By Mark Vester

WBC welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. has made his first public comments about the biggest challenge of his career, and it has nothing to do with boxing. Mayweather, was revealed on Monday as being one of the contestants for the next season of ABC's popular reality program "Dancing with The Stars."

Mayweather, in a recent interview with David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press , said he practiced ballroom dancing with his partner Karina Smirnoff last Sunday and found it a lot harder than he anticipated. The show, one of the most popular on television, will certainly make him a much bigger household name.

"To be honest, when I first did it, I wanted to quit, But I'm a true champion, and true champions don't quit," Mayweather said. "It's an unreal, unbelievable opportunity. It's a new test, and I've got a lot to learn. It's a true test. But I think I can learn it."

The paper reports that the show's first telecast is Sept. 24 the final is Nov. 24, which is two weeks before his Dec. 8 pay-per-view showdown with Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand is Las Vegas.

Critics are already pouncing on Mayweather for particpating in the reality show while training for a major fight like Hatton at the same time. Mayweather feels the ballroom dancing will help him with his balance in the ring. He further said that he's more worried about his dancing abilities on the show than the actual fight with Hatton, someone that he doesn't view as a problem.

"I think the dancing will help me for my boxing, to be honest," Mayweather said. "I think it will help me with my balance. I already have great balance, but this is a different kind of balance. The fight, I'm not really worried about. I know I can handle that. You don't just have 38 fights, and 38 good nights, by chance. I know what I'm doing, as far as the fight."

"I can dance, but this is different from hip-hop dancing. Your hands have got to be turned a certain way, your legs have got to be turned a certain way. It's like boxing, sort of. A lot of things are like boxing, like how you turn off the pivot. I'll be good at it, but I won't be great. It takes 15, 20 years to be great."

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