Ronnie Shields: “Pacquiao and Mayweather have lost a step or two. I don’t think it will be worthy of people spending money to even see it now!”

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” interview with trainer Ronnie Shields, I talk with him about the future of Erislandy Lara after his loss to Canelo Alvarez, and what options he sees next. Shields also shared his views on Floyd Mayweather Jr’s recent announcement, and if he thinks fans still want to see Mayweather-Pacquiao. Additionally, Ronnie discusses the other fighters in his stable and shares his final thoughts on Alvarez vs. Lara. Here is what Ronnie Shields had to say.

Jenna J: Where does Erislandy go right now? What’s out there for him?

Ronnie Shields: There plenty of fights out there for Lara. The junior middleweight division is one of the hottest divisions in the sport of boxing. We have plenty of choices and sooner or later we’re gonna sit down with Al Haymon, Luis Decubas Jr, myself, we’re gonna sit down and we’re gonna figure it out.

Jenna J: Do you think if Lara would have lost the fight in a more aggressive style and a more aggressive fight, that it would be better for him from a fans perspective?

Ronnie Shields: No, not at all. Lara has had the same style that has gotten him to this point, the same style. He’s one of the top junior middleweights in the world with the style that he showed the other night. That’s him, that’s who he is, that’s not gonna change.

Jenna J: What fighter do you think they’ll put Canelo in with next?

Ronnie Shields: There’s talk of him and James Kirkland fighting. Kirkland is a guy that’s gonna stand with him and go toe to toe with him, that’s his style, that’s what they like. That’s more than likely what they’re gonna do. I don’t know for sure because I haven’t spoken to anyone with that. I’m not focused on what they’re gonna do because I don’t care.

Jenna J: Lets talk about what’s next for Lara. There’s guys like Carlos Molina and Demetrious Andrade who hold titles, do either of those guys fit the style of Lara?

Ronnie Shields: Everybody fits the bill. The thing is, are they available? Carlos Molina has a mandatory due in October with ‘K-9’ Bundrage, they’re scheduled to fight October 11th. Lara’s cut has to heal up, I don’t know how long it’s gonna be before he’s able to get back in the ring. Once he’s able to get back in the ring, then I think we’ll be happy to sit down and see who’s available.

Jenna J: I want to ask you a few questions about the boxing scene. This week it was announced that Mayweather and Maidana are going to have rematch. How do you see that fight going?

Ronnie Shields: I think it’s gonna be a good fight, just like the first fight was. I think the first few rounds, I think Maidana has to do what he did the last time — just get out there and jump on top of him. I don’t think Maidana can do that for 12 rounds though, that’s the problem he faced last time, he started to get tired in the middle rounds and Floyd took over.

I see the same thing happening. I think Maidana has to get out to a fast start — if he doesn’t, then he’s gonna get behind early, then he’s gonna get desperate, then there’s a chance he can get stopped. He has to jump out early on Floyd but he doesn’t have the 12 round stamina to do it.

Jenna J: Floyd seems to be running out of opponents. Do you think he’s getting to the point where he has to consider a fight with Manny Pacquiao?

Ronnie Shields: Oh there’s plenty of guys out there for him to fight. The problem is, are they Pay-per-view worthy? That’s gonna be the problem. He can fight Keith Thurman, who is one of the best welterweights out there. He can fight Shawn Porter, who is another great fighter out there.

The welterweight division is full of talent, the problem is, are they pay-per-view worthy? That’s gonna be the question that they have to answer. But he has a lot of opponents — Amir Khan is there, and that is a good pay-per-view fight because Amir has some good fans and people in Europe would definitely buy him, so that’s another option for him.

Jenna J: The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has been talked about for years, does that fight still interest you at this point?

Ronnie Shields: For me it doesn’t, because I think both guys are past their primes. They both are still good, they’re still good fighters, they still know their way around the ring. If this fight had happened 2-3 years ago, it would have broken so many records because people wanted to see it.

People are disinterested because you see a faded Pacquiao and Floyd has lost a step or two. I don’t think it will be worthy of people spending that kind of money to even see it now, because I don’t think people would buy it. Don’t get me wrong, people would buy it, but not as many people would buy it at this point.

Jenna J: Can you let the fans know about some of the other fighters you’re working with?

Ronnie Shields: Oh yes, I have many young fighters. I have Jermell and Jermall Charlo, the Charlo twins, they’re both doing really good. They both are rated in the top 10 in the world. I got Edwin ‘La Bomba’ Rodriguez who’s getting ready to make his comeback some time in August.

I have a few up and coming kids that are doing really great right now. I got a kid named Ryan Karl, he’s 2-0 and he’s fighting August the 7th in Corpus Christi. I got a couple more veterans, Brian Vera is getting ready to fight Gabriel Rosado in this new thing that they have on DirecTV. I got some interesting and great things coming up.

Jenna J: If you could say anything to Canelo Alvarez right now, is there anything you’d like to say to him at all about the fight that he had?

Ronnie Shields: Look, I like Canelo, he’s a really good fighter. He’s a young kid, he just turned 24 years old. He’s definitely has a bright future and I wish him luck in his career. All in all, he knows in his heart that he lost to Erislandy Lara, but life goes on. Maybe one day we’ll see him down the road.