It's great to see part of my culture doing so well in the sport that I'm involved in, a sport that I have a passion for. I grew up hearing about a lot of Argentine fighters, the great Carlos Monzon and even the fighters on ESPN lime Omar Vaez; and now guys like Marcos Maidana and Sergio Martinez.

I drink mate every day during training camp, and just in general. It's packed full of vitamins and nutrients and a lot of B vitamins that you would normally get from meat. The caffeine in there affects me less and it's more like a stimulant. I can drink more of it and it's hydrating as well. It's one of my favorite drinks, especially on a cold morning.

[Ruslan Provodnikov] s a fantastic fighter but in terms of his style and Manny's [ Pacquiao] they are completely different and the preparations for each are completely different but that is no different for me because I am always fighting guys with different styles.

I am not going to change just to promote a fight. My stance is to not go back-and-forth and I am not fighting Freddie [Roach]. That's not the man I have to box with so I am not going to go back-and-forth firing darts at each other.

Boxing on Long Island - there is history there. It's been a while since Buddy McGirt and Gerry Cooney, but you know, we are in kind of a resurgence now. We are putting our show there constantly - Star Boxing shows at the Paramount have drawn big crowds over the years and there is a lot of up and coming talent there now. You see more and more gyms with competitive professional fighters.

I throw a lot more punches than Floyd [ Mayweather]. He's very efficient with his punches and when he throws he lands a very high percentage but he's not exceptionally busy every round.

I have seen videos of Sugar Ray Robinson and Willie Pep who did a million other things than just punch, to set up a perfect shot or to offset their opponents' rhythm. Boxing is incredibly complicated. It's not Rock'em Sock'em Robots.