Gamboa to hook up with Roger Mayweather ?

Trainer Roger Mayweather can be a hard guy to get a gauge on at times.

Having enjoyed several lengthy conversations with the former two-division champion during my time in Las Vegas, I’ve definitely learned that there is a method to his madness and have come to have an odd kind of respect for Roger despite several of the outlandish sound bites he has dropped over the years.

And when news ran rampant yesterday about Cuba’s Yuriorkis Gamboa swinging the Mayweather Boxing Club as opposed to showing up for a scheduled press conference in Miami, Florida to announce a scheduled April 14th bout with Brandon Rios, I felt the need to swing through the gym.

As is often the case, Roger was on the scene working with a revolving cast of aspiring pugilists and took a few minutes to talk about the Gamboa situation during some downtime.

Never one to be easily impressed by fighters in the sport outside of his nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roger admits that his impressions of Gamboa were gathered just in the past few days, as he previously had seen little of him in action.

“I’ve seen him work,” said Roger of Gamboa, who finished up his regimen at the gym around 1 PM on Tuesday. “I don’t know how good he is but I know the guy who trains him doesn’t know a motherf***ing thing. I know that.”

With Gamboa now possibly shifting his camps to Las Vegas from South Florida, there had been whispers that Roger may end up training the undefeated former champion. It’s something that Roger seems open to and he claims that Gamboa approached him about such a union.

“I’ll probably work with him, I don’t know,” stated Roger. “I’m sure I probably will. He wants to work with me. He already asked me. He asked me himself.”

And what would Roger do with a fighter of Gamboa’s talents?

“Make him better than he is right now,” Roger sharply stated. “Boxing is what you learn. That’s what makes a fighter. I’d teach him pretty much everything. Defense, offense, how to slip, how to roll. I don’t know because I’ve never trained him yet. I don’t really know how good he is or how good he aint.”

Gamboa had been spending some time working with well-respected Emanuel Steward but it seems unlikely they will be doing business together given Gamboa’s erratic decision-making as of late.

Roger was asked for his opinion of Steward as a trainer and didn’t offer up a fast response, instead smiling slyly while appearing to hold himself back from saying anything uncalled for.

“You didn’t hear me say nothing did you? I know Emanuel real well,” Roger said.

Obviously wanted to take a few pokes at Steward, Roger continued to simple grin while holding himself back from slight laughter.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Roger continued.