Floyd Mayweather Jr is back in the gym. Yes, the man who loves staying ready even when he is already ready is preparing again. This time, it is ahead of his exhibition fight with Mike Tyson. The internet is watching, the gym is watching and probably the punching bag is nervous.
Mayweather training is not new, but it always feels serious. He moves with the confidence of someone who has never missed a payment and never lost a boxing match. His workouts look smooth, his punches look clean and his footwork looks like he is dancing quietly while solving problems.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said in a statement to ESPN’s Andreas Hale. “From my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards — no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event — then my events. And I plan to keep doing it with my global media partner, CSI Sports/FIGHT SPORTS.”
CSI Sports/Fight Sports previously announced last September that Mayweather and the 59-year-old Tyson, who was once the heavyweight champion of the world and one of the most feared boxers in the sport’s history, would fight in the spring of this year. No official announcement has been made regarding the fight’s date and location.
Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since Aug. 2017, when he had a knockout win over former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor. He has fought in exhibition matches since then, with a bout against John Gotti III in June 2023 being the latest.
The exhibition hype is growing slowly but steadily. Social media is already imagining what will happen. Will they go gentle? Will they surprise everyone? Will the match be more showmanship than war?
One thing is certain: Mayweather is not training to look bad in the ring, he is training to stay comfortable inside it.
Fans are waiting, critics are talking and the gym is still busy.
And somewhere, boxing history is pretending this exhibition is just another Tuesday, but everyone knows it is not.
