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| Floyd Mayweather: God only made one thing perfect – my boxing record | Floyd Mayweather: God only made one thing perfect – my boxing record |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Floyd Mayweather should be a very tired man. He has so many personas – boxer, businessman, entertainer, gambler, promoter, rehabbed ex-con, anti-drugs campaigner, cash cow – it is a wonder there is enough oxygen in Nevada to get him through his schedule. | Floyd Mayweather should be a very tired man. He has so many personas – boxer, businessman, entertainer, gambler, promoter, rehabbed ex-con, anti-drugs campaigner, cash cow – it is a wonder there is enough oxygen in Nevada to get him through his schedule. |
| His place of work on Saturday night is the same ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that he has used for his past eight fights, as well as three others before that. This time he has for company the ice-blooded Argentinian puncher Marcos Maidana, and they will scrap over their respective versions of the world welterweight title. | His place of work on Saturday night is the same ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that he has used for his past eight fights, as well as three others before that. This time he has for company the ice-blooded Argentinian puncher Marcos Maidana, and they will scrap over their respective versions of the world welterweight title. |
| "I love accomplishing certain things, that is my legacy," Mayweather said this week. "But I don't go on about winning belts. I want to be impressive and put on a good show." And that he does. This fight will bring the fourth biggest gate in the history of boxing in Las Vegas, behind two others of his own and Lennox Lewis's win over Evander Holyfield. | "I love accomplishing certain things, that is my legacy," Mayweather said this week. "But I don't go on about winning belts. I want to be impressive and put on a good show." And that he does. This fight will bring the fourth biggest gate in the history of boxing in Las Vegas, behind two others of his own and Lennox Lewis's win over Evander Holyfield. |
| Mayweather seems incapable of not generating millions, merely by walking into a room or picking up a phone to his bookmaker. "I'm a walking bank," he says. He has won all 45 of his professional bouts and is running out of challenges – although he remains characteristically enigmatic about the possibility of ever fighting Manny Pacquiao, whose two wins since Juan Manuel Márquez knocked him out have gone some way to restoring his reputation. | Mayweather seems incapable of not generating millions, merely by walking into a room or picking up a phone to his bookmaker. "I'm a walking bank," he says. He has won all 45 of his professional bouts and is running out of challenges – although he remains characteristically enigmatic about the possibility of ever fighting Manny Pacquiao, whose two wins since Juan Manuel Márquez knocked him out have gone some way to restoring his reputation. |
| There are many numbers in the tale of the tape for this fight that support the view that Mayweather, a seasoned welterweight, will be too big and strong for Maidana, and the visual evidence of an advantage in speed is incontrovertible. | There are many numbers in the tale of the tape for this fight that support the view that Mayweather, a seasoned welterweight, will be too big and strong for Maidana, and the visual evidence of an advantage in speed is incontrovertible. |
| But there are two numbers that should keep the 37-year-old favourite as sharp for this appearance in a world title fight as in any of the 22 in which he has prevailed, reaching back to his defeat of Genaro Hernández at super-featherweight in 1998. | But there are two numbers that should keep the 37-year-old favourite as sharp for this appearance in a world title fight as in any of the 22 in which he has prevailed, reaching back to his defeat of Genaro Hernández at super-featherweight in 1998. |
| Those numbers are 8 and 11, revealing that Maidana's clenched fist is 3in larger in circumference than Mayweather's, and that represents his only hope of pulling off the biggest upset in the sport since Mike Tyson was left scrabbling about on the canvas for his mouthguard after Buster Douglas shredded his aura of invincibility in 1990. | Those numbers are 8 and 11, revealing that Maidana's clenched fist is 3in larger in circumference than Mayweather's, and that represents his only hope of pulling off the biggest upset in the sport since Mike Tyson was left scrabbling about on the canvas for his mouthguard after Buster Douglas shredded his aura of invincibility in 1990. |
| Tyson would go to prison the following year, return to the ring after four years away, regain the title from Frank Bruno, lose it to Holyfield, then stumble towards retirement, finally surrendering to the luckiest Irishman in boxing, Kevin McBride, in six rounds in 2005. | Tyson would go to prison the following year, return to the ring after four years away, regain the title from Frank Bruno, lose it to Holyfield, then stumble towards retirement, finally surrendering to the luckiest Irishman in boxing, Kevin McBride, in six rounds in 2005. |
| Such a scenario is unthinkable for Mayweather (although he has got the prison stretch out of the way) because, unlike Tyson, he is in control not only of his career and his life but his sport. He will go when he wants, and he toyed with the fight writers this week when he first enthused about his Spartan boxing life, then suggested it was boring him. | Such a scenario is unthinkable for Mayweather (although he has got the prison stretch out of the way) because, unlike Tyson, he is in control not only of his career and his life but his sport. He will go when he wants, and he toyed with the fight writers this week when he first enthused about his Spartan boxing life, then suggested it was boring him. |
| He was effusive in his praise for MGM and Showtime, who are bankrolling a six-fight programme which hits the half-way mark on Saturday night. If he remains unbeaten, he will draw alongside the unbeaten Rocky Marciano at 49-0. Surely, we wondered, he would be tempted to go one fight further, to round out his career with a half-century of wins. | He was effusive in his praise for MGM and Showtime, who are bankrolling a six-fight programme which hits the half-way mark on Saturday night. If he remains unbeaten, he will draw alongside the unbeaten Rocky Marciano at 49-0. Surely, we wondered, he would be tempted to go one fight further, to round out his career with a half-century of wins. |
| "I've been contemplating every day about giving up the sport now. I'm very, very comfortable … But it's not really hard for me to get up for the boxing gym. I can contradict myself, though. I'm human. I make mistakes. | "I've been contemplating every day about giving up the sport now. I'm very, very comfortable … But it's not really hard for me to get up for the boxing gym. I can contradict myself, though. I'm human. I make mistakes. |
| "[It's about] legacy, the legacy. When you mention boxing, all I want you to mention is just one name, that's Floyd Mayweather. When my career is over, I don't want nobody talking about nobody else. Nobody. God only made one thing perfect: my boxing record. | "[It's about] legacy, the legacy. When you mention boxing, all I want you to mention is just one name, that's Floyd Mayweather. When my career is over, I don't want nobody talking about nobody else. Nobody. God only made one thing perfect: my boxing record. |
| "We want to continue to give them boxing. Everybody talking about 50-0 and 51-0. You take one fight at a time. Different days I feel different ways. We always love to sell the lifestyle. We not just involved in the sport of boxing. We do so many different things. Our team is growing. And if Richard Schaefer is having problems over there at Golden Boy, we'd love to have him work over here, hand in hand." | |
| Happy families, then – which was not quite the picture when Mayweather was serving 90 days in the county jail in 2012 after being convicted of domestic battery on his former girlfriend, Josie Harris. He had previous. | Happy families, then – which was not quite the picture when Mayweather was serving 90 days in the county jail in 2012 after being convicted of domestic battery on his former girlfriend, Josie Harris. He had previous. |
| To his credit, he looks to have quelled his demons, and he is known for his community work. "I have done some things I shouldn't have done," he confesses, "but I know I'm not a bad person. I'm ready for change." | To his credit, he looks to have quelled his demons, and he is known for his community work. "I have done some things I shouldn't have done," he confesses, "but I know I'm not a bad person. I'm ready for change." |
| Sometimes, though, he doesn't quite get it right. The day after he confided that the owner of the MGM Grand had given him not only a $400,000 Rolex but a $1.6m Bugatti to go with the other 87 cars he has in his enormous garage, he presented a cheque to the Susan G Koman Foundation for their work with breast cancer survivors. | |
| The small problem was the cheque was for $15,000, a good amount, of course, but dwarfed by the value of the gifts lavished on him – and more than likely it was less than he gambled and lost this week on the Golden State Warriors, who could not get past the LA Clippers, the troubled club he is seriously thinking of buying with some of his billionaire friends. | The small problem was the cheque was for $15,000, a good amount, of course, but dwarfed by the value of the gifts lavished on him – and more than likely it was less than he gambled and lost this week on the Golden State Warriors, who could not get past the LA Clippers, the troubled club he is seriously thinking of buying with some of his billionaire friends. |
| What does engage him – apart from the danger he sees in the contenders he selects to test him – is his crusade to rid boxing of performance-enhancing drugs. It has led to accusations that he only began the campaign to avoid fighting Pacquiao when the Filipino was at his peak, which he denies. | What does engage him – apart from the danger he sees in the contenders he selects to test him – is his crusade to rid boxing of performance-enhancing drugs. It has led to accusations that he only began the campaign to avoid fighting Pacquiao when the Filipino was at his peak, which he denies. |
| "I think not everybody is listening. First, everybody was: 'Floyd is a coward, he's scared.' I didn't care less. I am probably the highest-paid coward in the world, so I don't mind. All I want to do is clean up boxing. This sport will live on when I am gone but we need you guys to call a spade a spade. Give it to them straight. I want to give people boxing which is clean. | |
| "But I'm happy with my career. When I sit back sometimes in my bed and turn on the TV, I think I miss doing stuff by myself. I want to go places by myself. You think I always want to go to the movie theatre and take security? I want to come the casino by myself, and play blackjack by myself. If I have a wife, I want to be able to travel with just me and her." | "But I'm happy with my career. When I sit back sometimes in my bed and turn on the TV, I think I miss doing stuff by myself. I want to go places by myself. You think I always want to go to the movie theatre and take security? I want to come the casino by myself, and play blackjack by myself. If I have a wife, I want to be able to travel with just me and her." |
| He added: "My talent is a gift and it's a curse. God could easily have put somebody else in this position. But it's me, so I gotta take it and just be thankful that I'm one of the chosen ones." | He added: "My talent is a gift and it's a curse. God could easily have put somebody else in this position. But it's me, so I gotta take it and just be thankful that I'm one of the chosen ones." |
| In the penultimate episode of Showtime's All Access programme – of which Mayweather is the executive producer with veto powers – he says: "There's millions of people who want to live like me." Maybe not. | In the penultimate episode of Showtime's All Access programme – of which Mayweather is the executive producer with veto powers – he says: "There's millions of people who want to live like me." Maybe not. |
| Mayweather is his sport's most gifted exponent and he remains the most perplexing and complex individual, a man who needs almost constant love and approval. Yet he will go home on Saturday night, with two world belts, his big expensive watch wrapped loosely around his left wrist, to a grand house empty but for an entourage and a garage bulging with enough cars to run a limousine service. | Mayweather is his sport's most gifted exponent and he remains the most perplexing and complex individual, a man who needs almost constant love and approval. Yet he will go home on Saturday night, with two world belts, his big expensive watch wrapped loosely around his left wrist, to a grand house empty but for an entourage and a garage bulging with enough cars to run a limousine service. |