The Bugatti cars, elaborate jewelry, private jets, exotic homes in different cities… Just a few of the things that have come to define the lifestyle of the rich and famous Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
Before mixed reports surfaced of his showing in training camp against various sparring partners, split lips and busted up hands, Mayweather sat down with Yahoo Global Sports Anchor Katie Couric to discuss a number of topics.
In a rather revealing interview released yesterday, the RING and WBC/WBA welterweight champion (universally regarded as the #1 ranked fighter on the planet) spoke about a difficult past, the fortune his fight with Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao will generate, his connection to domestic violence, and the true challenge that lies ahead on May 2nd.
Mayweather, for his part in the superfight, will make a reported 180 million dollars for a dangerous game of fistic chess with Pacquiao. For perspective, that is roughly the equivalent of what was required to finance the making of “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, set to release the weekend of the fight.
“It takes me to generate this,” Mayweather said to Couric.
All signs indicate he’s right. In a recent interview with Grand Rapids reporter David Mayo from www.mlive.com , Mayweather’s former promoter, Top Rank boss Bob Arum (Pacquiao’s current promoter), outlined the origins of Mayweather’s success since he left Top Rank after the Zab Judah fight in 2006. All but admitting Mayweather was correct to leave him, Arum described Mayweather deal with Al Haymon as a “great deal for him”.
Mayweather’s dynamic expansion into the urban lexicon after the Judah fight, resonated within the Hip-Hop community and coincided with the emergence of reality TV. Whether this was part of the plan or not, a notoriously dark cult figure and transcendent superstar was born.
Polarizing figure that he is, Couric is world renowned for shedding light on the darkest subjects with subtlety, and she was no different with Mayweather.
She asked the man, known to walk around with as much as a million dollars in cash on him at any given moment (hence the reason for mountainous bodyguards with him everywhere he goes), about the infamous domestic violence incident which lead to his incarceration in 2012.
“I’m black, I’m rich, and I’m out-spoken. That’s 3 strikes right there,” said Mayweather. “Did I kick, stomp and beat someone? No, that didn?t happen. I look in your face and say, “No, that didn?t happen.” Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that?s domestic violence, then, you know what? I?m guilty. I?m guilty of restraining a person.”
Pacquiao has vowed to punish Mayweather for a history of abuse against women (among other things), which may have prompted Couric to ask Mayweather about for thoughts on his May 2 foe.
“He’s kinda reckless, his moves are not thought about… Good speed,” responded Mayweather, who has also recently referred to the Filipino icon as ‘formidable’. “Pacquiao is a solid competitor and he’s going to push me to be my very best.”
In perhaps a truly revealing look into his collective psyche just weeks away from this historic bout, Couric asked him about the prospect of losing to Manny Pacquiao. “You’re 47-0. You’d still feel like a winner if your record goes to 47-1?” asked Couric.
“Having my hand raised raised doesn’t define me as a man, Floyd Mayweather is going to be a winner regardless,” said Mayweather, in a departure from his usual supreme self-assurance, which could also be extreme gamesmanship.
To catch a glimpse of how “Money” looks just weeks ahead of the mega-fight, be sure to watch his public open workout is scheduled to air Tuesday night on ESPN3 @7ET (replays TBD).
