Transcription
Every day I come home and watch every legendary champion. Every champion. It wasn't one fighter I wanted to be like. Some days I wanted to fight like Leonard. Some another day I want to fight like Haggler, but then I want to be I want to have a style like Tommy Hearns, but then I want to be a killer like Mike Tyson. And then when I took all those different champions, Chevavez and Roberto Duran and all these different champion and all these different guys, I said, I'm going to take a little bit from every one of them and put it all in one box and shake it up and see what we come up with.
I don't care about nobody else. There's nothing like your own people when you come from blood, sweat, and tears from the ground up. Your people being proud of you. That's a great feeling. But then you get so much jealousy and hate from your people. And I'm more like, "Yo, listen. This is the this this is more than American dream. Why is this more than American dream?" It's because of this. I I'm my own boss. I do what I want to do. I say what I want to say. Whereas some athletes come on y'all show, they can't say what they really want to say. I can say what I want to say. I'm my own boss. And if I feel like something is not right, I'm going to speak on it. No different for if if the situation if it's something that I don't like and Alicia would tell you guys that if it's something I don't like, I'm like, "No, no, I'm not doing that." Even when they waste the film or access like, "Oh, no. Let's do a fake script. I'm not doing no fake script cuz I'm not fake. I'm give you the real or I'm not doing it.
This is how I am. I put on my shoes. I put on my clothes like everyone in here. I have good days. I have bad days. I'm only going to have my bad days in a boxing gym. Cuz I'm a under the lights type fighter. Cuz when I go under them lights, no matter how I win, I win. But me, it's all about being relevant. Hate it or love it. It's about being relevant. And I understand business. You can have another fighter that say, "Oh, well, he's 32 and with 32 32 knockouts." But if it if it's not in God's plan for him to be the man, he's not going to be the man. Talking doesn't win fights. I know trainers don't win fight. It comes down to the two competitors. I'm always prepared physically. I'm always prepared mentally. having a dream, believing believing in myself, believing in my skills, believing in my talent, and also surrounding myself with the right team. I had to surround myself with the right people, and everything took flight.
Y'all only know what I show you guys. You guys don't know what I do. Y'all can say, "Oh, oh, this guy is a billionaire, or this guy is a Listen, don't nobody know what nobody really got. Don't nobody really know what I got. So I can show y'all guys what I want to show y'all. I may have three billion. Y'all don't know what I got. Just so if for if Forbes don't post a person, that don't mean they don't got nothing. You know, you got you got the Debeer family. We we say we love each other, but all we do is go against each other and hurt each other. We don't stick together. So I'm going continue to be who I am and do what I do. And I'm going continue to get people jobs. I'm going continue to be the best at whatever I whatever comes my way.
There will never be a fighter that's on my level because you have to be able to go where I go mentally. You have to be on my level mentally and I and it's hard for anybody to be on my level mentally because I think outside the box. That's why I'm always doing record-breaking numbers. That's why I'm always doing record-breaking things. That's how I was able to go on Dancing with the Stars and take chances and go on uh WWE and steal fans from the WWE and steal fans from Dancing with the Stars and take chances to become a household name to become a a a pay-per-view star to become a mega superstar to to to have the biggest deal in sports history. I roll the dice. I take chances. The name of the game is to hit and not get hit. The less you get hit, the longer you last. So, I took that all throughout life and it panned out.
There's nothing like when you walk anywhere around the world. And and you know, I get the most love from Africa. I get the most love from Africa. My biggest fans is from Africa. But then when I when I'm you see your people, you get so much hate from the people. If you've been working and training all day, people want to take a picture with you. But at least come to me and say hello. How you doing? I don't deserve a hello. I don't deserve a how you doing today. And I respect every champion in here. Every champion from the past. Every legendary champion. You guys paved the way for me to be where I'm at today. Cuz now it's is it's DVD, but back then it was VHS tapes. Only thing I knew when I come home, they say you have to do homework. You know what I said? Go homework. Put that boxing tape on cuz I knew what I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be I knew I knew I wanted to be champion. And is the dream over? Absolutely not. We're going to be the biggest company whether you like it or not. Cuz if you think small, small things happen. I always dream big. I always believe. I believe in my team. I believe in these fighters. When when BU Jack got hit with a good shot and he took a loss, it was nothing. It's a minor setback for a major comeback. Uh uh I never cried, never complained. And all I did was work hard. I didn't never never robbed, never stole nothing from nobody. Just hard work and dedication. That's it to get to where I got to. So anybody that's watching this interview, I earned it the hard way, you know, just the American dream. The longer the longer the longer we wait, the sharper and sharper I'm getting.
So to anybody that's came to me for autograph or a picture and you guys felt whether it was me a male or a female, if you felt I came off a little harsh or I was a little I was a little pushy, I apologize. I love my fans cuz without my fans and my fans pushing me and supporting me and buying pay-per-view, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. So, I apologize to any and everybody that I didn't sign an autograph for or I didn't take a picture. I know what it takes when it's a fight of this magnitude. No one says, no matter what the media say, no matter what the trainers say, when it comes down to it, it comes it comes down to the two competitors. And I and I know what I can do. And I know what I can do. One thing I can do, I can fight. When we talk about landing on the higher percentage, I'm that guy. When you talk about doing the IS gates, when you talking about doing the IS gate, I'm that guy. When you talking about doing the highest pay-per-view, I'm that guy. 19 years. Can I reflect back over my career? I can't just say I'm I'm I'm going out 49 and0. You can never overlook anyone in this camp. Did I push myself? Absolutely. Every fight played a major key. All 48 fights played a major key. It's not just the It's not just the intelligence. It's the sharp mind. It's the good chin. It's a tremendous heart. I never overlook no opponent. I train for every fighter the same way. I push myself. I believe in my skills and I believe in my talent. And I've been in there with the best and results is always the same.
Some say the motivation is the belt. Some say motivation is the trophy. Well, I say motivation is the money for me cuz the money was able to put retire my mother, put my dad in a comfortable a comfortable position, put my kids in the best area. I come from a rough background. I come from a rough area cuz if you think small things happen, I always dream big. I always believe. I believe in my team. I believe in these fighters. I mean, everything you got on costs money. Everything you do costs money. You You can't take your wife on a date for free. And I'm And I'm a good person. And I call a spade a spade. Money don't make me. I make money. And without money, I be the same person. I fought so many fights for free. You know, I'm always thinking, how can I get better? How can our company grow? How can I continue to teach people around me how to fish? And I and I don't want to fish for them. We teach you how to become entrepreneurs. And if we can't, we want you to be the best that you can be if you're up under the banner. You know, this dream that I had started years and years and years ago, you know, no matter what my dad did, you know, because he done whatever he he had to do to give me the a finer life, to give me a better life, to give me the best life that he could give me. And everything happens for a reason. Even when my dad was incarcerated and he went away, I still would hear his words in the back of my mind. Continue to work hard. Nothing is going to come easy. I worked hard. I worked extremely hard to get to this point. And every day I know I'm blessed. I'm truly truly blessed. And I don't take anything for granted and nobody in here could take anything for granted.
Yes. Everyone sees, you know, us on All Access or when I was with when I was with HBO 24/7, they see all the flashiness, all the talking, the trash talking. I had a game plan. And when I say TBE, it's no disrespect to no legendary champion cuz anybody, every fighter that's in this room has to feel that he's the best. If not, you in the wrong sport. People don't understand what it takes. These young fighters come in the gym at 4 and 5 in the morning and work and bust their cuz their ultimate goal is to surpass y'all legends cuz they want to become legends. It was written in the history books for all of us to be here today. For for me to speak my mind and say what I want to say. for me to speak from the heart. Every day I would come home and watch every legendary champion, every champion. Larry, Larry Holmes, Sugar Leonard, Marvin Haggler, Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Michael Dos, Eddie Mustafa Muhammed. I mean, this list goes on and on. And I always wanted to You know, it wasn't one fighter I wanted to be like. Some days I wanted to fight like Leonard. Some another day I want to fight like Haggler, but then I want to be I want to have a style like Tommy Harris, but then I want to be a killer like Mike Tyson. And then when I took all those different champions, Chevz and Roberto Duran and all these different champion and all these different guys, I said, I'm going to take a little bit from every one of them and put it all in one box and shake it up and see what we come up with. and being a champion.
I think that even even though I transcended and changed the sport of boxing, but being a champion is not just receiving a lot of money or getting or receiving a belt because I did it thousands of times for free before I got to this point. I didn't just want to be a fighter. I don't want I wanted to learn a business so I can have my own business so I can have my stable of fighters. We give back but we don't look to to the media to get praised. As long as God know we doing a good deed because when I go do deeds and I don't I don't glorify it to everyone else, I get blessed when I get in that square circle. That's why I keep winning and that's what I have to tell every fighter, all you champions, cuz you you don't have to have a belt. To be a champion in my eyes, to get something, you have to sacrifice something. And what I did, I put everything aside my whole life. Boxing has always been first. I never focus on anything but the guy that's in front of me. Because when it comes down to it, I always said this for many, many years, the fans cannot fight for you. And one thing I know I can do, I can fight. So, uh, the fans when they shout, scream, I don't worry about nothing. I just, you know, keep my composure and stick to the game plan. Constantly keep coming ahead, coming ahead, pushing him, pushing him, pushing him back, pushing him back. you know, um, when he first come out for the first 20 seconds of of the round, when he go when he go down, when he go back to his corner and he sit down, I said when he come out, he gonna come out for 30 seconds and fight hard and then he going to break. And once he break, that's when I'm going to shoot a hard shot to the body, hit him with a hard shot up top and keep pushing him back. Keep pushing him back. Remember I told you guys weight doesn't win fights. Fighting wins fights. And then you know when I said talking doesn't win fights. Fighting wins fights. Meaning that when we was on the you know when we was on stage for the weighin I don't have to do no more talking. We fighting tomorrow. So I did I did enough talking on our tour basically. So you know everybody say oh Mayweather you was talking on the tour. Okay I did I did I did a lot of talking on the tour but now it's time to fight. And life is priceless and your health is your wealth. So a lot of times they say Floyd won't you stick around boxing you can make this and you can make that you can make this two two years off I could have made a ton of money but remember your health is your wealth. I never wanted, you know, as far as, you know, making weight. When you ask me about Travante Tank making weight, he's young. But when I was young, I think I would have made those same mistakes if I didn't have my father in my life, you know, just being a coach that was extremely hard on me. You know, I think that if he didn't discipline me in boxing, I don't really know where, you know, how my career would have played out. You know, I didn't want to slack and I didn't want to seem irresponsible or not disciplined. So, that's why I always sacrif you got to sacrifice something to get something. So, that's why I've always made sacrifices uh to get to a certain level and to get to the pinnacle, you got to make sacrifices and that's what I did.
My ultimate goal is to become a hundred million dollar fighter. Once I seen guys like when Mike Tyson and I seen it myself with my own eyes. When I seen that Bentley at the boxing gym and I seen that diamond Rolex, I said, "I want that." And I knew what it took. So I know when my opponent is sleep, I'm out there 4:00 or 5 in the morning chopping trees, working to this day cuz I can retire today. I'm well off, very comfortable, but I got the will to win. I've done a lot in my career. We shed tears, tears of joy. That's a part of the fight game. Blood, sweat, and tears. I must always give thanks to the man above. Always first. Cuz without God, all this wouldn't be possible. To get something, you have to sacrifice something. And what I did, I put everything aside my whole life. Boxing has always been first. I work extremely hard to get to this point. And every day I know I'm blessed. I'm truly truly blessed. And I don't take anything for granted. If you think small things happen, I always dream big. I always believe. I believe in my team. I believe in these fighters. My ultimate goal is to become a $100 million fighter. Once I seen guys like Mike Tyson and I seen it myself with my own eyes, when I seen that Bentley at the boxing gym and I seen that diamond Rolex, I said, "I want that." And I knew what it took. So I know when my opponent is sleep, I'm out there at 4:00 or 5 in the morning chopping trees, working to this day cuz I can retire today. I'm well off, very comfortable, but I got the will to win. Some say the motivation is the belt. Some say motivation is the trophy. Well, I say motivation is the money for me. Cuz the money was able to retire my mother, put my dad in a comfortable position. Even though I transcended and changed the sport of boxing, but being a champion is not just receiving a lot of money or receiving a belt because I did it thousands of times for free before I got to this point. It started by us, my team, me, Leonard, and Nicole going downtown in Las Vegas, Nevada, and feeding the homeless. Those are the things that they don't talk about about Floyd Mayweather cuz that's what it's about. We give back, but we don't look to to the media to get praised. As long as God know we doing a good deed because when I go do deeds and I don't glorify it to everyone else, I get blessed when I get in that square circle. That's why I keep winning.
The 1996 Olympic Games, the semifinals. I think I was I was one fight away from the gold medal. I'm glad that happened to me. I think that's the best thing that ever happened to me because that right there pushed me. I mean, it just pushed me to a limit that I can't even I can't even talk about. It pushed me and made me want to be the best. We all go through certain certain trials and tribulations in life that we have to deal with and certain things make us stronger. And in 1996, them cheating me made me stronger. If I if I had to do it all over again, I say do it the same way. You guys are recession proof also. Find a way. Find a way. Know what y'all want to do. You can be 30. You can be 40. You can be 50. Still, you still got a chance. You got 24 hours in a day. 8 hours you sleep, right? And most people work a 9 to5. So 8 hours you working. So we had 16 hours. We got breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So we had what? We had n 19. It take you an hour to get ready. So we had 20 hours. You guys cannot spend 4 hours going about on. They lying. Oh, I like this photo. Oh, they faking. Sending photos to other people. Y'all got to get focused. I'm where I'm at cuz I'm focused. Tunnel vision. I'm focused on what I got to do. You know, this dream that I had started years and years and years ago, you know, no matter what my dad did, you know, because he done whatever he he had to do to give me the a finer life, to give me a better life, to give me the best life that he could give me. And everything happens for a reason. Even when my dad was incarcerated and he went away, I still would hear his words in the back of my mind, continue to work hard. Nothing is going to come easy. Every day I say to myself after my last fight, I say, "This is nothing but organized, illegalized street fight. I'm able to make hundreds of millions doing what I like to do in front of the police.
Everyone sees us on All Access or when I was with when I was with HBO 24/7, they see all the flashiness, all the the [ __ ] talking, the trash talking. I had a game plan. And when I say TBE, it's no disrespect to no legendary champion cuz every fighter that's in this room has to feel that he's the best. If not, you in the wrong sport. If somebody right now in here hit the lottery, the first thing they're going to say is, "Give it all to me." Cuz they don't know no better. Cuz rich and wealth is two different things. When you rich, you're rich for a short period of time. Rich is is shortterm. Wealth is longterm. You get a if you can have a 100 million, but if you don't got no game plan, it's going to be gone. being around certain individuals. Like even being around my being there buddies, you know, every time I got around my be there buddies, I was more like it's cool to come over your house, but I need a house like this. It's cool to ride on your yacht, but I need a yacht like this. It's cool to ride on your jet, but I want a jet like this. And I've said, "No, I don't want to ride on yours. You show me how to get it. You can't be my friend if you can't show me how to get it. Cuz once they show me how to get it, then I can install it in my children." So, it's it's about wealth. You know, I'm no longer rich. I'm wealthy. Most people probably have a million dollars if they money management skills is right. You know what I'm saying? But they they spending the money fast as they get it. You get a couple $100,000, you go buy $100,000 watch, it's easier to make the money. It's harder to save. You know, it's crazy because coming from where I'm from, we thought all we needed was a million. We just wanted to become a millionaire. That mean 1 million until you get it and you realize it ain't enough. We living in a generation in a time where like people think it's only cool to be a boss. You know what I'm saying? And it is it is uncool to be a equal partner with somebody. I just think boss a whole another word. Like what does it mean outside of the action? If you not doing [ __ ] why you want to be a boss? Do you even know what being a good soldier is? Cuz some people again they they offended by the idea of being a soldier, not me. You know what I'm saying? Like I can step into soldier role and break into boss role at any moment. I play every role. You know, I gave the sport of boxing my whole life. I dedicated my whole life to the sport of boxing. And all I ever wanted to do was put my family, my mother, my father in a comfortable position. My dad is a millionaire. My mother, she's a millionaire. And the investments were were for my grandchildren, not just my children. You know, put them in a position. That's really what it's about. Yeah. Giving that. Absolutely. I mean, it's not just for the money, but of course, that plays a major major role. I mean, uh I wouldn't be Floyd Money Mayweather if the money didn't play a major role, but something different. You say it's not about the money, but it is about the money. Do you think the public It's always going to be about the money? You think the public's a little turned off by hearing so much about money and billions of dollars and hundreds of millions? You think that that's somewhat antagonizes people who were at home who are having a hard time making a living? I did it the hard way. You know, I'm a kid that came from poverty. Uh, I can remember being a kid living in Jersey with my mother, seven of us living in a one-bedroom, you know, no lights, no heat, never cried, never complained. Uh, I just worked hard to get to where I got to in life. It's been it's been hard work. Uh, my dad going out there when I live with my dad in Michigan, my dad going out there taking chances, hustling to put food on the table. you know, he sacrificed everything uh for me. My dad went to prison and I had to become a man at 16. My dad came back into my life. I was 21. Um uh I never cried, never complained. All I did was work hard. I didn't never rob, never stole nothing from nobody. Just hard work and dedication. That's it. And I respect every champion in here. Every champion from the past. Every legendary champion. Only thing I knew when I come home, they say you have to do homework. You know what I said? [ __ ] homework. Put that boxing tape on. Cuz I knew what I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be I knew I knew I wanted to be champion.
Whatever we want, we can do. There's nothing that I ever wanted that I didn't get. You know, I just I dreamed it. I wrote it down. I believed it. I surrounded myself with the right people. But the main thing is you can't think you know it all. You know my team I got I surround myself with people that that got it right here. You have to have it right here. Have to. Me and my dad relationship. No one would ever understand our relationship but us. Why? Because we so much alike. so much alike. When you so much alike, it's like looking in the mirror. You know, he want he want a cheeseburger. I want a a cheeseburger. It's only one left. Me and him want to fight for the cheeseburger. Instead, we need to cut it in half and split it. You know, when when I was young, he want to listen to James Brown. I want to listen to rap music. instead of saying, "Okay, why won't you listen to a few songs and let me listen to a few songs, but I'm older now? I'm a lot wiser." So, I'm able to communicate with my father in a different way. Whereas, I would tell him things like, "Stop arguing with with social media. Don't don't worry about these people because if you're doing bad, they're going to talk about you. If you're doing good, they're going to talk about you. But we'd rather be doing good than letting them talk. And with me, it's all about being relevant. Hate it or love it, it's about being relevant. And I understand business. You can have another fighter that say, "Oh, well, he's 32 and0 with 32 32 knockouts." But if it if it's not in God's plan for him to be the man, he's not going to be the man that you know certain things that I would never forget when EJ Smith wrote me a letter when I was in when I was incarcerated and he wrote me a letter and he said because one thing about me, I'm not embarrassed about nothing that went on in my life cuz I'm a man. I'm I'm I'll always be able to stand on my own, too. And I'm a fighter to the day I die.