Mayweather on Jay Leno's Interview(Inside)

Jay Leno is a professional entertainer and a very adept interviewer. His conversation with Floyd Mayweather Jr. was quite revealing and was also a great opportunity to see Floyd interacting with the general public. This interview follows Sunday and Monday news reports on all the networks (including local stations) regarding the fight indicating vast market penetration. There was also an unequivocal statement by Floyd regarding his retirement.

Jay Leno, "What does this (referring to the belt) mean to you, tell me about that?"

Floyd, "That means the world to me…127 fights just to get to the biggest fight of my life against the legendary Oscar De La Hoya. So, it was a great fight…went out there and put on a great show.

Jay, "I know the odds makers picked you two-to-one, but a lot of the fans kinda favored Oscar, they kinda made you out to be the bad guy, they said 'oooooooo' when you walked into the ring…especially with the sombrero…tell me about that.

Floyd, You know, I wanted uh…you know it was Cinco de Mayo weekend I wanted to show love to all my Hispanic friends, I have a lot of Hispanic fans, I have a lot of Hispanic employees so I show the love I have for them" (amid cheers, hoots and laughter from the audience).

Jay, "This guy should run for President of the United States" (huge cheers and applause). There had to a sort of mind game going on there though…were you kinda tweekin' 'em, were you tweekin' 'em?"

Floyd, "Little bit, little bit…he's a great guy…Golden Boy Promotions is a great promotions company and we had fun Saturday."

Jay, "…'cause you guys kinda worked together on this didn't you?

Floyd, "Well you know, of course, in 'The Life of Floyd Mayweather – Oscar De La Hoya Twenty Four Seven' we had four segments (Jay: "Right") they didn't get to show the good part, they showed only one part, but (Jay, "Yeah") you know I like to feed the homeless, battered women, battered children and give back to the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan."

Jay, (amid loud cheers and applause) "I think that's great, that's terrific. (more cheers and applause) What were Oscar's strengths? Did you think this would go…did you think you'd maybe…'cause I said you were favored two to one, did you think it would be over by the sixth or seventh round?"

Floyd, "Uh…Oscar's tough, he takes a good shot, strong…have a granite chin a good heart…tough guy…extremely tough."

Jay, "How's my chin… (laughter) you think I…not the kind of chin you want to have in the ring?

Floyd, "Yeah I want that kind of chin in the ring right in front of me" (laughter).

Jay, "Now I read somewhere you said you were planning on retiring is that true?"

Floyd, "Yes."

Jay, "But you're 38 and oh you've never lost a fight."

Floyd, "No I've never lost a fight thirty-eight and oh…world champion (applause and big cheers) I'm planning on retiring as of right now my career...you know…it's done. But of course we've got the Mayweather brand, and in the future we're going to be involved with sports and entertainment, movies and a lot of other things and television."

Jay, "But a fight this close…is this the kind of thing where the fans go oooooo…" (Floyd interrupts)

Floyd, "Well if the fans…if the fans demand a rematch…they want to see a rematch…they gonna bring me out of retirement…what you guys…" (interrupted by loud applause, screaming and cheers) "It's what the fans want."

Jay, "It was a close fight about the ninth, eighth round maybe, everybody had it pretty equal…when did you know…realize you had it won?"

Floyd, "Well I thought I done it in training camp…mentally."

Jay, "Really?

Floyd, "Always mental first then you say I gotta do the physical part, so May 5th I went out there and done the physical part"

Jay, "I guess that's true…you have to think that don't you?

Floyd, "Absolutely. We only think win-win in our camp…we only think about the…try to be positive…only think win, and uh, it wasn't easy…he was a tough guy…" (Jay interrupts)

Jay, "What surprised you…did you go in there and go 'Whoa this guy hits hard…'" (Floyd interrupts)

Floyd, "Exactly what I said is, about Oscar, I said 'I see why he beat so many champions…he's got the heart of a lion…he has the heart of a lion'" {Jay, "Yeah. Wow.")

Jay, "Tell me about your work-outs…what…? (Floyd interrupts)

Floyd, "My work-out regimen is kinda different from any other fighter regimen. We sometimes work out at three o'clock in the morning 'cause which we believe when our opponent is sleepin'…we're workin'. So we wanna really have the advantage over him while he's sleepin'…so when he is out workin', we're workin' too.

Jay, "So how many hours a night do you sleep…you sleep eight hours?

Floyd, "Uh, for this fight we worked out like four times a day." (Jay, "Ok.") So like six hours a day."

Jay, "See, I work out four times a year (laughter) I don't want to push myself. Do you do midnight runs?"

Floyd, "I run sometimes…it don't matter what time it is (Jay "Ok".) Sometimes I see a show or see "Twenty-Four Seven The Life Of Mayweather De La Hoya I wanna fight so bad I go out and run half mile (?) miles, it didn't matter."

Jay, "There's an age difference you're thirty he's thirty-four it doesn't seem like much, but in professional boxing that's a long time?"

Floyd, "That's not so much, it's like a boxer twenty-four fights another guy who's twenty…they're both in their twenties."

Jay, "I guess that's true. Did he get tired, did you sense he was tired or was he pretty consistent all the way through?"

Floyd, "Well if he was tired, he sure was bouncing back and fighting hard. He has a champion's heart. So I feel that's a great thing.

Jay, "What won the fight for you? What was it?"

Floyd, "Uh, my will and determination (?) I come from a fighting family and I thought about my mother…thought about my children and had to go out there and put it all on the line." (applause)

Jay, "Now let me ask you about this when Oscar…like he abstains from sex like for I don't know how long…is that something…is that a like a rumor…or is that something fighters have to do? Why do you have to do that?

Floyd, "Eight weeks. Keep your legs strong."

Jay, "Keep your legs strong?" (laughter)

Floyd, "Cause it make you fatigued."

Jay, "As far as the dynamic of this is, you and your Dad don't really get along…your dad was Oscar's trainer for many years and he was with you for a while and then he left did you fire him?

Floyd, "No, no my Dad started me off as a young boy, as a fighter. Later on in my teenage years, when I was sixteen, my Dad got incarcerated, and when he came back into my life I was an adult. So it was more like we didn't see eye-to-eye but he's a great trainer…he just need a hug so the whole audience should just hug my father (applause…Jay, "Wow!!") I think he's a great trainer, I love him but now I work with the best trainer in the world which is Roger Mayweather my uncle (Jay, "Right.") my mentor, and uh, the people behind the scenes that they don't talk about like Al Haymen and Leonard Ellerbee and the whole HBO staff. You can say HBO on NBC can't you?" (laughter)

Jay, "You're the chanp!! You can punch my lights out if I (?) Floyd Mayweather Jr. Ladies and gentlemen." (long applause and cheers)

There seemed to be genuine recognition and approval from the audience. Floyd's desk-side manner was laid back and easy going. It was good to see him so mellow and candid. He is, after all, the guy who stayed back and kept a cool head during the Judah riot. I have never had any particular affection for this guy, but I certainly give him a notch up after this appearance. See you at the fights.