‘Iceman’ John Scully is a former super middleweight and light heavyweight contender who is best known today for his work as a trainer and boxing analyst. In part 2 of my interview with Scully, I get his thoughts about the comeback of Manny Pacquiao and how he thinks ‘Pacman’ will do against Jessie Vargas. John also breaks down the Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev bout and gives his prediction for the fight. Additionally, Scully shares his views on if he thinks Floyd Mayweather will return to the sport and if a rematch with Manny Pacquiao will be in his comeback plans. Here is what John Scully had to say.
Robert Brown: What are your thoughts on the upcoming fight between Jessie Vargas and Manny Pacquiao?
John Scully: It’s a real fight, a tough fight. I think it’s a risky fight for Pacquiao and I respect him for taking it. Pacquiao is no spring chicken, he’s had over sixty professional fights already, so we’re talking about a real fight. The thing is, it’s risky because Vargas isn’t a super name yet, he’s not a big name like Mayweather or Canelo. I give him all the credit in the world for taking a risk like that.
Robert Brown: Do you give Vargas a shot in this fight?
John Scully: For sure. The timing of it is good for him I believe. You have to look at Pacquiao, he’s got a lot of wear and tear on his body and he’s got a lot of other things going on in his career. It doesn’t look like a Mayweather rematch is a possibility that much, so it’s a tough fight.
Pacquiao is fighting a legitimate tough kid who is going to be going for it one hundred percent, this kid is looking to hit the lottery. You have to give a guy like him credit. Most of the times in history when older guys take fights, they take big fights against big names and guys who are stylistically favorable. This goes against the norm, but it’s a good thing, it’s something that we should be happy about.
Robert Brown: If you had to bet, who would you be putting your money on at this time?
John Scully: I’m a sentimental type of person and I think that Pacquiao still has something left, more than people might want to admit. If I was to bet, I would bet on Pacquiao to win a decision.
Robert Brown: What are your thoughts on Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev?
John Scully: All along I’ve thought about what a tough fight it’s going to be. I’m a big fan of Kovalev, I really like him, but thinking about it from a boxing standpoint and a scientific standpoint, I think the only way he can win is if he catches Andre with a big shot. Other than that, I would have to go with Andre. I think Andre is very smart, very intelligent and I just think that he’s going to find a solution to this big problem.
Robert Brown: Do you think it will go twelve rounds?
John Scully: Yes, I’m almost sure. I never bet but in Vegas if they have a line for the fight going twelve with Andre winning, I’d be willing to put some money on that.
Robert Brown: Floyd Mayweather gave some indications that he may return to the right to fight Danny Garcia. What are your thoughts on that? Do you give Garcia a chance?
John Scully: I don’t particularly because Floyd to me has never shown signs of slowing down, he’s just being smarter and that’s probably worse for opponents. This so called “retirement” which I never bought for a second, I’m amazed people even thought that it was really happening. I’m sure Floyd is in really good shape, he’s not fat or grossly overweight. I’m sure he’s kept himself in shape, and I don’t think he’s going to skip a beat.
Robert Brown: Do you think he’s only coming back for one fight to match the Marciano record?
John Scully: They’re going to make the 50-0, they’re going to have hats with the number 50 on it and they’re going to sell a million of them. I always knew he was going to come back to get 50-0, there’s no way he’s going to let 50-0 go. The other thing is, it is not Marciano’s record, Marciano’s record is for heavyweights.
With Marciano it always refers to heavyweights, not the other weights. In the context of boxing history, when Marciano’s record is discussed, it’s means as a heavyweight record. He’ll break the record, or at least tie it. I never took that retirement thing seriously for even a minute.
Robert Brown: Do you think Floyd has a Manny Pacquiao rematch in his comeback plans?
John Scully: I think that would probably be the idea, so Pacquiao’s got to look good in his fight also, but at the same time I’ve never felt like it would really matter. These guys haven’t taken off the time, today in this era retirement is two to three months. Back in the old days guys would retire for two to four years and then they would comeback and it was a real comeback. Now they don’t even have time to get out of shape, so I don’t think a rematch for me, it wouldn’t sell like the first one because I think you have eliminated real boxing people from the discussion, because every real boxing person, I don’t think any of them feel that Pacquiao is going to beat Floyd.
Robert Brown: So if they had a rematch, you think it would be the same thing all over again? Mayweather winning a decision?
John Scully: Yeah I would think so, because Floyd really haven’t taken time off, he’s never shown me in any of his fights that he’s slipping, like I’ve read where people have said he is showing the signs, I mean I haven’t seen it, he’s winning these fights twelve rounds to nothing, eleven rounds to one, ten rounds to two at the worst, so if that’s slipping, that’s all slip because he’s still winning handily.
I think Vargas will beat Pacquiao. Pac is older and is in the twilight of his career. I would not be shocked to see Pac dropped as well. Vargas UD
I admire Vargas confidence and hunger. Beware !!! Watch out for for the punches coming from different angles!!! GOOD LUCK!!!
I think Vargas knocks Manny Pacquiao out cold. This is a very risky fight for Pacquiao especially with no random blood testing by VADA in place.