By Chris Robinson
While the Floyd Mayweather-50 Cent feud has reached new lows, there was a wrinkle that could have easily gone unnoticed on Friday given the outlandish nature of the Twitter war that 50 and Floyd were engaging in.
It was assumed that Mayweather and 50 Cent were going to collaborate on the now defunct TMT Promotions before the company was dissolved following their split. 50 Cent still finds himself aligned with IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib, former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, and super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell, whom Mayweather introduced him to.
On Friday afternoon, Dirrell was spotted training inside of Johnny Tocco’s Boxing Gym in Las Vegas. And while the 29-year old looked lively and sharp during his session, it was the man overseeing his duties, Floyd Mayweather Sr., who caught my eye.
Mayweather had mentioned to me on Aug. 3 that he was possibly going to be working with Dirrell but that was before his son and 50 Cent had their falling out. It did seem a bit odd at first to see Floyd Jr.’s father working with the man he now regards as the enemy, and I gave Senior the chance to explain how everything fell into place.
“I got a call from [Tommy Smalls], one of the guys that used to work with my son,” stated Floyd Sr. “He called me and then I talked to 50 Cent. That’s 50 Cent’s fighter right now and he asked would I train him. He said ‘Please say yes’. That’s what he said and I told him ‘No problem’. We’ve trained this whole week right here and everything’s looking to be pretty good right now.”
Dirrell biggest drawback in recent years has simply been his inactivity, as he has fought just twice in the past 31 months. As far as pure talent, however, the Flint, Michigan native was blessed with uncanny speed, reflexes, and athleticism.
Floyd Sr. loves the idea of further polishing his new pupil’s skills.
“I think I can get him to be world champion, I definitely believe that,” said Mayweather. “I think that he got the qualities. There’s different things that he got though that I got to enhance him on. There’s things that I go to do. I’m just going with the overall picture. I think that’s he’s a talented fighter and I definitely think you’re looking at the next world champion.”
Floyd Sr. also mentioned that he will soon be training Dirrell out of a new location, claiming that 50 Cent has invested in a new gym right off of the
strip.
“It’s right next to the Top Rank Gym,” Mayweather added. “They want to get it up in about two weeks. Right now the gym looks pretty nice the way it is now. But 50’s getting ready to move into that gym and take over that gym.”
As for his take on the bad blood between Floyd Jr. and 50 Cent, Mayweather chose not to speak too much on the drama.
“Look here, that’s 50 and Floyd and I’m Floyd Sr.,” he revealed. “I don’t even know nothing about it to be honest.”
On the surface you would expect Floyd Jr. to have uneasy feelings about his father working with someone he now appears to despise. For the elder Mayweather, he still seems open to having a relationship and insists that he isn’t holding anything up on his end.
“Whatever happened, I’m pretty sure we’re going to talk one day,” added Mayweather. “He’s not pressed to talk to me. He got out of jail; I haven’t heard from him, I haven’t seen him. It’s on him. That’s my son, that’s the way he wants to be, fine.
“That is my son, that is my blood, and the apple don’t fall far from the tree.”
