Ellerbe: Mayweather Being Villain Won't Hurt Movie Run

By Edward Chaykovsky

Ever since Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26KOs) introduced his "Money Mayweather" persona, he became the fighter that everybody loved to hate.

Fans from far and wide purchased his pay-per-view events with the hope that his opponent would pull off the upset. It's part of the reason why Mayweather's name is associated with three of the most successful pay-per-view events in boxing history.

But this coming Saturday night, Mayweather will enter the ring for what he claims is the final time in his professional career.

He will defend his WBC/WBA welterweight titles in the headline bout of a Showtime Pay-Per-View card from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

After his retirement, Mayweather will concentrate on his growing promotional company, Mayweather Promotions.

As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, he will also pursue a possible career in the movie industry.

According to Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, there have been several offers for Mayweather to appear in major motion pictures.

"We've gotten a lot of offers for him to do several movies," Ellerbe told Sports Illustrated.

Ellerbe was asked if Mayweather's longtime role as the bad guy will affect his pursuit of a career in Hollywood. He says Mayweather's heel persona was just that, a persona to promote events and most people have not seen the personality of the "real" Mayweather.

"Actually not [his Money persona will not affect him in Hollywood], because boxing has been great to him. The persona that he's built for many, many years....people have not really gotten a chance to see the real Floyd Mayweather. The persona that they see is Money Mayweather and there is a totally different side to Floyd Mayweather," Ellerbe said.