by David P. Greisman

There have been reports in the past about how the owner of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, had made a play for Floyd Mayweather to fight in the arena. Mayweather’s two fights with Marcos Maidana have alas ended up in his usual home of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather was asked about fighting in New York City in an interview with a small group of reporters on July 14.

Bob Velin, USA Today: This will be your 10th consecutive fight at the MGM Grand. Is there anywhere else that you’d like to fight before your career ends?

Mayweather: “Like I said before, it’s always been one of my ultimate goals was to fight in New York City. Before the Barclays Center was built, I always wanted to fight in Madison Square Garden, but you know Barclays Center is making a lot of noise right now. I had a chance to sit down with the owner. We talked about some big thigns. We talked about some numbers. But of course things take time. Things take time. As of right now, I’m loyal to who I’m with, and I’ll always be loyal to who I’m with.”

BoxingScene.com: The thing we always hear is that the tax implications in New York as compared to Nevada could play into your decision. How do the taxes in New York affect your decision to fight there?

Mayweather: “Right now the only thing we can talk is the city of Las Vegas, is the only thing we can really talk about. That’s where we’re fighting at. If a fight presents itself in New York City, then I will approach it the same way. But there’s nothing like a Las Vegas Mayweather weekend. You get a chance to do a little bit of everything. There’s nothing but the biggest and best stars come out, and everybody come to the event and enjoy themselves. That’s what it’s about.”

BoxingScene.com: But the bite the taxes would take out of your paycheck…

Mayweather (cutting in): “Once again, the fight is in Las Vegas.”

BoxingScene.com: But you were saying that you want to fight in New York. I’m asking…

Mayweather (cutting in): “I said it’s always been one of my ultimate goals. That’s what I said.”

BoxingScene.com: And so would that preclude you from achieving your ultimate goal?

Mayweather: “If it don’t happen, it don’t happen. My concern right now, like I said before, the city of Las Vegas have been great to me, and I love the city of Las Vegas. New York City is one of the best cities in the world. But Las Vegas, Sept. 13, we’re going to do it again.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com