Does losing the weight have an affect on Fernando?
 
DANNY SMITH:  He is right about accurate.  Right now Fernando weighs about 156, about two pounds over.  Who knows, it could play a factor.  I don’t know how he feels.  He’s a warrior and if there is a problem, he’s not going to tell me.  If he has a problem and he’s weak, he won’t tell me because he doesn’t want me to be alarmed or be worried.  I don’t know how he feels, but he is performing well.
 
Is it good for him to be down in weight early?
 
DANNY SMITH:  I think he did need to be down in weight early and be sparring close to the fight weight so he can feel strong going into the fight.  I wouldn’t want to be sparring when you weigh 170 and then making the weight and not being able to fight at all.
 
Do you attribute recent performances to weight?
 
DANNY SMITH:  I attribute that to weight.  He has weight issues in training camp and I knew he would fade in the fight.  I knew if I taught him how to box and be more defensive, he could make it through and box, it would be OK until he could get a grip on his weight issue.
 
Will he be at a higher energy level for this fight?
 
DANNY SMITH:  He is going to be extremely ferocious and he is not going to box, not one minute.    He’s coming, and this is a fight where somebody is going to get knocked.  He’s going in looking for a knockout and I know that Shane is going to try to box him.  Try to box and get a knockout and I don’t believe that this will go the distance.  He will not be boxing one bit.   He is going in there to make this a street fight.  I know that Shane is going to box him. 
 
How do you see Shane fighting?
 
DANNY SMITH:  Shane keeps his left hand low.  He keeps straight back on line Shane likes to clinch a lot.  Throw one shot at a time with his hands down.  He throws leaping left hooks, overhand rights, when his other hand is down when he is throwing that.  We want to stay close to him and make this as much a street fight as possible. 
 
Shane will try to box and throw combinations…
 
DANNY SMITH:  We are still going to make this a street fight.  Shane is too fast to try to box with.  I don’t believe that Shane will be able to throw combinations.  Shane had to put on a lot of muscle and that will slow you down and keep you from throwing combinations.  Once you fall in love with punching you will always punch.  We expect Shane to do what he ahs always done.  There won’t be any changes.   
 
Weight notwithstanding, can Fernando Vargas be the same guy he was right before he fought Trinidad?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  Of course not.  Vargas definitely cannot be the fighter he was when he was 20 years old.  I don’t think any of the fighters out there can be the same fighter he was when he was 20 years old.  I think a lot of people that Trinidad had faced were shot directly after the fight.  I think Vargas came back and fought some pretty good fights after being physically beaten up like he was.  Like I said, the fight between Vargas and Sugar Shane is going to be a great fight – a great match-up.  I’m familiar with Shane, I’ve been in camp with him, I know what he likes and what he doesn’t like and it’s going to be a good fight.
 
Why will this fight be different at 154 for Shane?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  As of Friday he weighed 149.  The problem is, in prior fights, he has had to bulk up to 154.  He had become a puncher, a one-punch knockout artist.  You have to remember, when he was a lightweight he threw combinations and body shots and he got away from that at 147 and 154.  He became this one-punch knockout artist.  They let him believe that.  Either you are born a puncher, or your not.  He was a great combination puncher but not a one-punch knockout artist.
He bulked up by using weights and it slowed him down a little bit and he got away from what he does best.  The last couple of fights I have worked with him we are working on more combinations and I know Danny doesn’t expect combinations for this fight. 
 
But he is going to shock Vargas and knock him out.  He’s going to throw combinations, he has no choice.  When he was a lightweight, he beat guys with debilitating punches and body shots.  Fernando is not a big guy.  You may think that, but Shane is sparring with guys that weigh 175.  When you fight a guy that is coming up he is not going to be as big a puncher.  So Shane is going to throw combinations like he did at 153 and bring that speed at 147 and he will come in at 151.
 
Are you expecting this to go 12?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  Honestly, I do not.  We anticipated three different things from Vargas.  You never train for one thing.  Vargas is going to come out and jump right on Shane.  That’s fine if he wants to make a street fight out of it.  If you’ve been a boxer, you know where he’s coming from.  When he was younger, he never jumped on fighters.  He never jumped on anyone unless they are bums to e honest with you.  When he fought anybody that could really fight, he never jumped on them.  Shane Mosley can fight.  He may jump on him early, but he won’t have much left after 4 or 5 rounds.  He had to make weight.  Anyone who walks around at 200 comfortably and come down to 154, you lose a lot.  After a few rounds of getting hit in the body or getting hit in the arms, he will begin to lose a lot.  He may jump on Shane but we see two or three different things from Vargas.  IF he wants to box, that is right down Shan’s alley, so he won’t do that.  Shane can capitalize on that.  Whatever he brings to the table, we are ready for. 
 
I don’t think it will go 12, but he won’t knock him out with one punch, but I do expect Shane to stop him with a culmination of shots, body and head.  But mainly body.
Anything else you see in Vargas?
 
The damage has already been done.  Trinidad physically beat him.  De La Hoya mentally beat him.  The only thing left for Shane is to bury him completely.  The consensus is that Shane will outbox him.  Shane says he wants to knock this kid out, whether it be with one punch or set him up.  You can’t predict from Vargas’ last two fights, they were terrible fights.
 
We train for Vargas as that 21 year old kid who was reckless and didn’t care about anybody.    Right now he is damaged goods.  I don’t care what they say – he is damaged goods.  So Shane will capitalize on the damage that has been done to this kid.  He is done because he has carried too much weight around on his body.  One thing about Vargas, Vargas is good for unemployment.  He’s got all these different people in his camp.  Weight suupliment doctor, a nutritionist.  But when you step in the ring, your’re body can’t give you what you want because it is not capable anymore.  Then you’ve got Shane Mosley in front of you with that hand speed and the foot speed and he will have problems.
 
Sparring partners?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  Enrique, who has a twin brother.  He is about 170.  That was his main sparring partner.
 
What progress has Shane made?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  The young kids he fought had everything to gain and nothing to lose, so for them it was a big step up.  He couldn’t get up for guys as much as he wanted to.  He got up for them but don’t get me wrong.  This fight here, Vargas, he is a main guy, whether he is shot or not.  We trained for a young Fernando.  Shane boxed off what he learned as an amateur.  When he stepped up to Forrest and Winky Wright, the corner was lost.  He needed a game plan to capitalize on the other guy’s weaknesses.  I try to give him defensive tactics and offensive moves – he can fight regardless of what you do.  
 
We have two or three different fight plans for Fernando Vargas.  If A doesn’t work, we go to B.  If B doesn’t work, we go to C.  IF C doesn’t work, we knock this cat out.  Debilitate him and knock him out. 
 
What do you think about Vargas being at weight two weeks prior?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  I never really had a weight problem.  It is more of a disadvantage.  First of all, he wasn’t tight.  He wasn’t big.  He looked drawn in and shrunken.  Now he has to hold that weight for two more weeks.  It’s not like OK, I made the weight now I can go eat.  It looks good,  come fight night how is he going to be?  I think they will make a dog fight out of it for 4 or 5 rounds and then he will go downhill.
 
What do you predict Vargas to be in the ring?
 
DANNY JACKSON:  He’ll probably be about 162.
 
Do you thin father time has caught up with Shane?
 
JOHN DAVID JACKSON:  That’s a possibility.  When fighters get older, they have a tendency not to be as active in the ring as when they were younger.  Like Bernard Hopkins, if you watch the first round of his fight, it is like watching paint dry.  He doesn’t jump on him, he dissects him.  I can’t see Shane throwing blistering combinations like he did when he was younger.  But you have to throw punches.  He no longer uses the weights now and it was a slow process, but he is throwing the punches now.  He hasn’t done it in so long but we are getting back to that style.  I don’t see Shane throwing 5-punch combinations, he can’t do that, he’s 34.  We have to be smart in the approach.  As you get older, you work your way in and once you get in, you throw a few good shots and roll around.  He will throw 3 or 4 well-placed shots.  They don’t have to be killer shots, just well-place shots.  But you don’t stay there and admire your handy work.  You can’t beat father time, but you become a smarter fighter.  Be efficient and effective, he is an older fighter but a much smarter fighter. 
 
Break them down a little differently than they did in the past.