Floyd Mayweather missed everything about boxing

LAS VEGAS -- As Floyd Mayweather held court in an empty MGM Grand Garden Arena, it became clear Tuesday that while professional boxers fight for purses, and he certainly could use one, there was more than his self-appointed nickname "Money" at play in this comeback.

He missed everything about the fight game, its atmosphere, its glamour.

A dog-and-pony arrival in the massive hotel lobby, where fans clamored and chanted and snapped photographs, is the visible part. But those are only the fight-week trappings.

He missed being the best in the world at something.

He missed being able to ply his trade, which he did so well that he contends some boxing insiders criticize his opposition because he made fights look too easy.

"It's just the hard work I put in that you guys don't see," he said. "I go to the gym at 3 o'clock in the morning. Or I go to the boxing gym at 5 o'clock in the morning, by myself.I open the gym up. I go in the back of my building so I can open the gym up. Put the tape on my own hands, wrap my hands, then go in there and train by myself, mentally, physically. Go in my zone. These are things that other fighters don't do. Once they go home, they train once, do their run, that's it. I've put in overtime to be where I'm at."

Almost 21 1/2 months will have passed by the time the most accomplished athlete Grand Rapids ever produced enters the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night. It isn't the longest layoff a big-name fighter ever took, nor the briefest, although the timing of the respite -- he was 30 when he last fought, then abdicated his pound-for-pound throne -- was unusual.

"I just call it a short vacation, for me, from the sport of boxing," he said. "Three years, four years, I call that a retirement. It's only been a couple years."

Boxing wasn't the same without him. A new pound-for-pound king emerged in Manny Pacquiao, whose ascension involved dismantling two common opponents in hastier fashion than Mayweather did, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. With that, a dream fight materialized.

The sport wants that business addressed, though it will take negotiating flexibility by a lot of parties to make it happen, on the assumption Mayweather handles his own business this week, and Pacquiao does the same in November against Miguel Cotto.

For himself, Mayweather predicts only victory.

"Is it going to be easy? I don't know. But I always find a way to win," he said.

As for Pacquiao-Cotto -- a more competitive fight by almost everyone's reckoning, including oddsmakers who have established Mayweather as approximately a 4-1 favorite, compared to less than 3-1 for Pacquiao -- he takes a non-committal stance.

"I wish them both the best. May the best man win," Mayweather said. "There's a lot of good fighters in boxing. I'm not saying there aren't good fighters in boxing. I'm not saying I'm the only star in boxing. There are other stars in boxing. But there is only one megasuperstar. That's the difference. There are other fighters in boxing, but there's only one entertainer."

The Entertainer sparred nine rounds Tuesday night, three consecutive rounds without a break each time, stopping just long enough to switch sparring partners after each nine-minute increment. He got stronger as he went along.

His efforts aren't limited to the fighters he can line up against but also those who came before him. He fights for paydays, yes. And glamour. And recognition.

And also for history.

They all contributed to the comeback.

"I'm not knocking the fighters from the past," he said. "Muhammad Ali wanted to be better than Sugar Ray Robinson. Sugar Ray Robinson wanted to be better than Joe Louis. Joe Louis wanted to be better than Jack Johnson. The only thing I'm saying is that I just want to be the best. I'm here to be the best."

Source: http://www.mlive.com/mayweather/index.ssf/2009/09/floyd_mayweather_missed_everyt.html