Much was revealed when speaking with outspoken trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. recently. The father of the undefeated and brash fighter of the same name has always found a way of staying in the public?s eye because of his opinionated nature and the often viscous lashing of his tongue. With his son still apparently undecided as to whether or not he is going to face Manny Pacquiao this November 13th, the father has become one of the key figures associated with the proposed bout because of his insistence that Pacquiao is both an inferior fighter as well as an athlete using performance enhancing drugs.
It can be easy to get the wrong perception of Floyd Sr. Recently spotted at the Hit Factory gym on the East side of Las Vegas, the 57-year old trainer doesn?t seem to be a genuinely spiteful man once one has a chance to engage in deep discussion with him. Asked if he could spare a few minutes of his time, Mayweather Sr. was more than accommodating and shifted his attention to the Subway deli that was just south of the gym in the connecting plaza in order to find a place to release his thoughts.
Suffering from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease, Mayweather Sr. speaks like a man who has been humbled more than slightly in recent times. During his fifty-seven years Mayweather has experienced his share of struggles and his most recent condition has seemed to open his eyes to a few things. In hearing Floyd Sr. speak from the heart it becomes evident that he is a man who feels slighted in several regards, but never to the point where he would be looking for sympathy.
The father?s relationship with Floyd Jr. has been well documented throughout the years. Floyd Sr. immersed his son in the sport of boxing as an infant and taught him several nuances of the game. A three and a half year stint in prison would hold Floyd Sr. back during the early portion of his son?s career but he returned and played an intricate part in his boy winning his first world title in October of 1998. Unfortunately the two would have a falling out soon thereafter over personal issues and their relationship has never come full circle since, although Floyd Sr. was involved in Junior?s camps for his fights past two fights against Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley.
Sitting across from the highly confident trainer, it was very easy to get a feel for where his current mindset is. Floyd Sr. spoke with the Examiner and went in depth about his love and concern for Lil? Floyd as well as touching on the obvious disappointment that still exists. Mayweather also went in depth about his brother Roger?s upcoming trial in August for allegations of assault, the possibility of him filling his shoes and training Floyd again, his time locked away, and the things in life that keep him going. Floyd Sr. was brutally honest and seemed to speak with a heavy heart at times.
To get the conversation rolling I asked Floyd Sr. about his penchant for infusing poetry with his trash talk, a staple of his over the years, and things took off from there. In his own words this is what he had to say?
The art of trash talking? ?It all started with Ali back in the 60?s and 70?s. Ali would write poems and that stood out to me and it was stuff that I wanted to do. It captured me and it was something that I wanted. People tell me that I am a trainer and that I should be letting the fighters say that but I say ?No, let me do it?. What?s the difference? I?m not going to sit back and just say ?Oh, you?re a nice guy? but I don?t do any swearing either. I don?t get real bad towards people. I just try to have fun with it, like I?m talking to you now.?
Rubbing off on Lil? Floyd? ?Well he only has one father so I don?t see who else he could take after. Most definitely he isn?t poetic like I am but he gets it from me.?
The best I could be? ?Let me tell you something. I went to prison when he was sixteen but I was the best father I could be. As you know or anybody knows, you can?t get to this level if you don?t have somebody showing you. I don?t care who you are. You can not get there. Even with De La Hoya and Shane Mosley, somebody has to show you how to get there. Whatever level you are at. Even if you are at the top of the game. So it aint no joke when you see me make another champion.?
Making a champion? ?I made Lil? Floyd a champion. It?s a thing where a lot of people think Roger trained him. He didn?t learn from nobody but me. There wasn?t anything else to teach. He was already at the top. He won the national Golden Gloves when he was sixteen. He beat two twenty-four year old guys. He dominated everybody. Who trained him? His father trained him. His daddy had been training him since he was in diapers. He didn?t get it nowhere else. After I got done with him it was over with.?
Filling in for Roger?… ?I feel like I am a bigger brother and a better brother. I was in prison for three and a half years and he never came to see me. You know what? Whatever Floyd decides to do with it or whatever Roger decides, that?s on them. I?m a father before I was ever a trainer or anything else. I?m his father and if he comes to me like a man and asks me to train him then I will train him. If he doesn?t ask me to train him, I won?t train him. Do I want my brother to go to prison? No. I hope that he gets better and he can train my son and do whatever else he does.?
Time in prison? ?It was the worst three and a half years. I did three and half years. It was hard being away from my family and spending time like that. But everything happens for a reason and things are meant to happen. Whatever else happens in life, whatever happens with you, whatever happens with me, it is meant to happen in life. That goes for you, me, or anybody else. It is what it is. The thing is the only thing you can do in life is to take it and try to do the best you can do with it. My concern when looking back on my time in the joint was to just put my time in and get out. I tried to make the best of what I could make.?
Getting released from the joint? ?Believe it or not I got out April 1st. April Fools Day. That?s the day I got out. I went in in 93? and got out in 97?. They gave me 5 and a half years and I did three and a half. The reason is that one year they took off my sentence because I passed the drug test. They gave me a year off. Then I had already accumulated six months of good time. Then I did six months in a halfway house so that was two years go. It took two years off my time and I did three and a half years.?
Reconnecting with Floyd? ?The thing was that Floyd was pro already. Like I told you he was groomed already to be champion when Roger got him. He came in and he won about seventeen fights. I think when I trained him it was his seventeenth or eighteenth fight. He beat Genero Hernandez. It was a very good fight, dominating fight.?? (Click to continue reading page 2 where Floyd Sr. talks in depth about his concerns for his son and much more)
