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Mayweather speaks to reporters about his upcoming match with Marquez & speaks on Ray Leonard, Duran, & Julio Cesar Chavez
When asked about his two-year layoff, Roger interjected. “I know one thing about layoffs. The greatest fighters in the world had layoffs. Sugar Ray Leonard had a five year layoff. He beat Hagler. Sugar Ray Robinson was laid off three years. Ali was laid off three years. Floyd isn’t the only guy that’s been laid off in boxing. They were all laid off anyway. All of them who were good, who we call great, they had layoffs, and they all still had spectacular performances.”
“We can’t say what’s a long break,” Floyd added. “I feel fast and strong, and my timing is there. We’re in the gym everyday, and we’re looking good. I feel better than when I left. I haven’t had a break since 1987. I gave my body a chance to heal, and I grew mentally as a person. And I feel good.”
When asked how he integrates defense and offense together so seamlessly when most fighters don’t, he said that it’s about being well-rounded. “I think that makes a complete fighter. I can fight going forward, I can fight going backwards. Being able to adapt and adjust and doing it in a good way and doing it in a winning fashion is key. I think a lot of fighters are taught one way. Just like Ricky Hatton. Bull dog, straight ahead. They say he’s got a lot of heart. Heart only takes you so far at the top level. I’m a thinking fighter. Be intelligent. Be smart. If I got to beat him going backwards, that’s what I’ll do. The thing with me is I was taught more than just one way. Some days, we work the pads going forward. Some days, we work the pads going backwards. The day of the fight, we adjust for the fight.
“After you go so far in your career, people want to see failure,” he continued. “The world is full of negativity. People just want to see your downfall. When I go out there, I represent for America, which is the country I represented in the Olympic Games. I will never forget where I’m from. It’s just like in every athlete, they try and find a flaw to bring us down. That’s how it always is. I’m strong-minded. I have a good team. I’m hungry. You’ve got to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad. I don’t read nothing. Me as an athlete, I don’t read articles. I try and focus on my job, go home and hang out with the children and live my life in a clean, positive way. Things happen in life. It’s obvious I’m where I am because this is where God wants me to be. We all know God don’t make mistakes.”
He spoke briefly about working with Roger. “Our chemistry is great. There’s no arguments, it’s fun, and he’s not hounding me. He lets me work. He does what he has to do. It’s always the same game plan. Like I said before, Roger is a great guy. I love him, and I’m just wondering why he hasn’t gotten trainer of the year? And his fighter has been dominating since 1996? He’s still a trainer that’s undefeated also. I feel my uncle should get the credit he truly deserves.”
“I don’t want worry about training,” Roger grumbled. “I don’t need that to tell you how good I am. You see how good I am. I don’t need no award to tell me how good I am. You see these guys with trainer of the year and they don’t even train nobody. It don’t mean ****. I’m telling you that now.”
And his father’s role for this fight? “He don’t have no name to what he is. He’s my father. He’s there to support me. My dad understands that Roger is my trainer. I love when he comes down to the boxing gym and supports me. Who wouldn’t love that? It’s like when you play little league football, you want your parents on the side. I feel confident anyway. But it makes me smile when my mother comes to see me work at the gym. I’m happy. But, even if they’re not there, I’m happy. My father has other fighters he has to work with. He comes to the gym. He’s been there the last four or five days.”
When so many young people seem to be interested in other sports, such as basketball and football, Mayweather discussed ways that he could inspire interest in youth boxing. “To be honest, my fan base with children is huge. We’re going to have to come up with a whole new game plan for the sport of boxing. We can show a lot more boxing on just regular cable TV. Get a lot of young kids interested. Kids are watching certain channels. You’re going to have to get boxing and promote on those certain channels.”
Floyd alluded to how important it was for him to keep his perfect record intact. “It’s extremely important for me to go out there and dominate. I don’t want this to be like Sugar Ray Leonard and the Roberto Duran first fight. I have to go out there and be smart and intelligent and listen to my uncle Roger. If I do that, I’ll be A-okay. When you go out there with an undefeated record – there’s no pressure on none of these fighters because they have nothing to lose! If Marquez gets beat or gets knocked out, they will still love him because he lost to the best. When I face Pacquiao, win, lose or draw, his country is going to still love him. In the U.S., it doesn’t work like that. We have to work harder to keep that love. You fight Mayweather, he’s supposed to win. That’s normal. If someone comes close to winning, that’s abnormal. I’ve done what I had to do in the sport of boxing. Whatever fight presents itself, I’m fine with that. I’m going to handle business. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather.”
He commented about what he did during his time off. “I’m a giver. I love to help people. I love to help families who are less fortunate. The best Christmas I had is when I went to Las Vegas inner city schools and bought all the kids shoes for Christmas. I spent time with my mother. I took my mother to the Ba*****. I spent a lot of one-on-one time with my children. My younger daughter was doing gymnastics and cheerleading. My oldest son was boxing. There’s more than just one side to me.”
When asked if he drew comparisons between Marquez and Julio Cesar Chavez, he said no. “Marquez is not on a level of Chavez at all,” Floyd said. “Chavez is the biggest fighter to ever come out of Mexico, for starters. I think it’s best to say that Marquez is more of a boxer/counter-puncher. But Chavez didn’t get the credit he deserved. He was kind of a good defensive fighter. He took a lot of big shots. I think Marquez opens up too easily. Chavez was a better fighter.”
And his training? “We try to stay well conditioned. If our opponents are throwing 2,000 punches, we want to throw 6,000. If our opponent is throwing 6,000, we’re going to throw 12,000. We want to stay ahead of our opponents. Whatever he’s doing, we want to do it better. We do 20 or 30 or 40 minutes straight. We cut the bell off. We don’t work by no bell. We’ve been boxing nine minutes straight. Our rounds are nine minutes. We got good sparring partners. We’ve got good Mexicans. I’ll be ready. This ain’t no rock throwing contest (in response to a question about Marquez’s training with rocks). It looks good for TV. This is hand-to-hand combat. This is boxing.
When asked about his two-year layoff, Roger interjected. “I know one thing about layoffs. The greatest fighters in the world had layoffs. Sugar Ray Leonard had a five year layoff. He beat Hagler. Sugar Ray Robinson was laid off three years. Ali was laid off three years. Floyd isn’t the only guy that’s been laid off in boxing. They were all laid off anyway. All of them who were good, who we call great, they had layoffs, and they all still had spectacular performances.”
“We can’t say what’s a long break,” Floyd added. “I feel fast and strong, and my timing is there. We’re in the gym everyday, and we’re looking good. I feel better than when I left. I haven’t had a break since 1987. I gave my body a chance to heal, and I grew mentally as a person. And I feel good.”
When asked how he integrates defense and offense together so seamlessly when most fighters don’t, he said that it’s about being well-rounded. “I think that makes a complete fighter. I can fight going forward, I can fight going backwards. Being able to adapt and adjust and doing it in a good way and doing it in a winning fashion is key. I think a lot of fighters are taught one way. Just like Ricky Hatton. Bull dog, straight ahead. They say he’s got a lot of heart. Heart only takes you so far at the top level. I’m a thinking fighter. Be intelligent. Be smart. If I got to beat him going backwards, that’s what I’ll do. The thing with me is I was taught more than just one way. Some days, we work the pads going forward. Some days, we work the pads going backwards. The day of the fight, we adjust for the fight.
“After you go so far in your career, people want to see failure,” he continued. “The world is full of negativity. People just want to see your downfall. When I go out there, I represent for America, which is the country I represented in the Olympic Games. I will never forget where I’m from. It’s just like in every athlete, they try and find a flaw to bring us down. That’s how it always is. I’m strong-minded. I have a good team. I’m hungry. You’ve got to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad. I don’t read nothing. Me as an athlete, I don’t read articles. I try and focus on my job, go home and hang out with the children and live my life in a clean, positive way. Things happen in life. It’s obvious I’m where I am because this is where God wants me to be. We all know God don’t make mistakes.”
He spoke briefly about working with Roger. “Our chemistry is great. There’s no arguments, it’s fun, and he’s not hounding me. He lets me work. He does what he has to do. It’s always the same game plan. Like I said before, Roger is a great guy. I love him, and I’m just wondering why he hasn’t gotten trainer of the year? And his fighter has been dominating since 1996? He’s still a trainer that’s undefeated also. I feel my uncle should get the credit he truly deserves.”
“I don’t want worry about training,” Roger grumbled. “I don’t need that to tell you how good I am. You see how good I am. I don’t need no award to tell me how good I am. You see these guys with trainer of the year and they don’t even train nobody. It don’t mean ****. I’m telling you that now.”
And his father’s role for this fight? “He don’t have no name to what he is. He’s my father. He’s there to support me. My dad understands that Roger is my trainer. I love when he comes down to the boxing gym and supports me. Who wouldn’t love that? It’s like when you play little league football, you want your parents on the side. I feel confident anyway. But it makes me smile when my mother comes to see me work at the gym. I’m happy. But, even if they’re not there, I’m happy. My father has other fighters he has to work with. He comes to the gym. He’s been there the last four or five days.”
When so many young people seem to be interested in other sports, such as basketball and football, Mayweather discussed ways that he could inspire interest in youth boxing. “To be honest, my fan base with children is huge. We’re going to have to come up with a whole new game plan for the sport of boxing. We can show a lot more boxing on just regular cable TV. Get a lot of young kids interested. Kids are watching certain channels. You’re going to have to get boxing and promote on those certain channels.”
Floyd alluded to how important it was for him to keep his perfect record intact. “It’s extremely important for me to go out there and dominate. I don’t want this to be like Sugar Ray Leonard and the Roberto Duran first fight. I have to go out there and be smart and intelligent and listen to my uncle Roger. If I do that, I’ll be A-okay. When you go out there with an undefeated record – there’s no pressure on none of these fighters because they have nothing to lose! If Marquez gets beat or gets knocked out, they will still love him because he lost to the best. When I face Pacquiao, win, lose or draw, his country is going to still love him. In the U.S., it doesn’t work like that. We have to work harder to keep that love. You fight Mayweather, he’s supposed to win. That’s normal. If someone comes close to winning, that’s abnormal. I’ve done what I had to do in the sport of boxing. Whatever fight presents itself, I’m fine with that. I’m going to handle business. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather.”
He commented about what he did during his time off. “I’m a giver. I love to help people. I love to help families who are less fortunate. The best Christmas I had is when I went to Las Vegas inner city schools and bought all the kids shoes for Christmas. I spent time with my mother. I took my mother to the Ba*****. I spent a lot of one-on-one time with my children. My younger daughter was doing gymnastics and cheerleading. My oldest son was boxing. There’s more than just one side to me.”
When asked if he drew comparisons between Marquez and Julio Cesar Chavez, he said no. “Marquez is not on a level of Chavez at all,” Floyd said. “Chavez is the biggest fighter to ever come out of Mexico, for starters. I think it’s best to say that Marquez is more of a boxer/counter-puncher. But Chavez didn’t get the credit he deserved. He was kind of a good defensive fighter. He took a lot of big shots. I think Marquez opens up too easily. Chavez was a better fighter.”
And his training? “We try to stay well conditioned. If our opponents are throwing 2,000 punches, we want to throw 6,000. If our opponent is throwing 6,000, we’re going to throw 12,000. We want to stay ahead of our opponents. Whatever he’s doing, we want to do it better. We do 20 or 30 or 40 minutes straight. We cut the bell off. We don’t work by no bell. We’ve been boxing nine minutes straight. Our rounds are nine minutes. We got good sparring partners. We’ve got good Mexicans. I’ll be ready. This ain’t no rock throwing contest (in response to a question about Marquez’s training with rocks). It looks good for TV. This is hand-to-hand combat. This is boxing.
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