Interview with Larry Merchant on Pacquiao, Hatton, Mayweather and Much More - PART 1

by Mike Cassell


I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Larry Merchant about all things boxing. In usual Merchant style, he gave his honest hit on the mind of the modern fighter, and the possible comeback of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He also touched on the state of the Heavyweight division and what can be done to salvage a weight class that is taking a standing eight count.

Mike Cassell: Larry, I have to ask you about the Pacquiao - De La Hoya fight. You looked a bit like the cat that swallowed the canary after that fight. What did you know that nobody else seemed to know?

Larry Merchant: Well, I don’t think I knew that Pacquiao would virtually shut De La Hoya out and make him quit on the stool, because nothing like that has ever remotely happened to Oscar before. I did however know that Pacquiao could compete with Oscar, and the original intent of mine when I came up with the idea was that it would be a big event and boxing needs these big events, both to attract people that are not everyday viewers of boxing, and to show the business world that you can make a lot of money in the boxing arena. And secondly, my feeling was that I didn’t want to see a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar, as big of an event as that was, because I just didn’t see it turning out any different. Manny Pacquiao since he was fighting at 130lbs. had been weighing in at 140 by the evenings of his fights. I thought that if they met at welterweight, Manny could compete. But little did I think, or even realize, how complete a fighter Manny has become. When he originally came to America from the Philippines, he was this Typhoon that just over ran people his size. But in the interim years to his credit, under the guise of Freddie Roach, he has become a really complete aggressive boxer, puncher. He showed amazing poise and discipline in that fight, never getting reckless or careless, and we saw what we saw. read more