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Floyd Mayweather Sr.
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The life and career of ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Mayweather has been well documented for all of us to take in. We have had a chance to witness his greatness inside the ropes while also learning of his behavior outside of boxing that is driven by a brash nature and what many would call a huge ego.
Floyd Mayweather is the type of fighter people seem to love or hate. When he’s at his best he is picking world class opponents apart with his skills and overall cunning of the sport. At his worst he is seemingly caught up with himself while driving potential fans away from him. As an admitted fan I say he is great for the sport, but won’t deny the fact that he has some rough edges that could be smoothed out.
With every great fighter comes a complex story from his or her first day on earth. It is no different with 'Pretty Boy' and if there is one person who played the most integral part in developing him as a fighter and as a person it very well could be his father, Floyd Sr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Sr. was with his son from the beginning and helped mold him into the fighter he is today. For various reasons Floyd Joy and his son have gone their separate ways after experiencing many emotional highs together. Floyd Jr. is currently active as one of the finest fighters in the world, pound-for-pound, while Floyd Sr. has kept busy as a trainer, with Oscar De La Hoya being his most notable charge.
I called Floyd Sr. this weekend to get his thoughts on the upcoming showdown between Zahir Raheem and Acelino Freitas. Mayweather has been rumored to be linked with Raheem as of late and I knew he would have plenty to say, but what started out as a random discussion of the sweet science quickly turned into an in-depth discussion on Papa Floyd’s troubled relationship with his son.
Floyd Joy is a colorful man who is quite a character when in good spirits, but during this conversation he wasn’t in the joking mood and had plenty to say about his son and why he has felt slighted over the years by many around him. This is what Floyd Joy had to say, from his opening remarks about the Raheem-Freitas clash to his closing comments on why he carries himself with such pride to this very day.
Zahir Raheem vs. Acelino Freitas on April 29th…
‘With me training Raheem it isn’t even going to be that close of a fight. We just have to get everything taken care of. I don’t think much of Freitas anyway. I was glad to see Freitas give up against Corrales. It let me know that he was a quitter. Not that Raheem hits as hard as Diego Corrales, but he has better skills than Diego Corrales. My opinion is that I can see Raheem hitting Freitas many more times than Diego did. Diego is a good puncher but sometimes he only seems to throw big punches. A guy can beat you worse by picking you apart all day. When a guy hits you from all different angles it can make you quit as well. Once a guy quits that shows you that he will quit forever. I say, never stop. You never quit in this game.
Negating Freitas’ power…
‘Power is nothing if you can’t find anything to hit. That’s definitely what we will work on. Freitas will be looking for something to hit but he’ll be getting hit all along. This is just a bad matchup for Freitas. He can try to box, but he doesn’t know how to box. I do know that. He’s only as good as what he’s been shown and I know he hasn’t been looking any better than the last time we saw him.
His son Floyd Mayweather taking on Zab Judah April 8th…
‘There isn’t too much to say about this fight. It’s so plain to see that Ray Charles could see it. All Zab did in his last fight was show who he really was. He hasn’t fought anyone anyway. The only person he fought ended up knocking him out. When he fought somebody real, he got knocked out.
From day one…
‘People know that Floyd is the best fighter in the world because his Daddy trained him. I might not be training him now but I taught him everything he knows. His Uncle has been out in Vegas for 27 years and Floyd is 28, so who do you think trained him from the beginning? It was me. It’s so plain to see that Ray Charles could see that one too. I don’t think it was a miracle that Floyd became the fighter he is today. Somebody had to have been there to show him from day one.
Father knows best…
‘I’m not going to speak bad about little Floyd or my brother, but there is one thing that is true; I’m the ruler of everything that happened with my son’s place in boxing. I can show you what my son was like fighting when he was 16 years old, and he sure isn’t any better now than he was then. Everything that you see Floyd do in the ring is because of the skills that I put in him. He’s not doing anything more than he was doing when he was 16 years old. When I got out of prison I came and trained him but along the way we had our differences and that was it. Like I said, people decide what way they want to go in life but at the end of the day it is his decision. You have to make your own decisions. I know that father knows best and it’s been proven already.
(In the second part of my interview with Floyd, he talks about why he feels he was slighted by his kids, his role in the Mayweather legacy, the troubles in his career, and the reason why he carries himself with such pride.)
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2006
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INTERVIEW Part I of II By Chris Robinson, BRC (February 13, 2006)
