"I don't have the urge to fight anymore. I haven't had the urge to fight for awhile...You know, people are like, 'Floyd, stay in the sport!' If I'm so boring, why do everyone want me to stay in the sport. If I'm so boring, why everybody taking shots at me from every different way? But I love it. I like when they take shots at me. I'm no longer competing, but like I said before, I made such an impact in the sports world and the entertainment world that my name will live on forever," stated retired undefeated former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who opened up about his retirement, his future plans, and much more. You don't want to miss what he had to say. Check it out!
BT: Champ, it's barely been 4 months since you retired and yet, people can't keep your name out of their mouth. It seems like every week someone is mentioning your name or calling you out.
FM: I mean, it's so crazy that I'm just trying to enjoy being retired and you got guys taking shots at me from the NBA, from the rap game, from the NFL, NHL, baseball; I mean, you probably even got guys that's doing triathlons. I got guys talking shit to me all over the place. How could you be upset with a person because he had a game plan, he stuck to his game plan, he dedicated himself to his craft, he believed, he worked hard, he got to a certain point, he accomplished everything that he wanted to accomplish, and he helped his family out by putting up hundreds of millions of dollars to retire and live comfortable? How could you knock that?
BT: When people take shots at you, do you think it's personal or do you think they're just trying to get some exposure by attaching themselves to your name?
FM: It's crazy. I think that even though I'm not competing in the boxing ring, I'm still very, very relevant from what I've done just in the sport of boxing or just in the entertainment field period, as far as Dancing With The Stars, WWE, and in the sport of boxing; what I've done just being so controversial. I'm so used to it. My whole focus is just me becoming a better person, me just taking one day at a time, and me just trying to take these fighters to the next level. There's no rush. In due time, everything will get to where it has to get to.
BT: I know you haven't been retired long now, but is there anything at all that you miss?
FM: No, I'm happy. The sport of boxing has been very, very good to me. You know, next year, I'll be 40.
BT: When you were younger, did you ever imagine what your life would be like at the age of 40?
FM: Um, yes, and I knew that I was going to be fly at 40. You know, a lot of young girls like me, but when I see girls that's 21 and 22 that like me, I'm like, huh? I'm like, naaaah!
BT: (Laughing) You're a better man than me because I don't think I would've said nah. I would've been like, "Girl, come on up!"
FM: (Laughing)
BT: I don't know if you heard, but a spokesperson from Golden Boy Promotions put out a statement in reponse to your comments about Oscar De La Hoya in that interview you gave to my boy Luis. Basically, they said your promotional company was struggling and you were just bored in your "temporary retirement". I don't want to get into a back and forth pissing contest, but did you want to comment on their claim about your company?
FM: The only thing I'm trying to do is take my company to the next level. The thing is this, I can go out there and get...there's a lot of fighters out there that's talented right now that's not signed. I'm taking baby steps. I'm not in a rush. One thing I don't want to do is I don't want to fuck over fighters. I want to treat fighters fair. That's all it really is with Mayweather Promotions. I'm taking my time. I'm not in a rush. I'm not starving. I make sure the fighters are eating and the fighters are comfortable. I have to be very, very smart. I was going to let Gervonta Davis fight for the world title in his next bout, but I decided as a promoter to just wait. There's no rush. Even though he's 14 and 0 with 13 knockouts, I want to get him at least 2 or 3 more tune-ups, possibly just 1 more tune-up, so he can get his feet a little bit more wet in the fight game and then we're going after one of the 130-pound champions. Out of the 130-pound guys, I think the biggest bout for Tank down the line, not right now, but down the line is a fight with Javier Fortuna. That name came up for Tank for his 15th fight, a world title shot, but I think, you know, as a promoter and as a mentor, because I look at Tank as a son, we want to put him in the best position. There's no rush. I think the best thing for us right now is a tune-up bout or two tune-up bouts. Down the line, because I truly believe in Tank's talent, I think that he will be world champion. He'll win numerous world titles and then him and the guy Fortuna should meet down the line for a unification bout.
No different from my guy Chris Pearson; I mean, the guy that he fought, if I'm not mistaken, I believe that we signed that guy. Chris Pearson was looking to have a rematch and I think that what we should do is somewhere down the line, I truly believe both of those fighters can become world champions and then they fight in a super bout. You know, we have Latondria Jones, the first female boxer from Mayweather Promotions. She will be fighting her second fight. I'm very, very happy for her. She's been through a lot in her life. Her life has been a rollercoaster ride, but she's a very, very good person and a very strong woman. If she takes her time and stays focused, she can become champion. Do I think everybody under the Mayweather Promotions banner will be world champion? We'll just have to see in due time. I mean, I'm not trying to put myself in a hole or fight an uphill battle. My thing is just take one day at a time. I'm not perfect, but I strive to be a perfectionist every day. I put myself in a position to have options. Some days, I want to drive my black Bugatti, and another day, I want to drive my white Bugatti. I worked hard to have options.
BT: Speaking of Mayweather Promotions and having options, after the fights this past weekend, I saw you ran into Richard Schaefer. I know he's planning on eventually returning to boxing. Have you guys already talked about the possibility of working together again?
FM: Yes, I would love to work with Richard Schaefer. That's a guy I would love to work with because, from what I know, he's been a stand-up guy. I'm happy that one of his sons is now going to college, which is a great thing. I look forward to my children going to college one day because, you know, I didn't get a chance to go to college. I done everything for my family. When I was in the 12th grade, I was traveling a lot internationally and then the opportunity presented itself for me to take a chance in going to the Olympics. When the option presented itself, I had to jump on it because I was just thinking about my situation, I was thinking about my mother's situation, and I was thinking about my family's situation. I can remember, it's crazy, my mother was working at a nursing home, struggling, living paycheck to paycheck. Basically barely surviving. When I say barely surviving, I don't mean like starving, but she was just getting by. I didn't want that for her. I wanted the best for her. She's my mother, she's the queen, and I will always love her and I will always want the best for her and my family. What I did was when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it. At that particular time, my boxing was more important than school because it was about survival. I know that you're never too old to go back to school, but the opportunity that was in front of me comes once in a lifetime, so I had to jump on that opportunity.
BT: Obviously you didn't need to finish school or go to college to be successful, but do you ever think about what it would have been like to do that? Do you ever think about some of the things you may have missed out on that the average person experiences?
FM: I still think about taking some online classes. I still think about it. I was only a few credits short of graduating. I laugh when people were like, "Mayweather, he can't spell, he can't write, he can't read." I laugh about that. If you think I got to this point in my career not being able to do all those different things, then you a damn fool. I just laugh about it. You gotta realize, people are going to say things like that because I can't be defeated in no type of way and I'm so mentally strong. People try in so many different ways to break me down or try to tarnish my legacy any way possible, but it's not going to happen.
BT: Do you ever think that your decision to "play the villain" as far as your career is concerned has impacted the way people look at you? Do you think they have a problem separating Floyd Mayweather the performer from Floyd Mayweather the person?
FM: I mean, you have to realize that I don't...I mean, hate is very, very harsh word, so I'm not going to say I hate anyone. I think people need to learn how to separate the two, but they don't have to separate the two because I'm happy. I don't have control of no one else's life or try to come in no one else's circle. I stay in my circle and I mind my own business. That's what I've always done. And then when it's time to go out there and perform, I know what it takes and I know what I have to do.
BT: I'm not sure how long you have to be retired before people start looking at your career in a different light, but do you think you're accomplishments will be appreciated by those who speak negatively about you now?
FM: It's crazy, you know, what you're saying because I was just speaking to Laila Ali on the phone last night. We were just talking and she's a very, very stand-up woman, a very, very strong woman, and we were just talking about that. I was telling her that even with her father's career, I want you to love me now and appreciate me now. If I was in a position to where I couldn't voice my opinion or I wasn't a strong voice...you know, Ali's not a strong voice anymore; he's not a threat anymore, so they love him now. They praise him now all over the world, but when he was a strong voice and he had a huge following that could make an impact on the world, that's when he was hated. I feel like it's the same with me. Some people try to say that, you know, once again, when we was talking about race and racism, I mean, you have to just really look at my team. When you go into the boxing gym, Boza Edwards, he's from Africa. We got trainers from Mexico. We got trainers from the Dominican Republic. We go trainers from Puerto Rico. I mean, my team is just so diverse. One of my assistants, she's Mexican and Black. My other assistant, she's full Filipino. My videographer, he's Filipino. My housekeeper, who's been with me 18 years, she's Mexican. I mean, we have a real, real strong diverse team. Even though I only named a few, there's a lot more than that.
It's crazy, I have a cult like following, but I'm very appreciative and I'm very thankful for everyone that has supported me. It's crazy that when I send a picture or a video to go out on social media, you know, I send it to my team that runs my social media pages. I'll send them the picture and then I type up the caption in my phone and I send it over. When I send it over, me, myself, I could care less about the backlash from people. The reason why is because of this: when someone boos or cheers for you, it's the same thing because they are acknowledging that they do know who you are. When I go to an arena and they cheer for me, it's a good feeling. If they boo me, it's a good feeling too because they are acknowledging that they do know who I am. When they stop making noise, that's when I should worry. That's no different from when I put a picture out there on one of my social media pages. You know, I have people around me that I communicate with and on their social media pages, I guess they delete comments and they delete certain things. I'm like, "Why are you worried about someone speaking about you who don't even know you?" My thing is this, whether it's negative or positive, talk about me. I'm not going to waste my time to go on someone's social media page that I don't like and write a story about them or write a paragraph or write anything about them. If I was a writer, the only thing I could do is write the A side and the B side. "Yeah, I don't like Floyd Mayweather, but he's a winner." "Yeah, I don't like Floyd Mayweather, but he's broken all records." "Yeah, I don't like Floyd Maywather because I got paid under the table from this promoter or this person over here."
BT: Do you think the negativity from some of the writers out there will eventually start to fade as time goes by and they realize you're not coming back?
FM: Um, I think there's good and bad in everything. Am I going to stop living my life and doing what I'm doing for someone else to be happy? Absolutely not! They wouldn't do it for me and I don't want them to do it for me. I think a lot of times, people are focusing on the wrong things. Don't focus on not liking Floyd Mayweather. Focus on becoming a better person. Focus on trying to impress God. These things, I sit back and think about all the time, you know. Like, no different from our country, I'm a taxpayer and I'm from Michigan. That problem in Flint, Michigan, I mean, you look at the situation with the PowerBall where they can raise that type of money. All that money is not just going to Uncle Sam. I don't think no one should be in that situation. I've been communicating with a close friend of mine, Burrell Wilkins. He's a real close friend of mine and we've been talking about sending hundreds of thousands of bottles of water to Flint. That's what we've been working on daily. I've been trying to get this done before I go on my European tour. I could easily just say, "Here goes $50,000!" No! If you send money, you don't really know where the money is going. Here's what I'm going to do. If water is the problem, I'm going to send hundreds of thousands of cases of water to the people so the problem is resolved. Those are my people. I would prefer to send water myself and that's what I've been working on.
BT: When are you heading out for that European tour?
FM: Actually, I was trying to catch the Lakers and the Bulls game tonight. I think when I leave the Lakers and the Bulls game, I'm going to go back to Las Vegas and guess pack my backs to head towards Europe. I've been to the UK I don't know how many times. I feel like they're family. Everyone from the UK is like family. They really receive me with open arms. I really, really love the UK fans. They have really, really shown me a lot of love.
BT: You know what's funny? It seems like the people that hate you want you to come back even more than the people that like you. They're not happy that you got out of the game unscathed and on top.
FM: You know, things happen in life and this was meant to be. I mean, God blessed me with unbelievable speed, unbelievable footwork, and before my hands broke down on me, God blessed me with unbelievable power. One thing they can never take away from me is my sharp mind. Even with my hands being broken up, I still had a sharp mind to know how to win.
BT: A lot of times, as people get older, they can start feeling their body breaking down. Other than your hand problems, did you start to notice any changes in your body? Physically, did you feel like your body was starting to break down a little bit?
FM: Actually, I still feel the same when I was 19. I mean, I never really abused my body. I still feel the same way. I feel the same way I did when I was 19. I feel good, I feel strong, I feel healthy. I still want to eat better. My chef, I always speak to her about me eating healthy. I'm trying to stop eating meat. I'm working on it, but it's kind of tough. It's hard to stop eating meat when I was competing because you need that steak, you need that protein.
BT: That's crazy. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still think I'm 20-something, but my body definitely let's me know that I'm not (laughing). Knowing that you still feel like that and you're still on top as far as competition goes, what goes through your mind when people ask you why you decided to retire? Do you ever wonder that yourself?
FM: I mean, I don't have the urge to fight anymore. I haven't had the urge to fight for awhile.
BT: You actually told me that several fights ago.
FM: It's just too much. I mean, it's a lot of work. I don't mind working, it's just, when you get to the pay-per-view level, it takes a lot. It takes an awful lot. It's not just training and fighting. It's a lot put into a pay-per-view fight. You know, people are like, "Floyd, stay in the sport!" If I'm so boring, why do everyone want me to stay in the sport. If I'm so boring, why everybody taking shots at me from every different way? But I love it. I like when they take shots at me. I'm no longer competing, but like I said before, I made such an impact in the sports world and the entertainment world that my name will live on forever. No matter where I go, I still draw huge crowds and I'm thankful for that and so appreciative for the fans. You know, it's crazy, when I sit back and think about certain things, when I'm out spending time with my children or I'm out spending time with my mom or my family, when I'm giving them just me, and when I say just me, I mean family time, a fan or someone will ask to take a picture or ask for an autograph and you politely say, "I would love to, but right now, today is family day." But you got guys that are quick to say, "Do you know where you're at? Do you know where you're at, Mayweather?" I say to myself, "Which G are you? Are you a gangster or are you a groupie? You was just hounding me about a picture and when I finally told you no, now you a gangster." People gotta choose what they want to be. Do you want to be a groupie or do you want to be a gangster? They like to ask me do I know what turf I'm on. I'ma tell you this right now, the Earth is my turf. I'm not the toughest person in the world. I'm not a gangster. I'm a gentleman.
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR MUCH MORE FROM RETIRED UNDEFEATED FORMER POUND-FOR-POUND KING FLOYD MAYWEATHER
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