In this video interview with Fight Hub TV, Errol Spence’s trainer Derrick James fields some questions on this weekend’s upcoming title unification with Shawn Porter.
James on if he agrees with Spence that Porter is an ‘in-shape street fighter’:
“Come on, man...Everybody in the world [knows that]...[Porter] mentioned something about LeBron James coming to the fight. LeBron James may be your friend but he’s not your fan. Nobody’s a fan of that style of boxing other than another guy who’s a mauler also. And we’re prepared for that, we prepared for the mauling style.”
On how he prepared Spence for a mauling style:
“We had a Mexican fighter...and we had the same ol’ heavyweight who’s a bigger guy, who’s rough, kind push you around, rugged...so they all did a great job.”
On his prediction for the fight:
“My prediction is whatever Errol says. He said he wants to knock him out, I think he’s gonna knock him out. See it’s not about how much you swim, it’s not about how much you jump rope, or how much you do this. [Porter] can’t block a punch. He can’t get out they way of a punch. He fought guys that landed one shot at a time, not two, three, four shots at a time. That’s the difference.”
On if he thinks Porter has improved in recent years:
“What you want me to say, man? I think he’s got to a point to where he’s not getting any better, he’s in an awkward situation with somebody who doesn’t respect him. The way this things works, the trainer works for the fighter...So what happens is, regardless of whatever the father thinks he is, you don’t have to let your employee talk to you like that. Understand?
“Over here we have an order, where we are. So if you wanna get you like a real man, somebody who gonna respect you, come over here. That’s where you need to come. Hand down. If you wanna be treated like a real person, not yelled at, not belittled, not demeaned, he can come over here with us.”
On if he’s legitimately making an offer to train Porter:
“I’m saying he’s getting treated like trash by his father. If you want to get treated like a real fighter, you can come over here. Yeah [I would open my doors to him] because what else is he gonna be able to do? He gotta recover, get his career back on the go. You gotta take off again, gotta do something! ‘Cause after this knockout, what’s he gonna do?”