eternity in a big fluffy cloud made of snooki logic. all of the ground breaking news anchors have memorable tag lines and that's the way it is, good night and good luck, all pale in comparison to what our cutie couric has come up with. >> later bitches. >> your loss, every news station in theorld. your loss. you may never know the audience you could have attracted with snooki on your size but you are getting great ratings on the rediculist. see you at 10:00 p.m. eastern. "piers morgan tonight" starts now. tonight he calls himself a little engine that could but could rick santorum make a serious run for the white house? >> i don't hide myself from the public or from the press. i answer the question. i think that's what folks are looking for. >> santorum controversial, conservative and taking outspoken aim at his republican rivals. >> i've done this for 12 years

in the united states senate where i differ from michelle is really a matter of proven leadership. >> real life rocky times two. victor ortiz in the fight of his life. >> i'm taking my title home. that means the victory as well. >> and the great oscar de la hoya life lessons from a tentime world champion. >> it can ruin your life. it almost ruined mine. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." joining me now is rick santorum, one of the crowded field of republicans who aim to challenge barack obama in 2012. senator, thank you for joining me. >> thank you, piers. good to be on. >> i don't want to start on a defeater's note here but the cnn poll on monday had you at 1% of the vote to be the republican nominee. >> i don't really care what the national poll say.

they don't really matter at all at this point. the polls that matter are in iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. those are the first three states. folks from new york and california don't have much of a say at this point and whether we're doing well there or not doesn't really matter. we need to do well in iowa. the most recent poll we went from 2% to 3% in the most recent poll has us at 7% or 8% as a result of our finish at ames and a good grassroots organization on the ground there and that's where we're spending our time and getting the attention in front of the people and telling them our vision for how we're going to create jobs, how we're going to get this country moving again, how we're going to build on the strong moral traditions of our country and how to make our people safe. >> how are you going to make yourself sexy on the national stage? >> you know, i'm not about making myself sexy on the national stage. it doesn't matter. you know, i know the media loves to talk about national stage. >> it will matter.

>> well, ultimately it will but i'll take that opportunity when the time comes. the time is not now. the first primary is not until five or six months away. and that primary -- excuse me, it's a caucus. that caucus will be held in iowa. if you look four years ago, john mccain was carrying a suitcase from airport to airport and state to state. mike huckabee was by the way exactly the same place i was in the polls, 7% or 8% after the ames straw poll and they ended up the two people that were at the very end determining who the nominee was and nobody in the media paid any attention to them now. they weren't considered sexy. we have a long way to go between now and february. we have the ideas that are motivating people who get to see the candidates and evaluate them and they're not seeing a whole lot and evaluating a lot on a national level but they are in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina. >> what do you make of your rivals, mr. perry in particular given he's the latest front

runner? >> i think -- you know, again, i go back to my child story that i analgize on my campaign, the little engine that could. there were lots of shiny engines that come out of the round house and go by and we just hitched up our wagon and train and plugging over that mountain right now. there are candidates that are going to come and go and they're going to get the kind of treatment and inspection that candidates get and we've seen every one of these folks who have shot to the top of the ratings end up coming back down to earth once they have to get in front of the cameras in a debate. we haven't seen governor perry in a debate yet. haven't seen him do much in the way of interviews yet. i've done this for 12 years in the united states senate where i was under the kind of scrutiny that a national figure is on. i've done it in a state like pennsylvania where i haven't backed away from any questions or any interviews. i don't hide myself from the public or from the press. i make myself available.

i do something that at least i get a loss of positive comments when i go to early primary states. i answer the question. i think that's what folks are looking for. someone authentic. someone who is available and trustworthy and someone says they're going to do what they say they're going to do. >> if you're in the mood to answer questions, answer this one. >> i promote that, yeah. >> how do you explain the american public to back a little engine when clearly what the american economy needs is a bloody great steam train? >> yeah, well, if you look at the plan that i've put forward, it is a pretty powerful locomotive. i come from a little town in western pennsylvania, butler, pennsylvania, a little steel town. when i was growing up as a kid, 21% of the people in this country were engaged in manufacturing. right now it's down to 9%. not because we haven't created products we can make in america. we're a great engine of innovation but that innovative

product is being made other places around the world. why? because we aren't competitive here and what made us uncompetitive in large part has been government. one big impediment is our tax structure. it doesn't match up well against other tax structures because we have income based tax and not sales based tax. what i do is encourage manufacturing to come back in the united states is to cut the corporate rate which is 35% for manufacturers and cut it to zero. if you manufacture in america, you will pay no corporate tax. that's a powerful incentive to build things and make things and process things here. >> how much more tax would you like warren buffett to pay? >> warren buffett pays capital gains taxes. it's great for warren buffett to say raise the income tax. he doesn't pay income tax. he pays capital gains taxes. >> he's invited you -- wait a

minute. he's invited you and all presidential candidates he's invited to throw the book at him and to tax him more money. here's your chance. if you were president, how much would you like to tax warren buffett? set some perimeters because he wants you to. >> i would say there's a website, i use that website and it was a website when i was in congress, but there was a place where you can go and you can write a check to the federal government right now to pay down the debt. if warren buffett is feeling guilty that he isn't paying enough tax, warren buffett can go on a website and fill out his credit card which will accept any number he puts in there and pay a billion dollars to pay down the deficit if he wants to contribute more to the american government. the idea because warren buffett wants to pay more taxes that we are now going to create a new tax structure for people like warren buffett, again, he isn't going to pay those taxes if we

raise the tax on income. we would only do it if we raise tax on capital gains and if we do that, we'll hurt more people than warren buffett and hurt this economy. >> if i'm watching this as ordinary joe on the street, i would say why isn't warren buffett paying income tax and what are you going to do about it to make sure the super rich like him do pay income tax? >> that's a really great question. most americans know the answer to that question. if you are rich enough, you can structure the way you receive income in the most tax pref engsal way. he says i'll pay more income taxes, then -- pardon? >> i said stop him. close the loopholes. >> it's not a loophole. >> why are you laughing? >> he doesn't collect income tax. he can structure it to where he collects his money and makes his money on capital gains. you can raise the capital gains

tax but when you do that, you affect ordinary citizens who are investing in the markets paying at 15% and you don't chase warren buffett down and penalize everyone. that's the point. when you raise taxes going after -- a larger people. >> it's not the point. warren buffett is setting his own perimeters. he's laying out how he would structure it. why don't you in a case of people like him, introduce a new capital gains tax at $20 million or whatever it may be and make it pretty punitive and use the fact that warren buffett, america's richest man in this time of crisis for his country, has decided to put his own money where his mouth is. >> well, look, warren buffett invested a lot of money in bank of america and a lot of people who own bank of america shares are very happy about that by the way that he took his billions of dollars and put it in bank of america and now the stock price is up about 30% or 40% and a lot

of folks are very happy about that who are bank of america shareholders who are a lot of ordinary folks here in america. you know, i would rather see warren buffett take that capital instead of giving it to the federal government with what the tax rates are now and deploy it in ways that will get this american economy going again. that's the most important thing we can do with warren buffett and not confiscate it but create an environment that he wants to invest in. right now we have a president who is punitive in his regulation and punitive in what he wants to do with increasing taxes and punitive in the way he's formulated his health care policy and that is freezing business from investing. last thing we need to do is create even more punitive laws in place to make the warren buffett's of this world either leave the country or even further employ tax lawyers to find their way around the next tax gimmick the federal government lays against them. >> well, you joined a long list of republicans who refuse to tax warren buffett even though he's

desperate to be taxed more. we'll leave it there. when we come back after the break, i would like to talk to you, senator, about your views on gay marriage and you're not allowed to walk out like christine o'donnell. you can't because you're not in the studio.

>> he's comparing gay sex to incest and polygamy. how dare he do this. and they have gone out on jihad against rick santorum since then. >> what's all this about a gay jihad? what do you mean by that? >> well, a lot has been written about this. i don't need to give live air time to folks who have been rather vial in the way they have attacked me and attacked the position i have and they have distorted the thing i just talked about which is that i was talking about a united states supreme court case on the issue of marriage and what that court

decision would be with respect to how it would play out with respect to marriage and the quote that i have been "criticized" for was almost identical to a quote in a 1980 supreme court case where the majority said what i said and the minority who was justice white appointee under john kennedy who said what i said and justice scalia said exactly what i said which is that if the supreme court establishes a right to consensual sexual activity, it's hard to draw the line between what sexual activity will be permitted under the constitution and leaves open a long list of consensual activities that many would find unappealing. that's what i said. i stand by the comment. just like i'm sure justice scalia and justice white stood by their comments. >> do you think homosexuality is

a sin? >> that's a decision not for a politician. that's a decision for someone who is a cleric. i don't -- i'm not in that line of work. the line of work i'm in is to -- there are a lot of things in society that are "sins" or moral wrongs we don't make illegal. just because something is immoral or wrong doesn't mean that it should be illegal and that the federal government or any level of government should involve themselves in. in the case i was talking about that started the controversy and the case was lawrence versus texas. i said if i was a state legislator in the state of texas dealing with the texas sodomy law, i would have voted against it. that's not something the state should involve itself in. the bottom line is whether the court then has the right to create new rights and in creating new rights it opens up in my opinion panndorpandora's which it did in massachusetts

which led to gay marriage in massachusetts and gay marriage in iowa and a whole host of other states. >> you keep referring back to this complex case. that's fine. actually, there are simple arguments here. michele bachmann raised this as a huge hot potato. christine o'donnell walked off my show when i asked her about same-sex marriage. they are justified questions. you are, i believe, a catholic, so you must have a view about whether homosexuality is a sin. i think if american people want to vote for you either way as president, they are entitled to know an honest answer to a straightforward question. you did invite me to ask you any question i liked. >> i did. of course the catholic church teaches that homosexuality is a sin. i am catholic and subscribe to the catholic church's teaching. i answered the question the way i did from a public policy point of view there are a lot of things i find morally wrong or

as you would use the term sinful that don't necessarily rise to the level that government should be involved in regulating that activity. i answered it correctly. i answered it directly. things are morally wrong but doesn't rise to the level of government involvement in that activity. >> how many sons do you have? >> we have four boys and three girls. >> how would you feel if one of your sons turned around one day and said, dad, i'm gay? >> i would embrace them, love them and try to help them through what i would see as a very difficult and troubling time in their lives. i know a lot of gay people. i know a lot of the folks that i've talked to who have gone through this go through a lot of very difficult times in their life in coming to that decision and struggling with it even after admitting it. this is a difficult issue. i understand it's difficult issue. my job as a father is to love my son unconditionally which i do

and would do what i could do to support him to live a good and decent and faithful life. >> one of the reasons it's troubling and difficult for people to come out is because of the level of bigotry that's out there against them. i have to say that your views you espoused on this issue are bordering on bigotry, aren't they? >> no. i think just because we disagree on public policy, which is what the debate has been about which is marriage, doesn't mean that it's bigotry. just because you follow a moral code that teaches something wrong doesn't mean that -- are you suggesting that the bible and that the catholic church is bigoted? if that's what you believe, fine. i think that -- i shouldn't say fine. i don't think it's fine at all. i think that's contrary to both what we've seen in 2,000 years

of human history and western civilization and trying to redefine something that has been -- that is seen as wrong from the standpoint of the church and saying a church is bigoted because it holds that opinion that is biblically based is an act of bigotry. >> i'm a catholic too. i think unfortunately we're in a different era. we're in a modern world. >> piers, i don't think the truth changes. i don't think right and wrong change based on different eras of time. there are some truths that are in fact eternal and based on nature and nature's law. that's what the church teaches and what the bible teaches and that's what reason dictates and if you look at it from all of those perspectives, i think it's a legitimate point of view. i certainly respect people who disagree with it. i don't call them bigoted because they disagree with me.

>> you are indisputedly a good family man. i read about the loss of your son. talk about what happened with your newest born daughter who is very disabled and have spoken movingly about that. have either of those events if you are honest had any impact on your view of the issue of abortion because you are very entrengent about it. you don't believe that there should be any occasions in which abortion is permissible and yet you have been as a family in two situations where i would imagine it has been suggested to you that it was on option on both occasions. >> it was suggested on both occasions. i do make one exception for the life of the mother. other than the life of a mother where you have two lives and the government shouldn't involve in the choice between two lives but other than that i do believe that life begins at conception. it's not -- i shouldn't say i

believe it. it's a biological fact that life begins at conception. that child in the womb is biologically human and completely and fully human and alive and therefore a human life. it's reason that tells me that person that is now alive and human should be given the rights of any person under the constitution where they are and located at that particular time in their life cycle shouldn't determine whether they have constitutional rights or not. that's something that i came to really as a matter of study more than anything else and it had to experience it with our son gabriel, who we were told had a fatal defect and was going to die and we fought for his life in the womb. we failed. it's one of the things that still i think about every day losing him and not having him as part of our family but at the same time he was a great gift to us. his short life had a huge impact

on our family and through my wife's book has had a huge impact on thousands and tens of thousands of people across this country who have gone through similar things and it helped them heal. it's helped save lives of mothers who were counseled for abortion and decided to soldier on and to carry that child to term and in some cases to unfortunate ends where the child died but other cases miraculous things have happened. we feel like in some small way that our experience is an affirmation if we just welcome and accept what god gives us, the gift of a human life, that soul that we join with him in co-creating that if we just honor that and honor him and accept that challenge that god gives us, that's the best way as painful as it may be, it's the best way to walk away whole and feel that your life and that

life meant something and was meaningful for the future. >> you did a controversial thing when gabriel so sadly died. although i feel it was a great thing you did. i'll be honest with you. you took his body back to the rest of your family and you spent the night with your other children cuddling his body and saying prayers and singing to him and so on. i found that profoundly moving i have to say. i would never criticize you for that. i thought it was an extraordinary courageous thing to do. what i'm curious about because you took a lot of criticism at the time for it is what impact it had on your children now that we're a few years on. could you tell me? >> yeah. first off, the reason that we did that is my wife, karen, was a neonatal intensive care nurse and worked in level 3 which is the most intense unit in pittsburgh and so for nine years she dealt with this very issue. what she learned from that

experience was accepting that child in the family and including that child in the family and having the children see their brother and sister in her experience in the nicu is something that they were encouraged to do so it did create a sense of closure that you had a little brother. he was real. he's actually a real person. he actually lived. he actually is a member of our family. he is someone that we can remember and have memories of. memories are so important for little children and important for all of us. so they have a concrete memory of their little brother and they were able to hold him and know him and we were able to celebrate his life. we didn't see him as something to be ashamed of or something to be disposed of but something to be loved and accepted for who he was and the life that he lived. i don't know why people who -- we have open caskets and

funerals and that's okay. if you do the same for a little child, it shows that some people don't see that child even as young as they are as completely human or completely part of the family. we do. and it was a beautiful thing. i can tell you from our children's perspective, it's something that the older children do remember and it did bring closure to them and gabriel even to this day is still very much a part of our family and we hope that he's up there pulling for us and praying for us every day. >> i'm sure he is. i do think that was an extraordinary thing that you did. i salute you for it. >> thank you. >> when we come back, a take on your family, your fans and your feuds. [ male announcer ] 95% of all americans aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's never been easier to get the whole grain you want from your favorite big g cereals. from cheerios to lucky charms, there's whole grain in every box. make sure to look for the white check.

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back with senator rick

santorum. let me turn again to your rivals in the race for white house. talk about michele bachmann for a moment. what do you make of her? >> i think michelle is a dynamic person, someone who can certainly get out there and rally the crowd and has taken some pretty strong stances on issues. where i differ from michelle is really a matter of proven leadership. i'm someone who has taken strong conservative positions but been successful in working with democrats in passing major pieces of legislation like welfare reform and the fiscal and foreign policy issues i've been able to bridge the gap and provided leadership and that's where the differentiation is between the two of us in our active in washington d.c. >> given the obvious splits between the tea party and the more moderate end of the

republicans, what kind of team tag are we going to end up with here? is the most likely scenario we have a moderate with a tea party candidate as a running mate and could it be the other way, is that a dream ticket for the gop really? >> well, i can't speak for anybody else. if i were to get the nomination, i would pick someone who would be able as vice president to carry out what i promised the american public i would do. i think that's the responsibility of a president is to pick someone who can do the job that the people of the united states voted for. that's who i would choose. i'm not into geographic or ideological balance and into being authentic and the american public being forthright about the positions i hold and what i want to do and try to paint a positive because i believe it positive and upbeat image of what to do to get this economy going and what to do to get our country whole again and

believing in itself again and understanding the basic values that made this country the greatest country in the history of the world. >> you were described by a fellow senator and i would like to warn any viewers of uneasy disposition to be cautious because he said santorum is latin for [ bleep ]. your thoughts? >> that was bob carey who said it as a joke and apologized to me and told the reporter that it was said in jest and bob carey and i game friends. while bob and i disagree on a lot of issues and we probably still do to this day, i don't think he would stand by that that he said it as a joke and someone overheard it in an elevator and i'm sure that all of us have said things in jest that we didn't want to have repeated in the newspaper. >> is any part of it true? have you ever had your moments?

>> well, gosh, of course. have you? i mean, we've all had our moments. >> yes, many, but i'm not running for president sadly. >> but, you know, that's part of life. if any of us have not had moments where we haven't behaved as well as we would like to behave, there's something wrong with us. we should be running for something else with a roman collar and not an open collar. >> have you ever broken the law, senator? >> well, yeah, i admitted back when i was running for the senate that when i was in college that i smoked pot and that was something that i did when i was in college. it was something that i'm not proud of, but i did. and said it was something that i wish i hadn't done. i did. i admitted it. i would encourage people not to do so. it was not all it's made up to be.

>> any other skeletons you want to get off your chest while you're here? >> i know you're a catholic so i'm not in the confessional. i would just say at that point as far as illegal activity, i think that sort of covers it. >> mr. santorum, it's been a pleasure talking to you. a lively and provocative exchange i think we would probably both agree. >> pleasure being on. i look forward to coming back soon. coming up, two real life rockies, victor ortiz and tentime world champion oscar de la hoya. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused. so i take one a day men's 50+ advantage. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus it supports heart health. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's.

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>> unbelievable! what a fight. >> my latest guest is getting ready for what will be the biggest fight of his life. vicious victor ortiz says he'll destroy pretty boy floyd mayweather. here with us now is victor ortiz and his mentor, ten-time world champion in six weight

divisions, oscar de la hoya. we had a chat outside. two nicer more smiley, happy, friendly people shake your hand. you don't crush it. and then you get in the ring and you kill people. >> that's what we do. when i was an active fighter and obviously victor can relate, you know, we don't have to prove ourselves outside of the ring. our job is inside the ring to win fights and to not destroy somebody but to knock somebody out i guess. outside the ring, we've been blessed on just being good people all around. >> what is it you look for in reality? what do you look for in a guy that you think can become a guy that can beat floyd mayweather. >> victor can touch on this in depth. it's odd because i'm sure when victor was growing up, you know, he was watching my fights and

saw some of my fights and now that he's a champion and now that i'm promoting, i look up to him now. >> being a champion at the stage you are now is one thing but to be the real top dog, to be the king, you have to knock over guys like mayweather who is an incredible fighter. you're only a few weeks away from this fight. >> i never boxing interfere with my personal life. i love what i do. i was blessed and given a great gift and talent to share with the world, you know. at the end of the day i don't take that home ever. you know, when i go out with my buddies or something, it's not something where boxing this and boxing that. i love what i do. i separate the two from each other otherwise it takes over my life and i'm just, like, boxing, boxing, boxing. i kind of have to separate reality from boxing. >> when you go out, if you're oscar de la hoya for example, he said when he was world champion he would go out to bars in new york and guys would try it on

with him. what would happen? dude, what did you think happened? i was the heavy weight champion of the world. the clear implication was it didn't last very long. you must get guys trying it on. do you get that? >> i get that quite a bit. >> what happens? >> i just tap them on the shoulder, dude, my bad. i accidentally bumped into you. excuse me. i walk off. >> is there a look you give them? what is the signal that means if you progress with this, there will be terrible pain heading your way? >> i make no eye contact. i put the tail between the legs and walk off and say, man, i'm sorry. i didn't mean to bump you. >> let me tell you a story. this big guy must have been 6'5", at least 250. i'm going to kick your butt. you're the golden boy? what. you're so small. what? and so he swings at me. i duck under. he falls face first and knocks himself out.

i won that fight without throwing a punch. >> you're a fascinating guy. you come from this extraordinary background when both your parents left you when you were young. you ended up bringing up your own brother effectively as a father figure to him. tell me about your early life. >> never too easy growing up. it was a rough patch in there where i come home from school along with my brother and sister. i was 7 at the time. my brother is younger than me. two years to be exact. that day it was just like for me it was a normal day. i was getting a ride to the gym from my mother. my mother never came home. i remember watching "power rangers" the tv show they have rolling up my hand wraps and my brother walks in crying. and then my sister came in crying as well. mom is gone. this and that. i said she's just at work. overtime probably. and they are crying. both of them. dude, i'm sure she'll be back.

no problem. time kicks around where my dad got home from work. he almost beat me up because i wasn't at the gym. i was, like, man, mom never made it. just years gone by and i finally accepted the fact that, hey, my mom walked out. >> your father did too? >> he walked out four years later. i was 12. throughout that gap it was like he was in and out. he always said he was doing construction and working and this and that but there was no bills were paid ever. he was never around. it was my brother and i just roaming around like two strays, you know. my sister, she was a big part of us. she had her own thing going on along the lines of she had a boyfriend and she ended up having her first child very early in her life. she had to part herself from us. instead of being the mother figure, she wish she was for a long while, my brother and i ended up having each other's back you can say. >> hold it there i want to come

back after the break and talk to you about how you feel now that you've made it big-time and you've become a champion and how you look back at that time in your life and what your feelings are. [ oswald ] there's a lot of discussion going on about the development of natural gas, whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a

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tonight at "360," the fight over fema funding. new jersey governor chris christi says the people in his state can't wait for congress to figure out budget cuts before sending federal disaster aid. governor christi's anger directed at house majority leader eric cantor who says budget cuts should be made for offset fema spending. congressman cantor had a different plan years ago when his own state of virginia was hit by a big storm. back then, guess what? he wanted the money no strings attached. we're keeping him honest. crime and punishment. a judge in aruba deciding

whether gary giordano should stay in prison or be released. we'll get the latest from martin savidge. those stories and rediculist at the top of the hour.

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fight. victor ortiz takes on floyd mayweather, jr., in las vegas. you can watch a lead up to the fight on hbo. victor ortiz and oscar de la hoya back with me now. before the break, you were talking about your upbringing. before you became famous, did your parents make any attempt to contact you? >> i made an effort to find both parents. i found my dad a year and a half ago. >> did he know what happened to you? >> he told me stories of he ran into trouble some years back or something and he was in jail or prison or something. >> where did you find him? >> i went back to kansas and i asked around everywhere. i talked to my brother and we finally came to see him. we found him. it was very intimidating for me. i asked oscar about it. i asked my coaches. >> you're his mentor. what's your advice when a guy like victor comes to you and says he wants to do that? >> i remember this vaguely. i told him, look, go and talk to

your dad. look for your dad. talk to him and ask him why. just ask him why. you will feel so much better. >> i sure did. >> did he have an answer or not really? >> i ended up not asking him why. as much as i wanted to, i was just, like, you know what, i did your job and my brother and i grew up -- >> you put your brother through college. you looked after him and did everything. you paid the bills. >> everything. he and i had each other's back usually. like two brothers would. and it wasn't the best relationship either because we were so young and i had to play such a role in such a role in his life that it was like, man, this kid i'm going to wring his neck if he doesn't listen to me. but he couldn't listen to me 100% because i'm not his dad, you know? >> let's just turn to the fight for a moment. he hasn't fought now for 16 months? you've had five fights in that time. does that give you an advantage. how do you think the balance lies right now?

>> i'm not really sure how the balance lies but i'm willing to put it aside because i want the best pound for pound floyd mayweather to arrive across the ring from me. i don't want that oh, something was wrong with him, this and that. i want the best pound for pound floyd mayweather that thinks he's the pound for pound to be there that night. >> i mean, because technically let's say he is statistically. he's also, i mean, look, he's a trash-talking, tough guy. he gives it out. he's flamboyant. he's flashy. personally i don't think he's great for the sport, the boxing. he's an amazing talent. but you're facing a guy that has beaten just about everyone that's come in front of him. does fear enter your thinking at all? >> no. not at all. fear doesn't even exist in my dictionary anymore. it was one of those things where my upbringing alone got rid of all that. so i can go into ease and into

battle with nothing to worry about. >> you fought floyd mae weather. tell me about that. >> first of all, like you said he is a great fighter. he is the best pound for pound fighter in the world today. he is great for the sport. he has done great things for boxing. and on september 17th 8:30 he's going to face the best. and there's no excuses whatsoever. but when i fought him, i mean, you could say that i was over the hill. i was an old 35 years old when i faced him. he beat me, yes, hands down. there's no doubt about that. i congratulate him. but i see that they see that there's passing of the torch in any sport, you know, when a younger fighter comes up and he's going to kind of successful. >> how good is this guy? >> he's very good. he's actually can be and i believe will be one of the greats. i've spard with victor before. and let me tell you --

>> that must be fun. >> his punches hurt. >> when the old man gets in the ring. all right, golden boy, let's see how golden you really are. >> it wasn't like that. i was just like, oh, i'm in the ring with oscar. this is awesome. >> did you hit him properly? >> he was going to beat me up. i had to. >> who would win? if you actually got in the ring? who would win? >> let me put it this way. if i was at my prime and victor's at his prime, it will be one hell of a fight, that's for sure. maybe a draw. >> what do you think? >> i had to take the upper hand. >> this is fantastic. >> you've had an amazing career, one of the great sporting careers of any american sportsman. but you've also had a few troubles along the way. do you wish you'd had a figure like yourself, perhaps, to help you along the way, to navigate that? >> absolutely. i wish i had somebody i can look up to. when i was growing up.

i had a very tough upbringing. and i come from a very humble family, born in east l.a., very proud. parents were very hard workers. my mom was very strict. but we didn't really have the guidance in terms of what they should teach you about life. >> what have you learned in all the time you've had all this amazing success, the titles, the fabulous sums of money, all the trappings that come with fame and wealth and so on. what have you learned about yourself through that process? >> well, fame can be a trap. it can ruin your life. it almost ruined mine. so i just hope that victor can -- i can be an example for him, and i'm sure victor -- i mean, he's such a mature person where he can just -- he can just think on his own. i mean, he's a smart guy.

and i'm just here to help him, to support him. i got his back 100%. >> 17th of september you'll have i presume your brother and sister will be there, won't they? >> yes, sir. >> cheering you on? it will be quite a moment for the family. >> i hope so. >> amazing end to a pretty rocky road for you if you were to knock out floyd mayweather. >> that's the least of my worries right now. >> if he's watching this, i think he might be because he follows me on twitter. and we have exchanged e-mails. if floyd's watching what's your message for him? >> i am taking my title home. and that means the victory as well. because he sits there and says, you can have your title. i don't want it. well, that includes the victory as well. so i'm taking my belt home along with my victory. >> well, best of luck, victor. i'll be watching. thank you very much for coming in. good to meet you. thank you. coming up, the surprising side of josh groban. a sneak preview of my sitdown with the all-american heartthrob.

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tomorrow night america's high-brow heartthrob singer josh groban, a man who can make anything sound good, even my tweets. >> piers, you have some tweets that are mighty epic. >> i thought you'd do this. >> i feel that perhaps i might want to give some of your very