Floyd Mayweather Guardian Article- "Boxing is easy. Life is much harder"

The following is from today's Guardian (UK). It made the front page of the website this morning too. It's an interesting read. Quality newspapers that publish boxing articles every now and then produce the best articles. No agenda's being pushed like the garbage websites and writers do that are commonly posted here. It's praiseworthy yet critical. The man they once called Pretty Boy sinks his bruised hands into an iron bucket filled with ice. In a stifling gym behind a grimy side-street in downtown Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather Jr bows his head as the cold eases the hurt in his knuckles and joints. As the world's best boxer, Mayweather's fists have dazzled every one of his opponents while compiling a perfect 41-0 record that stretches across 15 years. After an intense afternoon of sparring, the only sound that can be heard is the soft crunch of ice as Mayweather looks up with a curious smile. In the mood to be as charming as he is compelling, the fighter shows me his glistening hands. They look surprisingly small. "Yeah," Mayweather says. "These are very small hands." They still earn him millions every time he fights. This Saturday, at the MGM Grand in Vegas, surrounded by glitzy high-rollers, Mayweather will serve up a timely reminder of why his nickname these days is "Money". Pay-per-view figures for his WBC world title welterweight bout against Victor Ortiz, who is 10 years younger at the age of 24, will ensure Mayweather racks up another multimillion-dollar purse. He will seem a long way then from the sickly hookers and junkies who limp down the street a block beyond the boxing gym he owns. Mayweather finds refuge here from his trouble in real life. His most obvious problems are listed in the unresolved charges of assault, battery and coercion laid by various people, from the estranged mother of his children, to different security guards who claim to have been punched by Mayweather. He is also embroiled in an epic war with his father, Floyd Sr, which erupted again last month on HBO as the two men fought bitterly and crudely in this very gym. The scars of their relationship run deep – and can be traced back to the moment when Floyd Sr, then a professional boxer, held up baby Floyd as his shield when he was shot in the late 1970s. Years later Big Floyd ended up in jail, after being busted for cocaine-dealing, and he had to allow his brother, Roger, to become Pretty Boy's trainer. The wounds have never healed. Mayweather Jr now has different matters in mind. "I'm going back to business with these hands," he says, returning them to the ice-bucket. "They let me live my life." A few hours earlier, "Money" Mayweather says, he had won a big bet. "A hundred thousand dollars," he murmurs with husky drama. "But I once won a million dollars on a bet. Yeah, I've lost a few big ones. Once I lost two hundred thousand dollars. It's my money. I can do what I want with it. But you can tell by my boxing record what I'm more used to doing." We are jammed together on chairs so close, nose to nose, that it is hard to stop sweating – even if Mayweather has more of an excuse after a riveting display of his training regime over the preceding 90 minutes. His iron discipline contrasts with the chaos that threatens to engulf him outside boxing. Mayweather has been accused of many crimes and lapses in decency but few fighters can match his dedication. Even when out of the ring, as he has been the past 16 months, he is never much over his fighting weight. And he is rarely far from the gym – no matter how many court orders are heaped upon him. Such impressive commitment has flowered out of a desolate place inside him. "Exactly," he says quietly. "You know, as a young child, I lay in my bedroom and I swore to myself then: 'I'm not going to smoke and I'm not going to drink.' And I said I'm not going to just say that when I'm a kid. I'm going to stick to that as an adult. I kept that in mind my whole life." His mother was ravaged by drug addiction; and her plight hardened his resolve. "My mother, you know, had a difficult time. She drank. She smoked. She was on drugs. Of course my dad was a drug dealer. A hustler. You know my background. But it's not so abnormal. Most young black people go through that same life." Mayweather's eyes glaze briefly. "I would lie in bed, and I was nine years old, and say to myself: 'I want to be the richest man in the world.' I've come a long way from there. Yeah, I'm loud. But I'm backing it up. I'm still hungry, dedicated. I'm one of those very strong individuals." Mayweather denies the allegations against him, insisting that the legal cases are motivated by vengeance or greed. "My mentality is the same – always. It comes with the territory. All kinds of things have been said and I just believe what will be, will be. If I'm guilty, come get me. If I'm innocent, it all melts away. I know the truth and I'm not worried. You have ups and down but I got the right lady in my life now . When we're alone she talks to me about certain things and only wants the best for me. Some people are just right for you." Waiting for Ortiz, his dangerous opponent, does not seem to unsettle Mayweather. "Boxing is real easy," he says. "Life is much harder. That's why there's a difference between being talented and being God-gifted. That's one of the gifts God gave me: to be the best. I feel a responsibility to live up to this gift. I ain't got nothing against other legendary champions before me. But I'm the king of my era." There is another king of the ring right now. Manny Pacquiao is a real-life governor in the Philippines as well as the only fighter who cuts as riveting a figure as Mayweather. Pacquiao appears his opposite in many ways – he is humble and beloved, softly spoken and self-sacrificing. He is also a real fighter, a threshing-machine in the ring, while Mayweather is an artist, a defensive master whose boxing skills bear comparison with some of the greatest names in this battered old business. Mayweather, however, needs to fight Pacquiao in a showdown that would test him like no other. It would be the richest fight in boxing history but negotiations have broken down repeatedly – partly because of Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao should be subjected to random drugs testing. Both men have risen through the weight divisions but Mayweather argues that Pacquiao's extraordinary climb needs closer scrutiny. Last month they reached another impasse, with Pacquiao's lawyers asking a Nevada court to "issue a default judgment" after efforts to subject Mayweather to charges of defamation failed. Mayweather, meanwhile, has avoided a supposed 20 dates to appear in court against Pacquiao. Money smiles his sweetest smile. "I don't worry about that kind of stuff. That's why I pay my lawyers so much." His trainer, uncle Roger, escalated tensions by claiming that Britain's Amir Khan, who trains alongside Pacquiao while emerging as a seriously credible opponent for Mayweather, must be on "the same juice". Khan has vehemently denied the allegations and considers them to be nonsense. Does Mayweather Jr share his uncle's highly dubious view of Khan? "It's not my place to speak because you know how fighters are these days. They get the lawyers into court real quick. They go crying to the courtroom. But you know what? My courtroom is that ring." Will he ever settle his differences with Pacquiao in a fistic courtroom? "I couldn't care less," Mayweather sighs. "I already know I'm the best." I think Mayweather would beat Pacquiao, in a fascinating contest, but some venerable experts disagree. "They're wrong," Mayweather says, pointing to Pacquiao's record. "With three losses and two draws he'll never be in my league. He's just a fighter who has been unbeaten for six years. I've been unbeaten 15 years." It still seems difficult to believe Mayweather and Pacquiao, who both spend or give away money as fast as they make it, will not eventually fight. Ortiz, an aggressive southpaw who pressurises his opponents, is also cast in the Pacquiao mould and could offer Mayweather the perfect preparation for his defining contest. "They say I have problems with southpaws," Mayweather grins. "Well, the last time I checked I was 41 and 0. So it's obvious I'm doing something right. I make good fighters and even great future Hall of Fame guys look ordinary. But if I beat a guy that is 10 years younger than me, they'll say, 'Floyd, you had too much experience.' If I beat a guy around my age they'll say he's over the hill. I never get my just due." He would get deserved credit if he fought Pacquiao or, failing that, Khan. The British fighter has the look of a man on the verge of a considerable challenge. "Every time I fight someone they say they're going to challenge me. But if Amir Khan wants to fight me he has to get past Jesse Vargas . If he fights Vargas would I give him a shot? Absolutely." Mayweather against Khan should happen – partly because the American is so smitten with Britain and thrilled that Saturday's fight will be screened in this country on Primetime. He is almost endearing when describing his British fans as the world's boxing connoisseurs. "I am blessed to be embraced by them."