Recently I had the opportunity to interview BJ Flores. BJ is a former IBO world title challenger, cruiserweight world title contender and premier analyst for NBC Sports. BJ Flores discussed his recent return to the ring after a long layoff, and what his future plans are. BJ also talked about the heavyweight scene now that Bermane Stiverne has been crowned the WBC champ. Lastly, Flores gives his views on Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s recent ring performances and their status in the sport. Here is what BJ Flores had to say.

Robert Brown: BJ, you recently got back in the ring after an extended layoff. How was it like coming back after such a long time?

BJ Flores: Yeah it was great, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I had some business things that were kind of pulling me away from boxing a little bit, I had to tie up some loose ends and take advantage of some opportunities business wise that I had in front of me at the time. I got all that taken care of now and now boxing has got my full attention again.

With the team I have in place I feel like it’s just a matter of time before I get the opportunity that I’ve always wanted for my whole career, which is a world title shot. We’re on a path now to get that opportunity and I got a bit of momentum and I’m looking to continue that momentum in my fight on June 28th and then hopefully for a world title shot after that.

Robert Brown: Is an opponent lined up for June 28th yet?

BJ Flores: I don’t know where it’s gonna be and I don’t have an opponent yet. My manager just mentioned to me that he’d like to get me back on that card and get me a few more rounds. The guy that I fought last Saturday was supposed to give me a few rounds and I didn’t get much work out of him, so we’re bringing a different guy and hopefully get a few rounds out of him, a nice little touch up before a big one in the fall.

Robert Brown: You mentioned you’d like to get a world title shot as soon as possible. Who would you like?

BJ Flores: The guy we’ve been targeting is the WBC champion, Krzysztof Włodarczyk. We’ve already been in discussions with him — we haven’t made a deal yet but we’re pretty close. That’s the guy that I’m looking to fight.

Robert Brown: You were on the Stiverne-Arreola undercard. Did you happen to see that fight, and what were your impressions of it?

BJ Flores: I think Chris Arreola fought a fight that wasn’t very smart for him — he was trying to come in and walk in on Stiverne — I think he needed to keep his distance more. Stiverne looked like he had fast hands and showed some good power.

Best wishes to both guys — Chris fought a valiant fight but it wasn’t his night and I think Stiverne’s got a lot to look forward to moving forward with Wladimir Klitschko calling him out and obviously Deontay Wilder. I think both of those are very big fights, but to be honest, I’d much rather see Deontay Wilder and Stiverne than Stiverne and Klitschko.

Robert Brown: Do you think the WBC will ignore the mandatory and give Klitschko the shot, or do you think Wilder will end up getting that shot against Stiverne?

BJ Flores: I don’t have a crystal ball in front of me but I do think that if Stiverne wants to fight an optional defense before his mandatory, he will be allowed to do that — that could be Klitschko, that could be someone else.

I just feel that Klitschko is obviously trying to get all the belts and have a monopoly of all the belts again, but I think Don King’s probably gonna take a different route. He might look for Wilder, he might look for someone else, but at the end of the day, they’re all gonna go where the money is.

Whoever makes the offer with the highest amount of money, I’m quite sure that’s what fight will end up happening. Could very well be Klitschko, but once the offers come in we’ll have more information which way it’s gonna go, because King is never one to turn down the money and Bermane has been kind of dormant and inactive for long enough and he wants to make some money now at this point in his career, so I’m sure that’s what they’re gonna do.

Robert Brown: Floyd Mayweather recently had a very tough fight against Marcos Maidana and Floyd spent a lot of time on the ropes. What did you think of the fight?

BJ Flores: Yeah he spent a lot of time on the ropes, he said he did it because he wanted to make it an entertaining fight. In my opinion, what I’ve seen of Floyd, there’s no question that he can fight however he wants, and it’s probably a good thing that he did it that way because otherwise it might have been a boring fight. Marcos Maidana fought a great fight, backed him up, caught him with some good shots and I think he made a great account for himself.

Robert Brown: Do you think Mayweather’s legs are starting to slow down at 37 years of age? Is that the reason why in recent fights he’s spending a lot more time on the ropes?

BJ Flores: No, I just think that he wanted to give the fans their money’s worth and he’s tired of reading some of the press clippings that say that Floyd Mayweather is boring and he can’t fight inside. I think he was more so trying to show that he can do those things and he’s got the ability to fight inside and make an entertaining fight. I think it was more so that than anything else.

Robert Brown: With Floyd’s most recent fight against Maidana and Manny Pacquiao’s recent fight against Timothy Bradley, does that change your opinion on who you think would win a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao?

BJ Flores: No, I still think Floyd beats Manny every time they fight. Manny is very good, very strong, but I think Mayweather finds a way to make an adjustment and definitely outboxes Manny.

Robert Brown: Do you think Timothy Bradley’s performance was more affected by his injury or by public pressure, was that the reason why he went for the knockout that much?

BJ Flores: Oh yeah definitely. I think he knows in his heart that he lost the first fight and in the second fight he wanted to go out there and put it all on the line and make a case for himself to really say, “Hey I lost but at least I tried.” I think at the end of the day he was okay with that.

He definitely tried to go for the knockout but Tim is not a knockout puncher at all, so it didn’t really make sense for him to do that. That was definitely a horrible gameplan, very bad gameplan.

Robert Brown: Who would you like to see Bradley get back into the ring against?

BJ Flores: I’d like to see Tim against Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter. I think both of those fights would be great fights. I’d like to see Manny against Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter, it doesn’t have to be only Floyd or only Manny. I think both of those guys make very interesting fights. I’d like to see Manny against Amir Khan, I’d like to see Floyd against Ruslan Provodnikov. A lot of different match ups, good exciting match ups are out there.

Robert Brown: Speaking of Manny, the fight against Bradley only had something like 760,000 PPV buys. Do you think that’s a direct result of the fact that Manny hasn’t had a knockout in three and a half years, or is his popularity deteriorating?

BJ Flores: No, he lost to Bradley the first fight — which I didn’t really think he did — and then the second fight he got knocked out by Marquez. You’re not gonna have a ton of buys whenever you lose two fights in a row. He’s older now, he’s not near the same buzz, so obviously he’s not as popular as he used to be but he’s still a popular fighter and he’s still a good fighter.

He’s not gonna draw what Floyd does, he just doesn’t have the marketability, he’s not as charismatic, he’s not as fun to watch. Of course he’s not gonna sell what Floyd does but it’s gonna be a little interesting.

Robert Brown: Do you have any news for what’s coming up on NBC Sports in the future?

BJ Flores: We got a fight on June 21st in Pennsylvania, the main event is an eliminator between the IBF 175lb light heavyweights. After that I’m not sure what’s next, but we’re looking forward to that, it’s gonna be a good card.