Here is an interesting little interview from www.mlive.com, featuring Floyd Mayweather Sr., Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya.
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Mayweather Sr.: 'My son would get hurt'
Saturday, June 03, 2006
By David Mayo
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- As Floyd Mayweather Jr. promotes music and comedy in his hometown, and Oscar De La Hoya sings and laughs in the Caribbean, another obstacle to their proposed fight has been removed.
Floyd Mayweather Sr., who trains De La Hoya and last month said he would not participate in any fight against his son, has changed his mind.
"I was trying to be a father by not going through with this thing," he said. "I hate to do it, I don't want it to happen, and I never wanted it to get this far.
"But I'll tell you something, if Oscar talks to me now about fighting my son, and if he comes up with the right digits for me, to where I'm comfortable with it, the fight is on."
Mayweather Sr. also said if De La Hoya retains him as trainer -- and meets his $2 million asking price -- his son will get knocked out.
"That's something I don't want to do," he said. "I've been trying to avoid it. But mark my words, my son would get hurt. Oscar may take a few punches, but Floyd is going to get stopped in the fight, because I'm going to make it happen. It's 12 rounds. At some point, he's going to get hit. And if he gets hit and hurt, the fight is over."
Mayweather Sr. attributed his change of heart to a moment last week at mother Bernice's home on the Southeast Side, when he said his son showed up by happenstance but declined to enter upon learning of his presence.
Mayweather Jr. reacted with nonchalance to his father's prediction: "My dad is a great trainer. He'll go down in history as one of the best. But this fight is history."
"Oscar looked very impressive in his last fight, so I have to step up my game. I'm sure Oscar will step up his game, and I know my dad will have his man ready."
De La Hoya told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sunday he planned to cruise the Caribbean on his yacht this week and ponder whether to accept a Sept. 16 career finale or retire on the strength of his knockout win last month over Ricardo Mayorga.
If he fights again, which he called "still 50-50 now," De La Hoya said Mayweather Jr. would be the opponent.
"The possibility of losing is obviously there," De La Hoya told the newspaper. "I have a lot of things to think about."
De La Hoya has the advantage of his own boxing company, Golden Boy Promotions, which has made a big splash in a brief existence.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser and closest friend, suggested that might be the deciding factor.
"Oscar obviously has a history of taking the biggest fights," Ellerbe said, "and in this case, he not only could participate in the biggest fight in boxing history, but also promote the biggest fight in boxing history."
Mayweather Jr., who is promoting an entertainment weekend of hip-hop music, comedy and celebrity basketball here, also hopes to delve into boxing promotion.
"Oscar's roster of fighters is great," he said. "I'm just starting to build my promotional company. But someday, we're going to smile and laugh together, and do business as friendly rivals, and remember we had a great fight. It's really not about the money made, just about a great fight between two businessmen with great heads on their shoulders."
Mayweather Sr. vowed if that happened, he would not be troubled by teaching De La Hoya to knock his son's head off his shoulders.
"I taught my son everything he knows, but I didn't teach him everything I know," he said. "I'm the one who created the style, I'm the one who can break the style. I know just how to open it up, believe me. That's what the fight would come down to, whether I can break the style. And if I have to show you, and if Oscar puts the right money on the table, I grant you it will be broken."
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