FLOYD MAYWEATHER SOUNDS OFF ON HOW TODAY'S FIGHTERS ARE MISLED: "I'M HERE TO TELL YOU, YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT!"
BT: Floyd, a lot of young fighters look at your career as the blueprint to success. If you could give them some advice on how to navigate the ups and downs of this tough sport, what would it be?
FM: There's a lot of young fighters out there that are real young. I mean, you have a lot of young guys out there that can fight their ass off. There was a young kid the other day that I seen in my boxing gym that was working. I don't even know his name. He's like the top amateur in the country. Small guy. Very, very, I mean, reminds me of myself when I was young. You got fighters that are 16 and 17 that want to turn professional. I tell them to focus on school. That's what's important. School is important. My dad is working with a little young fighter that's a hell of a fighter; little 16-year-old kid, Devin Haney, little young kid. Do I want to promote the kid? Absolutely, but I think right now, at the age of 16, what's very important is education. Education is very, very, very important for these kids. I wasn't fortunate enough; you know what happened with me. My mother was on drugs. I didn't come up in a stable home. My father went to prison. When I was 16, I was on my own. I had to become a man at the age of 16. But everyone, all these kids are rushing to turn professional. Professional boxing is wear and tear on the body, honestly. To all fighters that's reading this interview right now, remember, the most important thing about boxing is not taking punishment; dishing it out, but not taking punishment.
BT: To avoid taking that punishment though, you've got to have the right tools, the right technique, and the right team in place. Do you think this younger generation of fighters are getting the type of training and promotion they need to prepare them for a long, successful career in this sport?
FM: There's a lot of good trainers out there that don't get credit. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is a good trainer. We have another guy that we're working with that fought Roy Jones, Lou Del Valle, he's a hell of a boxing trainer. Cornelius Boza Edwards, you know, he played a major, major role in my career. He never gets the credit that's due. When I was with Top Rank as a fighter, he was working in the Top Rank office. He was really the matchmaker. Believe it or not, Boza Edwards was really the matchmaker. That's who was the matchmaker at Top Rank when I was over there. They can speak about certain individuals, but I know Boza used to do all the ground work.
BT: Man, that seems like such a long time ago when you were with Top Rank.
FM: Yes, very long ago. I was a professional fighter for 19 years. I was with a promoter who I thought wanted the best for me. When it was all said and done, the promoter only wanted what was best for him. My fighting style, I consider my style world-wide, so if a promoter was to promote, I would want to spread out and be promoted everywhere. That's the only thing I wanted. I didn't want to just be promoted in one area, but that's what they do, and they didn't even promote me in the urban market. I was a fighter that was promoted in the Spanish and Latino area only instead of my promoter stepping outside the box going to find someone that can help take me to the next level in the urban community and worldwide. You gotta realize, sometimes you gotta spend a certain amount because you gotta look at the bigger picture and see what you're going to make long-term and on the backend. I'm not just saying this just to say this. If I was a fighter right now in this era, these fighters think, "Just because I'm with Al Haymon, I'ma get the same perks Floyd Mayweather got. Just because I'm with Al Haymon, I'ma have the same type of Bugatti." This took years and years and years of hard work, not just inside the ring, not just in the boxing gym, but outside the ring with me and Al working day in and day out, up late, us working together as a team. That's how we got to where we got to.
BT: You mentioned not being promoted in the urban market. There are black fighters that are technically better than others inside the ring, but they have a more difficult time being marketed and really crossing over outside of the ring. Why is that?
FM: Give me an example!
BT: Okay, take someone like Errol Spence, or better yet, Terence Crawford?
BT: Floyd, a lot of young fighters look at your career as the blueprint to success. If you could give them some advice on how to navigate the ups and downs of this tough sport, what would it be?
FM: There's a lot of young fighters out there that are real young. I mean, you have a lot of young guys out there that can fight their ass off. There was a young kid the other day that I seen in my boxing gym that was working. I don't even know his name. He's like the top amateur in the country. Small guy. Very, very, I mean, reminds me of myself when I was young. You got fighters that are 16 and 17 that want to turn professional. I tell them to focus on school. That's what's important. School is important. My dad is working with a little young fighter that's a hell of a fighter; little 16-year-old kid, Devin Haney, little young kid. Do I want to promote the kid? Absolutely, but I think right now, at the age of 16, what's very important is education. Education is very, very, very important for these kids. I wasn't fortunate enough; you know what happened with me. My mother was on drugs. I didn't come up in a stable home. My father went to prison. When I was 16, I was on my own. I had to become a man at the age of 16. But everyone, all these kids are rushing to turn professional. Professional boxing is wear and tear on the body, honestly. To all fighters that's reading this interview right now, remember, the most important thing about boxing is not taking punishment; dishing it out, but not taking punishment.
BT: To avoid taking that punishment though, you've got to have the right tools, the right technique, and the right team in place. Do you think this younger generation of fighters are getting the type of training and promotion they need to prepare them for a long, successful career in this sport?
FM: There's a lot of good trainers out there that don't get credit. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is a good trainer. We have another guy that we're working with that fought Roy Jones, Lou Del Valle, he's a hell of a boxing trainer. Cornelius Boza Edwards, you know, he played a major, major role in my career. He never gets the credit that's due. When I was with Top Rank as a fighter, he was working in the Top Rank office. He was really the matchmaker. Believe it or not, Boza Edwards was really the matchmaker. That's who was the matchmaker at Top Rank when I was over there. They can speak about certain individuals, but I know Boza used to do all the ground work.
BT: Man, that seems like such a long time ago when you were with Top Rank.
FM: Yes, very long ago. I was a professional fighter for 19 years. I was with a promoter who I thought wanted the best for me. When it was all said and done, the promoter only wanted what was best for him. My fighting style, I consider my style world-wide, so if a promoter was to promote, I would want to spread out and be promoted everywhere. That's the only thing I wanted. I didn't want to just be promoted in one area, but that's what they do, and they didn't even promote me in the urban market. I was a fighter that was promoted in the Spanish and Latino area only instead of my promoter stepping outside the box going to find someone that can help take me to the next level in the urban community and worldwide. You gotta realize, sometimes you gotta spend a certain amount because you gotta look at the bigger picture and see what you're going to make long-term and on the backend. I'm not just saying this just to say this. If I was a fighter right now in this era, these fighters think, "Just because I'm with Al Haymon, I'ma get the same perks Floyd Mayweather got. Just because I'm with Al Haymon, I'ma have the same type of Bugatti." This took years and years and years of hard work, not just inside the ring, not just in the boxing gym, but outside the ring with me and Al working day in and day out, up late, us working together as a team. That's how we got to where we got to.
BT: You mentioned not being promoted in the urban market. There are black fighters that are technically better than others inside the ring, but they have a more difficult time being marketed and really crossing over outside of the ring. Why is that?
FM: Give me an example!
BT: Okay, take someone like Errol Spence, or better yet, Terence Crawford?
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