Amir ‘Hardcore’ Mansour is one of the most exciting Heavyweights in the division and he is looking to return to the winning column on November 8th when he takes on veteran Fred Kassi. On this “On The Ropes” interview with Amir Mansour, I speak with him about his return to the ring, and get his thoughts on his only defeat. Mansour also talks about heavyweights Shannon Briggs and Wladimir Klitschko. Additionally Amir shares his views on Floyd Mayweather’s future, and in closing talks about getting a shot at the title. Here is what Amir Mansour had to say.
Jenna J: You will be returning to the ring on November 8th, can you tell the fans about the encounter you have ahead of you?
Amir Mansour: His name is Fred Kassi, he’s 18-2. He’s never been knocked out or anything like that. He’s got 10 knockouts so I’m sure he hits pretty hard like I do. I’m sure it’s gonna be a good fight. I really don’t know too much about him — I never study any of my opponents’ tapes, I let them study me. I can give different looks each fight, so I’m not worried about that. I’m just gonna go out there and do like I always do, leave everything in the ring.
Jenna J: Lets talk about the last time we saw you in the ring, you were facing former champion, Steve Cunningham. Now that you’ve had time to reflect on that fight, what are your thoughts on the performance you had?
Amir Mansour: Nobody that has spoken to me thought I should have lost the fight, but what I gained from that was just making sure I keep my composure in the later rounds and if a knockdown occurs, continue to keep my composure.
Jenna J: I’m sure you’re referring to the fifth round in which you had Steve Cunningham down and a lot of people thought you should have finished him there. What do you think you did wrong?
Amir Mansour: The first time he was down fourteen seconds, and the next time he was down for twelve seconds. We stopwatched it and we posted it. I talked to a former commissioner — I’m not gonna put him out there and say his name — and he told me that if that fight was in New York, they would have took the referee and suspended him for his actions. Not because of the long count, but because we later found out that him and Steve were in the Navy Reserves together.
If you have any contact or any relationship with a fighter outside of boxing, you’re supposed to disclose that information and you’re not supposed to referee a fight that they’re in. We’ve been in fights with Steve before and ordinarily a referee would have stopped that fight. If you look at the undercard fight of that fight, it was stopped somewhat prematurely, let alone somebody going down twice over the ten second period.
After the fifth round, going into the later rounds, I was going for the knockout again and I lost my composure. A lot of people commented on conditioning, but when you look at a heavyweight fight of only ten rounds and you got a guy throwing 535 punches, that’s not being out of shape — that’s more punches than Maidana threw against Mayweather in a twelve round fight.
It wasn’t the conditioning, it was just that I lost my composure and got angry. It’s a learning experience, to just keep you’re composure no matter what happens during the fight.
Jenna J: Do you think you will go for another big fight after you get past your fight on November the 8th?
Amir Mansour: I’m gonna be honest with you, a lot of the sports writers, a lot of the people that were there at the Cunningham fight, it wasn’t really a loss to me in my heart. It wasn’t a setback that a normal loss gives you. We were definitely ready to fight another big name but a lot of these guys they shy away from fighting me.
Believe me when I tell you, we contacted a lot of fighters to fight me on November 8th and a lot of them turned it down, or they asked for astronomical amounts of money. So we’re just gonna continue to go after any name that’s bigger than mine.
I tell my people this, “I don’t want to fight anybody that’s ranked below me. Try to make a fight with anyone, whoever it is, if they’re ranked above me, try to make that fight happen.” That’s what I’m gonna continue to request and continue to attempt to do.
Jenna J: If you look at the biggest story coming out of the heavyweight division, it was Shannon Briggs dunking Wladimir Klitschko in the water. What do you think of Shannon Briggs and the way he’s trying to promote that fight?
Amir Mansour: Come on. Shannon Briggs to me is a clown, he is a clown. He is trying to mimic his way into a title fight. He’s trying to play clown games in order to deserve a title shot.
Get in the ring and beat somebody and say you deserve a title shot, don’t say or claim you deserve a title shot because you can find this man on a surfboard out in the water and make some waves and knock him off. That’s not what gets you a heavyweight title shot. Your work in the ring and winning fights gets you a heavyweight title fight.
Jenna J: With the attention that he’s getting, people want to see him fight. Would you ever entertain fighting Shannon Briggs is he was willing to take up that challenge?
Amir Mansour: If I go and beat Shannon Briggs up, where is that gonna leave me at in the rankings or in the eyes of the world? Where is that gonna lead me? Nowhere, because he’s nowhere in the fight world, do you understand what I’m saying?
He’s making a little noise playing these games with Klitschko but he claims he’s making a comeback, where is the comeback? The comeback should occur in the ring, not clown tactics, stalking this man basically. That’s where you make a comeback at, in the ring, you don’t make a comeback by taunting a guy and saying, “Hey I’m back, I lost a couple of pounds, I deserve a title shot,” and when he got his title shot he got his ass whooped. That doesn’t work for me, you want to put that work in if you wanted to work for me.
Jenna J: I want to get your views on Floyd Mayweather. There are a lot of people that are saying that Floyd should fight Manny Pacquiao and give the fans they want to see. Do you think he should give the fans the fights that they want to see instead of the fights he wants to make?
Amir Mansour: I’m one of the many who would like to see Floyd fight Pacquiao, I would like to see that fight. But to be honest with you, Floyd’s been fighting quality opponents. Lets be realistic, he’s been fighting quality opponents. He’s fought guys that have beat Pacquiao up — Marquez, he couldn’t touch this man in twelve rounds, he beat the mess out of Marquez. He made Marquez look like he couldn’t fight a lick and we know the history of Marquez and Pacquiao.
We also know that styles make fights, so while you can fight a guy that I can’t beat, but I can turn around and beat you. We saw that with Vernon Forrest and Ricardo Mayorga and then Shane Mosley and Mayorga. Shane Mosley just could not beat Vernon Forrest and Vernon Forrest just could not beat Mayorga but Shane Mosley took it to Mayorga. Styles make fights, we know that.
I would like to see the Mayweather Pacquiao fight. Mayweather has the demand, I don’t know if those demands are met. One thing I do know as to why Floyd does not want to fight Pacquiao, and I think his real reason is valid is he doesn’t want to do business with Bob Arum.
Jenna J: What can the fans expect to see from Amir ‘Hardcore’ Mansour on November 8th?
Amir Mansour: Blood, sweat and tears if they have to be. They’re gonna see me give it my all. You’re gonna see the same person that you’ve always seen before — a gutsy guy, no quit in him, aggressive, strong, focused. I’m gonna show more of my speed.
People don’t know how fast I am, so I want to show more of my speed because people are always talking about my age. I want to show more of my speed and show that if I’m not the fastest, I’m at least in the top three in the entire world in the heavyweight division when it comes to speed.
Amir Manure who?
Oh my gosh he is hawtttttt !!!! I like man with meat…..Pacquiao who? ….Chozz….
ahihihihihihihi
marquez,cotto,…etc…
Who ARE the GUYS that beat up pacquiao? Better see your doctor, it’s called Alzheimer’s , you’re seeing people nobody else can.
His statement only shows how moronic he is. He will say anything just to lift the balls of FMJ and down MP’s.
the HERO OF THE BLACK RACE floid jr is beating up Marquez and Cotto?
Yeah common fighters who beat up Pacquiao. Marquez already mentioned. Let me see, oh yeah there was oscar dela hoya, miguel cotto and ricky hatton. In fact , As I recall Pacquiao beat the living crap out of all three of them as Mayweather took 10 rounds to knock out hatton and won a controversial split decison over Oscar and had a tough fight with Cotto. What the heck was this guy talking about. So let me see, Victor Ortiz, Marcos Miadana and Saul Alvarez are better fighters than number 5 pound for pound Tim Bradley. Lets not forget, that Mayweather had Marquez come up from 135 to a catch weight of 143 and failed to honor the contract weight and paid Marquez an extra $600,000 to go ahead with the fight. Basically he cheated. Any objective person would conclude that you could throw out the Marquez fight when making any head to head comparisons.
And Marquez doesn’t want to give Pacquiao a fifth fight for obvious reason when his nose was badly busted in their last fight and won’t risk to get his head concussed or even worst. On the business side, Bob Arum is not an issue because the money is so huge that no real fighter would say no except of FEAR….
Just admit that Floydiot is afraid of Pacman. No more discussions.
Amir WHO? Lol, this guy is just using Pacquaio’s name but wrongly because he’s an idiot. Obviously all the opponents Floyd faced which Pac also faced got demolished by Pacquaio. Hatton, Cotto, Dela Hoya… I guess this guy took too many beatings to the head. He obviously can’t think straight anymore. I’d say his condition is worse then Roach’s or Ali’s.
WE ALL KNEW THAT FLOYD IS AN ASSHOLE MAN IN BOXING
WOW. since when was it a ‘VALID’ reason not to fight another champion simply bcoz you don’t want to do business with the guy’s promoter? This Amir is either a Flomo or just plain ignorant.
wtf who is this clown? floyd fought fighters that beat up manny?
Quote, “Amir Mansour: “Mayweather’s fought guys that have beat Manny Pacquiao up!”
Has Mayweather fought Torrecampo? Has Mayweather fought Eric Morales?
What fighters is this Manure talking about? Marquez only? Who else beat Pacquiao? Marquez was being bloodied around the ring when he landed a lucky punch at the end of a round…. Maybe, Manure has to compare the fighters that both have fought and see how they compare. Mayweather got beat up by Cotto, Pacquiao stops Cotto. Mayweather got wobbled by Mosley, Pacquiao toyed with Mosley. Mayweather ran away from Margarito, Pacquiao demolished Margarito. etc etc. amen.
This guys is “the clown”! Smh!
Who is this dumbass? Amir Manure? I think you dont know boxing! Goodluck to your fight and i Hope you will get knockout cold, you fuckin’ idiot! …The truth is Pacquiao beat up fighters whom Gayfloyd is afraid to fight!
@ Amir Mansour:
1.)”why Floyd does not want to fight Pacquiao, and I think his real reason is valid is he doesn’t want to do business with Bob Arum”. FYI the real reason is that Floyd is scared i mean concerned about his health that’s what he said during the interview.
2.)”But to be honest with you, Floyd’s been fighting quality opponents. Lets be realistic, he’s been fighting quality opponents.” why not fight with the 8 division champion? you said that Marquez couldn’t touch Marquez in twelve rounds are you blind? Or maybe you did not watch the fight or you’re just bragging that you did not study your opponents previous fights you’re big fcking liar. FYI Pacquiao beat Marquez twice.
3.)”We saw that with Vernon Forrest and Ricardo Mayorga and then Shane Mosley and Mayorga. Shane Mosley just could not beat Vernon Forrest and Vernon Forrest just could not beat Mayorga but Shane Mosley took it to Mayorga. Styles make fights, we know that.” There is no point mentioning this because if you say Marquez beat Pacquiao, Mayweather beat Marquez take note that Marquez was beatin by Pacquiao twice. If this is the case then lets see if Mayweather can beat Pacquiao. You said that styles make fights Mayweather style avoid the fight “Chicken Style”.
Stupid analysis. Marquez and Mayweather have the same style. That’s why Mayweather easily beat Marquez. Wow, even a boxer don’t know nothing about boxing.
Jenna J reason why Floyd has no money. Payroll includes sportwriters, faking PPV#s, fake pay, paid, paid, paid payroll…now no more money….money left just to buy sportscar
All of Floyd money Mayweather fights have been for money. He doesn’t fight people who don’t have winning records over the past couple of years. What is Pac-Man 2 out of 4 for the last 2 years. He is average at best lately. And a super fight needs high revenue. Both fighters have contract with TV Promoters. Showtime and HBO have to work out a deal not Mayweather and paquiao. And if paquiao loses on November 22 there will be no super fight. How do you have a super fight when one of the super fighters keep losing. In 2012 when Floyd offered many 40 million dollars to fight Manny Pacquiao decided to fight someone else. Then he lost 2 straight fights. His reason for not fighting Floyd Mayweather was drug testing. Mayweather always uses the same drug testing rules in every fight administered by the same company. Using Olympic drug testing rules so why did Manny Pacquiao not fight? Does he have a drug problem? And what he wins 2 fights after losing 2 straight fights and Pacquiao fans think he is great again? Are the Paquiao fans on drugs? Floyd Mayweather fights for money not charity. If Manny Pacquiao wins on the 22nd of November they might fight if Showtime and HBO reach an agreement. But there will be no agreement when paquiao loses again on the 22nd of November.
Are you nuts? Floyd demanded lots of things just to avoid pacquiao. That time he will give 40 to Pacquiao but no share for PPV revenues is that a good deal for the 8 division champion? Floyd is just scared of Pacquiao he said that he is afraid of his health because he knows Pacquiao could hurt him. Even if Pacquiao wins in his November fight even if Showtime and HBO will agree Mayweather will still not fight Pacquiao because he is scared. He always avoid the best fighters unlike Pacquiao he is not scared of anybody who will step in the ring. Mayweather is not ashamed to call himself “The Best Ever” when he keeps on avoiding the 8 division champion. here is the proof that mayweather was scared of Pacquiao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmv40brVuGE
Then in 2010 contract was in front of Pacquiao 50 50 split but Pacquiao would not agree to Olympic style testing. And yes I know Bob arum latter on said that they would do it and he said he give Floyd 7 days to sign but then Manny said he never agreed to that. Look it up on Wikipedia. It was on a contract. Quit saying rumers. Pacquiao just talks no contracts. So do some research dumb asses. After Pacquiao decided to fight 2 fights and lose Mayweather found very good fights and had awesome paydays. And so what has Manny done nothing just 2 out of his last 4 fights.
Who the fuck is this jackass ?
Some one who knows how to read.not like most Pac-Man fans. Pacquiao fought most of his first 40 pro fights against other Filipino or Asian fighters meaning against nobody’s.
mayweather doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao because the guy is a southpaw. And ofcource He knows too well that Pacquiao is a hard hitting fighter that will surely land a fist or two that can outsmart him unpredictably. He knows too well he’s zero is at stake without assurance. In other words he can loose. And doesn’t want to gamble. Just the mere fact of thinking about it he’s knees are already shaking!
This guy is a tool.. everyone knows shannon briggs so fighting him puts his face there.. Floyds a grown man! u really think hes advoiding a 100 million pay day because he doesnt like arum lol do you know how stupid that sounds? an this guy amir? thinks its a vaild reason.. funny how there was no arum excuse at the start.. the arum thing is new.. what 40yo man holds a grudge over another man.. so childish.. not like arum stole his wife an kids..