So you respect Roger as a trainer?
"I respect him. He's one of the best, man. (Floyd Sr), he's a clown! He's there because he's a clown. Roger's the best trainer, baby! Roger should be the main guy! I wanna fight a real guy who knows what he's doing! Not a loser!"
Why do you have such animosity with Floyd Sr?
"He started this shit, he started this crap, he ran his mouth, talking shit, he's gonna do this to me, he's gonna do that. Hey, I'm for real. I don't hide behind nobody. I go to the death. That's what we do. We go down to the wire, to the death, baby. They're gonna have to kill us in this fight. We're gonna win, baby."
Of all the camps, why has this one been so good. Why did this thing work so well?
"Robert's a full-fledged, 147-pounder. Before he was a little guy. Now, he's established at 147. This is his best fight ever. He's 30 years old, he's in his prime. They're gonna find out."
Do you feel that the two fights he had last year with (Aydin) and Berto helped him, and made him a solid welterweight?
"Robert could have knocked those guys out. But you know what? He wanted to get some rounds, he wanted to punish those guys, he wanted to get his skills, and now..."
He looked like he took his game to a new level. Have you seen it?
"Smarter. Making his weight easy."
Is he easier to train now than he was two years ago?
"This is his weight division."
He's a more confident fighter these days, isn't he?
"His wife's not sick with cancer. She fought cancer. We almost lost her a couple times. He was fighting with his mind behind Casey. That's not right, when you're fighting like that, but you have to do what you have to do. We don't come from a lot of money. We're poor. He had to do it, no matter what. We came from a poor family. That's why I'm a rugged guy, he's a rugged guy. We're here to win. We're hungry."
From just a father's standpoint, to see another person in your family go through what she did, how did that touch you emotionally? How did you deal with it?
"That really broke me down, man. When you see your daughter-in-law, 20 something year old, young girl, your son's wife. My baby's mom, you know. They're going through bad things, seeing their mom like that."
How did you hold it together?
"Right here. He prayed to God every day, and he said she was gonna be OK if he prayed to his God. It happened. He made me see what God can do."
So that's kind of where things changed for you?
"I'm a nice guy right now. Before I was worse. I would have dragged his ass out right here, right away, if I wanted to. I'm calm now. I would've dragged him out right away, I would have knocked his ass out, whatever."
What do you think happens Saturday when you guys are in the ring before when (referee) Robert Byrd's giving the instructions? You don't anticipate any issues with Floyd Sr before the fight, do you?
"I'm just gonna go in there and be focused with my son. I'm gonna do what I gotta do with my son and win this fight. That guy, I'm not even gonna worry about him. I don't wanna end up hurting that guy. if I hurt him, then he won't be able to work his son's corner."
Why get personal bringing up the facts that Floyd had the incident with his ex-fiancee?
"Look at the way he's talking about my son. He's a hypocrite. He don't talk about his story, right? Hitting his woman in front of his kids. All this bullshit. I read all that bullshit on the internet. That's not right, when you hit a woman in front of your kids. That's why he's gonna find out when he gets in the ring. Because he's gonna fight a real man."
Was it just to get under his skin?
"Nah, it's just a real thing, baby. This is real. I'm letting it out with my heart. It's not to get under his skin. We're ready to go."
Your relationship with your son, contrary to what Floyd has gone through with his dad. Comment on that.
"I don't know what's been going on in their lives. All I know, me and my son, we've been together since day one. All our lives, baby. All our lives, man. We've been together. We love each other. Like a family."