It isn’t a secret that Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather is the athlete people love to hate in today’s society (and it isn’t exactly hard to see why). Since his rise to stardom in the late ‘90s, Mayweather has been known for his trash talk in the media, the lavish lifestyle he doesn’t hesitate to flaunt and his activities outside of the ring, which has always included the clubs, strip clubs and confrontation. Personally, I have always been a Mayweather fan for what he has done in the ring and nothing more. All the extra curricular stuff he did in his personal life always made it hard to like him as anything other than a boxer. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I learned something of value from Mayweather that translated from life in the ring to his home.
Like a lot of other people, I made sure to watch the ‘All Access’ episodes on Showtime that were shown in the weeks leading up to his fight with Robert Guerrero, which took place this past weekend. The hype around the fight grew day by day. His dad was coming back to train him for the first time in 13 years, he hadn’t fought in a year; the list went on and on. And despite all the diverse situations, everyone was wondering the same thing: Could the Floyd Mayweather of old make a comeback?
The answer? Complicated. He still seemed to be in great physical shape but it seemed something had changed. Pissed off by the chatter that he could not come back as strong as he was, Mayweather put in countless hours of ‘sweat equity,’ working out three sometimes four times a day. Instead of leaving the clubs at 2 or 3 AM, he was leaving the gym or getting home from a long run around LA. Time he spent running his mouth to the media now appeared to be time spent with his camp out to eat or at family events such as BBQs. He continued to work on areas that needed improvement and seemed more open minded to the dad’s ideas, the same ideas that tore them apart thirteen years ago. I am not saying that the club hoping Floyd Mayweather was left back in his prison cell but, from the outsiders perspective, Mayweather seemed to be more focused, more determined, or as he put it “All Business.”
Mayweather’s determination is something athletes everywhere from every sport can take and implement into their own training. It is a great example of a guy who wanted something bad enough that he just put his head down, ignored the distractions, and outworked his opponent, day in and day out. It took jail time for him to realize how important it is to win with class, something all coaches try to teach their athletes. Most importantly, he finally figured out that you don’t need to run your mouth to win; you just need to show up and get the job done.
Fast-forward to last Sunday Morning around 1 AM and you could find Floyd Mayweather interviewing with the ring side announcer after his decisive win over Guerrero. When asked about the fight, Mayweather kept it brief. He thanked his camp, thanked his supporters, and left the ring, much to the dismay of the ringside announcers.
No trash talk. No fanfare. All business.
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Business, All business!