A view from Roger Mayweather's corner

LAS VEGAS - There's never a dull moment when Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer of Floyd Mayweather Jr., is involved.

The longtime boxing man spent some time with reporters at the MGM Grand fight media center. Mayweather, always a candid interview subject, touched on several topics from Muhammad Ali's reluctance to go to the body to Roy Jones Jr.'s suspect chin.

The most important point made during the interview was the status of Mayweather Jr.'s corner.  With Floyd Mayweather Sr. getting more and more involved with his son's career, questions about who is running his training camp have been floating around for months. 

"The only one who trains Floyd is me," said Roger. "There's no us. Floyd had his biggest fights with me."

As the interview progressed, Roger went more indepth when speaking about his nephew's skills in the ring. "He's never going to be a devastating puncher," Roger said. "But he punches with accuracy. Look at Ali. Ali was no great puncher, but he had tremendous skill."

One of the bigger mysteries, at least to the media, is why Roger doesn't get respect as being one of the game's best trainers. Shane Mosley's trainer Nazeem Richardson and Freddie Roach, just to name a few, have gotten recognition as great trainers.

"I don't really care about all of that," Roger said.

But he did explain why fighters need trainers and how to tell which ones have trainers.

"Ali never went to the body," Roger said. "That's because he wasn't trained. Going to the body is the whole key to boxing."

In addition to lauding Ali, Roger also credited Sugar Ray Robinson and Roberto Duran, who he said is one of the "greatest Latino boxers ever".

"Boxing is an art," he continued. "That's why fighters need trainers."

As for helping his nephew become the sport's biggest name, Roger attributed that to having a solid trainer in his corner.

"Making a fighter doesn't mean nothing," Roger said. "Making a superstar...that is different."