“Everybody had a game plan. Everybody’s game plan was to throw a lot punches and keep pressure, but you gotta realize, you can’t go to a gun fight and think that you’re not going to get shot. You gotta realize, the difference between me and him, he’s shooting a .25, you know, I got an Uzi…my game plan is just to adjust and adapt once I get in that squared circle. But once again, everybody gotta adjust and adapt to me because I control the tempo, always,” stated undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who held a conference call earlier today to discuss his highly-anticipated return to the ring on May 4 when he faces multi-division world champion Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out what else he had to say about Guerrero, the fight, and much more!
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
On the decision to bring his dad back as a trainer…
My dad, of course, he’s a boxing wizard, and Roger’s a boxing wizard, so you can’t go wrong with neither guy. My dad is the main trainer, and of course, like I said before, it’s not like I fired anyone. It’s just that, you know, my dad is a little sick, but he’s a lot healthier than Roger is. You know, Roger’s very, very…his health is not at it’s best right now. My main focus is, you know, I want a guy that’s in my corner that’s sharp and healthy. He still works day in and day out with me every day, you know, as far as doing pad work every day and keeping me sharp, but my dad is the main trainer. And Roger still works with me day in and day out, but you know, fight night, my dad will be working my corner.
I don’t need both in my corner, but both guys are my trainers. Of course my dad is the head guy in my corner.
On how his time in prison has affected him…
Your freedom is extremely important. There’s nothing more important than freedom. You know, once you lose your freedom, you understand that.
On possibly fighting in Grand Rapids again…
As of right now, I can’t say what the future holds, but you know, as of right now, I gotta be loyal to who I’m with, and MGM Grand is who I’m with. You know, that’s my home and that’s where I love to perform at…as of right now, it’s all about the MGM Grand.
On the example he’s trying to set for his fighters signed to Mayweather Promotions…
I only have 30 months left, so, you know, I want to just help clean this sport up. What I think is really, really great is how Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions can sit down and do business and nobody worry about who’s getting what…what Mayweather Promotions tries to focus on is letting the fighter win. It’s about the fighter winning because the fighter is the talent. The fighter is taking all the risk, and so we want the fighter to win.
Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, we communicate, we talk, and we see eye to eye. Like I said before, Mayweather Promotions, we’re here to be a game changer. We want to be positive and work together with any company that’s willing to sit down and negotiate and talk and be on the same level as us, because that’s what it’s about in business.
My main focus is helping guys get to the next level.
On how it’s going when it was my turn to ask a question…
Ben, why are you calling me on a conference call when you can call me direct? You don’t got to ask me no questions, Ben. I’ll just call you later on and give you a personal one. Don’t even worry about that; I’ll give you a personal one later on. I’ll give you a one-on-one and I’ll send you some video footage nobody else got. I’ll give you some behind-the-scenes footage nobody else got, okay?
On Guerrero being a hypocrite…
Basically, Robert Guerrero was saying money is my god; he been saying money is my god and I praise money. You look at the beginning of my career, you know, I’ve always gave thanks to God. You can go back to the beginning of my career, I’ve always gave thanks to God, you know, just for blessing me with the ability that I have, blessing me with the talent that I have, blessing me with a good, strong, sharp team. But, you know, like I said before, I keep trying to tell him, this is not about religion.
This is about two fighters going out there and testing their skills against one another. That’s what this is about.
I don’t have nothing negative to say about this man’s wife. I don’t have nothing negative to say about his religion. The only thing I was saying was basically, on one hand, you trying to be a role model for children in school, they say you going to a school, then you going to the 700 Club, but then if you look closely, you see he has Marilyn Monroe on the wall in his house. And then he’s driving a dump truck, he’s driving a truck all over somebody’s lawn. And then a little while later, after leaving the school and after leaving the 700 Club, this guy is going through the airport with a gun.
And then they was basically making jokes about me, making fun about me, talking about, “Floyd Mayweather couldn’t do his time.” I could do my time, but I mean, who wants to do time; who wants to lose their freedom? It’s nothing cool about losing your freedom…what goes around comes around. They was talking trash about me very, very badly; joking about me going to jail. Now, it’s time for him to do his time.
On Guerrero saying the long layoff will take a toll on Mayweather…
Me, myself, I’m in tip-top shape; tip-top condition. I’ve been in the gym working hard. If that’s the way to psyche himself up, if that’s the way that he can get himself mentally prepared, then more power to him.
Of course I feel unbeatable…I’m not going into a fight thinking that I’m beatable.
I feel that I can adjust, I feel that I can adapt. You don’t just get to this level, you don’t just get to the pinnacle by not facing and fighting the best competition. You know, I just feel like I was before my time. I beat everybody in the 90’s, I beat everybody in the 2000’s, now here we go 17 years later. Like I said, my main focus is to win. I focus on winning and I’m always going to be able to control the tempo of any fight because of my experience.
I took a long time off before. This is not my first time taking a year off. This is not my first time taking a couple of years off. You know, I just call it a vacation. You know, I think that the body needs time to heal. The body needs time to rejuvenate. The body needs rest.
On what game plan he’s expecting from Guerrero…
You know, that’s been everybody’s game plan. Just like I know and just like you know, everybody says, “You know, we’re going to keep a lot of pressure on Mayweather.” That’s been everybody’s game plan, to keep pressure…everybody’s game plan has been keep pressure, throw a lot of punches. And so, like I said before, as long as everybody got the same game plan, I’ma keep having the same game plan.
Last time I checked, I was 43 and 0. I don’t think he’s a better boxer than Zab Judah. He’s not faster than Zab Judah, and I don’t think he has faced the competition that Zab Judah has faced. As far as Corley, I mean, he don’t punch as hard as Corley. I don’t think he’s a harder puncher than Corley and we’ll just have to see how the fight plays out.
Everybody had a game plan. Everybody’s game plan was to throw a lot punches and keep pressure, but you gotta realize, you can’t go to a gun fight and think that you’re not going to get shot. You gotta realize, the difference between me and him, he’s shooting a .25, you know, I got an Uzi…my game plan is just to adjust and adapt once I get in that squared circle. But once again, everybody gotta adjust and adapt to me because I control the tempo, always.
On when he felt like he had total control of his own career…
Once I left Top Rank, I felt free. I mean, I never felt so free in my life. You know, but over at Top Rank, you know, I still have a great relationship with Todd duBoef…I was free once I left Top Rank.
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE QUOTES FROM THE CONFERENCE CALL
