Just days before the superfight with Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Floyd Mayweather met with the press via teleconference call. Cool, calm, and collected, the Mayweather Mayweather presented is the autumnal Mayweather, no more concerned about Canelo than Canelo is concerned about him.
He spoke about his family, his children and their education, about his attempts to clean up the sport. He also spoke about Mayweather Promotions and its mission.
The Mayweather of old is nowhere to be found. The disrespected fighter with a chip on his shoulder is largely history. He admits that he?s ?only human? and that ?some days are better than others,? with a philosophical ?Just like you smile on sunny days, you have to smile on rainy days? thrown in for good measure.
But the old Mayweather hasn?t disappeared completely. He says ?boxing is tainted.? He says it?s ?watered down. I feel like there are too many belts, it?s too many champions?I just don?t understand what?s going on with the sport. I think we should have one belt and that?s it.?
It?s easy to mention this now. But when he was fighting for one belt or another, he might have taken a stand, put his Money where his mouth is, so to speak, by pulling a Riddick Bowe and dumping a belt or two in the trash. He didn?t. He hasn?t. But that?s neither here nor there.
Mayweather has been accused of cherry-picking his opponents. That may be so, but I can?t think of many fighters who pick opponents they believe they can?t beat.
?If they say these guys were handpicked, they was handpicked to make $40 and $50 and $60 million?I didn?t fight Shane Mosley when he was 40. I fought him when he came off one of his biggest victory. People seem to forget that.?
After much meandering, the subject of Canelo finally came up.
?In Mexico he?s a young rock star and everybody that they put in front of him he was able to go out there and do his job. He done it in a tremendous fashion. He?s a good, strong, solid boxer and it?s a very intriguing matchup.?
Someone asked a question questioning their own imagination. Let?s just say they beat us to the punch.
?Is it just my imagination or have you gotten a little bit more mellow as the years have gone by??
?Everything was a business plan,? Floyd said.? My business plan was to be very, very entertaining, be very wild, turn it on when it?s time to turn it on, turn it off when it?s time to turn it off, and that?s what I did. I built my fan base. I became a mega-star. I became a household name. That was the ultimate goal. It was just a business plan that I had, you know what I?m saying? There?s nothing fake, but you got to know when to turn it on and when to turn it off?It?s just business. It?s about being entertaining. I feel like if I didn?t step up to the plate and speak my mind or be flashy and flamboyant then I probably wouldn?t be in the position that I?m in right now. I think it?s a gift.?
If it?s a gift, it?s the gift that keeps on giving.
When questions about boxing are in short supply, one can always bring up tennis.
?As far as tennis, I used to like John McEnroe. After John McEnroe, Pete Sampras. But of course, Arthur Ashe was a legend. His name will always live on. As far as in Las Vegas, of course you have to take your hat off to Andre Agassi, Mr. Las Vegas along with Wayne Newton and myself. I got to the Williams sisters, of course. Venus and Serena, man, unbelievable?I used to like her (Serena) too. I remember how you she was and how good she was even then. She was a good player. So yes. What?s crazy right now is my Uncle Roger?s daughter is playing tennis.?
I?m not sure how the above is supposed to build the gate. The old Mayweather, gone but not forgotten, would have handled it differently.
