Former world champion Herbie Hide has cited the dynamic he witnessed between Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Junior as a major reason in his decision not to train son Henry.
Winning the WBO heavyweight crown twice before moving down to cruiserweight later in his career, Hide was coached by Senior in his twilight years.
At the time, young Floyd was making his way to a world title and was embroiled in a tempestuous relationship with his trainer dad.
The pair would fall out on a regular basis, with Mayweather Jr. eventually switching coaches for a long period of his career.
Upon seeing how the Mayweather’s ended up, Hide divulged his reasoning for taking a step back as Henry, 19, began his amateur stint.
“I am his father,” Hide told Chris Lakey of the Eastern Daily Press.
“Big Floyd was my trainer. Little Floyd used to train evening time, just to avoid his father.
“Sometimes I would go out for a meal with big Floyd. He would have me come into the gym to see Little Floyd. And when we went down there we’d say ‘Big Floyd, What’s up?’ – it was that loud just to tell Little Floyd, ‘daddy’s here, get out of the way!’.
“I saw the aggravation they had. It was horrible. They used to argue. I used to have to get in the middle of them. I hated it. And I said that it would never be like that with us.”
BACK SEAT
He continued: “Right now I am giving Henry help. When he is ready, if he is going to be a professional boxer I will just stand back.
“I am not going to be a big part of it because I saw Big Floyd and Little Floyd. They were enemies. I didn’t like that.
“I will never let that happen to me and my son. And I don’t want any part of it. I told Henry I am never going to be like that,” he added.
Henry recently won his second bout in the unpaid ranks. He’s taking very tentative steps to see how he takes to the sport.
The teenager has some way to go to emulate his famous father, but has all the attributes to be a boxing success in the future.
