Floyd Mayweather: “Fighters Cry And Complain Too Much”
By: Sean Crose
“I’ve been through a lot,” Floyd Mayweather said in an extensive interview presented by ES News. “I lived seven deep in a one bedroom,” he added. Now, of course, Mayweather is an extremely wealthy and successful man. Looking and speaking more like a promoter and former great than a man who is on the verge of returning to the ring, the undefeated former welterweight champion, known for his enormous pay per view salesmanship as well as for his high level ring skills, had much to say.
On people like Gennady Golovkin and the UFCs Conor McGregor publicly mentioning him, Mayweather made it clear he’s unbothered. “I commend those guys for using my name,” he said. He did not, however, have laudatory things to say about UFC honcho Dana White. “It’s easy for another guy to speak when he’s not in there in a contact sport,” Mayweather stated. “It’s easy to get a ton of money off these UFC guys while they’re not really getting paid. And he’s living better than the UFC guys.”
Yet Mayweather also had choice words for the new entitled breed of boxer the sport is now seeing. Making it clear that such fighters want Mayweather-style success without having first reached Mayweather-style achievements, the man known as “Money” didn’t mince words. “Fighters cry and complain too much,” he said. “I didn’t cry or complain,” Mayweather said, harkening back to his own less than heady days. “I had seen the bigger picture.”
In short, Mayweather made it clear that he wasn’t overly impressed with what these individuals bring to the table. “These fighters is making six or seven figure paydays,” he said, adding shortly after: “When I was seventeen, I could have beat them in every fight that was in boxing.” Perhaps most interesting, however, was the insight Mayweather offered into his own mind.
Sure enough, the guy made it clear he doesn’t even watch his own fights. Why? Because he’s critical of his lauded ring performances. One might be hard pressed to see some of boxing’s recent prima donnas being so demanding of their own abilities. Still, Mayweather also let it be known he remains a business minded guy (indeed, some would argue business-first). How so? Well, he had some things to say about Canelo.
“If Canelo was my fighter,” he claimed, “under my banner, I wouldn’t let him fight Golovkin right now. I’m a promoter and I see the business side. You must build a fight.” Some might praise the man for his honesty. Others, of course, would claim it’s too much of the same mentality that has harmed the sport. Indeed, some might even do both.
