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It’s easy to get caught up in the boisterous persona of Floyd “Money” Mayweather but at his pre-fight media workout Floyd was a different man.
The media workout began with a young fighters showcase, an hour focused on Floyd’s up-and-coming boxers and showed the talent that his group possesses. What jumped out automatically were the young 14 & 15 year old fighters that are part of The Money Team and are allowed to train at the gym for free. Floyd is invested in the youth and the community as a whole; he isn’t just throwing $80,000 in the club every weekend.
Floyd seemed to be up to his usual antics by showing up 2 hours late to a 3 o’clock scheduled workout, but as soon as he entered the building he greeted media with praises for their patience and apologised relentlessly for his tardiness. What can we attribute to this change in Floyd?
Floyd quickly answered that question,”Freedom is very important, you can be rich and locked up and it’s like being poor and locked up. Freedom is very important.”
He went on to thank his fans for their support during his stint in jail,”While in jail I just read. I read books and fan mail. I had 100,000 letters from my fans and I tried to write them all back.”
If that’s not enough to show a change in mentality for the P4P #1 fighter in the world his answers toward Robert Guerrero questions have also changed. Two weeks ago he acted as though Guerrero was beneath him and that he never heard of him, but his tuned changed a bit during media interviews.
Several times he was complimentary of Guerrero’s prior fights and admitted that he was a smart fighter that deserved this bout. Of course he wasn’t gushing over his challenger but the honesty is new for Floyd. He dropped the act that he usually puts on and spoke from the heart. When asked if he felt the criticisms of his jail stint by Guerrero were fair Floyd replied in a truthful, yet Floyd-like way.
“A lot of times you see guys who are hypocrites. You have a guy who’s always preaching like a preacher, like he loves god more than everyone else and I feel like we’re all equal.”
“You have this guy that thinks he’s a pastor but he’s at the 700 club, he got caught with a gun on him, and he has Marilyn Monroe on the wall in his house. Like I said before these guys are hypocrites.”
Floyd ended the interview with the most marvellous quote of the afternoon. “He was joking about me doing time. They say everything that goes around comes around, so a week after the fight it’s time for him to do his time.”
Floyd then thanked the media once again and announced it was time to get to work. He did just that and then some in a display of super human speed, quickness, and stamina. He performed an entire 15 minute routine of hand quickness and body punch combinations. At times he was so in tuned with his routine that he looked away and carried on conversations with media members while dodging and hitting gloves.
In comparison his opponent Guerrero just shadow boxed for 10 minutes during his session. Floyd wasn’t done with that display, and if you’re that good why stop? He went immediately into a 15 minute heavy bag session and cooled down with a little speed bag work. No water, no rest, no slowing down for Money Mayweather during the session.
Floyd looks to be in phenomenal shape but what is more valuable is that Floyd may have finally caught up in mental maturity. Mayweather will have every opportunity to show that on May 4th against Robert Guerrero in Las Vegas, Nevada.