TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8
Floyd Mayweather Jr made his ‘Grand Arrival’ to the MGM Grand for the final time today as he insists he will walk away from the sport after this weekend.
The American may not have been greeted by the same amount of fans that welcomed him to the stunning hotel in May for his clash with Manny Pacquiao, but it was still an ear-shattering roar when he walked through the lobby.
Mayweather then sat with members of the press and spoke about his career as well as the future.
Open, engaging and a presence, he was as revealing as ever as to what motivates him – money.
The dollar bill was mentioned most, but also his love to find another fighter like him and his pride in being one of the sport’s best was clear.
The hotel adorns a huge poster of him in the build-up to the big fights, the media crave any seconds they can get.
Will he miss it all when it is over? His answer was simple. No.
But you get the feeling the sport may miss him as there are few who can generate anywhere near this level of interest.
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7
It is not every day you get accused of being a spy, but that is what happened on a visit to Mayweather’s Boxing Club just off the Strip in Las Vegas today.
Badou Jack may be a little paranoid ahead of his clash with Brit George Groves this Saturday, or just making sure everything is in order.
The Sweden-born WBC super-middleweight champion stopped some of the British press pack from entering the Mayweather Boxing Club until he had finished his session as the clock ticks down to his first defence.
Groves is not the only Brit on the undercard at the MGM Grand this weekend as fellow Londoner Ashley Theophane takes on Steve Upsher Chambers.
Theophane is a member of Floyd Mayweather’s ‘Money Team’ and trains at the slick Mayweather Boxing Club alongside Jack and a host of other fighters, who box under the banner of the pound-for-pound great.
The light-welterweight was set to be filmed training by a UK TV channel for a preview piece ahead of Saturday night’s action and also have a sit down with Starsport for an interview to be published later this week.
But Jack made those in attendance wait before they could enter the gym as he did not want the cameras to catch his session in the background.
The Las Vegas-based super-middleweight does not want any secrets from his training camp being passed on to foe Groves.
Of course, the champion’s privacy was respected and after a short wait we got inside the gym to see Theophane put through his paces as he finishes off his own training camp.
The gym is a shrine to Mayweather with stunning fight posters of his biggest nights framed on the wall with ‘TMT’ (The Money Team) and ‘TBE’ (The Best Ever) plastered among the state-of-the-art training equipment.
It was certainly a fascinating experience to be where one of the best fighters of this era hones his skills - even if there was a little wait.
Mayweather v Berto and Groves v Jack is live on BoxNation (Sky 437/HD 490, Virgin 546, TalkTalk 415) this Saturday night. Visit boxnation.com to subscribe.
