Trainer talks, and the money walks

Floyd Mayweather Sr., replaced as Oscar De La Hoya’s trainer a day earlier, said Wednesday that his $2-million demand to prepare De La Hoya to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. was legitimate, not excessive.

“Oscar told me he wasn’t going to pay it,” Mayweather said. “I told him, ‘Find someone else, have a good day.’ If you want me to help you destroy my son, you’re going to pay me. And pay me well.”

Mayweather Sr. scoffed at the suggestions of De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaeffer that their decision to hire trainer Freddie Roach was a consideration to avoid inflaming tensions between the Mayweathers, who have been estranged for several years.

The prolonged strain between father and son, in pre-fight news conferences and the May 5 fight itself, would create a “circus environment” that the bout pitting a legend vs. the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter didn’t need, Schaeffer said.

“We don’t need to bring down the father-son relationship any more than it is,” Schaeffer said Tuesday. “I hope Floyd Jr. reaches out to Floyd Sr., to realize what a terrific father he has.”

Mayweather Sr. said that argument lacked merit, because De La Hoya had been willing to pay the trainer $500,000 to train him, and another $500,000 if he beat Mayweather Jr., the unbeaten World Boxing Council welterweight champion.

“If I took that money, the fight would’ve still been on,” Mayweather Sr. said. “This was for love of money and nothing else. It’s so plain to see, even Ray Charles can see it.”

Mayweather Sr. said he believed the unprecedented $2-million trainer’s fee was appropriate given reports De La Hoya will earn $25 million for the May 5 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and the routine 10% payment that trainers usually receive from their fighter’s purse. The trainer said the most he has been paid by De La Hoya for a fight was $300,000.

“Oscar has made $20 million in fights with me before -- with [Bernard] Hopkins, [Fernando] Vargas, [Shane] Mosley,” Mayweather said. “Why would someone say money ain’t the case? My family business is my family business. It wasn’t Oscar or me who initiated this [family] fight. It was my son.

“Training is my job, how I make my living. Now, I ain’t going to get a penny.”

Mayweather Sr. said he’s unimpressed with De La Hoya’s hiring of Roach. He described Roach’s top boxer, Manny Pacquiao, as “a good puncher, not a fighter. He’s got no style, no defense, nothing.”

“I can’t say Oscar won’t win without me, but his chances are much slimmer,” Mayweather said. “Oscar needs me more than my son does. Freddie Roach is a joke blowing smoke with no hope. He’s not going to help Oscar at all.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com