Floyd Mayweather, Jr. insisted he is not jealous of Oscar De La Hoya.
?You guys write stories like I?m jealous of him,? he said to a knot of reporters following the pre-fight press conference at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on Wednesday afternoon. ?I?ve got Bentleys. I?ve got a Rolls-Royce. I?ve got a mansion. My mother?s got a house.?
But the more he tried to insist that he isn?t jealous of his opponent on Saturday night, the more he sounded at least resentful of the attention, praise, and good publicity the Golden Boy has frequently received:
?When he fought Camacho, he was over the hill. When he fought Whitaker, he was over the hill. When he fought Chavez, he was over the hill. Top Rank chose his opponents at the right time, Bob Arum will tell you that. But with me, in my era, I?ve beat the best they put in front of me in my era. Like I say, I?ll never get jealous of him. Whatever he?s done in his career, I?m happy for him. I?ve made a lot of money in this sport, I know what it takes. I?m going to go out there and be the same Floyd Mayweather.?
Before his last fight, a dominating defeat of Carlos Baldomir to annex the WBC welterweight championship, Mayweather was all smiles, relaxed and charming. On Wednesday, he was more agitated and animated, his emotions clearly influenced by the giant chip that was growing on his shoulder. Frequently shooing off his publicist?s attempt to wean him away so he could fulfill his television obligations, he kept returning to his unprompted theme: that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is the best fighter of his era, and that it was about time he received the appropriate praise from those now crowded around him:
?You guys always interview me. We always go through this, every fight. I always rise to the occasion, beat everybody that they put in front of me. The thing is this: Every time I beat an A-class fighter, I make an A-class fighter look like a D-class fighter, and you guys won?t give me the props that I deserve. I didn?t live in the Muhammad Ali era. I didn?t live in the Sugar Ray Robinson era. This is Floyd Mayweather Era. I can only beat the fighters they put in front of me. I got respect for Ali, he?s a legend. Sugar Ray Robinson, he?s a legend. Sugar Ray Leonard, he?s a legend. But this is my time.
?I?ve been in this sport my whole life. Inside the ring, I?ve been in this sport twenty years. I want my daughter and my kids and my grandkids when they grow up to be able to say, ?You know what? My father or my grandfather was the greatest fighter who ever put on gloves.?
?They put me in with Baldomir, you all say, ?The guy ain?t lost in ten years.? It still wasn?t good enough. He didn?t touch me. It still wasn?t good enough. When is it ever going to be good enough? When I beat him Saturday night, I already know what they?re going to say. They?re going to say, he?s over the hill, he?s old. I?m 30, he?s 34. We?re both in our thirties.
?I?m going to dominate. Believe me, I?m going to dominate. I know a fighter. He?s nervous. He?s nervous. I?ve been here too many times. They?re talking about his big left hook. I?ve been caught with a left hook, you all have seen me. I?ve been hit with a good shot, I?ve shaken it off, and I?ve come back. I?m a champion, man.
?I?ve been through a lot in my life. I lived seven deep in a one-bedroom. My father was in prison, my mother was on drugs. I can fight through anything. On May 5, you?re going to see the same Floyd Mayweather, I?m going to go out there and dominate. And when you interview him, those interviews are fake, man. My interviews are real. Y?all can touch me, y?all can get to know me, y?all can go eat with me. You can write what you want to write, but this is what I want your papers to say on Saturday night: ?The best fighter ever is Floyd Mayweather, Jr.??
Mayweather was insistent that, ?if I had the right promotion behind me from the beginning, I?d be at a certain level,? as if oblivious to the fact that the main thing preventing him from having reached De La Hoya?s level of fame and popularity was his own personality and poor decisions. But that suggestion sent Mayweather into another direction, both defensive of his own life and dismissive of the public image of De La Hoya?s.
?Me, I?m proud to talk about my kids and bring them on TV and show how much I love them,? he said. ?Do you ever see his other kids on TV? No. He has kids out of wedlock, he ever talk about that? Do you all ever talk about how he likes to be a party animal? He loves when he leaves Puerto Rico, that?s why he comes here to fight. That?s why he likes when a fight?s in Vegas. All the cases that he caught, that they got sealed, they got paid off, you don?t talk about that. All y?all do, is you make me stronger. So as long as you keep writing bad stuff about me, you keep me stronger. You write good about me, something bad might happen. So you all keep doing what you?re doing, and I?m going to keep dominating. And to be honest, it don?t matter what you write anyway, because I don?t read your shit anyway.
?Before you guys judge me and say something bad about me, go home and look in a mirror at yourself. Because of you guys got personal problems too. And we all got split personalities, because we all don?t wake up feeling the same way. Some days our tolerance level is different from other days.
?If I like nice cars, that?s what I?m going to buy. If I like diamond rings and diamond watches and diamond necklaces, that?s what I?m going to buy. You guys live your lives the way you want to live your lives and I?ll live my life the way I want to live my life.?
Periodically, he would break away from his defensive dissertation and return to the matter at hand: the fight itself. He had known, he said, since 1992, when he saw De La Hoya at the Olympics, that he would one day fight him. He knew, he insisted, that this moment would eventually come. But when it does, he clearly does not expect it to be especially competitive:
?I?m telling you this. Don?t be surprised if I stop them. You got to realize, he?s shown you all this before. He?s shown you that he?ll quit. He?s shown you that he?ll get tired. I never show my fatigue.
?I toy around with these kids in boxing. I toyed around with Baldomir. When I was fighting Gatti, I was beating him so bad, you know what? Did y?all notice I backed off of him? I said if I don?t back off of him, I?m going to kill him. Something in my head said, ?Floyd, you?re going to kill him,? so I backed off him.?
He paused, finally, exhaled, and smiled.
?But I feel good. Camp has been tremendous. I look good, don?t I??
He certainly did. De La Hoya may be the bigger man, but Mayweather looked cut and strong, his muscles straining to be unleashed from beneath his white T-shirt. As agitated as he appeared at times, it was not the agitation of a man consumed with nerves. He gave every impression of being a man who not only believes he will win on Saturday, but knows it, and is genuinely annoyed that not everybody else has already acknowledged as much.
On Saturday night, he clearly feels that his domination will be so complete that the world will have no choice but to acknowledge his greatness.
If it does, then Mayweather will have to find some other source of resentment to fuel the fire that burns within him.
