John Scully: “I love Manny Pacquiao, but even with two perfect shoulders, I never felt his style was enough to beat Mayweather”

14 Submitted by on Thu, 21 May 2015, 01:45

John Scully is a world class trainer who is most famously know for training former light heavyweight champion ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson, he is also a well-respected boxing analyst who has worked for ESPN and is now one of the trainers in the popular boxing reality TV series ‘Knockout’. Scully is also a former two time world title challenger, a well respected historian and author. In this interview we discussed the controversial Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout, his thoughts on the fight and a possible rematch. In addition, we talked about what could be next for both fighters, the possibility of a Crawford fight for Pacquiao and a Gennady Golovkin fight for Mayweather. Here is what John Scully had to say.

Robert Brown: After his recent performance against Willie Monroe Jr, are you sold on Gennady Golovkin yet or does he have to fight a big name? If so, who would you like to see him fight?

John Scully: I’ve been sold on him for a while now. I actually find it perplexing that people don’t want to give this man his just due. His knockout ratio is incredible. He’s a force for sure. He’s obviously extremely disciplined, goes to the body like few ever have and he follows his game plan flawlessly. He’s legit, I see this clearly.

Of course, I would love to see him matched up with one of the other top three guys at 160 to really prove himself to his doubters. Personally I would choose Cotto. I think the result would be truly eye opening for a lot of people.

Robert Brown: What were your general thoughts on Mayweather vs. Pacquiao? Do you think the shoulder injury played a significant part in the result of the fight?

John Scully: It went pretty much exactly as I openly predicted in the months and years before it happened. Honestly, I saw Manny letting it fly with some very aggressive and hard punches in there throughout the fight.

Robert Brown: Do the circumstances surrounding the shoulder injury warrant a rematch in your mind?

John Scully: I honestly don’t think so. I love Manny, don’t get me wrong, he’s always been one of my favorite guys, but even with two perfect shoulders, I never felt his style was enough to beat Floyd.

Robert Brown: Depending on how Pacquiao comes back from his shoulder injury, is it possible he may be used as an opponent for Terence Crawford at 140 to assume Top Ranks number 1 slot?

John Scully: It’s certainly possible and it’s obviously an interesting fight. There are a lot of fights out there for Manny right now in and around his weight class. Actually, at this point, his options are considerably deeper as a result of the last fight than Floyd’s are, as crazy as that may sound.

Robert Brown: Who are the next generation of boxers that will be the new superstars of the sport going forward to possibly assume the positions of Mayweather and Pacquiao?

John Scully: Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman, Errol Spence and Guillermo Rigondeaux if the networks and media ever start giving him his due. Also Artur Beterbiev up in Montreal. That guy is incredible and I think a fight between him and Kovalev in a year or so would literally dwarf Mayweather-Pac in terms of excitement and action.

Robert Brown: If Cotto gets past Daniel Geale, would you like to see him fight Canelo next, and who would you favor in that match up?

John Scully: I would really love to see that fight, it’s definitely one of the best match ups in recent years. I think people would see Canelo as the favorite but we can’t forget how impressive Cotto was last time out, either. Either way, anytime you get a Mexican and a Puerto Rican superstar matched up in the same weight class it’s a huge event. It’s on par with Mayweather and ‘Pacman’ in the Latin community. Huge fight.

Robert Brown: Do you think Mayweather at this stage of his career would take the risk of fighting Gennady Golovkin? If that fight happened, how would it play out?

John Scully: I don’t think he would do it, I don’t think he should do it and I don’t think it’s fair to even try and convince him to do it. Floyd is realistically not much more than a big junior welter and even if he ate right up to the weigh in and beyond, he would likely be outweighed by 20 pounds on fight night against a guy who even without that gain is a much stronger, more vicious version of anything he’s ever had to deal with before. It’s a huge stretch, in my opinion.

Robert Brown: Could Roman Gonzalez do for flyweights what Manny Pacquiao did for the featherweight and lightweight divisions?

John Scully: I’m thinking so. For a little guy, he has been creating a buzz with his style that we haven’t seen in a long time, maybe not since the Ricardo Lopez and ‘Too Sharp’ Johnson smaller superstar days.

Robert Brown: Can you tell the readers about what’s going on with you and your stable of fighters?

John Scully: As of right now, I am working with a big group of amateur boxers at the UFC Gym in Winter Springs, Florida and I am also busy with the reality show called “KNOCKOUT” that I am a part of as a trainer along with Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Sugar Shane Mosley. Roy Jones is also on the show, so we have a strong line-up along with nine very good young professionals looking to make a name for themselves. We also have the superstar director Benny Boom behind the camera doing his thing with his particular feel and flavor added to it and I think all this combined is going to make for spectacular boxing television.

The show begins airing in a matter of weeks on the NUVO-TV network and I urge all boxing fans to tune in and enjoy the fireworks. The finale’ is scheduled for July 18 at Foxwoods resort and casino in Connecticut and I urge anyone within driving distance to get over there for that weekend and enjoy the whole atmosphere. It’s going to feature a full card of good fights and will finish with the three final bouts between the two remaining boxers in the three weight classes featured on this years show.

Robert Brown: What are your thoughts on boxing being back on free to air TV?

John Scully: I am very happy with it. It is definitely a step in the right direction. As long as different fighters get opportunities and everything is run fairly, it is going to be great for boxing. Shades of the old days.

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14 Responses to "John Scully: “I love Manny Pacquiao, but even with two perfect shoulders, I never felt his style was enough to beat Mayweather”"
  1. cesi says:

    Tell me . How you beat the fast runner in the ring ? You just talking shit !!!

  2. Even with bad shoulders, Pacquiao beat Maywether by landing stronger punches & landing more! Mayweather only won because the fight was rigged! The judges are blind & even the CompuBox statistics were rigged! Result? Pacquiao was cheered by the majority of fans at the MGM!!! The so called Paper Champion Mayweather was booed loudly by his own countrymen at the MGM & wherever he goes these days! SHAMEFUL!

  3. barry gil r. pilar says:

    oh yeah if your opponEnt is very fast in running like a chicken, clinching like a retard leech and headlocking you like a paddlock, even if you have four hands you will never win! John Scully you have made me laugh! if people are convinced of Floyd’s fighting style he will not be booed by fans wherever he goes. Even in basketball games fans are disgusted by his presence. What a loser!

  4. bug says:

    Pacman didn’t lost, he won that fight, he was just the victim of Floyd’s unfair judges, comrades decision and pacman has just a little sore maybe when the fight started and Floyd knew about his injury and Floyd started punching and pulling pacman’s right hand, but injured or not injured pacman was ahead on the score and the America doesn’t want to give the victory to the alien pacman,coz its embarrasing and they will lost their prize fighter as one of the source of income of MGM and the whole official who build up Floyd for fraud fight.

  5. docpreleste says:

    I reviewed the fight three times. Wen I watched it live via PPV I thought Floyd won 116-112. Then upon review I could see Pacquiao landed more but unfortunately only during the 1st 2 minutes of most of the rounds. Also I noticed that Floyd’s poise does not change a bit when got hit. His muscles and skin is also tightly knit that the punches do not seem to land when it does. That ‘ you ain’t hitting me look’ is deceivingly effective to the eyes of the judges because the other fighter’s look is lost and desperate with all the chasing and never been able to connect the big shot he wants. when a fighter looks frustrated, the judges saw it as a lost round. Regarding compubox, I think the guys doing it must be educated whether a punch is really thrown or just a stretch-out defense. It seems that when floyd stretches his hands it is counted as a punch. Also when Floyd just make a pat or slap it is counted as a punch whereas Pac’s short punches which are almost impossible to see is hard to score- and the guys at Compubox is not trained to see those punches too. After the review I scored it 115-113 Pac or 114-114 draw. The decision should stay for the error of the eyes must be respected much like we want to see illusions in a magic.

  6. Turnip says:

    Funny you guys commenting paq won on a boxing site. I figured if you were on a boxing site, you’d actually know enough about the sport to know he clearly lost. Also funny seeing you idiots saying this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I love the internet dummies.

  7. JoeMoe says:

    Laughing at u now.

  8. manny pacquiao won the fight but the judges were blind!

  9. JOJO says:

    Mr. John tell me, A)HOW can you hit the fastest runner in the ring ?
    B) How can you beat the paid Three(3) blind judges?
    C) How you can beat the paid bias commentator conditioning the mind of the viewer?
    D) How can you beat the paid compu box operator?

    TBE = THE BOOOED EVER

  10. JOJO says:

    I a sure you, if the running, hugging, arm locking & head locking style INTRODUCE by Mayweather is the new device or gauge of winning, sooner boxing will death, WHAT A SHAME!

    TBE – THE BOOED EVER!!!

  11. JOJO says:

    Mr. John, you said that you are now a trainer of amateur boxing.
    Do you also teach the new style introduce by Mayweather in boxing?
    like running & hugging? he he he he, No wonder, May be, Am I right?

  12. wbox says:

    ahah-ha – floyd lost to a 1 handed pacman

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