Saturday, March 08, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Floyd Jr. given fatherly advice: Don't fight Oscar

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

WBC lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, hugs his estranged father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., after a fight in January 2001. Mayweather Jr. this week proposed a fight against Oscar De La Hoya, who is trained by Mayweather Sr. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. hopes his son won't fight Oscar De La Hoya, saying Friday that if he does, "Little Floyd is in a whole lot of trouble."

WBC lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. issued a challenge Thursday to De La Hoya, the WBA-WBC super welterweight champion trained by Mayweather Sr.

The elder Mayweather trained his son until a nasty split in 2000. Now the two rarely speak to each other, and Floyd Jr. is trained by his uncle Roger Mayweather.

Mayweather Sr. said his son has rejected all his attempts at reconciliation.

"My son told me to kiss his rear end (when he fired me)," Mayweather Sr. said. "But he's going to find out, if he's dumb enough to fight Oscar, how much his daddy knows. Oscar is improving, and he's not. How can Little Floyd improve when he knows more than his trainer knows already?

"And Little Floyd needs to remember this: I taught him everything he knows, but I didn't teach him everything I know."

Top Rank president Bob Arum said he hopes to arrange a Mayweather-De La Hoya fight, though it probably wouldn't happen until May 2004. De La Hoya is nearing an agreement with Shane Mosley for a Sept. 13 bout, probably in Los Angeles.

Mayweather Sr. said he would train De La Hoya for a fight against his son and predicted Floyd Jr. would get knocked out if the bout happened.

Mayweather Jr. is 29-0 with 20 knockouts, but he fights in the lightweight division, which has a limit of 135 pounds. De La Hoya began his professional career in 1992 as a 130-pounder, but he now fights in the super welterweight division, which has a limit of 154 pounds.

Mayweather Jr. said he would undergo a strength and conditioning program with Leonard Ellerbee to bulk up to between 145 and 150 pounds for the fight.

But Mayweather Sr. said Ellerbee has no expertise in the area and "just has his hand out and is looking for a paycheck." Mayweather Sr. said if his son wants to bulk up, he should hire someone such as Mackie Shilstone, who helped Roy Jones Jr. put on 20 pounds of muscle for his WBA heavyweight title victory last week.

Mayweather Sr. said he hopes someone can convince his son not to take the fight. He said he thinks his son is pushing for a bout with De La Hoya after seeing what Jones did against John Ruiz last Saturday.

"He better remember that Oscar is no John Ruiz," Mayweather Sr. said. "Oscar is quick and strong and he can box. Ruiz didn't have any of that. He's my son and I love him, regardless of how foolish he may act. I hope someone talks sense to him, because this could be his last fight if they don't.

"Oscar would do what he has to do. Little Floyd better think whether $5 million to $6 million is worth giving up the rest of his career, because if he's stupid enough to actually fight Oscar, he just might be fighting his last fight. And if it is his last fight, then wait to see where those so-called friends of his who are hanging around him now are when the money ain't coming in no more."

Mayweather Jr. said he wouldn't mind if his father opts to train De La Hoya instead of sitting out the fight.

"This is business and he's got to do what he thinks is best for him," Mayweather Jr. said. "That's up to him to decide."