Visit with Floyd Mayweather and you?ll get none of that good-natured bluster he is so famous for. Gone is the smiling, swaggering hip-hop super villain that used to rule the roost at his own gym in the Chinatown district of Las Vegas.
The pre-Pacquiao fight Mayweather is somber and, at times, it seems as though he labors to get a word out. And when he does speak, his words are robotic and his tone is solemn. He speaks like a man on death row, awaiting his faithful day, rather than a warrior on the verge of his greatest conquest.
?No. I don?t enjoy it like I once did,? Mayweather told reporters during his recent media workout. ?It is at a point where it is business. It is my job. I go to the gym. I train. I know what I have to do…There was a time when it was fun but I am to a point now where I am really over all of that stuff.?
The five-division world champ is also talking about retirement, specifically emphasizing that his fight in September will be his last.
And this is the tone that has been cast over the entire Mayweather Team since the moment a hoarse, weary-looking Mayweather spoke at the podium during the mega-fight?s first official press conference.
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Could this be a ploy in a well-waged psych war? Could this somber tone be an indication that Mayweather is absolutely serious, now more so than ever, about his prep work for this bout? Maybe.
However, it also could be an indication that Mayweather has already cracked under the pressure and that, for whatever reason, a general malaise has already set in.
A recent report in the Liberty Voice indicates that there is extreme concern in Mayweather?s camp over their fighter?s brittle hands and an apparent lack of strength and endurance in his legs. Recent reports of a split lip and other troubles surfacing in sparring have been posted on various websites. All of this leads to other buzz from the camp that Mayweather may now, just about two weeks away from the big fight, be forced to scale back the intensity of his training in order to heal his assortment of physical issues.
This may be the end of the undefeated streak. He may sense it coming. And, most troubling, is that he doesn?t seem to be snapping out of his dreary state.
But, of course, Mayweather has proven us all wrong before. The only way to find out for sure is to watch the mega-fight on May 2.
What do you think of these reports coming from Mayweather?s camp? Leave your comments below and please share this article with friends.
