By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Unbeaten, five-time champion, Floyd Mayweather, claims that every victory from here on out "is about enhancing" his legacy, and that his May 1 bout with WBA welterweight (147 pounds) king, Shane Mosley, is not about winning another championship belt.
"Like I've said before, Shane is a solid welterweight, and he's been around the sport for a long, long time. And he's done some good things in the sport, and I've done a lot of things in the sport," said Mayweather, who is nicknamed, "Money."
"But I've done a lot of things that a lot of fighters didn't do in this sport, and weren't able to do in this sport," said Mayweather. "So at this point, it's about enhancing my legacy."
In fact, this fight most certainly is not for the title, because the 33-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) has refused to pay the WBA's sanctioning fee.
That means that the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) can defend the crown, but Mayweather -- who "didn't want to fight for the WBA title" -- can't win it.
"This is not a WBA championship fight. But on a separate side, we are currently discussing with the WBA, for Shane, that Shane would be defending his belt," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which is co-promoting the bout with Mayweather's promotional company.
"But for the purpose of this call, it's basically a non-WBA fight. It's the two best fighters fighting each other, that's what's at stake here," said Schaefer during a Tuesday conference call with Mosley.
"The general public is embracing this fight for what it is, truly one of the greatest all-time showdowns between two of the greatest athletes of our time," Schaefer said during Wednesday's Mayweather conference call. "I am convinced that we are on track to break the all-time pay per view record."
When it has come to pay per view attractions in boxing, Mayweather and a good opponent have been the common denominators.
In his past three victories over Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and, Juan Manuel Marquez, respectively, by split-decision, 10th-round knockout, and, unanimous decision, Mayweather has generated a record 2.4 million, 920,000, and, 1.05 million buys.
"At this level, for Floyd, it's not about belts. It's about fighting to, like he said, improve his legacy, and, also, it's about money," said advisor Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. "Floyd's already the best fighter in the world. Why does he need a belt to prove that?"
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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