RING MAGAZINE'S FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: FLOYD MAYWEATHER

There will be only one fighter in history that will be able to say he fought and beat both Genaro Hernandez and Angel Manfredy in successive fights, and say neither man really hit him.

And that man is 21-year-old "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather. Although he was the WBC champion coming in, Floyd had to dust off El Diablo in order to get true recognition as the world champion at 130 pounds. That he did in less than the blink of an eye.

In keeping with a standard of excellence that is unparalleled in the world of boxing talk shows, Pretty Boy was my guest on Ring Talk just 24 hours after turning out Angel Manfredy.

FERNANDEZ: Roll out the red carpet boxing fans! (The royal welcome as bells ring ding, ding, ding!) Floyd Mayweather, congratulations and welcome to the show. How are you?
MAYWEATHER: I'm doing OK. Doing just fine.

Doing OK? You should be feeling great man. After last night. It looked pretty easy. Manfredy talked a lot of smack, even in the dressing room. Did all that talk make you go after him early?
Nah, I didn't rush. I just took my time. And I listened to my corner and I came out victorious. I'm happy.

What kind of smack was he talking?
He told me he was going to knock me out in the eighth round. At the press conference, he told me I was nothing but an amateur.  He said I'm not a good fighter, that I haven't fought no good opponents. And I said, I just gave him praises because he's a strong fighter, and he's dedicated to the sport of boxing. But he treated me like crap, talked about me bad. So, I just went in there and took care of my job. And that's winning in boxing!

Forget the call letters, WBA, IBF, you are the 130 lb. world champion. Is it a problem for you that there are other guys with title belts at 130?
Not at all. It gives everybody a chance to make some money and make a good name for themselves. But um, hopefully I'll get to fight those guys so I can unify my title. I'm looking forward to fighting the WBA champ, IBF champ, Goyo Vargas, Jesus Chavez, Derrick Gainer, Kevin Kelley, Prince Naseem, I'm willing to fight everybody that's around my weight class that wants to fight at 130 lbs.

How good is Prince Naseem Hamed, we call him Hamhead on this show. How good is he?
He turned a fight down with me. HBO said he won't fight me. And we've both got exclusive contracts with HBO. I'm looking forward to fighting him, but he don't want to fight me so there ain't nothing I can do about it.

Is he good, Floyd, or is he a clown?
I feel he's a good power puncher, and he's got good legs. But, right now I feel I'm just the best 130 lber. in the world. Right now, it's just Floyd Mayweather time.

Speaking of Mayweather time, 19-0, it doesn't seem like you have been a pro two and half years yet.
[Interrupts] I had only been a pro one year and 11 months when I won the title against [Genaro] Hernandez. It's just been two years.

How's your dad?
He's doing just fine. And he's working with more and more fighters. The more I become victorious, the more fighters he works with. Fighters coming from everywhere wanting my dad to work with them. He's a real good trainer. He's my best friend, he's my dad, and I love him from the bottom of my heart.

When you were in the amateurs, people said you had a bad attitude, but you have been the perfect gentleman as a pro. Where did that attitude go?
Well, you can't always go by hearsay. If a person never met me, they can't judge me. Can't always go by what you hear. I feel I'm a good person, a nice person. I respect every fighter and every person. and i want to respect me a champion, not just in the ring, but outside the ring as well. Because, I carry myself in a good orderly fashion and I respect everybody.

After the win over Manfredy, you were given Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year award. That's quite an award.
Thanks, I appreciate it. It's just another belt to go on my wall.

Electronic mail incoming for Floyd Mayweather. Chris from Austin, Texas. Besides congrats, he says if you carry yourself so well, why then do you allow your camp to talk trash about your opponents? It doesn't seem like it's you.
It's not me. I mean, everybody is entitled to say what they want to say. Manfredy's camp talked a lot of trash toward me. My camp talked a lot of trash towards Manfredy Manfredy actually talked a lot of trash about me. I'm not really worried about that. He predicted he was going to knock me out in the eighth round. And I feel like this. If you go by what every fighter predicts, every fighter would undefeated with all knockouts. And if my Dad talked trash, my Dad's from the old school. He's from the Ali days, and the Sugar Ray Leonard days, so he talks trash. But if he does talk trash, I'm willing to back up what my Dad said. I'm not a trash talker, I'm just a humble guy, and I respect all fighters, and all of my opponents.

Let's take it to the Ring Talk phone lines and got to Brent from Anaheim, California. Brent, say hi to Floyd.
BRENT: Hello, Floyd. You just knocked off the two best guys in the weight class in Hernandez and Manfredy How much longer do you want to stay at 130?
I'm going to stay at 130 for a long time, because I come to camp weighing 135. As you can see last night, I only weighed 138 with my clothes on. And that was the next day after eating good. I mean, I eat the day of the weigh in, before I go to the weigh in. So, I have no problem making 130.

BRENT: What about you and Naseem?
Naseem said he'd knock me out, so hopefully we can hook it up. He's never fought the caliber of fighters that I have fought. He's fought a lot of old champions. A lot of guys from across the water where he's from. He's never fought a real tough strong American that is dedicated to the sport like I am.

BRENT: What about Robert Garcia? Is he a rival?
I feel he's a good fighter. He's kind of short. But, he's a real good boxer and he's a hard worker. So, hopefully me and Garcia can fight in the future and two young champions can make an explosion.

FERNANDEZ: Let's go back to the Ring Talk phone lines and go to San Mateo, California, and bring in Bill. Hey Bill, say hello to the world 130 lb. champion?
BILL: Hello, champ. What do you consider to be the strongest part of your game. Is it your offense, your defenses, your hand speed, your head movement, your footwork, what is it?
Well, actually...not to be bragging or boasting, but I feel I got the total package. But I feel I'm still learning. I feel I got good legs, good foot speed, I can punch with either hand. I can fight inside, or I can fight on the outside.

BILL: Do you consider yourself the hardest punching of the Mayweathers?
I can't say. But I got the highest knockout ratio of all the Mayweathers.

BILL: I think you are a great fighter. The sky is the limit.
I appreciate the good comments. And I appreciate you supporting me, and all the fans supporting me.

FERNANDEZ: Bill, thanks for the call. Pretty Boy, I'm about to let you go. What's on the schedule tonight? What are you doing 24 hours after beating Manfredy?
I just got done looking at the Manfredy fight when you guys called. I'm just going to talk to my mom, and fly out for the holiday. Hopefully you guys, and all the fans have a good holiday and a Happy New Year, and look for me in February or March.

Pedro Fernandez

Note: Regarding Ring Talk and www.fighters.com kicking ass! Have you seen this in depth an interview in any magazine or newspaper? NOT! What about on a radio show? DITTO!

Need I say more? Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanza! I held on to this interview since it aired on Sunday night in order to build it up, and to also give you something to chew on when other people have invaded your domain on this holiday weekend.

RING TALK AND FIGHTERS.COM, ARE SIMPLY KICKING THE......WELL YOU KNOW, OUT OF THE SO-CALLED COMPETITION!

While Nando's site gets millions of hits a month, they haven't had a fresh story in a week. They don't do interviews, nor do they have even one, let alone three good columnists.

A week! Here's a request from the WW of Boxing directly to you, the Fighters.com family of readers. Tell your friends about www.fighters.com and get them to listen to Ring Talk, the insider's look into the world of boxing.

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GUEST LIST THIS SATURDAY, A HEART STOPPER!

IBF 154 lb. champion Fernando Vargas will be visiting in the second hour of the show. The Oxnard Kid, fresh off his stoppage of Yory Boy Campas, will appear, as will Ivan Robinson. Fresh off his win over Arturo Gatti on the same bill with Fernando, Ivan talks about his future.

GIANT TO APPEAR

Michael Grant gave me a "shaky" OK when I talked to him on Sunday in his North Carolina training camp. So, the undefeated heir apparent to the throne held by Evander Holyfield is expected.

MARTIN KILLER TOO!

It was WW that told you one full week before the USSB show that Christy Martin would be devoured by Sumya Anani. Ms. Anani, 13-0, will be gracing the Ring Talk airwaves for the very first time!

Often imitated, BUT never duplicated, Ring Talk enter's it's 13th year in 1999!

FROM THE HEART TO YOU!

It is with my most humble appreciation that I acknowledge and salute those Ring Talk and www.fighters.com family members that have made both the show, and this site what they are. Examples for the others to set the standards by!


Pedro Fernandez

The writer has his own site at www.fighters.com and can be reached byelectronic mail at flash@inow.com

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