Floyd Mayweather Jr Part Two; “I Run the Sport of Boxing”

Floyd Mayweather Jr Part Two; “I Run the Sport of Boxing”

INTERVIEW Part Two By Gabriel Montoya (Sept 20, 2007) Doghouse Boxing

This is Part Two. You'll find a link to part One at the bottom of this interview. There is no more volatile interview in the sport of Boxing than Floyd Mayweather Jr. No subject challenges your focus as reporter more and no subject requires you to go with him or her on free form tangents across a multitude of subjects in mere seconds like Mayweather Jr. It was both my challenge and my pleasure to sit down and talk with the current linear Welterweight Champion and consensus Pound for Pound fighter in the world this past Monday. He was both candid and evasive. At times angry and others jovial and friendly. When he greeted me, he took my hand in both of his and declared we would become great friends with all sincerity. I have included some of the

questions the two other reporters present asked in our sit-down as well as random shout outs from nearby fans. This is the raw feed. For the first time ever, Doghouseboxing.com welcomes Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the Pound.

R#1: Floyd are you concerned at all that you are going to be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars? Is that going to distract you at all from your training?

FM: It’s going to work that much harder in the boxing gym and that’s what I like. If you noticed all that trash talk that this kid has done in the past when he finally get to see me he ain’t talk none of that trash. I’ll back it up no matter what. No matter what you say, I’ll back it up. You guys must realize this, this sport is called boxing. It’s not called wrestling or grappling. The sports called boxing. And that’s what I do best. That’s why I’m pound for pound the best boxer in the world.

R#1: And you want to win Dancing with the Stars even though ti could take into November schedule wise?

FM: Absolutely. I’m in it to win it.

R#1: How are you doing?

FM: I’m doing tremendous. I’m going to go on the tour and work on my routine a little bit more.

R#2: That’s going to be filmed here in L.A.?

FM: Yes.

R#2: Will you train here while you film?

FM: Yeah we’ll train here a little bit. Vegas and L.A.

GM: Floyd, are you at a point where you will fight once a year or will you decide that once you are done with this fight?

FM: That’s what I am trying to say. I’m basically retired. What it is, I called Ricky Hatton’s bluff. See he didn’t think I was going to come out of retirement. He thought he would just disrespect me. He thought I wasn’t going to say nothing back. So I called his bluff and see if he was ready to take the challenge. He didn’t really want to accept but he didn’t want to feel like he got basically punked in front of his fans. He took the challenge so now we’re here today.

GM: Why didn’t this fight happen sooner at junior welterweight?

FM: I’m bigger in England than he is. I’m bigger in his country than he is. Believe me I am. (Silence) Okay. Okay. He bigger in England. I’m more known worldwide. And I’m real.

GM: Before he fought Kostya Tsyzu, you said on ESPN that you would fight him in England. Then he beat Kostya Tsyzu, he made an offer to you guys and you turned it down.

Leonard Ellerbe: Let me answer that question. First off, in the business of boxing, the B-side can never offer the A-side anything. First and foremost. Ricky Hatton can’t offer Floyd Mayweather a damn thing. It goes the other way around. When the time came to talk about making a fight with Ricky Hatton, he priced himself out, asked for a ridiculous amount in the 12-13 million dollar range. And that was about 2 years ago.

FM: How can a between a 1-3 million dollar fighter ask for 12-13? That’s basically saying he don’t want the fight. There are only two fighters in the sport that can demand 20-30 million dollars. That’s me and Oscar. It’s real talk. People know there is no limit to what I can make in this sport.

R#2: You say that you are semi-retired; you may fight once or twice a year. Who out there…let’s say Margarito____

FM: Don’t don’t don’t_____

R#2: Or Cotto_____

FM: Don’t don’t don’t_____

R#2: Or even Mosley_____

FM: Don’t wave those names to me that don’t do numbers. I’m here to talk about Ricky Hatton.

R#2: But____

FM: They don’t do numbers, man. I’m not going to make another fighter famous. Right here this fight is big because it’s country vs. country. There’s nothing bigger than country vs. country. So that’s what makes me a smart businessman with country vs. country.

R#2: What bout Puerto Rico?

FM: Puerto Rico’s America.

R#2: It’s a commonwealth.

FM: That’s America.

Leonard Ellerbe: Let me just say this. Those fighters you named are regional fighters.

FM: Those fighters you talking about are not even doing 100,000 PPVs.

LE: Regional fighters.

FM: Fighters like Cotto can’t even fight in Las Vegas. They turned him and the Mosley fight down. They have to fight in places like Madison Square Garden. And make it look big. They might have a lot more fans than me. Listen. I can go to Madison Square Garden and sell it out in a day if I wanted to. Guess what? There’s only one place that can afford to pay Floyd Mayweather, Jr. And that’s Las Vegas, Nevada.

R#2: So even if they fight each other and do a tournament to see who can fight Mayweather, Jr.____

FM: Tournament? No. I’m the Boss. I’m the President. What I says goes. Real talk when I tell you that.

LE: We’re not even thinking about none of them guys. We’re fighting Ricky Hatton. They got to fight each other. What they do don’t even effect us.

FM: You gotta understand. Fighters call me out because fighters that fight me get the most money. Everybody. They make the most money with me.

LE: Why do you think that only one of those fighters have called Floyd out? It’s because the light bulb finally comes on and he say ‘Man. I can make me a lotta money with Floyd.’ I don’t even want to call their name.

FM: They probably don’t even believe in them self. But they believe in getting their payday. They don’t believe in them self. When a fighter fights Floyd Mayweather, if he loses right? They going to say ‘ whoopee do. He lost to Floyd Mayweather.’

R#2: Do you think Ricky Hatton thinks he can beat you?

Fm: You know what he said. He’s just happy to share the ring with me. It’s a present for him to say his name and mine in the same breath. C’mon man. For what I done for the sport? You’re talking to a living legend. I quit today and five years from now you know I’m going up there in New York.

GM: There’s a school of thought that you avoided the bigger fighters, and by bigger I mean in terms of size and punching power, in order to fight a 140 pounder. You’ve said you beat the best from 140 to 154. Why didn’t this fight happen at 140? Or at more of a catch weight considering he admittedly didn’t look good at this weight against Collazo?

FM: You ready? When I fought at 147, the undisputed welterweight was Baldomir, right?

GM: Right.

FM: When I fought Zab, took care of him, they said that wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t my fault. I make smart business moves. You see the numbers I did on that. I do numbers, man. Floyd Mayweather does numbers.

GM: I’m just talking in terms of fighting. Why didn’t the fight happen at a weight that Hatton is more effective at thus making victory that much more significant for you? Don’t you think beating a man at his best weight means more instead of making him move up to 147?

FM: I didn’t put a gun to his head. I didn’t make him do nothing. It’s like this. I’m the A side. What I says goes.

LE: He’s the Boss.

FM: I’m the Boss. Floyd Mayweather runs the sport of Boxing. It’s no more that Bob Arum, Don King. That stuff is old news, man. It’s about Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions. They’re the two best companies in the sport of boxing. When you get the two best companies together it’s extremely powerful. When you talk about Top Rank. That stuff is old. When you talk about Don King. That stuff is old. Out with the old and in with the new. This is what it is.

GM: Thanks Floyd. Good talking to you.

FM: Thanks, man. Anytime.

PART ONE: INTERVIEW WITH FLOYD MAYWEATHER Jr.
Comments/disputes/questions?
e-mail

Gabriel at: Coyotefeather@gmail.com

Comments/disputes/questions?
e-mail

Gabriel at: Coyotefeather@gmail.com