and just start throwing punches all over and still make it a fight. Well it’s harder for an older man when a guy doesn’t want to fight. Bernard was in the same position Pacquiao was in only he wasn’t dealing with a guy who was known once as a great talent, but Roy Jones came to that fight not to get knocked out so then he can convince his family and everybody he can move forward and that he’s okay. The Danny Green fight he had his sons and everything checking on you every five seconds in the house. I know how it was after my stroke. ‘Dad, you okay?’ Roy Jones just tripped on the carpet walking down the stairs for breakfast, ‘Oh, it’s those knockouts showing up’, so he had to go back in there with a fighter the magnitude of Bernard Hopkins and show, ‘Look, I got past the first round—erase Danny Green. I got past the second round—erase Antonio Tarver. You all considered Bernard to be the best fighter of these last couple of guys I fought and I went the distance with him.’, and that was his only goal—to go the distance or get disqualified, but not to just come out with a knockout, not to be knocked out.”

His final prediction for Mosley’s fight with Floyd Mayweather:
“I see Shane Mosley getting his hand raised in this particular fight. That’s why I signed on for the project. If I didn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t be involved in the project and I’ve turned projects down where I just didn’t feel like I could tell a guy anything that would get him past that athlete, so I see Shane Mosley having his hand raised.”

On whether he believes Mosley can knock Mayweather out:
“I think I said it earlier and people think I’m joking when I say it. They think I’m saying it to be humorous. It’s a premiere weight for him. If you put it on the scale and it weighs in at 147, I feel that Shane Mosley can knock it out. If you put it on the scale and it weighs 147, there are certain farm animal that Shane Mosley can knock out if they come in at 147. It’s a premiere weight for him. Now I don’t know, he’s won belts at 154 but I can’t say he’s that great of an athlete at 154. I know at 147 he’s something special, he’s really something special.”

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Source: eastsideboxing.com

Quitting While Ahead or Out Cold: Andre Dirrell’s Victory over Arthur Abraham -- Ringside Report

By Geoff “The Professor” Poundes, RingsideReport.com

If the Super-Six saw itself as a crucible within which to mix a volatile collection of fighters/promoters/ring physicians/fight-fans and hangers-on, then the Arthur Abraham-Andre Dirrell match-up in round two of the tournament will have lived up to everyone’s expectations.

Stranger things have happened in a boxing ring, but not often. Dirrell, now 19-1, 13 KO’s, won the fight flat on his back, his leg twitching spasmodically. When he was dragged to his feet he began weeping like a baby, shouting at once “I got dropped, man” and then “He hit me when I was down!”

He was right the second time. Arthur Abraham, the previously undefeated Armenian, had indeed clocked him while he was on one knee in the corner, courtesy of a pressure-induced slip, causing Dirrell to blink for a second, and then stretch out on the canvas rubbing his head and eyes and writhing as though he’s been harpooned.

The referee Laurence Cole, who had had a poor night up to that point, at least made the right decision – in fact, the only decision he could make – which was to summarily disqualify Abraham and award the fight to the prostrate American.

In the fracas of the aftermath in the ring, Abraham argued somewhat strangely that as he hadn’t intentionally landed a right hand on Dirrell, the fight should have continued after Andre had been allowed some recovery time – but he was surely clutching at straws given that Dirrell, legitimately or otherwise, was behaving as though his senses had been scrambled into the Detroit night.

So the controversy was not about Cole’s decision, but about the legitimacy of Dirrell’s “injuries”. Abraham and his cohorts were in doubt that Dirrell had acted out, in order to steal the win in a fight that he had dominated for nine rounds, but was clearly losing grip off as Abraham stepped things up. Dirrell was dropped heavily in the tenth (a knockdown missed by Cole, but plainly obvious to everyone else), and was under fire in the eleventh when the finish came, just as the cognoscenti were beginning to believe that Abraham’s customary late rally might just yield him yet another knockout.

Much has been made since of Dirrell’s acting abilities, if indeed that was what won him the fight. This scribe’s first impression on the night was that Abraham’s blow was nothing more than a glancing one, that Dirrell had taken several more hefty shots in the fight, and that he was milking it for all he was worth. Replays of the incident appeared to back up that conclusion, as there was a clear pause between impact and effect, which is not unusual in boxing, but Dirrell’s subsequent reactions did not appear those of a man concussed.

Generally, a twitching leg on a knocked out fighter means just that – he’s knocked cold. He’s not in a position to writhe around tearfully holding his head.

Once Dirrell was on his feet, he certainly appeared to be disoriented, and he was shouting a stream of conflicting statements in all directions. Later, his physician was interviewed in the dressing room saying that he was sure Dirrell had suffered a concussion – and yet, Dirrell could plainly be seen behind him on his feet and talking, and he’d just exited the ring under his own steam and walked unaided from ring to backstage. In this scribe’s experience a fighter having shipped the degree of punishment Dirrell’s actions suggested in the ring, would have been on his back, in an oxygen mask, and on his way to hospital.

Of course, Dirrell’s proponents would counter with the argument: why would a guy who had won at least 8 of the previous 10 rounds, including a 10-8 round in the fourth when he dropped Abraham for an 8-count, seek an early exit from the fight, when he only had to stay on his feet for four more minutes to pick up an easy decision. It’s an argument that would hold water, were it not for the fact that in the previous four minutes he had been knocked on the seat of his pants, and was looking tired in the face of his opponents increasing momentum. Abraham’s people were adamant that had the fight continued Arthur would have got to Dirrell, and of course they can point to plenty of occasions in his 32 fight career when he’d done just that.

The truth will never be known, but the question marks will remain over Andre Dirrell for some time to come. For the first nine rounds of this contest he was a revelation, repeating the feat of his fellow countryman, namesake and friend Andre Ward, who had made another super-six European Mikkel Kessler look ordinary in their fight last November. Abraham found himself in with a real technician, and couldn’t get a foothold in the fight as Dirrell put on a display of speed and accuracy.

It may well be that Carl Froch is the main beneficiary of the result, since he has taken a decision from Dirrell, albeit a controversial one. Possibly the two super-six favorites, Abraham and Kessler, have been severely compromised in the tournament and by the two young guns who most felt might have been out of their depth in the competition. Should Froch turn back Kessler later this month, and in light of Kessler’s dire showing against Ward he would be favored to do so, then Froch will become the new leader of the pack as the tourney moves into stage three.

As for Andre Dirrell his next opponent will be Andre Ward, and he’ll have some pressure in the fight to show that he’s deserving of the Abraham win. Ward will have almost certainly taken care of Allan Green by then (they fight in June), and will have his eyes firmly set on maximum super-six points.

Rest assured when all the dust is settled, Arthur Abraham will be looking to drag Andre Dirrell into a rematch to reverse a result that I’m sure he believes was the wrong one. There remains the possibility that such a fight could well be for the unified super-middle title, which is now very much up for grabs.

Over here in the UK we’re reading with increasing alarm about the extra-curricular antics of Joe Calzaghe, who is not taking retirement well, and getting himself involved in all sorts of unsavory incidents. Calzaghe won’t be the first ex-fighter to find life away from the rigorous discipline of boxing hard to stomach, and I shan’t be at all surprised if in a year to eighteen months he steps back into the ring to give the super-six champion a chance at true legitimacy.

Source: ringsidereport.com

The jury’s still out on Haye -- The Sun

By FRANK WARREN, The Sun

DAVID HAYE stopped John Ruiz last week to remain WBA heavyweight champ.

But until I see him in with a 'live heavyweight', the jury is still out.

Haye did as expected - you can only defeat what's put in front of you.

But let's not get carried away - Ruiz had effectively lost four of his previous seven fights and, at 38, had seen better days.

Haye has been in the right place at the right time in fighting Nikolay Valuev and Ruiz, because the pair are probably the worst two heavyweight world champions of all time.

After the fight, Haye, 29, said he was glad he had won because he didn't want to be like Frank Bruno and lose his title in his first defence.

That is unfair on Bruno. Other than the Klitschkos, the heavyweights of his generation were far superior to today's.

Haye says the Klitschko brothers are next on the agenda but Vitali and Wladimir are very different prospects to Ruiz.

On Saturday, Haye took more shots than he needed to. If either of the Klitschkos connect, they are going to have Haye in big trouble.

Bernard can't Hop to heavy

BERNARD HOPKINS finally avenged his loss to Roy Jones at the weekend, defeating his nemesis on points.

Hopkins immediately called out David Haye - but there's no way he's going to heavyweight.

The most likely scenario is a showdown with light-heavyweight No 1 Chad Dawson - or retirement.

I expected Hopkins to stop Jones but he opted for a safety-first approach to get the win.

Despite being 45, Hopkins has managed to fight on because he knows how to look after himself.

Jones, on the other hand, has now lost six of his last 11 fights and has ruined what was once an impressive legacy. He should call it a day. To me he just about won a round.

Hopkins hit the canvas a couple of times after being caught with rabbit punches, which led to one observer saying: "Hopkins has a glass back of the head."

That's kids' stuff

SCHOOLS from the North-West took part in a competition last week.

Hundreds of spectators watched the kids' boxing skills in 22 contests. Points were awarded in a new form of boxing for skills, self-discipline and scoring on the target area.

Pupils with disabilities acted as officials - good to see boxing having a positive impact on kids and communities.

Ali film is all gold

FACING ALI is the latest US documentary on Muhammad Ali.

There are interviews with Joe Frazier, George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes, George Foreman and Ken Norton. It also touches on Ali's connection with Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan including tapes of Farrakhan's death threats against Washington Post writer Milton Coleman.

Can't wait to see it.

Calzaghe comeback?

THE only man to have beaten both Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins was at a Press conference held by Golden Boy last week.

Could Joe Calzaghe really come out of retirement for a rematch with Hopkins?

He shouldn't come back but it's not impossible.

Source: thesun.co.uk

Joe Calzaghe Apologises For Cocaine Use; Criticises Newspaper's Reporting Tactics -- Eastside Boxing

By James Slater, Eastside Boxing

As is currently being reported all over the internet, former two-weight world champion and all-time great Joe Calzaghe has admitted to how he has taken cocaine since retiring from the ring with an unbeaten 46-0 record. Huge U.K newspaper The News of The World, in an exclusive that has stunned the Welshman's fans, today revealed how the former super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion has used the drug since retiring after his November 2008 win over Roy Jones Jr..

The paper also reports how the 38-year-old has "bad-mouthed" fellow boxers such as Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan and Naseem Hamed (however, as you will see when reading on, the allegations about Joe "laying into" other fighters are pretty much a case of over blowing the facts).

Talking on his official website, Calzaghe has apologised for, and is regretful of, his "occasional" use of cocaine. Joe also is critical of the way The News of The World "secretly" filmed him in order to get their story.

According to the BBC, Calzaghe speaks of how some of the things he said whilst being in the company of the undercover reporters were "not meant seriously." Feeling he has been the victim of underhanded tactics by the paper he may be, but Calzaghe is also full for regret for the way he has set a bad example.

"I very much regret my occasional use of cocaine in what have sometimes been the long days since my retirement from the ring," Calzaghe said. "I am fully aware of the bad example it sets to other people and I apologise. It is not a major problem in my life but it is something I am actively addressing.

"Many of the other conversations reported to have taken place simply involve men joshing or shooting the breeze over a drink. While some statements are untrue or exaggerations I am, naturally, sorry for any embarrassment their publication may cause to entirely blameless third parties."

As to the "Bad-mouthing" Calzaghe gave Hatton, Khan and Hamed; this aspect of the paper's report is, in my opinion, nothing more than a cheap shot. The "bad" things Joe said about his fellow boxers are as follows:

"The main thing is your health. Look at Ricky Hatton for instance. You know he was knocked out really badly the last fight, knocked out two fights ago, and the reality is he's done himself a lot of damage. Regardless of when he fights again, and he says he's going to fight, he's been knocked out by a nobody hasn't he, because his punch resistance has gone as far as I'm concerned."

You can see that, aside from being off-the-mark when he refers to either Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr as being a "nobody", that Calzaghe has said nothing about Hatton that has not been said by many other people in the recent past.

On Naseem Hamed:

"Naseem, he's living in London now. Obviously he had that episode didn't he, where he went to prison (for leaving the scene of a car crash). He's quite big, he's only like five foot two. He's quite a size now."

Again, no earth shattering revelations here.

On Amir Khan:

"He's not exceptional. If he fights against a tall guy he'll be knocked out again. He can't fight a puncher."

Wow! Isn't this the same thing a number of fight fans and experts have said a number of times in recent months?

Okay, Calzaghe's cocaine use is a shocker, and his image will definitely take a blow. But why must the newspaper try to make Calzaghe out to be a man who has "laid into" his fellow boxers, when clearly he hasn't.

Source: eastsideboxing.com