Cruiserweight contender, BJ Flores, made his return to the boxing ring in 2014 after a long period of inactivity and fought three times, winning each match. Besides his career as a boxer, Flores has had a successful career a boxing commentator, calling fights for NBC Sports. In this special interview from “On The Ropes” boxing radio, I had a chance to speak to BJ Flores and get his thoughts on his future in the sport. Flores also discussed in detail the return of Manny Pacquiao, and gave his thoughts on Mayweather-Pacquiao possibly being made. Here is what BJ Flores had to say in part 1 of this interview.
Jenna J: You recently returned to the ring in October, you had a third round TKO win. Can you tell the fans about your recent return?
BJ Flores: It was one of those fights where it was just getting me back in the ring. I actually had three fights in a five month period and it was nice to be back in the ring and be active, first round knockout, third round knockout and an eight round decision. I’m trying to get my feet wet again, get back in there.
When you’re off eighteen months, it’s very difficult to just step right back in and face top opposition, so I fought three guys that I was definitely supposed to beat and I beat them the right way. We’re looking for a much bigger challenge in the beginning of 2015.
Jenna J: What exactly are you looking for? Are you looking for a title eliminator or a bout with one of the champions?
BJ Flores: I was actually just in England, I was at the Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly fight, and I’m really interested in a fight with Tony Bellew. He had a good fight with Nathan Cleverly who’s a good name over there in England. I just thought it would make some sense and a fight like that — an eliminator type fight — if I had to fight someone like that to get a shot at a title, that’s fine, I would like to do that.
At this point I’m really not too concerned about whoever they put me in with at this time. I have a good management team and whoever Al (Haymon) thinks I should fight next, I’m more than happy to do it. I know I’m gonna get my shot in 2015, so I’m excited for that and everything is coming together for a big year staring this month.
Jenna J: How important has it been that Al Haymon got involved with your boxing career?
BJ Flores: It’s changed my life. I went from not knowing if I’d have a fight again, not knowing what I was gonna do, not knowing how I was gonna continue my boxing career, to having three fights in five months, being active, having twenty four days on NBC next year for my commentating, knowing that I’m gonna have another guaranteed fight in February.
You can’t be a fighter and not know when you’re fighting and not know what you have coming up and be uncertain about your future and your career. Al has solidified everything, he’s paid me well, he’s taken care of me. It’s been the biggest thing that could possibly happen to any fighter, when Al Haymon steps in and says “Hey, I’m gonna work with you.” It’s been a great blessing and I’m very appreciative and grateful for how much it’s changed my life in the last year.
Jenna J: You’re a commentator and analyst for NBC Sports. I’m curious what you thought of the November fight between Chris Algieri and Manny Pacquiao?
BJ Flores: It was a good fight. It’s tough because Bob Arum only lets people fight Pacquiao that he has control of, it’s frustrating. I want to see Pacquiao against Danny Garcia or Pacquiao against Amir Khan or someone like Keith Thurman. Those names never get mentioned and now we’re hearing that it might fight against Jesse Vargas for his next fight and nobody really wants to see those fights.
I feel like Oscar (De La Hoya) is legitimately trying to put on the best fights now with his fighters and with Bob and I feel like Bob is a little more one sided. He wants to keep everything in house, he wants to have both sides of it and it’s not creating the best match ups.
I think there’s a lot of good match ups for Pacquiao now and when we look back in ten years we’re gonna look at is and say, “Man, there was a lot of people that Pacquiao could have fought.” He’s not fighting because Bob doesn’t have both ends of the promotion, it’s frustrating.
Jenna J: How much of a wake up call do you think it is for Top Rank and Bob Arum, that if the rumor are true, the last Pay-Per-View only did 300,000 buys?
BJ Flores: 300,000 is nothing, you can’t talk about Floyd Mayweather and fighting him when you’re selling 300,000 in PPV. It’s not even close. Manny Pacquiao has shown — especially now after his knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez — that he needs a dance partner, and unless he has a good opponent, he’s not gonna sell.
Part of that is because the 24/7’s are just boring. It’s tough to watch them, you watch Manny and he’s playing basketball and he doesn’t really talk a lot of trash and he doesn’t really talk that much at all and it’s just really boring to watch. That’s why people aren’t buying it. If it was exciting or there was a little bit of intrigue to it, then people would be more inclined to buy it, but it’s not so people aren’t. It is what it is.
Jenna J: A lot was made that Pacquiao had six knockdowns against Algieri and then the talk of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao reached a fever pitch again. How much closer do you think we are to that fight?
BJ Flores: I think it’s really gonna depend on if Canelo goes through with his May date. If he fights Cotto in May on that PPV card, then Floyd is gonna have to fight somebody like Pacquiao to be relevant, otherwise he’s gonna steal away a lot of Floyd’s buys.
If that fight with Canelo and Cotto gets made, then Floyd might need to fight Pacquiao or he’s definitely gonna have to fight on a different date because there’s nobody he could really fight that would really compare with that type of match up. He is the man, he does sell the most PPV’s, there’s no question about it, but he’s gonna lose a lot of his PPV buys to Cotto-Canelo.
It doesn’t make sense for the network to pay him that much money if they’re gonna go head to head with a huge PPV mega fight like Canelo and Cotto. I think it’s really gonna depend on what happens there to see with Floyd and Pacquiao. As far as that goes, I don’t think that fight is ever gonna happen because Floyd wants to control everything and he is the A side, there’s no question about it. I don’t know how good the terms are gonna be that Floyd is gonna offer him.
I don’t know if it will ever happen or not but Pacquiao definitely needs it and Floyd maybe needs it, maybe he doesn’t but he tries to really dictate everything and Pacquiao is used to being the A side. It’s tough to work together some times when two guys like that come together.
Yes, you can talk when you’re making $20 to 30 million a fight … these boxers like Flores and Malignaggi forget that Pacman is the 2nd highest paid boxer
Yes. Besides, BJ has no idea Manny makes a lot of money from Venetian Macau and PPV buys in some parts of Asia. E.g. in the Philiipines, cinemas charge P500 or (US$11) per person to watch Manny’s fight, plus residential PPVs. Arum would not make money on the 300 or 400K PPV buys alone
promoting Pacquiao’s fight. Obviously he has to include the venue fee plus PPV buys and other rfight revenue elsewhere.
Yes. In my case I watched PPV on Sky Cable at about $22. If we follow this man’s logic then nobody should fight either Manny or Money because no other boxer today at their weight class that can match their PPV sales.
Yeah… Floyd got his big pie when fought Maidana, Guerrero, Ortiz as what BJ Flores claims over Pacquiao .. and Jerry Jones don’t want the Pacquiao fight held at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. , The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. DON’T want to host the fight. Of course, the MGM Grand is not interested. And last week, a group of businessmen from the United Arab Emirates said it DON’T want to bring the fight to Abu Dhabi… lol
Fighting Pacman is a guaranteed $1million or more for the opponent.
End of the day, Floyd vs Pacman is the fight of the 2 highest paid boxers. No more excuses, just get in the ring
God, yet another bum trying to put himself in the spotlight by saying something negative about Pacquaio. Is this guy dumb or doesn’t he realize that Pacquaio is the second highest paid boxer?
brainless boxer and another idiot nonsense …bj
as if Maidana, Guerrero, Ortiz, Baldomir were selling 300K PPV.
BJ Flores and Malignaggi both are speaking for Al Haymon.. this only means that Al Haymon is not letting Floyd to fight Pacquiao. Are these two clowns Flores and Malignaggi able to sell their own PPV ?
And one thing more is the people doesn’t care about anything else even in ppv etc, 300ppv’s is not relevant now on the making of Floyd and Pac. They both declining in terms of ppv’s because the people are focus on only one thing in tems of boxing fight. Its the Pacman and Mayweather nothing more nothing less. Pacman and Mayweather are the best fighter and boxer on the planet no other boxer can be compared to them right now. so step up or shut up!
This BJ Flores is simply missing the point. What is the relevance of 300t PPV if you are making 23m USD per fight. He is forgetting that the fight was not in the US and yet Pacquiao was guaranteed that much. Where does the money come from? Of course from patronage other than the PPV and these are from the China market. I wonder if Floyd can do that? The Asian market may be allergic of him. Pacquiao and Bob Arum are pioneering icons. Can you top that? I don’t think so.
PPV is only in the US but that is not the main market. You dumb!
Exactly!.. Birdbrains like BJ, Mayweathers, and Jenna can’t understand that.
You’ve nailed it, Reagan.
I already got it Jenna! All you’ll do is to defame a great boxer Pacquiao. You’re just interviewing bums over and over again.
Do you need to sell more than 300,000
Buys to fight Floyd?
Guererro? Maidana? Can they sell 300,000?
Then why does Floyd fought them?
Off course the ppv will suck… because it’s not the fight that people wants to see. I don’t see Floyd’s doing that we’ll either. But if Pacquiao n Mayweather fighting then d ppv will b in epic proportion. Why is this so hard to understand.
dumbest of the dumbest! is maidana a ppv asset? how come floyd fought him twice?
What an idioticc analysis from BJ Flores about FMJ not fighting Pacquiao because of PPV issue. If this is his reason then Flores should always fight non-PPV boxers or those who has 4k or less audiences every fight.
It’s just so dumb to say that manny doesnt have the right to fight floyd basing on his latest ppv. The fans demand it, the whole world wants it, and it is considered the biggest fight in boxing history. So just put or shutup for this clown and that includes the sissy puncher maliggnagi as well. Both are just bums and nobodies. Nuff said.
Who the hell is this BJ Flores anyway? He cant make the amount of money that manny pacquiao makes in one fight for his damn fuckin career. Not even even close to that for god sake
Bradley vs manny IN AMERICA ! did the same as Floyd vs Maidana IN AMERICA . . mayweather isnt going to be brining in 2million by himself hel brin gin 800-900k manny will bring in the same amount to make this a 1.9 – 2 million PPV . .
This is not about ppv buys right now. Ppv will b a blockbuster if this fight is made. D issue here is the willingness to prove who is d best fighter between this two to end all arguments. Now pacquiao is very willing… what about Floyd? He is d one questionable. Floyd’s fans defends him enough it’s now Floyd’s turn to man up for his fans he owes it to them so they don’t look stupid.
You can’t talk about anything if your name is bj …bj who? Who are you by the way? Why don’t you just change your name to Dick? Fits you better.
if floyd fights in macau, i doubt if he can fill the seats and he can get 300K PPV,,,Jenna J , this is not an apple to apple comparison, fighting in asia and vegas. check ali frazier fight thrilla in manela how much money was earned compared to alis fights in us,,,50% less.
1/3 is okay, just get him in the ring, so that J can touch his face
This is BULLSHIT…PERIOD!!!!!!!
THIS BOXER BJ Flores is a useless boxer! Wants to be popular by making noise about stupidity!!! DO YOUR HOMEWORK BASTARD!!!!
Jenna J: How important has it been that Al Haymon got involved with your boxing career?
BJ ‘Bl*w J*b’ Flores: It’s changed my life.
BJ Flores WHO? Don’t know this guy, but does some of Mayweather handpick opponents are even PPV themselves? Maidana, Guerrero, and Ortiz are not.
BJ must ask himself if there is any other boxer who can generate the most PPV buys and generate the biggest fight with Floyd besides Pacquiao?
idiot who else welterweight boxer to sell 300k aside from pacman who bj who? Maidana? Ortiz? Or even canelo? Then why floyd fought them? If floyd fighting for the money then why he won’t fight manny? If floyd fighting for legacy then why he won’t fight manny too?
you didnt all know that technically manny pacquiao much more wealth than floyd mayweather the reason why pacman earn dollars but he spend piso in the phils compare to money earn dollar but spend also in dollar, 1 dollar compare in piso equals to 43, pacman have manny business, he is congressman, celebrity and many commercials, professional basketball …ect ;;even pacman dont have a boxing fight he earn millions compare to mayweather spend his money to casino and bar…
Who is BJ Flores? Another bum like malignani?
BJ Flores is a typical American coward defending fellow american coward .
who is this bum??? even our “AHAS” Nietes can beat this GUY!!! just stfu! #fightpacquiao
foh bj (you know what that stands for) flores. 300k ppv is not worthy to fight mayweather? really, how do you explain all the opposition floyd has fought? can they even pull 50k? are they even on ppv and have any fans willing travel all around the world to watch them? c’mon man stop hating just cuz you’re best effort got you nothing in life.
who is flores by the way,he is not existence in boxing, he is nothing
the guest boxer is obviously envy….and brainless…holla
BJ Flores who? LOL
Mr. writer…you have to be choosy in interviewing your guest…sad to say because it lost your honor.
WHO IN HELL is BJ FLores?
Now you know who’s killing the fight
Anybody there who can confirm Floyd “Fake Numbers” Ostrich last PPV #’s? I’m highly suspicious it is less than 100,000.
for the algheri fight, manny earned 23 million dollars with zero tax deduction. 1 dollar is equal to 43 pesos, so 23 million multiplied by 43 is 989 million pesos and spend that money in the philippines. Didnt you know how huge that money compared to 23 million dollars spent in the US? Mayweather earned 32 milion dollars less 40% IRS tax is equal to 12,800 dollars. Now who is richer?
Then try putting gayweather to fight in macau,let us see how many buys he will get…my wild guess maybe around 50k buys or less.No one wanted to watch a boxer who runs and hides from his shoulders,we want boxers who engages in face swapping(if you know what i mean.).
Who is this clown? You mean to say maidana khan is doing good in numbers than manny..common who the fuck are you? Your opinion is bias everybody deserves esp manny to fight duckweather.
BJ Flores and Paulie Malinaggi besides from not good in what you are doing (boxing), you are also a heck of an IDIOT. Fighting a non entity like Algieri and still getting 300,000 PPV is already an achievement considering it was held in Macau. I bet you Mayweather will not even fight outside of Las Vegas and be like Pacquiao, a fight anywhere boxing legend. Sorry but you are not even worthy to carry Pacquiao’s shoes….
… so… Maidana, Guerrero, Ortiz, & others did sell 800,000 ppv before they faced Mayweather?… is that so?
and how about ur ppv numbers mr flores? Pls show to us. You and gayweather are nothing compare to manny in everything fans, friends, sponsor and even advertisement so stop praising ur girly floydie, u only use by floydie to avoid manny.
I think Bj flores has a mayweather mentality syndrome.If ever your promoter tells you ,who have no good ppv record,to fight pacquiao or mayweather, would you bite it? Of course you will because you can get your biggest purse by fighting both of them.. Pairing two boxers is not all about they sale ppv,it is the world boxing bodies has the right to sanction fight.
But it’s OK when he fought Maidana twice who NEVER had a PPV prior to their first fight? YOU ARE AN IDIOT, BJ FLORES!!!!!
I would love to see the real PPV numbers for Floyd’s fights versus Guerrero and the 2 Maidana fights. Now bear in mind they were in the US and they also had lots of All Access exposure. Maidana is not a househould name in his own household and Algieri is not even in a single household.
Manny drew whatever he got on his own. When you consider nobody asked for the fight vs Algieri nor the fights vs Maidana and that none of those guys were know by the casual fan, why did we have them?
The world is dying for Manny vs Floyd in case you did not know that BJ as in Big Jackazz. That fight will sell like crazy. Floyd has fought guys with less than 1/10th of Manny’s marquee name and you are questioning the fight?
are you an idiot jenna j? your article is a trash. all your sources are mayweather all bums. how much floydie the ugly duckling pays you to write a non sense article like this. go home and plant sweet potato much better than writing in a sports column without much substance and bias!
Hey Bl*w J*b Flores,
care to cite any other boxer who earns more than Pac in the weight bracket of Pac and May ?
You can’t!
Because you’re an idi*t.
BJ simply you’re a stupid. This article also says that you’re a boxing analyst…how come?
Bj flores should sit down and shut up, he’s a nobody compared to Pacquiao, how many other boxers are getting more ppv sales than Pacquiao? ?? U r a none factor bj and only open ur mouth wen u become as relavent as Pacquiao
Talk is cheap what you mean you can’t talk or ask money Kentucky fried chicken for a fight if your PPv is 300,000 of course that is in Macau boxing it’s not famous. And most delusional fools like you or funs of the chicken will not watch manny pacman PPV. In order to protect there fake american 0 loss boxer afraid of manny given there coward hero a loss. If you BJFlores Hispanic American descents from Puerto Rico,Mexico,salvadorean,Guatemalan,hundoran etc. the whole world knows manny could give your coward or chicken boy a 1 loss only you in America like you Hispanic American descent just like with the rest in America the other race like blacks don’t want other race if they see them as a threat and the pea ole perception seeing them the best or bad boy plz cut that BS!
Yeah keep using Marquez knock out manny so what we don’t make excuses.even manny knock out and Marquez scared to fight again asking more money as an excuses so the fight won’t happen.
Oh my another wannabe…who r you?
MANNY VS. MONEY….Let’s get ready to RRRUUUMMMBBBLLLEEEE…and the unified WBO and WBC welterweight champion of the world…the fighting pride of the Philippines, Manny Pacman PPPAACCQQQUUUIIIAAAAOOOO…….first of all i wanna thank God for giving me this victory, i know all the fans in the whole world loved the fight and happy and entertained. At last they finally got the fight they wanna watch and they are the one’s victorious in this fight. I just hope and pray that mayweather will be fine and no serious injury in the hospital now, nothing personal i’m just doing my job. Thanks again and God bless us all….
This BJ Flores guy is a joke. I hope Roach will hire this moron as Pac’s sparring partner even just once so that Pacquiao can kick his azz.
He forgot about Manny get more money than fighting in US. Manny can sell PPV millions in US but IRS took most the money het got paid. In Macau, Manny does not need to pay tax and he only need to pay 23% in Philippine.
Why not you guys in media pressed Mayweather about the fight? or you Americans just protecting even that Floyd’s now obviously engaging The Business of Cowardice. So much terrible demands exposing him more on fright against Pacquiao but Boxing Medias never exposed it,why? and this moron Jenna always interviewing nuts boxers,are you on Floyd’s payroll?are you,Jenna?
While pac and may is still active, boxer like bj flores will only be heard on boxing forum just like this
Who the hell is BJ Flores ? A nobody and he is probably paid by Floyd Gayweather to say this things because his idol Floydie is on hiding .
Yep here’s to you wishing you made that kind of money Blow Job flores
Bj Flores and malinaggi r a pare of idiots
Bj Flores and malinaggi r a pare of idiots
Everyone is entitled to there opinion. I’ve never made the money either one of these guys make and NEVER will. But the facts are the facts. The point is you CAN NOT demand 55-45 like manny wants when you sold 300k on your last fight. But even bigger than that is this…!? All those other names mentioned who fought Floyd fought him for WAYY less. Even canelo makin under 10 million and that fight did over 2 million buys. Why in the WORLD would Floyd pay double that for a fight that would most likely sell less then canelo???!! Floyd v Paquio does 2 million buys?? No way. Plus Floyd don’t like Bob. It is what it is. He wants bob to benefit in ZERO form from his popularity. If you don’t understand these things than I’m not sure how to make it any easier and your just an armchair quarterback that don’t really understand/ comprehend the business.
Boi macho. Freddie can hire me anytime. But that just shows how much of an idiot you are to say that manny could even remotely hurt me. Been in camp with 7 different heavyweight champions from David Haye, john Ruiz, Ruslan Chagaev,Hasim Rahman, obed Sullivan, Vasily Jirov, chad Dawson and many others. If you think I’m worried about a welterweight or any other computer/ internet toughguy on this chat room than you LOST your damned mind.