GL: Everybody knows that the fight you want is Antonio Margarito. You're his mandatory challenger and you feel he's ducking you. I've spoken to Bob Arum recently and he has implied that there's a good chance Margarito could be vacating his title to preserve a June fight with Miguel Cotto. What are your thoughts on that situation? "I kind of figured that he was going to duck me. After I put that spanking on him in sparring, I knew he wasn't going to want to step in the ring with me. With all the stuff that he was saying about how he's going to shut my mouth, this just goes to show that he's got no heart. When you're going to talk like that you have to be ready to back it up, but now he's eating his own words. But I figured this when coming after I saw him fight Clottey. He knows I've been number one for a couple of months and now he's on the run."

GL: What did you think about his performance against Clottey?

Paul Williams: "I think Clottey was beating him and he was going to beat him if he didn't hurt his hand. Margarito and them are trying to pull some slick stuff saying he hurt his hand, but there's nothing wrong with his hand. They had to come up with something after that performance, but they shouldn't call him Margarito, they should call him Chicken Margarito."

GL: How much longer will your people wait to see what Margarito is going to do before they request the WBO strip him so you could fight for the vacant title?

PW: "I want to get that belt from him because some people think he's the most feared welterweight out there. After being in the ring with him sparring I knew he didn't want to fight me. But I deserve my title shot and it doesn't really matter who I fight as long as I'm fighting for those belts and I'm coming after all of them."

GL: Your last three fights have been televised by HBO, do you have another date lined up?

PW: "No sir. All we know is that the chief of the WBO says that me and Margarito have to fight. We've been waiting to see what Margarito wants to do, but it doesn't seem like he's going to wait to fight Cotto and stuff but he's supposed to have to go through me to get to Cotto. If he's going to vacate his belt, what's the point of fighting Cotto for one belt when he could make his mandatory and then fight Cotto to become the king of the welterweights. I'm trying to get all the belts and we're on a mission to get all of the belts. I want the WBO, WBC, IBF and the WBA. I want to be the gatekeeper and I'm not going to vacate none of them, I'm going to accept all challengers."

GL: So you're looking to become a welterweight Bernard Hopkins and make all mandatories?

PW: "Yes sir. There should only be one champion in each weight class and I would love for there to be a tournament to show the fans who the best welterweight in the world is."

GL: Has all of this waiting for Margarito been frustrating?

PW: "It's a little frustrating, because I really want to get him in the ring. Everyone says he's the man and I'm ready to beat him, but if he doesn't want to fight and he vacates I'll push him out of my mind and focus on fighting whoever I'm fighting for the title. What's important to me is fighting for the championships."

GL: You're putting a lot of emphasis on the belts. Shane Mosley will be fighting Luis Collazo on February 10. Shane holds no belt, but his name means more than most belts do and it translates into more money than most welterweight title fights. Do the titles interest you so much so that you would fight for a title instead of facing a marquee name?

PW: "Of course I've been saying that I want the belts, but I'm in this business for the money. I would go for the money and then come back for the belt on the backburner. The belts have been my goal since I first started. We've been working to get the belt because we feel that's going to help me get to where I need to do, but at the same time making a big fight always comes first. If Mosley stays at 147 and he gets past Collazo and the fight could be made, I'll put Mosley on the chopping block. This is not the Paul Williams that everyone knows, but now it's time for me to talk and it's time for me to put it out there. I can't be the soft spoken guy who never puts guys on blast. But now it's to the point, if you're going to fight then fight. This is not a game, you can play every other sport out there but you can't play boxing."

"I want my fans to know that I'm ready to back all of my talking, but Margarito, Cotto, Mosley, whoever. Anybody that wants to fight me I have no problem putting their heads on the chopping block. These guys can't take what I've got to dish out."

GL: "How much longer can you stay at 147?

PW: "Sir, I'm going to get those belts and then move up, but for my last fight on the Mayweather card I was eating three times a day and I weighed-in at 146. Making welterweight is no problem for me, it's all about the discipline. But it's like I said we need to start calling Margarito Chicken Margarito. I heard Chicken feed is pricy down there, but tell him I could hook him up with a 300 pound bag of it for a low, low price."

M

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