PC: I know there’s going to be litigation in this matter, but can you speak on the Diego Corrales situation? "Yes. Obviously I retained counsel and the lawsuit will proceed like I told everybody it would. I read with interest, it may have been on your website or another, that Oscar De La Hoya said, “If he tortiously interfered than he should be sued.” Jin Mosley and Shane said that they signed Diego and gave him his bonus money and went on Boxingtalk and said, they tell him what to do. That’s what Jin Mosley said, so everybody did what they thought was right and I thought was wrong and I told everybody publicly what they were doing was wrong, so now everybody will get a nice Thanksgiving gift. I read with interest where Richard Schaffer said on another website yesterday how Arum tortiously interfered with Manny Pacquiao."

PC: Golden Boy did just have a similar situation with Manny as they did with Corrales. Could you give your opinion on these signings?
GS: I think that all these promoters are doing the wrong thing and all these fighters are doing the wrong thing. All they're doing is killing themselves and killing the sport because it’s hard to keep a fan base when everybody is doing the wrong thing. I think it sets a real bad example for young people. Unless these promoters start being civil and talking to one another and not trying to screw one another it’s going to get uglier and uglier and the only winners will be the attorneys and the courtrooms. That’s where boxing is headed; strictly to the court rooms. Fighters have to remember to be loyal. You sign these young fighters and everything is, yes sir and no sir. Then they start believing their own press clippings. This is the only sport where the better job the promoter does the worst it is for him.  That’s not fair because there are promoters; not just me, that are trying to do the best thing for the fighter. The only way the promoter makes money is if the fighter makes money and now suddenly they all turn disloyal. It really is bad stuff.

On a personal level I really like Winky. He’s fun to be with and I knew Winky before I ever promoted him. When he said he wanted his own company, I didn’t agree, but I understood. He’s not even promoting his next fight. He talks about his own company, Winky, Winky and Winky and then goes for some stupid shit with Oscar De La Hoya and pays Oscar to promote his fight in Tampa. I could have done it. I have a track record in Tampa. It just makes no sense. I f it made sense I would say that’s a smart move. Then they hire Terry Trekas, a local promoter to help Oscar down there. I love Terry he’s a great guy, but it makes no since to me. Winky Promotions is paying Oscar and then someone is paying Terry Trekas. I don’t get it.

PC: What was your initial reaction to Corrales not making weight?
GS: Shocked! Nobody told me anything, so it’s not as if I went into the weigh in the night before knowing we had a weight problem. I was in California with him a week or 10 days before and I saw him on the scales at 142. I thought he would have no problems, but fighters have to understand the older they get the harder it is to lose weight. I’ve had fighters tell me, “I go to sleep and wake up 2 pounds lighter.” That’s true when their younger fighters. What the fighters have to understand is it changes and as they get older it becomes harder for them to lose weight. Maybe years ago a week before a fight they could be 7 pounds over and have no problem shedding the pounds. As they get older they hit that wall and they can’t get past that wall. Look at Morales. Yes he came in great shape and yes he weighed 129, but I think that whole camp he was in was strictly about losing weight. He could’ve just gone to a weight watchers camp and that’s no reflection on his strength and conditioning coach it was just the wrong weight for him. Morales should probably be at 40; not even 35. I don’t think he’s a shot fighter. I got a lot of respect for him, but I think he should be at 40. I think Castillo should be at 47.

 I think we should go to same day weigh ins. That’s the only way you’re going to get fighters fighting at weights they belong at. I’ve been in boxing since 1971. That’s a long time and I’m interested in the health and safety of a fighter and I’m also interested in saving the sport for the fans. I think it’s really wrong for these fighters to sign on for a weight and then come in and not be at that weight. These guys haven’t been over a quarter of a pound where you can go and shed it in 2 hours. Last week another fighter didn’t make weigh; Bobby Pacquiao. That’s disgraceful to the sport. I think there’s 2 ways you can solve this. One is to have same day weigh ins and the other way is automatic 1 year suspension. Same as if a ball player would get caught using steroids or whatever. You signed the contract. You told the promoter and the site and if it’s a sanctioning body you told them you could fight for a title at that weight. I don’t even believe in having 2 hours to make the weight either. The weigh in should be the weigh in. These guys no where they are they’re not shocked. The fighter and trainer know where they are, so if you don’t make weight 1 year suspension. Trust me everybody will start fighting at the right weight.

Mandalay Bay punished me. If I were another promoter I would’ve punished Diego, but I didn’t do that. I gave him his million two. He tried to give me a different present. You know what my attorney said, “He should tell the commission that they should give a medical suspension to Diego because he might have a case of amnesia.” He forgot that he signed the contract and he never forgot about the signing bonus that he got. Diego has never called me since I left town. He could’ve called me and said, “Gary I lost my contract. Can you send me a copy? How much longer do I have with you?” Diego knows, I tried to pay his tax deficiencies. I offered it and he had his wife Michelle and I’m sure Michelle will tell you that. I offered him a new car at the time, plus pay off his taxes. He said on another website how happy he was with me and that he wasn’t going to listen to other people. I did right by him and gave him a million two just like I promised him. I didn’t punish him like the site punished me.

PC: A major fight has been signed for next May. Who do you favor in the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight?
GS: That’s a tough one to call. I have a lot of respect for both fighters. I think it’s going to depend on how Floyd’s hand is. If Floyd’s hand is right I would have to pick Floyd, but his hand has to be right. Otherwise I have to give it to Oscar. I don’t take anything away from Oscar, but I don’t take his Mayorga as some great conquering. Everybody made a big deal about Gatti/Ward, but those that really know would tell you it was two C fighters. If you get two C fighters that love to brawl you’ll have a great fight. Look at Emmanuel Augustus. No one ever claimed he was some hall of fame fighter, but you match him right and he’ll give you a great fight every time. The last fight that Oscar was in that was a fight was Hopkins and we know what happened there. I told Richard Schaffer I wanted to do a Shane Mosley vs. Diego Corrales fight and he never got back to me.

PC: One of the most exciting fighters in your stable is Vic Darchinyan. What’s next for him?
GS: I’m negotiating right now with Don King to do a Darchinyan/Burgos fight. Burgos is our mandatory in the IBF. Vic is great. He’s fun in the ring and he’s fun to be with out of the ring. He’s just a good kid and he calls me all the time and I enjoy talking to him. He’s a fighter’s fighter and to his credit he just tells me to make fights. He just wants to unify belts. I sent 2 letters to the Nevada Commission to overturn the decision for his fight with Donaire. I don’t know why, but the Commission turned me down twice. He wants me to ask for a hearing now and I will, but to me I agree with him. I think it was a clear cut knockout and I don’t believe it should’ve gone to the scorecards.

PC: Chad Dawson was supposed to fight in December. What happened to that fight and when can we expect to see him again?
GS: You’ll se Chad sometime between January and March. Everybody seems to be running from him. I would fight him against Roy Jones, Tarver, Ademek or Clinton Woods. I would fight him against anybody at 175. I don’t think there are any takers right now. The WBC unfairly ruled for him to have to have a fight off with the guy from Canada. We already fought one eliminator, why should we have to fight two. I’m tired of fighting the WBC. Chad trained for 8 weeks and didn’t make a dime. He was training while his significant other was giving birth and the promoter pulls out so they could fight for the WBA. I think the WBC should revoke the license of the promoter and never let him do another WBC fight and then mandate that Dawson be the mandatory. Why shouldn’t he be the mandatory; he didn’t pull out? We went to a purse bid and it was over $400,000, so Chad would’ve got over $200,000. I get an email yesterday where their offering him $50,000. What the WBC should’ve said is, “If you want to fight Chad Dawson he has to get a minimum of $200,000. Chad came to work everyday for 8 solid weeks and got nothing in the end, but them telling him to go do that again. Then when you’re done doing it again we’re going to give you and your promoter and trainers $50,000.

PC: Can you speak about the Super Middleweight tournament you have going on January?
GS: Sure. It’s going to be very exciting. I think Anthony Hanshaw is going to surprise everybody and beat Mendy. He’ll have a title [IBO] then and we’ll see what’s next. Maybe a Jeff Lacy type of fight or Jermain Taylor may want to fight him at his first fight at 168 pounds. There’s a lot there.

PC: You recently broke into the MMA side of the fight game. How did the Pro Elite idea come about?  
GS: It was a combination of a group in California and myself. I was looking for a home. I believe mixed martial arts is the next big wave coming along while boxing keeps killing itself. Fighters stay disloyal and promoters try and be sleazy and while all that’s happening the people in the UFC is cashing in on 700,000 PPV buys and 15,000 filled arenas and huge ratings on Spike. I went to Showtime and pitched them the idea. I spoke to HBO they were not receptive to me, but Showtime understood the space right away. Showtime said, “Let’s do it.” I found this group in California and where taking this company public and we went into the MMA space with them. They’re a bunch of professionals; they’re not MMA geeks or nothing like that. The chairman of our board is the founder of a company called You Bet which is the single largest legal online gaming company in the United States. They handle over 8 billion dollars a year. We got Doug DeLuca who is the executive producer of the Jimmy Kimmel show. I inquired Rumble World entertainment which is J.D. Penn the younger brother of B.J. Penn the great UFC fighter. I’m in the process of acquiring other companies as well. Our first major event is going to be February 10th. It’s going to have the feel of probably Pride in the way of real competition, but the atmosphere of a WWE event. The difference between us and everybody else is we’re going to be inclusive. You could fight for us and UFC, Pride, K-1 or Strikeforce at the same time. The other company just wants to keep to themselves. MMA has to understand if they want to be world recognized, you have to have a true world champion. Champion of the world fights real champions. No matter what kind of deal they sign with me they could go and fight other places. That will help make the fighters name bigger. We’re going to do great things with the web and the internet that nobody else is doing.

PC: That’s jumping off in early 2007. How will you balance boxing and mixed martial arts?
GS: I have an apartment and office in California now and I have a great staff that works with me. I just have to use my time correctly. I’ll balance it. I’ve never not done right by a fighter. I’m on my way now to a meeting with Showtime to where the first 2 hours is all boxing related and after that it’s all MMA related. My fighters will still be on T.V. and earn great paydays and I’ll do the right thing. I just signed a new fighter Timothy Bradley from California. I think he’s going to be exciting for the sport. I’ll give you the scoop today I’m signing the Bey Brothers. I think they could really fight and they’re a great attraction. They’re underrated and I’m going to make sure they get the right training and strength and conditioning and the right fights to get them on T.V. Eventually I have to split them up so they’re not just known as the Bey Brothers. People will know who they are by themselves.

PC: I appreciate the interview Gary. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
GS: Yeah, I have a young 17 year old prospect named Gabriel Cruz and I want to give a shout out to him. You know I’m not this firm believer in you can only handle Hispanic fighters. The African American fighters will have a home with Gary Shaw. I grew up in urban areas and that’s the way it is. I’m the United Nations. I have them all from, Armenians, African Americans and Hispanics. You name it I got them. Boxing should be a world sport and hopefully it gets its act together before there’s no place to play the act. My MMA Company also gives me the chance to work with my son Jared again and I’m excited about that. He’s matching fighters and doing athlete relations for Pro Elite and Greg Leon and Jared get along really well.