LAS VEGAS -- Trainer Naazim Richardson has a particular way with words. Consider:
"When you meet that girlfriend, you all are holding hands and you're going to the movies. But after you've left that toilet seat up a couple of times, you begin finding out whether or not we can go forward. You see her snap. I just left the toilet seat up, and she got a knife in her hands. You realize this is not the sister for you. When everything's going great, yeah, we're the best of buddies. But as soon as you have a dispute ..."
Like his friend and fellow Philadelphian Bernard Hopkins, Richardson can sometimes take a verbal stroll along a seemingly unnavigable pathway, leaving listeners stumbling along uncertainly before taking a sudden sharp turn and winding up at the long-planned destination. In this particular instance, Shane Mosley's corner man was discussing the relationship between trainer and fighter, and how navigating speed bumps can be the key to strengthening that relationship:
"Every athlete is different, and you have to have a different approach with each and every one. I felt like me and Shane Mosley could work together when we had our first disagreement. Me and Shane had our first dispute early. It was the first time I went to wrap his hands. See, Shane wants to fight in the bare-knuckle era. Shane don't want nothing on his hands. 'I like to feel it.' We got to an understanding, we compromised and we got it done."
Richardson displays an intensity, intelligence and dry wit that has led more than one scribe to dub him the best interview in boxing. On Thursday, he entertained journalists at the MGM Grand by expounding on a number of topics related to Saturday's fight between Mosley and Manny Pacquiao.
"When you meet that girlfriend, you all are holding hands and you're going to the movies. But after you've left that toilet seat up a couple of times, you begin finding out whether or not we can go forward. You see her snap. I just left the toilet seat up, and she got a knife in her hands. You realize this is not the sister for you. When everything's going great, yeah, we're the best of buddies. But as soon as you have a dispute ..."
Like his friend and fellow Philadelphian Bernard Hopkins, Richardson can sometimes take a verbal stroll along a seemingly unnavigable pathway, leaving listeners stumbling along uncertainly before taking a sudden sharp turn and winding up at the long-planned destination. In this particular instance, Shane Mosley's corner man was discussing the relationship between trainer and fighter, and how navigating speed bumps can be the key to strengthening that relationship:
"Every athlete is different, and you have to have a different approach with each and every one. I felt like me and Shane Mosley could work together when we had our first disagreement. Me and Shane had our first dispute early. It was the first time I went to wrap his hands. See, Shane wants to fight in the bare-knuckle era. Shane don't want nothing on his hands. 'I like to feel it.' We got to an understanding, we compromised and we got it done."
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