In the wake of Manny Pacquiao’s recent dominant performance over Chris Algieri, talks have once again sparked for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout. I had a chance to speak to highly respected boxing trainer, ‘Iceman’ John Scully to get his thoughts on Pacquiao’s return, and also his thoughts on what could be next. Scully also gives his views why Pacquiao vs. Mayweather would be more competitive now, compared to years in the past. Additionally Scully broke down what he thinks would happen if Pacquiao and Mayweather finally step into the ring with each other. Here is what John Scully had to say.
(FULL INTERVIEW)
Jenna J: Let’s talk about the big fight that took place this past weekend, Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri. What did you think of the fight?
John Scully: I was trying to look at it from the view of the fighter, from being in there and what it must have been like for him. I just feel that he realized probably that Pacquiao’s energy and strength was too much and he didn’t have the power to hold him off. Pacquiao was a little bit better at cutting off the ring than Provodnikov proved to be and it seemed like Pacquiao made the ring small.
Everywhere Algieri went, he was running into Manny. It’s like you’re trying to hide in a house and every room you go into Manny is there waiting for you. I know it’s a heavy mental pressure on the guy and I just feel like he probably realized shortly into the fight that he wasn’t strong enough punching power wise or physically, to hold Manny off.
Jenna J: Algieri’s trainer has gotten some attention because apparently they had the gameplan of trying to knock out Manny Pacquiao late. Do you think that was a legitimate gameplan or something that they were just saying when the fight looked out of reach?
John Scully: I know the trainer has been getting a lot of criticism. I’ve read many different things online and I understand it. Sometimes you hear a trainer say something that sounds a little off or odd and you as the viewer you say, “Wow that’s kind of weird, what’s he talking about?” The thing is, he knows the fighter better than we do personally and he might say things just to spur the fighter on.
Every fighter is different and he knows Chris better than we do, so I’m gonna give him a pass and say that he was saying things that hopefully would inspire Chris. Realistically, I know he knows that they weren’t gonna knock Manny out — I’m sure he knew that. That’s the only thing I can really say, sometimes trainers say things that sound odd to the outsiders but there is a reason behind it.
Jenna J: Manny knocked Algieri down six times, even though some of them were slips, in the ninth round he did have Algieri seriously hurt. What did you think of Manny’s performance as a whole?
John Scully: He did extremely well considering he was in with a guy who was very mobile. It’s easy to watch and say, “Oh he should have done this, he should have knocked him out, the guy wasn’t strong, etc” But when you’re in with a guy that can box and can move — you can say what want, Chris didn’t put on a spectacular offensive performance and he was probably out of his depth but he does have good movement. He does know how to use the ring, he does know how to cut angles and it’s much harder than it looks.
A lot of people — even I’ve been guilty of it — say, “Just get on him, put the pressure on him,” but it’s not that simple. The guy is very good at moving, his lateral movement is good and Manny did well. To even catch up with him the times that he was able to and put the punches together, Manny tried, there were times when he let off ten shots in a row but the kid was good with his defense, he was no dummy in there in that sense. You have to give Manny credit for getting done what he did get done.
Jenna J: Now the big question is, where does Manny Pacquiao go from here? Do you think with this win and the fact that Floyd Mayweather has run out of opponents that can sell big pay-per-views, that the fight will happen this time?
John Scully: From what I’ve read in the past day, I get the impression that both sides are kind of looking to make the fight. I’ve always kind of thought that Floyd’s plan is probably for his 50th fight to try and go out 50-0 by beating Manny Pacquiao in the 50th fight.
Jenna J: Do you think if the fight happens now, that the fight is actually better in terms of what kind of fight we see because Floyd has slowed down a bit?
John Scully: No question. I think honestly if they fought several years ago, I think Floyd white washes him. I love Manny Pacquiao but Floyd is a special fighter, I just feel that he would have beaten him. Now the thing is, Floyd is the one who seems to be slowing down and Pacquiao if anything — even thought he was knocked out and lost to Bradley — he still has fire power, he lets his hands go hard.
I think you’re exactly right, I think it’s a better fight now because of the way Floyd seems to have regressed a little bit, he slowed down a bit. I still think even in his diminished state, I still think he’s better than the high majority of the fighters in the world and that tells you how good he is.
Jenna J: Let’s turns things to yourself for a few minutes John. Are there any boxers you are working with you want to tell the fans about?
John Scully: Right know I have a group of amateurs that I’m working with here in Florida and I have a couple of professionals. I have a super middleweight by the name of Craig Duncan, who is 5-0 with 4 knockouts, a big puncher. This guy is on like a Julian Jackson level of punching power, just a tremendous hitter.
Even though he only has five fights, we actually just got an offer to fight Jeff Lacy in December in Tampa, Florida. We’re discussing it just because it’s kind of relatively short notice for an opponent such as Jeff and just to go more rounds than my guy is used to. If we don’t take this fight, we would definitely take it a few months down the line when we have time to really train for a distance fight, but that’s a name you should look out for, Craig Duncan.
Jenna J: Besides the boxers you work with, are there any projects you have going outside of the ring?
John Scully: First is that I will be in the role of a host at Mia St. John’s December 16th dinner at the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Strip in Las Vegas that will honor Tommy Hearns and WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. Sugar Ray Leonard and numerous other champions will be there and it is shaping up to be a great event.
Also, on a more personal note, I am organizing a special reunion for amateur boxers in Las Vegas on December 13th that has been in the planning stages for several years now. After running into difficulty securing sponsors I finally just decided to get it going on my own, just by inviting friends and former opponents and teammates and peers and seeing who wanted to hang out with me the weekend before the WBC Convention starts and the responses just got better and better as time went on.
In the very beginning I had interest from a few guys that has snowballed into commitments from the likes of Mike McCallum, Frankie Liles, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, Reggie Johnson, John David Jackson, Paul Spadafora, Shawn Porter, Bones Adams, Wayne McCullough, Ray Oliviera, Thomas Tate and many other former amateur boxing champions. I am actually waiting on word as we speak from Donald Curry to see if he will be able to make it as well so it is shaping up to be an extremely memorable event for all of us.
To give you an idea of what it will be like, Mark Too Sharp Johnson and 2000 Canadian Olympic heavyweight Mark Simmons boxed each other in 1983 as 60 pound little kids and haven’t seen each other since. They will reunite in Las Vegas at the reunion, though, which should be funny to see because Mark Simmons is now around six foot four and well over 200 pounds while Too Sharp is about five foot six and never boxed above bantamweight.
On my end, I fought against Colorado’s James Saulnier at the 1988 U.S. Championships and haven’t seen him since but I spoke to him on the phone last week and he assured me that he will see me in Las Vegas so it’s just going to be that kind of atmosphere for most of us who are attending. Definitely it is going to be one of the highlights of my entire boxing career.
Jenna J: In closing John, all the fans want to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Can you see a scenario in which Manny Pacquiao wins?
John Scully: I would say no. Normally I’d say, if a guy comes in and he’s not fully motivated but the thing about Floyd Mayweather from what I’ve seen with my own eyes and what I’ve heard from people who know him well, he trains extremely hard unlike a lot of superstars. Over a long period of time it seems like his mentality has not wavered at all.
Floyd’s still a gym rat, he still focuses and does what he has to do. I don’t think he’ll ever get caught slipping, especially not with a guy like Manny. Floyd kind of down talks Manny for the hype of the fight, but he knows as a smart boxing person, he knows that he needs to be in that shape like he was in for Diego Corrales. He needs to be in that elite superstar super shape.
If he’s on his game, I don’t think Manny, or anyone, touches him. I don’t think Floyd will get caught slipping. The only thing that can happen is if he just loses it, where his timing and everything is just eroded but from what I can see, he’s slipped a little, I don’t think there’s any dispute of that but not nearly enough for him to be considered to lose to Manny. I like Manny a lot but I don’t see Floyd losing to Manny.
With floyd accusations to Manny, will pacquiao will give him mercy like what he showed to almost all of his fight???? will he stop unloading his bomb and ask the ref to check the condition of his opponent just like in margarito fight???omg.. mayweathers face might end up like margarito ??? and sleep like ricky hatton at the later round?? I predict Floyd will quit like Oscar because he is a genius fighter am I right….
He’s gonna quit just like his brutal war with maidana in the first fight right
Your a idiot!
What
Floyd not going to sit there at his exclusiveness and get hit that many time by pac, never happen never will, matter of fact Mayweather is bigger than Manny, and anytime you can fight pacman without any catch weight he an easier fighter to fight(not saying he easy) why jmm has him figured out. Mayweather is also a counter puncher who make adjustments in every fight, never seen a boxer since Sugar Ray Leonard pull that off. .
People must have forgot floyd can beat you standing in front of you lol. Besides his last 3 fights all of the guys weighed over 160lbs can mr always catch weight manny do that I think not lol. Like you said floyd is bigger and he will crush manny easy he will hit manny with ease but manny won’t be able to hit floyd like he hit everyone else. It would be cool to see manny fight canelo but he never would do that lol.
Manny would destroy Canelo. Canelo is slow w/ no guard. He’s not ready for Pacman
Lmao you know nothing, I don’t even think you have seen Floyd fight.
pakyaw floyd will never happen coz the algieri style already exposed mayweather movement. he keeps running but manny still caught him and knockdown 6 times.
Floyd will never throw slow sloppy jabs that get timed like algieri did
when fight time comes floyd will do what algieri does.
Just let them fight. Algieiri is as good as floyd at moving, let’s see how he does against pacman
John Scully saying that he sees no Pacquaio beating Mayweather, jr just shows you that even though you are a trainer and ex-boxer does not mean you know what you are talking even when it comes to boxing….he will eat his words and Pacquiao will beat Mayweather, jr.
Dear Sir Dranreb. You are OFFICIALLY banned from postign anything to do with boxing from now on LOL. Embarrassingly biased fans of any fighter are banned until further notice.
Pacquiao is much much faster than maidana, hand speed and footwork, now you do the math.
What about power
what ever he do he cant level what the likes of worlds greatest boxing trainer ROACH did to re write Boxing history for creating 8 Divisions world champ and 4Th lineal world champ PACQUIAO!!!! John Scully who?
Is Zab Judah faster than Manny?
Floyd was having a hard with Zab
In the early rounds, but Zab slowly
run out of gas in the later rounds…
Manny is faster than Zab, and he
doesn’t ran out of gas even up to
the 12th round…. You know what
I mean…
is the TBE IS READY TO RUMBLE???????????????????
Will he fight him? Yes, yes.
If it’s a boxing match and ScumWeather Jr. is allowed to repeatedly ‘grab & hold’ Pacquiao (like ref. Kenny BrainLess did in Maidana 2), then Manny has no chance.
JailWeather is the better boxer but Manny can & will adjust. Eventually, Pacquiao will catch him..
the latest excuse of lil floyd is manny be tested like EBOLA kind of randome test
Pacquiao throws punches in a bunch vs Floyds a combination & hold/move away. I pick the relentless offense of Pacquiao to win, the reason Floyd s doing everything to avoid a fight. Everyone has his/her own belief so only the fight can answer all these. Again why is Floyd playing the hardball? He is scared of losing his zero for the last 4 years. I have no doubt about that. I’ve been a sport fan for 50 yrs.
Mayweather shouldn’t try to surpass Rocky Marciano’s record to reach the 50 mark because Marciano died on a plane crash at his peak in boxing and he could have gone 50 more fights undefeated, this would just show mayweather is cheating Marciano’s record. Another thing, mayweather is not undefeated for he already lost to Jose Luis Castillo in their first fight and to Maidana also in their first fight. Mayweather should forget about the 50 mark of his record and should fight Pacquiao now to accept defeat after all he needs is just money and not legacy.
Manny Pacquiao will never beat Floydie Jr because Floydie Jr will always run away from a fight with him? He knows too well Manny will bet him black and blue.
You’re right Guys, mayweather is useles..and will cement his legacy as a COWARD and BORING fighter of all TIME…..those fans of mayweather are being paid…..this gayweather should not be included the list of Pound for Pound fighter, if he, then should not be on the number 1 spot. He doesn’t deserve it. Manny Pacquiao should be at the number 1 spot.
Manny hits too hard for Mayweather.IfFloyd is allowed to hold and turn his back and run he will win especially in the city he owns.Me I would demand the fight happen in Madison Square Gardens ,Manny should beat him even if Mayweather gets all of his demands if the right Ref is not handpicked by Mayweather.
As far as I know boxing is the only sport where the boxer with the more awards received (fighter of the year and fighter of the decade, etc) is not the best boxer. In tennis, Federer gets beaten but because he has the most number of grandslam titles won is considered the greatest. Michael Jordan has a lot of MVP awards and championships won and is also considered the greatest basketball player to ever lived. However, Mayweather who has less fighter of the year awards and didn’t win any fighter of the decade and less spectacular is always considered the best. Question is, what if Mayweather is non-American and Pacquiao is American, who do you think will be considered the best fighter? Just my 2 cents…
I think John Scully knows more than any of us about boxing. After fight with Manny, Floyd will still be undefeated.
John scully who? Is his assessment better than 6x trainer of the year freddie roach?
YES, it is.
I SHOULD START MY OWN BLOG LIKE JENNA IF I PROVE SCULLY WRONG
since i feel you gotta be myopic if not blind not to see that if floyd is NOT ALLOWED to dictate the gloves of pacquiao or NOT ALLOWED to grab clinch or hold, he’ll surely take a brutal beating.
should they ever fight, floyd will retire between rounds or his corner will throw in the towel (per strict instructions) otherwise he gets TKO’ed/KO’ed if not DQ’ed for excessive holding by an impartial/honest referee.
WHERE’S HE GONNA GO WITHOUT HIS GRABBING AND CLINCHING?? floyd’s got old chicken legs that will not provide him the stamina to ward off the relentless attack of pacquiao. even Algieri with his youthful long legs who could remarkably SPRINT BACKWARDS was not quick enough to avoid pacquiao’s equally quick pace and hands. floyd’s got no powaa and paq will just walk through his slaps and touches. floyd’s got everybody fooled into believing he can hurt them even before the fight started and gave him too much respect. i’m astonished JS still doesn’t see that.
knowing how shamelessly creative floyd is, he’ll probably employ a ploy like he broke his hand or like the glove biting incident with Maidana to quit the fight and therefore maximize his earnings in a rematch/es till it becomes a farce with the least threat to his life & limb.
and oh BTW, Algieri didn’t just slip, Pacquiao put him there in that situation just like Mosley or Bradley twisting their ankles because of paq’s fever pitched attack from angles they are not used to, necessitating their unfamiliar frenetic frantic twists and turns to avoid it. it was a saving grace for them who would have gone down on a tko/ko if not for the slip and the action stopped and should not somehow diminish Pacquiao’s performance.
Pacquiao should be back on top of the p4p rankings…….
Ok, I admit I’m really scared.
Don’t worry I’ll be gentle, promise! Should we schedule the fight?
Ok guys lets do the negotiations to have the fight in mars we will have a 3 trillion dollars fight
Floyd I love the way you get down but, pacman is a Hogg too. Have your energy high baby I think you’ll have your work cut out for you.
This john scully dude is part retarded
Fight can go both ways it takes on punch.
This goes out to all ya broke niggas who suck commercial ass niggas off… 1st off mayweather is a fucking bitch he doesn’t no how to loose a fight that’s why he runs all his fights idk wat fight ya watch but maidana put that work on this lil nigga floyd if you gonna give him points g for running then this should had been a marathon not boxing. Zab was fucking him up n they stopped that fight if his so tuff why he don’t fight Bradley or let Marquez use steroids bc he knows he will get finished he only fight niggas who he can pay off like saul not once this kid cut the ring off. Just look at how many fights he got why younger fighters have more fights then this fake as boxer bc he fights once every 3 years all wayz ducking real fighters. I beat if he gave cotto a rematch or maidana he will get knock out. But his time will come bc Manny is the true meaning of boxing and a real man….
gt’s is so dumb he sat on the TV for three hours watching the couch 🙂
What’s the use of being undefeated if there is one boxer that u don’t want to fight. After he retired everybody will say that he is the undefeated who didn’t want to fight Pacquiao.
@jscully “you aint talkin bout nothin” Pacman going to whip that ass no matter what you say. Just tell Ferguson Mayweather to fight in the ring
Floyd doesnt stand a chance with PACMAN. That ballernia dance that Floyd does around the ring wont last past the 6th round. Floyd Mayweather will be on his back wondering how the hell did this happen…lol…then he will get up, get frustrated and get knocked down again. If your are so sure you can beat someone in the ring, why not fight him and prove you are the champ. Because Floyd knows in his heart there is a strong possibility he may lose and he dont like to pick those fights. He studies the tapes and set up fights he knows he has no chance to lose. Be a champ Floyd and fight PACMAN.
it seems like folks are still talking that macho shit.their both at the end of their careers neither one is what they use to be.this fight is about money not some macho bullshit. That Algieri fight was a gimme for pac. did anyone really thlnk algieri could beat pacman? if you did you dont know shit about boxing. dont think that beating algieri was a big deal.they both want the money,pacman has a lot of back taxes to pay,Floyd wants to make as much money as he can before he retires.if he stays undefeated he can make crazy money if he makes pacman his last fight.Win or lose he will smile all the way to the bank.its about money folks not pound for pound.very smart business move by Floyd.
run floyd run like the chicken that you are! buk buk buk buk…… cockadoodledoo!!!!
lol!!!!!!