Undefeated light welterweight contender, Lydell Rhodes, has gained notoriety this year after working with Manny Pacquiao for Pacquiao’s high profile rematch with Timothy Bradley. Lydell is also gaining momentum after signing with powerful boxing advisor Al Haymon, who got him his first TV date in his last fight. Rhodes, now 26 years old, seems set on a path to reach his goal of a world title.
In part 2 of my interview with Lydell Rhodes, I get his views on the current boxing landscape and his views on the biggest rematch of 2014, Mayweather-Maidana 2. I also get Lydell’s thoughts on working with Manny Pacquiao and how he thinks that sparring has improved him as a fighter. Additionally Rhodes spoke about working with Al Haymon and talked about when he can see him return to the ring. Here is what Lydell Rhodes had to say.
Jenna J: Lydell, I would like to get your thoughts on few stars in sport. I talked Keith Thurman recently and he said he shouldn’t have to fight another fight to earn a fight with Floyd. He believes since he’s the interim champion that Floyd should just fight him. What do you think would ever happen if Thurman and Mayweather got in the ring?
Lydell Rhodes: I think Keith would hold his own against Floyd. Honestly, I think Keith’s probably one of the top 3 guys in the welterweight division. He would definitely be able to hold his own against Floyd — I don’t think he’ll win, but he always has a chance because he’s so strong. He would be able to make it a competitive fight against Floyd.
Is it ridiculous to say him and Floyd should fight? No, but I still think he has to get his name up there. For the average person that just walks on the street, I still don’t think they know Keith Thurman as a potential Floyd opponent. Me as a boxer, I’d say he’s ready to fight Floyd but I don’t believe he would win the fight, but I think he can make it competitive.
Jenna J: Speaking of Floyd, he has an upcoming rematch with Marcos Maidana coming up. What do you think happens in the rematch?
Lydell Rhodes: First off I gotta give Maidana props. I was one of the people who thought Floyd would stop him in the first fight, and I was obviously wrong with that. Maidana proved himself, I didn’t think he’d be able to keep up such a pace. He was nasty in there, he was tenacious. He kept up a good pace and fought hard, smart and dirty — whatever you want to call it. He made it a competitive fight.
The second time, I think Floyd will box more but it’s gonna be a dog fight again because Maidana is a tough where he’s not gonna let you sit there and look pretty. He’s still gonna come in a do the same thing. Will it be the same type of fight? In some parts it will be, I think it will be the same in the first couple of rounds then Floyd will be able to slow the pace down a little bit more in the second fight, but it’s still gonna be a dog fight.
I have Floyd probably winning again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Maidana got DQ’d this time because like his trainer said, they’re coming out and they’re fighting even harder and dirtier this time.
It’s gonna be a war in there, regardless of how much Floyd boxes, Maidana is still coming in to do everything he did, but more of it in the second fight. I still have Floyd as the favorite, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Maidana does his thing because anything can happen in boxing.
Jenna J: Being that you went to The Philippines to work with Manny Pacquiao, what did you learn most by working with him? How do you think he improved you as a fighter?
Lydell Rhodes: He improved my jab. It’s weird to say that Manny Pacquiao helped me jab a lot more, but he did because my style of fighting before I went over there with him, I was kind of like him. I was an explosive fighter that threw a lot of punches, because I had speed and power, so I tried to overwhelm people. For me, fighting someone like Manny Pacquiao, who is the best at that style, you’re not gonna have too much success.
I had to adapt and find another way to stay in there with him, because if I just traded blow for blow, I wasn’t gonna come out too pretty. He made me tighten up my defense and I had to keep a jab out there. If I just went in there, he would have probably stopped me or hurt me a lot of times.
He made me just keep my jab out there, and the other big thing is, he helped me be mentally stronger. With a lot of people you go in there and you stay focused for like a round or two and then you lose focus after a couple of rounds, especially in sparring, but with Manny, if you lose focus at all, he’s gonna crack you, put you down and hurt you.
He took my mental stamina to another level where I can just focus in and be ready for the whole fight and stay in the same mindset all fight. Those are the two big things Manny helped me with; keeping my jab out there, knowing how to fight with a jab and then staying focused in the whole fight. He taught me a lot of other stuff, because Manny is just a cool dude all around.
Jenna J: I want to talk about your current situation. You are now under the banner of Al Haymon, what do you think that’s gonna be doing for your boxing career?
Lydell Rhodes: You guys seen what it did for me already. I already had my biggest fight to date in my career and I just signed with him, literally a couple of weeks before he put me in the fight. Within a couple of weeks of signing with him, I was already fighting in my first televised bout and it was a big fight.
Al Haymon, the sky’s the limit with. I want to thank him right now for helping me out. He’s gonna give me the necessary fights I need to get to a title fight and get that exposure that I need. I feel like I’m the biggest ticket in boxing, I know I’m up there in the world class level.
I’ve sparred with some of the top guys but people just didn’t know my name. Now Al Haymon is gonna help me get my name out there and I’ll be able to showcase my abilities and it’s gonna get me to a world title by working with him.
Jenna J: A lot of people want to see more from Lydell Rhodes, when do you think you’ll be stepping back in there?
Lydell Rhodes: Well, I don’t know the exact date, but Al Haymon told me the last time I fought to be ready in October. You guys can expect me on October, I’ll know the card and who I’m fighting in the next few weeks, that’s where I’m gonna be next.
Jenna J: Any message you want to pass along to all your fans and the one’s who have seen you fight for the first time?
Lydell Rhodes: Oh yeah, this is only the beginning, so stick with me and I appreciate everyone who’s been with me and everyone who is coming on board right now. To all the supporters, thank you, this is what I do it for. We’re going to the top, thank you for getting me on the show.
That is because PAC is dangerous guy when you step in the ring with him. Lydell is great dude and is very honest about pacman.
Lydell is a tough little dude with some skillz. He got whopped by Broner in sparring but it did not stop him from fighting back the whole time. Only 26, so he got a future.
Lydell has a nice future ahead of him if he trains with Pacquiao again
he will never fight a top rank cause he is w/ al haymon
Pacquiao is gonna make it look easy against alegri. this will turn out to be a tune up fight
There’s no doubt that you improve as a fighter when you get the opportunity to spar with high level guys like Floyd and Manny. This is good work for Lydell.