New Floyd Mayweather Interview...

What a ***** this guy is...:-(



Six-time world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who announced in May that he is coming out of retirement, is on a quest to obliterate five-time world champion Juan Manuel Marquez in a mega-fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 19, 2009. The fight, which was originally slated to take place July 18th, was postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather. In a conference call today, Mayweather would not divulge exactly how that injury occurred, and became aggressive with reporters who were asking simple, basic questions. Did it come from sparring? A body shot? Hitting the bag? “Did you not hear me?” he griped. “I got hurt in training and I’ll leave it at that.”

Joined by Floyd on the call were the promoters of the big fight, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Productions, and Leonard Ellerbe of Mayweather Promotions. Floyd seemed slightly elusive and annoyed, spouting off his answers to reporters’ expected questions with a lackluster sigh: “I think with the layoff,” he began, “that was a good thing. I was pushing myself to the limit.”

As far as reasoning for his 20 month layoff, he explained that he had his first fight in 1987, and he’d never had a break. “I guess I needed a break. A vacation. Boxing is still in me. I still miss the sport. God has truly blessed me with a talent. My talent is boxing. I think a lot of times when a guy is super confident, they want to see you fail because they don’t believe in themselves like yourself. That comes with being an entertainer, an athlete, being in the sport. When I was in training camp a while back, I was performing well and I was looking good. It counts once you get under the lights. I’ll have to see how I perform under the lights. My dad (Floyd Sr., who recently reconnected with Floyd) came to the gym and said, ‘You’re okay.’ He said with a little more hard work, you’re going to be okay. He said it’s just shaking off the cob webs. I’m anticipating getting back into the ring so bad, it’s making me work so hard. I’m getting up at 4:00a.m. just to work on my craft, just so I can stay sharp. I know all of these young fighters are trying to gun for me. I’m an old cat in the sport of boxing. I’m going to stay mentally strong, and I’ll be okay mentally. I’ve been through a lot of physical mishaps before. I just didn’t want to go into this fight when I wasn’t 100%. I wasn’t always 100%. I’m happy that me and my team agreed that I don’t have to go out there if I’m not 100%.”

When probed further about his rib injury, he skirted around the issue, never answering the question: “It happened in training. It wasn’t a small guy that done it. It didn’t even come from sparring. Nobody don’t really know what it came from. Freak accidents happen in training. We do a lot of different training in workouts. It was just a freak accident. When it happened, I tried to work through it. I was fine for a while. Then it happened again. I can’t try to be a superhero. It’s best to take a little time off and let it heal, so when I do go out and perform, I’ll perform to the best of my ability. I’ll never tell exactly what happened,” he hastily continued. “But September 19, you won’t be able to tell. I’ll be at my best.” When probed further about why he was being secretive about the injury, he snapped, “Who said it was a secret? I got hurt in training, and I’ll leave it at that. I don’t have to go in depth about what happened to me.”

When asked about Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather had plenty to say: “I feel Manny is a good fighter. When he goes out there, he does his job to the best of his ability. The thing is this – when Pacquiao got beat by Eric Morales, I was at the top of my game. I never got beat. He hasn’t done nothing I haven’t done. He’s been following behind me. It’s like a steak. A T-bone steak. I eat all the meat off the steak, and they throw him the bone. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Everyone knows he’s a good fighter. All of a sudden, he wins a couple of fights and he’s a great fighter. Where was Pacquiao in the 90’s when I was dominating? I don’t have anything bad to say about the guy, but this guy never called me out, never even said he wanted to fight me! Everybody knows it’s not hard to find me. I’m a totally different fighter. We don’t like to talk about our personal business, but everybody knows that he’s not going to get 50-50 with Floyd Mayweather. See what he grossed in his last two fights? See what I grossed in my last two fights? It’s a business. Even though it’s a sport.”

In an unusual style for Mayweather, he had nothing but nice things to say about Marquez, instead focusing his irritation on Pacquiao: “If I had to rank Marquez, between him and Manny, I’d rank him over Manny. For a guy who gets knocked down three times and then comes back and gets a draw... Bob Arum always has one trick up his sleeve. Marquez is a Mexican warrior. He represents his Mexican heritage extremely well. I know he’s going to be at his best. The only thing I’ve got to do is go out there and be me. Be smart. I still got fight in me. I’ll reach the highest level I will possibly reach. There’s no other fighter in the sport of boxing who’s done what I’ve done.

“I’ve been off for almost two years,” he continued. “When you’ve been off for two years and had a chance to relax and grow as a human being mentally – not physically, but mentally. I feel what makes you a man is taking care of your responsibilities. You can be 21 and that makes you an adult. But taking care of your responsibilities makes you a man. I am the best at my job. I train so long, everybody leaves. I’ll be the last one in the gym. I’ll have to lock up the gym. Don’t nobody know what I go through. I’m telling you right now, I don’t care if you write something negative. I don’t read the articles. Write what you want to write. A critic criticizes something you can’t do. Ya’ll don’t tell the truth. Talk about Shane Mosley taking steroids. You don’t hear none of these guys calling me out. And if they do call me out, they only want a pay day. And guys like Marquez, he’s a good guy, he really wants a shot. We could pay Manny. Is you ready? Let me know. I ain’t worried about that. With or without him, I’m comfortable. I’m happy. He don’t mean ****. I don’t chase opponents. Opponents chase me. That’s not the biggest fight. The biggest fight in boxing is Mayweather versus anybody. It don’t matter who I fight. All my fights is big fights, baby.

“I just don’t understand these people,” he went on. “They don’t know what they’re talking about. If they want to know the sport of boxing, just hang around the Mayweather family. All I do is sit at the movie theater at my house and eat junk food. Just like I’m doing right now (immediate munching crackled through the phone). All fights are one more fight for me. All fights are shape up fights. All jokes aside, this ain’t one more fight for me. I can’t overlook this fight. De La Hoya was focused on losing weight and not on fighting. I think he was only training when the cameras were on him. You’ve got to take this sport serious. You can’t just train to lose weight. Chasing money can screw your whole career up. I’m just being honest.”

When asked about the sudden passing of Arturo Gatti, Mayweather sent his thoughts and love out to his family. “He’s the only guy I know who can lose, who can sell out an arena and they are going to be there again. A good friend of mine, a young woman, said, ‘I came to see you fight before. I came to see you fight in Atlantic City. You made me cry. You beat my favorite fighter, Arturo Gatti. I hated you for that, until I really found out about the sport.’ And the next fight she was there, supporting him again. His fan base was crazy.”

When discussing Bob Arum, he said, “He got a lot of people in his pocket, which is not good. The one thing about Richard Schaefer and Leonard, they work for the fighter. The fighter works for Bob Arum. I was with Bob for I don’t know how long. I think he’s upset that I did a creative move. I paid to become my own boss. He still owes me money for the Gatti fight. For the Zab Judah fight. Ya’ll write this down: Manny has the worst contract in boxing right now. 27%. I keep 100% of my money. 27%! Are you serious?

“With the hard work I put in, who’s been dominating for the longest? Who’s been around for the longest? What about Shane Mosley? I’ve been around when he was undefeated. You still taking steroids. What are you talking about? We all know what people give us. If someone gives you water, you know it’s water. If someone gives you a Sprite, you know it’s kind of bubbly. All these fighters know they can get a payday with me.”