Mayweather: Oscar will win because of his trainer

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

There's no checking Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s ego at the door. It's sizable and it's with him at all times.

Just ask him who's the finest boxing trainer in the world.

"If he does what I tell him to, he'll get Vargas out of there," Mayweather said Tuesday during a conference call, referring to his client, Oscar De La Hoya, and the man he'll fight Sept. 14 at Mandalay Bay, Fernando Vargas. "Oscar's got speed on him and a trainer like me, who is truly second to none.

"All he has to do is listen to me."

Sounds doable from a distance.

"If Oscar follows the guidelines I set for him, it should be an easy fight," Mayweather said. "And he's got a more knowledgeable corner than Vargas has. Vargas only wishes he had me for a trainer."

Mayweather said De La Hoya is in great shape and in top mental form with the fight now only four weeks away. In addition, the injury to his left hand that caused the fight to be postponed from May is no longer a consideration.

"Oscar is a happy-go-lucky guy," Mayweather said. "He's energized and he's ready to go. He's excited about this fight, he really is.

"He's not having any problems with the hand (and) he hasn't complained about it."

Mayweather is predicting a knockout.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said in response to a leading question. "It's not going to go 12 rounds. Vargas has a glass jaw (and) I think he's going to run into something."

De La Hoya, 34-2, and Vargas, 22-1, are scheduled for 12 rounds at 154 pounds. Both men are currently training in Big Bear, Calif.

"We've run into each other a couple of times," Mayweather said of the fighters' proximity. "Not very much has been said. Someone from our camp called Vargas 'Fatso' for running in a rubber suit, and Vargas talked some trash."

Before closing, Mayweather reiterated a few other views and added that his son, World Boxing Council 135-pound champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., would be a better fighter if he was still training him.

"Floyd's becoming an ordinary fighter," father said of son. "Before, he was a special fighter. My son right now is getting hit more than he ever has in his life. He was once a defensive specialist, which is what I teach."