By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Las Vegas
Beyond the perks of massive wealth, national celebrity and his standing as one of the two best boxers in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s 40-0 record provides him the ability to answer tough questions simply.
Mayweather, 33, had a news conference Wednesday as he continued preparing for his welterweight showdown against Shane Mosley May 1 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather was asked how this stiff challenge was affecting him.
"There's only two game plans people try against me: bum-rush me or try to out-box me," Mayweather said inside his gym inside a string of small businesses a short drive from the Strip. "They can never do either one.
"You guys ask me the same questions, and it's the same result every time."
Mayweather camp insiders acknowledge their fighter is in for perhaps the toughest test of his career, a battle against Mosley, the proud 38-year-old from Pomona who's coming off a January 2009 pummeling of Antonio Margarito. And last September, Mosley stepped into the ring to call out Mayweather after his one-sided decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.
"This guy's bigger than Marquez, was a good amateur like Floyd, has good hand speed and power," Mayweather's trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather said. "I still say [if] we get him in the middle of the ring, we'll get him. There ain't a more skilled fighter in the middle of the ring than my nephew. But Mosley is among the elite my nephew's ever faced," pausing to scratch his goatee and think, "probably the No. 1 guy as far as skill level."
The respect is there. Mayweather's assistant trainer, Nate Jones, tells how Mayweather Jr. got off the plane in Las Vegas a few weeks ago after a Los Angeles news conference, and quickly summoned his friend to drive alongside him as he ran nearly 10 miles.
"He's fighting one of the best fighters out there, and knows he has to be in the shape of his life," Jones said. "He's done it. I predict he's going to knock Mosley out, the way he's hitting and letting his hands go. This is a fight where that can happen."
Such an outcome would be a major boost for Mayweather's reputation. Despite his perfect record, he's often criticized for not truly engaging his opponent and avoiding major tests to his chin as he follows his "hit and not be hit" style.
"He wants to show the world he's the greatest," Jones said. "It took this guy four days to get in shape, and he'll keep training up until about three, four days before the fight. I've told him, ‘Floyd, you're getting scary.' He says, ‘Nate, I gotta beat this [guy].' "
Talking as he shadowboxes and hits the mitts of his uncle in the ring, Mayweather only concedes that he "trains harder every fight. I push myself hard, I know what I need to do.
"I already shut everyone up," he said. "This fight is for me and my family."
Mayweather said of Mosley's power, "Nothing bothers me. I got nothing to worry about. There's a way to beat him. He wants to rush me? He'll get clipped."
He then mocked Mosley, joking that his opponent "punches with his eyes closed," is distracted by divorce proceedings and has acted differently, getting an arm tattoo and "nose job."
"Shane's talented. I'm gifted."
Want to argue? Tough to do against 40-0.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
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