By Robert Morales
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has made it very clear during the promotion for his welterweight title defense Saturday against Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero at MGM Grand in Las Vegas that if there is one thing he learned about his two-month jail stint last year, it's that his freedom is very important to him.
"Once you lose your freedom, you understand that," he said.
That's one of the reasons why Mayweather isn't likely to land back in jail, said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which along with Mayweather Promotions is staging Saturday's card. Schaefer likened Mayweather to Golden Boy fighter Bernard Hopkins, who in the 1980s served nearly five years in prison and never got in trouble again.
"When Bernard Hopkins left prison, he vowed to change his life and never go back and he certainly has lived up to that," Schaefer said. "I think you will see the same here. The way Floyd talks about it, he always sort of like comes back to that. Bernard, too. The time in prison still comes up with him. I think it was definitely a life-changing moment for Floyd, as it was for Bernard."
Schaefer pointed out that Hopkins has become a role model.
"I think that is exactly where Floyd is headed," Schaefer said.