This Thursday Floyd Mayweather Jr. was in a gracious mood, playing host to an open workout for the media as well as the British fans who happen to be in the Vegas area for this weekend?s Amir Khan-Zab Judah junior welterweight unification tilt. Khan, the once-beaten star from Bolton, will put his WBA strap on the line against the IBF champion Judah inside of the Mandalay Bay in one of the year?s most talked about duels.
Mayweather himself is eyeing a September 17th return bout against Victor Ortiz at the nearby MGM Grand, as he will look to wrestle the WBC welterweight strap away from his exuberant 24-year old foil. Present at Mayweather?s open workout were two of Vegas? most prolific photographers in Naoki Fukuda and Paul Hernandez and I decided to get their opinions on Floyd?s showmanship during his regimen as well as his mental state with his upcoming bout roughly seven weeks away.
Fukuda is known best for his work with RingTV.com and has captured some candid shots of Mayweather over the years. He loved soaking up the energy inside of Mayweather?s facility and doesn?t see Floyd?s year-plus period of inactivity as being a huge factor at this point.
?Since a lot of UK media and fans came to the gym it was very exciting,? said Fukuda. ?Mayweather?s moves were very quick and vital, as usual. I think there is no effect from the layoff.?
Hernandez?s work has been featured at MSNBC.com, Riverside-Press Enterprise, and The Sweet Science, amongst others, and he too has had the privilege of chronicling several of Mayweather?s biggest events. For this particular go round, Hernandez admits that Floyd was on point and looking sharp.
