By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- More than 5,000 days -- 5,016, to be exact -- have passed since Floyd Mayweather’s last loss, on a disputed decision in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
So much has changed for him, personally and professionally, in the years since, which have included 40 professional victories, pound-for-pound acclaim, world championships in five weight divisions, participation in the richest fight in history, and vast personal riches.
He rarely smiles during a training session, save for when son Koraun, oldest of his four children, comes within sight.
“I think he could be a tremendous fighter,” he said Monday. “But as far as being a fighter like me? I can't say. I don't know what the future holds. Do I steer him? Do I want him to be a fighter? If he does, I want him to be trained by my father. That's where I started from and you always want to go back to the beginning."
He was more interested in talking about the award his daughter, Jirah, received last week for making straight A’s.
"The main thing that I want my children to focus on right now is school,” he said. “That's the thing that's most important right now."
The Mayweather the general public sees is the bombastic personality flashing $100 bills in enormous stacks and trash-talking opponents.
He always has been a different person outside the ring, but moreso now, at age 33, than ever before.
“In camp, I'm Money Mayweather,” he said. “My father is Floyd Joy. My uncle is the Black Mamba. We've all got a character. We're in the entertainment business. We're in the entertainment business, but once we go home, we're just like everybody else. We love our family, we go through ups, we go through downs, but we're some strong individuals and we can survive through anything."
The changes have spilled over into how he approaches training, too.
"When you're 21, 22, it's a little different,” he said. “When you're 21, 22, even though you're in training camp, you're going out clubbing. I didn't have no vice but you're going out clubbing and, in the last three weeks, the last two weeks, you're in the house, just chilling. But now the main thing is just coming to the gym, doing my job, just going home, watching basketball. Just living life. And the main thing in living life is being happy. So that's the main thing, just staying in the house."
Mayweather fights Shane Mosley in an important welterweight clash Saturday night at MGM Grand.
Mosley has not fought since defeating Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24, 2009, and the layoff of more than 15 months is the longest of his career. His previous longest layoff was 10 1/2 months, between a 2007 loss to Miguel Cotto and a 2008 victory over Ricardo Mayorga.
Mayweather is fighting for the first time since a win last September over Juan Manuel Marquez, when he ended a 21 1/2-month layoff.
He said that fight “was to get the cobwebs off” and he has felt sharper during this camp -- in part because his father, Floyd Sr., has played such an prominent part in refocusing him on jabbing and defense.
“I think my father, in the last two camps, has played a major role,” he said. “Like the defense, there's no fighter that can break through my defense, no matter what is said, no matter what you try. It's a defense that can't be broken. When I go out there, there's no pressure on me, because I know that I put the hard work in in the gym. I know that I've got the best coaches, I've got the best team, and I think when you work hard, the only thing you're going to get is great results."
Mayweather gravitated away from using his jab over a period of several years when his father was not in the camp and his uncle Roger was the sole trainer. While Roger Mayweather remains the head trainer, the fighter refers to his uncle and father as “my trainers” now.
"He never jabbed as much as he jabbed with Marquez,” Mayweather Sr. said. “I'm telling him the same thing right now. Keep it in the center of the ring and use your jab. The jab is the key to boxing. If you use your jab, everything else comes off of it -- the hook, the right hand, the uppercut, whatever you've got to throw, it comes off the jab. It's like opening your door.”
Mayweather Sr. also expressed skepticism that Mosley can find a way to penetrate hs son’s defense.
“Can't nobody hardly get through that,” he said. “I have never seen nobody get through it. He's got to get through that first. The only way he can hit Little Floyd is with something lucky."
The younger Mayweather has persevered through 40 fights and more than 5,000 days -- 14-plus years -- of ring perfection because, he said, each training camp is “about pushing yourself harder and harder.”
"When you strive to be the best, you know what it takes,” he said. “And I know what it takes. Like I've said before, I'm trying to leave my mark in the sport of boxing. I'm a part of history. And you don't do that without working hard."
E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
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